5-02-2013 7:28pm

New Era of Smoky Nights at Saline's Downtown Diner

The Saline Downtown Diner entered the era of barbecue, dinner hours and Smokey weekend nights with a special party for friends and regular customers last week.

The diner, which began as a breakfast and lunch spot, is now open for dinner from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Tickets for the event quickly sold out with diner regulars easy to see what owner Jeff Tritton and Megen McCully were going to serve up at their friendly diner, located at 131 E Michigan Ave., Suite D.

Customers in attendance last Thursday expressed appreciation for the diner’s voluminous menu and the diner’s friendly faces.

Laura Rishel works at Saline Optometry. She’s a regular at the diner.

“I like the variety of the menu,” Rishel said. “I’m from Virginia, so when they said they were doing barbecue, I was really excited. I love southern food.”

Jim and Joan Roth regulars among the diner’s breakfast crowd. They appreciate the quaint, friendly atmosphere at the diner.

“One of the things I like is that they’re always trying new items on the menu. If something isn’t working, the switch it out and bring in something new,” Joan Roth said.

During the opening night party, the Saline Downtown Diner served cherry wood smoked pulled pork, beef brisket, smoked salmon, creamy mac and cheese, and black beans and rice.

The meat is being smoked behind Corfman Auto Plus by Matteo Melosi, who fired up the smoker at 5:30 a.m. on the day of the party.

“We go low and we go very slow,” said Melosi.

Tritton said Melosi knows meat.

“He knows the product. He knows how to smoke meat as well as anyone,” Tritton said.

The party was a chance for Jeff and Megen to see how their kitchen could handle a large dinner crowd.

The Saline Downtown Diner was doing well serving breakfast and lunch. The diner also found a niche with Tritton’s pasties. So why put all that work into expanding the menu and hours of business?

“Our customers were asking us when we would open for dinner. We just needed to figure out the avenue to do it,” Tritton said.

Tritton said he settled on barbecue as the avenue.

“We didn’t want to step on anyone else’s toes in Saline and we wanted to provide another reason for people to come to Saline,” Tritton said. “We’re the only restaurant in Saline that smokes meat.”

Tritton said the Saline Downtown Diner is on to something with its smoked meat.

“It’s awesome. We checked out our competition (like the Blue Tractor in Ann Arbor) and we go head-to-head with anyone,” Tritton said.

Prices vary, from sandwiches under $10 to a combination platter at $24.