Vonz Diner & Collectibles

Went in for lunch. The food was fine and atmosphere is pretty cool with 50’s stuff but the waitress was kinda snippy. The owner came to deliver food and was kinda gruff.
Too bad the welcoming atmosphere wasn’t complimented with the attitudes the employees had.

Well we tried to have breakfast on Saturday, we walked in, about six tables had folks waiting for food. It seemed that one guy was serving, it took about ten minutes to get some coffee and water, it seemed that they only had one in the kitchen. The one guy working as a server/​bus boy, seemed like he just rolled in after a long night on the town. Well after 20 minutes of no attempt to take our order, we called it a day, left some cash for the luke warm coffee and headed out the door. At least the good looking collie dog got some food from a patron in the dinner, but no luck for us.

This place is the bomb! I’ve had almost 50% of the lunch menu all of it is awesome! Great friendly staff as well! Definitely one of the best places to eat in town! go check it out!

Very mediocre diner food. Absolutely no reason to go here if you can go somewhere else. French fries tasted frozen and most food looked like it had been frozen. I won’t return.

Is it just me, or is our neck of the woods particularly good at generating «hidden gems»? I’m starting to wonder how many other prizes I’ll find in the industrial parts of town. Tucked into a business block in the industrial area of east Glendale, Vonz Diner is not just another greasy spoon. For one thing, it’s a lot bigger inside than you’d guess from the street-​facing façade, with a large restaurant out front and an even bigger back room featuring a stage, several classic automobiles in working condition, and shelves full of memorabilia. The walls are also covered in kitsch – with a ‘50s and ‘60s hot rod/​pop culture theme – and signs indicating that nearly everything in the joint is available for sale.
The menu includes all the classic breakfast goodies you’d expect, with enough variety you could start half a year’s Saturdays there and never order the same thing twice. Lunch options include soups, salads, burgers, hot dogs, chicken wings and tenders, classic sides, fish and chips, and a long list of hot and cold sandwiches. However, one menu category makes Vonz Diner stand apart: fat sandwiches ($ 10.50).
Although you can find «fat sandwiches» elsewhere, Vonz’s creations have a certain «mad scientist» vibe. How else to explain the Reno Cuda, which includes cheese steak, chicken fried steak, Italian sausage, scrambled egg, avocado, deep-​fried mozzarella sticks, lettuce, peppered mayo, all of which is then stuffed into a foot-​long french roll and topped with crinkle-​cut french fries, which you can eat as part of the sandwich. When I asked if those were options I was told, «It’s all in there, and I’ll tell you how to eat it.» The trick is to cut it into thirds with a steak knife, which makes it almost manageable to pick up and eat without looking like a crazy person. Almost.
Although I felt the sausage overpowered the other flavors a bit, the overall effect was stupefyingly delicious. That crazy combination of ingredients tasted great together, and just trying to eat the thing made it more event than meal. The next time we visit, I’ll try either the Firebird (grilled chicken, bacon, deep-​fried chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks, sausage, Swiss cheese, ranch dressing, barbecue sauce, hot sauce), or the Diamond T (pepperoni, cheese steak, deep-​fried chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks, grilled peppers and onions, tzatziki sauce, mayo, ketchup).
My wife was in a breakfast mood and ordered biscuits and gravy with eggs ($ 9.75), which proved to be on the «just like Mama used to make» level of blue collar cuisine. The biscuits were big and fluffy, served swimming in a sea of really tasty, peppery sausage gravy. Two perfectly-​prepared eggs (over medium) and crispy bacon shared the plate, along with potato squares (possibly deep-​fried) that were really crispy on the outside, with a fluffy almost mashed-​potato interior. Some of our recent breakfast outings have been a mixed bag, but my wife was extremely satisfied by this above-​average plate of comfort food.
We both ordered coffee ($ 2) and were pleasantly surprised. Some diner coffee can be pretty wretched, but this brew had an interesting floral note I wasn’t expecting. It wasn’t as strong as I make at home, but the flavor was decent and the refills were plentiful. Even though I should have been beyond dessert, I ordered a strawberry milkshake for us to share ($ 3.99). It was more than enough for two people, featuring the creamy, thick texture you only get with real ice cream that has been hand-​blended. It perhaps could have had more strawberries, but was otherwise just dandy. Vonz has got it goin’ on.

