Bessie's Diner — Restaurant in Marion

We'd been wanting an indulgent Southern breakfast for a while, but haven't been dining out since the beginning of the pandemic. I discovered this little gem, and remembered that previous owners had a drive through window. I ordered takeout this morning, corned beef hash, eggs, and french toast for my family.

The corned beef hash was cooked to perfection, and the flavor was perfectly on point. Eggs were fluffy, and not greasy. They use Hunter's livermush, which is always a good sign. We weren't huge fans of the style of the home fries, but they weren't bad, either.

The service was friendly, warm, professional, and prompt. Everything was packaged in such a way as to avoid anything getting soggy or squished. Condiments and tableware were included in the bag without my having requested either.

Slightly pricier than the usual diner in this area... but then the usual diners in this area are seldom anything more than glorified truck stops with trashy staff and mediocre food. This was well worth what we paid.

If I could give more than 5 stars, I definitely would. We'll definitely be patronizing this establishment in the future, probably more frequently than is prudent! 😆

(Edit to add: we've eaten here a couple of times since this review, and while I HIGHLY recommend most of the breakfast menu, steer clear of the biscuits and gravy. The biscuits may as well have been canned, and were completely flavorless, and the gravy was little more than a greasy paste, far too thick and tasted like nothing but wet flour. Literally everything else on the menu that we've tried is amazing, though, so I'm leaving...

Visiting family in Marion, we found Bessie's Diner and had breakfast (I guess brunch) one morning around 10:30. Though small and seems to have regular patrons we didn't wait for a table nor did we see anyone else wait. We saw the owner, one cook and one waitress who was amazingly efficient and a ray of sunshine with her friendly attitude. The food came out quick, the coffee was delicious, and refills were quick. In fact everything was quick but they weren't rushing anyone to hurry and leave. The food was absolutely delicious and perfect prepared. I loved that they had an ala carte part of the menu where you can order one egg or one pancake, etc. That's perfect for me because I can't eat a huge breakfast. The prices were incredibly reasonable. We both had coffee (limitless refills), I had one pancake, crispy hash browns and bacon. My husband had the sampler breakfast: 2 eggs, hash browns, toast, bacon, ham and sausage. Our bill with tax was $23.99, and we were completely satisfied. We will go back whenever we are...

Wow. This place is fantastic! We went there for breakfast this morning. The breakfast looks amazing, but I’m not a breakfast eater and found out that you can have lunch for breakfast as well. I had the Philly cheesesteak and it’s one of the best ones I’ve had. The meat was full of flavor and not dry. The cheese was creamy and melty. It comes with fries or onion rings, but I opted for the home fries And so glad I did. Those were an absolute treat. They are like real potatoes and then they crisp up one edge which makes them super addictive. In addition to great food and lots of choices, the staff is amazing. They were all super friendly, very efficient and attentive, and they will never let your coffee get down to half a cup. I actually had to stop them because they’re so eager to fill your cup. It’s safe to say the service is unbeatable here. What a great little gem in Marion,...