Unless you travel the Mohawk Trail through Shelburne Falls frequently, you may find yourself whizzing by this amazing little restaurant without knowing enough to stop in for an unexpected and truly memorable experience: the Mohawk Diner, located in a clean, bright but fairly typical one-story retail strip, takes typical diner fare such as eggs, pancakes, French toast, burgers and sandwiches to new heights.
Owned and operated by Mike Ryan, an enormous man who seems to have used his own appetite to gauge the size of the portions in his restaurant, the Mohawk Diner is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week. Like other breakfast and lunch joints with similar menus, the diner attracts a local clientele who frequent the restaurant as a place for good food served quickly at an affordable price. What makes the Mohawk Diner special—something its regulars may take for granted by now—is the gourmet twist it puts on even the simplest dish.
Take, for example, the diner's popular Mushroom Medley omelet. Where most breakfast places use only white mushrooms in their omelets, the Mohawk Diner's uses a mix of shiitake, portabella and white mushrooms, adding a distinctly elegant touch you're unlikely to find in other diners. Or consider the eggs Benedict: the diner makes its own Hollandaise sauce, which, given the extra care it takes to reach such culinary perfection, it includes as a specialty on weekends only.
The menu at the Mohawk Diner reflects a similar sense of restraint, an approach that works well in many far fancier eateries: by limiting the menu to a smaller number of items than you'll find at diners that feel compelled to compete with chain restaurants like the International House of Pancakes and Denny's, the Mohawk Diner only offers meals that it has perfected and can deliver at the highest quality time after time. Some items—the homemade corned beef hash, for example—are on the menu every day, while other remarkable culinary achievements like its Reuben sandwich, piled thick with the leanest meat imaginable, show up less frequently as daily specials.
In a recent visit, I ordered one of my all-time favorite diner dishes—the fried egg sandwich. Offered on either a Kaiser roll or a sandwich-sized English muffin, the Mohawk Diner's fried egg sandwich is enormous—and quite a value at $2.25 plus an additional 50 cents for cheese. I ordered mine with the big English muffin grilled, rather than toasted. I hadn't thought this simple but dependable sandwich, which I've enjoyed in literally hundreds of diners and delicatessens over the years, could be substantially improved upon. The Mohawk Diner's fried egg sandwich, however, is the best I've ever had by some distance.
I wonder how many of the thousands of people who pass this diner on their way for a day of skiing or kayaking or fishing or hiking in the region choose to fill their bellies at one of the fast-food joints at the junction of Interstate 91 and Route 2 in Greenfield, no doubt looking for something fast and inexpensive. Had they waited just a few more minutes, they might have enjoyed an unexpectedly delicious meal, served just as quickly and affordably, at the Mohawk Diner.
The Mohawk Diner is located at 1105 Mohawk Trail (Route 2) in Shelburne Falls. The phone number is (413) 625-6643.
