Metro Diner
Regulars love the scratch-made food and welcoming vibe
By Amy Rogers | Photos by Shrimp & Grisettes
Here in the South, we’re famous for our hospitality and home cooking. Up North, they’re known for roadside diners with big menus and brisk service.
Take the best of both, and you’ll get Metro Diner. This busy spot serves its entire menu all day. That means you can get breakfast for dinner — or the opposite.
The Pineville spot is bright, busy and just the right size for guests to feel at home. Stainless steel counter stools hearken back to classic diner days. Positioning of tables and booths allows for ample social distancing.
Chicken and waffles is Metro’s showstopper dish. A crispy half-chicken perches on a Belgian waffle that arrives with a generous scoop of strawberry butter. That’s not all: Servers blend maple syrup and hot sauce to create a delicious sweet and spicy syrup for a fun tableside flourish. They wisely leave the bottles at the table so guests can mix up more.
Hungry diners can stack juicy burgers ground from 100% Angus beef with any combo of toppings, from bacon and cheese to hash browns and Hollandaise.
Diner-style restaurants are famous for hearty fare, but Metro offers lighter choices too. Lemon pepper salmon is a flavorful and colorful choice atop a bountiful Greek or Caesar salad. It’s easy to change it up into a succulent shrimp version.
Mimosa fans will enjoy a rotating menu that reflects the season. Look for apple pie, orange and cranberry concoctions in these chilly months. And no diner experience is complete without dessert. Metro is known for bread pudding, studded with nuts and drizzled with icing to perfection.
Early diner-style restaurants started in industrial cities, where working folks were eager for good food served quickly. Entrepreneurs began converting train cars into eateries in the early 20th century, and the iconic design was born.
More than a place or a type of building, a diner conveys a familiar feeling, a sense of welcome and ease. Josh Collins is the managing partner at the Pineville location. He has the daily, hands-on job of ensuring the culture. He explains, “We make everything from scratch. We create a family atmosphere everyone can enjoy. We have regulars that eat here every day, some going on three years.”
Metro partner Cliff Arthur adds: “Breakfast regulars are the most ‘regular’ regulars we have.”
