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DJ's boule bowls are
worth the drive
By Elliot Wild
Collegian Features Editor
Located off the main road in the small town
of Pittsford, DJ's Family Restaurant is the kind of place a
college student is more likely to find by accident than direct
intent. However, DJ's, has been seeing a growing number of Hillsdale
College students purposefully heading out to the small-town
diner.
Both food lovers and the economically savvy
will find DJ's well worth the 15-minute drive from Hillsdale.
The featured dish is the soup of the day in
a boule (bread) bowl. The bowl is made from a round of thick,
high-gluten French bread with the top taken off and the inside
emptied out. The inside is then given butter and garlic and
baked before pouring the soup inside. The soups are excellent,
with the vegetable beef barley (Monday), cream of potato with
bacon (Wednesday) and Boston clam chowder (Friday) being my
personal favorites. Also, consider an order of "Janelle
sticks" (garlic bread with pizza cheese baked on) as an
excellent complement to the bread bowl.
DJ's also offers a variety of subs for about
$4 and pizzas in the $12 to $18 range.
The restaurant is housed in a building at
least 100 years old, filled with local history. Old newspapers
from JFK's assassination to a tornado that ripped through the
area forty years ago adorn the walls like a local museum. The
interior also has local antiques like old train lanterns and
a 1920 calendar featuring Pittsford World War I veterans. Also,
a photo from the turn of the 20th century shows the building
as one of many shops tightly lining the streets of Pittsford.
Co-owner Mary Jo Dunlap said during the building's lengthy history
it served as a barbershop, hardware store, apartment building,
and two other restaurants before she and her husband, Don, refurbished
the building and opened DJ's 12 years ago.
The diner also has plenty of Dunlap's own
family history woven into it. For instance, the "Janelle
sticks" are named after her daughter, who would always
order them from home, and the "Spott special" (a sub
sandwich with "everything but the kitchen sink") drew
its name from Don's nickname at work. Patrons with toddlers
can also order the "Mitchell special," a toddler variety
meal.
Even though the food is excellent and the
prices are low, DJ's is still a far cry from a Hillsdale College
hangout. Rather, it better fits the description of a quiet,
well-lit family restaurant. And for a harried college student
running on fumes from his most recent cup of coffee, that may
be just the place to go.
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A tempting garlic-baked bread bowl overflowing
with vegetable beef barley soup.
Co-owner Mary Jo Dunlap at the takeout
window. To find DJ's from campus, take M-99 East and keep going
straight as it becomes M-34 East. Continue on until you reach
Pittsford. Take a left on Pittsford Rd quickly followed by a
right on Market St.
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