Forest Diner

This is poorly run place. Make you wait and wait and then you get the water and I didn’t want to stick on to see how long it takes for the food to be served.

The Forest Diner should have been put on the list of Howard County historical buildings and should never have been allowed to have been torn down. The fact that this unique piece of local history was bulldozed is a testament to the irresponsibility of both the local historical society and the county government administration that was in place then.
After the diner was shuttered, the Baltimore Sun reported «They peeled the façade off the old Forest Diner on U.S. 40 in Ellicott City, revealing an American classic. Stainless steel, glass, and compact as a caboose, the restaurant’s original core…“‘
What kind of people allow their own history to be destroyed like this? Not ones with any pride. This is not an anti-​development screed (something that’s considered a Mortal Sin in Howard County). I am all FOR development. Heck, more development raises my property values, so bring it on. But it should be done on the hundreds upon hundreds of open space parcels in the area (like up the road off Route 40), not by destroying things of value.

I know you’re closed Forest Diner and I’m sorry I found you so late in your life. I will always miss you, your food, great service and Betty Boop.
Double-​T will never hold a candle to what the Forest was.

They moved across the street to Jilly’s bar and grill and offer the same breakfast and lunch with the same great long time staff. Jilly’s is has a modern décor and lots of screens for watching sports. It is quiet at breakfast.

The Forest Diner, with its vintage dining car and counter, its slightly worn and homey feel, is no more. Their lease has run its course — the property owner sold the Forest Motel on whose land the diner sat to a developer who is razing the whole thing to build an office complex. Like Route 40 needs another one of those.
So, farewell you piece of genuine Americana. We’ll miss your Sunday crowds, your chipped plates, and hot breakfasts. We’ll mourn your bad diner coffee, your hot and tasty fried chicken dinners, and your gut-​buster meatloaf. We’ll drink a toast to your kitsch, your Elvis impersonators, and your neon. We’ll long for waitresses who called you «Hon» totally unironically. Now, we’re just left with the manufactured Double-​T Diner Experience next door.
It just won’t be the same.
Not the same…
:sniff:

Cute, clean diner. The ice cream comes from a local dairy and is really good.

I love this place, nice service. Decent food.

This is what a real diner should feel like. The space is wonderful. The service superb. The food ok. I’ve only visited once, so I would like to return and try different selections. I’ve heard glowing reviews from an experienced diner connoisseur.
I had the eggs Florentine. They were good, but covered in an awful Hollandaise sauce. It was much too salty and ruined the dish. The coffee is alright, but my cup was always kept full; a big diner pet peeve of mine.
I love that the place is across the street from Enchanted Forest. It gives the whole place an eerie quality.
Definitely worth going back and I am sure my experience will raise the rating.

This place could be wonderful — especially considering the space but, everything about my experience was terrible.
Bad food — undercooked eggs, bad coffee and bland french toast.
Steep prices. As in, NYC prices but, in Maryland.
To make matters worse, we had the unfriendliest waitress in all of Maryland. No refills. No personality. In fact, she said nothing at all after taking our order.
$ 22 for a regrettable breakfast. Avoid this place.

Went here a week or two back, it was pretty good.
We started off with onion rings and salad. The salad was big and pretty tasty, but they used baby carrots and I’m not a fan of giant pieces of carrot on my salad, but the greek dressing was tasty. The onion rings were really good, they were nice and crispy and served in a pretty flower pattern. The onion inside was also perfectly cooked.
since I’m a vegetarian, I just had grilled cheese for lunch, it came with a side of fries. The grilled cheese was your standard grilled cheese, but the fries were great. They were flaky and crispy. Very tasty.
My boyfriend got the fried chicken and enjoyed it. He said it was nice and moist and cooked well. It came with a big pile of potatoes and vegetables and some bread. He wasn’t able to finish it all the portions were so large.
We didn’t sit in the main lunch counter area, but over in the side that is your typical mishmosh dive joint décor. The tables were really tight (and so were the bathroom stalls) and they didn’t seem to have heat in that part of the building so they had a space heater that didn’t seem to help much.
Anyways, it’s worth a visit if you’re in the area, I’d definitely pick it over the Double T next door.

