The Diner

Decent food, decent portions, but nothing special. The prices are about standard for Raleigh, but can’t match a hearty and true Ma and Pa diner. A great 24 hour option for the drunkies– this place should do ok.
Getting back to the food… typical corporate food distribution restraunt reuben, nothing special (when I think ideal reuben, I think cow with some rye on the side and a healthy serving of kraut, I mean come on why go stingy on kraut– it’s cheap, makes the sandwich look bigger and it’s good for the customer)…anyways I’ve enjoyed many a reuben. As for the burgers, medium well was the bloodiest they would let me go :(come on! As I was craving a burger, I still opted to give one a shot (maybe somehow the cook would mistakenly pull it off early… I don’t know) turned out to be a bad decision, sub par at best.
Reasons why I’ve gone back:
1) My girlfriend loves the spicy black bean burger with avocado. (Caution– sometimes they’ve forgotten the avocado)
2) I’m meeting drunk people getting food and keeping a decent buzz drinking some cheap beer.
3) I’m meeting drunk people late night for some sober food.

Good concept and well appreciated spot on a rejuvenated Glenwood Avenue. The ambiance was a bit over-​the-​top — meaning the idea was apparent, but the execution and décor was a bit gaudy. Being from New Jersey originally (aka «Birthplace of the diner»), this restaurant was simply okay. The food was plain and commercial.
After my initial post, I soon realized that The Diner is no longer at this location. C’est le vie.

I’m sneaking in my review before the restaurant is marked as «closed».
I was never excited to eat at The Diner. But, it was a reliable late night option. It was one of the few places to go on Glenwood South after bars closed. At 2am, nearly everyone is craving some greasy food and open to bad decisions. Some of the burgers and sandwiches were good, but most of the sides and appetizers left much to be desired.
The Diner was A-​OK (i.e. 3 stars) at 2am, but Meh at any other time. There are much better places to eat lunch or dinner on Glenwood South, including The Rockford, Tasca Brava, and Thaiphoon.
RIP The Diner. I hope another late night restaurant replaces you.

«My most fond memory of The Diner was that time when I…» –wipe away tears, then collect myself– «Sorry, I’m not good at this whole eulogy business»
Hard to believe that the first time I speak about The Diner will also be the last time I do so. We have gone through quite a lot, The Diner and I. I remembered the first time we met as vivid as yesterday: Stumbling out of Solas one Saturday night and felt famished, The Diner and I locked eye across the (Glenwood) avenue. It was love at first sight: the bright colors in her sign, the almost decadent scent around her patio, and that warm, inviting look through her windows and doors.
We shared a few meals. We had some late night fun. But relationship started on inebriation often ends quickly as it started. Soon I started to notice, after keeping a period of sobriety, that things are off: We hardly see each others anymore except on the weekends, she started to give me attitude when I asked for simple favors, and later I found out that she has been seeing many many other men besides me.
But I digress. All in all, I hold no ill will, and I will always have fond memories of us together. Farewell, The Diner, for some of us will surely misses you.

It’s tempting to review The Diner in the context of its former self — or even of the space’s original occupant, the Hard Times chili establishment. I took the closure of the Hard Times rather badly — not only had the owner become a friend, but yet another link to our roots in the DC area had been severed. But in the spirit of good fortune to the new occupants, my wife and I tried The Diner shortly after it opened and found it to our liking, especially as a Sunday brunch destination.
I have no idea what possessed the owner to turn the place upside down recently. Not only is it «remodeled» but there’s a new chef and menu. Suddenly the place has lost almost all of its physical charm — it now resembles an old service station hastily turned into a restaurant with a bad coat of paint and addition of some booths and cooking tools. That would be okay, but the menu change hasn’t done them any favors either in my opinion (the deletion of some of our old favorite diner food makes the whole idea of «diner» now seem somehow out of place).
That said, our brunch entrées this morning consisted of bacon and eggs and hash browns (no bread in sight) for my wife, and a ham and cheese omelet with pesto over it and accompanied by hash browns for me. We both noticed right off that the potatoes, while tasty, hadn’t been cooked long enough to lose their crunch. The test of my wife’s meal was OK, but my omelet was overdone in the frying, so the pesto had a rather significant uphill battle to be at all pertinent to the meal. My coffee was OK but I had to track down our waitress to get a refill. She did offer my wife a refill on her drink once we got her attention, but by then all we wanted to do was pay up and get gone.
At 10:30 or so on a Sunday morning, the music was painfully loud, which didn’t do much for the mood, either of the dining room or us.
I don’t know if it’s the fault of the restaurant or the landlord, but the stairway leading up to the entrance was littered with cigarette butts and other dirt — should have been a red flag right away.
All in all, not what we had hoped to find — I doubt if we’ll make the effort to return. Sad ending to an old favorite.

