When we walked in to The Fort diner, they were playing Bocephus (Hank Williams, Jr.) , and now…read morethey're playing Patsy Cline and maybe that's at least half of the charm of this diner-hidden-inside-of-a-gas station, here.
But first, when you drive in, you will never think there is a restaurant here! And once you walk in, you definitely think you misunderstood the term, "restaurant." But keep walking to the back and towards the right, and you'll find a door that opens up to a whole, charming, old-fashioned slice of historic Lebanon, NH country restaurant.
You can get breakfast, lunch or dinner here, and breakfast is served all day. So, unless you are looking for 24-hour breakfast at Denny's, this is the most awesome homestyle diner to eat at up through 6:30pm-ish (it clears out by 7:45 i think). There is a lot of charm to be had, here, including friendly waitresses and cantankerously-charming cooks. And did I mention that I loved the vintage country music?! :)
There is a narrow U-shaped counter here with a fair amount of counter seating. Our server was fast and friendly. We really enjoyed it when one of the cooks came out who has just the right amount of self-depricating humor if you dare to banter with him.
The hot cakes and biscuits are cooked on a real cast-iron griddle, here, and you can taste that flavor and how good it is. The biscuits are like nothing I've seen: cast iron grilled corn meal and wheat maybe? Not sure. They look like hamburger buns but have the mouth feel of a nice, firm cornbread - though not as sweet. Our biscuit was overcooked but if I get back there, next time I'll ask for it toasted light. This biscuit did have a good and unique flavor. You might ask for your hot cakes cooked light, as well, because one of those came out dark. And we had to send back the first order of pancakes because one was dark on the outside but raw batter burst through. It we go back and get our dishes served less brown I will upgrade my rating because I was delighted with The Fort, otherwise.
We got a double side of mashed potatoes and gravy as an appetizer and it was delicious! They have an almost-whipped but definitely substantial feel, yet also firm and so buttery. Very good! You can tell the cooks put a lot of work into this food and that comes across in the flavors.
We ordered a breakfast called the Lumberjack and it was gigantic! Two eggs, 3 slices of fresh, crispy bacon, big sausage patties, 2 gigantic slices of rye toast and well-seasoned potatoes. There was a very subtle taste of garlic seasoning and I loved it! The bacon was my favorite: tasty - oversized and light in flavor - vs. some of the real country bacon I've tasted a few times around here.
Their sweet tea is good. It tastes like the homemade version of what Country Time Lemonade was modeled after.
Their two dessert cases definitely serve up some tasty treats: homemade muffins, cruellers, donuts, pies, oversized brownies and gigantic coconut squares (chocolate chips, concise slivers, Oreo cookies and tons of other sweet goodies layered in). You can order 3 different types of pie slices for the same price of a half of a pie. We ordered:
1. Coconut Custard: sweet, coconut throughout the custard, with even sweeter whipped cream
2. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie: smooth and sweet peanut butter filling with a very present flavor of Hershey's syrup. This is good and tastes like flavors i haven't enjoyed for decades. You will not find this anywhere else.
3. Cherry Pie: perfectly tart, round and plump cherries with a sweet sauce. I love that the cherries aren't over-baked and drowning in a sea of sauce in half sizes. The pie crust is thick and buttery.
Order to go items by 7:30pm at the latest. Or be seated by 6:30pm latest because when they close at 8pm, customers are leaving by 7:45pm.