Down-home goodness in Sumner eateries

Despite its place minutes from Tacoma, downtown Sumner still seems like a small town. Heck, even Puyallup feels like a major metropolitan center compared with this little slice of Americana.

Sumner and trains go together like biscuits and butter. There isn’t any town in the South Sound that seems more dominated by its tracks than this one. Every few minutes, a train zips through with freight or another pauses to load and unload passengers.

If you’re hungry (or need antiques), you don’t need to travel more than a few blocks for plenty of options. Sumner offers free, three-hour parking. Take that, Tacoma, with your fancy big-city parking machines.

1. BUTTERED BISCUIT

Where: 1014 North St., Suite 100, Sumner

Information: 253-826-60911 or www.thebutteredbiscuit. net

Hours: 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays and 6 a.m.- 9 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays

Buttered Biscuit hits all the hallmarks in our breakfast book: morning eats served all day, more-than-generous portions, interesting flavor combinations. The seat-yourself vibe comes with down-home friendly table service. Parents rejoice: a children’s play area beckons. The eclectic restaurant is full of charming mismatched chairs and tables. Artwork under the glass is interesting, but sticky tables need better cleaning, please.

The woman roaming around the dining room offering cinnamon rolls is Tami Haskins, Buttered Biscuit owner. On her résumé is a stop at the Sweet Shoppe in Buckley and 17 years at Knapp’s in Tacoma’s North End, where she was born and raised.

The menu is not value-priced, but generous $10-$12 breakfast entrees pull double duty as a meal times two. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner, but my visits were for breakfast.

If you order the chicken-fried steak ($11.95) at Buttered Biscuit, you better bring reinforcements. The platter-sized meal was like an artifact dig: a foundation of two softball-sized split biscuits, topped with “Gramma eggs” (scrambled eggs with ham, sautéed peppers and onions) then thinly sliced fried potatoes, a crispy, crunchy golden-fried chicken fried steak, topped with a heavy pour of peppery sausage gravy and melted cheddar. Every layer tasted more perfect than the next. It’s so big, it’s difficult to know where to start excising.

Four eggy slides of French toast ($7.95) with walnuts, a drizzle of cream, and a buttery vanilla sauce needed no maple syrup, although the warm pitcher was a nice touch. Traditional eggs Benedict ($9.95) came on split biscuits with poached eggs, a blanket of smoky-sweet sliced ham, and tepid hollandaise that needed more heating. Sliced, fried potatoes added starchy dimension. A vegetarian scramble ($10.25) also arrived tepid (note to kitchen: cheese should be melted), but was chock full of good stuff: avocado, artichokes, tomatoes, onions, those same thinly sliced potatoes and cheddar all scrambled up with eggs.

– Sue Kidd

2. K.C.'S CABOOSE

Where: 1012 Main St., Sumner

Contact: 253-863-4433

Hours: 6 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 6 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays

K.C.’s Caboose was a Sumner fixture until a 2005 fire gutted the iconic restaurant with the miniature train on top. It’s risen from its ashes and moved on down Main Street to the heart of downtown.

It’s still a place where the friendly staff will treat you like a regular whether you are one or not. It’s open early and known for its breakfasts. Unfortunately, the Caboose went off the tracks in a few places when we visited for lunch.

I only took a couple of bites of a Reuben sandwich ($8.50) before I gave up on it – I would have been there all day trying to work my way through the gristly meat.

Next up, we tried “Our Famous Philly Steak” ($8.50). Served with a cup of au jus, the sandwich was an anemic presentation of the old standby – too heavy on bread and not enough meat. On the plus side, the hot potato salad was tasty with bacon, onion and a peppery and vinegary punch. A ham-heavy Navy bean soup was an enjoyable side as well.

– Craig Sailor

3. SULLY'S ALDER STREET CAFE / LUCKY'S HOT DOG DINER

Where: 909 Alder St., Sumner

Phone: 253-891-0586

Hours: 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays; 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays.

When I meet someone from Chicago, I like to tell them about Sully’s Alder Street Café. The Chicagoan usually eyes me surreptitiously until I describe the requisite menu items: Chicago dogs with the right fixings, and Italian beef sandwiches.

Sully’s is the no-frills, cute diner purchased in July 2009 by Brian Britton and girlfriend Ruby Iribarren. Several family members, and family members of Sully’s previous owners, comprise the extremely friendly serving staff. Before Sully’s, Britton and crew offered their Midwest and East Coast authentic eats in the tiny Lucky’s Diner on West Main in downtown Puyallup.

Sully’s menu is split into classic breakfast and lunch diner eats that I’ve no complaints about, but it’s the hot dog and sandwich menu transported from Lucky’s Hot Dog Diner that keeps me returning.

