Southwest Diner — Restaurant in Boulder City

First off, I really wanted to love this place. I did my research for our trip and knew that we would eat here, as there are so many choices in Boulder City. Looked over the menu online and had so many options to choose from. Looked perfect. We stayed at the Best Western across the street and figured we would try it out for breakfast because the hotel gave you vouchers for the diner. Well, when we went to get our vouchers, the girl at the front desk said they don’t do that anymore and gave us a list of their breakfast choices. Mind you, on yelp just last week, they still gave vouchers. I saw the gentleman in front of me leave with frozen jimmy dean breakfast sandwiches and juice. Um No!!! My wife and son were looking forward to the diner, so I said forget it, We will just go to the diner. The service was great for breakfast and my son loved the French toast. I was disappointed in the everything sandwich. I make better at home and it came with nothing else. My wife and son got these huge plates of pancakes and French toast, and mine came on a teacup plate for 12.00. I then had to order a side of potato’s, on another teacup plate, for 4.00. Our breakfast for 3 with a water, hot chocolate and a coffee came to 60.00. I’m sorry, but that is ridiculous. My son loved the place and wanted to go back for dinner, so we did. Dinner, I figured would be better, but it wasn’t. We ordered the pot roast, meatloaf and a burger, which everyone raves about online, but all were over cooked, dry and had absolutely no seasoning or flavor. They charge you another 2.25 for a tiny green salad that does not cost more than .50 cents for them and the chicken tortilla soup lacked the cumin and depth of flavor that should be there. It’s like they add cream cheese to make it creamy, but it ruined whatever flavor was there. Also, they charge your bill an automatic credit card charge of 3.5%, even if you pay cash. Our server Tanya was polite enough and did her job up to standards, but when I payed cash she said she would return with my change and she never did, never saw her again. My wife and I used to wait tables for years and also managed 2 restaurants, so we know the job and profit margins. During our time here, we went to Tony’s pizza which was fabulous, don’t listen to the reviews, the older woman, whose name is Michelle is wonderful!!! If you want a truly great meal, with outstanding customer service, go to Fox Bbq. You will not be...

I've ate here on a couple occasions and I do like the food although too be honest I haven't challenged the cook by trying anything unusual from the menu yet. On my last visit I took my wife and she ordered spinach enchiladas which looked perfectly fine to my liking but she wasn't appreciating the large pieces of pepper (bell i guess) and chunks of onion which she wasn't aware would be in her lunch entree by the menu description. She picked through and removed what she didn't like and still enjoyed it, so tip would be too ask specifically what ingredients are in a dish if you're unsure and let the wait staff know how to adjust your order accordingly. I had a burger which was Angus and quite large and cooked exactly how I ordered 'medium well', which allows for no pink which to me is how a burger should be, steak in my opinion is the opposite. The wait staff has always been very friendly at SWD, sometimes it does seem like my coffee or drink has gone unattended for longer then I'd hoped but it always does get refilled eventually plus the wait to order can drag a little especially if your parched already. On the few occasions I've dined here I've always sat on the outside front patio dining area to enjoy the weather, maybe the interior dining tables are responded to more quickly im not sure. So visually outside the vehicles going by cruise slowly and even give a pleasant distraction. The hotel directly across the street has a small porch type restuarant that people come and go from of various walks of life which is not a bad thing plus on Southwest Diner's side of the road the sidewalk gets a little foot traffic which makes for 'people watching' occasions if that's your kind of thing. All in all I enjoy the atmosphere and on a future visit may eat inside as the weather has definitely turned cooler. Maybe adding another staff member or the lessening of the exterior patio use due to weather temperatures changing with the season will make for a better patron waitstaff experience, I'll definitely adjust my star rating accordingly as I really would like to bring it to a 5*. I definitely recommend this diner to anyone visiting Boulder City for a lunch or Breakfast...

I have been coming here for fifteen years. It was my most referred restaurant destination in Boulder City. I guess all good things do really come to an end. Or maybe I just went on a really bad day. I'm going to start with good.

The Good. Service here has always been awesome. Our server Susie was great and kept us smiling upto to the time we tasted our brunch. Coffee of course was great. Its always fresh brewed. Sitting under the outside awning on a beautiful day makes the trip from Summerlin well worth it. Great place for conversation and gathering.

The Dirty Like I said I have been coming here for 15 years. I am also a chef of 22 years. Southwest diner was always the Boulder City destination that I told all my comrades about. I ordered the Italian omelette. It has meatballs so know it's going to be awesome. Well no I was wrong. I can eat, I can eat lots. Well I couldn't eat half my meal because it was tasteless, and the sauce was dry. Yes I said dry. It was edible but it had no heart. I don't think the cooks even cared. My son had eggs, potatoes and bread. I think he could have made a better breakfast himself. I knew something was wrong because he didn't touch his potatoes. Why you ask. Because the potatoes were not fully cooked. Actually they were very uncooked. My wife had a sandwich. Her words, "it's edible but no care in prep. Just thrown together."

Understand I really like this place but I cannot recommend coming here after 2pm. I usually come in the morning. All great restaurants have consistency. What ever the morning chef does the afternoon chef needs to follow.

Put heart into your dishes and respect the craft. It all happens in the kitchen. If the kitchen fails then the entire establishment fails. Servers are the frontline but the back of the house can break or make an establishment quickly.

I will try them again in...