Michcella T.
Yelp
Soooo I am from the East Coast, where diners are a dime a dozen - but also, we have some of the best diners in the world. I have very high standards for a greasy, diner-style breakfast that is meant to soothe your hangover woes. Price Hill Chili scratched the itch, but honestly can't hold a candle to what we have over here on the east coast - so perhaps I have a bias.
This place was up the block from our Air BnB, and we opted to call for takeout. The gentleman on the phone was pleasant enough and was able to accommodate our needs. As anyone from NJ would know, the classic BEC, SEC, and THEC (or PEC) are a clear cure for a hangover - it appears not so in the Midwest. Sure, there were omelettes and eggs your way, but the only breakfast sandwich available was The Mailman, which was your choice of egg, breakfast meat, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on an English muffin, rye, or wheat bread. No kaiser rolls or bagels to be found! Honestly, though, I can forgive that, and I don't want this review to be too much of a competition between East Coast and Midwestern breakfasts. (That's not the reason why I gave this restaurant only three stars.) I opted for a bacon, egg, and cheese Mailman on an English Muffin - hold the lettuce, tomato, and mayo, please. We also got another Mailman on rye, plus an order of French Toast, biscuits, and two sides of homefries.
The food was ready quick enough, and we opened the bag to indulge. My Mailman sandwich was actually quite decent - it was loaded with perfectly crispy bacon, and did its job well. The other Mailman sandwich, from what I understand, was mighty fine too. The other items, however, left a lot to be desired. The French Toast was served dry - no powdered sugar, syrup, or butter at all, just battered and fried toast. It was the same issue with the biscuits - they were tasty, but dry - no butter, jam, or anything to put on the biscuits. Perhaps this was a mistake on Price Hill's part, or perhaps this is the way it is - but being that we were in an Air BnB, we had no condiments to help the situation, and we were hoping that the diner would provide breakfast necessities like butter and syrup with our order because that is how it's done in NJ.
I think, though, the worst sin of all was the homefries - they were honestly the worst homefries I've ever tasted, and it's what truly knocked down my rating from four stars to three. They appeared to be sliced boiled potatoes - no salt or pepper, no crispy edges, no peppers or onions (again, maybe that's an East Coast thing, but still). They were just two Styrofoam boxes of steamed sliced potatoes. And again, being that we were in an Air BnB, we could not crisp them up in a pan because we did not have the materials to do so. We shouldn't have to do that anyway - homefries should, at the very least, be crispy and salted.
I know this place is an area staple, and I would venture to give this another try - from the reviews, their chili seems to be excellent. Also, my friend's fiancé is a West Side native and absolutely loves this place. I would try this again the next time I am in the area, but as of right now, this was my breakfast experience as an East Coast Italian.