BY JONATHAN FERENCE

In print | April 26, 2007

My trip to the Hot Spot II diner, located down Baltimore Pike across from the somewhat humorously named Stanley Kup-with-a-K bar, began the way all good trips to diners should begin: with a man asking, in Greek-tinted English, whether we wanted to sit in smoking or “non.” Ahh, home. See, in Connecticut, diners are as much a part of life as hiking up a hill to a keg party in someone’s creepy barn. Diners are where I grew up, where my mom took me when we told my dad we were going to church on Sunday mornings, where a crowd of cronies could head after a dance to grab some late-night, post-dance munchies and where you could, at any time of day or night, get a thick milkshake or a hot plate of fries.

The Hot Spot II fulfills all of the items on my checklist of what a good diner should have. Greek-inspired columns and decor: check. A name that includes a Roman numeral for no apparent reason (where is the original Hot Spot?!): check. A menu full of pages of appetizers, sandwiches and lists of early-bird meals that sure as hell sound gross now, but I’m sure we’ll all guzzle down when we’re 70 and all we can do is gum down the “Tom Turkey platter”: check. Paper placemats featuring advertisements for local businesses: check. A chain-smoking staff hanging out in the well-separated , but still accessible smoking section: double check. First impression: All systems go.

The menu doesn’t disappoint in its breadth. All of the standards are there — chicken fingers and cheese fries, all manners of chicken dishes, sandwiches, ice cream, coffee and a quality list of Greek-inspired specialties that I can’t pronounce. Spanakopita sounds more like something someone probably stuck in an orifice during Krunkfest, but a diner’s not a diner if the spanakopita is missing from the selection.

A waitress stopped by our table right after we sat down to ask us what we wanted to drink; she came back with water in seconds, almost before we had time to digest the menu. I chose my diner classic, an egg and cheese sandwich; my date opted for ice cream. The food was on our table in, I kid you not, two minutes flat. Now, I know I didn’t order the cordon bleu, but I was astounded. I was even more impressed with the quality; how they managed to toast my bread and fry an egg that quick is a feat of magic best left to a short order chef, but they pulled it off. The sandwich was hearty; my date tells me the ice cream really hit the (hot?) spot as well. My plate came piled with potato chips and a pickle, which was a bit of a disappointment (and a bit too much of a reminder of Tarble) - platters come with fries as a matter of course back home - but the chips were still fresh, and I could have added the fries for a dollar. The prices at the Hot Spot are reasonable — not dirt cheap, but they certainly fit the college student bill. You can fill up on hearty food for under $10, no problem.

The question of whether the Hot Spot can match up to Swat legend Tom Jones is a tougher one. Tom Jones wins on price, hands-down - Blue Ribbon special, anyone? Tom Jones is also great for watching the high school crowd late at night, and I have to say that, in retrospect, I hope I didn’t look as much like a hooligan in my earlier days as those Brookhaven teens do to me now. But the Hot Spot II is certainly gaining a following; I had to fight managing editor Alyssa Work ‘08 in a cage match for the right to write this review, and word has it the “Into the Woods” cast and crew gathered here recently. Overall, though, out of the 45 or so tables, business didn’t seem to be too good - there were only about 15 people in the diner at midnight on a Monday. The Hot Spot II may never rival Tom Jones as a late-night study spot. But as far as offering an authentic diner experience, the price is right, the food is homey and the staff brought me right back to my earliest experiences of Catholic guilt without sex. Two thumbs up.

Where to go

Hot Spot II Diner
200 block of Baltimore Pike (near Ye Olde Ale House)
Springfield, PA

Tom Jones Family Restaurant
Brookhaven, PA
4417 Edgmont Ave.
610-874-1055

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