Project:Denny's - Reviews - February 18-19, 1996


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Denny's #1214
Cincinnati, Ohio

Attendees: P7A77, J-R Little, Josh Wyen, Chris Roehl
Wait-person(s): Undetermined
What we ate: Coffee
This is the visit that started it all. I thought it might be fun to stop at all the Denny's on the way from Oxford, Ohio, to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. We started off our trip light, just stopping for coffee and cigarettes. Much to our merriment, there was a corner booth full of local counter-culture youth, which inspired us to get our photo taken. Lucky they were there to give us the idea, else this journal not be as visually-enhanced as it is.
WAY: Yes ("Jim? He ain't no manager. He thinks he is, but he ain't.")
Free Stuff: Denny's Travel Directory

Denny's #1054
Lexington, Kentucky

Attendees: P7A77, J-R, Josh Wyen, Chris Roehl
Wait-person(s): Undetermined
What we ate: Coffee
Pretty quiet for a Denny's. There were hardly any customers, and the few people who were there were very quiet and subdued. Maybe it was something in the coffee. It took a while to get the waitress to give us anything, but once she realized the sort of thing we were after, she gave the item much consideration. At this particular Denny's, they sell Kentucky memorabilia. She gave us a window sticker. We were hoping for the little mini-broom shown in the picture. Ah, well. Next time.
It should be noted that the waitress only had a few teeth, and those were severely darkened. We were hoping she'd smile big for the camera. Alas, she did not. She was quite friendly, tho'
WAY: No
Free Stuff: "KENTUCKY" window sticker

Denny's #1022
Richmond, Kentucky

Attendees: P7A77, J-R Little, Josh Wyen, Chris Roehl
Wait-person(s): Undetermined
What we ate: P7A77 - Ultimate Omelet, hash browns, toast with strawberry jam, coffee, and a large organe juice; J-R - Coffee (I forget what else); Josh - Orange juice (I forget what else); Chris - Seasoned Fries
By the time we arrived here, I had already had about four mugs of coffee, and I hadn't eaten anything for about twelve hours. Needless to say, I was slightly wired. We liked the "diner" feel of this Denny's, and we were gettin' hungry, so we decided to eat a full meal. The service was excellent. It was the waitress' second day on the job, so we were able to convince her to give us all sorts of free stuff. I got a free refill of my large orange juice, Josh didn't even get charged for his, and I got some free hash browns without even having to ask for them. Plus, my omelet was goooooood. As to actual items, we got a plastic Denny's baseball cup.
WAY: Yes ("Oh, you mean with big bushy bozo hair? Yeah, he works day shift.")
Free Stuff: plastic Denny's sports cup

Denny's #6405
Berea, Kentucky

Attendees: P7A77, J-R Little, Josh Wyen, Chris Roehl
Wait-person(s): Undetermined
What we ate: Nothing
This Denny's is just a bit down the road from the one in Richmond, and we had just eaten quite a large meal, so we just stopped in, got all the information and stuff we wanted, and left.
WAY: No
Free Stuff: Steak dinner menu insert

Denny's #6415
Mt. Vernon, Kentucky

Attendees: P7A77, J-R Little, Josh Wyen, Chris Roehl
What we ate: Nothing
This one is even closer to the Berea Denny's than the Berea Denny's is to the Richmond Denny's. The wait-staff was very pleased to see us, though, as they didn't seem terribly busy. They were so pleased, in fact, that they gave us a free coffee mug. Hell, we would've settled for a placemat.
WAY: Yes
Free Stuff: coffee mug

Denny's #6343
Knoxville, Tennessee

Attendees: P7A77, J-R, Josh Wyen, Chris Roehl
Wait-person(s): Undetermined
What we ate: Coffee
This is one of the fanciest Denny's I've seen to date. Not only does it have a cool fake stucco exterior, and not only does it have special dining rooms, but it's attached to a Howard Johnson's! Can you believe it?! The wait-staff was very friendly, and even told us how to get free Peppermint Patties out of the vending machine (ya gotta hit it just right). They seemed fairly amused by us, as well, even going so far as to have the cooks come out to talk with us.
WAY: No
Free Stuff: Denny's 'Til Dawn menu

Denny's #6430
Knoxville, Tennessee

Attendees: P7A77, J-R, Josh Wyen, Chris Roehl
Wait-person(s): Undetermined
What we ate: Nothing
This was perhaps one of the worst Denny's experiences of my life. This was the final Denny's on the Gatlinburg trip, and we were just about ready to get off of I-75 and take the country highways to Pigeon Forge. We had a pretty good idea of where we were, but we asked the waitress to point out our exact location on our map, just to be sure. After she looked at the map for a while, she pointed to a location about thirty miles away from where I knew our approximate location was. She wasn't even pointing anywhere close to Knoxville. We should have realized to stop asking questions then, but we asked her what she felt the best way to get to Pigeon Forge (which was about 30-40 miles away) was. She got all confused again, then started pointing at the map. Her hand was visibly shaking, and she was pointing in a direction that wasn't only the wrong direction, but on the wrong side of the I-40. We were trying to go southeast, but she was pointing us northeast, saying things like, "Don't go through Georgia... go through Strawberry Fields... that'll get you there...", and I could have sworn she was twitching. We thanked her for her help and got the hell out of there. We didn't even bother to get a photo inside.
WAY: Undetermined
Free Stuff: sugar tray (stolen)