Buds Restaurant invites you to their dining room. Explore a menu offering hamburgers, priced at less than $10. They are open late from Monday to Friday. Payments by MasterCard and Visa are recognized.
First of all, this is a unique place that's not...
First of all, this is a unique place that's not for everybody. It's more like eating at your happy and busy 'Aunt Bertha's' kitchen table than eating at a restaurant. Having said that, I think it was wonderful and I expect my next visit will be even better now that I know the ropes.
You order at the counter -- their menu is more 'a la carte' than 'combo' so it lends itself to choosing how many eggs, homefries or not, coffee or not, etc. When your breakfast is done they serve it at your table. The next time I go I will be sure to say I want the least amount of oil they can use to cook. The scrambled eggs weren't particularly greasy but the potatoes were and would have been okay if the toast hadn't already gotten me to my grease 'fill line' (I forgot to say no butter as I often do). Even though a little greasy the homefries were amazing and I can't wait to have them again. They're made from real boiled potatoes that are shredded (yes!!) and then crisped up nicely like a European rosti! Oh, yummmm! You get your own coffee and cream from the self serve station that sometimes gets covered by the line-up of people waiting to order. I found the people in line very helpful to point out where things were and even hand me things like the carton of half 'n' half. You go in the cooler yourself to get Frank's Hot Sauce, HP steak sauce, jar of no name peanut butter and other condiments. Jams and cutlery are put out to help yourself to by the coffee station. If you don't mind serving yourself it's a nice way to keep your coffee cup full without a wait. The peameal bacon was generous and browned nice and dark in spots (my favourite). If you like it less done all you'd have to do is ask for it that way. The restaurant is small and kind of cramped if it's at maximum capacity like it was when we were there -- the tables can be split up or paired up to some degree depending on where people are already sitting. There's a section of about 4 or 5 tables put together that can block the serve yourself water cooler but I got to it okay and I'm not skinny. It's not got a 'decor' and it's not spotless, but it's clean enough to eat in and it feels homey. I've never been to a restaurant where so many patrons were happy to gab and share with me, a complete stranger. One patron's been going there for 20 years and he knew Bud who opened it and the subsequent 3 other owners. Parking in the small plaza is tight late Saturday morning. We pulled into a spot a Mercedes pulled out of -- we thought that a good omen for the food at a greasy spoon we'd never been to before. A good choice for the adventurous and open-minded but high maintenance, fussy people will hate it and should avoid it.
