The Clover Grill: A Maestro at the Breakfast Counter

The Clover Grill
Corner of Bourbon and Dumaine
New Orleans, LA
Thursday, September 19, 2012

I just had breakfast in what, if you closed your eyes and didn’t register the aroma of frying bacon and fresh coffee, would be a swell place to dance the night away – at 9 in the morning.

The Clover Grill is unpretentious with a capital U, thumbing its nose at the more refined dining destinations in the Quarter. The little diner with the big reputation on the corner of Bourbon and Dumaine is always good for a surprise, often supplied by the counterman of the day.

Said counterman is in charge of the jukebox this morning. When the mood strikes him, which is often during my 45 minute breakfast, he sidles over to the juke box crammed against a wall in the corner in front of his cash register, presses a few buttons and voila, we have lift off.

The Clover is not the Ritz. It has attitude, a tolerance for occasional mischief, an anti-chic décor, and a clientele who for the most part gets who it is. Patrons who push too hard generally don’t return.

So here I am sitting on the old fashioned red plastic covered stool at the counter, wiggling in my seat to the sounds of Natalie Cole then Dionne Warwick. This is entirely involuntary, as dawn has not yet broken over my sleepy psyche. The music has a good groove, and appears to improve the spirits of everyone inside and certainly mine as I pray for coffee.

 “Then Came You,” Dionne Warwick

Coffee arrives, I order the Clover Breakfast Special for $6.29.

“Mona Lisa," Natalie Cole

What? The music has stopped. A minute later, the counter man swoops gracefully to a juke box tucked into the front corner, punches a few buttons and bam, more fun tunes float through the air, mixing with the chatter of the patrons. The short order cook taps his spatula to the beat as he turns the hash browns on the grill.

 “Chain of Fools, “Aretha Franklin

The counter man keeps waltzing over to the jukebox. Diana Ross and The Temptations’ “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” sounds like the Clover Grill whispering in my ear. This is turning out to be a jive-y breakfast, music just loud enough to get your attention and toned down enough so you don’t have to shout when you start to talk to the person siting next to you at the counter, which I guarantee will happen at this place.

“Straighten Up and Fly Right” Natalie Cole

I wolf down 2 eggs, bacon, grits, toast and the counter man, pleased with the goofy grin on my face and my head nodding to the music from the killer juke box, keeps pouring coffee into my mug.

“What’s your name?”

“Errol, as in Errol Flynn,” the counterman says to two couples from lord knows where and banters with them. Errol Flynn could manage a sword just fine but I have no doubt that this Errol would out-swashbuckle the movie star on the juke box any day of the week.

Errol feels the crowd in the diner and selects songs he thinks fit the moment. The Clover Grill has personality, Errol makes it sing.

With a disarming smile, he pushes 15-14-01 into the juke’s keypad - here comes “Some Day We’ll Be Together” Dianna Ross and the Supremes.

I am in fine fettle. Hearty breakfast, liberal refills of coffee, and a dandy little concert.

“How do you decide what to play?” I ask.

“I look around, feel the crowd, get a sense of what I think they might like, and try it out, “he says with a pleased smile. The man’s a maestro.

“We have songs from the 60s, 70s, and 80s mostly,” he adds.

“Anything from way back?”

“We go from Billie Holiday to Adele,” he says.

Errol punches in a few numbers. A CD with “Ain’t Nobody’s Business But My Own” by Billie Holiday cues up, followed by “Destination Moon,” sung by Deborah Cox,  “A cover of a Dinah Washington song,” Errol informs me.

The man seems to have memorized the numbers to hundreds of songs and occasionally twirls around behind the counter with the sheer joy of moving to the song.

Errol has punched in several songs. Here comes Adele with an upbeat “I Coulda Had It All. ” When you have breakfast at the Clover Grill that’s what you get.

Breakfast, conversation with Errol and a few locals, a dance party line-up of tunes, some of which I hum for the rest of the morning.

I put a $5 bill on the counter next to my plate.

"Thanks for answering all my questions, Errol. The music was so good I felt like leaving a cover charge."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Punch  three sets of numbers into the jukebox keypad: the artist, the CD title,and the track. I can only remember a handful of the songs he selected but the songs and their sequence seemed perfect.

The Clover is wonderfully retro, totally New Orleans. For another pt at large story about the Clover Diner read this.

Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.

Comments

[BG]

Mr. Paul,

Have you considered compiling your essays about New Orleans into a book and going for publication? No? Well, you should.

x

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large]

Why, thank you, Ma'am,
I'm pretty fascinated (some would say love-struck) with New Orleans and Southwest Louisiana. I'm far from being an objective observer so I'm not sure I have enough range to capture an audience but am mighty flattered by your suggestion!

[Rebecca Wilson]

Love it! Can't wait to check it out. But one question - Why on earth would you get toast when you could have biscuits!!? { :

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large]

Easy answer - in my pre-coffee fog, I didn't notice that they had biscuits on the menu!

The draw for me isn't the food, which is sufficiently prepared, but the unpredictable mix of people who inhabit the place,its proudly eccentric retro look, and the counterman of the day who's likely to be a memorable part of your experience there.

It is hands down the least expensive diner in town, I mean, tell me another place that offers eggs, bacon/sausage, hash browns/grits, and coffee for $6.29 (Daily Breakfast Special 5 AM-1AM). It probably wouldn't win awards for spotlessness, it's sort of like eating in a hippie friend's kitchen

Oh, yeah, if Errol is behind the counter, there's the music part. The Clover Diner is sort of a living Smithsonian exhibit of an American diner circa 1950, with a side of attitude.

[Rebecca Wilson]

Honey, in New Orleans they always have biscuits on the menu!

[Jeff]

Paul, next time, try their hamburger. They are the best and if you like a grill show, the hamburgers are cooked under a hubcap. You still need to cross the street and visit La Fitte's. their vid dj is the best and great sing alongs with a very gay crowd having a ball.

[Paul A. Tamburello, Jr aka pt at large]

Jeff,
The woman sitting next to me had a burger for breakfast, I didnt notice the hubcap, but I heard they're known for their hamburgers. Next time, I'll order a hamburger with a side of grits - and look for that hubcap. Might even try Lafitte's, I'll bet some of the same songs on their jukebox as at the Clover.

[May Louise White]

Another fun place i would like to visit the next time I am in New Orleans.