A1 Diner — Restaurant in Gardiner

Years ago as a teenager I ate here with my parents right after we moved to the area. I loved it. The fried chicken I got there was so good, it set the benchmark for all other fried chicken I would have after that. Shortly thereafter, without ever eating there again, I left for college.

I found myself back in Gardiner passing through after visiting a friend and thought, why not? I saw a great parking spot right on the opposite side of the bridge from the diner, I parked and went in a got a counter seat.

The place was pretty busy, one booth and a few counter seats were free, the place humming along as I'm sure it's done for decades. In no time I have a menu in my hands and am perusing the usual selections as well as the specials up on the specials board above the dessert cooler. What to choose, what to choose?

The first thing that caught my eye was their beer selection - all local and quality beers as well as a small selection of imports, one of which is my all-time favorite beer - Belhaven Scottish Ale (a review for another time!) which you don't see out much, let alone at diners. I of course got one. The A-1 was already on superior footing in my mind. I was enjoying my beer in moments after spying it.

After 20+ years, I went back to what I knew. I ordered the fried chicken plate with mashed potatoes and coleslaw. It took only about 10 minutes to get my food; while I was waiting people came and went, sat down and ordered, received their food, and were enjoying themselves. I watched their system of placing orders and receiving the plates of hot food from the very small delivery window and was fascinated to think that they had been doing things this way for decades before I was born. It was a real time travelling experience that was a kick to be in the middle of. Made my 10 minutes of waiting fly by.

The waitress slid my plate across the marble counter while I was looking out the window. My fried chicken platter included four pieces of chicken; a drumstick, 2 thighs and a wing, a good scoop of fresh mashed potatoes and large helping of cole slaw. The slaw was creamy and sweet with a hint of vinegar, the potatoes were firm - not whipped, but mashed and had a little texture to them which was a welcome change from the usual boxed potatoes one might get at a lesser establishment. Without a doubt, the star of the show was the chicken. It was crispy, well seasoned, moist and juicy, and absolutely phenomenal. Best fried chicken I have ever had. Without question.

I have a few places to stack this fried chicken up against from my travels around the country in the years that have transpired from the time I first ate at the A-1 to when I ate there two days ago many years later. Many of them were very good. NYC, Philly, Alabama, MD, FL, NC, SC, Chicago, Texas... - all the while trying to find the "best fried chicken I ever ate". Well y'all, It's in Maine. MAINE. At the A-1 Diner in Gardiner.

I don't get up to Gardiner all that often anymore, but I'll make a side trip just to go get lunch there. Maybe I'll have something different...

Oh my WORD!! Can't believe it's taken us so long to get in here to eat! Especially since it's friends of the family that own it lol! I had to text them the very second we got home because the food was just PHENOMENAL!!! I haven't had onion rings that delicious in DECADES! The atmosphere was perfect, and surprisingly? Sitting right at the bar was EXTREMELY comfortable!!! The waitress was super sweet, professional and took SUCH great care of us, especially considering I had my youngest rascal (4) who's EXTREMELY busy and a handful and a half, but she handled him with no issues or an ounce of complaint hahaa! Pretty sure I was the only one complaining 😆 THANKFULLY, I decided to order dessert to go, and WOWZA!!! Best desserts I've had ANYWHERE! We got the lemon crumble cheesecake, the hummingbird cake, the chocolate coconut cake and a hot brownie with ice cream. ALL FANTASTIC!! We all had burgers, hotdogs, fries, onion rings and pickles for dinner but it was seriously hard to choose as EVERYTHING looked and sounded amazing. We will CERTAINLY be coming back again and again! Best part about this place though is it's owned and operated by a LOVELY couple who are just SO kind and loving to everyone. They, their children and the A1 Diner are absolute GEMS of this community and we're so lucky to have them. 🙏🏼❤️ We were told the brunch there is to die for, so brunch will be out...

Never been here before so me and the wife figured we would stop in and try it out worst idea ever....my wife got french toast looked good on 1 side and than you flip it over and it had looked like it was Saturated in egg still like they only cooked 1 side she also got bacon that looked the same way nice and crispy on 1 side you cut it and the other side had never been cooked....I myself with trying new places try the easiest stuff possible so my food don't come out wrong...well let me tell you the English muffin that I had sausage egg and cheese on was cooked on the inside and felt and tasted like the top side was wet from frost or cold from the fridge or where ever stored.....well to kick this store our waitress never came back to see how the food was....when she did decide to come to the table any other common sense person would have seen the plates and wondered why didn't they eat there food and ask if everything tasted alright......nope she drops the check and says no hurry just trying to stay ahead.....mind you there are only like 3 or maybe 4 other couples w.e figured maybe she would come back and check us out and maybe realize the food on our plates nope never came back after 20 mins of me and my wife sitting there talking we decided to cash ourself s out and leave will not come back due to everything.....oooo ya and the home fries where cold and not...