Coopersburg Diner — Restaurant in Coopersburg

The restaurant/diner business is brutal. Generally speaking: high volume, efficient service, value-based menu, broad array of food options, clean dining room, generally up-tempo. That's a lot to expect. The Coop is a well-managed operation that appears (based upon several visits) to be customer-centric while maintaining a loose, comfortable environment. My servers, Nicole (2 visits) and Danielle (1 visit) - both were personable and professional and you can bet that for sure this was not their first rodeo. They were accomplished, efficient, and very definitely committed to a fully engaged customer experience.

These are a few things I took note of:

1. Just a party of one, I expressed my preference for a booth and it was immediately honored. I was seated promptly and attended to immediately - not at all intrusively.

2. The place was clean, spotlessly so, tables were promptly reset, and there was attention in real time, pretty much all the time. Diner staff were moving purposefully. This staff knows teamwork and they are sensitive to what needs attention regarding sanitation.This is extremely important as it's a fair indicator of what cannot be seen from the dining room. It is reasonable to believe that the same attention is paid to kitchen and food handling cleanliness and care. The restaurant floor was spotless with servers/bus people, etc. sweeping the area with a noiseless device which did not interfere with anyone's mealtime enjoyment.

3. The servers I encountered, the cashier and other support people were tuned-in, leading me to conclude (based solely on my personal experience) that there is effective and considerate leadership, that the screening, training and culture of this operation is strong. Nicole and Danielle for instance were certainly vigilant in taking care of their customers, yet still chose to engage with me for a few minutes to personalize the total experience, to demonstrate in a very real way that I was not just a number, but an individual to interact with. I forgot the length of time Nicole was employed here, but recall Danielle mentioning 17 years, and both she and Danielle noted that owners/managers were good people. The cashier, whose name I unfortunately can not remember was I believe in her 32nd year at the Coop.

4). I ordered a rare burger and it was delivered as ordered, something that happens in a diner, well . . . rarely. The salad was fresh, crisp and cold and the other sides nicely prepared. The patty melt was thoroughly enjoyable. Coconut Cream pie texture and taste was less so, but that may be an individual preference. There was nothing wrong with it.

5. I define value as "the totality of the dining experience vs. the price paid for same." By this definition the Coop delivers value.

I have no reluctance at all in grading The Coop...

There has only been one meal from a diner that I have truly ever craved. A meal so good that sometimes the almost one hour drive to get it is like a hop skip jump in the park. For me that meal has been the chicken croquettes at the Coopersburg diner. It had been over a year since I last tasted them, and have ordered them at least 30 times in years past. I don’t know everything but I DO know those chicken croquettes. So, we were due for a visit and along the way my mother informed me that there were new owners. I thought there’s no way they axed these from the menu, the recipe MUST have been stipulated in the sale of the property. So we arrive and they are still there and that’s what we ordered. This review is scored MUCH higher than it should be. I hope that someone reads this and makes the changes back to what this platter was once before, and I’m not just talking about the croquettes. They were smalller, yes, but that’s ok, the problem is they were void of any flavor at all. Nothing. The gelatinous gravey served with them was horrendous. Downright gross. And worst of all was the stuffing. It was SO bad. Please Coop, you need to do what they used to do, no skimping and no changing anything. No instant gravy. No stuffing that is like wallpaper paste. I hope to visit again soon and give them another try so please improve this or I’m sad to say we will not be returning. Everything else was fine. The place was clean and our waitress nice and a great selection to choose from, but this dish went all around downhill. And that gravy is probably served with other dinners too. Uh oh. Fix it!! I hope you do and have many years of successful business and happy...

Walking into the Coop, my partner and I were very excited to sit down and have a homey meal. Sitting down to order, a nice girl came over and took our drinks very quickly, leaving us feeling like this would be a good experience , but when it cane to our server, this is where the roughness began. First we asked for a second longer to look at the menu, and instead of an overall ok response, we were met with a shocked look and then her walking away. A couple minutes later she did come back and we finally put our orders in. They cane out relatively fast, props to the chefs, but my partner did not receive the ranch she had asked for. We didn't think this was a big deal at first as wed figured our waitress, Gabi, would be back over soon to ask us about everything, we couldn't have been more wrong. Instead, she walked over and loudly began gossiping with her coworkers about the other tables she had saying she "wants them to just leave." Now with experience working in the food industry, we know you should at least check on a table more than one time, especially before their food is almost gone as you may have forgotten something, or they may need another item for a better experience, such as more napkins. We also know you shouldn't be talking about the tables you have so loudly, as your customers, us, may hear, and now begin to feel uncomfortable. We want to write this review, as normally we do have such a good experience from previous times, but this one was just not the best and made us feel very unwelcome, leaving us questioning if its worth it...