Classic diners add an old-time charm to NYC. From meeting with friends to enjoying coffee or needing a quick bite, these 21 best diner near me in NYC will make you feel right at home.
Veselka in the East Village provides traditional Ukrainian soul food in a classic diner setting. The restaurant feels welcoming with plenty of tables and barstools; yet is decorated with Ukrainian artwork and trinkets for added charm.
Clark’s Diner
This diner is an enjoyable destination for family and friends to gather and dine together, offering classic American diner fare in a mid-century setting. The staff is warm and helpful, and the food is always tasty; their extensive menu has something for everyone, including gluten-free options! Located right in downtown Durham it makes the ideal location to bring all the family together for an enjoyable dining experience!
This establishment offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner with many choices at reasonable prices and fast service. While not a large establishment, there is enough seating to accommodate larger parties at party tables, booths, or counters not to mention numerous beverages to select from.
Clark’s Diner is a charming restaurant owned and run by the same family for over seventy-two years. Dick Clark began operating the diner as an ice cream and short orders shop next to his uncle’s grocery store in 1946; since then it has evolved to offer full menu of entrees, sandwiches, pizza, spaghetti dishes as well as beer wine and ice cream treats.
Clarks has established itself over 22 years as an establishment that consistently offers great food in a warm, family-oriented atmosphere. Their regulars rave about their deluxe cheeseburgers and blackberry milkshakes; additionally, they serve other popular sandwiches like BLTs and mushroom burgers that their customers adore.
Clarks menu items are freshly prepared on site to your specifications, making each meal fresh when ordered. Breakfast meals include your choice of butter, whipped butter, or margarine plus syrup from our extensive list. Blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, or bananas can be added to pancakes at an additional charge. Our egg and omelet entrees (except New Yorker, eggs benedict, or eggs Florentine ) include Yukon gold home-fried potatoes and white, rye, wheat sourdough, or multi-grain toast.
B&H Dairy
B&H Dairy is an affordable diner that specializes in vegetarian fare. Conveniently situated near St George Ukrainian Catholic Church, locals flock here for mushroom soup, pierogi, and potato pancakes that come highly rated by customers. Service is excellent while atmosphere cozy – making B&H Dairy an excellent choice for both families or romantic dates alike on a tight budget! Prices are fair while portions are generous, making B&H Dairy an affordable dining choice!
The restaurant is well known for its famous challah french toast dish, consisting of thick slices of challah bread drenched in sweet custard before being deep-fried until golden-brown and served with fresh fruit and drizzled maple syrup, making for the ideal breakfast or brunch meal. They also offer other vegetarian-based offerings such as stuffed cabbage, blintzes, and various soups, and dessert options like apple pie and cheesecake for customers to choose from.
Fawzy Abdelwahed, currently owner of B&H Dairy, would cross Second Avenue when she needed a break from working the lunch counter at B&H Dairy to Stage Restaurant for some much-needed respite. Ola, one of Stage’s waitresses, would often help clean Fawzy’s glasses. At the same time, her coffee cup remained on her lap – and eventually, the two met, fell in love, married each other, and purchased B&H Dairy together years later with plans of upholding its Yiddish comfort food traditions!
After the gas explosion had shut down their restaurant for five months, its owners struggled to meet city building and safety regulations. Their primary challenge lay in sharing a gas line with buildings damaged in the blast – meaning the city required them to switch it before reopening; thankfully, their loyal customers came together and raised over $20,000 through a crowdfunding campaign to help overcome this hurdle.
Since 1938, this charming diner’s menu has not drastically altered, remaining an excellent neighborhood favorite. The staff are welcoming and attentive, while its vegetarian-focused offerings include delicious knishes, crisp latkes, plump pierogis, and hearty soups like the fantastic borscht.
Old John’s Diner
Old John’s Luncheonette reopened after an eight-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 under new owner Louis Skibar, an old John’s delivery worker. Louis revamped the eatery back to its original 67th Street location on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, offering American comfort food alongside innovative takes on classic dishes.
Old John’s is an exquisite space filled with nostalgia. Skibar has preserved its turn-of-the-century black and white pinwheel mosaic floor as well as original tin ceilings from its first opening day in 1901, creating an authentic atmosphere in this updated space while at the same time modernizing it by making it brighter without altering its essence. additionally, he hired consulting chef Grayson Schmitz and pastry chef Tanya Ngangan to oversee their menu offerings.
Breakfast and lunch specialties at this restaurant include stacks of buttermilk blueberry pancakes and waffles and hearty plates of chicken pot pie and homestyle meatloaf. Their sandwiches, particularly their Tuna Melt sandwich featuring toasted sourdough with melted cheddar, tuna salad, pickle relish, and tomatoes on a soft roll, are highly popular; also on offer is one of the finest shakes around – Strawberry Shake, which boasts thick swirls of freshly made cream topped off by fresh strawberries on top – while they offer some of their best shakes – served with thick swirls of newly created cream topped off by fresh strawberry garnish.
Old John’s offers one of the city’s most impressive dessert menus. Choose from classics like strawberry shortcake and coconut layer cake as well as more inventive creations like its signature Pistachio Cookie with Buttermilk Biscuit topped by Cloud Pistachio Pastry Cream – not to mention an extensive range of Ice Cream Sodas and Milkshakes available along with coffee or cocktails!
Old John’s offers breakfast, lunch and dinner services, takeout, and catering services. Open daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. with reservations available through Resy; it also delivers through Seamless, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Caviar for delivery services. With affordable prices and exceptional service – perfect for family meals – Old John’s makes for a beautiful dining experience in a cozy, welcoming setting where staff make you feel right at home!
Lexington Candy Shop
Lexington Candy Shop is an icon of New York history that has been operating for 92 years, serving up traditional diner fare while exuding an air of nostalgia with comfortable booth seating and chrome-lined Formica tables, white-aprons-wearing staff members, the smell of grease lingering in the air, and an old-school soda fountain offering syrupy fountain drinks for patrons to enjoy.
Time capsule of urban America, its diner food remains as delicious today as it did during the 1940s. The menu is straightforward: classics such as belts and grilled cheese sandwiches, pancakes, and French toast are on offer; plus, there are omelets and fried chicken plates along with soup and salad offerings at reasonable prices – plus this restaurant serves breakfast and lunch service!
John Philis is the third-generation owner and manager of Lexington Candy Shop. Starting as an occasional employee when young, he eventually began full-time employment here in 1980 and oversaw all 840 square feet. Every inch of Lexington Candy Shop tells its tale, from stools to the terrazzo floor.
He wants to keep the diner as before 1948 when they switched their focus from sweets (Lexington Candy) to lunch service alone and abandoned confections altogether (although their name remains). Little has changed since that point; even their telephone number, Butterfield 8-0057, is an anachronism from an earlier era when phone numbers started with names rather than numbers.
Lexington Candy Shop may not be located conveniently, but it’s still worth visiting for its food and history. Finding it with Moovit can make finding Lexington Candy Shop easy: the all-in-one transit app makes traveling by bus, train, and subway easy for over 1.5 million users worldwide (including many in Manhattan! )! Available to download for both Apple and Google Play stores with walking, cycling, and taxi fare information. Moovit offers user-friendly navigation, making it the ideal solution for city travel!
