Merchantville Diner

May 25, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: breakfast, brunch, Diner, food, new jersey, omelet, review

While my parents were in town, we decided to hit up my final diner in Camden County. Considering diners come and go, it’s my last diner in Camden County for now.

The Merchantville Diner is a cute diner located in the downtown. Like many downtown restaurants, it’s a storefront and attached to other buildings.

Atmosphere: A
The Merchantville Diner has a small, downtown feel. It’s not a large, metallic, shiny diner but it’s a little cute, spacious diner. Even though the diner isn’t large, you never feel like you are sitting on top of anyone.

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Wonderful weekend with my parents ending this morning with NJ Diner 244 and my last diner (for now) in Camden County.

A post shared by Hollie (@fueledbylolz) on May 6, 2019 at 7:49am PDT

The inside has about 30 seats including several booths, tables, and a full-length bar. It actually had a back that seats several more parties. It’s a lot bigger than you would think.

Coffee: A
The coffee was brewed hot and fresh. Plus, it’s locally brewed lacas coffee! (Lacas is only a few miles down the road!).

Food: B
The Merchantville Diner has a small menu. You would find a lot of healthy or specialty options, but you’ll find many of the diner classics including breakfast, sandwiches, and even a few dinner specials.

I decided to order my favorite omelet: Nova lox and onion. It came with hashbrowns, and toast (I chose rye).

My omelet was massive with plenty of nova lox and onions. The rye toast was excellent, and I appreciated that my plate wasn’t mounded with hash browns. In all my meal was excellent.

Service: A
The waitress was great and she refilled our beverages, plus the food came out quickly. We were in and out within 30 minutes.

Cost: $
For my omelet and coffee, the cost was $12.

Overall Thoughts/Summary:
The Merchantville Diner was tremendous, and I have no complaints. There wasn’t a lot of information online, so I didn’t know what to expect. I will be back!

Atmosphere: A
Coffee: A
Food: B
Service: A
Cost: $5-12
Overall: A

You can see all 244 Diner reviews here.

Questions for you:
What is your favorite omelet?
What’s your favorite local restaurant?

West Essex Diner (Fairfield)

May 19, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: burger, Diner, dinner, food, new jersey, restaurant, review

Recently I was at the West Essex Diner in Fairfield, NJ. I was in the area and googled diners closeby, and it came up. I’ve been to Fairfield a few times, and I wondered why I hadn’t ever discovered the West Essex Diner. Once I got there, it was abruptly clear. The West Essex Diner takes the place of the Versaille Diner which I went to last year. I didn’t “love” the Versaille Diner, so truthfully I wasn’t surprised it closed. I did laugh, when I got there, and I was like “I’ve been to this location before” and realized it had closed and reopened.

Atmosphere: A
The West Essex Diner is clean and modern. The outside is welcoming. When I was there last, it was under construction, and I remember watching construction workers do work on the outside. The inside is clean, bright, and looks exactly like what you picture in a NJ diner.

Coffee: B
The coffee was brewed hot and fresh, but there wasn’t anything unique or unusual about it. It was terrible but not surprising either, somewhere in the middle as diner coffee goes.

Food: B
The West Essex Diner has everything you can imagine. There are pages of breakfast options, different lunch and dinner options and a full page of specials too.

I decided to order the “Heart Attack Burger.” It was two patties with American cheese, grilled onions, and mushrooms. It also came with fries. The burger itself was good. It was a lot of burger, and there was plenty of grease that dripped off. The fries were bland, but they weren’t terrible. I would order it again.

Service: B
When we arrived, the diner was about 1/3 filled. We were sat in an awkward location and waited for a long time for someone to come over. It became clear that none of the servers knew we were in their section. Our waiter was friendly, and our drinks were refilled often. I think I blinked and our food came out, in fact, it came out in less time than it took to take our orders.

Cost: $
For my burger and coffee, the cost was $17.

Overall Thoughts/Would I Come Back?
I think the West Essex Diner is a much improvement of the Versaille Diner and I would go back if I’m in the area. They have a lot of fun breakfast options that I would like to try.

Atmosphere: A
Coffee: B
Food: B
Service: B
Cost: $12-17

You Can See All 243 Diner Reviews Here.

Questions for you:
What is your favorite kind of burger?
Have you ever been to a place that’s reopened under new management?

Paul’s Family Diner (Mountain Lakes)

May 18, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: breakfast, brunch, Diner, food, new jersey, review 5 Comments

On our way to go hiking at High Point State Park, we stopped at Paul’s Family Diner in Mountain Lakes, NJ. The area is about 2 hours from me, so I don’t make it up here a lot. Northwest NJ, has a lot of hiking and elevation change. I enjoy how rural it is.

When we got to Pauls Family Diner around 7 am, there were only a couple of other parties in the diner.

Atmosphere: A
Paul’s Family Diner looks like a modern, NJ Diner. The outside is chrome and draws you in. The inside has plenty of seating including booths, tables, and a bar. There is a massive dessert case which captivated me every time I walked by.

Coffee: A
The coffee was brewed hot and fresh. The coffee was excellent and at 7 am on a Sunday, you hope it is!

