Starliner Diner

This place is really tucked away so you may miss it, but it’s worth seeking out. The classic Cuban poboy sandwich is always a great choice. I’m also fond of the jambalaya. The breakfast dishes are excellent with cuban flavored seasonings.

This place is great! My wife and I come here on date night a lot, and the food is always great, for a good price. The service is good, and we never have to wait for very long. If you’re in the neighborhood, definitely visit!

Met a friend here for lunch. Server was mild mannered and kind. We both got the Cuban sandwich. It was a slightly Americanized version but still tasted great. Food came in a very timely manner. I would definitely visit again. Seems like they have a very diverse menu and an amazing dessert selection.

Starliner was so cool! Our party of five was immediately seated for brunch, and not too long after, we were enjoying their Cuban French Toast and coffee. The interior (and exterior, actually) of the restaurant is very unique. The Cuban French Toast was a great starter for our table– definitely go for it! I ordered the special, Southwest Fritada. It was so flavorful, the brisket fall-​apart-​tender, and the platains were the perfect sweet complement. The portion was plenty– you’ll be full!

First time here. Loved it. Reminds me of the diners on the beach in Cali. I had the breakfast quessadilla. Came with homemade salsa. Soooooooooo yummy. Awesome service too. And we loved all of the vintage things hanging on the walls. So awesome.

I had the Cornbread Crusted Chicken Casserole with a side of fried plantain.
The Casserole was very delicious. Big chunks of chicken and vegetables.
Fried plantains were good, but a little too sweet for me.
Will go there again to try other stuff.

Hidden gem of Hilliard.
Unique flavors and they are very tasteful!
If you are craving something different… Try this place :)

Visited again last week and tried their fettuccine caliente, a delicious pasta dish tossed with chicken and veggies. It came with a salad with an interesting salsa/​sour-​cream? dressing, that was wonderfully cool and zesty. The pasta portion was so big, it felt like I’d hardly put a dent in it, after eating for 5 minutes.
Service was quick and courteous, though very casual when we first walked in this time. We were handed menus and invited to sit where we liked. Not a problem for me, but I imagine some might object.

I would describe this places as a Midwestern cuisine with the influence of Cuban. My go to dish is the Cornbread Crusted Chicken Casserole and a side of fried plantain. They always have a special menu for dinner which is constantly changing, so you have to keep coming back to taste new food.
This place is also vegetarian and vegan friendly for those who are concern about that. And when I say it’s vegan friendly I don’t mean you can get real meals not just an after though dish on their menu.

As a former Hilliard resident (the land of chain restaurants and Wal-​Mart) it was refreshing to enjoy this hole in the wall once in awhile. I love the Chile Relleno here. Breakfast is also really good. I have always been here with one more person (a gf/​or a friend/​etc) so I never experienced the group setting but I can see how accommodating large groups can be troublesome especially on weekend brunch/​lunch times when they are busy the most.
I like Starliner and I hope to see them expend out of the west side to a more central location. Clintonville or Short north please?

I feel so bad for not discovering this little gem until now (especially since it’s only 5 minutes from my house!). This place seemed like it’s always packed, because we went at 10am on a Tuesday morning and it was a full house. Even with all the people and one server, there was barely any wait.
I don’t know anything about Cuban food, but their breakfast portions were very big. The omelet I had didn’t have a lot of spices, it felt very much like home cooking. I actually like it more than the heavy tastes that other chain restaurants have. I didn’t leave here feeling like I was having butter sweats. I’ll definitely come here more often!

Came on a sunny Friday afternoon and there was no line.
We had the Chiliquiles and Cuban french toast with fruits.
First dish was really filling with lots of ingredients and good flavor, you can add chorizo for an additional price.
Cuban french toast were crispier than the usual french toast with fruits on top, Yum.

