The Barn Restaurant

I bought a copy of the 1978 first edition of Roadfood by Jane and Michael Stern for this Restaurant Time Tunnel project, hoping to look up some of the listings in that essential traveling food guide. The Barn Restaurant, in Delta, Ohio has a nice entry. The address is 313 W. Main Street, Delta, Ohio, and it seems to still be open. The picture above is from when I stopped by maybe 5 years ago, though I'm not sure exactly. I had a fine diner breakfast. The place really is situated in a barn, just west of the small town of Delta, on a road called "Alternate" U.S. 20, which is the U.S. Route 20 that runs from Boston to Newport, Oregon. Regular U.S. 20 runs parallel to this road, several miles north, for some reason. I bet there's a story there, but I don't know it. The Barn is also within walking distance of an exit on the Ohio Turnpike, though if you're on the turnpike you're probably not walking... but who knows. Jane and Michal Stern enjoyed the "wet beef" sandwich, and said the pork steak also looked good. They also mention a sign above the cash register that said, "New pork is second only to sex." I don't remember seeing that sign on my visit, but I might have missed it. One wonders if priorities have changed at all over the last 35 years.