Food: A
Paul’s Family Diner has all of the regular options from breakfast meals including pancakes, omelets, and french toast. There are many different lunch and dinner options as well as a page of specials. They even had a sheet of breakfast specials (which you don’t always see at a diner).

I knew we were going to be out hiking for a while, so I ordered the steak and eggs. Steak and eggs is one of my favorite diner breakfast meals. I’m more likely to order an egg meal versus pancakes. The steak itself was massive, and I ordered scrambled eggs which were cooked well. It came with buttered rye toast and hashbrowns, both were good.

The meal was exactly what I was looking for.

Service: A
We couldn’t ask for better service. The waiter was friendly, and the food came out within 5 minutes. I think I blinked and it was done.

Cost: $$
For my steak and eggs, it was $20. Most steak and egg breakfasts in North Jersey Diners are between $15-18 because of the steak, but still not cheap.

Overall Thoughts/Would I Come Back?
I enjoyed my meal at Paul’s Family Diner, and I would go back. It was cooked well, the service was excellent, and I have no complaints.

Atmosphere: A
Coffee: A
Food: A
Service: A
Cost: $15-20
Overall: A

You Can See All 242 Diner Reviews Here.

Questions for you:
What is your favorite breakfast?
How do you like your steak cooked?

Tony’s Freehold Grill (Freehold)

May 11, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: breakfast, Diner, food, freehold, lunch, new jersey, review, wraps

Recently I went to Tony’s Freehold Grill in Freehold, NJ. My good friend, Alexis and I wanted a diner stop before heading to Manasquan Reservoir. Tony’s Freehold Grill has been on my “to do” list for quite some time, and this worked out.

Atmosphere: A
The atmosphere of Tony’s Freehold Grill is as diner as you can get. It’s a small, shiny, metallic building in downtown Freehold. The inside has a small bar as well as plenty of booths. It’s a picturesque old school diner.

Coffee: A
The coffee was brewed hot and fresh. It didn’t taste of old burned diner coffee. Bonus, Tony’s Freehold Grill has personalized coffee mugs. I always appreciate a personalized mug.

Food: B
Tony’s Freehold Grill has everything an old school; the picturesc diner would have. There are dozens of breakfast options including an entire page dedicated to omelets. There are just as many lunch options. After quite some deliberation, we both opted for wraps. I don’t know the last time I had a wrap at a diner. The Mediterranean wrap sounded good, and it was stuffed with grilled chicken, feta, lettuce, tomato, and onion.

I chose a side salad instead of fries. The salad was good, but there was nothing too unique about it.

Service: B
The waitress was friendly, but we could have used more refills on drinks. She didn’t come around too much. Other than that, the experience was excellent.

Overall Thoughts/Would I Come Back?
I liked Tony’s Freehold Grill, and it was a nice stop in Freehold. I would go back. There are plenty of options, and it’s a great diner in central Jersey.

You can see all 241 Diner Reviews here.

Questions for you:
What is the last old school restaurant you’ve been too?
What is the best wrap you’ve had?

Prestige Diner (New Providence)

April 27, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: breakfast, brunch, coffee, Diner, food, new jersey, salad 2 Comments

Recently, I met with my friend Christine at the Prestige Diner in New Providence. The Prestige Diner has been on my “to do list” for a while. I’ve heard nothing but positive things!

Atmosphere: A
When we arrived almost every parking spot in the lot was taken. It was busy, but it was also a Sunday around lunch. We both managed to get a spot and waited at the front for about 15 minutes for a table.

The Prestige Diner is cute. It’s got a large cobblestone exterior. The interior has plenty of seating with booths, tables, and a bar. We sat at a table in the back.

Coffee: A
The coffee was hot and fresh. There wasn’t anything especially good or bad about the coffee. The waitress did add plenty of whipped cream.

Food: B
The Prestige Diner has everything you expect in a diner. From multiple breakfast options to lunch, and dinner you’ll find everything.

We were hungry, so we decided to order the Mediterranean appetizer. It came with a bowl full of olives, pita bread, feta cheese, and tomatoes. The number of olives alone made it worth it.

For my entree, the entire page of salads intrigued me, so I decided to order the “mama besides salad.” It came with Grilled Chicken, Baby Spinach, Diced Tomatoes, Red Onions, Walnuts and Creamy Goat Cheese with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.

It was a good salad. I could have used bread with it, but it was filling.

Service: C
While the Prestige Diner was busy, it felt as though the waitress had no interest in being there and was having a bad day. We asked for a few things, like drink refills that took a long time and our food came out fairly slowly.

Cost: $
For my salad, coffee, and appetizer, it was $25.

Overall Thoughts/Summary:
I liked the Prestige Diner, and there is a lot I want to try on the menu. I would go back if I were in the area.

Atmosphere: A
Coffee: A
Food: B
Service: C
Cost: $12-20

You Can See All Diner Reviews Here.

Questions for you:
What are your favorite salad toppings?
What is the longest you’ve waited in a restaurant?

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Running and Laughing through the Garden State

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