Old Route 41 Diner, Neenah -- Classic Wisconsin

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Old Route 41 Diner, Neenah

Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go where nobody knows your name.

That’s right, where nobody knows your name, where nobody talks to you, where patrons sit far apart as possible with gazes planted firmly in their coffee cups, where the waitress knows better than to break the solitude – besides, she’s had a long day and it’s almost closing time – where the huge neon sign blinks EAT and nothing more, because nothing more needs to be said.

That is to say: There is nothing to say when your team of green and gold footballers puts up 45 points in a playoff game and still loses.

Nothing.

Nothing to say at all. Don’t talk to ClassicWisconsin. ClassicWisconsin has nothing to say about that. Or anything else. ClassicWisconsin will just have the fish fry, thank you very much.

ClassicWisconsin had been to Neenah’s Old 41 Diner a number of times for dependable breakfast dishes, dependable waitress dishes, bottomless cups of coffee, counter service, the little service window to the kitchen in back that makes the cooks look like nutters in an asylum – everything you would want from an honest-to-goodness diner.

It was called Bradke’s back in the day. Been sitting there forever on the corner of Main and Green Bay Road, at least since the days when Green Bay Road served as US 41 during the Great Depression, not to be mistaken for the great depression following every season-ending Packer game, but ClassicWisconsin did not discuss the history of the Old Route 41 Diner and don’t ask ClassicWisconsin why – obviously you have forgotten ClassicWisconsin had nothing to say.

The place is busy in the mornings, as you would hope for a true diner. Fridays they extend normal diner hours until 8 p.m. to sling haddock, whitefish, and perch.

On a night without pity it was the Old 41 that served up the balm of refuge: silence. And a soiled newspaper.

An old guy walked in. Silence ensued.

The old man went directly to the seating area around the corner where he could eat in crushing yet soothing solitude. This is why we should respect our elders.

Returning to the bespattered copy of the Neenah News Record, it was noted that in January 1884 two young ruffians raided Mr. Jake Simmons wagon as it was parked in front of Landgraff’s Hotel and made off with “quantity of underwear and tobacco.” Officer Schiffer apprehended the lads, likely by their ears, and had them standing before Judge Bryan in no time. One of the kids pled not guilty and a court date was set. The other took the rap and went to county lockup for 30 days.

Thirty days in the clink. Ouch. The kid learned the hard way. There are moments when it’s better to say nothing at all.

ClassicWisconsin seems to recall a very good cup of chowder, dependable fish served by a dependable waitress, and reasonable prices. But the ultimate compliment to the Old Route 41 Diner came in the only words spoken the entire evening, heard from a grizzled voice around the corner in the dining area.

“More potato pancakes.”

ClassicWisconsin.com
January 2010

ClassicWisconsin is pained to recognize that the awful theme song of the television sitcom “Cheers” was used in the first three sentences of this review.

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