Forest Diner is fine. Not great, but just fine.
The interior *does* look like one of those classic 50s diners, with the lunch counter and chrome and all. Aside from the lunch counter, the rest of the joint is pretty dive-​y. Kind of an overall appearance of stickiness from years and years of syrup abuse.
Food was passable. SIL and I liked our omelets well enough. She had the Western and I had the Mexican. I liked the addition of salsa (clearly jarred) and pickled jalapeños (clearly jarred), but wanted a bit more cheddar/​jack cheese. The egg part of the omelets were really thin and not cooked the way I prefer. Home fries were quite well done, tho: thick slices of full potato, fried to a nice crispy perfection, and coated with some kind of seasoned salt. The onions, however, were so over-​fried as to render them black and inedible. Husband ordered chicken fried steak with fried eggs. As a native Texan, I know good chicken fried steak and I’m not sure Forest Diner’s could come close to the real deal; as a native Marylander, tho, husband was more than satisfied.
Our waitress — isn’t that an OK term to use at a diner? — was excellent. Coffee cups never drained, she was efficient taking our orders and bringing the check. Prices are about what you’d expect.
There seemed to be a ton of regulars here when we dined, so Forest Diner must be doing something right to maintain such a loyal following. For me, tho, my socks stayed firmly on my feet.

Okay, Im starting to think Unilocalers are fucking crazy. Really fucking crazy. This place has four stars? HOW? In my ONE morning I had in the Mount Airy-​Ellicot City area, I searched Unilocal up and down for a good diner. This place had 4 stars. I choose this place over Double T which was across the street and had more cars in front of it. Based on that, I should have known better. God damn you Unilocalers, you guys got your shit wrong. Big time. How do I post a picture of my breakfast to go with this post? This is necessary so you, other readers, will know of the atrocity they call diner cuisine at this shit hole.
FIRST OF ALL, and the most important thing… As a Californian and the lack of scrapple, I had to order a side of scrapple. What I got was burned scrapple. Deep fried, blackened to the extreme scrapple. Inedible.
Corned beef hash was dog food to the extreme. It wouldn’t surprise me if it came out of a Pedigree can, and we all know Pedigree is the lowest of the low in dog food. I didn’t touch it other than the one bite to confirm it was as horrible as it looked.
My single egg was a single sunny side up egg. I suppose if a diner fucked up a single plain egg then I’m sure they wouldn’t be in business at all. But the way it just sat there… So lonely… Unable to accompany anything other than bread… It became unappealing rather quickly.
The most enjoyable items on my plate were the two slices of toast. Just your standard cheap toast with packaged whipped butter. For the packaged whipped butter to be the star of my breakfast, that’s a low to all that there is a low.
Forest diner insults everything one would think of when it comes to a diner. The food is so bad that it’s hard to even recognize it’s classic look, that purposeful outdated yet still diner chic look. The service is sub-​par. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone, not even someone I hate. Maybe next time I come out there, I’ll check out Double T and hope for much better.

This restaurant IS OPEN. I guess there are rumors it’s closed now, but it will be closing in 2013 (owner sold it a couple of years ago with the understanding that he would continue to run it for five years from that time). One of the waitresses said they’ve been slower since January, when I guess that rumor started.
It’s a pretty good diner. The fried chicken is okay, but the seafood pot pie is GREAT.

I’ve driven by this place a dozen or so times, so finally my boyfriend and I stopped in.
–The inside of the place is awesome. It’s old, some of it is outdated, but it’s done in an awesome way where you will like it.
–Service was fast and attentive.
–Food came out fast.
–I got a crab pretzle, and this is where my only complaint is. The «special crab dip» they use is actually the same «special crab dip» you can find in crab wontons. If you don’t know what that means, it’s basically cream cheese mixed with crab, with cheese and Old Bay on top. I’m not a fan of cream cheese and crab, but I can eat it. The crab pretzle was ok, but I wouldn’t order it again.
–Boyfriend got meatloaf with carrots and peas. He liked it, but he wasn’t overly impressed. The carrots had a funky chemical aftertaste.
–The french fries were very good, but you don’t get a whole lot for your money.
–The prices are a little expensive. I think my plate of fries was something like $ 3 – 4 bucks.
–Would I come back? Most likely not.

