Gateway-Diner

Well, you can see from the bulk of earlier reviews and get a hint of what may follow: barely edible food, not worth price even if it were free, surly service. This place benefits by its location, and so doesn’t need good food, good service or good staff. If the owners read this, then this finger’s for you.

Shiny, red vinyl, chrome, and neon: diners are iconic NYS family run businesses that operate 24/​7, where you can always get a burger and a shake or an egg sandwich for not too much money and probably bump into someone you know and where the servers know you by the third time you dine. Those 10 page plus plastic menus that are bigger than the Post would take you forever to consider seriously.
Gateway Diner, near the Westgate Mall on Central Avenue, has been a part of Albany’s food scene since 1971. Greeks in the kitchen are always a good thing, although the menu here doesn’t do that heritage much justice. The rest of it was the comforting, reassuring usual: pancakes and eggs for breakfast, liver and onions, fried everything (especially for apps), something like 15 burgers to choose from, lots of sandwiches including that hot turkey mess with the gravy on the white bread, and a selection of large but standard Amerkin salads (the «California» has cottage cheese — why do I think that’s funny???).
I’m had the Greek Gyro with chicken ($ 8.00), basic chicken souvlaki: loads of grilled marinated chicken breast chunks that were pretty good with tomatoes and onion rolled up in a fat, warm, soft white pita and a generous scoop of tangy tzatziki (which I asked for on the side). Good but not well constructed, with all the onions and tomatoes at the bottom and all the meat sitting on top.
The staff were all very pleasant, serving up our meal quickly and checking in as we ate, remembering to ask if we wanted dessert or coffee, and dividing up our bill without a blink.
Zena, Goddess of Fire

I ate here today. It was not the first time I ate here, the first time I ate here was with a red head who broke my heart. One of the three redheads to do so, I have had my heart broken more than three times.
The first time I got here I got a waffle. Waffles are delicious, the waffles here are no exception. Today I got chocolate chip pancakes with eggs, bacon and sausage. They were excellent. The pancakes were the right consistency, there have been diners that made pancakes like your one friend poorly molds clay when you play Cranium. The chocolate chip ratio was more than acceptable. The bacon quality is good, although the strips are not quite as large as they used to be. Are pigs shrinking? Am I getting bigger? Only time will tell.
My friends all seemed to enjoy their meals. We all had pancakes and/​or omelettes with sides in some way or another. Even my one friend whose only mood is grumpy enjoyed herself. The meal was so satisfying for her that she didn’t even have to bust a newpie right after. Reasonable prices, above average food, good location on Central. I’d eat here again as long as you keep the heart breakers away.

All you expect from a Diner. Good service, excellent French fries and a really good turkey club. I also tried the pork tenderloin gyro which had a good sauce on it. I’ll bet the breakfast is awesome also!

Oh, Gateway. One of those diners I really want to like, but it’s failed us a couple of times.
The Gateway’s a large diner in the more modern but still out of date style, neither classic vintage nor truly up to date. There’s always plenty of seating in two large sections, although I’d recommend staying out of the front windows, which can be sort of greenhouse-​like.
The service has been fine, although (again) slow on the coffee refills. The failures here have been the kitchen: slow out of the gate. I appreciate that both the server and the front of the house hosts are on this and saying «the food will be right out» but when that takes a long time even after that — and them some of the food comes out cold — well, that’s a kitchen management problem, not mine.
The Reuben was decent, although very light on the dressing. Hamburgers were oddly done, with part of the burger overcooked and another part undercooked, as if a frozen patty had been rush-​cooked. Breakfast has been so-​so; somewhat uncrispy home fries, omelettes that were just sort of rolled up scrambled eggs, undersized toast, and bacon and sausage that were cold to the touch when they came out.
Sadly, can’t recommend.

Had the car in for service just down the street so we decided to walk to the Gateway for breakfast. Very crowded for a weekday morning. In our experience though, we’d guess the crowd is there more for the convenience than the food.
Typical big diner menu and typical diner experience. The eggs on the benedict were poached perfectly so that’s a plus. Surprising how many breakfast places screw that up. Homemade corned beef hash definitely homemade, but just ok. Pancakes also just ok though the sausage was good. It was average all around.
A solid 3 stars. Wouldn’t go out of our way for a meal here, but would stop by again next time the car is in the shop. Certainly beats hanging out in the waiting room for an hour.

After a Robin Trower concert and quite a few beers, this was a perfect spot. Where I grew up, most of the diners are Greek run; complete with a 10 page menu from shrimp scampi to feta omelettes, full stocked bar, and twirling refrigerated dessert display case. This place is damn near perfect (except no personal jukebox full of lost 70s tunes from Freddy Fender). Big fan.

