Excitement over Patty's Diner

I have been going to Patty's Diner for years and suddenly it is the best diner in Readers Choice awards, funny that Reader readers are all concentrated in that little area around Patty's, you know the "hip" area.
I have always liked Patty's for being what is. little diner with good food.
I am afraid all this excitement by LTH and Reader readers will abate once they realize it is nothing like the real hip places people go to and Patty's Diner will be that little diner I've always enjoyed which actually is not to far from where I live.
I hope everyone else that is so excited well also continue to go there many months from now and actually admit that they really do eat biscuits and gravy, which by the way Patty's version is not that great.

Fwiw, the Reader readers didn't name Patty's Diner as the best diner. It was actually the Reader writers -- in this case our own G Wiv -- who selected it and I think it was a fine choice (I've never really thought of him as "hip," though). And given how long Patty's has been talked about in these forums, I'd hardly say this honor came about "suddenly."

In actuality, the Reader readers selected Glenn's Diner as the best diner (even though it really isn't a diner in the traditional sense). I'm not sure what all this means but maybe someone more familiar than myself with the hip areas of town can shed some light on it.

=R=

Hip area would be defined as an area that is a desired area to live, especially by the younger and/or artistic like crowd, such as Wicker Park, Bucktown, Andersonville, Logan Square etc. Opposite of hip area would be West Rogers Park for example.
These "hip" areas tend to have "hip" eating establishments, such as M Henry's in Andersonville.
In the past five years or so I have been going to Patty's Diner, I haven't experienced any upsurge in interest
in Patty's Diner, both in Reader or in LTH forum.
However in LTH forum there has been a sudden interest, especially after someone posted that Patty's Diner may close due to no business, someone also questioned whether this was a ploy to increase business.
I was just curious that suddenly, and it is suddenly, because as a customer of Patty's Diner this "new"
crowd of interest seemed to missing the times I went there, and that Patty's Diner is not a destination restaurant or in fact in an area where population statistics would reflect the "long existing" popularity of Patty's by people who seemingly always went there.
I like Patty's very much, mostly I admire her, that she does the grill by herself, cooks good food, who wouldn't be a little grouchy if they did the grill by themselves, it is almost a God given right.
I like the decor and the fact it is just there, a part of America.
I hope everyone will continue going there, because she is the real thing located in a very "unhip area".

There was a thread started here about Patty's back in August of 2006 and Patty's was named a LTHForum.com GNR back in the fall of 2007. Neither of those seem very sudden or recent to me. I do now understand your point but I can't say I agree with it. So, you've been going to Patty's a couple years longer than those threads have been around. Is that the gap that makes you the purist and others the trendy hipsters? If so, bully for you. For many of us, these forums are about sharing our favorite places with others who are likely to appreciate them.

I think that if you read these threads carefully -- paying attention to the praise within them, the number of posts in them and when they were made -- you'll find that interest here about Patty's has been consistent since 2006 and was actually very strong before it was rumored that they might be closing (maybe even more so than since). But yes, since it is a favorite around here and has been for some time, when the rumor popped up, many around here did what they could to show their support. I don't think that has anything to do with hipness or trendiness. It's simply a function of wanting a place you love to stick around and doing what you can to make it happen.

=R=

foodmex wrote:I am afraid all this excitement by LTH and Reader readers will abate once they realize it is nothing like the real hip places people go to and Patty's Diner will be that little diner I've always enjoyed which actually is not to far from where I live.

I am not hip enough to have heard about the Reader's choice until I read about it on these boards. However, Cabbagehead and I had lunch with our son there on Friday afternoon (it's not far from my office or from my home in especially unhip West Rogers Park), and Patty was talking happily about all the great stuff those people from LTH have done for her. Now I see the connection to the Reader. We had an excellent lunch at a place I wouldn't know about without LTHForum.

If it weren't for LTHForum, I would have never even heard of Patty's, even though I don't live that far away. I enjoy eating there, although I enjoy several other places just as much.

I don't know if it qualifies as hip, but Patty's will always hold a soft spot in my heart. It was the last restaurant I took my mother to before she died. Even though she only had a couple of spoonfuls of chili, it was the last meal we shared in a restaurant. We used to go out to eat at least once a week for several years. As her health began to fail, it became more and more infrequent.

That also was the first time I ate at Patty's. I've been back since, even though I can't even drive in the general vicinity without tears coming to my eyes. I'll always enjoy Patty's not just for the food, but for the memories.

jaybo wrote:If it weren't for LTHForum, I would have never even heard of Patty's, even though I don't live that far away.

Same thing for me. It was a great meal (I had the burger) and I am looking forward to having some breakfast items on my next trip there.

Sorry, I stay corrected. Actually since Patty's has become so popular, I haven't been able to get in. I switched to IHOP on Asbury and Howard, and I must say I am not disappointed. I wish I had known that it was there earlier as an option. Thanks for the corrections.
As for being hip or not, don't underestimate yourselves, cool dudes like you feel hip going to Patty's, but look down on chains and IHOP. It is an image, keep it.