City Diner

Stayed in the neighborhood yesterday for all my eating needs and stopped in here for a late night nosh.
I was disappointed with the «cleanliness» of this place. I have been in before and realize it’s a «diner» but seriously, can someone deep clean this joint? My condiments were sticky and gross.
I’m giving 3 stars only because the food is always what I need late night, but I’m hoping I don’t get sick if the kitchen is as «clean» as the dining area.

I love the concept of a locally-​owned, small-​chain diner like this, and I’ve visited City Diner in the past with much delight. I thought I’d finally post a review after my most recent visit in December 2015.
First of all, awesome atmosphere – fun décor, fun location on S. Grand, and cool vintage-​y details like the light fixture in the foyer, the wrap-​around floor plan (with surprise window seating in the very back), etc.
Extensive menu with breakfast options being served at 2 pm when I was there. Pretty good array of vegetarian options for breakfast or otherwise. You can tell there is attention to detail on this and the house salad proved this to me as it was mixed greens and not just iceberg as you may expect from a chain diner or less health-​conscious diner (although unfortunately the greens were pretty wilted and past their prime, but I’m willing to give a pass on this as I came in right before a holiday and maybe they hadn’t gotten a new produce delivery recently).
Anyway, I like the selection, the ability to order eggs and a salad if I want. Food was solid, but not amazing. Maybe the dinner specials or whatever are where they really shine. Service was a little slow, but we also came in the dead of the afternoon, so that’s probably why. I’d probably give this a 3.5, but I rounded up to 4 since I want places like this to exist for when I feel like getting breakfast in the afternoon at a place that isn’t Steak n Shake.

Good food, prices aren’t bad either. Their sausage gravy is particularly delicious. Hash browns were cooked well. I used the Unilocal deal and saved $ 15.

I’ll start off with the good. The only thing that’s good at this place is the chicken wings. A lot of sauce and flavor. Eveything else is just bad and no taste. The chocolate shakes takes so weird. I can’t even explain. It’s very cute. I love the staff. I have have never seen is busy.

My husband has lived in South City since birth. We’ve been to City Diner three times. All three times he only got a drink.
Trust the natives.
Today was my fourth visit. I took my elderly mother for breakfast about an hour and 15 minutes before her doctor’s appointment at SLU. I had to go to the counter after 15 minutes to give our order to the waitress, then wait half an hour until we got it-​cold. Then I had to find the waitress again in order to pay. We ate because we were now in a time crunch, but not only will I not go again, I’m sufficiently angry (as was the table next to us) at the abhorrent service and cold food to share my opinion on social media and with our friends. Also, to our waitress: don’t patronize the elderly. She was the one paying the bill, and you don’t look that much younger.
Bummer to have such a crappy experience at a south city eatery. Plenty of other places.

Great food. We enjoyed our banana nut pancakes, bacon, omelette sand toast. Husband said the coffee was really good.

What a debacle. The service staff needs a serious refresher on customer service! Good grief– the slowest service EVER for the coldest food in history. Just don’t do it, even if the only option before the Fox. 2 hamburgers took over an hour, were freezing cold, we had empty cups the entire meal, and because it took us 25 minutes to finally get our check (making our time in the restaurant over two hours) we were late for Wicked. Grr.
They have an incredible location and opportunity to get people in and out quickly before Fox productions. Good paying and tipping customers that are looking for a quick yummy meal. They squander that by allowing people to sit for an extended period of time displeased with their food and service. As we scanned the restaurant, we saw angry table after table as the staff and manager wandered around aimlessly.
I had high hopes for a quick and casual dinner. Unfortunately, I will never return.

Excellent Corned Beef Hash and overeasy eggs, decent diner coffee. Great ambiance. Good service! Well worth a visit!

Why did we decide to eat lunch here? Because my husband, the coupon King, had a coupon. I have eaten here before (sandwich) but this time I was really disappointed.
The hostess greeted us and showed us to a booth. OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS! Every seat in every booth was ripped to some degree. A small attempt at putting duct tape on it to repair it did not work. Some rips were too big for duct tape. If you are dressed to the nines or just nicely and then going to the Fox, make sure you sit at a table. If not, your dress, pants or panty hose will be snagged or torn. And whatever you do, don’t wear shorts. The seats make the diner look shoddy.
Onto the food. We decided to go with meals and I chose the liver and onions and the coupon King chose the meatloaf. Each meal came with mashed potatoes and a veggie of your choice. I choose the green beans. The coupon King chose canned corn.
My liver and onions was just okay. Normally the onions are sautéed but these were just placed on top. There were also two slices of bacon on it. Everything was doused in some sort of a dark gravy. The green beans were cooked with onions and bacon (do they think if they add bacon to everything will be okay?) but were super crunchy.
The coupon king’s meatloaf tasted just like a hamburger. As a matter of fact, I think that’s what it was. A hamburger doused in gravy. He said it was alright for a burger topped with gravy.
Would I come back again? Only if we had another coupon.

Either I or a friend with me at the time have had about everything they create here at one time or another. All the food is worth a try and some things like the French Toast, which is more like a dessert, are worth noting. They also have a grilled chicken on marbled rye that I like with the breakfast/​cubed potatoes.
Serves has been good this past year. Sure every restaurant is going to have a few bad days but over all it’s pretty good. City Diner is not a fast food, in and out, type of place. It’s more of an enjoy the meal with friends type of place.

I’m done with this place. I ordered a glass of Chardonnay, in full view I saw my server pour something from a wine bottle and then top it off with something else from a sweating cocktail shaker on the bar. Flag on the play.

