Shirley’s Diner

The entire family loves this place.
We had an omelette, chocolate chip pancakes, and the chicken friend steak breakfast. It was all excellent! The white gravy is to die for as well. My only knock is that the chicken fried «steak» is really pork. I didn’t mind, but someone ordering that doesn’t eat pork would have a huge issue. I have no idea why they wouldn’t notate or update the menu.
Service was great and they went above and beyond to make sure my children were comfortable and had everything they needed.
This is my go to breakfast place in Omaha.

I will admit, upon arriving I had second thoughts. The diner is located in a strip mall that looks old, we’ll call it old. The average age of the patrons I saw was nearing 70, which usually indicates bland food. I forged ahead though, putting my trust in my fellow Unilocalers.
The risk paid off! I had one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. It was huge and almost too much to eat. The fires were just frozen fries and nothing to write home about. The onion rings, came on the burger, were crunchy and delicious.
I saw the meatloaf being delivered to another table and I almost fell over. This slab of awesomeness was inches thick, think 3 – 4 inches. Covered in what looked like gravy that inspires greatness. I may be returning for dinner so I can try it tonight.
If you’re in Omaha, you are denying yourself the right to pursue happiness if you do not hit this place. The service is as friendly as you can legally get and the food is some of the best I’ve had and seen on months.

After reading the reviews my husband and I both decided to get the Chicken Fried Steak. It was good! Not the best I’ve ever tried, but good, and the portion was huge. One kid ordered the French Toast Special, one the Chocolate Chip Panckes, and the other two the #2 breakfast. Zero complaints from anyone about their food. We all left stuffed and with 2 boxes of leftover pancakes!
Service was adequate. At times they were on top of everything but then my coffee cup would be empty for an absurd amount of time. Seemed disorganized.
Definitely will be back to try some other things on the menu! Great prices for the portion size and fun retro environment.

Don’t let your eye order more than your stomach can handle! The portions here are huge and the prices good. Very old school Elvis décor but it fits the place. Went here from the Unilocal!reviews and would definitely go back. Service was excellent as well.

Almost exactly what a diner should be. Great tasting food, attentive servers, hearty portions, fair prices, and great coffee!
The only thing I felt was slightly lacking is the décor/​furnishings being a bit old but I wouldn’t knock it down from 5 stars because everywhere I looked was clean and sanitary.
I’m new to the Omaha area and have only been here twice, both visits were excellent and I plan to be a regular.

One of my go to haunts on Sunday mornings. Make sure to beat the church crowd as it tends to get quite crowded. Its your typical hole-​in-​the-​wall diner — Not always the cleanest but great service is guaranteed every visit.
The best item on their menu is the chicken fried steak. I have veered off and tried other things, but nothing compares to the glory of white gravy and eggs over a deep, fat fried chicken fried steak!

Not so impressed. Atmosphere is nice and the first lady who sat us was nice but the lady who served us slow. The food was mediocre at best. The couple next to us have been waiting for 15min with no service whatsoever. Crazy, we waited about 10. Just not feeling this place at all.

Love this place! Good family place for breakfast or brunch! I have been bringing my family here for over 15 years and still when they come home from Boston and Minneapolis this is our go to place for breakfast! Try the Spanish omelette — out of this world!

I love this diner! Talk about time warp! Plus, the servers are always super awesome.
Food portions are awesome and the coffee is always hot. :)

Good atmosphere. Good (but not fantastic) food. Very helpful staff.
Sunday after church seems very busy! Two churches in same strip-​mall like area.
I’d go again!

Absolutely the very best chicken fried steak in the city of Omaha! It is always consistently good. The Spanish omelette is another favorite of mine. The burgers are yummy too. Service is great too! You can’t go wrong dining at Shirley’s.

One of my favorite places for Sunday breakfast, or any other day of the week where I’m too lazy to cook. Chicken fried steak with eggs is fantastic and the prices are so good! Service can be slow sometimes, but I there’s plenty to look at on the walls to keep you busy. The tie-​dye booth is my favorite!

One of a dying breed but they do it right. HUGE portions, quality food, more than reasonable prices, enough memorabilia to satisfy the most ardent fan and just a great little place for breakfast or lunch. Hopefully 50s diners hang around a bit longer as Shirley’s is a great reminder of their appeal.

Awesome classic Diner food in such a cute environment. French dip and mashed potatoes were A+. Service was pleasant and efficient even with the restaurant being completely full. I’m definitely going to make this one of my regular weekend breakfast spots.

Pleas stop getting new product !! Your choice of new bacon is nasty! You are changing to much lately stop go back you don’t need to change !!

Great diner style breakfast! I ended up stumbling upon Shirley’s on a Sunday morning when the other restaurant nearby that I had wanted to go to had an hour long wait. The food here was well-​prepared, the service was friendly and the food arrived in lightning fast time. If it wasn’t so far away from my home… I would come here every single Sunday for brunch. Delicious!

Chicken fried pork! Oh sure, you’ve had chicken fried steak but you’ve never had CFP for breakfast! Okay, well maybe you have but never like this! Alright, maybe you have if you are Bavarian or something (See schnitzel).
This is a little place with tight seating but they make it work. Hidden in a parking lot, you just might need your GPS to guide you in. Like most fabulous diner, your best time to come is in the middle of the week otherwise you might have a wait of 30 mins of longer on the weekends. Don’t let the wait deter you. Now that I live on that side of town, I might have to make them my default brunch place. The CFP was so tender; you could cut it with a fork. They don’t skimp on the white gravy either. Pile that on there with some eggs and hash browns, some pepper and Tabasco and wait for the heart attack to kill you. That’s my preferred method of death, death by gravy.
The décor is kitschy with lots of Elvis and Marilyn on the walls. Cute place but you all know I don’t care what it looks like on the inside, I care about the food.

I was told by my breakfast buddies, Snow and Beth, that the chicken fried pork here is excellent… so of course when we get here I ordered the regular pork chops lol… that being said, I really liked what I ordered… The seasoning used was very good and it was pretty tender… the eggs were cooked perfectly and the hashbrowns were also pretty tasty… I would have liked apple sauce, but since I was being stubborn and refused to ask for it, that’s on me not them lol… The prices were fair and the service was fast and friendly… It seems they get very busy on Sunday’s so take that into consideration… I very much look forward to coming back and ordering the right thing lol…

I’ve had this place bookmarked for a long time and I finally went to Shirley’s Diner today for lunch with a work buddy.
It’s not much to look like on the outside and you walk in and they have some odd and gaudy decorations, but its mostly themed like an old diner. Every table has a theme and today we sat at the Wizard of Oz themed booth. Very cool.
The waitress and bus boy were super nice. We ordered and waited a little less than 10 minutes for our food. I ordered the Chicken Fried Steak Breakfast with egg whites. I didn’t know, but they actually charge $.80 extra for egg whites. It would have been nice to know that when I ordered.
The food comes out and the portions are just massive. A heaping piece of chicken fried steak, (which is actually pork from what our waitress told us), hash browns and eggs with your choice of toast or pancakes for less than $ 10 — pretty good deal.
The chicken fried steak was just okay to me. It was fresh and hot, but not a lot of flavor in the breading. The country gravy was pretty good. The hash browns, eggs, and toast were good as well.
Overall, everything was great. The food was good, not great. The service was awesome. And the décor probably needs a little updating.

The food was awesome and very plentiful. I got the chicken tenders and my wife got the rachel, a turkey Ruben. The turkey was fresh and unprocessed, the chicken tenders were soft moist and white meat. One of the best places i have eaten at in Nebraska