Sherban’s Diner

Went way downhill in the last two years.
Food is sub par. Service is horrible.
I’m nervous to think I may end up sick after eating here.
Spend an extra 5 mins driving and go to the park ave diner instead

Really nice people work here and the gentleman who owns the place is a great guy. Unfortunate that their kitchen is not as consistant as it once was. Service is excellent. Clean.

I have been going here with family for over 15 years, they just refreshed in interior and it looks great! The food has always been consistent, some of my favorites are the prime rib and waffles! The service is always attentive and the management truly values your business, you can feel it from the moment you walk in and feel welcome! By the way the cucumber salad is to die for and the cheesecake is amazing as well!

My husband would take me to his local diner when we were dating. We were back in the area, so we came for dinner with our children, for memories sake! Big mistake! Dated diner, hardly any patrons and expensive! My son had Chicken Francais in a thick (gravy consistancy) lemon sauce? Three of us had a dish called Chicken Yolanda that was described on the menu (and by waitress) as a chicken marsala with cheese on it. What we got was a chicken in a creamy, chicken gravy with cheese on top of it! The waitress was very apologetic and said to mention it to the owner at the register. The chicken was just ok., but not what I wanted and the other inclusive sautes choices were limited. I took it home for whomever wanted it. Then the fun began… When I went to pay, the owner made me feel it was my fault that my inclusive coffees were charged, when I mentioned it on the bill. Not a polite «sorry for the oversight». And she argued with me that the dish I had was Marsala!!! That the dish is delicious!!! And had marsala wine in it??? Well my beige, (not reddish color from MARSALA wine) gravy topped 3 – 4 mushroomed chicken, maybe had wine in it… yesterdayl! I didn’t say anything beyond that, because she was going to be right! She also made a not so nice comment that we weren’t from around here? (my son was wearing a varsity jacket that wasn’t a local high school) What did that have to do with anything? HUGE MISTAKE on her part, because my in-​laws do live in town, and know EVERYONE! Go elsewhere! I wish we had!

Years ago this place was a quality diner and must to go to in South Plainfield, but over the past 3 – 4 years at least the food quality has decreased sharply to being average at best, and as with many diners — and the prices are far from a bargain.

I thought I was part of a prank TV show when I walked in. It was a Saturday morning and there were only a handful of tables filled. The hostess was a little over-​personal. Which is fine. It just seemed like she was compensating for what we were about to experience.
We sat down and the bench was broken. The waitress came over and got our drink orders. Then immediately asked if we knew what we wanted to eat. We just opened up the menus and it felt rushed. She came back with our drinks and we were ready to order. She didn’t write anything down which I was a little concerned about because she seemed confused as we were ordering.
Us placing our orders also seemed like we were being rushed. We had 2 french toast orders, a ham egg cheese sandwich, and I ordered disco fries and 2 eggs. The waitress was very confused by my order. Saying the eggs came with potatoes anyway. Then someone else ordered a grilled cheese at our table and the waitress seemed to have an attitude.
I doubted our food would come out of that kitchen correctly. She came out and placed a plate of jelly, syrup, and butter on the table. The butter were 2 globs with one having toast crumbs on it. Not a huge deal but the presentation was very sloppy.
Our food arrived. French toast and grilled cheese orders were fine. I assume because they were basic. I got my 2 eggs. The fries were a huge disappointment. They were standard diner fries but the cheese was not mozzarella. It was that proceseed plastic cheese slices that was microwaved for 10 seconds. There was also no gravy! The ham, egg, and cheese sandwich had the same awful cheese on it.
We ate it and kept our heads down because we just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. The check came and that is when I decided to create a Unilocal account to review this place. The reciept said that I clearly get gravy and we were charged for it. The sandwich had a $ 0.40 charge for a hard roll and $ 0.95 for extra cheese. The extra cheese was never ordered by anyone. So the sandwich was $ 6.10 for really poor quality.
Overall, the place is very out dated and nearly empty. The staff walked around with a glazed over expression. Just kind of getting through the day. It was just a very bizarre experience. Like I said, I feel like we were part of a prank TV show. But there were no cameras and no comedic relief. I am expecting I will feel sick from this food later.
UPDATE: 3 out of the 4 of us did get sick from the food. We really regret spending money here.

I had a cheeseburger which was not very good. It was more like a dry chopped steak that was larger than the kaiser roll it was served on. However, I have family members who say that there are some very good items on the menu like the breakfast and the turkey club. I have seen these items and they look pretty good.

Alright I’ll give it 3 stars… I kinda wish I could do a 2.5 (can i?) I’ve been going to Sherban’s since I started dating my wife back in 2001. Apparently this was the place to go when you were a high school kid, after football games or just to BS. The waitresses knew people by name and it was pretty damn busy. Food was average diner food, but if you ordered a sandwich you would get 2 little bowls of cucumber salad and coleslaw with a pickle on the side. As the years progressed the place became more and more vacant… kinda has a 1970’s vibe all maroon and kinda ehhhhh looking. Over the years more and more people stopped showing up and I believe the once ²⁴⁄₇ diner closes over night. The portions got smaller and the overall «Don’t really care anymore» feeling was blatant. On father’s day I figured I’d take my Dad there since Ihop was jammed. Food was pretty good for breakfast, waitress was nice, the new menus are a lot better then the old ones, place is still pretty clean (don’t know what others were complaining about… there’s a difference between OLD and Dirty… Sherban’s is OLD) but the prices have gone up quite a bit. I did notice the average age was about 65 years old for everyone dining. Not that it’s a bad thing, but the once bustling diner is now an old folks home in the morning and a graveyard at night. It’s sad that the once great Sherban’s is on it’s way out. (I hear it’s for sale and one of the owners, Pete, has already sold his share) If this was 10 years ago I would have given 5 stars whole heartily. The cucumber salad and coleslaw is STILL the best I’ve ever had but they now come in little thimble sized plastic cups… lost all character. It’s sad, would i eat there again? Yes, would it be my first choice with Park Ave Diner right across town? No. I like to end all my long winded review with a recommendation. Get a panini or a wrap with onion rings (like them better then steak fries served here) and it’ll come with coleslaw and cucumber salad, give it a shot!

