Billy’s Downtown Diner

Worst breakfast I (we) ever had! Sat down late morning, place was not clean. Sat for at least 15 minutes before the waitress came over. Worst waitress ever! Asked a question about the food and she replied, «I don’t know, I don’t work in the kitchen!» — what type of waitress does that? Then we waited another 15 minutes for the first cup of coffee. We were about to walk out when our COLD food arrived — did not receive our whole order. A table of 6 arrived ½ hour later than us and had their food served BEFORE us. Do yourself a favor and find a better place to eat — NOTHING LIKE BILLY’S IN BETHLEHEM! — I would give it a zero for the stars if I were able to.

Example of good food but terrible management. Was told 10 minutes for a table — took 50. Ordered right way, took 75 minutes to get food. They need to mange the whole process much better — would not recommend if there was any sign of being busy.

The best French toast ever! Every breakfast I’ve ordered here was amazing. Absolute perfection!

Simple. Poor service. Bad cold coffee. Long wait for food. Food arrives cold. Forgets side orders (twice!!). Then not a thank you or even the courtesy of asking how my meal was at checkout. Has been a disappointment the last two or three trips. Not worth the trip stay away!

Quick overview: The pro’s don’t have nothing to do with the food for this location, unfortunately. Good seating, comfortable, large party friendly, great hostess’s, parking is decent for the area. But sadly the food is sub-​par compared to the other location and service is very poor. Great place to go and study/​do homework, since you can sit long periods here. Only place in the Lehigh Valley that I have given little to no tip.
Pro’s: The hostess’s are super amazing and personable– EVERY TIME. I am not exaggerating… truly they are the best even compared to the Bethlehem location as crazy as it sounds. Large amount of seating. Accommodating to large parties. Nice looking restaurant-​it used to be a bar/​restaurant geared towards the business people in the area or the upper class of Allentown. Parking really isn’t that bad even though its inner city Allentown. Good place to study since you don’t have to worry about your seat being needed most of the time (tip your server accordingly if you do sit a while!)
Cons: Very slow and poor service consistently. Coffee isn’t great and ½ the time you may or may not get refills. Food comes out semi warm or cold. Condiments are short in coming-​if they come at all. Potatoes routinely under-​cooked. Menu change has me feeling unsettled/​unsatisfied with it and combined with the rest of the cons… I really now dislike the Allentown location-​and that was NOT always the case) Despite being Billy’s second location and containing the same menu, it is NOT the same.
Long version and full explanation:
I have gone to the Allentown site since it opened-​usually a few times a month (school is on the way), and service has ALWAYS been an issue there… but with the new menu, its not even an interest to me anymore sadly.
Let me also say I always tip well over 20% on a routine basis, even if the service was mediocre. I am pretty easy going at this location. I know what I am getting into when I come here, and I know the servers need to make money.
Service: In the past I never minded going and getting the poor service since the food was good, and I went before class in the mornings and WANTED to sit a while-​studying while eating is amazing! But today I had the misfortune to go there with a friend. Server was asked several times for a refill on coffee (right when our order was placed) that we finally got well after getting our food. We also asked the other servers/​bussers for coffee too and was told repeatedly that our server was bringing it, or they said ‘ok’ and never came back. (this was for the 2^nd cup we didn’t get for 20 min.) Asked for sour cream at ordering, then repeated a request for sour cream when getting the food (no problem I really don’t care repeating a request) then I had to ask AGAIN for sour cream when she finally brought the coffee (now I mind). Our to go boxes we asked for didn’t fit all our food either, but we didn’t bother asking for another box. Suffice to say I left VERY LITTLE tip. And yes felt bad.
Menu: Much better at the bethlehem location-​food is always more hot/​cooked more at the original location, but I really do not like the new menu. They replaced nearly EVERYTHING on the menu. I get it… they want to switch it up… but why not leave ½ the original menu and then offer the new items along with it?
The chorizo is something that is used in a fair amount of menu items. It too has changed-​or is different now at the allentown location. I’m not sure if they ran out of loose ground chorizo and just had to use links. Chopped links of chorizo with the casing just don’t give it that same true chorizo taste. At first I didn’t think the huevos rancheros even had chorizo-​I thought it was summer sausage, which was very different. The potatoes were undercooked (par for course at the allentown location, but on top of everything else it was annoying), the corn tortillas were cold and rubbery (probably since it wasn’t heated). It just didn’t have the same taste as it used to-​and huevos rancheros is one of the FEW items that was retained from the old menu.
As I said at the start, I didnt mind the poor service when I came to study and eat before class. I could handle slow/​no service-​the food was good.
But with the new menu that I don’t like (probably because i know how GOOD the old menu was), the undercooked items, and poor service… I really don’t think I“ll be back to the allentown location.
*see my post on the bethlehem location*

