Big Time Diner

Usually swing by for a chicken strip salad for lunch. It is always very good and plentiful. Service is fast and very good and they check back as you are eating to see if you need anything else,
Would have given 5 stars but owner has let the outside of his restaurant run down.

1This diner is ALWAYS crowded. Expect to wait for a seat if you come during prime time lunch hours. There are always a few people waiting in the small waiting area. Though, once you are seated, Service is prompt and extra friendly (after all, we are in the deep south. However, what northerners refer to as «extra friendly» should be the norm in human interaction.) But I digress.
The food is «good ol’ down home Southern» cooking and well worth returning for. Throughout my multi-​day visit to the Port City, I had to prevent my friend from eating every meal here (thats just how tasty and delicious the food is). The atmosphere is a typical diner one. There is the constant clanking of plates and silverware and the constant chatter of satisfied customers.
I ordered the 4-​vegetable plate and my Beau ordered the «Blue Plate Special» (BPS). We specifically ordered different sides so that we could sample as many as possible. His BPS consisted of grilled chicken breast, mac and cheese, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy and a cornbread muffin. After taking a few bites of the chicken, he exclaimed that it was the best chicken from a restaurant that he’d ever tasted. My vegetables were fried okra, field peas, turnip greens and mac and cheese. OMG! Words cannot describe (but I’ll try) the scrumptious, mouth-​watering, delectable and delightfully satisfying nature of these typical «Southern comfort» foods. Makes me wish there was a Big Time diner (that uses the same recipes) near my hometown. Atmosphere, service and food are all outstanding.

This is one of my favorites in my hometown of Mobile. There will probably be a wait so either go early or go during those random hours between lunch and dinner if you can do a late lunch. Big Time’s gumbo is maybe the best gumbo I have ever eaten and I have eaten gallons of it from all over the gulf coast. Of course people’s gumbo taste can be varied so just give it a try for yourself. I love the mac and cheese here. It is the typical southern style mac and cheese but it tastes so good, one of the best I have had. I normally get the philly cheesesteak sandwich and get them to add tomatoes when they are grilling the peppers and onions. Probably the best cheese steak sandwich I have had. Milkshakes and malts… save room because they are great too. They have a great carryout service as well. Just call in your order and you will have a delicious meal to take home in just a few minutes. I go to Big Time almost every time I am visiting Mobile and Im looking forward to my next return!

Food is consistently good here. Service is speedy and upbeat. The only negative is that there is pretty much always a wait. But that’s usually an indication that it’s a good place to eat, right?
Blue plate lunch was solid. Field peas and turnip greens were good. Recommend.

I’ve eaten here on multiple occasions, and if it were a shorter drive away, I would eat here even more frequently! It’s a cute, kitschy, 50s-​style diner, and their food is pretty traditional diner fare: poboys, burgers, salads, fried fish, hamburger steak, etc., but everything I’ve ordered has been great (with the exception of the apple pie, which is doughy and much too full of cinnamon.)
I usually order a poboy, and all of them are great — there’s not too much breading on any of the seafood, and there’s usually so much of it on the poboy that I either can’t finish it or have to break it down to eat. My mom is almost fifty years old and has eaten oysters from everywhere, and she swears that the best ones are Big Time’s.
Service is always attentive and friendly, even when it’s crowded. I’m fairly sure that we’ve never had to wait more than twenty minutes for a table, either. Definitely give it a go if you’re in the area!

Place is very neat & clean. All the servers that I observed were great. My personal server checked on me several times, including after I finished my meal to see if maybe I wanted some dessert. My meal was very good. My sides were served up in portion bowls along with my one fish filet on a plate. Total for meal was $ 13.42. The tables are bused & wiped off by someone from the back, so customers do have clean tables. I would recommend & return.

Stopped in for lunch at almost 1pm. The place was very busy. Walk in and was seated quickly, ordered the Club Sandwich and french fries with a glass of tea. Cut the sandwich in half instead of quarters which I like. Everything was quick, hot and tasted good. I especially liked the sweet tea.

BTD is a great Mobile fixture that most people in Mobile would say is a must to try if you spend any time here. Nice, old fashioned diner setting and atmosphere with good shakes and American food. If you come here I would suggest the chicken or shrimp Philly, both of which I have a hard time straying from. The owner is a great guy who likes to interact with his customers. The service is always good, and the only problem I’ve ever had was the portion sizes have not always been consistent, but I simply pointed it out and they fixed it immediately.

