Monday, March 2, 1987 Daily Nebraskan Page 5
Arris
Cafe lias smail-towm taste
Good food served by friendly people at Mar-Shel Cafe
By Stew Magnuson
Senior Reporter
My favorite thing about family
vacations is stopping to eat in
one of those roadside, small
town cafes. Hundreds of them are
sprinkled across Nebraska and the
West, full of old farmers drinking coffee
and kids drinking chocolate shakes.
Dining Review
I heard the Mar-Shel Cafe, 125 S.
27th St., is a big-city cafe serving food
in this small-town tradition. I heard
that the food was good and the people
were friendly, just like the hundreds of
other little diners across Nebraska. So
I went there with my roommate for
lunch on a cold and rainy Friday. I was
not disappointed.
The Mar-Shel Cafe isn't large. We
were lucky enough to get a booth just
when a couple got up. Otherwise we
would have had to wait. The cafe was
full of customers, which is always a
good sign. Immediately, I felt as if I
were in one of those roadside restau
rants. Paintings of ducks, all flying
east, were nailed to the wall, next to
the wildlife and auto calendars, com
pliments of local businesses.
Those classic tiny boxes of Kellogg's
cereals were displayed prominently
above the counter, where seven old
gentlemen sat on sky-blue stools facing
the kitchen and waitresses. Braille and
large-print menus are available, a small
sign read behind the counter. One old
man was reading the paper; others
sipped coffee.
My roommate and I scanned the
menu. I already knew what I was hav
ing. There is but one measuring stick
these small-town-like cafes can be
judged by. And that measuring stick is
the hot beef sandwich. Is the roast beef
tender or leathery? Is the brown gravy
tasty or flat? Are the mashed potatoes
homemade or of the "just add water"
variety?
On the menu, I found many bargains.
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Eric GregoryDaily Nebraskan
Bill Duffy, owner of Mar-Shel Cafe, takes a break. Duffy, a
20-year veteran of the restaurant business, has owned the
cafe at 125 S. 27th St. for nearly two years..
The Big Roy Hamburger, a half pound of
ground beef and all the fixins, is $2.55.
For breakfast, two eggs with toast and
jelly is $1.45. The Hogan Sandwich
costs only $2.25, and biscuit, sausage
and gravy is available "in season." We
kept meaning to ask the waitress if it
was "Biscuit, sausage and gravy" sea
son yet, but she was too busy with the
other customers.
Best of all, the menu featured
"homemade toast," a true treat. So
often these days, toast is made in some
far-off factory. The "Homemade toast"
costs a mere 40 cents and the imported
Texas variety costs 50 cents.
Our meals came fairly quickly, des
pite the large crowd in the small cafe.
The only word to describe my hot beef
sandwich is "perfection." All the
unchewable hot beef sandwiches I had
eaten through the years soon were for
gotten. The beef was cut into crumbly
little pieces that melted in my mouth,
and not a piece of gristle could be
found.
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"And those are homemade mashed
potatoes," the waitress reminded me. I
could already tell. And the brown gravy
was thick and tasty. The whole, perfect
dish only set me back $2.50.
My roommate proclaimed the bar
becue beef sandwich as "great" and
was also delighted to find the rare
"curly-Q fries" instead of the regular
variety. And by the way, the Coke was
indeed "Classic."
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