Searching the Country for America’s Flavor-Laced Bargain Cafes and Diners

Belt tightening in 1992 doesn’t have to be practiced literally. Every city and town in America has a place like Juilleret’s in Harbor Springs, Mich.--a simple, casual restaurant, cafe or diner that serves great local dishes at prices that won’t force you into bankruptcy. And by seeking out these local treasures, it may also be possible to come in contact with a little of the local culture and lifestyle that makes each community interesting.

Walking into Juilleret’s Restaurant, you’d never know you were about to eat the best whitefish in North America. The booths are vinyl, the ceiling is of pressed tin and the jukebox still plays songs from the ‘40s and ‘50s.

Although wedged between boutiques in the posh summer resort community of Harbor Springs, Juilleret’s is strictly hometown. L.E. Juilleret, grandfather of current owner Jim Juilleret, started the restaurant in 1895 with two sawhorses and a plank for a counter. The song “Sleepy Time Gal” was written there during the restaurant’s incarnation as a cabaret in the 1920s. It’s still on the jukebox.

Juilleret’s real attraction, however, is whitefish. Caught fresh each day in the icy waters of Lake Michigan, the fish is broiled and served circled by tiny puffs of mashed potatoes on a large wooden plank. We took one bite of the tender, moist fish and knew we’d never had better.

The restaurant’s dessert specialty, called a “velvet,” is a concoction of bittersweet chocolate, ice cream and marshmallow, mixed together to a creamy smoothness and served in a parfait glass. The bitter chocolate keeps the mixture from being too cloying, and a velvet alone may be worth a trip to northern Michigan. The entire meal was less than $12 per person, including soup, salad, beverage and dessert.

Like Juilleret’s, many affordable finds are family-owned restaurants that are the result of the efforts of several generations. “My dad started the barbecue business almost by accident,” said John Vergos, who works with his brother Nick and sister Tina Jennings at the Rendezvous, one of the best places in Memphis, Tenn., for barbecued ribs. Their father, Charlie, started the restaurant in 1948 and today the juicy pork ribs with spicy crust are so popular that people pay to have them air-freighted all over the country.

“We had a restaurant that just served sandwiches,” John Vergos said. “But when we moved into this basement location, my dad noticed there was an old coal chute. So he started experimenting with barbecue.” The elder Vergos then developed the seasoning that gives Rendezvous ribs their special flavor. The recipe is secret, but John offers a few clues. “We’re Greek, so you know the seasoning’s going to have oregano and garlic in it. Since we’re also Southerners, we add some chile powder, celery seed and cayenne pepper.” The ribs are basted with a mixture of vinegar and water, then sprinkled with seasonings.

At $9.95, the rib dinner, which includes baked beans and coleslaw, is the most expensive item on the menu. But the ribs live up to their reputation. They are juicy and smell of oak smoke, and the thick, powdery crust adds just the right amount of heat.

Cross country in Bakersfield, the Noriega Hotel is also family-owned and worth going out of your way to visit. A couple at our table had driven three hours from Long Beach just to experience the hearty Basque dinner served by Janice Elizalde and her daughters, Rochelle and Linda.

In the last century, Basque sheepherders came to California’s Central Valley to tend the flocks, and when they arrived at towns such as Bakersfield, they stayed in hotels that served food traditional to the mountains between France and Spain. Although other industries have eclipsed the raising of sheep in the area, the hotels remain and serve meals to the public.

At the Noriega Hotel, you eat family style at long tables covered in red-and-white-checked vinyl cloth.

First came steaming bowls of cabbage soup, which we laced with a few spoons of homemade salsa. Next came platters of cold tongue in a vinaigrette, cottage cheese with chives, sliced tomatoes in oil and vinegar and a traditional Caesar salad. This was followed by a hearty oxtail stew with carrots and celery in a rich sauce of tomato and garlic. There was also spaghetti with tomato sauce and broccoli dressed with garlic mayonnaise. Then came fried chicken, crisp and crunchy, and a plate of French fries. Big chunks of blue cheese arrived with French bread and, finally, dishes of vanilla ice cream. This entire meal cost $14 a person. At lunch, a meal only slightly less abundant would have been $7. It’s cash only and you eat promptly at noon or 7 p.m. Reservations are necessary.

The Camellia Grill in New Orleans is another local landmark that offers excellent value. For 45 years, people in the Big Easy have come to this diner in the city’s Garden District for its great hamburgers, hearty breakfasts and waiters who turn the task of serving food into an art. The food is simple, good and, at $4 to $6 for a meal, certainly affordable. We went for breakfast and had a huge Western omelet with red bell peppers and onions and a pecan waffle that was light and sweet.

You haven’t tasted Cajun food until you have sampled crackling: deep-fried pork rind that is a passion in America’s Cajun country. One place to sample it is in Breaux Bridge, La., not far from Baton Rouge. There we met Rocky Sonnier, a slim young man who had studied for nearly three years to learn the skill.

“This looks easy, but it’s really very complex,” he said as he poured nearly 75 pounds of sliced pork rind into a huge 100-year-old iron kettle full of hot lard. “If the crackling is going to be light and tasty, it takes precise timing. You cook the rinds, take them out, then put them back in for two to three minutes to give them just the right finish.”

When the cracklings were ready, Sonnier lifted them from the pot with a long wooden paddle, sprinkled them with hot pepper and scooped them into pans. They were incredible: crisp, warm and slightly spicy. We were instantly addicted, but forced ourselves to stop before we had consumed the entire 75 pounds.

You can sample Sonnier’s cracklings, along with other Cajun specialties such as boudin (sausage stuffed with rice), at his small takeout restaurant, Bayou Boudin & Cracklin in Breaux Bridge. Prices for meals range from $4 to $7.

Even in the Hawaiian Islands, you can eat the good local cuisine without spending a lot of money. The Aloha Diner, in a strip mall on Kauai, has Formica tables, vinyl-covered chairs and some of the best local food on the island. For seven years, owner Cathy Matsuyoshi has been serving authentic versions of island specialties that visitors usually eat at expensive hotel luaus.

A dish called Chicken Luau--pieces of chicken and taro leaves cooked in sweetened coconut milk and served in a large bowl--is delicious. Kalua pig--pork that is baked and then shredded--is tender and incredibly moist. To accompany a main course, you can have a bowl of rice or poi, the much-maligned dish made from the taro root.

And the prices? “With costs going up, we’re just going to have to raise our prices,” said Lucille Rogers, who works at the Aloha. “They’re going to go up 25 to 50 cents a dish.” But even at the new inflated rates, it would be hard to spend more than $6 or $7 a person--another bargain for those of us searching for ways to stretch our travel dollar.

GUIDEBOOK Bargain Dining Recommended: Juilleret’s Restaurant, 130 State St., Harbor Springs, Mich., (616) 526-2821 (open May-October). Rendezvous, 52 South 2nd St., Memphis, Tenn., (901) 523-2746. Noriega Hotel, 525 Summer St., Bakersfield, (805) 322-8419. The Camellia Grill, 626 S. Carrollton, New Orleans, La. (504) 866-9573. Bayou Boudin & Cracklin, Breaux Bridge, La., (318) 332-6158. Aloha Diner, 971-F Kuhio Highway, Waipouli, Kauai, Hawaii, (808) 822-3851.