Gateway is pretty much what I expect from a diner in terms of food and menu. It looks to me like the décor was given a face-​lift at some point in the recent past, which makes the the dining environment more appealing. The food is pretty much what I expected, advertised on menus which have had a lot of use. You are, of course, greeted by the «carousel of desserts.» The staff work pretty well here, thought there will sometimes be some «operating by the seat of the pants» experiences — for example, our table of 6 did not get silverware until we actually got food. For dinner, the $ 9.99 3-​course meal is a good option if you are looking for value. It includes soup or salad, your entrée (typically a large portion) and a limited selection of desserts such as puddings, cakes, etc. Be aware that it will take a little longer for meals to get served to larger parties. Otherwise this is a reasonable place to go for a not-​too-​fancy meal.

Stopped here for breakfast. Food was average at best. Definitely nothing to complain about but I’ve had better. Service was good.

Went there a couple weeks ago for breakfast. The food is usually good! The service is usually friendly but this time the waitress was a complete &@$”(&:!! She brought us part of our order which took a good half hour, set it down, didn’t ask if we needed anything else, then turned around to take another order from a table of 4. I said excuse me to get her attention, a couple of times, and she completely ignored me until I got loud and she had no choice but to turn around. Um, how about the rest of our food or at least let us know why the delay? Just rude. She brought the rest out without a word and didn’t come back to check on us. Had to get up to get water, which is usually the first thing they give you but for some reason they didn’t. I asked her both times when she was at our table. I don’t know what her problem was. We weren’t rude to her. Maybe a bad day but seriously, go home then. Why take it out on someone else? She got tipped but if it were up to me she wouldn’t have.

Meal was very good. Service was very good. Also enjoyed the atmosphere. Felt like the kind of place I could have camped out in all day.

Home fries undercooked (almost raw) for one person and overcooked for another. Service was slow. Waitress was very rude when asking about them and said that’s how they come. Won’t be returning!

Classic diner with a welcoming feel. Lots of choices on the menu. The food was delicious and done perfect to my liking. The place was jam packed on a Sunday morning. Lots of tables so we were seated right away. The service was just ok. Our waitress’s personality lacked charisma. Had to wait awhile to order however the food came out pretty quick. Also the coffee wasn’t flowin’ either, had to wait awhile for a refill.

Trying out a new diner in Albany — I do not plan on returning. Service was ok, food was not worth the wait. I got the Reuban: the corned beef was fried and crunchy and poorly seasoned. Would not recommend. Friends got egg breakfasts, pancakes, and buffalo chicken wraps, and they would not recommend either. The diner was not full, and does not really excuse the 50 minute wait. Overall, not impressed and would not recommend.

PRICES ARE RIDICULOUS. We came here and I wanted a turkey club sandwich, the waitress had not informed me that each topping would cost extra (lettuce tomato cheese etc.). For a regular club sandwich and French fries it came to $ 17!!! As I checked out I tried telling them this is unacceptable and they would not change the price. Unbelievable that you would charge $ 17 for a cold cut sandwich from a DINER.

Went there before a visit to suny Albany my son had the waffle it was ok syrup was pre packaged they didn’t bring his sausages even after asking twice about them told they were on the way. My hash browns tasted like they came out of a can even though there was a $ 2 extra for homemade! My poached eggs were as hard, no runny yolk just like a hot hard boiled egg, cold toast, I asked 3 times for hot sauce. I finally got up and went to the front and got my own. All they had was a bottle with a couple of drops in it. The waitress said it was the last one in the restaurant. Bill was 18.00 will not come back ever.

There are two kinds of diners. There are those that make most everything from scratch, with smaller menus. And then there are those that have huge, sprawling menus with much of the food made from processed ingredients.
Gateway Diner is definitely the latter.
We’ve been three times. The first couple of times we had sandwiches, and they were fine. And the fries that came with them were good.
But on our last visit we ordered dinner entrees and they were lacking. My wife ordered the salmon entrée with green beans and cauliflower. Her salmon was a very thin filet and it was overcooked and dry. The green beans were an unappetizing brown, and they were mushy. They were obviously from a can. She enjoyed the cauliflower which came in a light tomato based sauce.
I had the chicken parm. It was a good deal at only $ 9.99 including a side of spaghetti, salad, and dessert. My salad came with a gooey, gloppy Italian dressing, and it was mostly iceberg lettuce. The chicken was decent, with a crispy crust. The spaghetti though was overcooked and mushy. The tomato sauce was salty, sweet and processed tasting. I skipped dessert.
I’ve not had their breakfast but my guess it’s fine. And as I mentioned the sandwiches are ok too. But I’d avoid the dinner entrees as ours were not good.

Not only was the server rude, I found shells in my scrambled eggs, my gf found hair in her food. The only thing I would recommend are the waffles but let me warn you, don’t come with high expectations.

Nothing fancy. The service was good. It was steady in here for Tuesday. Then, I remembered it is lunch time.
The pancake craving had been feed. However, if this were the weekend I would make the trip to Café Madison or NWBB.

Exhausting menu will make you want to come back for breakfast and lunch… oh! And dinner.
This diner is truly a spotless restaurant. Great for brunch!