Daves Diner

Dave’s Diner is a local, homey diner in Manlius. Nothing special — just mediocre. I ordered belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, and for some reason I craved warm milk that morning. You know — milk microwaved for around 1 – 2 minutes. The waitress looked at me funny when I said I wanted warm milk (so did my friend) and went to put in our orders. Then the waitress came back with my milk and what looked like a creamer container? I asked her what was inside the container, and she told me «extra milk». I found this to be oddly hilarious — imagine refilling a cup of warm milk, or any beverage for that matter, out of a stainless steel creamer jar? (the milk was actually only a little warm. like in the awkward no-man’s-land of cold/​warm milk). Weird… ANYWAYS. the belgian waffle was a little soggy, and didn’t have that satisfying, desirable crunch like belgian waffles are supposed to have. The strawberries weren’t very fresh — they were a little sour, so I drenched the thing with syrup. Overall though, the service was great, and I had a good time.

The wait staff is friendly and kind. The diner is filled with locals and gives a great at home feel of you are from a small town. Food was on par.

Well as you know its a diner the food is good and the waitress are great it’s a small place but I like it.

Great breakfast had the egg whit omelette. The only thing that was disappointing was that there is no fruit. The reason why was some what reasonable.

What diner doesn’t have chicken soup? Well, this one. I specifically came in because I am a bit under the weather and really wanted some chicken soup. Sadly, they didn’t have any.
Moving past that… they were packed and service was slow. For example, they seated me without a menu and it took several minutes to get me one. If they wanted to keep tables moving they wouldn’t make mistakes like that.
Service was unfriendly. Maybe it’s because it was so busy, but still. Didn’t appreciate that.
Food was okay. Since I couldn’t have the soup I wanted, I got hot tea and a burger with fries. Nothing outstanding, but everything tasted fine.
To sum up: small menu for a diner, unfriendly service, solid food.

I love the turkey club! Dave’s is the only place I know that makes their sandwich from real turkey breast. And, the free oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies served after my meal were at nice treat too.

Came in around 8:30 am. They had 4 «cooks» on the line. Ordered 4 eggs sunny side up and sausage links. 45 minutes later my 3 sunny side up and 1 scrambled arrived. 5 min later my ice cold sausage arrived. Waitress didn’t even know I was there. Save yourself the trouble and go to TOPS, located right next door and just cook your breakfast at home. Piss poor service.

I guess you stop trying when you’re the only game in town.
The food was typical diner fare: tasty but ordinary. We ordered Belgian waffles with a side of home fries. The waffles were okay, a bit skimpy on the whipped cream. The home fries were slightly better than average: lots of crispy pieces.
What lowered their score from a 3 to a 2 is the service. We arrived around 1:15 on a Sunday, plenty of time before their 3pm closing hour but after the morning rush. The servers were inattentive and unhelpful. When I mentioned it was our first time there, our first server proceeded to explain how menus work and then just walked away. It was difficult to get coffee refills, and when the server did come over she spilled a few drops of coffee on my boyfriend’s jeans. While we were still seated (a full 45 minutes before closing, with other guests still present), the host started sweeping around the nearby tables and putting up chairs. He was so careless he bumped into our table several times.
The whole experience was a disappointment.

This place has nothing going for it aside from location if you live in Manlius. We do, and EVERY time we’ve gone there, maybe five times, it’s been either terrible or barely competent. It’s not hard to cook decent breakfast food but they manage to get something wrong each time. Omelettes are blah. Pancakes chewy. Coffee watery. All of this would make it a 2 star or maybe 3 if it weren’t for the rotten service. Scowls and bad attitudes all down the line. Plus it’s on the small side and the small booths don’t accommodate parties bigger than 4 – 5 very well. I think 5 times the charm for us and we won’t be going back. Manlius desperately needs a decent diner.

Standard diner fare. Stopped in for Saturday breakfast and waited about 5 minutes to be seated even though there were 2 or 3 empty tables. Coffee was good, eggs were OK, hash was almost all beef/​no potato. Luckily the beef was tasty! Will probably go back, just because diner food hits the spot on a weekend morning.

I’ve stopped here a few times. It’s basic diner fare, and fairly tasty.
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It’s safe, and that is about all I can say for it.

After my last two visits to this diner, I’ve decided to edit my pervious review and downgrade a star. It has never been good, just plain diner food cooked barely passable, but my last two visits were downright bad. I’ve debated whether to give it just one star, but will give it two for its friendly atmosphere and interesting local chitchat.

It’s the only diner in town, but that’s okay because its good food, a friendly atmosphere, and is right in town. Convenient, delicious, all around good.
One note: beware of their hours of operation… Though they open early (and admittedly are mostly a breakfast place), this is not a place for any meal of the day… Most days they are not open past 3pm.

M-​eh I’ve experienced better. This is true. got the eggs benedict. Extremely bland. Service was nothing special. Dont know what to say.

The food is good but the service is terribly slow… the owner should be an owner not a waitress.

Food is standard fare, nothing special. Staff is friendly but the cook time is way too long for a diner. Waffle house has this place beat.

Dave’s is great. The staff is awesome, very friendly a funny. The coffee is good and free flowing. As far as the food, everything is right on. Whether it’s their perfectly done omelet (try it with salsa!) or their fluffy pancakes, Dave’s does not disappoint.
Robert T and Rafa R clearly did not have the bacon waffle if they’re commenting that nothing that sets Dave’s apart — or they know of some other magical establishment that can pull off this breakfast delight so perfectly. If they do I’d pay to know where it is, because as far as I’m aware the culinary excellence that results in Dave’s concoction is unmatched. If you’re looking for a breakfast experience to write home about, the bacon waffle is not to be missed.
All in all Dave’s is great and surpasses any other attempt at brunch in the fine city of Manlius.

We went for breakfast and I have to say the food was just ok. Not that it was bad, just wasn’t special. We probably wouldn’t go again… it’s close by so maybe if we didn’t want to drive somewhere else. The place was very clean and the service staff was friendly. But there wasn’t anything to set it apart from the dozens of other places to get a great breakfast. Nothing on the menu made me want to come back to try it again.

Good breakfasts, including the french toast and pancakes, and the omelets are good. Inexpensive, decent diner food. Waitresses and staff are terrific, definitely remind me a bit of TV diner staff. Enjoyable, lots of regulars.

Friendly service, but only very basic, okay diner food. I think Dave’s could use some competition.