Harry’s Diner

One of my favorite restaurants. Professional wait staff and spectacular entrées. From Voodoo wings to Jambalaya always fresh and delightful.

I recently moved back to Lakeland after a year in the Bakken, and I’d repeatedly built up Harry’s hamburgers and overall menu to my boyfriend… I told him how I’d eaten at Harry’s several times a month when I lived here, and it was consistently great food, friendly service and the prices couldn’t be beat.
So when we both had the day off today, I was so excited to finally take him there for lunch (and excited to get a Harry’s burger and fries for myself!)
Let me first say before I get into the food issue that our server was absolutely great — really friendly and and the place was very clean — so this was merely a food issue. Everything else seemed on point.
But the first clue that something was wrong & perhaps the place was under new management was that the diner was empty with the exception of one other patron at 1pm. I had never gone to Harry’s when the place wasn’t bustling. Still, we both ordered their jumbo burger (well done) with fries.
When our burgers arrived, they didn’t look well done or even medium-well…but an odd grey color. I cut mine in half to check the inside, and there was no red or pink so I took a bite.
It was the unmistakable taste of OLD beef that had started to go bad, or meat that had been left out of the refrigerator or freezer to thaw for way too long. It tasted sick, raw, and soured. And the reason that it didn’t look well-​done at all (but looked done all the way through) was that the meat had turned GREY. So there was no pink or red color and it was grey before it ever hit the grill.
Not only was it old meat that had turned grey, but it hadn’t even been cooked nearly long enough — not even enough to have any hint of brown on the outside. Just… grey.
At this point my appetite was gone. It was the grossest thing I’d ever eaten, and I kept waiting for nausea to hit and the little bit I’d eaten to come back up, but thankfully I didn’t get sick.
I really hope that this place hasn’t gone so far downhill in the time I was living across the country because Harry’s has always been good dependable diner food. But the empty dining room wasn’t encouraging in that respect :(

I love Harry’s! I go there for breakfast every week and it’s always delicious! A true hidden gem!

havent been here for several years but after this latest owner i will def be back, service was great, food excellent and new ;paint job looked better then before, had a great lunch!

Harry’s Diner is in an old ex-​drive-​in and long-​time restaurant of Lakeland with 20 booths, chartreuse walls, and 5 counter seats. It recently changed hands. It provides a popular $ 3.99 breakfast (very busy on Sundays!). It is open til 3 pm. They run specials daily or order from the menu. Specials include spaghetti, shepherd’s pie, turkey and dressing, pork loin & gravy, cod, grouper, meat loaf or fried shrimp. Service is generally swift and helpful. Food is consistently good «diner food» of plentiful portions. They switched from Coke to Pepsi products (boo hiss). They have salad & diet options and make a great blackberry pie ($ 2.50) or key lime pie. Fries are crispy and great. Very personable staff. Nice nostalgia stop.