Duke's Diner (out in Calhan)

If you happen to find yourself out in Calhan, Colorado, around lunch time - you'll find there's not a whole lot of choices for places to eat.

Mike and I happened to be out there Monday and the ribbon shop we needed to visit was closed, so we decided to grab some lunch and check back to see if the ribbon shop was open later.  Our lunch choices were the local Subway or Duke's Diner. Rooster's Pizzeria was closed. Since we always like to visit local establishments in small towns like this, we opted for Duke's Diner.

Now, Duke's is right next door to Rooster's Pizzeria (in the same building, in fact) - and I was a bit confused when we sat at a booth and the waitress laid down Rooster's menus.  Mike had to explain to me that Duke's and Rooster's shared a kitchen, which would naturally explain the menu cross-over.  Not really - but I'll go along with it!

Duke's is very laid back; lots of John Wayne photos, posters, and memorabilia. A place for locals to hang out - everybody knows everybody. The wooden tables toward the front seat 8 to 10 people, so I imagine this might be a sort of community meeting place at times.

The waitress (forgive me, I didn't get her name) was really hustling, even though there weren't many other customers. We ordered our food and listened to the country music playing over the sound system.

Our food came out quickly - I had the pork tenderloin sandwich with sweet potato fries.  I'm a bit of a pork tenderloin sandwich snob. I'm from Butte, Montana, where Pork Chop John's and Muzz & Stan's Freeway Bar Wop Chop are among the finest cuisine that city has to offer. I've actually driven out of my way to go through Butte just to stop at Pork Chop John's for a "loaded" pork chop to eat while driving over the Continental Divide to reach home.

Anyway - the pork chop sandwich was excellent. I fixed it up "loaded" style (mustard, onion and pickles) and commenced to enjoy.  The breaded cutlet was just the right size (not hanging too far over the Kaiser-style bun) and cooked to perfection.  Tender, no gristle, not dried out ... just perfect. The sweet potato fries were crinkle cut, just a smidge overdone, but tasty none the less. 

Mike had the patty melt - which he declared was good. His fries (regular fries) were obviously hand cut, given the variance of thicknesses, and Mike said they were good. I'll have to take his word for it.

After we finished our excellent lunches, our most efficient waitress replenished our drinks and then hustled back with the bill. Overall - a really nice experience. 

Yes, if I happen to be back out in Calhan about lunch time - Duke's will be a Do Again ... unless Rooster's happens to be open. I just wonder which menu I'll get - a Duke's or Rooster's!!??