(obviously not a diner by the way)
Located at 1301 S. State St in Salt Lake City, it's one of those places you would probably drive by and not even realize you've passed it. But heading north up State St. it is on the right side and almost downtown with a nice view of the capital building from the street. They are open daily from 7am - 11pm.
When Lance and I went, the parking lot was surprisingly full and while it's always had a fair amount of people eating there, we have never had to wait at all because there is so much space.
The decor is um.... well, a whole lot of stuff just thrown together. The entrance way has a huge plant area in the center surrounded by a bench and there are "Christmas lights" by the glass separating the hostess area and the restaurant.
It's pretty much run by women (though I did see one guy there who looked like a manager - but all the servers were women), but there is always a table of really old guys eating and reminiscing together. Seriously, always. I have no idea how to describe the different kinds of people there other than "colorful." While I've never heard bad language or anything, I've listened to people discuss the Mormon church, wiccan religions, bills, political events and everything in between.
The dining room itself is in a word: AWESOME! Red velvet borders near the ceiling and the majority of the main eating area is dominated by a huge Gothic-esque/wagon wheel chandelier. It's fantastic. There are fake plants over every window which has red curtains of its own and covering the walls are pictures of Salt Lake City in retrospect.
The Menu: pretty inexpensive - my meal (the Breakfast Special) was only $5.75.
It was more than I could handle. That sausage link alone was the biggest one I've ever seen for a breakfast meal. Lance tried something new this time - French Dip
which he said was pretty good, but the lettuce on it was kinda weird. His favorite so far has been the "chicken" chicken fried steak (and nope, there really are two chickens in that). That meal only costs $9.95 and it's two breast fillets lightly breaded. Served with mashed potatoes and chicken gravy. Also includes soup, AND salad, potato, vegetable, bread and butter, a drink and ice cream for dessert. I kid you not. Tasty, cheap and very good!
I LOVE the breakfast menu! It's served all day and that breakfast special is fantastic. They bring out three different kinds of syrup, and while I do love a good maple, the "red" syrup (I think its cherry.....) and the "orange" syrup (peach) are divine mixed together.
Their menu is kinda big, so I've never not had options there, though it is hard sometimes to narrow it down. Most everything is around ten bucks and the most expensive meal is a 10 oz. New York steak and a lobster at $24.95, which is still cheaper than other places though I've not tried it to see if the price is just as awesome as the meal.
The Service is always pretty quick - Lance's drink stays mostly full (and he drinks fast, so that's almost always a good indicator to me that they don't ignore us.) The steaks come out sizzling and smell fantastic and overall the place is really good. While definitely a drive from Provo for a good all around menu, it's worth it to see the "atmosphere" of the place, and the prices are really hard to beat.
I love Coachman's it's weird, very old-school, and food is great and the prices are even better. They even have a really old vending machine which this time around had candy bars in it, but last time had pencils and erasers as well.....
The ONLY downside to Coachman's is that they DO NOT ACCEPT DEBIT/CREDIT CARDS!!! You must pay cash. While this is a bit of a hassle, especially when you don't know how much to bring with you, they have an ATM conveniently located by the bathroom to draw out the necessary amount. Weird, but it just adds to the awesome that is Coachman's.
I would definitely recommend this place - it's unique and you can tell it has not only been around for a while, but looks to be around for a lot longer.
- The Curious Foodie
