Every now and then, some restaurant takes me by surprise. The latest jolt came at an eatery on West Central Avenue at Monroe Street, which I've never paid much attention to apart from seeing the sign out front advertising it as Sam & Charlie's Waffle House.
That's the name I knew it by when I lived in the general neighborhood. But driving by there recently, I noticed that it's now called Sam & Charlie's White Hut Diner.
What? Could this be the same White Hut I remember from the 1950s? As a newly mobile teenager back then, one of the great warm-weather joys was cruising the White Huts to check out the 24-hour-a-day, roller-skating carhops and eating Super King double-burgers.
I thought all the White Huts had been torn down long ago, but Sam & Charlie's still holds onto a piece of Toledo history. Though brothers Sam and Charlie Fine have passed on, the Super Kings continue to headline the menu, along with flavored waffles. I couldn't wait to bite into one of those big double-decker burgers for old-times' sake.
By way of background, Sam Fine opened the first of seven White Huts in 1936. Later came the Mello Cream Bakery, Suzy Q doughnut shops, and Uncle Sam's fast-food restaurants. What remains of the once-thriving Fine empire now serves breakfast and lunch from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week.
The modestly appointed Sam & Charlie's echoes to the beat of AM radio over the speakers. Breakfast draws a crowd, and for good reason: perfectly cooked eggs, pancakes, French toast, nine choices of omelets ($3.99-$6.99), and exceptional home fries, a pile of them cut thin and grilled to a delicious golden brown ($1.99).
There are eight flavors of waf-
fles dripping with a choice of nine flavored syrups, all priced at $4.99. Among the many varieties - dipping, scrambler, and fruit-topped - I found the classic malted waffle to be fluffy and nicely heavy on the malt. Caution:
A large soft drink ($1.89) is just that, a 48-ounce mug that's almost too heavy to lift.
On another visit, a double BLT ($5.59) came stacked with six strips of bacon, and savory chicken gumbo soup ($2.19 a cup, $2.99 a bowl) included okra, lima beans, celery, and tomato.
As for the highly anticipated Super King ($5.29), it looked the same as I remember it - two patties, cheese, lettuce, and special sauce on a homemade bun with chips and a pickle spear. But what I recall as being so good now struck me as greasy and flavorless, with the cheese sticking to the bun and the bun falling apart in my fingers. This only goes to show that sometimes, memory serves the best food in town.
Contact Bill of Fare at fare@theblade.com
First Published December 8, 2005, 10:17 a.m.
