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Located in the San Joaquin valley city of Lodi, Denis' Country Kitchen has been voted as serving the "Best Breakfast in the San Joaquin valley" and "Lodi's Best Burger and Fries" in numerous surveys. I can't judge what is the "best" but both my wife and I know they serve delicious burgers, and out-of-this-world fries. As with all of reviews that I publish, I have no affiliation with the restaurant reviewed, and there is no monetary gain on my part, as I am simply a person who likes to eat, and I love to write-up, and publish my dining experiences.
Photo: Denis' Country Kitchen is located in a tiny strip mall on Lockeford Street, near the west end of Lodi. The only complaint that I have is that parking is a little tight, as we had to park across the street, on the street, which we don't really like to do in my wife's nearly-new van.
Photo: As you walk in, the restaurant shouts DINER! Can you say "country" atmosphere? We love the "old school" diner atmosphere, and the cozy decor. Today is Thursday, July 26, 2018, and the clock on the wall says it's 12:20 in the afternoon, and we're here to enjoy a delicious lunch.
Photo: As you walk in, you're greeted with a "Please Wait to be Seated Sign," but the meeter/greater/cashier pleasantly told us to site anyplace that we was open. We chose a booth to the rear of the restaurant, near the small diner counter.
Photo: One page of the extensive lunch menu, listing the burger and sandwich choices; there are many other pages to the menu. Denis' Country Kitchen is open for breakfast and lunch, and it was a hard choice between a burger, or a chicken fried steak breakfast, but on this early Thursday afternoon, the burger won out.
Photo: At the rear of the restaurant, there is a small counter with four stools. Behind the counter is the window to the kitchen, and if you look closely, you can see one of the chefs at work. During our visit, the restaurant was about half seated - with a couple large groups - yet your orders arrived in only about 15 minutes after placing them.
Photo: Meet Margi, our friendly server who smiles, after she'd set our burgers on the table. She gave us friendly, efficiently service, and checked up on us several times, but not enough to be intrusive.
Photo: My wife Sharlene and I are ready to enjoy a couple of delicious broiled burgers, from the amazing lunch menu.
Photo: Sharlene ordered a "Mushroom Burger," which happens to be one of her favorite burgers. The menu describes the burger as, "100% USDA Choice beef patty, char broiled with sauteed mushrooms, jack cheese, fresh lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced dill pickle, and our special sauce." The menu gives you the choice of fries or cottage cheese - both Sharlene and I chose fries - but "upgrades" are available if you're not in the mood for cottage cheese or fries. Sharlene loved her burger, along with the fries - more on the fries in the next photo - but since the beef patty was 1/2 pound, she took about half her lunch home in a box to enjoy for dinner.
Photo: I went the "burger" route instead of breakfast, which was a difficult decision, as I absolutely LOVE breakfast, but I couldn't resist the "Ortega Burger" from the burger section of the menu. The menu describes an "Ortega Burger" as, "100% USDA choice beef patty, char broiled with sauteed Ortega peppers, melted jack cheese, fresh lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced dill pickle and our special sauce." Oh, I forgot to mention the beef patty in my burger, like Sharlene's was a half pound, which kept me going until dinner, as I ate the whole lunch. The burger is "old school," which means when you pick it up, it just oozes juice, which is what I love. The 1/2 pound patty was cooked medium, and I assume you could order it cooked to your liking, but medium is what I like. The sauteed Ortega peppers were chopped, and blended with the sauce, which made the burger smooth and creamy. Jack cheese was melted on the patty, and the burger was served open-face, with the pickle, lettuce and tomato on one bun, and the meet and cheese on the other bun. Such a great burger! The fries... the fries... oh the fries! Denis' Country Kitchen serves some of the best fries that I've ever enjoyed, and the fries served with the burger are almost worth the price of admission. The fries are deep fried to a golden-crispy brown on the outside, and are soft and chewy on the inside, with little oil or salt, so they're not salty or greasy. If you care to salt your fries, a salt shaker is on the table for your pleasure. These fries were absolute perfection! When our friendly server Margi happened by, I commented her - with absolute surplatives - about the amazing fries, and she simply smiled, and told me they're famous for their fries. What more can I say...?
Photo: We both used the knife supplied with our burgers to cut them in two, to get a better "handle" on them, as they were super juicy. Sharlene used a fork on her burger! Both of us went through plenty of napkins. Photo shows the cross section of my amazing "Ortega Burger," cut in half. Great burger! The burgers are among the best that the San Joaquin valley has to offer, the fries are over-the-top good, the service is fast and friendly, and the diner is about as "old school" as you can find in 2018. Denis' Country Kitchen serves delicious food and is the kind of restaurant that I adore. Now, I need to try one of their breakfasts... Copyright(c) 2018 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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