The diner builds a bar out back

Going in through the back has its positives and negatives -- sure, you look and feel cooler because not as many people do it, but it can also really hurt, especially if your GF forgets to...tell you she just cleaned the sliding glass door. For a place where everyone comes in through the rear, ready or not, The Backdoor at Roxy's

Accessed via a nondescript door in the parking lot at Fremont mainstay Roxy's Diner, this speakeasy-ish 92-seater's serving up classic American eats/cocktails in a former Rain City Video space centered around a backlit bar surmounted by reclaimed window panes, and made-over Jazz Age-style with wall murals of musicians/flappers, plus schmancy ReStore-sourced candelabras and tiered chandeliers, which, depending on the placement of said tier, may mean they've killed a man. Menu mains are divided by proteins ranging from poultry (a cheese-stuffed/ pastrami-wrapped Airline Chicken Breast), to pork (North African-spiced St. Louis-cut Pig Ribs), to seafood (Fried Local Oysters w/ tart red cherry reduction & tartar sauce), to beef options like Roxy's Famous Hot Pastrami w/ housemade sauerkraut on a fresh caraway roll, but not a Nick Carraway role, as that's already been taken by Sam Waterston in 1974. They also do bar eats including the Jalapeno "Proper" (corn cakes topped w/ roasted sweet pepper & a Jalapeno/ bacon/ cheese blend), and a potato/ pastrami/ sauerkraut/ Swiss cheese Reuben Pie, which is 3.14 times as big as the Aiken Pie.

Behind the bar there're house-infused boozes (rosemary gin, jalapeno tequila, apple cinnamon vodka, etc.), and yesteryear-inspired 'tails like the Mary Pickford w/ rum, pineapple and grenadine; the Scotch/ gin/ Creme de Cacao whipped cream Barbary Coast; and the rum/ vodka/ gin/ Cointreau Backdoor Surprise, which your GF may like, though it's probably foolish to order it without asking her first.