Came by for brunch and enjoyed it. It really feels like you’ve stepped back in time here – and thats a good thing. While there weren’t that many people in when my party went, the servers were laid-​back yet attentive. The place was clean though some of the seats had tears in them.
We ordered the fried chicken (2 legs and 2 thighs) with sides of steamed veggies and french fries, griddle cakes, and biscuits with creamed chipped beef with a side of home fries. While the prices of entrees seem to be a little on the high side, they give very hearty portions so the cost value is reasonable.
Fried chicken: When I was finished eating the chicken, the person behind the counter said, «Those were some great fried chicken you’ve had right?» It’s clear that they pride themselves over the fried chicken… and for good reason; they were crisp and juicy (at least the dark meat… I didn’t try the breast) and well-​seasoned. Also, I don’t know if it was because the oil was fresh and not recycled but the fried chicken also tasted «clean» (in a good way). Just note that it takes roughly 25 minutes for the fried chicken to come out since its not premade or anything.
Biscuits with creamed chipped beef: The biscuits were covered in a hearty creamed chipped beef. The person who ordered really liked it, especially compared to other ones they’ve had before. I took a bit and thought it was good though I am no expert on this particular dish.
Griddle cakes: a little bit of a disappointment. A tad bit overcooked and not anything special. They were pretty big though.
As for the sides, the home fries and the french fries were good. The steamed veggies seemed like they came in a can or in the freezer section of the grocery market.
Bottom line: Forest diner has decent food (depending what you get) and a great, authentic vibe.

I had fairly high expectations coming in to this place. We had to make the choice of going here or Double T. I think we made the wrong one.
The food was absolutely terrible. My son’s macaroni and cheese was barely edible, even by his simple standards. My burger was plain and dry. My wife’s potstickers were basically fried dumplings.
We won’t be going back.

I am a big fan of the Forest Diner. Unfortunately, we only have about 4 years until it will be torn down.
The fried chicken is some of the best you will ever eat! The meatloaf is what you would expect from a diner… delicious. Breakfasts are also what you would expect… large and fulfilling, not mention yummy!

Not the manufactured diner experiance, but rather in a pre-​fabricated, mass-​manufactured old style diner that we all know and love.
That sounded strange– but exactly true.
I really like this place, Im a fan of the old Interstate US highway non-​interstates, like US 40 where the Forest Diner can be found. Its a testement to good food and service that these old fashioned establishments across the country could compete with newer restaurants.
There is even a brand new shiny diner Next door, and Forest is still around. Inside was interesting– many pencil drawings of bands– including the Beatles which indludes a rather robust John Lennon.
Ordered the Burger and was expecting regular tasty diner-​burger, but it was more restaurant style Fresh non frozen beef burger.
I also got the grits as a true Yankee should when south of Mason-​Dixon.
and yes i did ask and sadly they were Instant grits, I thought any self-​respecting southerner takes pride in their grits, I was wrong– but waitress did tell me I could pick up the same brand at the Food Club down the street.

Short and sweet, here goes.
Attentive service. Bottomless coffee with spinach and provolone omelette, side of grits (my only gripe was it tasted instant), with 4 slices of rye bread. Boyfriend’s meal was even more delish: 2 hearty pieces of chicken fried steak, rich gravy, potatoes and rye toast. I. devoured… my meal and a quarter of bf’s. It was enough food to last me 2 meals. What I found to be interesting was the Mexican options on the menu.
Must wonder about the location though: route 40 didn’t look all that metropolitan nor busy.

Neighboring the Enchanted Forest, visiting this diner was always a highlight of my childhood. Today its days are numbered (
) but for the next few years, the owner plans to continue serving up pretty good food.
I don’t think you can get a bad meal here. There is great artwork in every corner including historical prints from around the Ellicot City area and a lovely pencil drawing of the Beatles. I loved the diner memorabilia…