This place was a bit of a letdown for me. I’d heard a lot of good things, so I was willing to make the long drive out to the diner, and it just didn’t deliver. I guess I had no idea that it was in such a run down building, but whatever, the inside was really cool even if the parking lot was like navigating a mine field. Once inside, we were seated immediately, and our server was okay, nothing special, and that’s fine.
I ordered the Cuban but started off with a chile relleno. I will say that the stuffed chile was the highlight of my meal. It comes in a smoked chile sauce that’s absolutely delicious. I wish I had just order a bunch of these as my meal. Next, my Cuban came out and what a sad Cuban it was. Maybe I just shouldn’t have ordered the Cuban. The hoagie roll was flattened, the marinated pork was completely dried out, and there was nothing that pickles, mustard, or an obscene amount of hot sauce I put on there could do for it. I tried defibrillating life back into this sandwich, but I lost it. I took some of the «marinated» pork out, and it just didn’t have any flavor at all. Not to mention, I should have stuck with the plantains, because the fries just looked like the frozen kind you could make at home.
My girlfriend’s Southwestern Chicken salad was a little better and had decent flavor, but I don’t know if I could call it a salad or just whatever they had in the kitchen dumped into a bowl with some dressing thrown on top.
The pricing would be reasonable if I really enjoyed my meal, but I did not and felt like I really wasted my time driving out here, which was a good 20 minute drive. I hope to maybe give it a second chance in the future and try something else maybe more breakfast related, but who knows when that will be.

I’d really like to give Starliner 3.5 stars, but that’s not an option. I don’t feel strongly enough about it to give it 4 stars.
This review is based off of a lone visit, so take that into consideration. You’ll see many people who go here are regulars and I’ve heard this place gets super crowded for breakfast, so, they must be doing something right.
I would’ve never gone here on my own. I don’t mean that in the «this place is unsafe» way, I mean, I would’ve never discovered it on my own. I was in Columbus for the entire month of June and a coworker of mine who lives in the Hilliard area told me to check it out, so we went for dinner my last week in town.
Thank God for GPS and a friend driving me because I probably would’ve never found/​seen this place on my own. It’s kind of in a random area and the parking lot and façade do not make this place look appealing. The inside is kitschy. There are two divided rooms, one very much space themed and the other just more dinery with a bar. We sat in the room with the bar. There’s nothing fancy about this place, you honestly feel like you’re just sitting at home at your kitchen table. Not necessarily a bad thing.
After reading so many reviews, I knew we had to get the plantain appetizer. We ordered that while looking over our menus and before I knew it, which really seemed instantly, the plantains had arrived. They were delicious, perhaps just a touch greasy and came with a delicious creamy salsa. It tasted like salsa with heavy cream or cream cheese added to it. Either way, I’m glad we got them.
For dinner I really wanted rice and beans and veggies, so, I asked for the Roasted chicken plate with those three sides, they were happy to oblige. The sides were wonderful, and my vegetable medley literally had every vegetable under the sun in it — awesome! The chicken was good, moist and tender, maybe just a touch dry. My one peeve was that everything tasted a little too vinegary for me. I like vinegar, but I just thought it was a little overwhelming, as if the whole plate had been sprinkled with it. My friend got the burrito which was huge and he said I was very good.
Overall, a good dining experience, not sure if I’d venture from where I was staying (the airport) to drive all the way over there again, but, I enjoyed the food.

I’ve had this place bookmarked for years, so dinner time in the area… Perfect. I’ve been eyeing the eclectic décor and oddness of this diner, via Unilocalers’ pics, and the awesomeness of this place has me hooked. I was not let down. The bright, bold colors on the walls. Knock knacks all about. Inside, the place holds true to all the reviews!
Got here a bit after 7:30, and the place seemed pretty full. Since we had a party of 8, we had to wait a few minutes for some tables to be cleared and pushed together. Our server, Eric, was a great guy. Polite, funny, great personality, very efficient! Gave us time to peruse the menu, while getting drinks, then gave us a rundown of a few things on the menu and answered any questions.
Mind made up, I ordered the Roasted Pork entrée. Holy cow, excellent dish! So much flavor. A bit of «spice» from the sautéed peppers, but I remedied that with some sour cream. Mixed with the rice and beans, my taste buds were in heaven.
I couldn’t pass up trying Starliner’s plantains, so I got their appetizer of it — comes with a creamy salsa dip. The sweetness melded so perfectly with the slightly-​spicy pork… Yep, I’m ready to go back. Now. No, I mean it. Right now.

What the hell was I thinking that made me live in Columbus for 4 years and this be the first time I tried this place?
I guess I assumed it was just a standard diner. And, being in Hilliard I thought it was too much of a drive when I could get that in town.
My mistake.
The place is really cute, small, line out the door kind of place. Me being an independent type soul gives me the advantage of being able to sit at the counter which I did.
Their menu of specials is so creative it was difficult to pic. I went with the Cuban omelette. It was seriously so awesome I can’t wait to make it back to try a bunch of other stuff. Coffee was strong and awesome also.
I HATE the reviews on here and for other popular places that complain about waits. C’mon folks, it’s a good thing they’re successful. One reviewer wanted the staff to kick out a table that was done eating? Geesh.

