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New Starlight Diner offers vast menu, cool atmosphere

Carlisle Street eatery is a fresh take on diners

By KATHARINE HARMON, Evening Sun

Posted: 03/16/2010 11:48:36 AM EDT

Busboy Hany Melad walks by as waitress Patricia Clark checks on Glenn and Nancy Heller of Gettysburg at Starlight Diner in Hanover. (Evening Sun - Doug Bauman)

I'd seen the signs for Starlight Diner well before it opened and have been excited about it since then.

I love a good diner, especially those that offer breakfast all day.

And Starlight Diner on Carlisle Street in Hanover is all of that.

Hanover has a couple of diners, which tend to offer a late-night feel with bright lights and all of the usual suspects.

But walking into Starlight was a totally different experience.

The building is wide open with high industrial ceilings and big windows that let in natural light.

In the front, there's a bar-like area with a counter and some booths. But once you get past the front, the size of the restaurant is surprising, with a huge space spotted with booths and tables.

The new owner, Shady Habib said they did quite a bit of work on the inside before the Feb. 1 opening.

And since they opened their doors, they've been hit with a steady stream of customers.

While I had it in mind that I wanted breakfast before I arrived, the vast menu caught me off guard.

The menu is the best seller, Habib said. It includes 24-hour breakfast, wraps, sandwiches, salads and dinner entrees.

After much back and forth, I opted for one of the specials - a shrimp salad wrap, with chips and a cup of soup for only $6.95.

My dining partner opted for my usual go-to, eggs Benedict for $5.50.

And while the place was packed on a Tuesday toward the end of the lunch hour, our food came out in less than 10 minutes.

The shrimp in the wrap were good, but much smaller than those I've had in other shrimp salads and there was a little too much lettuce and tomato that overpowered the shrimp.

That said, it was still pretty tasty, with the sauce dripping out of the wrap.

And there were no complaints from the breakfast side of the table.

It's safe to say that Starlight has become my new diner of choice in town, as I want to try the chicken salad melt next, not to mention late night breakfast.

Ticket to Lunch is a weekly column featuring local restaurants' meals available during the lunch hour. Reach Katharine Harmon at kharmon@eveningsun.com.