Dons Diner — Restaurant in Irvington

WARNING! Bad customer service rep.

I placed an order on Uber Eats for pick up from Don’s Diner. After 20 minutes, I went into the diner and greeted the employee at the register named Butter, “Good morning. I placed an order on DoorDash. I’m here to pick it up.”

She said, “We don’t have DoorDash,” with an attitude.

I then said, “Oh, I’m sorry. I meant Uber Eats.”

She then looked over my shoulder and spoke to the other employee at the other counter, asking her if she’d put in an Uber Eats order. The other employee said, “No, you didn’t tell me to put in an Uber Eats order.” Butter then looked at the register and said my name.

I responded with, “Yup, that’s me,” and she walked away and went into the kitchen without saying anything to me. I then sat on one of the barstools and waited. Two gentlemen who had just finished their meal approached the register and greeted me with a “Good morning” as I was sitting there. I greeted them back.

Butter then walked out from the kitchen, and as she walked past me, I asked, “Hey, do you have an idea of when my meal would be ready?”

She ignored me. One of the gentlemen at the register looked at me, then looked at Butter, then looked at me, then looked at Butter, then looked at me again because he was flabbergasted. I said to him, “I think she heard me,” and he said, “I know I heard you, and I’m further away.”

With that, I got up and left because I didn’t want my heightened emotions to get the best of me. I sat in my car for another five minutes and went back in. I then proceeded to speak to the other employee that I am more accustomed to dealing with because I am somewhat of a regular. I asked her for the other lady’s name, and that’s when I learned it was Butter, and then told her about the interaction that I just had, which was very unpleasant. I then spoke to the owner of the establishment and shared with him the interaction I’d just had. I told him that I would be writing a review, and it’s not going to be a bad review against Don’s Diner, but it’s going to be a review to warn people about this particular employee. The owner and other employee apologized on her behalf but I told them I was still going to write my review to give others a heads up.

I’ve worked in customer service for some years in the past, and there was never a time that I was nasty or ignored a customer. It doesn’t matter how bad your day has been going or what is going on in your life. There’s never a good enough excuse for being unkind to others....

I was there to get a bite to eat around 12am on 8/17/18, I go in and have a seat, the waitress I’m assuming who’s suppose to be working the bar area (no drinks just barstools where you can order to go). So the waitress is flirting with an irv. Police officer by the name of Williams as he explains how her hair looks nice, so I waited, 1 min later a customer comes and sits two stools from my right, she goes over and gives him a menu, 3 mins after that a trio came in and she gives them to go menus, that’s when I interject and ask “I’ve been sitting here 5 mins already I don’t get a menu?” And the reply was “well, they’re right here🤷🏽‍♂️, you could’ve got it...” And I walked out totally disgusted!!!!

I’ve spent 14yrs as a restaurant manager with a combine 18 yrs of experience in the area with 3 of those yrs in my teens working for such places (causal dining) if I were to treat my customers in that manner I would’ve been fired, no questions asked!!! If I had observed any of my employees exhibiting such rudeness and disrespect to a customer, they would be looking for another job within an hour. Doubly worse, as a black man in a climate where the belief is other races will not respect you in their place of business, Well I went to TOPPS diner in Kearney, even though it was busy, they had taken my order within the same 5 mins I had to wait for a menu. I sat outside to smoke a cig and read the news, AND THE GENTLEMAN BROUGHT MY ORDER ALL THE WAY OUTSIDE TO ME WITHIN 15 MINS! Now that’s the type of service I should expect, no matter what race! But it’s obvious to me that black men such as myself will never get treated with respect within his own community and where he spends his money. Because of what took place I will never return to dons diner, and I would discourage anyone to go there especially if you’re gonna be ignored by the members of your own community! How is it possible to attempt to promote “spend black dollars on black businesses” when these same businesses treat you with the same disrespect they claim businesses of other races do to blacks in America? I for one will spend my money elsewhere from this point as I know Dons Diner wouldn’t even as much as give me an apology for that completely rude and disrespectful display of customer service. I as a black man will not spend my dollars at black businesses to be treated as if I’m expected to spend with you and deal with...

I grew up in the 70s in Irvington and throughout my lifetime, Don's was on the the best diners!! Over the years ithasnchanged and not for the better!! I stop going years ago because of this. So, I decided to try it again in 2024. I ordered a Deli Duo and I must say, It was horrible!! I asked for the sandwich on Rye bread with mustard, pickle and slaw!! There were to others with me and they bought the food out one at a time!! My order came out about 5-7 minutes after the first order!! While waiting I asked for water!! They didn't even bother to bring us water or the drinks. When my order finally came out, it was on a Kaiser roll, no mustard, slaw, or pickles!! It was.sent back and I waited another 10 minutes for the sandwich to come back out with no, mustard, pickles or fries!! The meat was sliced so thick and was tough!! They fried it instead of steaming the meats!! Some sliced of the meat had no meat and was thick nasty fat!! I sent the sandwich back!! I ordered a chef salad to go because everyone else was finished eating!! Once I got the chef salad home. The roast beef was brownish color and the meats were cut very thick!! The Swiss cheese tasted like a piece of cardboard!! I threw away the meats and cheese and grilled my own shrimp and had the salad!! Maybe, I should have done the buffet? But that will never happen!! Whoever is cooking doesn't seem to care about how well the food taste or its presentation. But, if you're looking for a bargain and can tolerate the quality of their food, be my guest!! Oh yes, the wait staff is...