Randolph Diner

Randolph Diner (Randolph, NJ)

Recently I stopped at the Randolph Diner in Randolph, New Jersey.  The Randolph Diner has been towards the top of my to-do list because the diner serves both Octopus and squid.  For those who don’t know, Octopus is one of my favorite foods.  A diner that serves that is unique.  I wasn’t sure whether I should trust diner octopus but I was willing to try.

I arrived at the Randolph diner for dinner on a weekday.  The outside was confusing, and I parked on the completely wrong side.  After walking around the entire restaurant, I made it inside.  There was a lot of construction both inside and out.  It’s the second diner I’ve been too with construction lately (Gus’s was the first).

Randolph Diner Atmosphere: B
As I mentioned, the Randolph Diner was going through a lot of construction.  A lot of the restaurant was boarded up.  The area that wasn’t boarded up was fine and open and spacious.

It used a brown and green color-blocked color scheme.  

Other than the construction, it was a big open and clean diner.

Randolph Diner Coffee: C
The coffee at the Randolph Diner was okay.  It wasn’t good or bad, but there was nothing unique or exciting about it.  To be honest, I’ve had a lot of boring diner coffee lately!

Randolph Diner Service: B
The waitress at the Randolph Diner was friendly.  I wish we had more refills or napkins, but she was nice and got us most of what we needed.

Randolph Diner Food: A
As I mentioned, I wanted to go to the Randolph Diner because of the unique and interesting Randolph Diner menu.

I ordered the grilled octopus appetizer.  It was grilled and topped with butter.  I wasn’t sure what or how much to expect.  When I received it, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of octopus on the dish.  The octopus itself was some of the best I’ve had in a restaurant period and worth it.  It was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  It was even better than a lot of seafood restaurants I’ve been too.

For my entree at the Randolph Diner, I ordered the Gyro special.  I didn’t read the Randolph Diner menu clearly, but I assumed the plate had all of the Greek specialties.  When I received it, it had a few pieces of gyro meat, a single grape leaf, a side salad and pita bread.  Honestly, I was disappointed it didn’t have anything else.

The gyro was more sausage-like and wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t bad.  The side salad was good, and it’s hard to mess up pita bread.

To be honest, the octopus appetizer saved the food.  My entree wasn’t great, but the app was phenomenal.

Randolph Diner Cost: $$
For my coffee, appetizer, and meal, the cost was $30.  The appetizer alone was $14.  I do realize Octopus is expensive, but I think the gyro special was overcharged.  Most diner specials are cheaper or have more food.

Overall thoughts/Would I come back to the Randolph Diner:
I enjoyed the Randolph Diner.  The octopus was by far my favorite and I would go for that alone.  How many diners serve octopus? Next time I go the Randolph Diner, I will order a different entrée, but I do look forward to seeing what kind of construction they are doing.

Summary:
Atmosphere: C
Coffee: C
Service: B
Food: A-
Price: $15-25
Overall: B

You can see all of the diner reviews here.

Questions for you:
Do you like octopus?