Soda Jerk Diner & Dairy Bar — Restaurant in Hummelstown

Me, my husband and 4yr old are from out of state on vacation. I found this diner while looking up places to eat in the area. Liked the old diner look reminds me of how Steak n Shake. Anyway, everything was going fine kiddo got his food first and I liked that the waitess waited till he finished his food to bring him the dessert that came with his meal. Me and the hubby got the pork chop meal which I personally liked was decent amount for the price not super expensive; didn't get to finish it though which I'll get to. There were several issues that had occured. First off, my 4yr old autistic son snatched a knife my husband had just sat down on his plate and threw it on the floor almost hitting our waitress which we apologized for(more to this story). Second, husband wasn't asked if he wanted a refill on his pop. Third, we didn't get to finish our food; mind you we told the waitress we'd be back and we weren't done. We had to go the bathroom and change our son. Came back to the table our plates were gone so payed $75+ for a meal we didnt get to finish.. Fourth, in regards to the first issue husband apologized for the incident again and the waitress proceeded to berate us for it.. her comments were "you should teach him not to do that, that's dangerous I could of gotten injured, you should keep knives further back on the table away from him." Then I said he's autistic and she responds with "even more reason to keep it away from him."

Excuse me? Clearly it was an accident, not your place to make comments like that in the first place, accidents happen and we apologized twice for it. He's 4, toddlers do things they aren't suppose to and he's again autistic, we do tell him no and discipline when he does something he isn't suppose to he's still learning. He threw it on the floor as she came up to the table so it didn't hit her but, she wants to still freak out about it anyway. Obviously doesn't have kids to understand toddlers do things they aren't supposed to. She's lucky I gave her any sort of tip at all... Guess if you go there don't go with littles because you'll get told how to be a parent if they do...

Overall it’s a nice enough diner with plenty of options. Attentive, polite and prompt service. We initially wanted to order corn nuggets, potato pancakes and a French onions soup. They were out of potato pancakes and the server let us know they were subbing tater tots, so we gave that a pass. The corn nuggets were good. The French onion was OK. Not the traditional French onion, but again it’s a diner. Flavor was weak, and it was warm, not hot. Plenty of melted cheese but not broiled and golden brown. Topped with onion straws that had a good flavor but were rubbery rather than crunchy. We also ordered a gyro with French fries and a side of gravy and the senior porch chop dinner with mashed potatoes. The fries were hot and fresh, a crispy type but still soft on the inside. The gravy was definitely seemed like the jarred kind and had a flavor to it that I couldn’t quite place. I had contemplated getting the poutine but am glad I didn’t. Overall the gravy is not a good match for the fries and I highly recommend getting it on the side to taste it first. It was OK with the pork chops, but again if I did it all over again I wouldn’t get it on any of my food directly. The pork chops were well cooked, tender and had good flavor. The gyro was OK. The meat had some chewy spots but there was plenty along with toppings and feta. We also got a peanut butter pie to go, which was very good. We were there on a Saturday around 5 and there was plenty of parking. It did start to fill up a little later, but all seats at the counter were still open. It’s family friendly as well. The window sills next to booths could use a wipe down. Their shirts are fun and they do sell them for a...

While we had a kind waitress, that’s really the only compliment I can give. We went here just looking for some warm drinks and desserts. Upon being seated, we watched as the manager and/or owner argued with the waitress about who would be serving us. After roughly 10 minutes of no service, the manager and/or owner walked over to our table just to tell us that our server would be over shortly. He did not offer to get our drinks, attempt small talk, or even fake a smile. Following that interaction, we had another server come up to our table, and again, tell us that our server would be out shortly. Once that same server had returned to the kitchen, her and the manager and/or owner had again bickered about who would be serving us. After this wait, we were told they did not have our first choice of dessert available due to the failure of an employee from earlier that day (no one had thawed the pie we requested). We absolutely understood, and chose another dessert. After the horrid customer service (which our waitress was not at fault for), we were accused of not paying by two separate employees as we were leaving because we paid at our table and not up front. While I understood that customers typically paid upfront after the manager and/ or owner had expressed that to us, I found it hard to understand why there was zero communication about the payment process with our server. Overall, a very...