Manalapan Diner

VERY rude staff! I have lived by this diner for a while and never once has the owner been to polite to us. Also, our waitress purposely waited two tables seated *after us before even giving us water and we have had her before. The group I go with is never obnoxious and we have never had a problem, yet the staff is ALWAYS rude. The food is eh if you like a lot of grease and salt.

We went to breakfast for Easter. There were 11 of us. When the coffee was served, it tasted like it had been sitting around for a while as it had that bitter, burnt taste. I order the cheddar cheese omelett with sausage and whole wheat toast. The food came out rather quickly, but the home fries were cold. A couple of people had cold home fries so they bought us out two side dishes which were hot. But they had no taste. The omelett was nothing to write home about and the cheddar cheese did not taste like cheddar cheese. I ordered whole wheat toast, but instead got white, I keep it but it was cold and not really toasted. The only good thing was the sausage which had a very interesting flavor. I hate to write negatively about a place but I would not come back to this diner.

Shame on Manalapan Diner. I had dinner with someone that is diabetic that wanted a half a grapefruit in lieu of a piece of cake. They wanted to up charge us $ 2 That’s ridiculous, not to accommodate someone with dietary restrictions. My family and I will not be dining here anymore. The meal was nothing special anyway.

One or our go to diners in the area. Nothing really over the top, but it’s not terrible either. My friend and I come here once a month or so, and always get the nachos to start. It’s become almost like a game to guess how the nachos will come out this time because it’s never the same.
Other than the nachos the food is consistent and good. Though I don’t get them often, any of their Greek dishes are pretty fantastic.
Standard diner fare, huge menu, big pies, endless cup of coffee. Everything you could want or need from a typical NJ diner.

It is a local diner that I go to several times a week. Staff is nice. Lucio is my waiter always took care of my needs… On a busy work schedule that I have. The give me peace

I was really routing for this place. My family and I always ride by this Diner but we have never stopped. Today I convinced my family to try this place. The fist thing I noticed was the parking lot was kind of empty. Typically an empty parking lot means «Run that way» But, I wanted to give the place a shot. The ambience was beautiful. Lots of holiday décor throughout. We were seated right away (to be expected since the place was half empty). Our waitress was great very attentive! The service was excellent! However, I don’t patron restaurants solely based on the service so the food must be worth it! Unfortunately, the food was terrible! Actually that’s an understatement! It was awful! The coffee was bitter, I had to send it back! I ordered the chipotle burger with Advocado. The Advocado was rotten, the lettuce was brown, wilted and soggy. The worst part was the fries. They were clearly burnt some were soggy, they were just not edible! The flavor of the burger was good however. The bread on my husbands’ chicken cheese steak was soggy and he thought the flavor was lacking as well. I could go on and on like the mozzarella sticks had a thick hunk of unmelted cheese which made them kind of disgusting! But I’m sure you get my point. Never again will I return back here.

Had many good meals at Manalapan Diner and it’s been about six months since my last visit. Today I was disappointed with service and food. Our server Desiree did the bare minimum. She took our order, delivered sandwiches with soggy fries and only came back when we called her over for the check. Very disappointing it will be a long time before we return.

I haven’t been here since the remodel, but I went tonite with a friend. I do have to admit the place looks fantastic. It always was a nice looking jersey diner. We were greeted by friendly hostess in an otherwise not too busy establishment for a Friday night (not a good sign) although it was kind of early. We browsed thru the extensive menu, even tho I already knew what I was gonna have, my company didn’t. I opted for my bacon cheeseburger. My friend ordered the French dip with disco fries. Presentation was nicely done but burger for medium rare seemed dry and flavorless. There wasn’t much juice running out of it and the meat really didn’t have much seasoning. As for the French dip, it was thick slices of meat (no cheese) for some reason on a garlic toasted roll. The meat bc it was thicker looked dried out, they didn’t even drizzle au jus on it to moisten it. even tho it came on the side. The disco fries were burnt in certain spots and cheese wasn’t melted enough and the gravy was underneath the cheese which made for really soggy fries. The waitress was pretty good except didn’t get extra napkins (pet peeve) which should be standard for when you know how to serve. Burgers are messy, hence extra napkins. I do have to admit when we asked for things she was quite quick to get them and refill our drinks with no problem, but still no darn napkins. I would like to go back and try breakfast since I saw some delicious things on the menu I would like to try. As for dinner not impressed. miss the way it used to be.

Typical diner fare in a typical diner setting. Service is always friendly and we’ve never had a bad meal. Portions are humongous!

