Mid-Michigan Dining

• 6031 S. Pennsylvania
• Lansing, MI 48911
• (517) 272-0504
• No Known Website
• Menu

When you take the first letter from each word in the name of the Penn Ave. Diner, you get the word PAD.  The Penn Ave. Diner has taken that theme and ran with it.  As you walk into the restaurant, there’s a sign that says “Welcome to the PAD.”  Do you see where I’m going with this yet?  No?  Look at the picture to the right.  See anything there that jumps out at you?  Yeah.  It’s frogs.  Frogs everywhere.  The diner is painted green and adorned with stuffed frogs, ceramic frogs and anything else you can make a frog out of. 

I picked my girlfriend up at work and we took a quick dinner break at the PAD.  We walked in and waited for a waitress at the front counter.  The waitress came out and asked smoking or non-smoking.  We chose non-smoking which is a pretty small dining room in the front of the restaurant.  There’s a wall that seperates that space from the smoking section, but windows still allow the smoke to sneak through.  The non-smoking side of the dining room is actually pretty big.  I headed back that way to the restrooms and there were quite a few people back there enjoying their meals in the thick, smoky air.  Most of the patrons back there seemed to know each other as converstions extended beyond their own tables.

Dinner was what you expect at little family diners like this.  I chose the Penn Ave. Diner because I was in the mood for a greasy cheeseburger and fries, so that’s what I ordered.  Unfortunately, the sandwich didn’t come with fries.  It came with chips, so I had to order fries and they had to charge me extra.  The burger itself was really good for a diner burger.  They took a little extra time to toast the bun and the meat was a little bit better than a frozen patty.

My girlfriend went with comfort food too and ordered a grilled cheese sandwich.  Like me, she wanted fries instead of chips and added on the extra.  She took her first bite and the look on her face was enough to tell me the PAD passed when it comes to making comfort food.  Both her and my sandwich came with coleslaw as well as the chips.  I don’t really like coleslaw so I passed and my g/f only took a couple bites and didn’t say anything.

The Penn Ave. Diner passed the test as a greasy spoon diner.  They didn’t really do anything that made them standout, but most people don’t go to a place like this for something super special.  The bill seemed to be a little high to me coming in at $15 before tip.  I’m sure it was the extra we had to pay for a fry cook to open a bag of fries and drop them in the oil.  It was a quick meal though as we were in and out in about 20 minutes.  The PAD has a unique design and food that satisfies, but doesn’t wow.