Tag: restaurants

red bank diner nj
Diners

Red Bank Diner

Hollie

Red Bank Diner (Red Bank, NJ)

I was in the Red Bank area around 4;30 pm on a weekday.  Anyone that knows New Jersey traffic knows that 4 pm starts bumper to bumper, everywhere.  I live about 90 minutes from Red Bank and I while I wasn’t starving around 4:30, I didn’t particularly want to wait until probably 6:30-7 when I would actually get home.  It seemed like a good idea to find a diner and stop.  I didn’t know much about Red Bank, but I remembered I had eaten at Toast last year and had a good experience.  I stumbled upon the Red Bank Diner and made my way there.

red bank diner nj

Red Bank Diner Atmosphere: B
The Red Bank Diner is unique.  It’s located on the main road and a local business.  It’s not a standalone building and attached to several other restaurants.  The inside is clean and modern.  It has several booths and a small bar.  It reminds me more of a local restaurant than a diner, but that is okay!

Red Bank Diner Coffee: A
The coffee at the Red Bank Diner was good.  What gave it an “A” is our server kept it refilled the entire time.  There was never a moment that my cup came close to being empty (and believe me, I can drink coffee).

red bank diner nj

Red Bank Diner Food: B
The Red Bank Diner menu has all of the usual diner favorites.  There are plenty of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options.  When I went, I wasn’t starving, but I was hungry.  It took me a while to decide what I wanted.

A few items from the Red Bank Diner menu that caught my eye:

  • eggs benedict
  • cheese steak
  • grilled chicken and french fries

I randomly decided to order the St. Louis Burger. I had no idea why or even what it came with.  Honestly, I just did it by name and hmm: I’ve never been to St. Loius.  It was topped with cheese, mushrooms, and mozzarella cheese.  It also came with “cajun” fries which to be honest were just curly fries.red bank diner nj

The burger was delicious and while the “cajun fries” were good curly fries, I didn’t taste much of the flavor I anticipated.

Red Bank Diner Service: A
The server at the Red Bank Diner was great.  As I mentioned, he always kept my beverages (water and coffee) filled, and there was never a moment that I felt as if I needed anything.  Not only that, but my food came out quickly.  I could not have asked for a better experience.

Red Bank Diner Cost: $
For my coffee and meal, the cost was $12.

Overall Thoughts/Summary of the Red Bank Diner:
I enjoyed the Red Bank Diner and had a great experience.  It’s a nice local diner on the main street and I have no complaints! The town is worth the stop, even just to drive through.

Atmosphere: B
Coffee: A
Food: B
Service: B
Cost: $8-12
Overall: B

See all 191 Diners I’ve been too here.

Questions for you:
Is there is a signature meal for your area?
Do you like burgers?

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Dynasty Diner tuckerton nj
Diners

Dynasty Diner (Tuckerton)

Hollie

Recently, I got dinner with Ariana at the Dynasty Diner.  One of my many goals is to go to more shore diners this summer, and when Ariana was in town for the New Jersey Marathon, it worked out.  I’ve followed Ariana on the internet for a long time, so it was great to finally connect at the Dynasty Diner (Tuckerton).

We arrived around 4:30 for dinner and it wasn’t crowded.  The Dynasty Diner was a lot bigger than I anticipated.  I hadn’t been to Tuckerton before, but it’s a cute small shore town.

Dynasty Diner tuckerton nj

Atmosphere: A
The Dynasty Diner looks like a typical, chrome, shiny diner.  The outside was big, shiny, and metallic.  If you are looking for a stereotypical NJ diner, the Dynasty Diner meets that.

The inside had a full-length bar, with retro booths, and tables.  The Dynasty Diner meets all stereotypes of a NJ Diner.

Coffee: B
The coffee at the Dynasty Diner was good.  It was brewed hot and fresh, and I didn’t have any complaints about the coffee.  I could have used more refills but other than it was good.  The Dynasty Diner serves Lacas coffee, and you are even able to buy it up front if you choose.

Dynasty Diner tuckerton nj

Food: B
The Dynasty Diner serves everything a stereotypical diner would serve.  It follows the unwritten “diner guidelines.”  There are plenty of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options.  It also has a page dedicated to Greek specialties.  Originally I had planned to get a gyro, but when that wasn’t an option, I ordered the Greek salad on the fly.

