Parsons Diner

This place gets the job done. The food is simple, the people are nice and the prices are extremely reasonable. I have eaten in, done take out and have had it delivered. It will never get a Michelin star, but it’s a neighborhood place that the locals frequent, so you know everything is fresh.

I went here a few months ago and had a surprisingly wonderful dinner. Today I came for breakfast and it was beyond terrible and so was the service. Our waitress left our order sitting in the kitchen FOREVER, cold eggs, ice cold potatoes and cold, rock hard toast. Oh and lousy coffee. Not going back again.

It feels like you’ve entered a small quaint dining room of someone’s home. The dinner special is the bomb. You get bread, salad, soup, main dish, and two scoops of ice cream or pieces of fruit for dessert all for less than 20 bones, which is nice. When the waitress comes over, get ready to feel like you’re taking a small survey, which is not a problem because it’s nice to have choices. I keep thinking I’m not going to be full but I always end up satisfied. This is a nice spot with friendly and attentive service. I’m glad I live within walking distance of this joint.

Well, I’ve been coming to Parson’s Diner for years now, and it has become my default place to eat when around in the evening.
Generally, the soups are great. Very homemade tasting split pea, mushroom barley, and lentil soups.
Reasonably priced, good food in a family type restaurant.
So why the two stars?
That was for my latest experience. We were a party of three, my favorite aunt of a senior persuasion, my wife, and I. Simple meal requests: London Broil, a BLT and corned beef club, and a Victory Garden Platter, all very good choices there, glasses of water all around and a cup of tea for me. Order placed. Wait wait wait– sandwich arrives, much to the delight of my golden aged aunt. wait wait wait wait– i motioned the waitress and asked what happened-​she pointed to the table of four adults being served. It will be here soon Ok, I reasoned, may a foul-​up in the kitchen. Wait wait wait wait wait. My wife’s London Broil arrives, evidently from London. Now there are 66% of the people at our table going ‘nom nom nom’. Now a .666 batting average would earn anyone an immediate slot at The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, but it just ain’t good enough for a Flushing, Queens Diner. My wife, between chews and yummy sounds, opined that they were probably growing the veggies for me, and they might be soon harvested. My beloved spouse’s meal was safe, since my diet has been described as chickaterian– mostly a vegetarian with occasional detour due to FOWL weather. 10 minutes later, it arrived, scrumptiously resting on its rice bed.
After eating, we were left in peace until the check arrived. No explanation, cursory apology, for the delay.
I told the man taking my money at the register that I was very upset and disappointed at the service, and that I had been dining there for years. He looked at me. I said that I had never had such poor service, in all the years I had been coming.
He thought for a few seconds and said, «Thank you». Now for those who think that, perhaps the man’s English was not fluent, I must say I had had a conversation with him last month when he told me that he was taking over for his cousins for a while, until they return from a trip.
Let’s hope they return quickly.

This place was confusing to walk into. It felt like i walked into a Chinese food restaurant not a diner. I don’t think the owners are aware of what diner food consists of on top of that. Mabey they never tried anything they put on the menu or tested their chef. I ordered off of the brunch special… The Ceasar salad with shrimp. The salad was a basic salad that couldn’t really get messed up. The shrimp was tastey. My mom got the salmon benidict. It was awful. The fries that came with it were double fried. You know when you fry something it got cold, and you dump the fries back into the fryer to warm it up… really gross.
We had a side order of egg salad… NOT GOOD AT ALL. It was drenched in cheap mayonnaise making it ultra slimy. The Cole slaw was also mayonnaise mixed with cabbage.
On top of the Chinese food restaurant feeling when we ordered soda they gave us a CAN. I’ve never been to a diner that gives you a can of soda.
It’s safe to say that’s the first and last time i would go there.
Just stay away unless you love the taste of cheap mayonnaise.

Food is alright service sucks cock high prices for a getto area omega in bayside is way better… coffee tastes burnt all the time

I love this diner.
Its not a fancy restaurant, just a cute community eatery. The staff are super friendly, and the food is simple and good. I have been enjoying weekend brunches there with my friend for 10 years or so and its been very consistent with the service and the quality of food.
They are not a 24 hour diner, in fact I think they don’t open until something like 9 am, but thats ok, they are what they are. Their regular prices are typical to somewhat low for diners, and their brunch special and dinner specials are actually a really great deal — you get a tons of food for a decent price.
And they are really really good with the coffee and water refills — something I really appreciate.

Very friendly Service. Good Home cooked food. Staff is very attentive to special requests.

I’ve known this place for years and it’s been pretty consistent in its mediocrity. It’s cheap enough, breakfast for 2 is about $ 20 with tip, but I would never go out of my way to eat here. It’s just not one of the better diners in the area. You can drive 5 minutes to Omega in Bayside and get a far superior meal for the same money.

The people who own this place are very nice and the prices are reasonable. BUT… don’t try to get anything fancy here. Nothing Greek… they can’t do gyros or souvlaki well at all. Stick to eggs. Really. Those are ok. I ordered a turkey club once for delivery. The turkey was extremely dry. They gave me no mayo packets, nor did they put any on the sandwich (even though I asked). What I did get was packets of ketchup and grape jelly. Huh? When you go there, they don’t butter your toast, so be prepared to do it yourself. Their customer base consists of very elderly people from the surrounding co-​ops who often have taxis pick them up when they are done with their meal: in short, a captive customer base. So, there is no reason to improve.

Parson’s Diner is a favorite place for my husband and me. It has such a wonderful, inviting atmosphere and the food is delicious!

I happened to be in the shopping center where this place is located so I picked up lunch a few days ago! OMG! Obviously, it’s under new ownership with Asian owners… it doesn’t LOOK like a Diner, it doesn’t smell like a diner, it was EMPTY at around 130 PM when I stopped in to pick up lunch. That was a sign that I should have paid attention to and walked out; instead I ordered a chicken gyro sandwich; The chicken strips weren’t bad, but the rest of it was INEDIBLE… It was the worst pita bread I ever tasted… the white sauce tasted like something I’ve never tasted before; I can’t even describe it except to say that it was AWFUL!!! Needless to say, it went in the garbage!!! DO NOT EAT HERE!!! I had to give a star rating so I gave it 1 star but it doesn’t deserve even 1 star!

The food is very homey, the way your grandma would make at home, if you had a grandma who cooked diner food. Some of their food might taste a bit bland, but that’s because when they write «roast beef sandwich,» they really do mean roast beef sandwiched between two pieces of bread. You will get exactly what you asked for. But that’s also what I like about this place. It doesn’t try to be fancy. And the Brunch and Dinner specials are so, so very worth it. My favorite is the eggs benedict.

They have a brunch special for $ 8.55 that comes with soup, many choices of entrée, coffee/​tea/​soda, and IT FILLS YOU UP. I had the salmon eggs benedict and it came with home fries. They weren’t stingy with the hollandaise sauce at all, like other places often are. Great service and cozy décor. We sat there for a long time and they didn’t kick us out! There are parking spaces right outside.