Editor’s Note: Fork & Dagger is 828newsNOW’s anonymous restaurant review series, written by our independent Grub Scout—no freebies, no press perks, no agenda. Grub Scout pays full price, visits unannounced, and takes notes on food, service, atmosphere, and value. Each review reflects a recent, honest experience rated on our 1‑to‑5 fork scale. We aim to help you discover standout dining spots—from casual diners to white‑tablecloth affairs—one bite at a time.
The 50-year old local institution that was Happy Hill Diner on Patton Avenue closed its doors in 2021. Thankfully, it didn’t sit vacant long, as Regina’s Westside opened in its place. With a pretty pink coat of paint and a yearning to serve comfort food classics, Regina’s opened for business in 2023.
The decor is retro chic and adorable, with color and decor reminiscent of a hole-in-the-wall Indian restaurant. It’s quite charming, and the server was quite bubbly.
We were there for a late brunch, and the menu was really enticing. For drinks, I had a mezcal margarita and she had an Irish coffee. Both were quite good. I also had the regular coffee, and it was acceptable.
I was excited to have the fried chicken biscuit, but somehow, they ran out of biscuits. How does a breakfast joint run out of biscuits two hours before closing? I have no idea, and I’m still befuddled.
Thankfully, they still had the biscuit with sausage gravy, so we shared that. Now, I’m from the deep south, so I’m almost as picky about biscuits and gravy as I am collard greens. Regina’s passed my test with flying colors. The biscuit retained its tough exterior while remaining fluffy and gooey on the inside. The white gravy was perfectly black peppered with just the right amount of crumbled country sausage. Don’t miss this one.
For my entrée, I chose the bacon and cheese sandwich on a brioche, which was fine, but would have been really good on a biscuit. I thought the side of French fries was wonderful.
She chose the pork hash –a pork loin hash with two sunny-side-up eggs, bacon, jalapeño, home fries and cheese sauce. It was absolutely delicious.
Overall, it was a good experience. They have many other interesting breakfast/lunch options like chicken and waffle, shakshouka (a classic Middle Eastern breakfast), mushroom roast, shrimp and grits, and a fried chicken sandwich with hot honey. They’re also open for dinner, and I’ll certainly check that out sometime. The prices were reasonable, too. I think next time I’ll try to get there a little earlier, as to not miss out on menu items.
