The Cruisin’ 50’s Diner

I dont know what some people are expecting in the middle of the catskill mountains, the food was good and reasonably priced, and the place was clean. Its a cute 50’s theme place with simple good food. Definitely worth checking out if your in the area

We hoped for the best and got the worst. Great idea. Bad implementation. Food is bland and under/​over cooked. Booths are almost to small to fit in. Not very clean. Young staff who are under trained. I’m sad to say we won’t be returning anytime soon.

I have to say… I think some pretty harsh comments here — or perhaps the power of Unilocal made them change their ways???
Either way — a thoroughly enjoyable meal here. I stuck to the basics a «burger deluxe» as we say «down state.» The burger was perfectly cooked and the lettuce, onions and other «accoutrements» were perfect!
The floor was clean, the room well lit and the 50’s nostalgia was awesome — down to the «Drink Coca Cola» signs and 50’s era pictures that adorned the walls. The service was fantastic and the waitress was highly attentive.
All in all — what a great find — and I’m going back with my mom — who lived through the period. It’ll be fun to listen to her reminisce as I slurp at my chocolate ice cream soda (which was delicious!!!) which I must order again… Or maybe next time… Vanilla???
A definite find up here. Suspend judgment — go enjoy — and be pleasantly surprised!
…oh, and check out the arcade/​game room Out back and the gazebo well lit for performances!!!

When one refers to a restaurant as a «greasy spoon diner», the phrase is usually meant as a nostalgic term of endearment. At this place, however, the phrase is used as a factual description: Not only are the spoons greasy here, but the forks, knives, tables, and floor are, too. Heaven only knows what’s going on in the kitchen if this is the best presentation they can make in the dining area for customers. The food is bland and uninspired, too. A total lose-​lose dining experience.

Driving 23 and starving, this place showed up at the right time. We parked and went inside for lunch. Noticing the sign on the door that stated that they only accept cash (WTF in 2014), we rifled through our wallets to see if we had any cabbage. We did.
The place was cute, decked out in turquoise, black and white checkers… that 50’s style. The floor was really dirty, though, and needed a mopping.
We both ordered the veggie burger that came with french fries. There was also the choice of cole slaw, potato or mac salad. I went with macaroni, he went with slaw. The burger was a boca style, topped with cheese and a pre packaged mashed avocado/​guacamole type thing. It was good, that’s what matters. The macaroni salad was homemade, needed a bit of salt, but was fine, too.
Afterward, we opted for a scoop of ice cream. It was pretty good, however I detected ice crystals in mine which could mean that it’s been in the freezer for a bit, or not covered properly while in there. Not a big deal to us.
Service was fine, food was good. Prices were reasonable. However, in this era, businesses who do not take credit or debit cards are inconveniencing their guests. Not to mention, it can most certainly turn away potential revenue since many folks aren’t traveling with spare cash these days.
At least have an ATM machine.
Stop if you have cash.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place! I highly recommend the burgers and the ice cream. Apparently there are new owners and they’ve done such a tremendous job… the food is great, the atmosphere is wonderful and the service is just fantastic! A wonderful place to stop for a weekend outing! Looking forward to another visit!

*editing to include my full experience with this place*
Visit #1: Ok, so my first time there, I stopped in with my young daughter. The staff seemed very friendly. I had decided to order the meatloaf for myself as I do love a good meatloaf. I had asked the waiter how it was and he said «most people seem to like it.» As it turns out, this was their opening weekend so no telling how much of a fan base the meatloaf had built by then. My 6 year old daughter had the cheeseburger. Food arrives after a reasonable wait but to my disappointment, the meatloaf looked grey and greasy. It was served with a side of light brown gravy that had all the flavor of corn starch, salt and water. The meatloaf itself tasted just as you would expect ground beef with no seasoning, baked for 3 hours in an oven — flavorless. My daughters cheeseburger was a little undercooked but it also lacked any real flavor. I also found it kind of odd that a children’s burger would be served with coleslaw but I got to eat it so no complaint there. The waiter did not check back with us until we were done eating.
Visit #2: The following day, I stopped in for 4 dishes of ice cream to go, no toppings, nothing fancy. While I waited, I noticed the manager, Karen, speaking with a couple that she obviously was familiar with, possibly friends or relatives. n Aside from that couple she was speaking with, there were only two other tables occupied. The girl I ordered my ice cream from was not very organized and had a hard time finding her way around the ice cream area. The other waitress had just made a chocolate shake and left the can and collar, dripping with chocolate ice cream, on top of the freezer. There were glasses all around the only sink back there. Two dirty plates on the counter and the scoop was left out with ice cream all over it instead of being rinsed off or left in running water. The manager should have dealt with this. It took about 10 minutes from the manager to finally come back there to help the young girl with the ice cream order. The ice cream itself was not restaurant quality. The hard packed strawberry lacked any sign of real strawberries mixed in.
I received a message on here from a «Holdridge G» complaining about how I gave them a bad review. After a few times back and forth, I decided to give Crusin one more chance to impress me.
Visit #3: A couple of weeks later, I took the whole family. I ordered the fried chicken, which was described as a «fried half chicken: 4 pieces.» Now to me, a half chicken dinner includes the breast, thigh, leg and wing — 4 pieces. Not at Crusin it’s not. Instead, I got a breast, thigh and the wing cut in half — 2 pieces and 2 half pieces. The pieces were also quite small and the thigh had more skin and breading than meat. It was also a dark color and very greasy, which makes me think the oil was too cold and very dirty. My wife and son got some kind of chicken sandwich that was very small and was served with a bag of chips instead of fries, something told to them after the food was delivered. My daughter got the cheeseburger agin but she really just wanted the fries, which weren’t all that bad. None of us were given silverware — I had to get it myself.
Cleanliness on Visit #3: When we arrived, we saw no manager. We saw two teenaged waitresses, two very young cooks and a dishwasher. There was a couple seated at the far right booth and a single man seated at a table. We were going to sit at one of the other two booths but both were covered in food particles, ice cream and chocolate syrup/​hot fudge. In fact, Jen, our waitress, sat someone at one of these dirty tables about 10 minutes after we arrived. She was about to put place mats down on top of the ice cream and fudge mess until the customer asked her to clean it first. I then noticed that the top of the ketchup bottle had a black ring around it (see my pic) showing it had not be cleaned in a long time.
For the owners: I wish you all the success in the world but unless you are willing to make the much needed changes to the menu and service staff training, you will not last there.
Many great meatloaf recipes to get that 1 problem fixed.
You can also find many other good recipes and instructions there, including brown gravy and how to make good fried chicken.
For the wait staff,
and
You also might consider signing up here.
(I am in no way affiliated with them but they offer everything soup to nuts)