OK Diner — Restaurant in Cannock Chase

I had to tick one star to be able to write the review, otherwise it would have been a minus.

No proper greeting at the door just a sullen waitress. Air con right above us my grandson was dithering, the waitress seemed reluctant to move us even tho there were several empty tables.

Lots on the menu, arguably too much to choose from as I think that compromises the quality, and my suspicions were right.my scampi was dark brown almost burnt and had a stale fishy smell that you only get when it has been frozen too long and is probably neat the end of its shelf life. My fries also burnt in parts. The “ salad garnish “ was a joke, just thrown onto the plate.My son ordered the double chilli hot dog expecting two hot dogs and two buns. Instead he got two dogs rammed into one soggy bun, which he ended up having to eat with a knife and fork, although he did say whilst there was nowhere near enough chilli, it had a pleasant taste. They had the gall to charge £4.50 for 4 tiny pieces of garlic bread, not even a quarter of a 12 inch baguette in length. As for the so called kids eat free concept, that is only the case if you order enough adult food, otherwise £5.75 for what I could only describe as utter rubbish, and they refused to let him have a straw for his Coke because they are reserved for milk shakes only.

There was no checking on us to see if we were happy or needed anything, I had to keep standing up to gain the attention of a waitress as I couldn’t see around the booth, or grab her attention as she was walking away from nearby diners she was attending to.

Considering the £5.75 was knocked off the bill, thereby leaving a remainder of over £40 to pay, this was not a pleasant experience at all and we will NOT be returning. They didn’t even say goodbye to us as we were walking out of the door.

Why did we do a round trip of over 40 miles to go there? The answer is that when my children were growing up there was an OK diner within a mile or so of where we lived. It was fabulous in respect of food quality and value, portions were much bigger and tastier, the staff were wonderful and we were frequent visitors, not only ourselves but family and friends as well, and it didn’t smell of grease as you walked in. But sadly, for a reason we do not know, it was closed down.

All in all the tastiest thing I had in Cannock was the coffee which came in a tiny cup with no offer of a refill.

So so so disappointing. You could do with having a mystery...

I first attended an OK Diner at age 13, with my social worker after being taken into care against my will; and put into a children's home. (No, it's nothing like Tracey Beaker).

It was food I'd never experienced before, having come from a very poor background as well as other things.

Now, I'm 31 and I've finally gone back, taking my foster child with me, who is a non-speaking autistic young man (17) and we both really enjoyed our experience.

A member of the team called Fin, sat both of us down and gave us menus', we were not made to feel awkward or different and given space and time to order.

A second staff member supported me to order, who I didn't get their name of, however she had glasses and black hair in a pony tail, she was lovely to everyone who I overhead her talking to, and even took something off someones bill without hesitation at one point (I only heard half of it).

She also noticed when my drink finished, and offered me another one straight away (It was the refills).

The food didn't take long to arrive and while we were waiting my foster lad was able to watch Cbeebies without judgement and not once did anyone look at him when he did make his verbalisations (sometimes loud random noises).

The Decor is part of the experience of going to such a place and it's perfect, I really enjoyed eating in a place that has been americanised, while safe in the comfort that the food safety standards are still really high. (We all know the UK has much better standards of food safety).

All the staff appear to be smiling at all times and based on the service I got, I would like to think none of them are on minimum wage whatsoever; if they are, they aren't giving minimum efforts that's for sure!

The food was nice, it was to my taste, my foster lad wasn't too interested in his coke zero or chicken, however he has days where things aren't what he wants and that's okay; he thoroughly enjoyed the Vanilla malt milkshake that Fin so kindly organised to be put into a takeaway container.

I hope Fin got his tip, I wish I could offer more.

Looking forward to visiting again, most likely with a different foster...

Desserts and milkshakes are nice, the food is a waste of money, go to the McDonald's and you would be more satisfied.

Ordered philli steak sandwich & chicken sandwich, food was disgusting, wasn't able to complain as the lady came over as I was sorting a child's food out, I hadn't had chance to bite into the food.

The items purchased from the supplier is low grade, the food tasted like playdough, spoke to the manager and he was not helpful at all, told me to take it to corporate.

The beef was listed like it was going to come as a steak on a sandwich, if I put a picture on twitter and said this is a philli cheese steak, people from philadelphia would rip this place apart.

Sandwich wasnt even toasted, cheap bread which fell apart in your hands, everything from here is prebrought, has no handmade / home made quality's.

It's a shame because the vibe here is unique could be a great American style diner but it's a massive dive in comparison.

Will be taking complaint further as the manager was not helpful at all, can't be defensive over rubbish food, we have tastebuds.

If you end up coming by any chance just have milkshakes and puddings, it's not hard for them to be disgusting.

Upon entering with a small child had to ask for a high chair 10minutes after entering. They also forgot to give a child's drink. Staff was running around so busy that I didn't get chance to complain to my server, went straight to the manager out of the way of other guests to be courteous but he was still very defensive on his disgusting food, said he eats here every day.

Shame I have to write this but with how people are struggling at the moment, save your...