I only gave them 1 star because I couldn’t give zero. I’ve been here a few times because of the hype. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be unfortunately. I worked in the food service industry for quite a few years so I know how things should be done and how long it should take. That being said I believe I am very patient and understanding because I’ve been through it all. The service was extremely slow and unorganized. The wait is understandable because they’re always packed, but to make us move after being sat at 2 different tables for a party of 6 is unnecessary. The food took way longer than it should have because even though they wouldn’t dare admit to it, but the waitress forgot to place our order. When 4 other tables of 3 – 4 people each sat, ordered, and left before we even had any resemblance of food is rather ridiculous. I understand that all the food needs to come up before they bring it out, but the longest item that should have taken to cook was a medium rare ribeye that shouldn’t take more than 7 – 10 mins to cook doesn’t come up until 40 mins later is insane. I think we saw our server 4 times during our visit and that was because we had to get her attention from the back, she didn’t even have another table for us to stop her during her rounds. The manager was less than helpful and an apology was BARELY muffled let alone a discount of any kind to be offered. Of course we still tipped our server, even though it was not deserved. Just to say the least I won’t be coming back to be disappointed a third time. If you’re looking for comfort food then I would suggest going to Neighbors in Tillman’s Corner or Cracker Barrel.

We came here at 1pm. Requested a table of 6 and a baby. Asked how long the wait time was and how many people were ahead of us. They said 10 – 15 minutes and 5 parties were ahead of us. It is now 20 minutes and they seating everyone and then three more parties who came in AFTER us as well. We’re the only ones left still waiting.
After 27 minutes, they sat our table down in two separate tables next to each other with two separate waiters so they were scrambling to figure out a solution. Finally they moved us into a 6 person booth. Waitress finally came to us at 1:30 to take our order. We ordered our drinks and food at the same time. This chick kept rolling her eyes up as though she was an idiot not knowing what we wanted. The busboy was really loud with clearing off other tables, causing everyone to turn in the direction of the noise.
It is now 1:55 and people who were sat after us have gotten their food before us and are almost done eating their food. I would give them the benefit of the doubt since its MKL holiday but their order of priority is completely off. I haven’t even gotten my food yet but this is horrible service. We have even complained to our waitress but nothing has been done and she still hasn’t returned. I wouldn’t have come here if it weren’t for the rest of my party choosing this place. It’s just average prices southern diner food that could be found elsewhere.
Never coming here again. Ever.
I give them less than a star.

The place is generally busy which is a good sign. Expect to wait a few minutes for a table during lunch time, but they turn tables pretty quickly.
We have never had a bad meal in the whole time we have been patrons.
They close on Sunday’s, so check the calendar before you fight Cottage Hiil Road Traffic.

Closed down! I went there on a early morning anticipating a good breakfast and was disappointed

Atmosphere is that of a 1950’s diner. Best place in mobile for a home cooked meal. The seafood is not bad either. They have the best milkshakes around. Lunchtime is always packed so try to get there before 12 if you don’t want to have to wait a few minutes.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad experience at Big Time Diner. The food is always good and the staff are always friendly and helpful.
This is one of our families favorite restaurants.

I’m a bit of a health nut so Te Big Time Diner was very accommodating. I was pleased to see a large selection of vegetables on the menu including French fries and onion rings (actually in the vegetables section). I feel my cholesterol dropping already! So glad good wholesome healthy veggie options exist even in the south. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ would recommend for the health conscious.
I got the Chicken Philly, the chicken was nice and moist, if you have read my previous reviews, you know moistness has a warm, moist spot in my heart. I also got the green beans which were nice and packed with sodium.
The staff was very friendly, took very little time to be seated. They were also good about refilling my water which always makes me giddy.

Consistently very good food and service. You really can’t beat Big Time for meat and three type food or gumbo but you’ve gotta get there early because they are always busy!

I agree with some of the past reviewers in that this is largely on par with cafeteria food, though the options are plentiful and some authentic offerings are on hand. My experience is limited to pulled pork, roast beef, and a combination of other sides.
The fried green tomato appetizer (with dressing dip) is okay. It is certainly better than some examples out there, though they weren’t exactly crispy and at least a couple of them remained cold tomato inside. The battered tomatoes did satisfy a certain craving, however.
I thought the greens were good, though a bit over-​salted. I’m not sure if they had homemade pepper sauce on hand but I did have Tabasco. Hard for me not to enjoy these. The mashed potatoes didn’t taste homemade to me, reminding me more of tasteless prison gruel. The beef I tried was better than the pork, though both were dry and off in taste. I doubt it wasn’t fresh, but I had the sense at the time that it had been old or reheated.
Relaxed, spacious diner atmosphere. Quite busy for a random weekday afternoon. Seems to be frequented by known locals, which is a good sign. The workers here are nice folks, though not always the most adept. The food, though, really misses the mark.

I love this place!!! I’m big on sweet tea and picky about it. And let me say, their sweet tea is amazing! Service is fast and their food will make you want to keep coming back for more!

Best place ever for real home style southern food, I travel the country and this place is always one of my favs. Try the peach cobbler, yum yum…

Definitely not a buffet as suggested by Unilocal.
They have no fried chicken, WTF? What kind of diner in the south does not have fried chicken. Anyway, the chocolate shake was really good, the cream of chicken soup was also good.
As for the main dishes, I don’t have good remarks. The chicken tenders, fries and onion rings were bland, my wife offered the chopped sirloin and that ended up being a burger patty. I originally rated this a 4 star but it really doesn’t deserve it.
Staff was friendly.