One of the most overrated restaurants in the city. The food is barely mediocre. Everything tastes like it came right out of a freezer. The service is hit or miss, but if you go during the weekend overnight hours (the only time anyone in their right mind would eat here), don’t expect it to be even slightly decent. This is really just another diner, the only standouts being the location and décor. If you want good breakfast food, do yourself a favor and go to Southwest diner. The only reason this isn’t one star is because it’s at least pretty clean most of the time.

City Diner is an amazing place for anyone living in or stopping through St. Louis! We had the pleasure earlier this month to have them cater to our monthly resident event. The food was excellent and their special sauce made it all the more special. The kitchen staff are continuously helpful and kind whenever we are in contact and the owner run his business with excellent efficiency and high standards.
Our event was perfect and we look forward to working with City Diner in the future. In fact, we ARE! We are excited for their Thanksgiving dinner this upcoming November and are making sure each of our residents know just how great this place is right down the street!

Neat little place with great service and even better food. The green beans are to die for

Decided to take my wife out for a late night meal since we had been running around all day/​evening. She’s never been to City Diner and I’ve only been once a few years ago.
We walked in and were immediately seated in a booth. Our server was very friendly and my wife was impressed with the breakfast menu. Specifically the amount of potato options (and yes, she ordered three different types of potatoes).
I ordered the slinger and a side of fries. The food came out relatively quick and was very hot and fresh. The slinger is big and heavy (which I would later regret). The chili was very tasty and the wheat toast was perfectly cooked and buttered. The atmosphere was very old school diner like and overall enjoyable.
We waited for drinks for a long time. Almost 10 minutes. And then we never received refills. The sausage was overcooked as were the hash browns. And there was a drunk fella burping loudly right behind me. But that’s not the restaurants fault.
Overall the food was good with exception to being overdone. The service was slow but friendly. I’ll be back for lunch or breakfast most likely.

Can we just be real on something. There’s pretty much zero excuse to come to this joint before 2 A.M. This place should be strictly verbotten unless you’re drunk out of your mind and have no other alternatives.
The positives: 1) it’s open late 2) they serve drunk people 3) it seems mostly clean.
The negatives: Pretty much all the food
Seriously, they served my man cheesey grits that looked like milky water with two kraft single slices on top. Yea let that process for a second. Don’t you worry, the picture is coming. City Diner, I’m gonna need yall to do better.

I’ve always been a fan of City Diner. They offer full menu all day. Which is fantastic, you can’t go wrong either way. The breakfast is bomb. The lunch/​dinner food is just as satisfying. So I’m going to do this review on some breakfast food I ordered. I got the French toast. It is soo crispy and fluffy. I don’t know how they prepare it buts different than normal french toast. It’s soo perfect. I also got the scrambled eggs, and seasoned potatoes, (which are 10xs better than hashbrowns) and some toast. Everything was delicious, flavorful. And just hit the spot!

The food was delicious. I highly recommend the hash browns for fellow hash brown enthusiasts. The atmosphere is awesome. The servers were all really friendly. It’s a really cool place. Smoke a cigarette out back and enjoy an amazing brunch. Or stay inside and enjoy some pretty cool views with your meal.

We stopped by City Diner on July 4^th for a little refreshment and to check out the local fare. We were pleasantly surprised by the relaxed atmosphere and the overall friendliness of the staff.
It being the middle of the afternoon, there wasn’t a large crowd gathered, thus we had the pick of seating. After a bit of exploring — checking out the music/​classic TV themed décor, we settled in to peruse the menu.
We found standard American diner fare, along with several healthier salad options, grilled food, veggie burgers and a small beer selection to pair with your entrée of choice.
We both opted for the Patty Melt, an order of beer battered onion rings to split, a milkshake (chocolate) and I ordered a Pabst Blue Ribbon — it was July 4^th after all! Sadly they were out of the coveted PBR and I settled for a Budweiser instead.
The food arrived quickly with no frills or fanfare. The onion rings were pretty darn good — just a hint of beer flavor and a light crispy crunch surrounding tender sweet onions. The milkshake wasn’t bad — made with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla, and delivered with the metal mixing cup — CLASSIC!
The patty melt unfortunately left a LOT to be desired. The patties were too thick to give you that nice juiciness all the way through, the cheese a bit lacking and the bread just a tad soggy for my taste.
Overall, City Diner did not disappoint, but gained only three stars due to the mediocrity of the main attraction.

So the owner/​manager of City Diner contacted me regarding my last review. Yes, I was pretty harsh, but I am honest in my reviews and I just speak what comes to mind. He also acknowledged some of the problems I encountered in my review and I promised him that I would give it another chance and I did.
I came in to eat breakfast on 3÷1÷15. It was a Sunday. The first thing I noticed is the restaurant was much cleaner than I had seen it in the past. The second thing I noticed was the hostess actually gave a shit. She was sweet, nice, and looked like she wanted to be there. Our waiter was very good and attentive as were the other members of the staff. Unlike my previous times, I was asked at least 3 times by others if there was anything I needed. It almost got to the point, where I wondered if they had my picture up in the back and everyone said «ok if this guy comes in, bring your best game». I highly doubt that is the case as I am not that important but it was funny nonetheless to imagine. If this is truly how they are treating their customers now, it is a definite step up and I really see a true change in this place.
The food was very good. Much better than in the past. I don’t know if it was just the overall experience made it better or if they are doing something different, but this experience compared to my last few was like night and day.
Keep up the good work. The manager/​owner really came through on his word and I will not return and recommend City Diner for anyone hungry in the St. Louis area. They are open 24hrs on the weekends too, so there is that!
GREAT JOB CITY DINER!