The spinning rack of grease-stained comic books is gone, and so is the fascinating (to the 10-year-old mind, anyway) array of ancient pharmacy bottles, but Dearman’s lunch counter is still frying up food from a lost era of American soda shops. Dearman’s is unpretentious and honest in a way that can only be earned by years of cooking with saturated fat. And when you are talking about cheeseburgers, milkshakes and hand-cut French fries, why would you want anything else?
Dearman’s lunch counter, now in its third incarnation, has rediscovered its former glory. Where diners formerly huddled around a narrow Formica bar, there now are booths and tables to accommodate the lunchtime rush. The charming but famously surly counter-ladies are gone, replaced by happy table service. There are spacious bathrooms, swept floors, a somewhat expanded menu and—even if the flat-screen TVs are bit distracting—the food is a good as it ever was.
7633 Jefferson Hwy. • 924-1391
