By Rose Martelli
Photograph by Katherine Bish
“Hang On Sloopy” plays loudly over the speakers, and it seems appropriate. At After 24 Hour Diner & Games, which sits adjacent to the Atomic Cowboy on Manchester, in the Grove, the air is heavy with a desire to assimilate that retro-nostalgia kitsch we collectively associate with greasy spoons. The countertops are lacquered in cherry red, the tabletops covered with red-and-white–checkered vinyl tablecloths. Route 66 signs, decommissioned license plates and groovy LP covers (Simon and Garfunkel, Judy Garland) festoon the walls in that cutesy “random” way, each bit of decoration at an angle just so. The setting doesn’t evoke a complete time warp—the salvaged interior’s grungy essence is largely left as is, with its exposed brickwork and ductwork—but the attempt can’t be missed.
The hit ditty also rings true at 11 p.m. on this particular Thursday, because that’s what I’m doing: hanging on, waiting for my waitress to check back with me after presenting my After Burger mere minutes after I ordered it. It’s served on a toasted kaiser roll with American cheese, but the lettuce and tomato noted on the menu are nowhere to be found. Since the waitress has likewise gone AWOL, I surrender to eating my After Burger as is: a quarter-pound of beef that’s quite good, in a workmanlike way. By the time I see her again, I’ve finished it.
Man, am I rooting for a place like After. What an undertaking, to open a 24/7 eatery in a neighborhood that’s still finding its footing—and that still doesn’t really get rocking till ’round midnight. And who better to attempt it than Dennis Gorg, owner of Coffee Cartel, that all-hours stalwart in the Central West End. After’s menu covers the wide variety of cheap eats that any dinermenu must—breakfast anytime, a couple of salads, lots of sandwiches, comfort foods such as a country-fried steak, desserts galore—and “cheap” is an understatement, for prices here reach an unheard-of low.
Any diner has its hit-or-miss menu items; that’s almost part of its charm. Hit: the adorable meatloaf dinner of baked ground-beef slices topped with just-right creamy white gravy (not too floury, not too watery), sided generously by cut green beans and mashed spuds or mac and cheese. (Get the mac.) It’s a wholly worthwhile meal, eminently satisfying though not knock-you-over flavorful. (Sometimes filling you up good and plenty is plenty and good enough.) Miss: the grilled cheese sandwich, wrongly put together with puffy Texas toast and maybe two slices of Kraft American. Hit: the house-specialty white-chocolate milkshake, laced with caramel and mixed well enough to be sucked through a straw. Miss: “Spudsters,” breaded and deep-fried “mashed potato tots” that don’t live up to their own curiosity factor. They taste like the color white. Hit: a terrific patty melt, juicy and oniony sweet, an even better choice than the burgers.
And then the big miss: service. Gosh, these kids are ready and willing to a fault, but as yet they’re not fully able to handle even three tables at once. Perhaps if you situate yourself in the backroom—the smoking-allowed game room, decked out with pool tables, a pinball machine and board games—the diversions will help pass the time and ameliorate the frustration. Or perhaps Gorg just needs more time to smooth out his operation. Either way, let’s keep our fingers crossed and do as the one-hit-wonder McCoys implore us to do: Hang on.
4146 Manchester, 314-652-4800, afterdiner.com. Hours: 24 hours, every day.
