Plaza Diner, New York

Awful Experience My boyfriend and I wanted to get breakfast before heading out to run errands last Sunday so we wandered around the neighborhood and decided to try the ___ Diner for the first time. It’s a small place and we were seated in the back near the kitchen despite the fact that there was an entire row of empty booths in the middle of the place available. This screamed “racist” since my boyfriend is African American and it made me mad. I overlooked this due to hunger and need for a fast bite. We settled in and decided what we wanted. A waiter came over and took our order without much personality. We waited a long time (almost half an hour) until we finally got our disappointing food. I ordered a small omelet with what seemed like a quarter of a rather small avocado and cheap store brand supermarket cheddar cheese in it with a side of a kid size portion of greasy hash browns and a puny bagel. My boyfriend ha d b land French toast and Turkey ham. I was hungry so I ate the fit-for-a convict fare with salt and pepper to help it go down. My boyfriend finished his turkey ham and did not finish his what tasted like day old shoe leather French toast. The fact that my meal alone was $11.00 was maddening. I expected more for my money. But here are the two most infuriating parts of our experience. When we received our bill it was 3 dollars more than expected. We found out that there is fine print in the menu that charged 3 dollars ON TOP OF a French toast order with ham for turkey ham. We called who seemed to be the manager over and he proceeded to be obnoxious and raise his voice at my boyfriend. Then to top it all off I asked for a doggie bag for my poor excuse of a bagel and what remained of the one egg omelet and was handed a dish to do it myself. Folks do not go here. File under Racist Rip Off

If you're looking for a little slice of that "old-school" Manhattan diner experience, then this is definitely a place worth stepping into. No pretentious airs here; the waitstaff are thoroughbred, no-nonsense New Yorkers and are as quick- or, should I say "quip"- and efficient as anything the Big Apple has to offer. Stick to the basics (pastrami on rye, burger n' fries, slice of fresh pie) and you can't go wrong!