Hog City Diner

2 1/2 stars

1 Center Square

Fayetteville

Hog City Diner’s biggest assets seem to be location and pleasant service, but, unfortunately, that’s about it. Although the food is OK, it’s not something we’d fight the traffic for on a hot summer day or even a cold winter day.

But, that said, we usually enjoy our meals there although it’s not a place for a quick bite. Sometimes there’s still a wait for a table, and then there’s usually a somewhat-longer-than-normal wait for food.

On our last visit, the appetizer was delicious, although it took so long to get it, we began to wonder if it was going to be served as a side dish.

This time around, we got the fried mushrooms ($5) served with ranch dressing. Battered and deep-fried, the mushrooms were tasty and hot, obviously fresh out of the fat, which probably explains the delay in service. We ate all of mushrooms, savoring every bite.

For our entrees, we tried a couple of dishes.

Taco salad with salsa ($7) is a beautiful dish, artistically designed into separate sections of tomatoes, cheese, black olives, sour cream and either beef or chicken, all nestled on a bed of lettuce. Salsa comes on the side. Although the dish is attractive, the chips are sparse — we counted five on our plate — and less-than-filling unless you’re into iceberg lettuce or, as in our case, you’re already stuffed from having indulged on the appetizer.

We also had a burger, a half-pounder served with mustard, pickles, red onion, lettuce and tomatoes, all for $5.25. We judged it an “average” burger, slightly better than that served by Cheeburger Cheeburger, which readers may recall was panned in this space in our last issue.

We’ve heard some of our compatriots complain about the dark interior but that hasn’t bothered us. There are enough windows scattered throughout that the intense summer sunshine helps light most tables.

Although we understand the restaurant will soon add an outdoor dining area, we can’t imagine that’ll be much help during the dreary, gray days of winter.

All in all, we’d say Hog City Diner does a good job of serving up basic food.