# Names of diner dishes
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 19, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154 "2011-10-19T16:28:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/21 "2011-10-20T20:40:47Z")
[QUOTE=Lute Skywatcher]
Use avacado instead and you get “California”.
[/QUOTE]
Or sprouts.
> [@Swords to Plowshares](#):
>
> Grand Slam - usually in reference to breakfast foods
Not so much - that’s a trademark of Denny’s.
I avoid “\_\_\_\_\_ Surprise” like plague. It always seems to be “Surprise! It’s not really edible!”
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### Author:  [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)
#### Post date: [October 20, 2011, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/22 "2011-10-20T23:15:41Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#):
>
> Not so much - that’s a trademark of Denny’s.
Actually… SLAM is used, not Grand Slam. It’s used fairly often by restaurants trying to emulate Denny’s or in a lot of cases FORMER Denny’s that lost their license and are operating independently.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/23 "2011-10-21T00:11:03Z")
> [@stpauler](#):
>
> \_\_\_\_\_\_Plate (such as the Tuna Melt plate)
Also Basket, which is usually something fried (hamburger or chicken or fish) plus French fries. Sometimes you get cole slaw with it, too. If it’s a REAL diner, your order will come in an oval shaped plastic basket, with a sheet of semi-grease proof paper in it.
The diner I go to has a Slim Jim (ground beef patty, sliced tomatoes, one hard boiled egg, and one other veggie) and a Slim Chick, (grilled chicken breast instead of the burger).
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/24 "2011-10-21T00:48:16Z")
Something like “The Big Scramble” under various quips, nominals, and monikers. Usually, a “skillet dinner” or “Omelette” that includes 3 or more eggs, a full array of breakfast meats, hash browns or homefires, onions and veg, cheese, and sometimes salsa. A couple of pounds of breakfast without borders on a plate.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/25 "2011-10-21T00:52:06Z")
Senior Early Bird Specials.
Elaine’s “Big Salad”
Hashneggs
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### Author:  [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/26 "2011-10-21T14:06:48Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#):
>
> \_\_\_\_\_\_ Deluxe
Which basically means “with French Fries, cole slaw, and a pickle” for about 2 dollars more. I always want to negotiate, because I hate cole slaw and don’t want to pay for it.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 21, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/27 "2011-10-21T23:56:45Z")
If you don’t want the cole slaw, generally it’s easier to convince the server to substitute something else, rather than charge less. For instance, a larger serving of fries instead of the slaw.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/28 "2011-10-22T04:18:23Z")
> [@GoodOmens](#):
>
> Which basically means “with French Fries, cole slaw, and a pickle” for about 2 dollars more. I always want to negotiate, because I hate cole slaw and don’t want to pay for it.
I always thought that was a “blank-platter”.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2011, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/29 "2011-10-22T04:55:40Z")
> [@pancakes3](#):
>
> excuse me, flo? what’s the soup dejour?
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#):
>
> It’s the soup of the day.
No kidding, I actually had a chirpy young waitress give me that answer in a restaurant in Gillette Wyoming in 1981. I think she had probably been told what “soup de jour” meant the day before, and was sharing her new-found knowledge in all seriousness.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2011, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/30 "2011-10-22T05:05:43Z")
nm
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/31 "2011-10-22T05:07:19Z")
> [@GoodOmens](#):
>
> Which basically means “with French Fries, cole slaw, and a pickle” for about 2 dollars more. I always want to negotiate, because I hate cole slaw and don’t want to pay for it.
Naturally, that is the “Boat” instead of the “Platter”, as Mrs. Bodoni has pointed out. Man, where do you come from?
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [October 22, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-of-diner-dishes/600154/32 "2011-10-22T14:15:33Z")
Chicken Fried \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, where the blank is pretty much any meat that isn’t chicken.
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