The Route 66 Diner in West Lafayette, IN

The Route 66 Diner in West Lafayette, IN is owned by the same people that own and operate the Triple XXX on the famous Chauncey Hill at Purdue University. If you don't know about the Triple XXX, maybe you  live under a rock, or maybe you don't watch "Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives" on the Food Network.  The Triple XXX opened the year my dad was born, 1929.  The Route 66 Diner opened in 2003.  (Wow! I didn't know it had been around for that long!)  My family was craving a good burger on Mother's Day, so, we immediately thought of the Triple XXX.  But we started to think about it, and realized, we didn't know if our mother, who's 79 would want to sit at a diner counter.  So, we called Triple XXX about the seating, and they recommended their Route 66 Diner, which has real tables and chairs.
The other nice thing, it's about three minutes from my mom's apartment! (Which we turned into a healthy ten minute drive! HAHAHAHA!)

Silverware in a Oil Can

We got there and were greeted by a kind hostess.  She seated us, and left our silverware in a can on the table and gave us our menus.

The Menu

The menu has a lot of choices.  They serve everything from burgers to what Indiana is famous for, tenderloins!  The server came up and took our order.  She was really nice.

 Root Beer in a Frosty Mug

One thing the Triple XXX restaurant is known for is Root Beer! When you order a root beer at the Triple XXX, it is served in a great big frosty mug!  Everyone at our table ordered the root beer for their beverages. 

Deep Fried Mushrooms with Mayo

As an appetizer, my sister ordered the deep fried mushrooms. They came with a side of mayo.  I ordered a side of ranch to dip them in.  I don't know why the diner serves Miracle Whip as a dipping sauce, but it didn't sound very good to me. The mushrooms must have been they only "frozen" food on the menu. I don't know if this is a new item they are trying out, or something they have always served.  It's not something they are famous for, as far as I know.  The outside was cooked so crispy, but the inside, or the mushrooms were blah.  They were hard to bite into, and they were a ball of mush on the inside of the breading.  They mushrooms are something I can skip the next time we go. 

Ian's Meal... on a Frisbee

Instead of the normal baskets that are shown on the restaurant's web site, our meals were brought out on yellow frisbees. I didn't realize that's what they were. So, when the server came to take our trash, she said, "You get to keep that!"

 The Bernie Flowers Pro.

My Mom ordered the Bernie Flowers Pro. She ordered hers with onion rings. That burger is "a 1/4 lb. of 100% ground sirloin with onion, lettuce, tomato and Miracle Whip served on a toasted sesame seed bun."
The Triple XXX seems to have a thing for Miracle Whip. It's not only on their burgers, but comes with the mushrooms as mentioned above! 

 Michael with his Biscuits and Gravy

This restaurant serves breakfast all day long!  Michael got an order of biscuits and gravy with a side of onion rings!  That sounds pretty awesome to me! 

 The Bert Burger: Look at the Bacon!!!

I ordered the Bert Burger: A 1/4 lb. of our delicious 100% ground sirloin covered with American cheese with 2 strips of bacon, lettuce, tomato, and Miracle Whip on a toasted sesame seed bun. (From their web site)  The bacon was the best best part of this sandwich! I don't think that getting a burger here was much different from getting a good burger at most restaurants or even making them at home.  (I do that a lot!) The onion rings were pretty good.

Root Beer Cake with Ice Cream

They had a sign up that said, "Try our Root Beer Cake!"  So, we did! That suggestive selling worked.  We got two pieces of cake, and split them between the five of us.  Most of the "root beer" flavor was the syrup that was drizzled on top of the cake.  The actual cake itself was not overly root beer flavored. It was more of a spice cake! I tried it once.  That was probably enough for me.  I just hoped the root beer flavor was more consistent through the cake. Also, if it's a drizzle, why not drizzle it on top of the ice cream too?  Just an idea. 
I give the Route 66 Diner 2 and  a half pizza pies out of four.  Going there was an enjoyable experience.  We could actually sit at a real table with my mom.  The food was on the so so side. Maybe if we had gone to the real Triple X, this would have been a completely different experience.