Mustache Bill's Diner — Restaurant in Barnegat Light

Day trip to LBI with the fam. We're from Jersey, so we know diners. One thing we like to do when on vacation in other states is to try restaurants we have seen featured on DDD. Funny thing though... we'd never been to any of Guy's finds in our home state. So, we planned a day at the shore and I built it around beginning at the north end of the island so brunch could be had on a Friday at Mustache Bill's. It was packed when we arrived and I got the last parking spot in the lot. We put our name in and settled back for a wait. It was about 25 minutes before we were called. Very hot day, we were seated below the ac unit and the small diner was still warm. Our booth was on the small side, but this is a tiny authentic shiny silver diner! I like that, but the place doesn't have to contain all of the dirt it has accumulated since the 1950's. The ac unit I mentioned earlier? It dripped a bit behind us, the mirror next to us was dirty, there was a hair in the window sill behind us and I am not going to talk about the restroom. The food was our focus. Guy called the chipped beef "money". My husband had it over toast and I had it over homefries. It was very good chipped beef, but not excellent. It still needed salt and pepper added. Also, for those who care, the homefries were actually breakfast potatoes. The dish came with nothing else. We had to order scrapple and bacon separately. Our bacon was initially forgotten and by the time we got the attention of our waitress and asked for it, we were almost done everything else. Coffee was overpriced and not typical diner-delicious. Our daughter had french toast and really enjoyed it. All in all, the food was fine, but nothing wowed us. Service was pretty good. Prices were high. I remember when breakfast was a cheap meal. I also remember when sides, coffee, toast and juice were included in the price of the meal. Things have changed, I realize that, but this simple meal cost us $50 for 3 people. It is one of only a handful of spots to eat at in...

From start to finish it was a S* show. We were a group of 4. Told 20 minute wait to be seated. After 20 minutes I went in to check and was told another 20 minutes. We finally sat down and our waitress who was clearly overwhelmed didn’t come by for about 10 minutes. I don’t blame her at all, she was working hard but it was obvious they needed more staff. We got our coffees and drinks and finally put in our food orders. We waited another 45 minutes before our food finally came to the table and this was where I got really aggravated after having gone through a couple of cups of coffee and watching other customers who had been seated after us getting their food long before us . Home fries are normally diced up or shredded potato but what I was served were massive chucks that were not seasoned and some of which were flat out undercooked. My eggs were cooked fine. My bacon was cooked into a wad that I had to pull apart. And the best seasoning came from the AC that was above my head spitting out water onto my food every so often. For a place that made us wait 40 minutes to seat, another hour altogether to get our food, the bar is pretty low of just wanting cooked hot food and they couldn’t even reach that. There is nothing special about this diner and it could use a good cleaning considering the spider webs in the corners one of which my girlfriend caught on her elbow as she adjusted herself in the booth. Cramped seating, and in serious need of renovating and cleaning, we will never...

A Love Letter to Mustache Bill's Diner:

I have been eating at Bill's for the better part of a decade, every summer. Every year, once or twice during the summer season, I would ride my bike to the ocean, watch the sunrise, and eat breakfast at Bill's. I've done this since I was 11, and I am now 24.

Bill's is the place for sleepy fishermen to grab a coffee before heading home after being out on the docks, and also for precocious little girls who snuck out before the sun to see the sky light up pink and orange on the ocean, with a 6am hankering for pancakes.

Reminiscing and nostalgia aside, the food is always fresh and hot. Everything is reasonably priced, the environment is clean, and the coffee never stops being poured. Despite the limited hours in Bill's older years, the diner is always bustling with activity, perhaps more so now than ten years go. The menu is a testament to the creativity and love poured into every dish, ranging from your run of the mill eggs and bacon, to the specially created "Cyclops" which are fluffy pancakes with eggs in the middle!

Suffice to say, Mustache Bill's Diner is the perfect place to enjoy a delicious meal, in a warm and welcoming environment, that comforts a little bit...