Running and Laughing through the Garden State
Recently I ordered takeout from the Sparta Classic Diner in Sparta, New Jersey. The same people own the Sparta Classic Diner as the Orangetown Classic Diner in Orangetown, NY (seriously a must go), Northvale Classic Diner and the Tenafly Classic Diner. All of these “classic diners” have been good and I had high hopes for the Sparta Classic Diner.
JB’s Diner on 33 (Farmingdale)
Recently my good friend and I met up at JB’s Diner on Route 33 in Farmingdale, NJ. There is also a JB’s Diner on 57 and even a JB’s Cousin’s Diner. This is my first JB’s Diner.
Atmosphere: A
JB’s Diner on 33 in Farmingdale has the big, metallic, diner atmosphere you know and like. It’s easily recognizable from the road. JB’s Diner on 33 is right on the way to several shore towns, so it makes it a good stop if you’re heading to the shore.
The inside of JB’s Diner on 33 is clean, retro, and a step back in time. Everything about the diner from the exterior, to interior screams diner.
JB’s Diner on 33 Coffee: A
The coffee at JB’s Diner on 33 was brewed hot and fresh. The waitress refilled our coffee often.
JB’s Diner on 33 (Farmingdale) Food:
The JB’s Diner menu as everything you want and need in a diner. There is all-day breakfast menu, lunch, and sandwiches. Plus JB’s Diner menu has plenty of dinner specials.
I decided to order the broiled seafood platter, which comes with broiled shrimp, scallops, flounder, stuffed clam, and grilled feta tomato.
The meal was delicious. Sometimes ordering a seafood dish at a diner can be risky, but this was good. I was most fascinated by the tomato with feta cheese. It was unique and added some fun to the meal.
JB’s Diner on 33 Dessert: B
JB’s Diner on 33 in Farmingdale is known for milkshakes so I decided to order one, because why not? I ordered a vanilla milkshake which came with topped with whipped cream. I was disappointed with no cherry but not the milkshake itself was thick with plenty of ice cream.
JB’s Diner on 33 Service: A
The waitress at JB’s Diner on 33 was nice, and our food came out quickly. I have no complaints.
JB’s Diner on 33 Cost: $
For my coffee, milkshake, and broiled seafood meal, it was $30.
Overall Thoughts/Would I Come Back to JB’s Diner (Farmingdale)?
I liked JB’s Diner on 33, and I’ll be back at some point. There are so many items I want to try like their french toast waffle. Plus Farmingdale is a cool town.
Atmosphere: A
Coffee: A
Food: A
Dessert: B
Service: A
Cost: $12-25
Overall: A
You Can See All 259 Diner Reviews Here.
Questions for you:
Do you like seafood? What is your favorite kind?
What is your favorite type of milkshake?
Phily Diner and Sports Bar (Runnemede)
The Phily diner is interesting. It is located in Runnemede, NJ. One of coworkers used to work there, and he kept telling me it’s one of the best. After actually googling the diner, I realized that it has been rated several times as being one of the best in South Jersey. Of course, I had to give it a try. It took me a while to realize it’s the “Phily Diner” not “Philly Diner.”
Phily Diner Atmosphere: A
The Phily diner is split into a sports bar and grille as well as an actual diner portion. When I first arrived, I snagged one of the last parking spaces. They did also have valet parking. Valet parking at a diner! If there is valet parking, it’s probably out of my price point.
The inside of the Phily Diner was very “old school diner.” They have gone to town with the old school diner theme. I had to pose (I thought it would be more humorous) with the car.
Phily Diner Coffee: A
The Phily Diner had good coffee with whipped cream. It was refilled enough that I was happy.
Phily Diner Food: B
The Phily Diner has any and all diner food. From all-day breakfast, waffle fries, to lunch, and dinner options, if you can’t find it at the Phily Diner, it might not exist.
I ordered the Mediterranean salad. The food disappointed me. The whole reason to go out to eat is good food…it was so so. The salad came with crunchy, hard bread, and was rather small. It was ok but not what I imagined. I was rather hungry after finishing my meal. The salmon was at least good. It came with soup as well, and I ordered chicken noodle.
Phily Diner Dessert: B
Since I was still hungry, I decided to order a milkshake. The milkshakes came overflowing that we had to clean it up.
What kind of milkshake doesn’t come with a cherry on top? It was a decent milkshake, but with the overflowing cup and lack of cherry wasn’t the most appealing.
Phily Diner Cost:$
Meals averaged between 12-20. They had a lot of specials. My salad was 13 dollars.
Overall/would I come back to the Phily Diner (Runnemede):
Something I didn’t mention was our service was not the greatest. When we asked the soups, she reached over us, grabbed the menu, and searched. That isn’t a big deal, but there were a ton of small, really awkward moments. Honestly, she was probably just new.
I would go back to the Phily Diner, but I’ll definitely be ordering something else and hopefully have a different waitress. The food wasn’t bad or awful, but it wasn’t great or worth a second stop.
Questions for you:
Do you prefer chocolate or vanilla milkshakes?
Favorite old school car?
1980 Firebird for me!
New Berlin Diner (Berlin, NJ)
I was back from Virginia and found ourselves about an hour south of our house. We could have held off and just ate at home, but we were in a new area of NJ so we thought trying a new diner would be fun. I put “diner” into the foursquare app, and The New Berlin Diner popped up a mile away. Perfect.
