Princeton Edition: Omelet Spot

The only place I'll go despite the continually bad service. The Omelet Spot (formerly Shoppe) is a staple in Princeton. It's the only 24/7 sit-down restaurant, so it's very similar to Eat'n Park, only much worse. The Omelet Spot is par for the course when it comes to diners. It features breakfast, sandwiches and some dinner plates. All of which will taste much better after a night at Danny's.

You walk in and seat yourself. The booths aren't very sturdy, so I don't like to sit at one on the end. They also have these weird poles in the middle of the dining area that make some of the seats nearly impossible to sit in. Our waitress this time was 30-some weeks pregnant, but I didn't even notice until she told us. She came over to the table to take our drink orders and gave us a set of silverware - a fork and knife in a plastic baggy. The table is always slightly sticky, so it's commonplace to wipe it down with a napkin before touching it.

I've found that the food is mediocre, but one sandwich I have been ordering lately is the "chunky cheese chicken melt," which has mushrooms, onions, green peppers, American and Swiss cheese. It's tasty, but it's something I could make at home. The wait time for the food varies, but we've waited more than three hours on New Year's Eve before. If there aren't many people, the food is usually fairly quick. Refills, however, are nonexistent here. Which is bad for me. The strategy is to make eye contact when you need something, otherwise you'll never see the waitress again.

As we were sitting there, a boy mopped around us and under our table a bit, which made me uncomfortable, but I guess a 24/7 hour restaurant has to clean some time. I also had cheese fries this time, which were pretty good. They were crunchy, the way I like them.

They also have some desserts in a fridge off to the side, but since it's hard to get the waitress's attention, it's hard to get anything after your meal (including the ticket to pay). I ordered the choco- late pie, and it was very good. The choco- late was made of pudding and the cool whip topping was yummy.

The truth of the matter is this: the service is awful, the food is mediocre, but it's open all the time - what can you expect? And to be honest, I kind of like the waitresses not bothering me. It's a relaxed environment where you can sometimes laugh at the patrons who frequent there, and it's just easy.

Grade: C