Dynasty Diner tuckerton nj

When the Greek salad came out, it was massive.  The waitress said it was enough to feed four people and she wasn’t joking.  Enough to feed four people ended up being me.  I liked the Greek salad, however, there were a few things it was missing including anchovies and onions.  It had plenty of lettuce but could have used more toppings.  The dressing was good, and in all, I enjoyed it.

Service: A
The waitress at the Dynasty Diner was friendly, and our food came out extremely fast.

Cost: $
For my salad and coffee, the cost was $13.

Overall Thoughts/Summary of the Dynasty Diner (Tuckerton):
I had a great time at the Dynasty Diner, and it is definitely one of my favorite shore diners.  I would love to go back to the Dynasty Diner or Tuckerton sometime!

Atmosphere: A
Coffee: B
Food: B
Service: A
Price: $10-20
Overall: B

You Can See all 185 Diners Here.

Questions for you:
What are your plans this summer?
What is your favorite salad topping?

Diners

Toast City Diner (Red Bank)

Hollie

Toast City Diner (Red Bank)

Recently I went to the Toast City Diner in Red Bank, NJ.  Toast City Diner has a few locations along the Jersey shore, and the Toast City Diner menu looked good. Before recently, I hadn’t heard of Toast, but I believe it’s only a couple of years old.

I got to the Toast City Diner around 11 am and it wasn’t too crowded.  I’ve heard on weekends it’s hard even to get a table.

Toast City Diner Atmosphere: A
Toast City Diner is located in the downtown of Red Bank.  It’s a cute, metallic, shiny building.  It stood out in a good way.

The inside is metallic interior, with a full-length bar, plenty of booths and tables.  One of my favorite diner features is built-in table jukeboxes which toast had.

Toast City Diner Red Bank

Toast City Diner Coffee: B
The coffee was brewed fresh and hot each time.  There was nothing unique or unusual, but it was still good.

toast city diner red bank nj

Toast City Diner Service: A
Our waitress was one of the best I’ve had in a while.  She was extremely friendly, brought plenty of refills, and our food came out quickly.  Granted, we were in Toast at a quiet time, but everything came out fast, and it was a great experience.

Toast City Diner Food: A
Toast City Diner isn’t open all day and only serves breakfast and lunch.  Toast City Diner menu has several different unique breakfast options such as carrot cake pancakes and vegetarian wraps.

I was intrigued by the carrot cake pancakes as well as the grilled cinnamon rolls, so I ordered both.

The grilled cinnamon buns were delicious.  It came with three with melted frosting.

The carrot cake pancakes were some of the best pancakes I’ve had.  Often times, when you order a flavored pancake like carrot cake or red velvet, it rates artificial or it doesn’t taste any different than a regular pancake.  This was not the case with toast.  The carrot cake pancakes had coconut and shredded carrot in them.  They were some of the best pancakes I’ve had in a restaurant.

toast city diner red bank nj

In all, my food was in the top percentage of diners I’ve been too.

Cost: $
For my coffee, pancakes and cinnamon cubs, the cost was $20.  For the amount of food as well as the quality, it was worth it.

Overall Summary/Would I Come Back to Toast City Diner (Red Bank)?

I enjoyed Toast City Diner, and it was one of the better diners I’ve been too.  I highly recommend it.

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

Nearby Diners I’ve been:

See More Diners Here.

Questions for you:
Where are the best pancakes you’ve had? Do you like carrot cake?

Golden Eagle Diner
Diners

Golden Eagle Diner (Bristol, PA)

Hollie

Golden Eagle Diner (Bristol)

A few weeks ago, I went to the Golden Eagle Diner in Bristol, PA.  It’s only about a half an hour away, and while it doesn’t count towards my New Jersey Diner total, it’s still local to me.  I had heard the Golden Eagle Diner was a good diner.  I had a free evening, so I thought, why not head up there?

In summary, I wish I hadn’t gone to the Golden Eagle Diner 

Golden Eagle Diner Atmosphere: A 

The Golden Eagle Diner does have one thing going for it and that’s the atmosphere.  The Golden Eagle Diner has huge windows, plenty of parking and the inside has interesting and unique tables. We sat in a cute booth.

Golden Eagle Diner Coffee: C 

There was nothing or unique about the coffee and it was room temperature.  The Golden Eagle Diner coffee wasn’t the worst coffee I’ve had, but it was closer to the bottom.Golden Eagle Diner

Golden Eagle Diner Service: B 

The waitress at the Golden Eagle Diner was nice.  She took our orders, but it felt as if she was avoiding our table.  There were only two other parties in the restaurant so it wasn’t crowded.  She only came over to our table to bring the drinks and then the food.