Had its day. 30 years ago. No pride in ownership. 20 years overdue for a renovation. Most importantly, food quality is equivalent to grammar school lunches from the 60’s. Way better options locally. For breakfast, go across the street to The Bagel Pantry.

This place is disgusting. I would only eat here if I was drunk or desperately hungry.
The food come in huge portion sizes but they don’t taste good. I always end up with stomach aches everytime I go eat here. The food has this old leftover taste and look to them. Nothing tastes fresh. Yuck. I would much rather go to Park Ave Diner than here.

I ordered breakfast & found a piece of hair in my food & I noticed one of the cooks did not have their hair up which I found very disappointing. Never returning

Yuck.
This was the first time we’ve ever been there. We wanted to give it a try.
First impression: The table was sticky and dirty, and they only had one menu for the two of us. The waitress was nice, but she looked frazzled and sweaty and tired.
Second: They messed up our soup order — and they also messed up on the soup order of the table next to us. Also, no bread was served???
Third: The worse meatloaf I’ve ever had. Couldn’t force myself to eat it even with loading ketchup on it. It was more loaf than meat. NASTY. My broccoli was overcooked to the point of mush and my mashed potatos were dry as if sitting out on a counter for hours — which they probably were.
Finally — The host acted very strange when I went to pay. Didn’t ask me about how diner went and seemed hurried. What I did notice and was what made us figure out what was up with him was that he never looked me in the face. Later found out by looking on-​line was that he’s Autistic (classic Aspergurs symptoms we actually suspected it before we even read it on-​line in someone else’s review). Now, I’m all for people with disabilities having jobs, but why would you put someone with Aspergers who can’t make eye contact or conversation as the host of your diner??? EEEK! Poor business choice!!!
To sum up – we go to A LOT of diners, and this one is on our list of NEVER AGAIN.

Not great service. Asked for certain things with my meal and got my order wrong. Burnt coffee

Went to Sherban’s for breakfast with my wife recently. It was my first time back in 15 years and the place looks exactly the same. It could use a little updating. Overall, it was not a good experience.
The service was slow, even though only 10 people were in the diner at the time. The coffee wasn’t good and the food was ok. Since there are many other diner options in a 10 mile radius, I will most likely not go back.

Typical diner food. Fast service. Diner is very dated but its a diner. Burgers are decent and the cucumber salad rocks. Sherban’s really needs to clean it up though old doesn’t mean you have to be dirty. The carpet is as old as the diner. Breakfast is decent but I wouldn’t stray further than that. The place is scary late night because you just never know who may stroll in and it’s really isolated over there late at night.

Dine-​in food is decent, coffee is meh. The wait staff seems very laid back. So much so that I’d say service was poor at times. Be aware of order mistakes and terrible tasting food when you get take-​out. In fact, I’d suggest never getting take-​out. With Firehouse Grill and the Park Ave Diner both right around the corner, I’d say Sherban’s really has some catching up (and cleaning up) to do.

DIRTY DIRTY GERMS! gross! my husband and I went here for brunch and first off you could tell the dishes weren’t clean… that’s nothing compared to the next horror. A man, who works there kept picking his nose, and I mean really digging up there. Right in the middle of the diner. I almost threw up and so did my husband. I had to pay this guy to after we attempted to eat our food. I handed him my debit card with a tissue over my hand and my purell waiting, I practically boiled my hands when I got home and lysoled my car… but wait there’s more. A waitress took her arm and wiped her nose all over it. NEVER AGAIN. I hope to God I don’t get sick. Eat there if you like other peoples germs. The only thing I can say is OUR waitress was very nice — the end

I think it is very decent diner food.

Diner was ok. Every time you go try a new place, whether you hear good rating on it on Unilocal,etc, you should always show up at a place with no expectations and you will go home happy or ok. You wont go home pissed off, unless the service was horrible.
This place was actually decent. They have the usual menu that most diners have, from burgers, to chicken, to wraps, pancakes, eggs, chicken gyros, omellettes, you get where im coming from?
I wanted to be safe at the time, and just grabbed myself some pancakes with toast and butter with some syrup. Orange juice was from concentrate but was still good. I enjoyed my meal actually. Service wasnt the fastest, but it wasnt slow either. Overall, I gave it 3 stars. I will come back here and try other food on the menu, that might make me change my rating one day. For now, the food rating is mediocre.

Average diner. Cucumber salad is absolutely SLAMMIN’ though.
Typical diner fare — pancakes to burgers to spaghetti to fried to etc. Expect mediocrity and you will not be disappointed.