Late Night Eats in Ridley Park

 Stargate Diner and Restaurant

240 W. Chester Pike

Ridley Park, PA 19078

My favorite part about being on vacation is the freedom to do what you want. Back home, it's rare that we eat dinner past 7pm, but while we're on vacation and can sleep in, anything goes. We had just attended a soccer match, and not wanting to eat at the stadium, we were all famished when the game was over close to 10pm. I quickly searched for restaurants that were still open, and that brought us to Stargate Diner in Ridley Park. 

Ever since the pandemic hit a few years ago, it's been hard to find diners that are open 24 hours. From what I've gleaned, Stargate Diner reduced their hours for a time, but now they are back to serving their community every hour of the day. This used to be a Burger King many years ago, but it's been Stargate Diner for at least 13 or more years. There's another Stargate Diner in Delaware, but I need clarification on the connection between the two.  

Our eight-person group arrived at just past 10pm and were met with a nearly empty restaurant, but some charming staff set us up in the back of the dining area. In true diner fashion, the menu at Stargate is enormous. They serve breakfast all day, and there are plenty of choices. Sandwiches are also plentiful here. Deli classics, paninis, clubs, cheesesteaks, burgers, open-faced sandwiches, and pulled pork sandwiches, which they call porkers, are all available. Then, if you still need more selections, they also offer more significant dinners featuring steak, seafood, and Italian offerings. It was quite a lot to take in. We quickly made our selections and waited for our food to come out. 

Usually, when I'm eating after 10pm in a diner, I always veer towards the breakfast side of the menu. I deviated from that course of action, but others we were with did not. Hot Cakes with Bacon ($9.99) and Two Eggs with Bacon ($9.99) both got passing marks. The bacon was crisp, and the pancakes were golden brown with plenty of butter provided. One drawback was the packaged syrup, which didn't taste as good as pouring it from a syrup dispenser. The eggs were cooked to a perfect over easy, but the home fries could have been more seasoned and crisped up.  

Philadelphia is known for cheesesteaks and Italian pork sandwiches, but Scrapple should also be mentioned. It might surprise some people living in the Mid-Atlantic region. Still, scrapple is only on a few menus around the rest of the country and is almost nonexistent in California. For those who do not know what scrapple is, it's an ethnic food of the Pennsylvania Dutch. It's made by mincing ground pork, adding spices and a coarse binding agent like buckwheat or cornmeal, and then frying it. It was actually terrific. It has a good crunch on the outside and a sage/pork taste, like a firmer sausage aura to it. I'd order it if it was available on more menus back home. 

Another thing we see very little in California is Creamed Chipped Beef ($5.49). Erven gave it a whirl at Stargate Diner and really found it enjoyable. The dried beef is submerged in a thick white sauce that drowns out the dried steak. It was okay but very filling. I'd only be able to have a couple spoonfuls of this at the most. Erven did an admirable job of almost finishing it. 

The rest of us got sandwiches and other assorted things. The Bacon Burger ($11.99) looked good from across the table. It came with lettuce, tomato, Swiss cheese, and two strips of bacon. There were also plenty of fries included on each plate. Rocio tried to be extra fancy when ordering the Tuscan Panini ($11.99).  This pressed sandwich came with chargrilled chicken breast, roasted red peppers, provolone, and basil pesto sauce. Rocio ate half of this and let Erven take the rest back to the hotel for breakfast in the morning. The only fried fish I could find on the Stargate menu was the Fried Fish Flounder, and I'm pretty sure the one pictured above was not that. I don't know who ordered this, but it looked basic from where I was seated. 

My standard meal when eating in a diner is a Patty Melt ($11.99). The menu called for rye bread to be used here, but I believe they used just regular white bread, which was fine. Plenty of grilled onions and Swiss cheese joined the eight-ounce patty between the bread. It was a good patty melt and made even better when I asked for a side of Russian dressing for it. The fries were your basic frozen fries, which were fried crispy and hot. Last But not least was Katie's selection, the Turkey Bacon Panini ($11.99). This was a better version of the Super Bird I've had many times at Denny's. They were generous with the sliced turkey and bacon and the melty provolone bound nicely to both meats. Katie had wished that there was a bit more mayo on here to moisten it up a bit. 

As I was writing this review, I knew just how I would sum up our visit to Stargate Diner. Stargate is a solid choice if you need food after 10pm and want something other than fast food. This is not fine dining by any means, as the food is pretty average, but they have an enormous menu, making it impossible for anyone eating here not to find something they want to eat. The prices were fair, our food came out promptly, and the service was efficient and pleasant. It's not always something that happens when eating this late at night. 

Out of five cherry trees (because George Washington led his troops through this area in 1777 on his way to Willmington, and he was famous for chopping down a cherry tree), five being best to zero being worst, Stargate Diner and Restaurant gets 2.5 cherry trees. 

For more information about Stargate Diner and Restaurant, head to their website by clicking here: https://stargatedinerpa.com/