The Diner
New York, NY 10011
Phone: (212) 627-2230
- Price:
- $$
- Cross Street:
- 14th Street
- Directions:
- A, C, E at 14th St; L at 8th Ave
- Hours:
- Daily 24hrs
Editorial Review for The Diner – by Karen Hudes
The Scene
This space shines with chrome and supple red booths under the ownership of brothers Mario and Sergio Riva (Candela) and Marc Packer (Tao, Rue 57). The corner locale catches plenty of Meatpacking traffic, a mix of polished gay and straight friends and dates, all aglow beneath suspended yellow and pink spheres.
The Food
The upscale comfort food works best after a night of club hopping. A burger's brioche bun adds subtle sweetness but smothers a patty that's merely satisfying rather than juicy. Cheese sauce and salty gravy dress a festive side of "disco fries," but the same toppings fail to enliven a crust-less mac and cheese and underseasoned meat loaf. While spice is also missing from the crispy fried chicken, thick onion rings come through with the heartiest, most flavorful crunch of all, and chocolate banana bread pudding does its part to sweeten the finale.
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Insider Tips
What to DrinkTry the refreshing white sangria listed on the beer and wine list; it's loaded with chunks of apples and peaches.
The ExtrasThere's a children's menu as well as steak and eggs, pancakes and other breakfast items served all day.
User Reviews for The Diner
07/06/2008 Posted by eastsidegirl16
We were sober when we went here for dinner at 10 pm on a Saturday night. Maybe if we had been trashed we would have enjoyed it more. We were promptly seated because there really was not that many people there. There was a DJ playing music. He was playing his music so loudly that we could literally could not hear the waitress. She had to bend over and talk directly in our ears and we had to do the same for her. We could not hear each other at the table and had to scream to talk. It was miserable. The hostess passed by. I asked him if he could kindly ask the DJ to turn down the music because it was unbearable and we could not hear each other. We had come to talk and eat. Not dance at a club. The music was seriously that loud. The hostess never returned and the music never got better. I then went to the manager and asked him kindly if he could have his DJ turn down his music. The manager was beyond RUDE and said no. He told me that people come specifically to eat there for the DJ. Looking around there still were only a handful of tables. There were tons of empty tables. It did not look as though so many people were there for the DJ. We ate as fast as we could to get out of there. By the way the music was obnoxious. It was gospel music at first with a twist, we felt like we were in church. Then it became music from the 80s that was never really even popular in the 80s. Bring your ear plugs if you go to this hell hole in the meatpacking.
Pros: Nothing....
Cons: Everything....
05/07/2008 Posted by lfgc
I been in so many restaurants and always is the same type of people trying to get free food, complainers because the time?... did anybody knows this is a place where they always busy?, 40 minutes is the average time that everyone will wait to have a nice lunch in a very crowd place. All this people treat the servers, like they are their slaves and you expect to get something from it?... please get a life!, we all know what kind of people are you! The Diner have so many LOYAL customers and mostly of us love that place!
Pros: food
Cons: nasty customers
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