Midnight Diner — Restaurant in Charlotte

Just want to express my frustration and disappointment with my recent experience at Midnight Diner on December 3. Myself and three friends decided to dine there, and what should have been an enjoyable evening quickly turned into a series of embarrassing and unprofessional moments.

After we ordered our food, the shift lead announced there had been some confusion in the back regarding our table number. She then proceeded to call out our food to ensure it was delivered to the correct table. The last item, a plate of French toast (one slice of bread cut in half), was left, and the shift lead asked who had ordered it. When no one at our table claimed it, she then asked if anyone wanted it, set the plate in the middle of the table, and walked away.

We continued eating our meals, and at some point, another waitress (who wasn’t our server) came to our table and said, verbatim, “French toast...you know, the one no one ordered at the table.” I explained that we had already communicated to the shift lead that we did not order it, and that the decision was made to leave the French toast for us to keep. She then informed us that if we were going to keep the French toast, we would be charged for it.

At that point, there was only one half-piece of French toast left on the plate, with the other half on my plate. To my shock, she literally took the plate from the table and waited for me to remove the half piece from my plate. This experience was not only embarrassing but also felt as though we were being accused of trying to scam the restaurant over a single slice of bread. It was a moment of unnecessary humiliation over something so trivial, especially when the French toast was clearly being discarded anyway.

To make matters worse, as I was leaving and expressing my frustration to another server, the shift lead came out and, in a dismissive tone, said, “He’s still crying about that French toast?” I find this unprofessional and disrespectful, especially considering it was the shift lead's decision to leave the French toast at our table in the first place.

This experience was one of the most embarrassing and unprofessional I’ve ever had in a restaurant. Not only did the situation make me feel uncomfortable, but it also showed a lack of proper customer service and respect for patrons. I will not be returning to Midnight Diner, and I hope you’ll consider the importance of maintaining professionalism and good customer relations...

After entering the door and being met with a dirty mop water smell. I knew it was a bad idea to eat here. I said something to my wife but we still chose to give them a try because some whole in the wall place's have great food. After being seated and barely greeted. My wife and son noticed a different smell coming from the seat cushions. So now we are all looking around in more detail, and the place is horribly disgusting. The floor, the walls, the table edges, the napkin dispenser, the salt and pepper shakers, everything....the waitress attitude was just as nasty as the restaurant. When she spoke, we couldn't hear her. Her facial expression looked as if we were bothering her. We placed our order and she brought us our drinks. That was disgusting. My young daughter sent her drink back 4 times. My wife sent hers back 2 times. Neither 1 of them drank their drink. After dealing with the drink issues, we see a lady in Pink who seems like she is the manager. Ask 1 of the servers to pour her a cup of sweet tea, and when she did, her face said it all. Disgusting. She didn't even tell them to pour it out and make some fresh tea.

When we finally received our food, I told my kids to try to block out the smell around them and try to eat their food. I ate most of my food, but everyone else really didn't want to eat. So, after some time, our mute and disgusted waitress came back, and I asked for the check. She saw that my wife hadn't really touched her food and left and said something to the manager, and then the lady in Pink came over and asked why my wife didn't she eat her food. So my wife was trying to be polite and not really lay it all out, but the manager in Pink really pushed the issue to get an understanding. So my wife let her know that the place is DISGUSTING. The manager asked what was dirty. My wife kindly asked the manager to look around the Floor the Table the Menu the Walls the SMELL the Service the Drinks the Food Everything is disgusting. My wife felt flabbergasted. Like lady, you clearly see all of this. You Cleary smell this odor. You clearly tasted the drinks yourself because we watched you try it, and your own face said what you thought of it. But it must still be good enough for customers. So we paid and got the Hell out of there and back into some fresh air. We all felt disgusting for half the day Like we need to throw up. Never never go to this place I hope this review finds everyone before they go...

Upon walking through doors of this establishment, the atmosphere was alive and kicking. The sounds of music and laughs filled the air, already making the ambiance feel like you are welcomed. Our Server went by big red, sharp, witty and an absolute delight. Service was excellent and any food error she immediately corrected it with the kitchen. You can see how close the whole restaurant was with one another. Without missing a beat the perfect example of (I apologize for corporate jargon)synergy between the staff. It was the most poetic movement of humans in the narrow walk ways of the tables, orders were being taken while handing off a tray to another server; pens were passed/ taken from one another’s apron while setting down drinks. You don’t ever see this level of fluidity in real time!

For the entrees our little family of 5 had the following Chicken and waffles Pancakes l, scrambled eggs and fruit cup Country fried steak, sunny side eggs Sunny side eggs, hash browns, bacon Greek salad.

For the fried steak, perfect breading savory gravy and sunny side eggs with perfect runny yolks. The hash brown, bacon eggs was savory and as requested the PERFECT crisp to the bacon. Greek salad was a proper portion and was a very earthy blend of terrific greens.

The chicken and waffles were my choice of meal. Coming from SC, I’d have to say count your days South Carolina, because NC doesn’t play with their chicken and waffles. Only thing I would change would be the hot sauce to something with more flavor and heat (like cholula or Valentina).

The kids menu pancakes were fluffy, absorbed the syrup and was a sweet and delights bite enjoyed by my daughter.

Now one thing to take in consideration Midnight diner wasn’t my first stop. We migrated from Red Eye… while the menu seemed similar the service is 100x better at Midnights. Red eye left us hungry and frustrated with the service or should I say lack of service (who honestly waits 20 mins and doesn’t even get asked “can I get you started with drinks”?)

If you want quick service, southern hospitality and good atmosphere, bring your tookus to...