So many pages of menu choices, and no grilled cheese sandwich? Broken milkshake machine, and they were out of the bean burger. The waitress said she’d check with the kitchen to see if they could make a grilled cheese (one would hope they could manage a staple of a genuine diner menu). In all fairness, whoever told her they could did not actually specify that they could make it well.
One star for the music and cheese fries. The second star for the waitress who did her very best. Goodbye to the rest of the stars for a ‘grilled cheese’ that had been lightly dry-​toasted just on the edges with raw bread in the middle, no melting of the cheese, no side whatsoever, not even a hint of lettuce, tomato or condiment in sight (even the ones ordered) and the nerve to try to charge $ 6.99 for that abomination. Genuinely revolting. Back to the kitchen with you, sad little sandwich.
I’ve had far superior meals at places like Waffle House. The only reason to eat here is if there is absolutely nowhere else to go.

Went around 11 on a weekday so the place was dead but the servers/​staff were still on their game.
I ordered the short stack with home fries and a side of sausage. They are advertised as fluffly pancakes which is always what I want… but rarely what actually comes out of the kitchen. When these came out looking a little thin I was worried. Holy fluffy pancakes! These were soooo yummy!!! I couldn’t believe how fluffy they were to be such thin pancakes.
The home fries were yummy (with rosemary and other spices.) The sausage was a thin patty but very well cooked and yummy.
Ryan has the breakfast burrito and ate every bite. He said it was yummy.
The best thing about the diner is the soundtrack they play. The 80s hits didn’t stop and were ahhhhmazing! We will definitely go back!

Why am I a fan of The Diner? Cuz at 11:00pm on a Sunday, I walked in there and ordered an Omelette, a side of Sweet Potato Fries, and a Bailey’s Coffee, that’s why! Yeah, and it was delicious!
Nicole was my server and she was great! I was having a very rough night, but I perked up as soon as Nicole came over. So thank you very much for that Nicole!
The diner is fairly large and they have an awesome outside patio area. I opted for A/​C and chose indoor seating due to some intense sweating on my part (typical Raleigh summers). The décor is like your tupical old school diner which I happen to love. Records on the walls, etc. At that hour of the night and being a Sunday, there were just a handful of people there. Seems to be a good spot for groups to go as every other table had to be at least groups of 6.
I had the Wolfpack Omelette which Nicole said was pretty popular. After tasting it, I can see why. It was good! Peppers, steak, onions, you can’t go wrong. I inhaled the thing easily. My Sweet Potato fries were a little on the scraggly side but not bad. The Baileys Coffee was hot and really good. I’m pretty sure this was the first one I’ve ever had and I highly enjoyed it! Makes for a perfect «Midnight Breakfast», if you will. :-)
So now I know where to go when I just gotta have that midnight omelette and Baileys Coffee. Good stuff Diner!

The Diner is where Hard Times Café (Chili place) used to be. I don’t think I would make this a dinner destination, unless you’re in the mood for typical, greasy diner food, but it’s a great late night stop. I was surprised it wasn’t more crowded at midnight on a Saturday night. Wow, I sound old saying that I left the bar before close!
I got the grilled cheese, which was good, but they forgot the ham I added to the order. The fries were awesome though. My husband got a sandwich that had hot dogs, sauerkraut and cheese on it. It was actually really good. You can continue to get your drink on, as they have a bar menu as well.
I had fun sitting on the patio, up against the street, people watching.

I love a diner. My hometown has tons of them, open 24 hours, always ready to greet you with a hot plate of brekkie. Pro: This one isn’t cash only. Con: But it doesn’t have the stereotypical waitresses who stroll around with coffee carafes calling you «hon.»
Even so, on my Saturday afternoon visit, we had excellent service. My mug was kept full, our orders taken without trouble, and the check split — and then forgiven when we decided to pay as one instead.
As to the food — well — it is a diner after all. I don’t expect high caliber, and I typically always stick with the breakfast menu. I ordered the sausage patties — dry and a little hard on the outside… overcooked, I expect. An egg scrambled. And the yogurt & fruit parfait, which was the most surprising of all. It came in a tall parfait glass and was chock full of strawberries and drizzled with honey. Absolutely delicious! And decidedly healthier than you might expect from a place like this.
I’ve always felt the Triangle could use some more 24-​hour resto’s, and I support this place helping to lead the charge for über-​late-​night dining!

