Route 1 Diner Restaurant (Lawrenceville)

Route 1 Diner Restaurant (Lawrenceville, NJ)

Early in the month, I went up to the Route 1 Diner Restaurant in Lawrenceville, NJ. I actually didn’t know the Route 1 Diner Restaurant existed until recently, which is unfortunate because it’s only 30 minutes from me and 30 minutes from the base!

I got to the Route 1 Diner Restaurant on a Friday night, and they were packed. The owner had me sit at the bar until a table cleared up.

Route 1 Diner Restaurant Atmosphere: B
The Route 1 Diner Restaurant appears like a cross between a diner and restaurant (as the name indicates). The exterior is a typical building (versus a big metallic, shiny one) but the interior is all diner with a full-length bar, multiple booths, and table. We sat near the drink fill-up station for servers, and I didn’t quite appreciate servers always reaching around us to fill up drinks. Oh well!

Route 1 Diner Restaurant Coffee: A
The coffee at the Route 1 Diner Restaurant was piping hot, and the owner refilled it often. I have no complaints.

Route 1 Diner Restaurant Service: C
I believe the service should be categorized into two parts. The owner of the Route 1 Diner Restaurant seemed to play a role in our experience because if it was just the waitress, the score would have been lower. It took over 20 minutes to take our order. I watched our server go to almost every other table except ours, taking orders, refilling drinks, and bringing food. Once we did order, our food was out quickly, and for that, I was happy.

Route 1 Diner Restaurant Food: B
The Route 1 Diner Restaurant menu as almost everything you can imagine from breakfast, lunch, specials, and most dinner options. I opted to order the stuffed shells.

The meal at the Rute 1 Diner Restaurant came with a bread basket which included cheesy bread. Normal bread baskets are boring but including cheesy and cinnamon bread is a win in my books.

My meal at Route 1 Diner Restaurant also came with a salad which was relatively green as far as diner salads go. I was surprised!

I am not a huge pasta fan but stuffed shells or lasagna are two pasta dishes I like. The food at Route 1 Diner Restaurant was good. The dish was a bit smaller than anticipated, but it wasn’t bad. It was definitely hot, and I nearly burnt my tongue eating it.

Route 1 Diner Restaurant Dessert: D
I decided to order a cupcake at the Route 1 Diner Restaurant. The waitress asked if I wanted a “minion cupcake” or “Elmo”…I said Elmo because why not. She came back with a minion cupcake, plopped it on the table and said it was all they had. To be honest, nothing about the cupcake was pleasing.

The presentation looked sad, the cupcake itself wasn’t that great, and the waitress didn’t even come back beforehand saying “well all we had is this”. I didn’t even finish the dessert, which is rare for me (in fact it’s only happened at the Red Lion Diner and Sage Diner).

Route 1 Diner Restaurant Cost: $
For my coffee, shells, and cupcake, the cost was $18.

Overall Thoughts/Summary of the Route 1 Diner Restaurant (Lawrenceville):

While I didn’t have the worst experience at the Route 1 Diner Restaurant, I didn’t have the best either. The owner was friendly and probably the only reason I would come back.

Atmosphere: B
Coffee: A
Service: A
Food: B
Dessert: D
Cost: $8-20
Overall: C