Manny's Diner — Restaurant in Clark

My family and I have been patronizing Manny’s Diner in Clark NJ for about 12 years now. It always has been a very nice, clean eatery with nicely sized portions and friendly attentive staff which is why I’m giving this diner 4 stars. BUT……. I ate here earlier today 6-29-2022 with my son.

He ordered a very tasty BBQ burger and a B/W shake. I ordered the half chicken special choosing Lentil soup instead of salad, mashed potatoes and broccoli. Our server today was not as attentive as other servers who have waited on me in the past. The meal description also came with bread which I had to ask for more than 3/4 through my meal. He brought over two Challah rolls (which were warmed) and butter. My son split one in half and buttered it for me. I bit away at more than half of it.

OMG! Did I taste cinnamon? I stopped eating excusing myself to the bathroom where I saw my face and neck turning bright red and itchy. Back at my table I asked my waiter if there is cinnamon in the rolls and he immediately said no. I walked over to the young man who seated us asking if there was cinnamon in the dinner rolls. He kept eyeing the young lady (blondish curly short hair and glasses) at the register and told me he didn’t know. The young lady who also didn’t know directed me to the owner/mgr who said it’s Challah bread. I reiterated if there is cinnamon in the roll and again he said it’s Challah bread and no there’s no cinnamon. I told him look at my face and neck and how red they are. He did and said he was going to ask their baker. The owner returned very apologetic and said yes there is cinnamon in the Challah.

I completely stopped eating and asked for the check. When the owner saw my hands starting to shake he asked if I wanted a glass of water and if I had any medication with me which I did in my car. My son who finished his burger took his fries, onion rings and the other roll to his home where he found he was given a few more rolls. I paid the check in full $40.69 cash with a 20% tip of $8.00. My meal also came with dessert which I never had the chance to order.

My question is: Don’t they have just plain bread/rolls to offer a customer? People do have allergies. Although cinnamon isn’t a common allergy in itself, I didn’t think I would have to ask what ingredients are in something as simple as a dinner roll. Much of Manny’s Diner clientele are elderly. Cinnamon could possibly have an interaction with liver, cholesterol and diabetic medication (which I take). All it took was a large bite of a dinner roll for me to have an allergy attack so you never know what could happen to another person on medication.

Will I continue to dine at Manny’s? Yes. I’ll just be more careful to ask questions...

I used to eat at Manny's a few times a week, as it's close to home, cheap, and a few of the dishes are actually good, as are a few staff members, despite numerous issues: ordering home fries and getting grits, asking for a Reuben with mustard but getting Russian, a hamburger dried out with browning fries and bun from sitting under heat because they didn't allow enough time between my appetizer and meal, cold meatloaf, different pricing for the same drink, a manager being irritable when I asked where I should sit (I mean really, should I seat myself?), lukewarm French onion soup. What really irked me and changed my mind for good was recently I was there for breakfast; my waiter took his time getting to me because he was in conversation with another customer, and finally another waiter had to go over and tell him - not management. I ordered and was clear, pointing to the menu, that I wanted the regular corned beef hash with home fries platter. The waiter returned with a huge pile of hash with cheese melted on top. He clearly had not listened and made up an excuse that he had purposely put the order in for the special so I would get more. For the first time, I became a little upset (not yelling, just annoyed). My order was corrected but received no apology from the manager or waiter. I overheard the manager whom I regularly would speak with saying to the waiter that I was a regular - no initiative to come over and speak with me. Note: voices carry, dear Ms. Manager. Meanwhile, on an earlier date, I saw same manager go over and apologize to a person who had ordered matzo ball soup thinking it was a vegetarian soup, as well as take it off her bill! Seriously? I would think a regular customer who put up with so much more with no complaint would be treated even...

I'm a dessert fan and I have to say the Oreo cake was disappointing it was dry and flavorless. My daughter got chocolate mousse cake same issue as mine. The server forgot things many times so I had to just take my corn muffin to go and the chocolate chip pancakes were flat dry and not a lot of c.c they only had the c.c in the middle. my husband wasn't impressed with the fries at all so he didn't eat them and the chicken fingers were underwhelming. My daughter got the Mediterranean trio and the dips were huge but the pita chips they gave with it weren't even enough for half of one dip and then she charged us a crazy amount for extra pita chips and we only got 7 more pita chips smh the only decent thing out of the whole dinner was my son's app samples thing he got as his dinner, that's the only reason I gave them a three cause otherwise it would have been rated between a 1-2 but the server was the worst but only because how many tables she was dealing with in our room and then she was also on dealing with ppl in the other room but between not checking on us forgetting food not cleaning up plates and not refilling drinks I'd say it was a mess. How they have a 4.3 rating I'll never know. We were on vacation and our first time eating anywhere in New Jersey was here it left us never wanting to go back... EVER AGAIN! We have eaten food from diners all up and down the north/south east coast and even as far as Louisiana, FL, New York, mass , NH s.c, n.c, georgia, n.j, Virginia, and the lists go on and on and we never had such a bad experience with food/service. We have been diners rated as low as 3.6 and straight up to 5⭐and this...