Clinton Station Diner

A 24 hour diner on the edges of New Jersey – not the best in the state, but okay. The Taylor Ham sandwhich needed something – how can you not make that perfect in NJ. The staff are awesome

I lived in the area for quite some time but never stopped in to this diner before today. Thought we’d give it a try. The staff is pleasant and the service is very good, but the food is not.
I ordered a turkey reuben. I don’t know what they did to it, but the bread was like rubber, it was burnt on the outside and chewy on the inside (they served it open faced) and the meat and fillings were dry and tasteless.
The french fries looked good — they looked brown and crispy, but you take one bite and realize they were cooked ahead of time and then microwaved before they were served. They were horrible.
My dining companions ordered a buffalo chicken wrap and fettuccine alfredo. The only person who was happy with her meal was fettuccine alfredo.
I’m glad I went in and tried it, but we won’t be back. It was $ 44 spent on food that was totally not worth it.

This Diner is conveniently located off exit #13 on I-​78. You cannot miss the railroad car attached to the building. It is open 24 hours and is perfect when traveling. You can get breakfast, lunch and dinner here. The diner has an old Railroad car attached to it, if you are lucky you will be seated in it. The rest of the place is really nice and clean with a beautiful fish tank near our booth. The omelettes we ordered had fresh vegtables that seemed just picked from the garden. It came with a small smooth muffin, a sweet slice of cantaloupe & orange. My side order of bacon was on top of my omelette which I prefer. Bacon could have been crunchier for my taste but it was still great. My whole wheat toast were thick slices perfectly buttered. My son loved the French toast, after a bite I must agree. And my daughter was amazed that her when she opened up her sandwich it had egg bacon & cheese on both sides! She loved it! Our waitress was great! The establishment is nostalgic and I am glad we stopped after so many times of just driving by!

Great all around
Early bird special is a real treat
Love the salad bar
My Greek friend was in heaven with the feta and olive oils and the spanicopita

My wife and I were coming back from New York with some friends and we realized that at some point, we would need to eat before we got home.
She remembered that, hey, there was this diner we went to, looked like a train, right off the highway? It took me a second to remember the name, but once she did, I was stoked, and when our friends did, so were they — and it continued when we sat down and were greeted by our waiter, Eddie — who was just as nice and as pleasant as a man can be. Got all of our orders, quirks and all, and we all had something we had never had before — and my matzoh ball burger was different, but I liked it.
Now that I can remember the name a bit better, we’ll definitely have to come back again on our way from the Five Boroughs!

Passed this place often and decided to stop in on our way home from vacation. Yes, I read the mixed reviews but decided to give it a try any way. Im a bit of a food snob, but am also up for good comfort food which you can usually count on at a dinner.
We had no problem with the staff. Everyone was pleasant enough and they seemed to have a pretty efficient process in place to handle the bus loads of people coming in. And, honestly, most people who like this type of place are probably just fine with the food. But if you have a discerning pallet, keep driving.
Beginning with the salad bar… Which seemed to have great reviews… I can only imagine that those who posted about the famous salad bar had never seen one before. Nothing was labeled… Veggies were in water… It was just nothing special.
I had meatloaf with mashed potatoes and corn. (See? Pure comfort.). Only it wasn’t. While the portion sizes were healthy, the meatloaf, not so much. It appeared to be sliced from a mass produced block of something that looked microwaved. I thought about just sending it back. In addition to looking unappetizing, it was supposed to come with a mushroom sauce. It was served with canned gravy. Still, I tried it. It was edible, but out of the five slices I was served, I ate one slice. Not only was it mediocre food, it was also just barely warm enough.
Hubby had pasta and seafood in vodka sauce for $ 23. His was better than mine, but the scallops were not properly prepped. They still had their feet attached.
On our way out we picked up a couple of black and white cookies. Their bakery display was quite impressive and I hoped it was their one saving grace. Sadly, they are nothing to write home about either.

Worst service ever!!! Drinks took over 30 minutes to come!!! Food over an hour!!! Half the food didn’t come!!! The drinks were ass!!! The manager looks like Vernon from Austin Powers!!! Never ever going to this place again!!!