After a few visits I have to say that the Diner’s biggest asset is that it’s open 24 hours.
The menu has a few interesting items (like the Horseshoe burger with it’s giant hashbrown) but it’s standard diner fare executed consistently well. You know you can always get a tasty plate of food here and the portions are quite large for the price.
The décor definitely hits the ‘high-​kitsch diner’ mark. The walls are covered in old license plates and there’s even the back end of a hot rod sticking out of one wall. And since they have the look right, you’d expect they’d play lots of 50s-​60s stuff instead of 80s music (think Rick James and Huey Lewis). It kinda pulls you away from the whole thing.
Another less-​than-​awesome thing that I’ve noticed is that more often than not you’re left waiting here. It doesn’t matter if they’re busy or not. You will wait to be greeted, wait to be sat while the waiter buses your table, wait longer than expected for your food, wait to get your water refilled until after you’ve already cleaned your plate, etc. Now, I’m not a fan of pushy servers, but the service here needs to be careful that they don’t do ‘the opposite of pushy’ and wind up neglecting their tables.
If you’re looking for solid late night plates, this is a good choice, however don’t come here if you’re in a rush or terribly hungry because you will wait.

Everything I’ve had here screams that it was made from a bag or a box and the stuff that wasn’t isn’t very good. The mac n cheese looks like cheese whiz and noodles, with frozen veggies and doesn’t taste much better. The pancake stack is $ 7, and only for the pancakes sans sides and they taste like metal, rust on the spatula? The milk shake is also around $ 7 (with add-​ins and $ 5 without). It too is god awful. It doesn’t even taste like fresh ice cream and is grainy.
We have the option of expensing lunches here from time to time. I usually pay for my own and go elsewhere when this happens.

I was excited to try this place out because I had heard good things about it around town, and honestly there aren’t a lot of late-​night options for good food after the bars and clubs close in Downtown Raleigh.
I went with a friend one night around 3am, we were planning to have several other people join us after they finished closing down the bar where they worked. We went in and were told there would be a brief wait so we sat down. The «brief» wait seemed excessive considering that there appeared to be several empty tables that simply needed to be bussed and wiped down, while we sat for nearly 10 minutes, but finally we saw a table being cleared.
At this point another group of people came in and were promptly seated at the just-​cleaned table.
I got the hostess’s attention (honestly I had to track her down and wave her over, since she was wandering around talking to customers instead of standing near the entrance) and pointed out that we had waited. Instead of apologising or even being very polite, she got an attitude and basically told us «Oh, well, we’ll have a table for you in a minute» as though we had no reason to be irritated.
Our friends decided not to join us after texting and finding out that, after almost 20 minuets, we were still waiting for a table. At 9pm on a Saturday night I would expect to wait at a restaurant. At 3am, not so much.
When we finally sat down to eat the food was adequate. Decently sized portions, but a bit overpriced considering it would have been less satisfying if we weren’t completely starving at that point. Our waiter was also distracted and often forgot to bring things we asked for (specifically, silverware, and it took forever to get refills on drinks).
Long story short, 2 stars for the rude/​poor service and the price. Disappointed I couldn’t score it higher, but I will definitely not be back. Next time I’m hungry late at night downtown, I’ll grab a Sabrett’s.

UPDATE — The management at The Diner worked with me to fix the overcharge. I still don’t know why it happened, but they are sincerely apologetic and working on fixing the problem. They’ve been very nice to work with.

I should have ran away when I saw the glorified diner signs and all the décor they put up trying so hard to be «the diner». This place was OK at best.
All their entrees, drinks, milkshakes, etc. were really overpriced. However, I guess I should have expected that because of the location. I got the ranchero, which consists of hash browns topped with three eggs, salsa, cheese sauce, and sour cream. Sounds delicious right? I thought so too when I saw it on the menu. Totally sang a different tune after I tasted my food. It would have been good if the cheese sauce didn’t taste so bad. The cheese sauce was basically a rue and it was so chalky it ruined the entire dish for me. My other half got pancakes, which was a horrific $ 7 for just three. They were standard.
Service was subpar considering we were only 1 of 3 parties there and our server only had 2 out of the 3 tables. He would disappear for long periods of time and was really terrible at refilling our drinks. It took him 15 minutes to bring us our bill and another 15 minutes to bring it back for us to sign. I left this place wishing I had gone to IHOP instead. Not a good sign. Definitely not coming back again. The only reason why this place got 2 stars instead of 1 is the fact that they’re open ²⁴⁄₇.

