The Diamond Grill in Salem, UT

Green chile burger with fries and fry sauce

Salem, Utah, population 5,000. We don't live in tiny Salem, but it's right by us. This is our MOST favorite place for lunch that we have found since moving to the Frozen North.

The DG, as we call it, it a classic greasy spoon. They feed hungry construction workers and old ladies with snowmen embroidered on their sweater vests. To prove to everyone that they are as hometown as they appear, they have a bulletin board with pictures of the locals with the latest beast they have hunted and killed. There are dead moose, pheasants, deer and elk, all posed with their captor, smiling and proud.

I mostly stick with my old stand-by when I go there. Burger, fries and drink. But Ethan has ventured past that and has enjoyed the scones and chili- both very good.

The best bite of a burger, right in the middle.

My current favorite is the green chile burger. What makes a burger worth your time and stomach space is a good bun. If the bun is no good, it's not worth the calories. At the Diamond Grill, they know this and they use the best hamburger buns.

The fries are totally worth mentioning. I don't know what they do to make them so magical, but they are. They also give you some fry sauce to go with them. Fry sauce is a Utah thing. You can't get fry sauce in California. All it is is mayo and ketchup. But it is a Utah thing. I have been known to visit Utah and go to the grocery and buy bottled fry sauce so I could take it home to California.

If you find yourself in need of a real good burger, head on out to Salem. The Diamond Grill is right next to the shiny new Salem Hills High School. And while you are out there, take a gander at the city's brand new traffic light. It's their first.