So I read this review,
and it couldn’t be further from the truth, Fat Sandwich should be Fat Chance of anything tasting good or worthy of $$.
First a little back story, when I first saw Man vs. Food, I was stoked, when I learned about Fat Sandwiches. They always looked good, and being one with a Dragonic Appetite from time to time, I was excited to find one locally.
I read the above article, and thought, WOW, finally I can enjoy something I have been thinking about for years! This article gives the green light, and I happily went today. I did check Unilocal reviews before I went to find the location, and I have to admit, I was hoping the 3.5 was off, but it actually should be lower than for what I received.
I first entered, and there are two ladys present, they don’t greet me say anything, just stare at me. There’s 3 tables in the good size room, and they are not doing anything but hanging out on the counter with their elbows. I have never been here before, so I put up my index finger for 1, and the older lady (might be an owner?) said, there are the menus sit anywhere you like.
It was a very cold and unwelcoming first impression. It was lunch time, 12:30PM (Monday) and there were only 3 tables, but alas, I just read a green light review and have been in a Fat Sandwich search for a while, so I sat down. I browse the menu, find the Reno Cuda, which is what Todd reviewed, the older lady came over, took my order, and I waited (See 2 Fat Cuda picks by Todd under pictures).
It didn’t take very long for my food to come out, it was about as fast as fast food, I thought this wasn’t a good sign and it turns out I was right.
First the Reno Cuda is supposed to have Cheese-​steak, Chicken Fried Steak, Sausage, Mozzarella Sticks, Scrambled Egg, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado, and Mayonnaise. I ask them to cut into 3 sections.
What I got was a basket with a ton of crinkle cut fries and I saw a lot of goo under them. I ate the fries, they tasted like they had been a freezer for while, they were just average, something I would pull out of my freezer, and cook at home, not satisfying or tasty by any means.
Inside the Mayonnaise goop, under the fries, I found the tiny mozzarella stick, the kind you buy at Costco. It was okay, not much flavor nor was it big. I found a couple pieces of sausage, it was not tasty and very charred. I then found the cheese-​steak, it was a pressed glued meat, kind of similar to Hot Pockets Philly Cheese-​steak, but bigger sections. Part of it was blackened and part it was normal color. It tasted terrible, no flavor, and I wasn’t ever sure what it was. I could taste some flavorless, gooey cheese, but it just wasn’t good. Also there was lots of lettuce and tomato in there, along with liquidy avocado, but everything just had little to no flavor, nor did it look appetizing.
I search around the sandwich, I didn’t find any egg, maybe I found a chicken fried steak, which tasted frozen, like something you buy at Costco or some other frozen food section. Please note I thought this was a chicken tender, because it had no flavor.
Before I finished eating (about 6 minutes) the lady came by to ask how it was. I try not to be rude, but I didn’t want to sugar coat it, so I said it’s okay, but I wouldn’t order it again. I felt like she almost already knew this answer, as I can’t imagine any adult liking this, who actually likes real food.
I ate as much as I could of it, and it never improved. It was just a food disaster. I finally put my basket to the side, and the lady came over, and most of the Fat Sandwich was still there, and she had check in hand. I felt like she’s done this before.
She didn’t question the abundance of food left, happily took my credit card, and returned. I cut out and she said thanks for coming in. I almost felt like she was mocking me, because I could hear all the food in the basket falling out when she took it away and it was hitting the trash. I can’t imagine they are proud of what they are serving, because it’s a Fat Disaster full of inferior ingredients. I even think a Stoner would agree, this sandwich leaves MUCH to be DESIRED!
I saw a man eating biscuits and gravy when I was leaving, and it didn’t look good either.
I hope Vonz figures out that they should make fresh food (Real Cheese-​steak made with STEAK, Hand Dipped and Fresh Fried Chicken Fried Steak, Made in House Mozzarella sticks, Real Sausage from the Sausage Factory) or else they will bust.

I had the chicken fried steak, eggs and potatoes.
The potatoes were bland and almost burnt.
The gravy was mediocre at best and the chicken fried steak, well was from the freezer. Come on, have some creativity and make your own from scratch.

(Now out of business) Had a wimpy burger on my first visit, it wasn’t wimpy at all. Delicious and so were the steak fries. I like that they automatically bring ranch as if their psychic powers told them how I like it :) On my second visit I had the breakfast burrito. It was big and tasty. I only ate half of it and took the rest to go & made it my next meal. I loved that they psychicly brought salsa and sour cream on the side automatically. This place just does everything how I like it! Including friendly staff, quick service and reasonable prices.

Vonz Diner is serving reliable diner food. It’s a fairly standard menu and the food seems better than say a Denny’s.
For my meal here I got a strawberry milkshake, a French dip and I substituted deep fried mushrooms for French fries.
The milkshake was huge. They filled a glass and I still had most of the stainless steel mixing cup filled.
The French dip was good. There was nothing special about it. The roll had been crushed in the package, but that affected aesthetics, not taste. The meat was fine. THe best part was the aus jus for dipping. It had a nice tang to it.
I love mushrooms but I didn’t like these. The dough was fried hard around the mushrooms, which were soggy and uncooked inside. Maybe that’s how they’re supposed to be.
Service was good and is a strong point.
I believe they have dinner one day a week, on Fridays. Otherwise it’s a breakfast and lunch place.
This opened in a strip mall on Glendale Avenue near the Flag Store. This location has had several Mexican restaurants in the past.