The Pinon Cafe

Good food. Plain and simple. Lots of locals here so you know the food is good. Good value. Nothing fancy but good food.
Service is good. Never had an empty cup.

A family owned business with an authentic family atmosphere. Plenty of locals eating here and the staff are super friendly. Extra kudos for having so many gluten free options on the menu. We came for breakfast and can’t wait to come back for lunch next time we’re in town.

Remembered this place as the Knotty Pine Café, which was good but this renamed restaurant is even better. Great service, fast food delivery that tasted great and nice atmosphere. Will always come back when in town.

Decent. Nothing spectacular. Usual small town greasy spoon diner. I wouldn’t write home about it. Huge portions. Lots of locals. I ordered the French toast and asked for strawberries that looked like they had been thawed out after being frozen a few years. Again, it was okay but we’ll likely try the other greasy spoon up the road on our next trip through.

Great service, breakfast was fresh and delicious. Clean bathrooms. No complaints here. We’ll be back.

New owners, brought a breath of fresh air to this almost historical café! Ordered the Chef’s salad. Piled high with yummy goodness, so glad I stopped in!

Very good breakfast joint. It was busy and packed, but they moved tables quickly and got us seated. Friendly service. The food was exceptional and generously-​portioned.

Stopped on our way to Heber. Breakfast was ok. Prices were good for ok food. Service was bad. Our waitress was nice but never really came back to check on us after food was served. We were missing food items and never had our drink refilled. So we basically had nothing to drink half way through our meal. She showed up one time and we told her we were missing food and she looked at us like we were wrong.
Anyway we told her at the end we never got offered refills and our missing food never came; she seemed confused and we didn’t even get a discount.
Additionally, there were 2 other girls working and all they were doing was standing around watching our waitress run around. What a waste of employees! Won’t be back due to service.

This is the most amazing place!!! Since moving to Payson, two months ago, my family and I have had lunch here at least 10 times. The food is perfection, just like being home, the staff makes you feel welcomed and interact with you as if you were their family member or best friend. Honestly, you walk out feeling satisfied and content. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND EVERYONE to the café. I will be a returning customer for life!

Friendly staff and folksy atmosphere make this café a great stop when you visit Payson.

I’ve been here for breakfast, so I thought I would check it out for lunch. Seated immediately with no wait. Ordered the open face meatloaf sandwich with mashed potatoes. Good texture and plenty of food. The only reason I didn’t give he place a better score was the microwave oven situated over my table. I think I may be glowing later.

Ate here on the way to Bear Canyon Lake and again on the way back it. Perfect little diner, great service and really good food. 5 stars

Great service. It was packed by 11am; we waited a short time but it was worth it. I had their chili-​cheeseburger and my daughter had the avocado burger. Both were really tasty. We’ll be back.
The only thing that I really had a problem with was their bathrooms. My daughter is in a wheelchair and the doorways were not wide enough for the wheelchair to fit through.

Great food but the service was terrible. It’s always kind of a bad sign when your waitress walks up to your table and waits for you to talk.

Food was great portions were a little small for my liking and there was a crazy amount of butter on everything. All n all the service was good and quick even though there was allot of people. It’s not a very big place so if it’s busy expect a bit of a wait to get a seat.

Decent roadside-​diner ambience, with the attendant friendly service – especially if you’re a familiar patron (from what I observed; it seems a regulars sort of joint.
My order – the Huevos Benedictos – was merely adequate, mostly because the chili verde was far from something about which you’d write home. The chorizo, though, was pretty solid (and solidly spicy), but ultimately the sum ain’t quite up to the parts.

