Stirling House Diner — Restaurant in Long Hill Township

04/18/23 I go here often, a few times a week. Their strong suit is their staff. From the evening host who sends you on your way with a chuckle from one, or three, of his jokes, to the servers who tend to your needs with a sincere smile and pleasant demeanor, even the bus boy goes about his work with a smile!

The food is basic diner fare, well prepared and seasoned. The fish is very popular. I know, fish at a diner? YES! Fish at THIS diner!

The Stirling House keeps raising its prices during these difficult times, just like everyone it seems. I wonder if they NEED to keep raising prices, or if they are just raising them because they can.

This will be their downfall.

Part of the appeal of Diners, in general, is decent food for a fair price. When the "fair price" disappears from the equation, the Diner isn't so appealing, and slightly more upscale places, with better offerings make a lot more sense.

Be very careful Stirling House! You are teetering on the cusp of that economical imbalance!

Do not let greed be your downfall!

If you are in the neighborhood and considering going to The Stirling House, go right around the corner to Cilento's, and get your money's worth!

11/09/22 They are just not worth the money any more. If you are lucky, you can get a dinner plate for $17-$20. For a few dollars more people can go to a real restaurant, as opposed to a diner. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE diners and diner food! I think that The Stirling House is pricing itself out of their adult clientele. They will most likely still get the High School crowd after sporting events, and the Sunday breakfast crowd, but why would an adult go here when they could get much better food for the same price, or a dollar or two more (maybe with an adult beverage and without High Schoolers running around)?

It just doesn't make any sense!

It is a shame, this place used to be a great deal with much better food.

I have been going there for the past 30 years, and witnessed their steady decline, in both food, value, and service staff. The prior owner who passed away a few years ago, was much better!

09/04/22 Their biggest issue is being short handed. The service suffers as they appear to have too few servers, especially on weekends.

And don't get me started on the take out orders. More often than not, when we show up at the promised time, our orders are not ready, and they tell us "we are short staffed on take out servers".

This short staffed problem appears to be getting worse week by week.

They really need to understand that service is critical, second only to food quality. One could argue it may even be more important than that since people will not wait forever for their orders regardless of how good the food is.

Time is money!

Keep the place properly staffed if you want to keep the customers happy and returning.

8/26/22 They are just ok. Staff is pretty good, not great.

Food is mediocre at best.

Prices are high for a very basic diner.

1/15/19 They just cannot get their old quality back, in both their food or service! A shame really as the potential exists for the Diner to be a diamond in the rough.

Used to be a great Diner. As of 1.15.19, not so much. Quality of food and service has declined seriously over the past year. Such a shame! Mr. Chow, fix this!

Here is my prior review: Great diner. Well known for their seafood. I know, who in their right mind would order seafood at a diner? This place has great seafood offerings along with typical Diner fare including breakfast at all times. Staff from bus boys to managers are top drawer. They even speak English! Outdoor dining by the zen-like reflecting pool in a seasonal treat! I can't get enough...

I was trying this diner for the first time and was surprised. The atmosphere is good and the overall environment is quiet. But, the food couldn't be described as the same.

Let's start with the soups, Matzo ball and french onion soup. Both were watery and lacked any flavor worth mentioning. Not something I expected from a diner which typically should serve a good soup. Also the french onion was covered in so much cheese I thought I ordered a cheese soup. Literally half a bowl of cheese and half of soup.

The meal, a BLT sandwich and a taylor egg and ham sandwich. The BLT was the size of my mouth and tasted like the bacteria in my mouth. It wad like the chef tried to shove as much as he could between two thin slices of bread. It was dry and bland. The lettuce was not even crunchy. The Taylor egg and ham was the only thing I actually liked. It was savory and juicy, not to mention also delicious.

My friends chicken Parmesan was like rubber as he described it and showed me but cutting it. I thought it was a tire at first... Please cook it better so I don't have to describe it as rubber.

I gave it a two due to the environment and overall service, but the food was...

2025 Update (2/5): Prices have been steadily rising, making this diner less accessible to us than it once was. While price increases are happening everywhere, there hasn’t been a noticeable improvement in quality to justify the cost. Our last visit in 2024 left us disappointed. Even though the diner wasn’t particularly busy, we struggled to get the attention of staff for basic table service (water, utensils, orders, condiments). At checkout, I was pressured at the register for not leaving a 20% tip even though service didn’t warrant it. I left 10%, which felt more than fair under the circumstances.

2023 Review (3/5): As far as diners go, the service here is generally fair to good. The staff are attentive, willing to listen, and do their best to accommodate requests when possible. Food quality tends to vary, and one area that definitely needs improvement is online order accuracy. We've had whole menu items missing from the order, leaving someone without a meal and forcing us to share what did arrive. We have noticed that there are a lot of upcharges; there should be some reconsideration about how items are listed on the menu with the cost...