Jefferson Diner

The Jefferson Diner is exactly what I imagine a diner to be like. It’s the kind of place I would expect to see in a T.V. show. It’s a wide open restaurant with classic coke signs on the walls that serves breakfast all day, plays country music through a sometimes crackling radio, and has waitresses that coll you «Sugah» (I’m serious, I heard it happen).
The diner is a breakfast and lunch place that closes at 3pm. Lunch starts at 11am and Breakfast runs all day. The menu is simple enough. Lunch has sandwiches, burgers, the daily special, and a few more options. Breakfast is omelets, toast, eggs, french toast, and pancakes. There’s no fancy signature dish to speak of, just good old fashioned fair.
I was there at 1pm and the place was rather empty. I had no problem getting a table. There was no drink menu that I saw, but I was planning on water anyway. They do have soda, I saw them at other tables. And of course, plenty of coffee.
I went with an order of pancakes and sausage. The wait for my food was a little long, but I expect that from these kinds of restaurants. The plate I was brought had two respectable sized pancakes on it along with two sausage patties. The sausage was interesting. They were like small sausage burgers, made from ground sausage and grilled. The spices were strong and tasty, but the patties were crispy and a bit dry. They needed some more moisture. One the other hand, the pancakes were perfect. They were light, fluffy, and full of rich flavor. If it wasn’t for my crippling addiction to syrup, I could have eaten them plain.
The price was fine, sitting at around five to six dollars. I think that is acceptable for one person, especially as when I was finished, I couldn’t eat another bite. The Jefferson Diner is nothing ground breaking. The offering is what you would expect, but it is done well. It’s comfort food and little choice makes in an uncomplicated enjoyment.

My litmus test for a good breakfast is how well you do country fried steak and home fries. Jefferson Diner did both very well. The home fries were made from raw potatoes, not the frozen bag of cubed potatoes you might find at other restaurants. My daughter ordered the french toast and ate all of it. Portions were large and prices were very reasonable. Our server was friendly and attentive.

The service here is friendly and quick. The food is a different story.
It’s cheap, and you get what you pay for. I got the ham and egg with cheese breakfast sandwich on an english muffin with a side of grits. The sandwich was pretty tasty, but I could make it at home. The grits were pretty disgusting. They were obviously made from some instant package. They couldnt’ even take the time to stir it up a little. There were these weird, hard clumps in it as well. It was tasteless, I tried to put pepper, salt, and hot sauce in it to make it bearable. And I never add salt to a dish when I’m in a restaurant, so that’s saying a lot. In the end, I couldn’t stomach more than a couple of bites.
Our waitress was attentive, constantly keeping our water glasses and coffee cups filled. Just wished the food was as good as the service!

This brick ‘diner’ is appealing to the eye outside and in. A large spacious room and a courteous attentive wait staff welcomes you to sit at a booth or table. After that, it’s an ok restaurant. I go there when I have work done on my vehicle at the Hyundai shop close by. The shop works on my car and I have a decent ‘home cooked’ meal. While I usually go there for breakfast, I have had a couple of lunches and everything was much better than any fast food place or Waffle House in the area. That said, I can name a number of places to which it doesn’t compare in quality and price… value is a good word. Prices are higher than the breakfast places I like most. I like the place and the people and will continue going there when having work done on the car, or if while camping at Newport News Park two miles up the road, it’s too rainy to fix breakfast or lunch. Perhaps they’ll add something to the menu or change cooking styles in a way to make it more exciting. I don’t want to dissuade anyone from going, I just can’t get excited about it for myself.

I was surprised by this place. My boyfriend and I went here as a last minute decision, there were only a couple other tables in the restaurant at the time so I was expecting the food to not be so great. I ordered the crab cake dinner and he ordered the hamburger steak. Both were absolutely delicious! The crab cake was cook perfectly and was mostly all crab. The prices were pretty cheap also, so needless to say I hope they stay open because I will be back!

I like Jefferson Diner. I’ve dined here several times since it first opened. Breakfast & lunch is fairly good, very little to complain about. They give you nice hearty portions for a very decent price. Staff is always friendly. And while the interior lacks the character of an old-​time diner, the atmosphere feels just as welcoming, with locals sharing casual conversations with the waitstaff & owners. The home fries at breakfast or the mashed potatoes & gravy at lunch/​dinner are both fantastically on-​point. I look forward to many more visits in the future!

I’ve dined here twice. First time ordered the cheeseburger they served it with handcut fries like any other mom and pop Greek place, not crispy enough but burger was great. The second time I ordered the blue plate chicken tenders, hand breaded and delicious, the fries were more like «fast food fries» very crispy, and the collards were OK, definitely from a can, but in spite of the collards very delicious. My dining companions ordered blue plate specials as well, hamburger steak and fried chicken, they both enjoyed them very much. We will definitely return.

Went for breakfast… simple enough I thought. Eggs were fine. Home fries greasy. Sausage tasted off, I think it was OLD.
Wont be back.
Wait staff was nice.
Overall: I think I’ll find a better place to spend
my money.

We had breakfast here on a whim. Wise choice! the menu is typical diner food. Service was fast and the order was on spot — little requests were addressed to perfection.
No egg beaters or egg whites :-(