Debary Diner — Restaurant in DeBary

Very redneck/ country/ American feel which I like a lot. Place is packed with happy customers, but there are not too many options in the area. Booths are OK, no back aches. Wait staff is working hard and getting it done. My main issue is the food. I asked for hashbrowns, and confirmed no onion, and I got some kind of frozen pressed potato patty (heated up) and it was loaded with onion powder. I’m alergic to onion. I ordered 3 eggs over medium well. This means the whites are very done, the yolks are partly done. First time they came out over easy, second time, just a little more than over easy (different eggs). I would have accepted over medium where the whites are totally cooked and the yolks are runny, but I can’t deal with runny or gelatinous whites. Losing all faith in the cook’s abilty to do one simple thing right, I took the second eggs home and cooked them the rest of the way so they wouldn’t hit the trash. The bacon and french toast were GREAT. My wife’s scrambled eggs and sausage patties were great as well. Wife’s home fries were good but out of a bag. I didn’t eat the hashbrowns and the eggs were still wrong, but nothing was offerred off the bill and I didn’t ask. I just won’t be back. I did tip the full 20% because our waiter wasn’t really to blame, although, if someone asks if something has onion, you should probably go read the label. Had I known the hashbrowns weren’t made from potatos right there in the back, I would not have ordered them, cause its very common when you get the frozen patties, for them to have onion. Onion allergies cause a great deal of discomfort that lasts for HOURS. I had 2 very small bites to confirm what I tasted, and my wife also confirmed (she’s not allergic). Just becuase you can’t taste the onion, doesn’t mean its not there. The taste of a plain cooked/ fried potato is very different from one that is seasoned with onion and garlic so it was quite obvious. Pre-cooked, pressed potato patties are NOT hashbrowns. I could get that at McDonalds. I expect the breakfast to be good for $32 plus tip. Our order was 3 eggs over medium well, bacon, hashbrown, 2 slices of french toast, 2 eggs scrambled, sausage patties, potatoes, 2 pieces of toast, 1...

We had a lot of hope for this place, and I decided to get the Cuban sandwich, while my husband got a burger. Neither were seasoned very well, and while the portion sizes were great, my husband couldn't even finish his burger because it was bland and essentially falling apart. And not in a good way. The pork on my Cuban sandwich was almost completely flavorless, which was sad because I love a good Cuban sandwich. Needless to say I didn't finish my food either.

The atmosphere and decor were great if you can get past the political signs everywhere, our server was kind but not attentive, and they brought us the bill about 5 minutes after they brought out our food, we didn't really feel like we were wanted there. We were there well before closing, at least an hour and a half, so it's not like we came in and expected full service with giant smiles at closing time. We would have just chalked that up to it being busy on a Friday night, but that was an unexpected and not completely welcome surprise. Kind of like here's your food now get out.

I would love to say that we would give it another chance, and come back, but I don't know that we will. The decorations are amazing, barring the political mumbo jumbo, and I love how supportive they are of our troops, and how proud they are to be a local diner. But we both felt like we had wandered into a private event in the middle of a giant family party and inadvertently interrupted something, and they just tolerated us rather than welcoming us on our first time there.

The prices were good so I guess there's that.

But don't come in here looking for very well seasoned food, or a friendly atmosphere. And I'm definitely willing to say maybe it was just us and our experience, but that still stands...

Overall a nice place. Friendly service. We were sat at the table that is right at the front door so you got the traffic of everyone going in and out. Not sure it's best to put a table there but understood they want as many tables as possible. Also, there is an upcharge if you use a credit card which not sure is listed up front anywhere, could be on the menu but didn't see it until the bill came.

The serving sizes of their dishes are pretty big. Maybe too big but it's a good value if you look just at size vs cost. Orange juice was a big glass unlike lots of other places.

The make your own omelette was pretty good, a little dry but that just might be because I chose cheddar cheese which might be the reason. The make your own includes 1 meat, 2 veggies and 1 cheese for the price. Not sure that meets everyone's wants, I think it would be better just to have up to X amount of ingredients. Was charged extra for two meats with no veggies.

The skillet breakfast was good but again a lot of food.

The egg breakfast and wrap were good, the bacon has an overwhelming taste of maple to it so just be aware. Some may like it, some may not.

Everything seemed to be cooked correctly, the hash browns and bacon are cooked medium to light so if you like them more crispy, you should probably ask, pretty sure they would adjust. The English muffins come buttered, if you don't want butter ask when you order.

Overall a pretty good diner, will go again to try other items and see how well the adjust to cooking...