Parthenon Diner Restaurant — Restaurant in Branford

I wasn’t going to leave a review, but I am now. Stopped by Parthenon Branford on my way back from a Dr. appt in New Haven bc I didn’t know of anywhere down there and I needed to get food in my belly asap. I figured I just ordered wrong and was going to just eat it and leave quietly, but the owner has proven himself to be undeserving of praise or a good review after this experience. Here was our experience: Husband ordered an omlet, I was craving a cheeseburger club. His omlet was fine, said his hashbrowns were dry and some of the worst he’d had, so he didn’t eat them. My cheeseburger club came without cheese and the burger was lukewarm, not hot, and felt like it had been boiled or steamed. The tomatoes were as mealy as can be and my bread was not toasted as much as it was dry and soggy at the same time, if that’s even possible. Again, I had to get food in my stomach so I was just going to eat I what I could and leave well enough alone. Can’t win them all. Our waitress was perfectly nice, I wasn’t going to say anything. So I ate what I could, left most of the bread, the fries had a bitter taste so didn’t have many of those, and left a few bites of the burger and the accoutrements, including the inedible tomatoes. Didn’t expect to not pay for anything and wasn’t even going to ask. Our delightful waitress could tell I didn’t care for my meal as there was basically a full plate leftover when I went to the bathroom. She asked my husband what was wrong with the meal and he mentioned to her that I had said the burger was lukewarm and that the tomatoes were inedible. Again, I was not going to say anything bc I figured I ordered wrong and it was my fault. Wasn’t going to cause a stink. Our waitress kindly took the plate away (it was gone when I returned from the bathroom) and apparently asked the manager/owner if she could remove it from our bill. She came up to our table after that and said “I can offer you something else to-go, would you like to order more food?” We politely declined. In my head the food wasn’t good dining in, so no way was I going to get something to-go and have it be worse at home, I was fine with just chalking it up to a bad order and ill-equipped breakfast cooks when I ordered a lunch item. Our waitress then said “are you sure? He won’t let me take the meal off your bill.” (Indicating “he” was the owner/manager). We again politely declined but that comment stuck in my craw. We’ve been here one other time and the owner was just as stoic then as he was this time seating us: no friendly greeting-you just follow him to the table, he puts down menus and leaves, no chit chat, no smile. I was never that worried about it, some people just aren’t friendly. But it definitely makes a dining experience more pleasant when you are greeted by a smiling face when you walk in. Oh well. The fact that I didn’t even say a thing about my horrible meal but that our lovely waitress went to bat for me and he wouldn’t let her take the meal off the bill (even though I ate pretty much just the 5oz burger patty and a few bites of pickle and left the rest) goes to show that he is uninterested in the experience of his clientele. The food wasn’t good, I don’t want to waste more food by ordering something to-go when my first order was not good; so, in my opinion, offering another meal to-go is not a reconciliation. And not even coming over to our table himself proves just how “much” he cares. Call me spiteful for leaving this review; again though, I wasn’t going to say anything but his behavior after something was actually said on my behalf was surprisingly unaccommodating, to say the least, and put an even worse taste in my mouth. Will never be returning here. The Old Saybrook location is so much better, it’s wild how different the two...

Worse service and experience I've ever had from Eating out. The owner/manager asked me brashly can I help you when I walked in and was waiting to be seated. I guess sitting in his perch was more important than servicing his customers. Nobody ever sat me down. I had to seat myself. When I sit down i see them seating everyone else that comes after me. So I sit and I'm waiting for like 15 minutes and all the waiters are ignoring me. They even start serving people that came after me. It was a complete nebulous and traumatic experience. I don't know if it's Because I'm black or what but that would be a subjective perspective. So let's stick to the facts by keeping it objective. The waiter finally takes my order and when the food comes out I get no napkins, no utensils. I eat my food with my fingers like the animal I am in their eyes and I'm sitting there with greasy hands and nobody came to check on me I had to wave my hands to get the waiters attention to get napkins and a refill. I notice again that they're checking on everybody else except me. It was so peculiar because I chose to spend my money at this place. I don't recommend this place if your not of Anglo Saxon descent. You will be treated like a pariah. However, the truth is customers are treacherous insatiable entities which we all live to merit a positive review and in business green Is the only color that matters. I chose to fire this establishment because I'm the real Boss in this matter. I told 50 people to do the same. Wow just imagine the compound effect of that affair. I still tipped the waitress though because I'm a reasonable man. Food was okay. Price was okay. I hope this place learns how to treat all customers who choose to patronize their...

My boyfriend and I come here all the time- Probably a few times a month between a lunch or dinner and breakfast with his son. It is absolutely one of our favorites. The staff is always friendly, the service is always prompt. It is clean, bright, and the classic but clean diner feel is amazing. However I had to review today specifically for one particular reason-

My boyfriend and I came for a late breakfast and had a new (To us) server we’ve personally never had before. Her name is Brendale. We wanted to express what an amazing server she is. She is courteous, tentative, and highly upbeat. She cares so much about making sure her customers are satisfied. She was telling me and my boyfriend about her family, and how she’s expecting a grand baby any day now, which I’m sure is why she was just overly joyous and upbeat on this Sunday morning. She explained how she was off for the night because they were closing for the superbowl, and she never usually has Sunday nights off because that’s when she works, to which I told her I’m actually going to work the dinner shift for Super Bowl lol.

She ended up giving me a short little pep talk that, from one server to another, really meant a lot and changed my perspective for the night. I thought about it all night, and it helped me make it through one of the busiest nights I’ve had since starting my job serving 3 months ago after not doing it for a few years.

I want her to be publicly noticed for this and I want her upper management to know as well. She is an absolute asset to your team, and really shows how much she loves her job, and I wish her and her family and new grandbaby all the blessings and happiness in the world.

Thank you...