The+White+House



From the second you walk in the door you know that the White House is from another time. The smell of smoke lingers heavily in the air, there are only seats for around 20 people in the entire place (8 of which are in 2 booths with the rest along the counter), and the smell of greasy food is all over you within a second. When you leave the building you wear that smell like a badge of honor for the rest of the day. The White House also has many different names that residents know it by. Some simply call it the White House, some call it Fat Shirley's, some call it the Gag and Heave, and still others refer to it simply as the Dirty Diner. Whatever you call it, everyone knows the location at Mishawaka Ave. and Twyckenham Ave. where they've existed for more than 50 years. Another tidbit about the White House is that it's the only non-bar in South Bend that still allows smoking. After a citywide ordinance went into effect in 2008, they argued that sine they refused to allow children entrance, they could allow smoking in the same way any bar can. (South Bend Tribune Story).

The menu is pretty average hamburgers, eggs, pancakes, etc... but the charm of the place is in the people that show up and the atmosphere, which is like nothing else you'll normally see in the state.