Marlboro Diner

August 3, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: coffee, Diner, food, menu, new jersey, pork chops, restaurant, review 3 Comments

Recently I wanted to get out of town, so I decided to take a drive. I wasn’t sure where but I decided Marlboro would be a fun town to visit. It’s just south of the Garden State Parkway which means I avoided summer traffic.

Atmosphere: A
The Marlboro Diner is modern and clean. There is a large diner sign. It isn’t metallic or shiny, but a modern building.

The inside is massive and has plenty of seating from booths, tables, and a full-length bar.

Coffee: B
The coffee was good, but there wasn’t anything unique or unusual about it.

Food: B
The Marlboro Diner has everything you can imagine in a diner. There is all-day breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I decided to order the hummus appetizer and the broiled pork chop special, which came with soup, salad, and two sides.

The hummus appetizer was one of their specials, and you can never go wrong with that. It was one of the better hummus specials I’ve had. There were also carrots, which is unique.

The Broiled Pork Chops came with a lot of sides.

Since it was an option, I decided to change my side salad to a Greek side salad, and I was disappointed. The Greek salad was watery. It tasted like the greens were sitting for a while, which is why they were soggy.

For my soup, I ordered the chicken noodle. It was good but nothing out of the ordinary. There wasn’t much chicken.

The pork chops themselves were excellent. They were a bit overcooked, but they were still good. For my sides, I ordered sweet potato and broccoli, and both tasted good as well.

In all, it was a decent meal. I wished the salad was fresher and the pork chops weren’t as overdone.

Cost:
For the hummus appetizer, coffee, and meal, it was $30.

Service: A
The waitress was friendly, and my food came out quickly. In all, I have no complaints.

Overall Summary:
The Malboro Diner was good. The food was a little bit bland, but the service was excellent. I would go back if I’m in the area again.

Summary:
Atmosphere: A
Coffee: B
Food: B
Service: A
Cost: $8-20
Overall: B

You can see all 254 Diner Reviews here.

Questions for you:
Do you like pork chops?
Do you typically order soup or salad?

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?

Hawthorne Diner

March 9, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: coffee, Diner, dinner, food, greek, new jersey, restaurant, review

While driving back from New York, we stopped at one more diner. The Hawthorne Diner wasn’t the original plan, but we ran into a lot more traffic than anticipated, so we decided to stop earlier.

Atmosphere: A
The Hawthorne Diner is located at an intersection. At one time it was called the “Triangle Diner” because (I assume) the end does look like a triangle. The inside is small but has plenty of booths as well as a bar. There were a few tables in the back but more booths than anything.

Coffee: A
The coffee was brewed hot and fresh with plenty of whipped cream. It was good.

Food: B
The Hawthorne Diner has everything you want or need in a diner. There are plenty of breakfast choices, as well as wraps, sandwiches, and dinner options.

I was hungry, so I decided to order the pikilia house platter to start. It was massive and came with grape leaves, hummus, tomatoes, cucumbers, pita bread, tzatziki sauce, olives, and hummus. Everything tasted good, and I liked the hummus a lot. I also appreciated how many olives there were. Olives are one of my favorite foods. It was nothing extraordinary but everything tasted good.

I was in the Greek mood and decided to order a gyro which came with french fries. The gyro was massive, in fact maybe the biggest gyro I’ve had. In all, good.

Service: A
Our waitress was friendly and funny. She was one of the best waitresses I’ve had in a while. Our food came out quickly, and I have no complaints. We were in and out in no more than 45 minutes.

Cost: $
For my gyro, appetizer, and coffee the cost was $25.

Overall Thoughts/Would I Come Back?
I liked the Hawthorne Diner, and it’s a nice diner to stop. I would definitely go back.

Atmosphere: A
Coffee: A
Food: B
Service: A
Cost: $8-15
Overall: A

You Can See All 233 Diner Reviews Here.

Questions for you:
Do you like gyros?
What is your favorite appetizer?

Diner of Los Gatos

February 10, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: burger, california, Diner, diners, food, greek, restaurant, review

Before making it to San Fransico, we decided to stop at the Diner of Los Gatos. It felt like midnight to me, but it was only 5:30 pm. When we arrived, there were only a few parties in the diner which was nice because I was hungry.

