Bel Aire Diner — Restaurant in New York

I visited Bel Aire Diner today .I kinda, sorta like this diner . I was in the Astoria Queens area and had a taste for a burger.Although I didn’t get a regular cheeseburger the remembrance of the Turkey cheeseburger came into my mind. This diner is known for its great tasting burgers. Their breakfast is pretty cool in which before you order the actual breakfast they serve a variety of complementary mini muffins . I like that because it takes away the yearning taste for something sweet in your mouth . I’ve traveled far just to get here ,so my expectations are high especially when I’m hungry. It is packed in this diner at times and they cater to all people however at times they can be a little prejudice. For example they’d place the black, Latin, and darker skinned people by the bathroom or closer to the entrance .The white,Polish, Italian and whatever lighter colored ethnicity they place them in a well air conditioned area.Even though I’ve order this burger I’ve still asked the waiter for the complimentary mini muffins . Why do I have to ask him for the mini muffins they should of automatically be given to me .I got here at 11:30 am so it is considered to be breakfast time at least.However , by me waiting sooo long is not right. My meal finally arrived, it tastes okay!The French fries are crunchy & soft in the middle which is nice.I like the Turkey cheeseburger it has a balanced taste. It is 11:51 still no muffins , wink...wink! The ketchup is low and I had to squeeze the bottle to get some out.I’m really starting to feel uncomfortable. Oh yeah I’ve forgot to mention that the hostess took a long time to seat me , she only seated me when a small crowd of “white girls “ came in and I had to make myself look hideous and inform the hostess that I was waiting to be seat before them .This is what I’m speaking about ! Still no mini muffins ,it is now 11:58, but if I was someone else they’d bring it out .I’m going to wait a little ,at this point even though the turkey cheeseburger is good I just want to leave. I feel unappreciated as a customer and if it’s the will of the Most High in Yeshua’s name for me not to return, I wouldn’t .I saw the waiter which is a male and told him that I’m ready for the check. I’m not sure why they have restaurants if people aren’t going to deliver proper customer service. It’s bananas, also on top of the nonsense of biased mannerism,if you pay by credit card the hostess at the front asks the person if they are leaving a tip . Why would you ask that if the employee is getting paid already?! They only do it to the black people. I’ve witnessed them do it to me and today I’ve witnessed them doing it to a black woman with two kids that were biracial. Now Starbucks isn’t the establishment that needs reevaluating.This diner is recommended for groups only that’ll give a big tip. That’s what it is , “they concentrate” on tips!!!!! Their service isn’t all that as well as the food . Plus the quality of air sucks, one minute the air is warm , then cold! If someone has heart conditions or asthma they’ll literally pass out . So I rate this diner a 2 out of 5 , they do...

I’ve been to this diner for a good 10-12 years, since I was a child. I enjoyed my experience for a while to only find out how poor the service and management was recently. When I walked in a waitress told me “aren’t you cold” commenting on my clothing with dirty looks. As My sister and I went into this diner.. my sister picked a 4 combination appetizer which costed 24-25 dollars. She had half of the plate and while she was eating she told me how she didn’t enjoy the food and ate it since she hates complaining and haven’t ate the whole day after school. She also dislikes wasting food, so what I decided to do was talk to the waiter. He gave me a huge attitude and said we got what we asked for. The plate was full of fried up frozen pieces of “jalapeño poppers” which was two pieces and fried with plastic cheese, chicken nuggets which wasn’t asked for, and Mac and cheese bites with two pieces of macorni inside.. we told a different waiter about the meal and he offered a refund. My sister was not up for the offer and just wanted to inform them about the poor service, including the fact they gave me pancake syrup for my green tea instead of honey? And showed an attitude when I wanted to change my drink. Then the manager came to talk to us with a huge attitude saying “what’s the problem” in a demeaning tone and we explained the poor service and issues with the food that looked like a British fry up. She then said “we can’t do refunds since you already ate half of it” we then explained that we didn’t asked for a refund and that it was offered to us. And she kept shoving it in our face that they didn’t want to refund anything, although we only wanted to inform them about the issues with the food and the service. She even said “you come here with your mother right?” Even though that is none of her business and should leave my family out of her mouth or any tempted threats. Never ever going to this diner again. They have issues with certain people and certainly brown people, their waitresses are sometimes jealous and will comment on your clothes when that is NOT their...

typical looking NE US diner with an extensive menu with items ranging from Greek, Italian, Latin, and American. Open 21 hours a day serving all three meals anytime. Full bar. Two huge dessert cases. Very slow during our dinner hour visit. Maybe three other tables. Picture your stereotypical diner interior and you would be right on. Not in a bad way by any means. Very clean and furnishings in great condition.

Small language difficulties with our waiter as his accent was strong to us. But it was not a major impediment. After meandering through the multi-page menu, we both chose our meals. DW chose to start with a cp of soup, the type of which she had never tried before, Avgelemono (Greek Lemon Chicken Soup). With an entrée choice of her fave, Spaghetti Bolognese. I went full on diner dinner, fresh Garden Salad with ranch and Meatloaf dinner with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy. The salad was as expected except for the excessive amount of Broccoli. The soup was a big winner, rich with a subtle lemon flavor. Clearly made with love and much time to simmer and meld. Very tasty.

Our entrees were served and OMG the size of the portions was large in the extreme. A bowl of pasta like a hubcap full of delicious looking beef and sauce. Unfortunately, it was quite bland, displaying no real Italian flavor. Just beef and tomato. The plate of meatloaf I received had three large slices of brown loaf with thin brown gravy. Alongside a dish of mashed potatoes under more thin gravy. The slices of meat looked to have been placed on a flat top in an attempt to bring them up to eating temperature-as evidenced by the caramelization along the edges. The meat was barely above warm, the gravy had a nice flavor, and was not overly salty like some. Same temp issue with the potatoes. Meal was nothing special, except in size. Based on our one experience, I can’t recommend...