Princetonian Diner (Princeton, NJ)
I have been to a lot of new diners lately. It’s nice to update my Diner page with some more reviews. Last weekend I was able to meet a fellow Oiselle teammate, Greta, for dinner at the Princetonian Diner. I had heard that the Princetonian Diner was “life-changing” so we had to go. I had driven by Princetonian Diner a few times too, and it looked pretty nice.
When we met at the Princetonian Diner, it was nearly empty. It was Mothers day at dinner time, and the diner was empty. My guess is that it was crowded for lunch. Then again, I’m not sure too many would be as excited to take their moms to a diner for Mothers Day.
Princetonian Diner Atmosphere: A
The outside of the Princetonian Diner is nice and inviting. It’s a big white building (which reminds me of a Greek palace). The inside was a large room. You walked into their bakery where they had giant “elephant ears” or sugar cookies. I was already hungry. I love (but also hate) walking into the bakery because I want to go straight to dessert.
Princetonian Diner Coffee: C
The lady was able to bring me coffee and whipped cream. The issue was for 1.69; you received a cup of coffee and no more.
A cup of coffee at the Princetonian Diner with no free refills. So while I enjoyed having my coffee with whipped cream, I enjoyed it for about 1 minute since it was over before I knew it. I’m sorry Princetonian diner but not having free refills for coffee is weird.
Princetonian Diner Food: A
The menu was vast. They had all the typical diner options: breakfast, french toast, salads, seafood, steak…lots of specials. There were so many different choices. I ended up having the Greek salad (with Salmon) which came with a side of pita bread and Baklava.
The salad at the Princetonian Diner was excellent. It was huge and had all of the following things I like. The feta cheese was perfect because it wasn’t big lumpy pieces of cheese but lots of cheese that mixed in. It had grape leaves, pita bread, feta, lettuce (oh yummy) and of course the salmon.
What made this diner and salad unique was that the salad also came with baklava. It was like “hey you are eating (somewhat) healthy with a salad, have some dessert!
I couldn’t decide if I liked the baklava, but after trying a few bites, I decided yes and it was delicious. (The leafy looking item on the right is a grape leaf…they are my favorite parts of greek salad).
Princetonian Diner Price: $$
The meal itself at the Princetonian Diner was 8.99 for the salad and 6.99 for the extra salmon. Not the cheapest and not the most expensive meal I’ve had. The coffee was 1.69 but no free refills that are expensive. For about 6 ounces (maybe) of coffee, that is a terrible deal.
Would I come back to the Princetonian Diner (Princeton)?
The food was delicious, and the service was great at the Princetonian Diner. I can let the coffee price slide, but I will say that this is a huge knock off for me. I will probably be back, but I probably won’t get coffee.
For me to go to the Princetonian diner without getting coffee is unusual, but I can’t justify spending 1.69 for 6 ounces of coffee that last me a minute.
Questions for you:
Am I too ridiculous about the coffee? Is it normal to not have free refills for coffee?
Have you ever tried Baklava?
No free refills on coffee at a diner is outrageous! Karen @karenlovestorun
I don’t go to many diners but I think the beauty of “Diner coffee” would be the refills, am I right?
Not overreacting at all! No free coffee refills would be a deal breaker for me….One of my favorite thing about going to diners is sitting and chatting over cup after cup of hot coffee!
Honestly, if I went to a diner for coffee and there were no refills, I don’t think I’d even give it a C. It’s not like you were in a coffee shop or gas station- if you only wanted one cup, you would have gone to one of those places. The point of sitting in a diner for coffee is to sit and enjoy the coffee and have them refill it, right? I think that’s weird, never heard of a diner without free coffee refills (at least basic coffee refills).
Still, looks like you had a great time with your friend and the diner sounds cool. I woudn’t want to walk past sweets either and then think of how I had to wait for dessert.
That’s crazy that they wouldn’t have free refills!! That would definitely turn me away too. I mean, the whole point of going to a diner is to have your free refills with your breakfast! Or at least that’s how I knew the diner as haha!
I LOVE elephant ears!!!
I don’t think I’ve been to a diner that charged for refills….lame. 🙁
In a diner/breakfast place – free refills of coffee is a must – heck, even Starbucks gives you free refills if you are a Gold member.
Most of the restaurants/diners I go to have free refills or even free coffee with the purchase of a full meal
Wow that is so ridiculous! Coffee is always free refills as it should be!
Sorry I missed you guys! Next time for sure I’ll be there.
You are NOT being ridiculous about the coffee! Is there any chance it was because of the whipped cream? I wonder if just black coffee is free refills?
Nevermind! I just went to their website/menu and in capital letters next to coffee for 1.69 it says NO REFILLS. So weird!!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that!
The fact that they gave you a side of baclava- they needed to at least give you a shooter of greek coffee..that stuff is lethal!
No free coffee refills is weird–and I’d argue a major deal breaker. At least you got dessert!
Baklava is delicious, but since it’s so sweet, it needs to be paired with a drink like coffee.
Everything needs to be paired with coffee!
Yes, a thousand times yes to this.
I’ve never heard of a place like that (or really any restaurant) not giving free refills on coffee!! I would have been extremely disappointed and put off by that.
I can’t imagine NOT getting refills on coffee…That just isn’t right. My boss makes baklava every year at Christmas time…It’s one of the main reasons I haven’t quit yet.