The Good Life Diner

St Patty’s Day lunch was absolutely fantastic with very generous portions! I’m not a huge corned beef fan either — once a year for the holiday, but if it’s this good at Good Life Diner I may have to have it more often! I’ll post a photo.

Many places claim to be a from-​scratch kitchen, and I believe that those places say that because at one point in the past, they prepared food and then either froze it or let it sit til used. However, when The Good Life Diner says from scratch, you can actually taste it! I had their sausage gravy and biscuits and it was awesome! Since opening, I know they have had a bit of staff turnover. I can say that the owner, Rob, has been nothing but generous when working with me in helping folks get jobs. He expressed genuine concern when one of his workers ended up in the hospital (after one of our staff had to tell him), and has been nothing but kind.

The Good Life Diner is a true gem of a diner. DIners in the Syracuse area and for that matter, in upstate NY in general, take on a different set of characteristics than the ubiquitous diners of the Diner central (NJ) region. Principally, the differences between Upstate NY diners and NJ diners is the building design, inside atmosphere and a generally much more limited menu of Upstate NY… oh, lousy bagels and no Taylor ham.
What sets the Good Life Diner apart from other Upstate diners is a well executed, creative menu that offers unique offerings prepared from scratch by a talented kitchen staff. This includes fully home made smoked corned beef, pastrami, hollandaise sauce, and pancakes as some examples. The atmosphere, however, is unremarkable except for its cleanliness which also makes it rather sterile.
I prioritize the quality of the food and this place presents great quality with select hiccups. Over several visits during the course of multiple months, I indulged in different breakfast offerings: pancakes, corned beef and eggs, croque madam and the all essential coffee.
Located in the Lynncourt section of Syracuse, one can easily park in their private lot and walk in. Once inside, one notice’s two dining sections: the booth filled area immediately present upon entry or the dining area with tables towards the left and rear of the building. I’ve eaten only in the section with booths which is also situated closest to their kitchen. This area is clad in white walls (no, not the tires), a TV, a counter which separates the booths from the service area and some white boards posting daily specials and other menu items.
Service is prompt, friendly, polite and not overbearing. I eat breakfast when mere mortals are eating lunch. I’m not a morning person… breakfast starts at 11AM for me on an early day. Coffee is served promptly and, thankfully, in large coffee mugs. Coffee is reasonably good, not exceptional, and refilled generously.
Anytime I have ordered eggs, be they fried, scrambled or poached, they have been cooked to perfection with great respect shown for the egg. It appears eggs are cooked in a pan, not a flat top griddle. That means they’re cooked on a clean surface, at a proper temperature and have a very nice round shape (non amorphous). Corned beef hash with fried eggs is heavenly. The corned beef is home made and, to boot, it’s smoked ! This makes one heck of a corned beef hash with their perfectly cooked eggs.
Their Croque Madame is not a sandwich: it’s corned beef, biscuits, a Gruyère cheese sauce and Hollandaise. The corned beef is a smoked and pulled style of meat topped with perfectly cooked fried eggs. Corned beef is wonderful and unlike anything from a can or even traditional corned beef. This is smoked BBQ corned beef. I would come here for the smoked meets and perfect eggs alone.
Pancakes do not have the characteristics of pre mixed packaged products. These are flavorful, nicely risen, fluffy and served with real maple syrup. Truly excellent and unexpected.
This gem is worth the trip and focusing on the food. If they improve the coffee and put some personality into the atmosphere, they’ll be at 5 stars without a doubt.

The food (bacon cheeseburger, sausage gravy, home fries, corned beef) was good to excellent and freshly made. Inexpensive, also, and surprisingly spacious and clean. This is the best diner I’ve been to in some time.

Great breakfast. Delicious specials. Very good service. They have 50% deals on Local Flavor and good coupons in Clipper Magazine.

Our favorite diner in Syracuse area. Staff are sweet and funny, atmosphere bright and sunny and food is homemade goodness. Best Reuben in town and have never been to a diner that smokes is own meats like this one does so you can imagine how amazing the foods are. Try the shashuka for a gastronomic treat of onions and peppers with eggs for breakfast. The Good Life Diner is top of the food chain!

We are foodies who have eaten around the world. This place has great quality food. It appears that the people in the kitchen care about and take pride in what they make. You can really taste it! I love the smoked meat dishes here. We found this place less than a month ago. We have been back every week. We plan on going there more often on Wednesdays and Fridays for dinner.

Unlike my fellow Unilocalers, I had a good experience with the waitstaff. They were attentive and prompt. The place was clean and decorated with cute St Patricks holiday trinkets.
The food was very good. This was the best diner experience I have had in CNY. The food was well prepared and, for a diner, creative. Smokehouse fretta is a must try for barbecue lovers. How many diners use REAL maple syrup for their pancakes?

Nothing much to look at from the outside. Very simple diner with an interesting menu. A vegetable fretta and a «breakfast tart» were ordered. The fretta was huge, hot, and delicious. The tart was scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese served on puff pastry. It was very tasty, although a bit rich because of the puff pastry. Service was very good and the prices are cheap. Good, cheap breakfast with decent service; Good Life is a winner!

Stopped in on a Sunday after church: the location’s convenient and we heard the food was good. We walked out after 10 minutes of being completely ignored by the waitstaff: not served, not given menus, not even greeted! We tried again a few weeks later only because of the location. Out of 5 tables seated, only 1 had any food. Not a good sign. There were 2 «servers» there, but only 1 seems to work. The other is a young woman who must be related to the owner, because I can’t imagine how else could she get away with her unprofessional behavior: carries a baby around on her hip at all times, even while taking a food order, spends a lot of time literally draped over the cash register, and sits in the booths chatting with friends, all the while ignoring hungry diners. This leaves the 1 other waitress to pick up her slack. My friend and I ordered only a cup of soup each, yet we waited 20 minutes for it to be served! By the time we finished our soup and left, 1 more table of the 5 had gotten their food; 2 others were STILL WAITING!
The greens and beans soup was very good, and I’d return here if the service were better. The manager was there, should have seen everything I saw, yet seems oblivious to what’s (not) happening under his nose. If you want good food and don’t mind being taken for granted, The Good Life Diner is your place. But, if you’re hoping for good service, find another restaurant. I get the feeling these people have their favorite customers who get good service, and unless they already know you, you aren’t one of them.

I am writing this while sitting, waiting and waiting for my food. We only come here occasionally due to the lousy service. A simple omelette should not take a half hour to prepare! The food is good but make sure you allow plenty of time. I wish I could say today was an exception but it has been this way every time I have been here.
Upping this by one star as they comped my food today after the long wait for my food — of course, it was not until I was chatting with the person who checked me out and mentioned that the wait today was not a one time occurrence that it happened.