Crazy Breakfast

When Steven suggested we go to Crazy Otto’s Empire Diner for breakfast I said, “Perfect! It’ll make a great blog post!”

Crazy Otto’s, located at 100 W. Albany St, Herkimer, is an old time diner in a silver bullet of a trailer. It is not one of those ’50s-looking diners — although those are fun, too — it is a diner from the ’50s. The decor includes movie posters, vintage signs and toys, and license plates from all over the country. Steven and I always look for the Georgia plate we gave them, but have not found it yet. We’ll have to sit at the other end of the diner next time.

While perusing the menu, I always enjoy to read the history of Crazy Otto’s, which involves the story of a young Scott Tranter and an Easy Bake Oven. I was pleased to note that the Crazy Elvis had earned a permanent place on the menu. The Crazy Elvis is French toast stuffed with peanut butter and banana. Yum! It was previously only available occasionally as a special. Sitting here writing this, I regret that I did not order a Crazy Elvis. It obviously would have made a much better blog post if I had eaten a Crazy Elvis. Unfortunately, this is not a fictional blog, so I must report that Steven and I both ate the special: two eggs, bacon, toast and a huge, heaping mound of hash browns. “Huge, heaping mound” is my own description. The waitress just said “hash browns.” We had our eggs over medium and the toast was wheat.

The Diner Wizard himself greeted us as we waited for our food. This is Scott’s alter ego, an author who offers mentoring, instructing, speaking and restaurant consulting. You can find him at DinerWizard.com.

Crazy Otto’s is open seven days, including 24 hours on the weekends. Some night when I have the midnight munchies, I’ll have to pop down and check it out. For more information on the Empire Diner, call 315-866-8801 or visit their website http://www.CrazyOttosEmpireDiner.com.