September 28, 2013 - Marvin's

When I was in high school, my dad "retired" from being a sheet metal worker and decided to open a store in downtown Greencastle that would cater to the DePauw students and also provide custom embroidery on apparel for anyone that wanted it.  I helped him out when I could and learned a lot about the Greek system and all things DePauw.  It was also during this time that I discovered Marvin's.  My father loved that the place celebrated fat and salt and would order their daily special often when he was working at the store downtown.  I thought that I was cool because I was the high school kid who got to eat at Marvin's.
Marvin's is a restaurant that is celebrated by DPU alumni as the dive restaurant that would deliver 3am food at 3am.  The reputation of the place is built on the GCB (Garlic Cheesburger), which is something akin to two hockey pucks of beef with plastic cheese that has been sprinkled liberally with garlic salt and slammed into a hoagie roll.  It is the perfect "I've been drinking and need something to help me prevent a hangover" food. 
Tonight I went to Marvin's, which has relocated from it's original dive bar looking place into a building that has far less character.  The pictures of people holding signs that say "Marvin's delivers..." while they are standing in various locations in the world are all over the place, but something is missing from the days of the old location.  I ordered a stromboli and got a drink, while my parents got the GCB and fries.
I don't know if my tastes have matured or if I was just blinded by the false sense of maturity when I was younger, but I wouldn't say Marvin's is much more than just an ok college restaurant now.  The meat was overcooked and the service was about the same as it has been the past couple times I went there.... sorta slow.   The cheese that my mom got with her fries tasted like plastic mixed with salt.  I will probably continue to eat there, but I think I am going to venture into their pizza offerings and skip the sandwiches from now on.
I believe in local restaurants, but I also believe in offering quality to your customers.