Labor Temple Diner & Bar — Restaurant in Astoria

I really enjoy the space. The staff were very friendly and treated everyone with respect. The bartender is a really nice person and happily greeted everyone. The layout is nice, with plenty of seating and a dance floor. Parking was easy to find. The booze was priced fair, I was happy about that. I like the booths they have. The welcoming atmosphere made the experience excellent. I would have given 5 stars if it were not for dealing with this absolutely horrible dj, DJ Ryan Hurt/HRTLKR. At the beginning, he plugged and unplugged sound with it turned on and up, which any dj or person working with sound should know. Then he was trying to rock bass music with no bass, and had his levels turned up so high that it sounded absolutely terrible. He was acting like he was doing so well and not even paying attention to the audience reaction, which basically means he was not doing his job. Half of the people left during his set, so it emptied the bar for the next performer. My friend and I actually had to leave and go sit in the vehicle until the next performance because we were getting a headache. You think that's bad, but it gets worse. He walked up during the headlining performer's set, and started unplugging stuff! Then while she was singing, he actually unplugged her microphone! The system hummed, the right speaker may even be blown now. It was so disrespectful and unprofessional. Then when everyone was trying to tell him not to do that, he started insulting the headliner and yelling at her, telling her "At least I would choose good music, and at least I play live instruments." Which didn't make sense because he is a dj, and that particular headliner plays multiple instruments which she learned through classic training! The headliner handled it really well and tried to just joke with him, and he still was extremely disrespectful to her. To do so many unprofessional things, and then insult the other musicians, was appalling. I hope this guy doesn't dj there regularly, because he will kill this business, and any other business that allows him to perform. You should have DJ Gitdown instead. He is the best Salem dj. Otherwise, great...

I have A LOT to say about Labor Temple Diner & Bar, so brace yourself!

We were visiting from Reno, NV, and found this spot online the morning after we got engaged. First, the food was so good! You can't go wrong with any of the breakfast selections, and the "basic" coffee was delicious. I'm only bummed that I didn't see that they had a Monte Cristo as a special until after I was already eating. I would've loved to have seen their take on that.

The entire staff was so incredibly friendly and nice! We were talking to them all about visiting Astoria, and they recommended a few places to check out, including the Astoria Column (which we would've entirely missed otherwise).

We had such a great time that my fiance purchased a super cool mug to mark the whole experience. Perfection.

But that's not all...

That night, when we were getting into our next stop Portland, that mug fell and broke while we were bringing everything into our Vrbo studio apartment. My fiance was devastated.

I called Labor Temple the next morning and explained what happened. The employee on the phone told me she would talk to the manager after I asked if I could pay for them to mail us a new one. Within a day or two, the manager and I were texting about details. I was so excited!

Last week, the mug (safely bubble wrapped) arrived at our Reno home. I texted the manager to thank him, tell him how surprised and excited my fiance is, and ask how much I owed. Still no reply to that text. But whether I never get a response or I eventually get a response about whatever amount to pay them, it would be a travesty for me not to sing their praises from the top of an (online) mountain.

This is a small business you NEED to visit in Astoria...for the people you'll meet, for the great atmosphere, for the delicious food. If you're still reading this review, you need to set down your phone or close your computer and head over there. Seriously.

They are the definition of everything a small business should be.

Just don't be clumsy like us and break an awesome branded mug while...

I understand being busy or maybe shortstaffed, but if you cant handle a busier place, dont seat as many tables maybe? We walked in, were seated right away; no line, but most of the tables were full so we could tell they were busy but didnt expect what was to come. We had previously looked at menu, so ordered right away. It took her over 30 minutes just to come to our table and tell us that they didnt have one of the items we had ordered. It took an hour to get food, there was only 2 of us (and one of the meals was yogurt parfait..no cook time required). In that hour, we weren't checked on, our coffee or water wasn't refilled (even though she came to table to tell us they didnt have a certain food, she didnt notice all our drinks were out or ask if needed anything), there was no updates like “food will be out shortly”, no nothing. At no time was their an apology it was taking so long. Everything was short and to the point, what do you want, heres your food…no communication, no friendliness, idk, anything…something… we were there for an hour before our food came, and immediately had to get to go boxes and ask for check and eat it in car while driving. We didnt expect to need to make an hour and half stop for breakfast (if we were to have sat in restaurant to eat it wouldve taken that long). The food itself was ok. The yogurt parfait wasnt labeled on menu as being greek, so didnt love it because they thought they were getting just yogurt. And my hobo special was fine but the portion was small (though i felt like the price was good so it was portioned correctly for the price point). Was hungry again shortly after. Taste wise, it was just ok. I really wanted to like this place, i liked the atmosphere, but unfortunately the stars werent aligned. I wont be back for food, but I would give it another chance for one of their weekends events for drinks etc. I was looking at the events list on the table while waiting for food and it...