Blue Moon Diner — Restaurant in Gardner

Stopped in this morning for breakfast. It's okay. The service was excellent, but that was the best part of it. The food was mediocre, and I feel terrible saying that, but I'm honest, and I want them to do better. The home fries were like a bunch of overcooked crumbs rather than actual home fries. You know, the kind where you can't even stab it with a fork because it's so hard and crispy. The eggs were supposed to be over medium but came out over runny. The toast was not so toasty, kind of floppy since they were placed on top of the steaming home fries and probably sat there for 5 minutes before I received it. The last negative was it was very warm in there, like a sauna actually. Not sure why it was so hot, but very uncomfortable. The coffee was good. I tried the cheddar grits. Grits is very hard for northerners to get right, but they tried. My experience with grits amounts to the instant grits my dad made, and the waffle house and Maple Street chains. So, I am probably not the best judge of grits, but Maple Street makes the best. This is not really that, but it was okay. Would I return? Sure, the place is an iconic location in Gardner, so coming back once in a while to try different special is a thing. I would honestly say there is better fare at other locations. Nice people though, and that goes a long way with me, and why they get 5 stars for service. The last thing I want to do is hurt someone's business unfairly. I say you should try it and make your own judgement. I will go back again one day soon, and I hope it will be better next time. I am very forgiving. Everyone has an off day and I like to measure my experience over time. It wasn't terrible, I will say that.

UPDATE: Food was better (except those home fries). Service stellar as before, no qualms. The environment was more enjoyable now that it wasn't 90 degrees in there. I would recommend, especially the homemade corned beef hash. I'd like to see more options with grits, because I think its an under-rated breakfast option. Like maybe grits with butter, and/or maple syrup would be nice. It's a good place,...

My dad used to take me there a lot as a kid it was always super busy but we never minded waiting for a booth or even better a stool at the counter because the food was so delish and the memories with my dad the best. So today I took my kids for the first time with my mom. I was worried that my almost 20 yr old with autism would have a hard time so on our way I was sure to point out that we will most likely wait for a while to get a table especially since it is the sidewalk sale weekend. Should have known when we pulled up and there was abundant parking. It was an awful experience! My 5 yr old boy wouldn't use the toilet as it was dirty and he didn't even have to sit. We got omelets, sausage, bacon, pancakes, homefries and a burger sandwich. The omelets were under cooked, flat and tasteless the sausage looked like it was microwaved nothing was crispy or browned the toast that the burger sandwich was on was over cooked. Don't even get me started on the dry reheated homefries. Homefries are the staple of the breakfast diner they should better than you could make at home. The prices were deceiving and was shocked when the bill came to $50 with 4 plates of food and one was a kids meal. Was the worst $50.00 I spent and had to go home and make food. I will...

So from my childhood I remember my mother telling me stories about this restaurant how she went on a double date there once with two army guys and they didn't like them so they snuck out the bathroom window and I always wanted to stop there I bought a house in Gardner a year ago and I said to myself after reading an article how it transferred hands and there's new owners that I'd go and check it out number one really clean they have the old nostalgic personal jukeboxes at each table sadly they didn't work that would have been a feather in their cap if they did so you walk in you have to counter stools booths with dividers for safety covid safety and it seemed like there was a back room back there I didn't get that far they had a variety of specials when it was short and sweet food was good although a little more flavor would have been nice I never use salt and pepper I used it that day the cook and assistant greeted us on the way in and greeted us on the way out which was nice our waitress once got our order never did come back to check on us refills or such and it was hard to tie her down to get the check otherwise it was a really neat experience and I...