I went here for breakfast with my wife kids an parents. I thought my eggs were cooked perfectly and has the right amount of seasoning. My kids had the waffles which are tremendous and really loved the whip cream and strawberries on top of the waffles. When a 3 and 4 year old see a waffle the size of their face covered with whip cream and strawberries you know they are going to be excited. The coffee kept flowing. They actually put a pot on our table. So overall it was a good experience.

late on a Sunday night and looking for food, this diner seemed to be the only sign of life on 9 so my cousins and I checked it out.
coffee was decent, good enough to keep me awake for a trip back to Queens.
it’s been a while since my fat ass ate disco fries, but they were just as good as I hoped. the fries were good, the gravy was flavorful and the cheese was legit melted, not the «microwave melted» consistency that scares me. no shame here, bro.
place was fairly empty so service was quick. it was clean, though that might have been due to it being close to closing time.
always good to have another reliable diner on my list.

Just not thrilled. I have not been here before and I might not return. A couple things really bothered me. One of the managers is sitting at the counter doing business. It just didn’t seem very professional. Go to your office. We don’t want to hear about the diners dirty laundry.
The waiter was excellent and the service was fine. The minestrone soup was actually very good. However the grilled chicken salad was a different story.
I think they defrosted frozen chicken in the microwave before it went directly on the grill. I don’t know how to explain the texture of the chicken but the insides were almost crunchy in a mushy kind of way. It was disgusting. Microwaving is the only time I had ever experienced this.
There is definitely a lack of good diners in this general area. I really hope one opens soon.

I am not sure why there are such negative reviews for this diner. I have only been for breakfast, and we do tend to go early so perhaps that changes my experiences. Having been here numerous times, and as an annual breakfast for my daughter on her birthday, I have found the waitstaff to be awesome. They have been attentive, friendly, and overall just very good. As far as the food — it’s a diner! No, it is not the best meal I have ever eaten in my life… but having said that the eggs are fluffy, my kids adore the pancakes, they have pork roll — it is pretty much a Jersey win. I say give it a chance for breakfast if you are in the area.

I do not recommend ordering mozzarella sticks from here. The cheese isn’t melted and I was told that the cheese doesn’t melt all the way, that is just the way they are. Never heard of solid mozzarella sticks and was craving melty diner mozzarella sticks. Oh well.

The need for a late night dinner with a buddy led us to this diner. Since I had never dined there before, I gave it my «standard test» for new eateries. The French Onion Soup was not up to the tangy flavor that I prefer, but it was acceptable. I ordered the Beef Gyro & they accommodated my request to dump the French Fries in favor of more Greek Salad. This is on the positive side. The ingredients were tasty but the Pita Bread seem a bit stale. (Maybe they were running out at the late hour of our visit.) My pal ordered the Bluefish, but they were out of it, so he settled with the Swordfish Steak & Penne Pasta. He indicated that it was tasty & sufficient in size. We both left satisfied by what we had. If you want a late night nosh, you should try this diner. It is a good, solid place but nothing exceptional. If it’s open & you want to go a little further, nearby Gus’s Diner is a better option. (See my review of them for more data.)

If you like overcooked eggs and waiting 30 minutes for dry French toast then this is the diner for you!

The service was quick and good. The food was good. I’ve only had breakfast from here but it’s always been just right. Their prices are reasonable.

There’s definitely room for improvement in the food and service. I came here with my two friends during the late evening, so there weren’t many people. Yet, the service was quite awful and slow. We asked the waiter for recommendations, but he wasn’t able to give any recommendations.
We ended up getting a Reuben sandwich with fries and onion rings. The food were way too greasy and drenched in oil. Yeah, fries and onion rings are deep fried in oil, but if they are made right, it wouldn’t feel so oily. The food left me feeling heavy, tired, and unsatisfied.

From the service to the food I have to say this is not only the worse dinner but the worse food service establishment I’ve ever been to in my life. The service is atrocious from the waiters not knowing how to do their jobs to the bill, to the front ringing up the bill.
The food is so bad I took a bite out of it and wanted to throw up. Similar comments were made at my table of 6. You couldn’t pay me to come back to this place. As a matter of fact I would rather eat rocks than have to eat at this place.

I’m going to upgrade my rating here based solely on my last visit. We were close by so instead of turning around and going to one of our usual breakfast spots, we decided to stop in here. Place was nicely decorated for Christmas. We were promptly seated and ended up with a good waiter. Nice and efficient. Have to say most of the staff here are very nice. A couple of eggs over easy and some corned beef hash were nicely done. Even the home fries actually had flavor if you can believe that! Good coffee too! I haven’t been impressed with the food here since the remodel, and I can’t say if lunch or dinner have improved, but I can say the breakfast was pretty good and the people here are very nice!