Food: D 

The Golden Eagle diner menu has all of the typical “diner” options.  I ordered a burger.  The waitress asked if I wanted Cole slaw and a pickle.  I said yes, little did I know the Coleslaw and pickle would be an extra $2 charge.  I don’t love coleslaw enough to order it as an additional side. I’ve never been to a restaurant that charged for Coleslaw.  The burger itself was clearly a frozen patty that they overcooked. Nothing from anyone’s meal looked fresh.  It was reasonably obvious everything was frozen and then cooked in the microwave.  It’s hard to truly mess up a burger, but they came close.  It was edible, but it wasn’t great.  Golden Eagle Diner

The food was in the worst five restaurants I’ve been too. 

Cost: $$

For my coffee, burger and extra Coleslaw, it was $20.  It wasn’t worth it at all.

Overall thoughts/Would I Come Back to the Golden Eagle Diner (Bristol)? 

The Golden Eagle Diner (Bristol) was one of the worst diners I’ve been too and I probably won’t be back.  I never say never, but there would have to be a very good reason for me to go…

You can see all of the diner reviews here. 

Questions for you: 

What was the last restaurant you’ve been disappointed in? 

Do you like Cole Slaw? 

Diners

Deepwater Diner (Carney’s Point)

Hollie

The Deepwater Diner (Carney’s Point)

Last month we decided to stop on the border of NJ and Delaware.  Carney’s Point is located off of exit one, and you can see the Delaware Memorial Bridge from the diner.  We hungry and found this one.  Despite the internet having limited information about the Deepwater Diner (Carney’s Point), we decided to stop.

Deepwater Diner Atmosphere: A 

The Deepwater Diner has the trucker and family atmosphere to it.  The diner itself is cute and has a very hometown feel to it.  It’s also open 24 hours!

Something I found unique to the Deepwater Diner was the specials menu was handwritten on a notepad. How fun!

Deepwater Diner Specials

Deepwater Diner Service: A 

It’s clear at the Deepwater Diner every member of the wait staff knows each other and enjoys working there.  Our waitress was extremely friendly.  It was clear she had a lot of parties in her section, but she always made time for us.  We had a great experience with the service there.

Deepwater Diner Coffee: B

I enjoyed the coffee.  It was brewed well, and the whipped cream was delicious, too, but the cup was abnormally small.  I wish they had larger coffee mugs, but the coffee itself was perfect.

Deepwater Diner Coffee

Deepwater Diner Food: A 

There is no menu or even website for the Deepwater Diner, so we had no idea what to expect!  We assumed we could find something, though.  The menu is huge, and they have everything from breakfast to lunch specials and dinner.  The Deepwater Diner has a lot of seafood specials (typing that out makes sense…Deepwater Diner and seafood).

The vegetable soup sounded good, so I ordered that as an appetizer.  It was delicious and came out quickly.  I think I blinked and it was out! It was as if they had dumped every type of vegetable into the soup.  There were even Brussel sprouts.  It was a different vegetable soup, but I liked it.

Deepwater Diner Vegetable Soup

I ordered a burger with bacon, provolone cheese, and mushrooms.  It was cooked perfectly.  The steak fries were also excellent.  After the RnR half marathon, I was craving red meat.

Deepwater Diner Burger

Honestly, the food was excellent, and I have no complaints.

Deepwater Diner Dessert: A 

After walking by the dessert case several times, I knew I wanted a piece of carrot cake.  Tim and I decided to split a slice with vanilla ice cream.  Despite being already full, I had no regrets.  The cake was very dense, as was the frosting.

Deepwater Diner Carrot Cake

Cost: $

For the burger, coffee, and dessert, the cost was 18.

Would I come back/Overall thoughts of the Deepwater Diner (Carney’s Point)?  

The Deepwater Diner was one of the best diners I’ve been too, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is traveling through.  The Deepwater Diner is within a mile of the start of the NJ turnpike and 295; it’s along the way for anyone going up and town the east coast!

Cliffs notes:
Atmosphere: A 
Service: A 
Coffee: B 
Food: A 
Dessert: A 
Cost: $10-20
Overall: A 

You can see all the diner reviews here.

Question for you: 

What was the last hidden gem restaurant you’ve found?