Nick’s Diner, Wheaton, Montgomery County, Maryland

A couple or three blocks from the great and wonderful Full Key is another gem, Nick’s Diner. Regular readers are familiar with my love for breakfast at old, simple diners, the ones that offer coffee, bacon and eggs, potatoes, and toast — just the breakfast standards. These are intensely local places, and usually are Third Spaces where people meet and gather during the hours away from home and work. They help build community.

Nick’s sits at a major crossroads in Wheaton, an early Washington suburb, right where Viers Mill splits off Georgia Avenue and crosses University — at 11199 Viers Mill. Wheaton has a long history, but was developed primarily in the 1950s, and today the area around Nick’s is a hodge-podge of small stores, ethnic restaurants, and a fading mall. Not far away in Wheaton is gentrification promoted by the state and county. This is just the sort of place that you find great diners.

Frank McAuliffe and I went to Nick’s after an abortive Tuesday trip — who knew they were closed on Tuesday? We rebounded at the Tastee Diner. We recently re-checked the hours of operation, and later returned on a day we were sure it would be open. We walked through the door. and at once I knew we’d hit paydirt. You walk in, turn left, and there’s the busy grill

and a line of stools leading down to a cluster of tables set close together.

These are signs of a great diner. If more assurance were needed, I glanced around and saw a beautiful crust on an order of corned beef hash, and bacon that looked perfectly crisped.

Frank and I squeezed into a two-top, ordered coffee, and our friendly server brought coffee and urged water on us. She’d been hospitalized for several days recently for dehydration and was concerned for others. That was nice of her. We sipped coffee, glanced at the menu, and then we both ordered the same thing — two eggs over easy, scrapple, potatoes, and toast.

I ordered rye toast and Frank chose whole wheat, but they were virtually indistinguishable. It was buttered well, and freshly toasted so that the butter melted..

You can see that the eggs were cooked over easy as ordered, with very little solidification of the yolks (I think we stole some yolk from another egg), and the scrapple was a large, thick piece with a magnificent crust. The scrapple had a rich creamy interior and a lot more flavor, deeper flavor, than most places offer. I don’t know if that’s because of the brand (everyone in the area seems to use RAPA), the extra thickness, a side effect of the gorgeous crust, or magic.

Frank, who grew up in Philadelphia eating scrapple, made the big change from putting ketchup on his scrapple to adding Texas Pete instead. I was proud to be there for the moment.

Frank and I both enjoyed the potatoes. There’s just a bit of crust, but they stay on a holding side of the gril with onions and just a bit of bell pepper. I added salt and pepper, and also some Texas Pete in addition to that which flowed along with the egg yolk. Very good potatoes.

It was a great meal. Our server was attentive to our coffee levels and temperature, and added savor to the meal by her continuing good humor and friendliness in a fairly hectic environment. This mayn’t be the sort of meal you eat every day. I certainly don’t. There are times, however, when a good diner meal is exactly what you need. In times like that, Nick’s is a blessing. Give Nick’s a try.

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