Mugshot Diner

This diner is more about the atmosphere than the food. Its a quirky design to have mugshots of celebrities on the wall, and the bright yellow and blue colors of the diner make it visually appealing, but that’s really all this diner has going for it. The menu has many options, but I never found anything on it that was remotely memorable. Every time I went, I felt just as disappointed as the last time. Add in a disinterested staff with slow service times, and you have a place that I won’t be going to anymore.

Usually have no problems here however, my fiancé and I came here for lunch and not a single person came to greet us once we were seated. We sat for 15 minutes before asking the hostess if we could get a server. Hostess said someone would be with us shortly…10 minutes later and we still had not even received a simple «hello, I’ll be right with you». Needless to say, we left

Not sure how this place stays in business. The place grew progressively worse each time I ate there. It is obvious that none of the ingredients they use are fresh. All are from a can or package and have NO flavor. There are so many other places to eat in the area that unless one is a masochist, there is no need to go back.
I also found out that they have not paid their staff in months, have hired a lawyer and are doing 50K worth in cosmetic renovations. This place is joke. If I could give it zero stars, I would. Moreover, there are several liens against Mugshots according to the Philly Court dockets — Dept of Labor and Dept of Revenue.

With a little diner-​menu-​digging it was easy to find what I wanted. I had the diet inspired, veggie dumplings. They were fried perfectly, the inside tasted danty, which is rare for veggie dumplings, the outside reminded me of crispy Chinese noodles. The service was fast and upon talking to a cook who works there, I could tell they hire people who love cooking. Perfect diner aesthetics shimmer brightly w/​blue and yellow seats, this corner spot is fun without being cliché retro. Doesn’t feel old like some diners. The bar is wide and open and the bright natural lighting makes this place essential to diner socializing in Philly. I will consider another star but must explore the sweets pantry first.

Also stay away from fresh vegetables or anything cold like sandwiches and salads. Produce will be old and wilted. Good spot for breakfast, still, but that’s it.

I ordered the crème brûlée French toast because my friend couldn’t stop raving about it, and I honestly felt it was nothing to write home about. Maybe I could have been swayed if their coffee was halfway decent, but it tasted like someone had roasted burnt ashes. Seriously. I’ve never had worse coffee in my life.

The food here was so-​so. My reuben sandwich was okay; the pastrami was of medium quality and the breads was soggy. My kid’s burger, ordered rare, came medium-​well. My other kid gave the chicken strips a good report, but the mozzarella sticks we ordered were not cooked all the way through.
The restaurant was well-​lit and pleasant to be in. The total bill was around $ 45.

Server was great (4 stars) my western omelette was okay (3 stars) and my girlfriends lox bagel was awful. (0 stars) the lox was grey and the bagel was not very good. Lastly, the coffee was burnt. (1 star)

Never been in the actual restaurant but will be going soon! Me and my boyfriend always get delivery from here.
I was a little hesitant because sometimes you don’t get the same experience as you would in the diner
Food came hot, we ordered burgers (I’ve tried the bacon cheese burger, mushroom and Swiss, Texas burger) my boyfriend swears by the cali burger… he’s a little avocado obsessed
Only thing I was disappointing in was the fries though really good were always stuck together and was really small amount. We had onion rings too which are huge and tasty

I’ve been back 3 more times since I did my first review, it got worse Everytime, it’s sad that I couldn’t give zero stars

After the red eye flight into Philadelphia we were pretty hungry and ready for some breakfast. I had looked up another place that we thought we were driving to but ended up here and we’re glad we did. It’s a cute little place — very funky with mugshots of famous people all over the walls. The staff were extremely friendly and the food was very reasonable. The daughter had some French toast and I had the eggs and hash browns and it was really good! Eggs cooked as asked, buttered toast and some very tasty hash browns. Excellent coffee and like I said — a great price. We were glad we got lost and went here instead of the other place. The parking was an adventure in city parking but the daughter did a great job finding a spot not far and we had a pleasant walk to the diner.

The food is okay. I was raving about their cheesesteaks, and craving one… so I strolled over. Totally disappointed with this one, though, I’ve had 3 or 4 really good ones in the past. I guess every place is entitled to an off day.
What drives me crazy is that I was sitting at the counter and I had to basically flag down and yell to get a coffee refill. No one would make eye contact with me. I can’t tell you how irate this makes me. It drives me insane. When the bus boy finally gave me a refill, it took me another 5 minutes to get some of those stupid individual creamer things. My blood is boiling just thinking about this.

Breakfast is the best part of my day especially when I can have my coffee at this diner.
The food is typical of an American diner. The staff is friendly and the service is great.
The décor is entertaining as the walls are adorned with celebrity mug shots.
Parking can be a challenge on peak hours

Went back last night and service was great. Friendly redhead with tattoos was our waitress and she was extremely attentive and helpful. My boyfriend and I ordered burgers. I got the cali burger and he got the mushroom burger. The guac was fresh as was the coleslaw. We asked for banana peppers on the side and our waitress even brought out roasted green bell peppers for us as well! I love their sweet potato fries more than anything. I have yet to really try anything else on their menu since I tend to have a love hate relationship with this diner lol. But now that Darling’s has closed down, I will definitely come back to try some other things on their menu.
Burgers are always a definite here. Seems like they are upping their quality and service! A welcome improvement since the last few times I’ve been here.