I usually love coming to Billy’s but this time I was very disappointed. My fiancé and I were sat in a booth. Waited over 15 minutes and still no one came up to us. We saw people just standing around talking. So we left. Now we’re at Ham Fam and a lady came up to us within one minute of seating us.

As a long time patron of the Bethlehem location I had high hopes for the Allentown location. Today was my first visit and sadly this location pales in comparison to Bethlehem. While the food was okay, the service and management were lacking. Our server was covering the counter and tables on the floor as well as tables outside. As a result, I never got my soup and our check backs from our server were at best infrequent. Also disturbing was that unlike Bethlehem when Billy or Yanna were onsite. no management personnel did any «table touches» and when I paid my bill at the counter, despite 5 people hanging around the hostess stand/​register area talking to each other, none could be bothered to ask about our experience at their establishment.
Will we go back to this location? Unlike today when we made a special trip, only if we are in the area for other reasons.
I hope that Billy’s devises a much better management plan before their Easton location opens so that the quality of the Billy’s Downtown Diner brand is not watered down beyond repair. Bigger is not always better. Better is better.

Good food, fast lunch takeout service. The waiters are always smiling and happy to serve. A couple of veg options on the menu and that is a plus for me since i am a vegetarian.

I’ve been to Billy’s 3 times. The first time was amazing. This last experience calls for one star. The side to my order was incorrect and the food came out cold. It took a long time to microwave the food to the point that my friend was finished by the time it came back out. I didn’t end up eating the meal. The server apologized but didn’t adjust the tab.
The server was very kind. I believe this location out grew themselves and the quality and consistency has suffered.

At this moment in time Billy’s is my absolute favorite restaurant to grab breakfast. All of the food is fresh and super unique.
I have been here several times now and always leave full and satisfied. Prices are a bit expensive for breakfast but it’s one of those times where you get what you pay for. Portions are quite generous and everything I tried was fantastic.
I usually order one of their daily specials when I visit, but when it comes to the everyday menu my favorite dish is called Heuvos Rancheros.
It consists of a corn tortilla topped with refried beans, chorizo sausage, melted pepper jack and cheddar cheese with two fried eggs, guacamole and green chilis. Served with homefries. Amazing!

Pros:
Our waitress was fantastic. Food was food. Atmosphere and design is classy.
Cons:
Hostess was nowhere to be found when we came in and had to awkwardly wait while staff passed us several times and did not engage.
Odd: The water tasted EXTREMELY off. Dusty/​musty, after two sips my mouth tasted awful and had to order a Sprite to wash the taste out.

Don’t let the name fool you, Billy’s is a classy place with a perfect ambiance. The food was great, amazing even. I got French toast with Nutella and bananas and strawberries (I forget the name!) and it was just delicious. The service could stand to improve. It took 15 minutes to get a coffee when there were only three other parties in the whole restaurant. Also, we didn’t really get checked in on. We went back for coffee though and an older woman was our server and she was great so it could have jut been that young girl. Food: ¹⁰⁄₁₀ though :)

