Stratford Diner (Stratford, NJ)
Last week Christine and I had a second diner date. It must mean she isn’t tired of exploring diners with me, right? Christine has quickly become one of my favorite people to meet up with. On an impressive note, she just rocked her Philly half marathon PRing and breaking the 2-hour barrier (by 3 minutes!).
Anyways we met at the Stratford Diner in Stratford, NJ. It’s not easy to miss the Stratford a Diner. The bold (life-size) sign makes it nearly impossible. I had driven by several times and added it on my to-do list a while back (probably due to the giant sign).
Stratford Diner Atmosphere: A
The outside atmosphere of the Stratford Diner is adorable. I need to take a photo in from of the life-size diner sign.
The inside of the Stratford Diner is equally festive. They were all decorated for Thanksgiving (as seen by this turkey on our booth).
Something I’ve wanted to include is the atmosphere of the staff in general. The Stratford diner had one of the friendly staff of a restaurant I’ve been too. The hostess (possibly the manager) was amiable as well as our waitress. I think the employees can make or break your dining experience.
Stratford Diner Coffee: A
. I don’t know what kind of coffee the Stratford Diner was brewing, but it was my FAVORITE diner coffee to date. Everything from the coffee to the whipped cream was great. They had won me over in the course of two minutes.
Stratford Diner Food: A
The Stratford diner has a big menu. They have all the traditional diner favorites from breakfast to sandwiches to a great seafood and pita section.
I ordered a traditional Greek salad with chicken. Something I enjoyed about this salad (besides how big it was) was it came with sardines and chicken. Sardines are something I’ve been enjoying lately. It was one of my favorite salads to date.
Stratford Diner Dessert: A
We didn’t come to the Stratford Diner looking for dessert but ended up walking past the bakery (and it looked enticing). While they didn’t have red velvet cake, they did have death by chocolate. It was delicious. We split a piece, and the waitress was nice enough to cut it in half for us. The frosting was really rich, and the cake was dense. I would order it again.
Overall thoughts: A
Would I come back?
The Stratford diner was excellent, and somewhere I would go again. While I expected it to be good, I was not prepared for how good it was. The Stratford Diner is roughly 5 miles from exit 29 on 295 and 4 miles from exit three on the turnpike).
Questions for you:
Have you ever had an exceptionally positive experience due to the restaurant staff?
What is your favorite cake?
Funny you should mention Stratford Diner, my son, his family and his in-laws had a T-Day breakfast at that diner! His wife posted pics on Facebook. He said the breakfast was great.
OMG, death by chocolate?! Sign me up! I was obsessed with that ice cream growing up; my mom would get it every once in a while for a special treat.
The restaurant staff has a lot to do with my experience… usually more than the food (The food is horrible I won’t go back, but if the food is so-so but the staff is really great I would probably return and just try another dish). This place looks really good, especially that coffee… yum.