A Chicago dog ($3) is as authentic as it gets around here with the requisite poppy seed bun, Nathan’s dog, neon blue-green relish, sport peppers, and, yes, the tomato slices, chopped onions, pickle spear and squiggle of mustard.

Italian beefs ($9) come regular or combo style with sausage. Mine was a liberal pile of thinly sliced roast beef with an herby whiff of garlicky oregano on a crusty toasted roll. A beefy au jus gave the option of do-it-yourself dipped or dry. Giardiniera, a vinegar-dosed relish of finely chopped peppers, onions and carrots, added sweet-hot pucker.

Go Philly authentic with a Philly cheesesteak ($9), a sandwich that starts with a crunchy, toasted Amoroso roll impressively piled with finely chopped, grilled steak, sautéed green peppers and onions, with a gooey layer of provolone gluing together the flavors.

A Coney dog ($4) stayed true to its Detroit roots: a beanless chili with onions and melted cheddar smothered a Nathan’s dog. Fork and knife required.

– Sue Kidd

4. MIDTOWN STATION COFFEEHOUSE & WINE BAR

Where: 813 Academy St., Sumner

Contact: 253-826-4681; www. midtownstation.net

Hours: 5:30 a.m-8 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday

Train enthusiasts will get their engines fired up at Midtown Station. A large outdoor eating area is just feet away from the tracks and train station.

Riding in the sleeper car today? A full espresso bar resides just inside the door. Satisfying lattes and Americanos can be had along with beer and wine. Aside from the garish Snapple case and an army of dead shrubbery outside, it’s a nicely appointed space in burnt umber colors, dark wood, artistically stained concrete and pendant lighting. Mount Rainier looms through interior windows.

Midtown’s onion rings ($3.99) are made in-house and come to the table hot and as big as Saturn’s rings in a shiny batter. Accompanying creamy Chipotle sauce was nicely spicy.

The Bleu Cheese Burger ($8.99) was anointed with a gravy-like steak sauce and the usual burger accompaniments – and blue cheese crumbles, of course. It was all contained in a hearty corn-dusted Kaiser bun with a decorative whorl.

A trio of fish tacos ($8.99) were made from toasted corn tortillas holding fish, cabbage, salsa and an aioli sauce that bordered on being too sweet.

– Craig Sailor

5. SORCI'S ITALIAN CAFE & ENOTECA

Where: 1012 Ryan Ave., Sumner

Information: 253-891-8400 or www. sorcisitaliancafe.com

Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Sundays.

Sorci’s Italian Café & Enoteca is a restaurant big on classic Italian flavor, and they do it all without a stove. That’s right. No stove. As owner George Annillo, who owns the restaurant with son Jeremy Annillo, explains it, having no stove was a matter of code, thanks to no venting hood. An oven cooks the baked pasta, a pasta boiler keeps them in noodles, and the rest is done with induction cooking, which, simply put, is a high-tech way to cook using a ferromagnetic pot and electric current.

Despite the unorthodox cooking, Sorci’s is a delightful find off the beaten track in downtown Sumner. Tucked into a small building off Ryan, Sorci’s open, convivial dining room is flanked by an alcove for more private seating. A patio offers al fresco dining when the weather cooperates.

For a self-admitted know-nothing about food, Annillo and son have built a classic Italian restaurant menu. They bought the restaurant in 2006 and expanded the menu around what the previous owner served.

The menu covers the gamut of classic family Italian, with elegant touches around rustic edges. Wine is the enoteca part of the biz, accounting for 20 percent of sales; it offers weekly wine tastings and wine knowledgeable staffers.

From the starters menu, six bruschetta choices beckoned and we settled on apple rosemary ($8.95), thinly sliced baked apple rings fragrant with crumbled rosemary topped with bubbly, melted goat cheese, served with sliced, toasted Italian bread. The house specialty, creamy spinach artichoke dip ($8.95) surprised with a powerful punch of spice delivered by Mama Lil’s Hot Hungarian Goathorn peppers, a Seattle-made pickled pepper.

Dinners come with soup or salad. A $1 upgrade will buy an exceptionally composed spinach salad blanketed with feta, sliced strawberries, almonds and dressed simply with oil and vinegar. A thick Asiago cheese bisque suspended bits of corn and celery.

Lasagna ($13) was six layers of pasta deep, interspersed with creamy-eggy ricotta, mozzarella cheese, ground beef and house-made garlicky red sauce. The beef was a different touch, but it left me wanting porky flavor that only sausage can deliver in lasagna. A ravioli flight ($15) gave two samples each of a meat-filled ravioli, oval cheesy raviolis, yellow triangles puffy with sweet lobster, and crescent moons of butternut squash kissed with nutmeg. The perfectly al dente ravioli, accompanied by crisp asparagus, was dosed with olive oil, sprinkled with herbs and generous shavings of parmesan.