I am not a fan of waiting, nor am I a fan of crowds (I mean, who is?) Starliner Diner made both COMPLETELY worth it!
Wanting to try a new breakfast place and heading over to Warp Zone nearby anyway, I decided on the Starliner Diner. I had read that there’d be a wait, and I had read that the food would be spicy. Both made me wary. Still, my gut told me that I needed to try it. So glad I listened!
When I arrived with my dining companion, we were told there was a 15 – 20 minute wait. It was left up to me as to whether we’d wait it out or not. Normally, I might have said no. After all, we passed by a few legitimate chains on the way to the Diner that would have been more than adequate. I said yes, however. Something was telling me the wait would be worth it!
We waited until our name was called, and then were suddenly surrounded by tons of eclectic décor; many clocks, disco balls, a mural of things in space such as pigs and carrots. It was really fun! And, as you might imagine from the wait, every table was full of people enjoying their meals.
After perusing the menu, we ordered the plantains as an appetizer. For our meals, I ordered the breakfast burrito. My companion ordered the breakfast quesadilla. I was kind of nervous — I can’t really handle spice, and I knew I was taking a gamble. But when our food came shortly after (really, how fast it came out was impressive, especially taking into account how busy they were) I was really happy that I did.
The breakfast burrito was, without mincing words, absolutely spectacular. It was smothered in cheese and salsa, but neither made it overwhelming. The salsa was spicy, but not too spicy (both my tastebuds and my tummy are wimps, so the fact that I could handle it was really saying something). Everything in the burrito was amazing. It came with potatoes which weren’t the best I’ve ever had, but they were good. And the plantains we had as an appetizer were REALLY good. I’ve never had them before, and I’m glad this was my first time. The semi-​spicy dip it came with really added something.
As an added perk, for everything we ordered, the prices were very reasonable.
As I said before, I’m not one to run to a crowded restaurant or to tolerate a long wait. But I’ll definitely deal with it again sometime soon for the Starliner Diner! The best breakfast I’ve had in a long time.

Don’t get seated by the windows in the winter…
Jalapeño soup was ok. Too thick more like a dip, ask for extra bread. Tamales were just ok as well. A bit too sweet. Used the jalapeño soup (dip) to smother it with.
If you want any condiments, ask before your meal comes out, or you won’t get it until you’re done with your meal.
Steak burrito was balled up steak like milk duds. Really dry to the point it was crispy. Burrito had more cheese than steak, couldn’t even see the steak. Black beans & rice had more flavor.
Roast pork was delicious. Mostly tender, good veggies. A good try if you’ve never been.
Cuban chicken sandwich was very good per my friend.
The jambalaya was wonderful. If anything very pretty. Lots of food so either be willing to waste or take home if you aren’t that hungry.
The service was subpar. No personalities, just business. The place could probably do with some updates, replace the holing chairs & maybe some insulation for windows & doors. I did like the motif.
I will return but will be trying something else & will take my own advice.

I personally REALLY enjoyed my experience at Starliner Diner. Though it took about 25 minutes to be seated, I had a strong feeling that it would be worth the wait! While we were waiting we overheard many guests talking about how much they adore almost everything on the menu!
My husband and I shared the plantain appetizer, which was delicious! Since it was a Sunday morning, it was the perfect time to try out some of their delicious breakfast specialties! Another guest recommended my husband try the Cuban French Toast, which we agreed was lacking in flavor and was also a bit dry.
I got a breakfast burrito that was on special. It had eggs, beans, cheese, pork, ham, and the special fried and mashed plaintain called Mofongo, plus it was topped with a spicy red sauce. The flavors were super complex, with nearly every flavor present: salty, spicy, sweet, creamy, all the good stuff! Not to be a downer, but unfortunately the home fries that came with my burrito were a bit underdone, and flavorless.
Our service was pretty much impeccable, and of course I LOVED the quirky atmosphere!
I can’t wait to visit again and try more food from their breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus!

My wife’s eggs were undercooked, then overcooked. The light coming in from the back door was the answer for the cold airflow. Now that that’s out of the way…
The unique to me food was great as usual. The plantains I added to my southwest scramble was a nice Ying & Yang to the chorizo. You have to stand near the kitchen pick up window and question everything. They will even offer modification suggestions. Very friendly staff. Décor is eye wandering with a focus on spherical’s or balls. They removed her item from the bill because we were not a#%holes about it. She signed the check, and we had to call back to ask them to write in Louis’s tip. Nice folks