Dad’s Place

• 1104 3rd Street
• Three Rivers, MI 49093
• (269) 279-7175
• No Known Website
• Menu

As I wrote about last week, my family spent the weekend at a cottage near Three Rivers.  It’s a place owned by my dad’s cousin on Pleasant Lake.  We do it once a year.  The whole family gets together and we play in the water, ride jet ski’s, try to water ski, cook out, and order a lot of pizza to fill in the remaining meals.

This is the first year J and I had two kids and two kids worth of stuff to keep track of.  We didn’t do all that well.  Last Wednesday, J got a message from my cousin saying they found B’s swim trunks in the bushes.  They were leaving Michigan Friday morning and said they’d just mail them.  I still hadn’t nailed down what we were going to do on my our long, three day weekend, so I wanted to get them back.  I had to drop L off at school at 8:15 then I asked if it’d be ok if I ran to Three Rivers to pick them up.  My cousin and her husband were not planning on leaving that early, so they said they would still be there if I got there around 9:00.

I spent about a half hour at the lake.  My cousin enjoyed a little one-on-one time with B since that was hard to do with a lot of other people around.  Eventually, they had to get on the road and B was getting sleepy so he and I got back in the car.

He started acting happy on the way back towards town so I asked him, knowing he couldn’t actually answer, if he wanted to go get breakfast. I was hungry and we were already out so why the heck not?

I pulled over and did a quick search for breakfast places in Three Rivers.  One kept popping up with good reviews on every site I looked at, so that’s what I went with.

Dad’s Place is not a place you will stumble upon in Three Rivers.  It’s on 3rd Street across from what I believe is Central Manufacturing Services, Inc. It’s a huge warehouse complex that is used partially by International Paper as well, but I’m pretty sure that’s on the south end of the complex.   It’s tucked back in to a neighborhood nowhere near any of the main roads through town.  I get the feeling it’s been there for a long time as I can’t see how they would be able to get zoning for a restaurant in this neighborhood the way it is today.  

There’s a small parking lot next to the building then some on-street parking around it as well.  There are signs warning you not to park in any of the large warehouse lots across the street and just from other reviews, that can make parking difficult at peak times at the small diner.

Dad’s Place is not going to win awards for decor, but it does get high marks for ambiance.  When walking in, you come right to a small lunch counter. The space is really tight with a U-shaped counter and a very narrow walkway between the seats and the door.  Off to the right is a dining room.  If I was by myself, I absolutely would have found a spot at the counter, but with the baby, I thought it best to find a table.

I picked a booth in the dining room as far away from other people as I could.  Most of the other patrons were groups of retired people who probably meet for coffee and breakfast regularly at Dad’s Place.  B was being good, but I didn’t want to disturb anybody.  A waitress saw me sit down and asked if I needed a high chair.  I could live without it, but it’s so much easier with it, so I said yes.

I asked for a Coke while I looked over the menu.  It wasn’t hard for me to decide.  They actually had a special of 2 Eggs, Steak, Choice of Potato, and Toast for $9.99.  I’m not really sure how that differs from the 6 oz. steak which on the menu and comes with 2 eggs, choice of potato, and toast for $9.95.  Either way.  Don’t care.  It’s what I was going to order anyway.

It took a little bit longer than I expected to come out of the kitchen, but it gave me time to feed B a pouch of baby food.  About 15 minutes after I ordered, the waitress came out with the large plate of food and every piece looked delicious.

I started with the toast because I broke off some crust to give to B.  He is working on getting teeth in a loves eating with us at meals.  I went with white toast and butter.  Solid choice.

The first thing on my plate I went after was the hash browns.  There was a long, thin pile of the potatoes with a very crispy outside and a soft, pillow-y middle.  Both the top and the bottom had that nice brown crunchiness to it which made me leave wanting more.

The eggs were next and it’s kind of hard to screw up eggs.  They were cooked with a pretty runny yolk which gets on everything.  I always got grossed out at my grandparents when they just mixed everything on their plate at a potluck, but egg yolk is the one thing that can mix with any breakfast item and it still tastes delicious.

Finally I cut in to the steak.  It appeared to be the 6 oz on the menu, but I have no way of actually knowing.  Maybe it was a little bit more..hence the special…honestly, don’t care.   It was a long, skinny piece of meat that had salt and pepper grill marks on both sides.  The steak was cooked with a slightly pink center but a nice crust on the outside.

My bill for the meal was a little over twelve bucks…I think.  I never actually saw a bill, but I put a $20 on the table and the waitress brought me back seven dollars and some change.  Not sure if I was supposed to go to the counter to pay or what the deal was.  She asked me if I wanted her to take it and with B, that just makes things easier, so I said yes.

Dad’s Place is a hidden gem in the purest sense of the word.  They don’t do anything fancy.  You’re not going to find some incredible french toast creation here, but you will find a solid breakfast place that’s been in a neighborhood forever.  It’s a gathering spot and a spot where a lot of people have gotten in to the habit of starting their day.