Atmosphere: A

The Diner of Los Gatos looks like a diner from both the outside and the inside. When you drive by the Diner of Los Gatos, you immediately see a somewhat out of place diner (in a good way).

The entire inside is chrome, with red booths, tables, and a lot of photos of Elvis. There is a giant cardboard cutout at the front, that I thought was a real person, many many times.

Coffee: B

The coffee was hot and fresh but nothing too exciting. It was good, but there was nothing to write home about.

Food: A

The Diner of Los Gatos has a small selection listed on a trifold laminated menu. There are all of the diner usuals from pancakes and waffles, to burgers, salads, and a few blue plate options.

We were hungry so decided to order the Greek platter. It came with gyro meat, pita bread, french fries, tomatoes, and tzatziki sauce. It came only a minute before our meals, so weren’t able to enjoy it as much as I hoped. In all, it was good. I’ve never had french fries including in a greek platter, but sure why not?

For my entree, I ordered the Garlic Burger. We were only an hour or so, from the Garlic Captial of the Country so it seemed appropriate. The Garlic burger was massive, and there was plenty of garlic. It was cooked perfectly, and I have no complaints. It was one of the better burgers I’ve had.

Service: B

It took longer than anticipated to order our food, but once we did, it came out quickly. I would have preferred to enjoy my appetizer versus taking one bite, and the entree was there, but there isn’t a need to complain about food coming out too fast.

Cost: $

For my entree, appetizer, and coffee, the cost was $30.

Overall Thoughts/Summary:

I liked the Diner of Los Gatos, and it was a great stop just south of San Fransico. I would go back again.

Atmosphere: A

Coffee: B

Food: A

Service: B

Cost: $12-20.

Overall: A

You Can See All Diner Reviews Here.

Questions for you:

Do you like garlic?

What is your favorite restaurant appetizer?

Jackson Diner

February 2, 2019 By Hollie in Diners Tags: diners, food, german, menu, new jersey, restaurant, review

Recently I went to the Jackson Diner. I came across the Jackson Diner when looking for new and closer diners to review. I stumbled upon their “specials menu” and noticed they had German Night on Mondays. I knew, when I did go, it needed to be on a Monday for German Night. They also have nights dedicated to Italian, Mexican, and Greek. It’s one of the most unique menus I’ve seen in a diner.

Atmosphere: A
The Jackson Diner is located in a shopping mall. Based on an online photo, I wasn’t expecting that. The outside appears to be just a casual restaurant, but the inside is a flashback from the past. It looks like a funky, fun, diner. Everything is metallic and shiny, and there are plenty of booths, tables, and a full-length bar.

Coffee: A
The coffee was brewed hot and fresh, and the waitress refilled it multiple times. That particular day was bitter cold, so I welcomed a hot drink. The whipped cream overflowed out which made it fun.

Food: A
As I mentioned, I strategically planned to come on a Monday Night for German Night. Even with the German night, there are plenty of other “regular options,” and the Jackson Diner has every diner option you can imagine. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner including pork chops, seafood, and another page of specials that isn’t “German Night.”

I decided to order the Brautwurst which came with potatoes as well as red cabbage. Since I was hungry, I also ordered a cup of the lobster bisque.

The lobster bisque was good and hot and had a kick to it which I really liked. I like all spicy foods, so it was a pleasant surprise.

The German Special did not disappoint. There was a lot of Bratwurst! I had expected maybe a link or two, but there were 3. The sauce was good, and the potatoes were juicy. To be honest, I had never had red cabbage before so didn’t know what to expect. It was pickled and delicious. It looked almost like shredded beets.

In all, I really liked my meal.

Service: A
Everyone from the waitress to the manager and the host were all friendly and funny. It was one of the best teams of employees I’ve seen.

Cost: $
For my soup, meal, and coffee the cost was $18.

Overall Thoughts/Would I Come Back?
I really liked the Jackson Diner, and I will be back. Everything from the atmosphere to the food and service was great.

Atmosphere: A
Coffee: A
Food: A
Service: A
Cost: $10-$15

Overall: A

You Can See All 228 Diner Reviews Here.

Questions for you:

Have you ever had German Food before?

Are you excited for the Super Bowl?

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Marlboro Diner

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