Bright lights, red leather booths, a Marilyn Monroe statue in the corner, and retro uniforms make for a nice attempt for you to relive the look of a 50’s Diner. A wraparound porch is nice for people watching the silliness and glory that is Glenwood Avenue in downtown Raleigh. I’ve only been there for late night fare on the weekends, so it’s always poppin’ with the hustle and bustle of the waitstaff rushing around to keep up with everything.
Though not an awesome place in terms of food and whatnot, it’s always an interesting sight. I’ve had their bacon cheeseburger, french toast, and eggs. The burgers are great and the eggs were good. The french toast was not fantastic though, that’s for sure. I don’t know why I keep going back. The food’s not fantastic, but it’s just fun. Going there late at night with all that chaos can make for a good way to wrap up a night out that’s for sure.
Oh, and another personal suggestion — ask for Justin. He’s waited on me at least 3 times and he’s awesome! I’m all about promoting goodness, good service, and good people so I highly recommend him even if you have to wait a little longer. He’s super attentive, sweet, and a fun character.

On a family vacation to North Carolina, we were wondering around downtown Raleigh looking for a place to stop and have lunch. It’s perfectly located right downtown in a big nice building, you really can’t miss it. Our waiter was SO friendly, crackin’ jokes and made sure we had everything we needed at all times. My roommates (mom and dad) ordered breakfast. While me and my studly boyfriend ordered lunch. I had the diner burger which was a typical cheeseburger, but so juicy and good. There’s really nothin’ like a damn good old fashioned cheeseburger. You can put all the odds and ends on a burger, but if you can master the traditional cheeseburger to perfection, your really onto something.
BUT, the true amazingness lies in the DEEP FRIED PICKLES.
oh.
my.
god.
I had never tried them before. But we all decided we couldn’t wait for our meals (which by the way did not take long to arrive) so we indulged in an appetizer. They. Are. To. Die. For.
A+ North Carolina, A+.

Okay place. The bonus for The Diner is the fact it’s always open. And the outdoor seating with a large covered space open to Glenwood. And because it’s slightly above the sidewalk level, you don’t have people on the sidewalk blocking the view or staring at you while you eat. Downside: those curved stairs to the entrance — whoa — not a good idea when you’ve been drinking too much.
The best time to enjoy The Diner is outside the «rush» since it’ll give you the chance to enjoy some traditional food on the outdoor patio. On the other hand, sitting at the counter also has its advantages — you can watch the bartender work his or her magic. The food borders on average with a few gems. The Greek omelet — oh boy — filled with tomatoes, onions, artichokes, kalamata olives, and feta cheese — really hits the spot after a late night sampling the activities on Glenwood.
The décor is typical 50s diner-​ish although they do miss the mark a on making it inviting. I’m not sure what it is, but everything from the pictures on the walls, to the tables, chairs, booths, all seem too perfect. There’s really not a warmth to it. But none of that matters if you’re looking for a place that’s always open and a lot more inviting than a waffle house. And it’s always open — just stay away from the curved stairs.

I’m one of those people that typically eats late, normally around 8 pm for dinner, but this night I took it to a new extreme and attempted dinner around 10 pm on a Thursday night after a Durham Bulls game. Not many slow restaurants open or serving around that time so I looked at Ron W’s late night list and chose the Diner.
I typically don’t expect much from diners… but I was pleasantly surprised with the Diner. Cute 50’s décor and an awesome covered outdoor space that overlooks Glenwood (great for people watching, especially drunkity drunk people people watching).
The Diner has lots of unique twists on the typical diner menu options. I went with the veggie burger and fries (it’s still Meatless May for a few more days) — it was surprisngly better than all the veggie burgers I’ve ordered out at regular restaurants. Just a step above really. I also tasted the sweet potatoe fries — YummO! I am now a fan and I HATE sweet potatoes.
I think the Diner could be one of my late night go to pinch hitters.

If you read this past Sunday’s N&O, you might have caught the article about developer Niall Hanley and his latest offering to Raleigh, The Diner! Niall has brought the city other classics like the Hibernian and Solas so you know The Diner’s going to be a rock solid option! Located in the old Hard Times Café space, they’ve transformed it into a chrome and kitschy homage to the 50’s and 60’s complete with checkerboard linoleum floor. The place was packed for lunch the other day which bodes well for its future.
The menu is pretty simple: basic comfort food, burgers, sandwiches, shakes and entrees ($ 5 — $ 9) but the kicker is that The Diner is going to be open 24×7, woohoo! If you’re from the Northeast, all-​night diners are dime a dozen but pretty uncommon in the Triangle. The food we had was solid: large cheese, bacon fries and a BLT with a side of fruit. The place was slammed and working out opening day kinks so service was a bit slow but I’m betting they’ll shine here service-​wise, soon enough.
Pretty impressive for one week after its opening. I think the Diner will kick some butt in this spot and be a great addition to the S. Glenwood scene. And the patio is going to be fantastic in the summer since they also have a full bar. All I can say is that I’m glad we’ve got The Diner open 24×7. I just wish it wasn’t located 50 feet away from my gym, I think it’s going to be a losing battle for me!