-Sue Kidd

6. MAIN STREET DAIRY FREEZE

Where: 1402 Main St., Sumner

Information: 253-863-8010

Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays; 10 a.m.-10. Mondays-Saturdays

Hand-formed burgers made from fresh Angus beef? Check. Fifties music on the jukebox? Check. Retro red-and-silver burger diner motif? Check.

Main Street Dairy Freeze is a tiny little building that houses a diner big on retro burger atmosphere.

Execution of the burgers can vary depending upon who is at the grill, but the heart of the restaurant is in the right place.

Paul Qualey bought the restaurant in 2003 after it sat vacant for some time. He intended it to be a hot dog and coffee stop, but he said the locals convinced him to go burger retro.

“You couldn’t ever change this to a pizza place,” said Qualey of staying true to Dairy Freeze’s burger roots. “The town has been loyal to the restaurant. ... This is where they grew up. A lot of people walk down here for sundaes and ice creams (just like they did years ago). It’s an experience .... People’s grandmothers have been here; and they grew up here, too. You just can’t change that.”

All the hallmarks of a good burger joint are there, although on one visit, my burger was more dry than juicy and the surly teenaged staffer big on attitude and stingy with the napkins nearly deflated my burger high.

The grill burger ($5.29 sandwich/$7.99 combo) was a grilled patty with steaming hot mushrooms, grilled onions and tomatoes, all gooey with melted Swiss on a crunchy, grilled bun slathered with piquant special sauce. The double deluxe ($5.29/$7.99) was a tower of a burger with two hand-formed patties, a buttered, grilled bun, thick sliced tomatoes and thick raw onions, pickle chips and a smear of special sauce.

They used to only offer hand-cut fries, but recently started serving flavorless, stale, frozen fries standard with baskets. Ask for the upgrade to the hand-cut, skins-on curly fries (just a little limp on one visit). Crunchy, battered onion rings are the best pick of all, consistently crispy good.

– Sue Kidd

FARRELLI'S WOOD FIRE PIZZA

Where: 15007 Main St. E., Sumner

Contact: 253-447-2227; www.farrellispizza.com

Hours: 11 a.m-12 a.m. Sunday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.- 2 a.m. Thursday-Saturday

Farelli’s, the popular, local, wood-fired pizza chain, has a Sumner outpost a few blocks beyond downtown.

Crab dip ($11.99) was served hot and didn’t skimp on the crab. The nicely textured dip wasn’t dripping with oily cheese. Yes, this is a pizza joint but I wish the dip came with actual bread instead of baked pizza dough.

A beautifully presented salad ($9.99) featured greens, bleu cheese, walnuts and apples in a pink raspberry vinaigrette. It was a fresh, juicy and sweet mouthful.

Farrelli’s keeps late hours – and you might need them. It took three minutes after walking in the door for my party to be acknowledged. But after that, service was exemplary. Our server brought us beer samples and even wrote down the list of ingredients in the gluten-free pizza dough.

Farrelli’s offers 14 microbrews on tap (pints are $4.50 and mugs are $6.25). After a few samples, we settled on Elysian Mens Room Red Ale. If you can get past the name, it’s a delightfully hoppy and malty brew.

We tried two pizzas. After the Mens Room, it was only natural to order up a “Hot Mess” (12-inch $16.09). The aroma of toasted cashews enveloped us even before we tasted the pie, which starts with a ranch base. That toasted and roasted flavor continues through the pizza with sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella and provolone. It develops a spicy burn after a few bites. The mark of a good wood-fired pizza is a thin, blistered crust. Farrelli’s doesn’t quite hit that mark, but it’s a satisfying crust.

We also tried “James’ Favorite” (12-inch $16.09) on the gluten-free dough ($3 extra). Big flavors came from bacon, sausage and chicken accented by garlic and cheese on an alfredo base. I appreciate that Farrelli’s offers the gluten-free option, but unless you have allergies or just really like floppy pizzas, I’d stick to good ol’ gluten.

– Craig Sailor

8. AVERSANO'S ITALIAN RESTAURANT

Where: 6015 Parker Road, Sumner

Contact: 253-863-3618; www. aversanos.com

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Don’t let the strip mall exterior fool you. Step inside Aversano’s Italian Restaurant and you’ll be met by a funky space glowing with neon signs and Christmas lights strung over trolley-themed booths. An antique bar takes center stage.

Aversano’s seems to hold freshly made food with fresh ingredients in high regard. Their fare is comprehensive, from pizzas, pastas and sandwiches to calzones and steaks. Lunch is an economical way to explore their menu.

