Loockerman Exchange set to reopen

I saw in the paper today that the Loockerman Exchange in downtown Dover will be reopening soon under new management. I had written about its close a few months ago. I already threw out the paper, but I remember specifically that they said one of the things they will be changing is the speed of service for lunch and that lunch entrees will run between $5 and $10, which will keep them in line with the other lunch venues in that area. The old website is here; I'm not sure if it is still actively updated or not or will change when the new site opens.

Particularly, the article implies that they will be striving for lunch to take less than an hour. That only jumped out at me because I did eat there for lunch a couple of times and the lunch took well over an hour, and probably closer to two hours (which is really slow). I have written about the pace of lunches downstate on other occasions, and it still amazes me that (as compared to Wilmington), that it is a struggle for a group or even two people to get in and out of some of these places for lunch under an hour.

But maybe this attempt to pick up the lunch pace will rub off on some of the other fine eating establishments in Dover. For now, the record for the best service in terms of food, speed, and price remains the Amish Market (Spenses, which is near the hospital).

(Still not sure where they expect people to park if they really want to get non-Doverites to return to downtown Dover at night, but maybe they have worked out some deal with the post office and a shuttle service of sorts). Maybe I'll check it out once they reopen.

Tags: loockerman exchange reopens, places to eat lunch in dover delaware

And the record for slowest lunch ever goes to...

Smithers, which is located in downtown Dover. Although this entry is not exactly fair because I have not discussed restaurant service in Dover other to provide a general overview of a few places that are worth going to, I can state without hyperbole or exaggeration that Smithers on State Street (downtown Dover) broke the world record for slowest lunch ever. Total time from entry to exit? Almost 2.5 hours. And this doesn't count the drive over there. This also breaks Smithers' previous slow record of 90+ minutes, which was set in a different lunch a couple months ago.

I'm not joking, and perhaps I am unlucky in lunch. The previous record for slowest Dover lunch was clocked at 2.15 hours at the Loockerman Exchange, which has since gone out of business. Maybe it's just that part of town that is slow. I've been to other places around there though (Lobby House, 33 West, Irish Mikes, the pizza place across from Loockerman, TGI Fridays, to name a few in that area), and while all of these places are slow sometimes, they are never that slow.

In this particular experience, it took almost an hour to get our first drink, and while my description may imply that the place was hopping, it was not: I saw maybe five or six groups there, mine included. As I mentioned, the food is decent, the wings are great, and you can get a lunch under $10, but who can afford to take more than an hour for lunch? Even La Tolteca and the Olive Garden can get a group of six or seven in and out in less than an hour, so I'm not sure how these local chains can't figure out the concept. Or maybe that's why I only saw five groups there, who knows.

The food Smithers serves is good, don't get me wrong. The outside deck is a good time otherwise also, and I've been to their happy hours several times and they are fun. But for lunch, I highly doubt I will go there again. You don't have to take my word on it, though - check it out yourself. Just be sure to block off a two hour schedule in your day in case your service is as slow as mine was.

In the meantime, I'm going to stick to places on 13 for a while and see if that keeps my lunch hour to a more reasonable length. I think I've been to just about all of them now, but am always open for suggestions as to more.

Tags: smithers restaurant dover