My husband and I are at Billy’s pretty much every weekend for breakfast. Living in the Southside of Allentown their aren’t too many great breakfast options, so coming into downtown in the morning is always a nice option.
I’m reading a lot of mixed reviews on here about service and quality of food. I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced a problem with either of these. I would say for breakfast definitely get there on the earlier side. Anytime around 10, you will be waiting a bit to sit down. But, if you ask to sit at the bar, which is almost never full you will get seated right away. All of our servers have always been polite and attentive and have never had a problem with our orders.
I’ve tried many items on the menu and like the Benedicts and Veganesque omelet the best. My husband almost always gets the Little Havana omelet. I’ve tried many of the specials and those are always creative and hit the mark. I will say that I am not a fan of their baguette style french toast and some of the pancake specials. They add this sugary syrup at the bottom of the dish, so it almost looks like the food is sitting in liquid. While the taste is usually good, its just too liquidy for me and doesn’t add much to the dish, I’m always worried that they will be too soggy if I don’t eat them fast enough. Just an odd way to present bread/​batter type dishes. And the baguette style french toast, just doesn’t give me the same taste that I am looking for. Its almost like it hasn’t been soaked enough in the egg mixture.
I would also say that I wish the omelets were a bit fluffier and fuller, for 3 egg omelets sometimes they seem a bit flat and small for the price. Also, watch out for any of the specialty lattes, these almost always come out scolding hot. To the point where they aren’t even drinkable till our meals are done.
There’s some room for improvement but all and all like Billy’s and mainly have had great experiences here and there aren’t too many places like this in the area.

First time here and such a nice place and wow the food is so good yummo. The peeps Uccino coffee was so good with a yummy chocolate peep so delicious. Can’t wait to try lunch soon.

Gave Billy’s another chance to see if they have improved after all the negative reviews mostly about service and I think they just don’t care.
Its too bad because after I thought I wouldn’t return to this place the good breakfast made me come back and give them another chance.
Nope sill good food Bad Service! go somewhere else if your pressed for time. If you have all the time in the world and don’t mind having a 1 hour long breakfast by all means enjoy.

Place is awesome, the vibe is great, only thing I didn’t like was the server put my bill on the table before I was even done with my breakfast.
But besides that, she was really nice she came to the table and asked me if I was good. It’s a really nice spot on HAMILTON street. I feel like everyone should give it a chance once

I had heard of all the rave about this place, decided to give it a try on Sunday morning for breakfast. Great disappointment!!! I gave it three stars because of the great atmosphere. Service was slow, not kid friendly (no kids menu). Saw great pics of the granola French toast! My taste buds were buzzing in anticipation. Only to find out it was only a huge piece of bread, loads of syrup and a sprinkle of granola with strawberries for garnish! Wished this experience would have been better, so that I too could have recommended this place to friends n neighbors. Instead my kids and hubby are still giving me grief on this pick! Lol.
This review is for the Allentown location.

Food: awesome. We ordered the breakfast quesadilla, huevos rancheros, cabo wabo omelet, and crazy grits. Home fries are served with breakfast plates. You can get them plain or dress them up with peppers, onions and cheese. While our food was delicious I wanted to try many other dishes. Everything looked terrific. I’m not going to list them here, but I recommend you preview their menu if you have any interest.
Service: attentive and polite. The manager also came over and asked if everything was made to order etc.
Atmosphere: pretty traditional, but they dressed their walls with pictures of famous diners that had been there. Open. Big windows let plenty of light in. Clean.
Misc: my only complaint is that the men’s room is a bit of a walk from the restaurant (the restaurant is in an office building). Long story short — I would definitely go back!

Great? Awesome? Amazing? I can’t find the word good enough for Billy’s. Everything on the menu is a must try. The omelets, the french toast, the fresh squeezed orange juice… it’s all great.
The menu is also always transforming. They add really tasty specials and it pains you to try them because you really want what you always get, but the descriptions make you want to be adventurous. When you are adventurous, you are definitely rewarded with more great food. I am excited every time i am going there.
The staff is super nice, and Billy is often there to ask you how everything is. Very friendly and down to earth, he’s a forward thinker.
I recommend the Lil’ Havana omelet, or the Berry Crunch French Toast, or the Lemon Ricotta Pancakes if they’re on the menu. ENJOY!

After enjoying a fun night in Allentown, PA, we came to Billy’s Diner for brunch.
The ambiance is modern and neat. The tables face the street, which is nice because it allows for the sunlight to filter in.
I had the Munster Burger and my fiancé had the California Eggs Benedict with green peppers and onions on his home fries. The pictures speak for the food– delicious.
Our server was very sweet and attentive. I really enjoyed our brunch.