So we found ourselves at the New Berlin Diner.
New Berlin Diner Atmosphere: A
The outside of the New Berlin Diner is an old cable car-style diner could be bigger than the 15 car parking lot.
Inside: Cable car diners are my favorite. They feel more personal and give you that diner vibe. It’s like a throwback to the 1950s. I’m not sure what the Berlin Diner was like (Or even if it existed) but they did an excellent job with the “New Berlin Diner.” It feels the most like a diner versus any diner we have been too.
New Berlin Diner Coffee: B
The coffee at the New Berlin Diner was good, not great and not bad. It was average. The waitress brought plenty of refills, and I got more than one refill (something that isn’t common in NJ).
New Berlin Diner Food: B
I was pleasantly surprised by the menu of the New Berlin Diner. The menu could have been more massive than the diner itself. I don’t know if a restaurant counts as a diner if the menu isn’t big. I expected a more greasy style diner menu (to go with the atmosphere), but they have everything from seafood to salad to breakfast to sandwiches.
I ordered the Greek salad with chicken and a side of over-easy eggs with toast.
The Greek Salad at The New Berlin Diner came with tomatoes, eggs, feta, anchovies, lettuce, and tomato. It was a medium-sized salad, and I liked the dressing. This might have been one of my favorite Greek salad dressings so far.
The eggs were good. It’s hard to have bad eggs, and I enjoyed them. They didn’t have any pita bread, but the toast was an okay alternative.
New Berlin Diner Dessert: A
I got a milkshake which I promptly forgot to take a photo of…some food I am. The milkshake had plenty of whipped cream and cherry, which are huge bonus points for me.
New Berlin Diner Price: $
For two meals, a side of eggs, coffee, and a milkshake it was 40 dollars.
Would I come back to the New Berlin Diner?
I was pleasantly surprised by the New Berlin Diner. If I find myself in Berlin again (which I probably will since I don’t work far from there), I would go back.
Questions for you:
Have you ever been in an only cable car-style diner?
What is your favorite way to eat eggs?
New Crystal Diner (Toms River, NJ)
A few weeks ago, we wanted to go out to eat somewhere new. Not only did we want to go to a new restaurant but a new area in general. Though Tom’s River and Seaside Heights (made famous by Snooki and the MTV Jersey Shore) is only 30 minutes away, we had yet to find ourselves there. Since we have been to most of the rest of the state, we decided to head east.
We opted to drive out there and find a diner to try. Lucky for us, there are plenty. The nice thing about finding new diners in NJ is you have to drive. Chances are if you drive 10 minutes down any road you’ll find one.
New Crystal Diner Atmosphere: A
The outside of the New Crystal Diner is big, metallic, and shiny. You cannot miss it driving by. The inside of the New Crystal Diner is one large room. It’s what you imagine when you picture “diner.” It’s big, red booths and tables. We were lucky to grab a booth by the window.
New Crystal Diner Coffee: B
The coffee at the new Crystal Diner was hot, and they had plenty of different sweeteners as well as cream. The lady couldn’t do whipped cream for me (sad), but it wasn’t bad coffee. It was a normal coffee. It wasn’t remarkably good or bad. It wasn’t burnt or watery. I only “took off points” because they couldn’t put whipped cream on it when I know they had some for dessert. I’m not sure what the deal was, but I’ll never know.
New Crystal Diner Food: A
The menu at the New Crystal Diner is extensive. There were ten full pages of different foods ranging from breakfast to seafood to an entire page of different salads…as you can see, the list was endless. I think this could have been the diner with the most extensive menu that we have been too. I wasn’t sure what to expect since it was such an extensive and overwhelming menu.
I opted for the Greek Salad with chicken and no anchovies. It wasn’t more than 5 minutes, and they brought the food out. I’m not joking when I say 5 minutes. It was the fastest restaurant food I’ve ever received. (Faster than Waffle House). My husband joked that maybe they had already made it and we were waiting for us to come. It was amazing.
The salad at the New Crystal Diner was good. In my personal opinion, it’s the toppings and dressings that make a salad. If you eat dry lettuce, it will be gross. The Greek salad contained everything I liked: feta cheese, grape leaves, lots of pita bread, tomatoes, chicken, Their Greek dressing was a home mix of oil and vinegar. Honestly, this was the fastest and one of the best salads I’ve had. I don’t even think I could have prepared it that quickly at home if I was being timed.
New Crystal Diner Dessert: B
The New Crystal Diner had plenty of dessert at the front, but I wasn’t in the mood for anything substantial. I drank some of my husband’s milkshake, which was pretty good. It wasn’t the best milkshake I have ever had nor was it the worst. It would recommend it, but I wouldn’t say it was the best milkshake you’ve had or it will change your life.
New Crystal Diner Cost: $$
For two meals, two coffees and a milkshake it was 40 dollars.
Overall Opinion:
Would I Come Back to New Crystal Diner (Toms River)?
It was a delicious meal, and I could not believe how fast the food came out. I was extremely impressed because it wasn’t as if we were the only ones in the restaurant either. The only complaint was the whipped cream for the coffee, but other than that the experience at the New Crystal Diner was positive. Next time I’ll probably try one of their many desserts or cakes. I don’t have any complaints, and I’m glad to check another diner off my NJ list.
Questions for you:
What is the fastest that you have ever been brought out food?
What are your favorite salad, toppings?