Mount Joy Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Mount Joy

We don't go out to eat as much as we used too anymore. With that said, after 3, back to back Dr's appointments and driving through a snowy Hell....I was thrilled when my husband said he was taking us to dinner. We have been regular customers of the Mount Joy Diner for many years. We've grown to know several of the employees, and enjoy the small town feel of it. We've tried many different items on the menu, including their prime rib special...(which we took a chance and tried before, and actually enjoyed). UNTIL TONIGHT. Let me start by saying....I am a steak snob. After living in both, Omaha Nebraska and Texas...I can tell the cut of a steak...just by taste, texture and appearance. I've called restaurants out...when they've attempted to serve..sirloin as tenderloin....flank and skirt as a new York strip...and so on. So tonight..it was a queen cut prime rib, desired temp...mid rare to rare. The first one...came out..and resembled a medium size brick. I could barely cut into it and when I finally did, I almost choked on it because it was so dry. I sent that back. My husband's New York strip....which was an advertised special...came out, just under well done....so his went back as well. The second prime rib I received, looked a little closer to mid rare...however..upon trying it...it was again..so dry..it was completely unpalatable. I was really hungry...after 3 appointments and at this point almost 7pm...being diabetic...my sugar was low, as i hasn't eaten since 8 am. So in an attempt to just eat this "shoe"....I requested Au Ju. It came out. I cut a bite. I put it in the Au Ju. My stomach....went sour. It completely turned my stomach....as this, was not the salty, beef flavored, liquid loveliness....IT WAS VINEGAR!!!!...mixed with what I can only assume at this point....was dishwater. I could have cried at this point. If you are diabetic then you understand how quickly you go from feeling ok, to feeling like your on your deathbed. I had JJ...and Izabella..try the liquid I was served, to see if maybe my tastebuds were off. Nope...Izabellas expression was that, of an oral assault...and JJ looked like he was going to spit it out immediately. I instructed the server to remove the second one, that my appetite was gone and my stomach is actually hurting. This is where...it all goes south...as if the first part of my blog isn't bad enough. Let me say this first. The waitress, 2 hostesses and bus boy...we're all very kind and understanding. And I was being forgiving, saying maybe they got some bad cuts of meat---trying to be kind. They went to the back to speak to the owner..JIM. Jim...instructed the server, to tell me this..."this is a diner, if you want good prime rib. Go find a steakhouse" I'm sorry...WHAT!!??? I quite literally heard something snap...in my head. I....went...off....in the nicest way possible. As I recognized that this was not a, front of the house, issue. I requested to speak with Jim...4 times....as he, was unable to face me, unable to look at me, unable to communicate from behind the safety of his kitchen doors. Even the employees and customers sitting around us, were floored when they heard what the waitress was instructed to tell me. I informed the employees to tell him, he is unprofessional, disrespectful, deplorable, and should not be in the food service business. And that...if he cannot back...every single item on his menu, he should remove those items. Or at the very least...don't put them out as a special and write..."crappy prime rib"...so that at the very least, people will know what to expect...

Well if you’re looking for hit or miss diner food and prefer miss then this is the place for you. The last couple of times my wife and I dined here we were not impressed. Last visit was for breakfast. I ordered the chipped beef over toast and home fries and it was very good. My wife ordered the western omelette and could only stand a bite or two. It looked like it was over cooked and brown all over. It also had a strange flavor that reminded me of Chinese fried rice. I don’t know what oil they used to cook it with but this isn’t most people’s idea of an omelette. An omelette should be a bright fresh healthy looking yellow not a brown almost burnt color. When the waitress stopped to ask how things were my wife said she wasn’t really into how the omelette tasted. The waitress just repeated what my wife said but didn’t offer any kind of fix and took the full plate away with literally 2 bites missing. On my way to pay I decided to ask for a discount of my wife’s meal on account that she wasn’t expecting what she got and wasn’t given any options for an alternative. I asked the cashier if we could split the cost of the plate and explained. She called the waitress over and the waitress stated she asked if they could redo it. I said “Did you ask?” Which she responded “Well, ...no.” They acted as if we were trying to skip out on the tab when all I was asking was to only pay for half of an uneaten meal. I said money isn’t the issue. After they agreed to it my bill was still over $16. I walked out flabbergasted. How did diner breakfast become so expensive even with one meal being half off?? I went back to look at the receipt thinking they still charged me full price but I guess the math came out right. That’s nuts. Unfortunately we more than likely won’t return to...

First and last time dining here. I went with my wife and 2 year old son on Saturday just before 9 o'clock in the morning. We were sat in 5 mins and ordered drinks right away. About 5 min after we ordered drinks we ordered our food. We ordered the 222 (two egg over medium, home fries, bacon, French toast), sausage on the side, toast, and a fruit cup. First the fruit cup came out before our drinks and all three pieces of honey do were brown. We had to ask for our drinks because 15 mins after we ordered our drinks we still didn't receive them. As we sat and waited for our food we noticed that the people that came in after us(3 couples) had already gotten their food and were finishing up to leave before we got our food. It was over an hour until we got our food. The toast came out COLD and the waitress forgot our home fries. She then brought our home fries out with the onions thrown on top as if they forgot to put them in and just said "oh oops we will just throw them on top". Our eggs that were supposed to be over medium came out fully cooked. The bacon was crumpled up and tasted like cardboard. We had to wave down our waitress for more drinks(it wasn't as busy at this time). Not once did she come to check on us after we got our food and it took her 15 minutes to bring us our bill after we were done eating. My wife and I both have worked in the restaurant business so we understand everyone is human and things happen especially when its busy, however our experience today was awful. When we went to pay our bill the person at the register said "how was everything?" we told her our experience she discounted our food and apologized and said over and over that they were busy. We appreciated her apologies and the discount but we...