The holidays are about tradition, and gathering around the table with familiar faces, and sharing a meal with those closest to you. Casey’s Diner, this month’s Restaurant to Bank On, shares these characteristics, thus making it a holiday of the culinary kind as soon as you slide the diner’s door open with every visit.
Casey’s Diner, or simply Casey’s, provides one of the most unique dining experiences in MetroWest, with it’s ten counter stools and pickup window. Located in downtown Natick, and tucked away behind the Natick Fire Department Headquarters. This diner has been serving locals with some of the best hot dogs and hamburgers in the area for four generations. Casey’s is not known for its extensive menu, or it gourmet cuisine. Rather, it is known as “the place where the elite meet to eat!” On any given day, you could run into local celebrities such as Rene Rencourt (sings the national anthem at Bruins’ games), or a member of the Flutie family finishing an “all-around” dog (mustard, relish, and chopped onions), or a burger with onions “in”.
Now, let’s get back to the part when I said hot dogs and hamburgers. I can hear it now, “Really? Burger and dogs?” Sometimes the simplest foods make for the best experience, at least when it’s done right! The natural casing hot dogs are cooked in an old copper steamer and served with steamed buns, and the hamburgers are cooked on a flat-iron griddle, which seems to have been seasoned since the diner opened in 1927. This is a no frills dining experience, complete with small paper plates, chocolate milk in serving size cartons, and no forks or knives. At least I have not seen any in the ten years I have been going to Casey’s. The hot dogs come with your choice of mustard, ketchup, onions or relish. The burgers are ground fresh, and formed everyday, and are made to order. Some of the local favorites include the pepper burger with onions “in,” which means cooked into the patty. Knowing the “lingo” will only help to further endear you to the already friendly staff and diners lucky enough to find a stool.
Although Casey’s is best known for their hot dogs and burgers, the menu does include some other homemade favorite. Items such as the Chopped Ham, and Egg Salad are often ordered on toasted bread, and the nine different pies will leave you feeling like you just finished dinner at your grandmother’s table. Finally, in the true diner way, Casey’s began serving breakfast in 2015, and is also gaining a strong following.
The mark of good restaurant is when patrons refer to the food and emphatically say “It’s good!” rather than single out parts of the menu. Speak to the regulars at Casey’s, and they never say, “They have good hot dogs and hamburgers.” Rather, you hear “I’ve been going there for years, and it’s good!” And you can see the tradition lining up outside the pickup window when all the local college kids come home for the holidays, and the first place they go is an old yellow dinner to meet with their friends, and “eat with the elite!”
Casey’s Diner is located at 36 South Avenue, Natick, MA 01760. Their website can be found at http://www.caseysdiner.com/