Phantom Gourmet: Bernie's Dining Depot In Chicopee

CHICOPEE - Prime rib lovers, it's time to open wide; really, really wide. You have never seen a side of beef, slow-roasted, juicy, tender, and perfectly marbled, like the one they serve up in insane portions at Bernie's Dining Depot in Chicopee.

Before we slice into the prime rib, let's slice into Bernie's backstory. The restaurant, with its distinctive train car building and locomotive-sized meals has been around for a few decades, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's become one of top dining destinations for big eaters anywhere in Western Massachusetts, as owner Barbara Bernashe explains.

"Bernie's is a family run diner. Our menu is very varied between Italian dinners, entrees, seafood, a lot of the staples that you might serve in your own home. But we do have a very big menu for just about anyone that might want to come in, and they can't go away hungry! Because the meals are plentiful, large portions, a lot of take homes. We do not have portion control at Bernie's."

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Technically, they do control the portions. They're designed to be consistently and universally oversized. There's plate-tipping Fish and Chips; thick-cut, fresh Roasted Turkey dinners; a one pound ground sirloin smothered in gravy; mounds of potato skins; stacks of gorgonzola garlic bread; and even big plates of Barbecue Ribs.

Nothing - and we mean nothing - can possibly prepare customers for the sheer size and scope of Bernie's legendary Roast Prime Rib of Beef, Au Jus.

"A lot of people come in and they're just so overwhelmed. The sizes of prime rib that we do cut, three different sizes: a Caboose which is basically a pound and a half; then they have The Regular which is basically the more popular one and that's two and a half pounds; and then once in a while people that are adventurous and feel really hungry try to do the Conductor Cut, which is about 3 and a half pounds of meat," Barbara explained.

The Flintstonian side of beef is definitely too big for one person, and it's usually too big for an entire family of big eaters.

"The Conductor Cut is almost like a little mini roast. A lot of people will come in and they'll share that. They come in with a family of four, and the kids will eat off of it. They'll all share a Conductor Cut," Barbara said.

If you're crazy enough, you can even add on a side dish, like Baked Stuffed Shrimp or creamy Potatoes Au Gratin. Or, you can go fishing for a somewhat more manageable feast of fried seafood in the Fisherman's Platter.

"It does come in two different sizes. So if you are a lighter eater, they do have a petite Fisherman. But it will consist of the same fish that does come on our larger Fisherman Platter, which is baked haddock. And it has shrimp on there, scallops on there and fried clams."

Barbara does a lot of the cooking herself, and her husband's family inspired one of the restaurant's most famous dishes: an authentic French-Canadian specialty known as Tourtiere.

"That French Meat Pie has a long history. It came by my mother-in-law's mother. We used to call her Mimi. That was her French Meat Pie. Basically all it is, is hamburger, seasonings, mashed potatoes, she puts it in a pie shell. That's what they call a Tourtiere, which is French for meat pie. That's been with us for about 35 years and it's gone through three different generations."

For dessert, and yes they actually do sell a lot of dessert, you get can a dish of strawberry shortcake or slice of apple pie with a slab of vanilla ice cream. Even if they don't stay for something sweet, most customers hang around to experience the atmosphere, especially if they're seated in the train room.

"It's awesome in there!" Barabara said. "The train is the original seats. Of course they've been refurbished once or twice, but they're still the original seats. So nothing's really been changed on the train."

Hopefully nothing will change, because there's a reason why hungry New Englanders don't mind making the journey to Chicopee every once in a while. After all, you certainly couldn't eat this stuff every day!

"I can't say enough for our customers, because if they weren't here, we wouldn't be here. So I say thank you to all the customers whether they're new or old," said Barbara. "Hope they all just keep coming back."

You can find Bernie's Dining Depot at 749 James Street in Chicopee, and online at berniesdiningdepot.com.

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