John Street Diner — Restaurant in Hamilton

I have been coming to this diner for over 5 years- never had a poor experience until today.

I ordered a meat lovers omelette, instead of mushrooms I asked if I could get green peppers- server said yes. It was busy so I understand the long wait time

Food comes and the omelette has huge chunks of peppers in it,so I started picking them out and I am not liking the omelette at this point. While picking out the peppers I started picking out chunks of Celery and there is hardly any cheese. I go over to my server and I tell her that I am not liking the omelette- I didn’t even touch the fries or the toast- I tell my server about celery in my omelette, the other server responded “there is celery in the vegetarian omelette” I told her I ordered meat lovers and there should not be any celery in it, she offers to make a new one and I accepted- again let me stress that I did not eat any of the fries or even touched the toast I was too busy picking out chunks of (LONG CUTS TOOO!!) peppers and celery , I ate 1/4th of that nasty omelette and that server walks over and loudly says “you ate half the food before realizing you didn’t like it”

I have eaten at places where the food was not nice and I paid my bill, walked away and never returned, but the celery in the omelette I could not get over hence why I decided to say something.

After I stopped her from taking my plate, I called over the server that I gave my original order to, the one that was serving me and I showed her my plate and I asked “ Does this look like I ate half my food?” And she says no - I show her the chunks of celery, she apologized but I had to point out that I did not come to get free meal! That other sever tried to embarrass me for pointing out that the omelette was not made right and had celery in it. I gave that food back and did not pay and did not accept that remake.

Never will I set foot in this diner again The service of this place has gone down-...

Inconsistent customer service/food quality. I’ve gone here a couple with my boyfriend and some friends. Sometimes, the food is really good; other times, some of the home fries are uncooked. The customer service also is sometimes good, sometimes bad.

Quite disappointed with my visit today, however. We came in, they were busy and we understand. My boyfriend went to the washroom for a bit right after we sat down. Not even 2 minutes, the server already came up to our table asking if we’re ready to order. We haven’t even looked at the menu yet. I was okay with it. I just explained to the server we weren’t ready yet because my boyfriend was still in the washroom. The server left without even asking if I wanted a drink while waiting. Nope. She just left.

When my bf came back, it was all good. We ordered, but she still didn’t ask us if we wanted any drinks. It was fine. I thought I’d just ask later. We waited for our food. It came and don’t get me wrong, the food was really good. But the server did not even ask if there was anything else we’d like. We just continued eating, but then we decided we wanted some water. The server was busy so I waited for her to pass by. I specifically asked if “we” could get some water on our table. She only came back with one.

By this time, I was already frustrated. My boyfriend had to calm me down. We just ate our food. When we came to the counter to pay, I asked for the manager but apparently they weren’t there. So I expressed my disappointment with the server and all she could say was that “I’m sorry, we were busy”.

That’s it. I was done with the place.

It’s one thing to be busy but another thing to use that as an excuse to not take care of your customers.

Never going back to this place...

Visiting from Toronto and in search of great coffee and food, google brought us to the fantastic diner. We were delighted with the space, the co-proprietor who served us and the menu. The coffee and food exceeded our terrific first impression! The flat white and Americano were tasty and strong. House salad was huge and the greens were crisp, fresh and varied. Chopped purple onion was a welcome addition elevating a simple green salad to a stellar side. The berry-hued dressing was perfectly tangy and although the salad was perfectly dressed, a side serving of additional dressing was a really nice touch. We couldn’t resist ordering smash burgers and they were among the best we’ve had. Perfectly seasoned, caramelized beef, great toppings and sauces, crisp lettuce and pickles…we’ll be back. The fries were great. Crispy and well seasoned, good portion. Endless ice water, attentive and charming service and a well curated Sunday morning playlist completed this 10/10 lunch. They have only been open under this new ownership since March 2025, so any reviews before then were for the previous restaurant that occupied this location. Come and support...