Week Two of The Summer of Lunch

This past week we visited two new restaurants for lunch.  We had been wanting to give the first place a try for several weeks, and we went on Tuesday.  It recently opened in Birkdale Village and is called Bad Daddy's Burger Bar.  Since it's known for its burgers, that's what Jay and I both ordered.  I reviewed the online menu before going and noticed that A.1. Steaksauce was not listed among the many options for condiments.  Given that A.1. really is a must for me when eating a burger, I must admit that I took a small container with me and added the A.1. to my burger after our server left the table.  Although the prices were a bit high for burgers and fries, the food was really good.  Bad Daddy's serves breakfast on Saturdays and Sundays, so we'll likely visit again on a Saturday morning (and this time I won't have to "brown bag" any items).

For our second lunch spot, we had planned to eat at The Flying Biscuit Cafe in Charlotte because we were going to be in the Queen City on Thursday; however, we changed our plans at the last minute.  My copy of Southern Living arrived in the mail, and Jay decided to peruse it while I was doing something on the computer.  This month's copy includes a page about "Charlotte's Best Cheap Eats," and one of the places listed is The Diamond Restaurant.  After looking at the menu online, we decided to go there and save The Flying Biscuit Cafe for some other time (especially since this would not have been Jay's first visit to The Flying Biscuit).  We were not disappointed by our change of plans.  Jay loved the squash soup at The Diamond, and I thought the fried chicken was really tasty.  It's somewhat of a dive atmosphere, which brings me to my second reason for being happy that we chose to eat there last week.  It turns out that The Diamond is just down the street from two restaurants that have been featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives: The Penguin and The Dish.  When we saw them, we realized that we needed to add them to our list of places to try this summer.  I'm especially looking forward to going to The Dish.