The Diner — Restaurant in McMinnville

Don't let the unassuming name fool you; The Diner is incredible. Eggs prepared perfectly. Fresh daily baked goods from their own baker. Excellent coffee from Flag and Wire right in downtown McMinnville. Meat and potatoes from the valley, cooked to perfection. And once again: eggs prepared PERFECTLY. Poached, scrambled, over medium, whatever you want, they nailed every order with textbook precision even with a full house on a weekday!

We ended a week long trip along the Oregon coast here in McMinnville and The Diner stacked up favorably to some of the most expensive fine dining we enjoyed all week. We were seeking anything within walking distance of the Red Lion that wasn't the McDonald's... The Diner popped up across 18 boasting rave reviews, so it was an easy choice to make. It was so good in fact that we made a group effort to get up early the next morning so we could get over to The Diner for breakfast before we had to check out of our room.

You too should try to get up early if you plan to eat here! If you wait until after 11AM you'll find yourself at the back of the line. Their dining area is not large, but they do have outdoor seating for nicer months. It was all packed up when we went in early October (for good reason, it was plenty wet outside) but it is worth the wait, I promise you!

The inside dining area is cozy, warm, and laid out well. It's not claustrophobic even with a full house, and we weren't finding ourselves having to shout across the table to have casual conversation. There is, however, only waiting room for maybe 4-5 people inside the entrance before it is fully packed. So if you end up needing to wait for a table, expect to wait outside, in your car, or in your hotel room. Thankfully they have online tracking for tables so if you're stuck waiting you can leave and track your place in line from somewhere warm and dry.

And last but DEFINITELY not least: the staff were amazing. The waitresses were excellent and super accommodating when one of our party messed up their order. They were quick to take our orders, refill our drinks, and even found a moment or two to crack a joke with us. The chefs in the kitchen were superb and had our food ready before we had finished our second round of drinks, and were able to cook up the amended order our table asked for in barely enough time for us to even finish discussing how we misread the menu! It was genuinely impressive how fast the service was once we were seated. And if you go in don't forget to ask for or check their big chalk board at the back for the daily bakery special!

Overall The Diner was a highlight of our culinary journey around the Northwest corner of Oregon. Definitely returning whenever we find ourselves in...

Came at 11 on a Friday for brunch this weekend. 2 of us got sat by nice window. Cool interior and vibe inside an architecturally cool building out by wvmc on hwy in Mac. Excellent service and frequent water refills. Service is a well oiled machine here- especially since it was bustling- not packed, but busy. Me and the bestie ordered bloody Mary’s (I try on at each new spot I go to. And I’m picky) and eggs Bennie’s. But, there is many curated sweet and savory thoughtful choices here! I wanted their house sausage gravy and homemade cheddar biscuits cause they looked amaze online, but we were headed to the spa after… so that for next time. I ordered fried chicken n bacon eggs benny on a cheddar biscuit with hollandaise. And tater tots for fun instead of basic hashbrowns. Dude. Crispy juicy chicken. Lemony silky hollandaise- not clumpy thank you. Crispy thick cut bacon. They make their own bread- so that biscuit was soft and chewy with crusty edges. And tater tots! Jeez they were as good as McMenis Cajun tots imo! Not oily, tasty ranch too. I’ll will be back for that sausage gravy. My friend had the prawn Bennie with hollandaise and English muffin- like a Classic with a twist. She said it was delicious also. I loved that they had like 5 choices for Bloodys- I was especially looking forward to the “smoked” component, and I hit that, but the amount of booze was lacking and for me, it needed more horseradish and Worcestershire and hot sauce to be a good bloody for me. I like a full bodied spicy one. Oh well. Our server was the owner’s daughter. And I loved her knowledge of the items and ingredients, her friendly cool nature, and I noticed the way she ran the ship- kudos girl. Your service and your team and food will make me return . For gravy. Plus guys- they have Mac Meltdown trophies for like the last 7 years. A great...

Our meal at the Diner was fabulous tonight. We expected the Diner to be packed on New Years eve but we had no wait and amazing service.

When the server told us the specials for the evening I was amazed they were trying something so elegant. It was the surf and turf that had a sous vide steak with scallops with a pomegranate sauce and honey glazed carrots. The scallops were too delicate for the pomegranate sauce and unfortunately over powered it, however there was not a lot of the sauce and it was very easy to avoid. The scallops themselves were prepared to perfection, soft and delicate. The steak was amazing, the texture was perfect the seasoning was to die for, it had a beef sauce under it that was extremely well balanced. The carrots were perfect and the mash was velvety and delicious. A nearly perfect meal, I could eat that everyday. I don't normally do desert but the server offers us bannana bread, once again I thought this was a strange offering but seeing how well the kitchen handled the main course I had to see what this bannana bread was about and I was not disappointed. A pillowy slice of bannana bread under vanilla ice cream with a caramel drizzle that was amazing. I feel like it could have benefited from something tart to cut into the three layers of sweet but overall an amazing dish. Our server was amazing, she immediately complemented my wife's shirt and this made my wife very happy. I love it when she is beaming like that. The server was very friendly, joked with my wife. She always had more water as soon as I finished my water and knew the menu very well. The resteraunt was hospital clean, the table were arranged beautifully.

Overall I cannot say enough great things about our experience tonight, the food, service, cleanliness and overall vibe was wonderful. I am looking forward to...