Patio Diner — Restaurant in Blanding

Leaving Moab Utah with plenty of daylight left we estimated arriving in Banding about 7 PM planning to get a hotel room for the evening, Anticipating dining choices this late might be limited, we online researched via the Yelp app of likely eating places. Most came back in Monticello except a few. The Patio Diner stood out as the best choice for our tastes. Traveling with a small, somewhat fidigity, tired child, we weren't up for a dine-in experience. Offering robust menu options as well as web and phone ordering with takeout and drive through fit our needs. Tried to order off the web but failing, we phoned in our order. The person taking our order was courteous and knowledgeable, patiently answering our questions, a rarity in the last hour before closing. We were told our order would be ready for pickup in fifteen to twenty-five minutes leaving us five minutes before closing time. I arrived in twenty minutes but opted to add a small soft serve ice cream cone to our child's grilled cheese order with the free coupon, requiring me to come in to the diner to redeem it. While somewhat small and multiple dining areas, I found it to be clean and looked like a fifties diner, minus the soda counter. Food smelled good the moment I walked in so just followed my nose to the order counter. I was greeted and gave my name and immediately the person brought out three neatly folded, sealed, stapled bags and two drinks. I had ordered one of their famous milk shakes (a banana cream pie shake) and was told they would go make it fresh. I also inquired about the child's ice cream cone asking it be put in a cup and include the cone. The server said the coupon was in one of the bags, but as I searched, tearing open the first stapled bag, the server said nevermind about the coupon and went ahead and prepared the cone. I couldn't resist the delicious smell of fresh homemade onion rings so grabbed one from the open bag while waiting for the cone. A minute later the shake and cone came out. The server asked if I needed a cup carrier and I said yes. While I had to go inside to get my order and cone versus the driveup window, I am glad I did. Once back at the hotel, (minus a few onion rings) we anxiously dug into our food. My Philly cheese steak was amazing. The cooked bell pepper and onions were not soggy and the beef and sticky cheese was perfect. The Houston burger was excellent and even the grilled cheese was hot and crispy, not soggy....

After experiencing a flashing check engine light while driving from Ct to Az, we needed a place to pull over in Blanding. While arranging auto service in the parking lot, and observing a steady stream of local vehicles coming & going; we decided to go in. Small, quaint, bare bones eatery with super clean rest Women's rest room. It took us a while to digest all the options on the boards behind the service counter, but we settled on the cheddar burger and a BLT. Burger was a generous 1/3 lb + on an equally generous Kaiser-type roll with ample portion of seasoned fries. BLT was the bomb ! Oversized thick slab lightly toasted white bread, dense, not airy or full of holes, thick cut heirloom tomatoes, generous portion of fresh romaine lettuce and too numerous to count thick cut cooked to perfection bacon. Just the right amount of mayo. Fountain soda and fresh brewed iced tea accompanied our meal. Needless to say, at 1:30 in the afternoon neither of us was wanting a dinner meal at our next stop due to the portion sizes. Briefly chatted with female owner who explained after working in the industry in a more formal setting for several years, she and her husband opened The Patio. They appear to have found their nirvana in a little niche of Utah named Blanding. A must if you're...

After a long day of hiking we checked into our hotel in Blanding. When we arrived we were pretty hungry and the hotel's front desk suggested Patio Drive-In or the steakhouse. We thought the diner would be a good fit. The service was good and the staff was kind. However, the food was pretty gross. The Chicken & Guac sandwiches were hard to eat. The guacamole tasted processed and not fresh. The chicken tasted like it might have been frozen and then grilled. The sandwich lacked any flavor and was very bland. I love Avacados, but we literally scrapped the guacamole off our sandwiches after wet tried adding salt for flavor. It didnt make a difference. My husband had the Blue cheese bacon burger, who can mess this up? He hated his burger. It tasted like a frozen patty was cooked quickly and it lacked flavor as well. The fries and onion rings were pretty decent. My husband ordered a shake, but it was served as a cup of ice cream, with a spoon. Usually, where we come from, a shake is consumed with a straw and it's more of a drink, not just a cup of ice cream. I really wished we would have taken our party of 6 and our $100 elsewhere. This establishment was let...