Mom and Pop Places

Today I ate at the Galloping Hill Grill down in Union , New Jersey . I love this place not only because they do have th e best hot dogs in the Garden State but because it's also privately owned. It's family place (although different families have owned it in its' eighty year old history). The Galloping Hill is like others -a dying breed. Unfortunaltey there ar e not many small burger and dog joints like there used to be.

The Galloping Hill Grill is located in Union County where luckily there are still family owned grills still being operated. I remember on one trip out on it I counted about seven or eight that featured everything from homemade chili to a variety of burgers and dogs. Nothing fancy. Just a grill and a griddle ready to serve out three meals and late night snacks.Whole generations work them. Kids come back from college , even thought they have degrees, waiting to begin their turn at a burger or dog dynasty. Some have been there for five generations now.

This probably is more common in the southenr part of New Jersey and just small town America in general. There are no slick chain restuarants (however good)> No fancy , trendy celebrity hangouts owned by celebrities that you see in nearby Manhattan. I love the fact that family style is not just the way it's served but the way food is cooked in a diner or cafe.I love the fact that the veggies might have been grown in the back or that the butter and milk could have come from the dairy up the road.

I'm hoping the homespun Mom and Pop places don't become relics of the past. They're too special to be relegated to a part of lost Americana. if we lose them , we lose a part of American cuisine.