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Friday, January 29, 1993 Page: 4B QUICK WORDS: PERKINS FAMILY
RESTAURANT
WILCOX — One side of the dining room at Perkins Family Restaurant
Got a hankering for good, basic food? Perkins is the place
Perkins Family Restaurant on Route 309 near Blackman Street is a good place
to go if you want to enjoy a decently cooked meal for a very reasonable price.
This recently opened representative of a large chain doesn’t put effort
into fancy settings or unusual dishes. It offers a pleasant, almost
workmanlike setting. The large, well lighted dining room has a center section
of booths surrounded by a row of tables and more booths around the perimeter.
There is lots of glass but unfortunately not much of a view. But that’s OK;
after all, the important thing is the food, and the food is generally good.
I have to tell you, the word that comes to mind when I think of Perkins is
“truckstop.” I mean that in the best sense. Not some grubby little place by
the side of the road but the big, gleaming Midwestern variety. We’re talking
fair-sized portions, breakfast any time, bottomless coffee pots, and mostly
plain cooking done well.
Some non-traditional touches update the basic premise. There is a special
“over 60’s” menu section with smaller portions and prices as well as a
separate children’s menu. A selection of large chef’s style salads is
available. In a medieval vein, these salads and the pasta dishes are served in
large bread bowls better eaten from than eaten.
Baking is done on the premises and the baked goods counter surrounding the
register is a definite source of temptation.
The menu is reasonably varied with the emphasis on breakfast and lunch but
enough dinner items to provide choice. Prices are reasonable allowing two to
eat their fill for under $30.
Service ranged from excellent to good but it must be noted that on the
second occasion the place was packed.
Breakfast may be the best choice no mattter when you choose to visit. Just
about every combination and permutation of item is available. The buttermilk
pancakes are a treat — light, golden and tasty. Slather them with butter
(margarine if you must) and syrup and enjoy. Sausage links were tasty without
being overly spicy.
Eggs are a prominent feature of any breakfast menu and this one is no
exception. The scrambled eggs were in the middle range — not too runny — not
too dry. A wide selection of omelets comes from the “cook ’em thin and fold
them up” school. This is admittedly not my favorite approach.
Hash browns were disappointing, giving the distinct impression that they
came out of a bag in the freezer. The big surprise was the coffee, which was
rather weak.
The lunch portion of the menu features a wide selection of “melt”
sandwiches, along with burgers and clubs. The supreme burger comes with
American cheese, bacon, barbecue sauce and lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles
on the side. In the battle of bigger burgers this one weighs in at 1/3 of a
pound. Cooked to order and served on a better than average bun, it definitely
makes the grade.
The seafood chef’s salad with whitefish, snow crab and little bay shrimp
was nicely done. The seafood was cooked just right. The rest of the salad was
basic: iceberg lettuce, tomato, radish and grated cheese. The bread bowl was
— well, a bread bowl.
Appetizers primarily consist of breaded or battered fried items; the
combination platter provides a generous sample of most of them. The fried
mozzarella, chicken fingers, mushrooms and real onion rings were all not
greasy and cooked to the appropriate degree. For dipping a nothing special if
somewhat curious marinara sauce is supplied.
The beef nacho appetizer is a large helping of mildly spicy taco filling
with green onions and sour cream on a bed of tortilla chips.
Vegetable beef soup is a hearty homemade with plenty of meat but a touch
salty.
There was one entree I just couldn’t resist: country fried steak with
sausage gravy. This southern specialty involves batter dipping a steak and
then deep frying it — a dish many people find odd, but I wasn’t disappointed.
The steak was cooked right and the gravy was thick, floury and a real stick to
the ribs (or anything else in the way) item.
The chicken and seafood combo is deep fried cod, shrimp and chicken breast.
The cod was moist and flaky, the chicken tender and the shrimp fine. Three
dipping sauces are provided. The cocktail sauce was good if a bit mild for my
taste. The tartar sauce was rather bland, but the barbecue sauce was nicely
smoky.
Side dishes run to the basics. The french fries were acceptable. The
vegetable on both occasions was frozen succotash; enough said.
Desserts and baked goods are a bright spot. There are the biggest muffins I
have ever seen and they are good.
One of my favorite things as a child were the apple dumplings my mother
made. I was thrilled to see them on the menu but, alas, on my first visit they
were out. The second time I got lucky. It was worth the wait.
I wasn’t as lucky with the pecan pie, another favorite, which I was told is
“out of season.” (Gee, there sure were plenty of pecans at my supermarket last
week. Oh, well…)
Chocolate French silk pie has a very thick, creamy, pudding like filling
with a pleasant flavor marred only by the acceptable but bland, and
ubiquitous, “whipped topping.” A moment of silence please while we mourn the
passing of real whipped cream. It just ain’t the same, folks.
All in all, Perkins isn’t a bad place to eat especially if you’re in the
mood for some great pancakes.
The Times Leader restaurant review appears on the last Friday of every
month. The identity of the reviewer is withheld to avoid possible conflicts of
interest.