UPDATE: Since they re-​opened, the diner is just not as good. They no longer have dinner specials, and the dinner tasted like it was microwaved. It’s convenient for Fishtown folks, but I couldn’t help but think the whole time I was eating that I could’ve cooked something at home much better than what was on my plate. Service was also not friendly. No refill offered on drink. Our server was pretty much on break when we were eating… he was eating too.
OLD REVIEW: This diner is near our house so it’s convenient, but more importantly it is dependable. It’s the best option in Fishtown for a quick, full meal whether at breakfast brunch or dinner. I like coming for dinner because they always have about 20 dinner specials. All fresh — favorite thing to get is the BBQ chicken and shrimp. It comes with soup salad and vegetables. You literally can’t ask for more. Any server here will always take care of us like getting a refill before we even have to ask. Also, since the diner is relatively new, it’s really clean. I look forward to continuing to come here.

For a super late night meal, I can imagine that this place may hit the spot; however, for a sober, late night snack, we were quite disappointed. The food itself was not anything to be excited about– the wings were ok and so were the fries, but the rest was not very good at all. They have a HUGE menu, but the quality was perhaps jeopardized by having so many options. The people working seemed like they really didn’t want to be there and I question the overall cleanliness of the joint.

Just got home from a very boring, no taste breakfast. Vegetable omlett: tasted like the «defrosted» frozen veggies and canned mushrooms used. No fresh ingredients ! Home fries, well done with fried onions: home fries not well done and barely cooked onions put on top of potatoes.
Besides the 20 minute wait in an uncrowded resteraunt … I Guess It Could Have Been worse. The coffee was good.
This place is a hit or miss … I will not miss it.

Went for basics today at 3:30 pm. Coffee, two eggs over easy, turkey sausage, and hash browns and water. My waitress was pleasant and accommodating. I sat at the counter. Great clean place!
I did not like the the hostesses sitting at the counter and gabbing, but hey, face it, middle of the afternoon — they need a coffee break as well.
Food was good, as I said, basics, however my hash-​browns were half burn and half raw. Obviously they combined what was sitting on the grill with more new potatoes. Lazy.
Your a diner — make new hash browns per order!
The nice waitress made a new pot of coffee for me and brought me additional butter for my toast, milk for my coffee and checked on me regularly.
Great price for the food and service. I would recommend going here if in the neighborhood; however it is not a destination restaurant.

Above average diner. Really great prices and food comes fast and I’ve never had a complaint. I usually stick to breakfast here, but don’t sleep on their cheesesteak. Milkshakes are very good too!

GOT FOOD POISONING HERE! Yuck!
Here’s what I’m staying: HOW DO YOU SCREW UP A BURGER AND FRIES — IN AMERICA?!?
Was leaving a Christmas party down the street and saw the diner and decided why not. Well, my instincts are something I should’ve stuck with and went to Wawa instead.
Well silly me, I’m a foodie I should trust my instinct LOL. It looked well lit, the Decour wasn’t dingy, and there was a good handful of people inside. After finally finding parking which took a while (I mean come on it’s Fishtown lol) I went inside.
Staff seemed polite and friendly and if you could give zero stars I would give one star simply for them… But the experience with the food was so bad that I have to give it a one star review.
I kept it really simple and ordered a burger and fries. Medium, with fried onions, a side of guacamole & a side of ranch. PRETTY SIMPLE RIGHT?! Nope lol.
When the food arrived the problems were noticeable right from the start, but I was too hungry after not having a regular full meal all day to worry about it. But those three warnings should’ve been enough for me… Hence the one star, because there were three distinct problem with that I’m not sure what caused it:
1) part of the guacamole was brown… NO BUENO!!!
2) The ranch was a little too sour… Wasn’t sure if it was just cheap or old or left out. Again — no Bueno!
3) this burger was not medium, it was a rare LOL. However even if a burger is rare and it is cooked correctly, it will be fine regardless of whether it is pink. That is a common misconception… The issue is that most people don’t know how to cook a burger pink and cook it correctly with the proper heat.
I skipped around the guacamole that was brown, stop eating the ranch, and only half of the burger. For some reason halfway through the meal I just started to dislike the food. It almost felt like I was eating bad food (grin). And my stomach was getting queasy from it. So I got it to-​go and left. By the time I got home about 40 minutes later I ran to the bathroom and was hurling for 15 minutes straight — all of the food back up. The next day I was sick as a dog and had a fever and was in bed — it was terrible!
Now for the skeptics out there that may say food poisoning cannot develop that fast, well that depends on how rancid the food is. If you started eating something with extremely high amounts of mold or bacteria or the like, your body will immediately reject it. It wouldn’t take time to develop. Aside from that, I had only had a few snacks throughout the day and I was completely fine when I arrived there. For something to develop that fast with an eating a meal, when I hadn’t eaten in hours, it’s pretty black and white what the cause was! And since there were three culprits in this meal I’m not sure which if not all caused it.
This is just completely unacceptable. ITS A BURGER AND FRIES JEEZ! How hard is that?!
NEVER
GOING
BACK.