We skipped the salad bar and tried the “ ‘Our’ Italian Meat Grinder” sandwich ($7.95). The bun was toasted on the outside but not inside, leaving the soft interior to hold a meat locker’s worth of quality cured meats and cheeses. The mayo was a bit heavy but it added to the juicy mouthful. An accompanying coleslaw was mostly forgettable.

From the pasta menu we tried the Canneloni ($7.75). A thin fresh pasta shell held big chunks of chicken, cheese and alfredo sauce. A large ribbon of marinara sauce bisected the plate, accompanied by bread. It came with a salad heavy on tasteless iceburg lettuce (a minus) but full of cheese, croutons and fresh veggies (a bonus).

– Craig Sailor

9. DIXIE'S HOME COOKIN'

Where: 15717 Main St. E., Sumner

Information: 253-863-0111, www. dixieshomecookin.com

Hours: 7 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays

Christine Jacobs’ father cooked big. So does his daughter.

Dixie’s Home Cookin’ is a down-home sort of diner with food that falls into the category of “bigger than your head.”

“He was always larger than life, he always was. He loved to cook,” said Jacobs of her father, whose nickname was Dixie. The restaurant is named after him, of course.

Jacobs uses some of her father’s recipes. The meatloaf is a popular one.

Dixie’s is operated with such diner precision, one might never guess this is Jacob’s first restaurant. She has a retail background, but owning a breakfast place was a dream she shared with her father, who died of lung cancer in 2002. Dixie’s, Jacobs said, is the kind of place her father would have loved. She runs the restaurant with her husband, David, and their daughter, Sarah.

If it’s true that proof of a good restaurant is in the details, then Dixie’s wins. Spot-on service that’s friendly too, never an empty coffee mug or water glass, and tiny little details that make diners happy: pitchers of warm syrup, freshly cut fruit that doesn’t look like it’s been sitting in a fridge all day, warm platters that keep food hot.

Order biscuits and gravy ($9.99) and you’ll be rewarded with a platter of three split biscuits made the old-fashioned way with lard, paired with a side of crispy hash browns. French thyme gives the country sausage a nice herby taste. The French toast ($8.99) was substantial, chewy bread coated in an eggy, sweet batter and doused with powdered sugar. Smoky bacon came on the side.

The breakfast chicken-fried steak and eggs ($10.49) is a classic done well with chopped Angus steak breaded in a crispy jacket, fried and covered with the peppery country sausage gravy. Order these with the Dad’s potatoes, which are crispy chunks of russet potatoes. The secret to their crispiness? They hand slice them, then flash freeze them, then allow them to come to room temperature, then fry. “The flash freezing helps them maintain their crispiness,” said Jacobs. The lady knows how to cook.

– Sue Kidd

10. WINDMILL BISTRO

Where: 16009 60th St. E., Sumner

Information: www.windmill bistro.com, 253-826-7897

Hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Tuesday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday; 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Happy Hour: 3-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday.

In warmer months, there are few inland settings in South Sound as pleasant as the Windmill Bistro. The restaurant is adjacent to the Windmill Gardens nursery. The namesake windmill rises into the sky and so many flowers surround the outdoor eating area that one expects a bridal party to show up at any second. The indoor space, occupying a vintage home, is equally as convivial.

We started our meal with an orange-themed margarita ($8.50) and a stylized sea breeze ($7.50). Both cocktails were disappointingly weak.

Shrimp was substituted into the appetizer sampler ($15.50) the evening we visited because they were out of calamari. The medium-sized crustaceans had a fresh-from-the-grill flavor that was as good as shrimp gets. The potstickers were tasty despite their lack of ginger, and teriyaki tenderloin cubes were well done but still tender.

French onion soup ($4.95/6.95) was cheesy and full of plus-sized onions. The beefy broth veered too much away from savory and into sweet for our taste.

A 6-ounce sirloin steak ($17.50) was topped with Dungness crab and béarnaise sauce. Julienned veggies were fresh and al dente and the garlic mashed potatoes were creamy without being overly buttery. It would have been a great dish but the steak had a bitter flavor from too much char.

A Louisiana-style fried-chicken ($13.95) had juicy meat contained in battered, crunchy skin. The menu says it’s prepared with 11 herbs and spices. Ten of those must be salt – we could only get part way through it before the sodium content became overwhelming. We asked for the gravy on the side and it arrived in a pitcher – a nice touch. The dish came with a miniature cornbread muffin that was chewy, dense and not crumbly.

Cedar-planked king salmon ($18.50) arrived on its slice of cedar with vegetable and mashed potatoes. One bite of the fish transported me to a cabin in the Cascades. Some might find the cedar overpowering, but if there is one dish that delicously sums up life in the Pacific Northwest, this has to be it.

– Craig Sailor