Amphora's Diner Deluxe — Restaurant in Herndon

This was my second time coming to this location (there used to be another one in Vienna I'd go to every once in a while). I hadn't been here in a couple years and remembered the food was pretty mediocre but I figured I'd give it another try. I placed an order over the phone and came in to pick it up. First thing I noted was that it was not busy but somehow the girl at the counter still seemed to take forever to ring me up and grab my food, she seemed to be very inefficient and lacked a sense of awareness or urgency. After handing me my food she said she would get my drink I ordered and stated they had Sierra Mist and not Sprite like I had ordered. I said that would have been nice to know before I paid because I didn't order Sierra Mist. Not to mention they charged $3.45 plus tax for a 12 oz soda which was insane to me. During our interaction, a waitress had come to the check out counter and she repeated what I said mockingly by saying "she said you should have let her know it was Sierra Mist", as if I hadn't just spoken directly to the girl, and then they both smirked as if they were about to laugh. They made me feel like I was ridiculous for paying for something I didn't order and had the audacity to complain about it or mention that I didn't agree with the order of events. I didn't appreciate being mocked for voicing their mistake. I'm not sure why when I ordered a Sprite with my order over the phone they didn't take that opportunity at that time to say they don't have that product. I didn't appreciate that the person who took my order apparently took the liberty to assume I would be okay with a substitute. No apology was offered. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that serious but the way I was treated, openly mocked and felt laughed at right in my face was very upsetting. I won't be back now that on top of confirming the food was still nothing but mediocre at best, the service...

I like the look of the restaurant as retro is a nice feeling. I grabbed deserts here in the past, and they were serviceable enough for the price.

For tonight's late night meal, I ordered a lemonade, a plate of shrimp scampi, and a Caesar salad side dish. The drink and salad were fine, but the shrimp scampi required a bunch of salt to make it taste good. I'd probably recommend avoiding seafood and sticking to beef or chicken instead as I liked their meatloaf the last time I went. The shrimp didn't have much taste, so I would say that it would need some seasoning.

As for service, the waiter took a long time to do his job to the point that one of the managers had to step in to take my order at times (the manager was great). There was a 20-minute wait between me receiving my drink and me giving my order for the main dish (as the manager had to step in then). This also wasn't a case of there being too many people at the restaurant as only 2-3 other tables were occupied at the time.

In short, I liked the atmosphere of the restaurant, but the service needs to be prompt if there aren't many customers (I was literally 1 of 4 customers at the restaurant), and the seafood dishes (at least the shrimp dishes) aren't tasty. I paid ~$26 for the meal for reference (the server forgot to charge for the drink, and I only noticed after I got back home when writing this review).

The faults could just be timing (I arrived around 11pm on a Friday and left around 12:30am on Saturday due to the delays), so it could be better around lunch hours. Maybe try earlier in the day and avoid seafood if you absolutely want to eat here? I won't know as I won't return here again. There are other 24/7 places I have visited that have better tasting food and better service while having...

To be honest, I haven't had the privilege of eating here yet, but I am a delivery driver and was assigned an order here.

Due to a common glitch in the service I used (can't say which, sorry, never a good idea to negatively identify your employer publicly) the order was received only seconds after my arrival so I had to wait a little.

During that time I was lucky enough to watch several tables' trays of food brought out and WOW! The food presentation and the aroma almost had me floating through the air after them Looney Tunes style! I've spent years as a professional line cook, this nose KNOWS, and what the sheer heaven I smelled? 😍

Don't let the "Diner" in the name bring up associations of your typical greasy spoon or casual diner, either. This is a crystal wine glass level establishment with a diner theme.

Amphora is spotlessly clean with an equally immaculately dressed (Think 50s soda jerk with the spotless white shirt and coat black bowtie) and well groomed staff!

As a rough around the edges Texas redneck wearing 501s and a graphics tee I felt pretty out of place at first, but every single staff member that passed me by and saw me standing around asked me if I needed any help and just made me feel incredibly welcome, even after knowing I wasn't a paying customer. From the the host, to the servers, to the gentleman taking phone orders to the manager, everyone stopped to make sure I was being taken care of.

Imagine how they'll treat you if you're actually paying them! 🤣

Definitely taking my next date here to impress even if it's a little off the beaten path for me (35min) and a little pricey it's worth the trip. 👍🏻

And don't miss out on their baked...