It’s better than fast food and quicker when on the road than trying to find fine dining and waiting hours to be seated, served, etc. We usually go with their soup/ dishes of the day and most of the time it hits the right spot: much less greasy than the usually fried / grilled fast food, fast enough, and sometimes unique and actually really good tasting.

Some diners are great (I’m from NJ) but I’ve never found one around here that is any good.

Even when you go to a diner, you need to know what to order. Greek omelets are my go to breakfast order and roasted Turkey dinners for dinner. Mmmmm.

Atlantis was excellent

I do not romanticize it, but will seek out diners when traveling because they have basic, predictable food. And - for some reason - the wait staff is always willing to be extra helpful. No butter - no problem. It is great if you have a picky eater or someone with stomach issues that can act up if they get spicy food by mistake.

Some diners are great, some not so much.

Because diner food can be delicious. I lived in Baltimore for over a decade — within walking distance of a diner that had some of the best food I’ve ever had in my life.*

* FWIW, I’m not a foodie, but I’ve lived in New York and have foodie friends throughout the US, so my standards for awesome food go way beyond McDonald’s. I have been to some good diners in NYC, but the one in Baltimore is excellent — or at least was when I lived there.

Most diners around me are greek fusion so there are always greek sampler platters as a go-to. I've never ordered eggs or syrup.
The kids like the milkshakes.

Anonymous wrote:You have to go to the right ones...check Yelp. Lots of great ones in NY, New England, etc.

It is comfort food, a slice of Americana. The best ones have wonderful home fries, great sandwiches, soups, and desserts.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many fond memories of Greek-owned Midwestern diners with my grandmother, or with college friends. Haven’t found a great diner in DC, though Silver Diner is an interesting, healthier spin.

Those cases with the multi-layer cakes that looked so good. And all tasted like sawdust the worst possible cakes. But they had pretty much everything under the sun on the menu. Meatloaf, lo-cal diet plate (tomato with cottage cheese), crepes, eggs, pancakes, club sandwich, patty melt, etc. All was just ok, never amazing, the cakes were terrible.

I never understood those massive menus. How can one place make so many food items?!

They don’t make anything. They heat up and fry Sysco slop.

Maybe at a crappy diner. Good diners make everything in house.

I would take a diner over McDonalds, and have. But agree it's rarely that great. Or if it is, there's some other issue. We went to a well-reviewed, relatively clean diner while traveling last year, and the food was actually pretty tasty (veggie omlet, bacon). But I had GI issues for 2 days after and I usually have an iron stomach.

Still - I detest McDonalds, Roy Rogers, Chick-Fil-A etc, so given the choice I would do a diner again over those.

The Hawaiian diner sounds amazing ...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many fond memories of Greek-owned Midwestern diners with my grandmother, or with college friends. Haven’t found a great diner in DC, though Silver Diner is an interesting, healthier spin.

Those cases with the multi-layer cakes that looked so good. And all tasted like sawdust the worst possible cakes. But they had pretty much everything under the sun on the menu. Meatloaf, lo-cal diet plate (tomato with cottage cheese), crepes, eggs, pancakes, club sandwich, patty melt, etc. All was just ok, never amazing, the cakes were terrible.

I never understood those massive menus. How can one place make so many food items?!

They don’t make anything. They heat up and fry Sysco slop.

You have to go to the right ones...check Yelp. Lots of great ones in NY, New England, etc.

It is comfort food, a slice of Americana. The best ones have wonderful home fries, great sandwiches, soups, and desserts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many fond memories of Greek-owned Midwestern diners with my grandmother, or with college friends. Haven’t found a great diner in DC, though Silver Diner is an interesting, healthier spin.

Those cases with the multi-layer cakes that looked so good. And all tasted like sawdust the worst possible cakes. But they had pretty much everything under the sun on the menu. Meatloaf, lo-cal diet plate (tomato with cottage cheese), crepes, eggs, pancakes, club sandwich, patty melt, etc. All was just ok, never amazing, the cakes were terrible.

I never understood those massive menus. How can one place make so many food items?!

I’ve never been to a good one in New Jersey but went to two great ones in Hawaii. We stopped at one in MD recently to use the bathroom and the bacon and fried eggs looked amazing. The stuff you can do fast on a griddle is often better than home cooked where I don’t have a restaurant quality griddle. I used to travel with my own maple syrup because that kind of place often does great pancakes but I can’t tolerate the cake syrup. In Hawaii I think I got fruit syrup or coconut syrup or something and they often have macade ma nut pancakes. The loco moco is also great at a Hawaiian diner. Southern diners often have great biscuits and sometimes very good grits. At a Greek diner I’ll get grape leaves. You need to order based on their strength.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have many fond memories of Greek-owned Midwestern diners with my grandmother, or with college friends. Haven’t found a great diner in DC, though Silver Diner is an interesting, healthier spin.

Those cases with the multi-layer cakes that looked so good. And all tasted like sawdust the worst possible cakes. But they had pretty much everything under the sun on the menu. Meatloaf, lo-cal diet plate (tomato with cottage cheese), crepes, eggs, pancakes, club sandwich, patty melt, etc. All was just ok, never amazing, the cakes were terrible.

This has been my experience, and I grew up in NY. When visiting friends, we’d go to diners in Long Island or NJ, and there was always a huge menu of mediocre food.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was it a NY or NJ diner? It's comfort food. The pancakes are fluffy and the eggs are cheesy. You need to order correctly - you go there for burgers or grilled cheese or a BLT....not a steak dinner.

And the atmosphere is part of it. The 60 year old waitresses who are the right combination of gruff and charming.

Omfg, I want to go to a real diner NOW!! There's no real diner here.

+1

There was one out in Herndon that was good. Not sure if it’s still there.

That was the Amphora spin off. It’s still there. Sadly the Vienna location no longer is.