Cortland Diner — Restaurant in City of Cortland

Wow! The food was amazing!! We were in the area for lunch at our usual spot but realized The Cartland Diner was open, so we switched it up! The food was amazing!! My teenage son got the chicken and waffles, it was perfectly cooked! The hash was pretty good, and the Cortland skillet was out of this world!! Food was a 10/10, would absolutely recommend!!!

On a trip the the bathroom I noticed a sign that said “silverware goes in the silverware bin, MEAN IT! -Tiffany” which was an indicator that the management isn’t very friendly. That explains why the staff was quiet and less than friendly. It’s possible that they weren’t friendly because it was a Sunday and I imagine this place is packed in the mornings… maybe they were exhausted! … but honestly; for a diner… the staff was exactly disgruntled like you’d see in a movie.

Cleanliness was average, 6/10, just eh. Again, the end of the day, so it was possible they had a busy morning. It wasn’t remarkable, but passable.

Notables: The Gentlemen working the grills were a little older/mature, which indicating they knew what they were doing… AND THEY DO!! 10/10… amazing!!!

We were never offered a refill on our drinks, and when we noticed that we were all extremely parched, our waitress was MIA, but resurfaced from having a cigarette break as we were leaving. Waitstaff overall 4/10.

This place is worth a try, but don’t expect much...

Middle of the road experience across all categories.

Atmosphere: the red neon lights along the ceiling, coupled with fans resulted in a strobe like experience that was bothersome to the two of us. Feel sorry for someone more sensitive to flickering lights.

Service: pleasant enough when we saw our waitress - seems like she was maybe on a break? Saw her eating and chewing a few times behind the counter. Had to get a coffee refill by flagging down a different waitress. Also took too long to pay.

Food: Toast and meats were good. Thought my omelet was a pinch undercooked, runny in a few spots. The mushrooms were so big and overpowering in the omelet. The homefries alone were okay, needed seasoning, but I ordered mine with onions and peppers. I figured they would be fried up and cooked into my potatoes...boy was I mistaken. Think peppers and onions for on top of a sausage sandwich....waterlogged and flavorless just piled on top of my home fries. I ended up wasting my money 💰 on that addition as I scraped most of it off because it was not great. My son was much happier with his...

We stopped for lunch at this no frills dinner located right in Cortland. We have driven by several times but this was our first visit. I had the Goulash special which was very good. My wife had a deluxe cheese burger med rare that also was very good and done just right. The burger came with a large order of tasty fries.

Prices were reasonable and the waitress great. The food came out quickly. Access to parking is easy even though it was busy.

Two questions I use to rate a place are: Would I recommend this place? Yes I would. Would you go out of your way to go to the place? This is a little more complex as there are several diners in the area we would like to try, but, yes, we would drive to this diner vs the several fast food places near the 81on and off ramps. It was also a bigger hit with us than a couple of places on the main street we have tried in the past.

As a final note the deserts sounded great. Our lunch portions were so large.... and tasty that we had no room left but I bet that rice pudding or that oreo pie would have been great..... sigh... may save...