Really bad experience!
We ordered some entrees, juice and hot water. When we checked out, we found our bill had «hot tea» that had never been ordered by us. The cashier told us his boss gave the rules:” If you order hot water you must pay the price of hot tea!” It is so ridiculous! First, there is no price marked on the menu about «hot water»; Second, the waitress didn’t tell us we must pay the hot water as hot tea when we ordered our meal. Do they really think the hot water equals hot tea? We had to pay the hot tea even we didn’t ordered it and didn’t get it! It is unfair! If the boss thinks the rules is reasonable why they don’t put the hot water with price in their menu and cashier’s system and print it out when customer checked it out?
Don’t go there!!!

Cold omlets. Dirty salad bar. Very inconsistent service. For a place that is always better they could definitely do better. We go to Cracker Barrel instead if that says enough.

Good diner, not a great diner. The place could be a little cleaner, but when you are open all the time, I guess it’s hard to maintain. The food is typical diner fare and the old rail car is unique. Drink refills are slow, and so is the wait staff. I think they work too many tables at once. I believe that this restaurant has upside, but they need to focus on some off the little things. Nevertheless, it’s a decent spot for a decent meal.

We had been wanting to try this place for a long time, and finally got our chance yesterday.
We had a young server who has only been on the job two weeks, and it showed. When my wife asked what the soups were, the waitress told her they had Cream of Chicken, Chicken with Rice, and Matzo Ball. My wife ordered the Cream of Chicken, but received the Chicken with Rice. When questioned, the server replied that they didn’t have Cream of Chicken.
I ordered a medium-​rare burger, which came out well done. I showed the server, and she asked if I wanted to send it back. Ummm, yeah…
Anyway, we finally got our orders straightened out. My wife returned the soup and had the salad bar instead (fair), a chicken basket (very good), and fries (just okay).
Once I got my new burger done properly it was actually very good. And my fries were just okay as well.
I tried giving the server a pass since she was new, but it was hard to when she seemed more interested hanging out with her phone at an empty table than taking care of her customers. My wife and I both had to ask for drink refills even though our cups were empty for several minutes, and we had to explain to the server what a chicken basket was when she thought it meant chicken fingers. After two weeks she should have better knowledge of the menu, and should know to be more attentive to the diners.
Our experience wasn’t bad enough to that we wouldn’t return, but we wouldn’t go out of our way to go there, either.

So I am in the land of the Dinner (NJ). Have had great experiences and some not so much. This was one of those not so much.
Breakfast the start of a day meal and at a dinner is a good combination right? Usually that is the case. Don’t get me wrong, the food was good and portions were of the dinner size. The reason for the two stars is for the cleanliness. I was shocked to see a condiment station on the table I sat at covered with crumbs and food particles. Not appetizing to say the least. Then there was the chicken bone in the seat back space. Mind you this is a 24hr place, and it was 8:45am when I visited.
The service was good. Jonah was attentive and helpful. The price of the meal was on par with other dinners. So the 2-​stars is for cleanliness issues, otherwise it would be a 3 – 4 rating.

It is a diner. Yes, it has a train car which is kind of cool. It can service large groups of people. The inside is actually a lot more cozy than most diner experience. A different life time ago — when it used to be the Union Gap — I knew the owner.
Today it is a diner. A greek salad for lunch — the same greek salad I have found in just about any diner in NJ. The place seems to be famous for its stupid large burgers. I am not saying that the burgers are bad — rather that the size is past the point of insanity. The placemat I am looking at is advertising «THE SPARTAN» 256 pounds? That has to be a typo — right? Heck, the Mt. Olympus weights an astonishing 50 pounds but at least that is believable.

The service was great unfortunately we ordered the nano burgers as an appetizer and they came out with the food and the buns had mold on it and I noticed after I took a bite and swallowed.

Had a great Sunday brunch two weeks ago.
If you order bacon, get it well done.
Alcohol doesn’t start being served till noon.
Breads and cakes are baked on premise. Great display case.
Turkey sandwich has fresh turkey, not deli sliced.
Great omletes and french toast.

