Joe's Diner — Restaurant in Lee

I went first about a year and a half ago for lunch and it was excellent. Came in again for dinner tonight and it was totally different. The small place was busy but not full which does not explain the hour long wait (50 minutes before we got an appetizer salad, over an hour for the entrees). Multiple parties arrived, ordered, were served, and left before we even got our food. Mind you, that’s a four person party, two of which ordered that day’s dinner specials — so not a large group nor unusual orders. We asked what happened as politely as possible, and we got two responses: “The kitchen must’ve messed up” from one server and “Oh, some dishes take longer to cook than others” from the other. Just brushed off, no apology, no explanation.

So when the food finally did arrive, it wasn’t bad. But one order for fried shrimp was instead coconut shrimp, which was fine but not what was advertised (and only came with the coleslaw it was supposed to be served with after we asked three times). If there had been an allergy involved, it would be a big problem.

To me (and I work in foodservice management, by the way), I would never think it’s okay to give a customer an unacceptable experience and then, when asked for explanation — manage to blame both my team and the customer! I still don’t know exactly what happened, but I won’t be in a...

Got a later start than usual on this day, I'm normally the first customer when I roll up to a place like this while on the road. But when I arrived just a little after 7 am, the counter was already full of locals having breakfast.

Little did I know when I picked this spot that it was the diner featured in Norman Rockwell's "The Runaway." How insanely cool. And, although the original owner, Joe, and most of the memorabilia are gone, the swivel stools and the counter still are, and that's where I sat. Because of course.

There is something about eating at places like this that just fills my soul. The food was excellent by my standards, with crispy bacon, a perfect omelet, well done home fries and a perfectly buttered and toasted english muffin. $14.98 before the tip. Unreal.

I would have taken more photos, but didn't want to disturb the locals, and besides, there are plenty of pics on these reviews already.

I just wanted to give a shout out to the new owners for keeping this place going, and thriving, preserving the past and serving a damn good breakfast at a damn good price.

I will be back, as I'm in the Lee area quite a bit every summer.

As someone else here said ... best breakfast in...

I've been coming here for the past five months and every meal I've had has been amazing. This is a local diner full of history and great food. Classic Americana feel as soon as you walk in. Locals sitting at the bar sipping coffee and talking about day to day life. It's like taking a step back in time. Service is great and Susan is a wonderful and hilarious server. Don't come here expecting groundbreaking elevated dishes, it's a classic diner. There's no cappuccinos or avocado toast, just great classic breakfast food. Cold cut grinder is my go to as is the steak and cheese grinder. The bacon jam burger and juicy Lucy are both amazingly juicy burgers. Only critique is that they need a touch of salt, but there's a salt shaker on the table so no big deal. Also the prices are dirt cheap. You won't spend more that $12 per person any time you visit. Most sandwiches and burgers are less than $8. Overall, if you're looking for a traditional diner breakfast or lunch, this is the...