North Hollywood Diner — Restaurant in Los Angeles

I've been here three times, and it's hard to think of a single restaurant I've ever been to that I have enjoyed less.

First time, nine years ago: lukewarm chicken noodle soup with disgusting clumps, and a bagel that felt like it was easily three days old. Slow, inattentive service.

Second time, 6 years ago: Slow service, bland food, and corn so incredibly salty I could have salted the entire party's meal with it.

Third time, this week:

Drinks were rarely refilled and we eventually gave up and filled our own drinks from the unit on the patio. Silverware was filthy. Appetizer platter was delivered and server asked us if we wanted plates, which seemed like an unnecessary question, but the option suddenly made sense when they were delivered also filthy. We had to go through them and turn in half of them for clean ones. The onion rings were oddly watery and creamy, and the wings tasted like they came from the 7-Eleven across the street. The mozzarella sticks were decent, though.

The main courses mostly arrived, although one of our party who ironically ordered the only non-hot dish waited an additional 10 minutes before being notified his order never made it to the kitchen and was now being made. My steak, ordered medium, was delivered well done and super rough, and the steamed vegetables were lifeless and bland. The baked potato was decent, though.

After we finished our main courses, our server offered to clear our plates, proceeded to clear half of them, and left all of the rest on the table for the remainder of the evening, forcing us to move them ourselves to clear space for dessert. When we ordered said dessert, one member of our party ordered the banana cream pie, and I ordered the lemon meringue pie. Our server returned several minutes later to inform the other member of the party that they were out of banana cream pie, but highly recommended the chocolate as an alternative, which he agreed to. Server left, returned several minutes later to inform me they were also out of lemon meringue. I also asked for the chocolate cream pie, at which point I was informed we would need to fight for the last piece. I "won" the fight, much to my eventual horror. The pie that was delivered initially fooled me with its freshly-sprayed whipped cream, but it quickly became clear this was a cover-up for the fact that the pie had clearly sat on the shelf for possibly weeks. My fork could barely make it through the cream layer on top, much less the chocolate filling itself, despite not being cold enough to be frozen, and the actual flavor was sour and sickening. Our friend who ordered the carrot cake reported it was freakishly spicy and did not sit well with him. The chocolate cake was decent, though.

Every few years I get roped into returning to this restaurant and regret it every single time. I have never been to a more consistently bad restaurant. I understand every place has its off moments, and I won't judge a restaurant based off of one experience. But three visits across a decade have every single time been the worst restaurant food I've ever had. I feel like that's a pattern worth writing up. The parking was...

I decided to return today after a long absence.

I ordered the salmon special which is offered at 2 pm but the waiter charged the regular price.

He brought the soup but no soup spoon.

I asked for the biscuit that comes with the meal but the waiter didn't think it was included. He checked the menu and discovered it is included.

The salmon was thin and over cooked. The texture was chewy.

I asked for crispy french fries but what I got were soggy.

Last visit to a place I once enjoyed coming to.

Previous Review

This restaurant has declined over the past year. I should preface this review by stating that most of the staff are wonderful and attentive.

A few months ago I began noticing the flavor of the food and servings were not as not as good as they once were. The turkey is horrible. Last time I ordered a turkey sandwich the meat was putrid and not fresh. Two bites and I left my meal. On another occasion, the hamburger steak was extremely dry. I didn't finish it.

The sole (fish) was also horrible, tasting as it had been refrigerated a long while and defrosted improperly. Their bacon is pre-fried and when served, is dry and hard.

Today, the day after Christmas, I was told I would have to wait 30-minutes for my meal because they are busy and have a new cook. There were several customers but not all tables were occupied. I wasn't in a hurry so I ordered an ice tea, a pattie melt prepared medium-well and "extra crispy" french fries.

The ice tea was brought to me with almost no ice, no lemon, and no straw. There was also no table setting. I got up and asked for a slice of lemon and got my own silverware, straw, and napkins.

My meal arrived 25 minutes later and the meat was rare and not medium-well while the fries were pale and not crispy and the cheese in the sandwich wasn't melted.

I ate a part of the meat and some of the bread.

I am not sure I will return. I have patrionized this place for years and under numerous owners but the food nowadays, is awful. What happened?

PS: A party of three people left because after a long wait, their food had not been delivered to their table. Another party had to leave me the backroom to ask waitresses to provide them with napkins and refill their coffee.

Three months ago, two waitresses I haven't seen recently, argued just a few feet from where I sat and accused each other...

A traditional and great throwback 50s style diner in North Hollywood. It is 24 hours and they serve breakfast through dinner so they really have a ton of great options on the menu. Our server Lola was absolutely great and very attentive. She was funny, polite, and did a great job. The issue we had for our brunch today was it took 35 minutes for our two entrées to arrive after ordering, which is slow for a diner. However the service speed and just comparing it flavor wise to other diners makes me hold back one star. I do love how there is a large free parking lot attached so parking is really easy and plentiful.

There were a lot of items that I wanted to order on the menu, but today I chose to try their Chicken Fried Steak. I also ordered a side biscuit. The biscuit was not my favorite, it was pretty small next to others I have had recently. The chicken fried steak was very good, but I have had better versions at some other local diners. The gravy was a bit watery and the other dish we ordered came with bacon, which was very undercooked but aside from that everything else really hit the spot. Wish they did hashbrowns instead of country potatoes though. Their coffee is also really good and was surprisingly strong.

Overall a solid diner option in North Hollywood. I’m holding back a star because of the service speed and just comparing it to other diners in LA, but still would recommend...