We’ve stopped at Clinton several times on that long drive from Atlanta to Cape Cod or vice versa. It’s super convenient, right off the highway. There’s plenty of parking. It’s usually not a great sign for me when the menu is too big. It often means they do everything mediocre rather than anything great. This is pretty true here. Everything I’ve had has been fine, but not memorable. Most recently, I went for the gyro sandwich, which was actually pretty good. Prices are okay, within reason. The place is expansive, with tons of tables. The boxcar in back is cute. Service is a bit slow, which is odd because there seem to be a lot of people working.

This was another typical New Jersey diner. It looked the part along with the extensive menu. The service was very good. The food came out very quickly as well.
I went with the tuna salad wrap with a side of split pea soup ($ 8.65?). A soup or salad came with my order because the tuna salad wrap was part of the lunch specials.
The split pea soup was solid. There were no pieces of little ham like I have seen before, but the flavor was tasty nonetheless.
For the tuna salad wrap, it was the first time I had guacamole with tuna. It was interesting to say the least. I am not sure whether or not I liked it or not. It would be something I would have to try again. The guacamole seemed to be the substitute for mayonnaise in this case. This made the wrap portion less soggy. The tuna appeared to be fresh along with the lettuce and tomato. The wrap also came with fries that I was not too fond of. They were extremely plain.
Will I go back? Of course. Diner rules apply.

Great pit stop for those on a road trip. Amazing breakfast food! The building has a neat train box car attached to it and small parties can dine there.
Cons: We were a bit upset by the fact that I asked if we could sit in the train car. The hostess lied to us and said it was full. One star down for that b.s. I went to go look at it and it was practically empty. She could have told us the truth: It would be hard to accommodate a party of 6 in that area. It is set up for 4 or less. I would have understood.
The service in general was a bit slow, but the waiter was very polite and made sure we were refilled.
Food: They apparently have the world’s largest burger at over 100lbs. I opted for the world’s smallest burger called the Nano burger for my daughter. Their breakfast selection was fantastic and their burgers were average. Mine was tasty but it was very greasy and the bread was greasy and soggy. Hence why it dropped to just average. My son loved his burger so perhaps it was just mine. Everyone did enjoy their food so maybe it was a logistical kitchen oversight.
Food highlights: Belgium waffles had a pretty good batter and we’re cooked to fluffy perfection with nicely crisped edges. It would have been the best waffle I have tasted but the syrup wasn’t the best (I only like real maple not smuckers)
Breakfast meats were all THA BOMB! Especially the sausage. I hate breakfast sausage and this is by far amazing goodness! Their ham was flavorful and the bacon was thick with little fat.
Overall I will come by again when I go to NYC again and eat their breakfast. I really belive this is a great stop for travelers on the interstate.

Its been a number of years since I was at the Clinton Diner. Actually, it may be over 20 years. Visiting family in Easton, PA and went to meet an old friend from Bound Brook, NJ. This was a good middle ground.
The service was excellent. I wish I caught the waitress’s name so I could compliment her personally.
Their menu is extensive. Being a Sunday at a diner, they had many specials. But when I saw Chicken in a Basket on the menu, well, it’s been at least that many years since having that.
The meal came with soup or salad bar. I opted for the salad. Their selection was nice and everything looked fresh. My only complaints was many of the patrons were sloppy so things were mixed up. While their patrons should take more care, the restaurant should be more attentive.
The chicken was great. It was crisp, not greasy and had a slightly sweet taste to it. The fries were a little damp and not as good as I had hoped.
All in all, though, I would return again. The desert case looked outstanding. We ate way too much to partake this time around. One of those slices of cake had my name on it.

This restaurant/​bar is very unique and what makes it stand out is the name and of course the people.
The place is pretty big lots of room, I chose to sit by the bar.
Service was prompt and servers extremely friendly.
Walking out to the parking lot I noticed the beautiful scenic view right across from the parking lot, stunning