The Royal Diner — Restaurant in Brattleboro

Breakfast was a full 5 stars: TLDR: Come HERE for a nice hardy breakfast. Good comfort food and even better staff. Food came quickly. Nice location too. Be aware they open an hour later in winter.

In detail: I found the Popeye Omelette to be very delicious. The caramelized onions and savory mushrooms inside their eggy cocoon were seasoned very well and had were seasoned well. My friend had their "famed" Cajun Skillet Breakfast. It's a savory mess of onions, peppers, and sausage seasoned VERY well. The melted cheese on top was a great addition and overall combined had great texture. Finally the omelette my other friend had was just a plain good omelette, fluffy, and seasoned well. The staff here should get a full 5 stars. We were the first customers early in the morning at 6:30am and right away treated to quality coffee with creme. The toast was very good but my friends found their to be rather too much butter, so be warned if you aren't a person who likes butter too much ask for less. I very much enjoyed my raisin toast while my friends had white or whole wheat which was also very good. They give a lot so if you have multiple people with you, I recommend each person ordering a different bread and sharing. The potatoes were pretty savory and good but be warned they have no house fries in the morning unfortunately, wasn't too much of an issue though because the substitute potato was very well seasoned. Hashbrowns were fried and seasoned well but in terms of structure fell apart to easily and were a bit hard to eat as a result. My only complaints and it's why the review earned 4 stars is the decor and the disregard to posting actual opening times. I understand that this is supposed to be a vintage restaurant but the laminated breakfast menu in poppy colors of a 1950's drive through did not match the interior decor. The seats were dirty and I had to wear my coat indoors. The decor on the walls felt a bit too like an antique shop and crowded rather than "vintage." Also we showed up at 6:10 expecting to be let in because google maps time shows opening at 5:30 but we were told by staff inside that during the winter they open at 6:30 and were forced to wait out in the cold...

The Chelsea Royal Diner is DISGUSTING! My friend and I went in for breakfast (we figured it was pretty hard to mess up breakfast food, so we'd give it a try), and HATED our experience. When we sat down, there was cream on the table already (how unsanitary). We saw the waitresses walking passed the table with food from the kitchen with four plates stacked on top of each other (food that was about to be served). We ordered coffee, french toast and eggs benedict. The coffee was bitter as hell (so gross), the french toast was nothing but soggy bread, and the eggs benedict was slimy. The eggs benedict was supposed to be served with hash browns, but they ran out, didn't tell me, and gave me slimy potatoes instead. When we got our bill, we were THEN informed (with no cash on us and after our meal), that it is cash-only, and they don't have an ATM. They said one of us had to wait at the restaurant while the other got cash. I had to wait at the table, by myself, while my friend went and got cash from Cumberland Farms. Left no tip.

The booths had stains and garbage all over them. When they cleaned the tables, they just swept all the trash onto the floor and left it there. Safe to say, NASTY as hell, we will NEVER EVER go back, and recommend others to NEVER try this disgusting place!!!! So...

I dont want this to feel like a bad review, but I don't only have nice things to say, which to start may only be my personal preference, so go out and try it for yourself. It has gotten a nice face-lift exterior and some interrior, but it still has that rustic diner feel that you expect from the royal diner. There is no wait staff, you seat yourself and order and pay at front counter ( i personally am not a fan of this probably cause I'm lazy and don't wanna get up once I sit XD. menu is on the lighter side compared to the prior establishment. We ordered smash burgers and fries. All drinks are bottles or cans with a pretty wide selection, (so you don't need to worry about that nasty bag soda going bad) I was a little disappointed they don't serve alcohol (cause what goes better with a smash burger and fries than an ice cold beer?) We also got one of the best apple turnovers I've had in a very long time. It was absolutely huge, and al la mode bring a 2nd stomach or a partner to share with. Also disappointed that such an iconic previous brattleboro breakfast place only serves lunch and dinner (bring back the Cajun skillet!). All in all, nice place to go with good prices, definitely...