The Johnson Diner • Bar — Restaurant in New York

UPDATE: just had a delicious beef moussaka and Greek salad, hubby said his turkey burger was delicious. Nice fresh salad and coleslaw. Water pitcher for table had plenty of ice. Service great. A bit slow getting our check because suddenly got crowded but owner jumped in and paying by tap on waitress’s device super quick. Best of all, front padded bench now has tables along it - there was a happy crowd of school kids eating there, enjoying the open windows.

• (original review below)

Wait staff doesn’t list choices, for example, I ordered grilled cheese, “Is American cheese okay?” made me think that’s all they had so I had that - turns out they have other choices (cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss) and I’m not sure about bread choices besides rye because those were not offered up either. I’ve had excellent guacamole with fresh chips previously but today, it wasn’t that fresh and chips were stale. Did not touch the coleslaw because it also didn’t look fresh and, on an earlier visit, a fellow diner said the coleslaw tasted off. The menu is not accurate (oatmeal does not come with cinnamon as promised and the fruit on the waffle is pretty sparse and I thought I noticed something about blueberry compote but that didn’t come. Syrup not great-could offer real maple for an extra charge. Sunday special listed leg of lamb but waitress had to go into the kitchen to ask if they had, and they didn’t. Carver sandwich roast beef listed but not available.) One server was actually running with plates of food then running back to the kitchen (REALLY dangerous for him and others, not to mention nerve wracking for diners trying to relax.) Milkshakes good but don’t come with long spoon (iced tea doesn’t either) or with a wide straw, which you need for a milkshake. Bolognese pasta had a nice fresh scoop of ricotta on top, sauce a bit too sweet but otherwise good. Excellent rice pudding but definitely need more dessert choices because we want to go there often! Nice to have water pitcher right on the table but it’s room temperature so I asked for a side of ice, which quickly arrived in a plastic cup. Wait staff served drinks after bringing food instead of before. Lentil soup really good - would be nice to have a vegetarian soup choice every day. Broccoli was fresh and cooked al dente (good!) and mashed potatoes good. Pancakes good, would be better with better syrup. This review after 6 visits of really wanting to love this place. Finally, because they did not replace the tables Blue Bay had in front (long, padded bench there with wide open windows nice but at a cost), there is no way to seat a group of over 6 - and even in their larger booths, that would be a squeeze...

I have eaten here several times and have had fairly decent service. The wait staff us always been polite and recovered well if there was an error with our order. I am writing this review as I hope this will make a change for what I am about to comment on. While sitting down for our meal on a Sunday morning I witnessed the owner/manager sit down to have food for himself near the host/POS station. While this is not uncommon and generally Ana acceptable practice, I observed multiple issues that are not acceptable and are actually health code violations. As it appears they were understaffed today, the owner/manager had stopped eating in multiple occasions to assist where needed. He would eat, use napkin and touch his face then go to the POS, answer the phone etc. he treated customers touched menus removed his own dirty dishes and reset the seat. However not once did he was his hands. He then proceeded outside with his coffee after putting on his winter coat with a cigarette in hand. He then returned less than 5 minutes later took his coat off, picked up a receipt off the floor. Then assisted the busser because they accidentally spilled dishes at the table by the door. The owner preceded to grab a bar towel and clean up the table. He then greeted regular patrons that just entered and touched one of their hands. He went back to cleaning the table and still had not once washed his hands. This entire time there was a huge amount of cross contamination which would have played a very low sanitation grade. I feel it’s important that I post This for several reasons. 1, there aren’t many restaurants in riverdale to have a nice sit down meal. 2, if this is how the owner/manager is performing in front of the patronage, it makes me question how the staff is being supervised and held accountable and how the sanitation standard of the back of house. Please Johnson Diner, do better. I want to be a regular customer at your...

I visited The Johnson as a couple on a Saturday midday time. It wasn’t very busy which should’ve made for ease of customer service being the day before Easter weekend. They didn’t even decorate the place. We sat at a table right near the counter so you really can’t forget us.

Our waitress was a young twenty-something brunette who showed no experience or respect for customers. It took awhile to get the food. Which was a rib-eye steak & grilled veggies. The other was eggs. We were never asked or enticed to order anything else. When we felt we’re done we asked for the check.

Peter, the owner, was sitting at the counter on his PC & our waitress was standing by him. I watched them for minutes just chatting & looking at the screen which looked like it had scheduling going on. You’re a waitress w/present customers why are you there?!

It took me to have to walk over to them to remind her to charge my card bc she never returned for it. Earlier while eating I even saw customers having to get their own menus bc none was given to them.

This place is HIT or MISS. The waiting staff seems to be a constant turnover. Waiting staff here seem to be good or bad you never know. I’ll be staying away for a long time until I hear or...