This seems like the ideal place for friends of all ages, decades-​old couples and people who are trying to settle on business transactions.
Seriously, does everyone here know one another? People talk about where they’re from and the weather (the January snow was horrendous) and their travels and health conditions.
Just feet away from the Beeline Highway as you are entering Payson, Piñón Café is a highly casual diner in the traditional sense. You will likely see a line of pickups and Harley’s and family sedans in the parking lot. That would give the impression that the beard-​to-​shaved face ratio would skew toward the hairy. But oddly, it doesn’t.
Piñón Café is clearly cared for with love. I hear the owners are locals. It’s not the type of place where you are going to be mopping up grease stains the moment you sit down. And it is mostly spacious, so you won’t have to worry to much about overhearing your neighbors talking about the church fundraiser or their recent bout with the gout.
You can expect swift, attentive service. Breakfast and lunch are served all day along.
All of the booths are right upon against the windows, which is just wonderful. There is also the standard bar facing away from the booths for the single or swift eater. One section of seating looks like the maroon-​colored cushion backs were striped out of an old Cadillac.
The diner sells the range: omelets, french toast, biscuits and gravy and other breakfast items. Some menu items have endearing names, like Mogollon Monster and the Croque Madame. They make their own pies, muffins and sweet buns. They also sell cheeseburgers and milk shakes; you will also find chicken fried steak on the menu.
I went with the Huevos Benedictos. The poblano/​green chile sauce was delicious. It didn’t come with hollandaise sauce, by the way. But it looks like the two other Benedicts on the menu do. Served with hash browns, it was a delicious and ample serving. But not so ample that I left with a tummy ache.

Nicest breakfast joint I have visited in Pays on. Vic and I had a good time. Started with coffee and the giant cinnamon role. Role was big and pretty good with lots of icing. Could have stopped there.
I had steak and eggs. Good, but not five star, closer to three and half. However, comes with pancakes and hash browns. Vic had mushroom omlete and liked it. Food was three and half to four star.
Service was quick and pleasant. Checked on regularly with a smile. Nice roadside diner feel. Will return for lunch

Nothing but pure goodness here ! The food is so good you can’t stop eating. Huge servings, love the divey diner atmosphere ! I think it’s family ran, all the staff were smiley and polite and seemed happy to be there. Good fast service, made sure coffee was always full. Took dirty plates away immediately. This place will be a must stop for us whenever we’re in Payson :)

If I had to give the town of Payson a nickname, it would definitely fall somewhere in the «diner city of Arizona» category, definitely. Every corner of the town is garnished with long windows and simple, yet foretelling signs that good food is served within. Whatever possessed my vacation companion and I to choose Piñón Café was nothing less than divine intervention.
First, I’d like to comment on the exceptionally wonderful staff that gave the entire atmosphere a friendly southern feel (trust me, Texan here) and our waitress that was nothing less than perfect with a smile on her face each time she greeted us.
She didn’t once make us feel rushed or guilty while we sat and did the woman thing where we talk and take up tip-​space (sorry servers of America).
The environment completely coincides with the town in that it’s calm, casual and in no hurry. The layout of the restaurant is fantastic and gives each section a bit of privacy instead of having the feeling that anyone, at any given moment, can watch you vacuum food in to your mouth so fast you’re pulling strands of hair, flaked with edible debris, from your lips.
Which brings me to the food. Oh. My. God. My go-​to diner food is biscuits and gravy. Forget pancakes, bacon, french toast or anything else; if the biscuits and gravy aren’t good, there is no hope for any other menu item. When I forked-​off my bite and saw the interior of my biscuit, I dropped the fork and said «oh…my…god…», yeah, it was that phenomenal.
If my sense of sight was flabbergasted, you can only imagine the fiesta my taste buds experienced. It was like rolling-​up Christmas morning, birthday present time and first car excitement into a bun, baking it in the oven and shoveling it to my mouth. Jesus was in the Piñón Café that day and assured me that the plight of wearing stretchy-​pants for the rest of my trip would be worth it, so I heeded his advice and ate every last bite… and it was totally worth it.
Despite the long stretch of Diner Avenue, all future trips will begin with Piñón Café. Eternal fan here.