Starliner Diner — Restaurant in Norwich Township

I've lived in Hilliard for the last 25 years, and have eaten here well over 150 times. Based on that, I had a group of four of us that were planning on having lunch here today, April 3, 2025, at 1 PM.

Three of the four of us showed up at 12:55 PM for our lunch. There were at least five open tables / booths. I shared with the hostess we had a group of four, and would like to be seated. She told us she could only seat us when all four of our party had arrived.

(Some data points: The fourth was coming from downtown, and wouldn't arrive until about 1:05 PM. There was no one else in the lobby. The restaurant closed at 2 PM.)

I asked the hostess if she was 'kidding,' that we had to wait for our fourth versus being seated and ordering drinks. She said she wasn't. I asked to see the manager. She smirked and went off to find him.

When the manager arrived, I asked him if we could be seated. He said as soon as our fourth showed up. I asked him why that was. He responded it had to do with the 'flow' for the restaurant. I asked him what flow was going to be interrupted by seating us when he had at least five open tables, three of us were present, and the restaurant closed in an hour? He said he hoped they would fill those last five tables before closing.

I told him he could fill one right now with the three of us, and I didn't see how his 'flow' would be impacted. He responded by sharing he couldn't do that. I told him we'd be finding another restaurant to go to in the area, and I wouldn't be back to his establishment again. We went down the street to Local Cantina and had a wonderful lunch!

Now - I understand the policy of waiting to sit parties until all members have arrived. I'm sure it's a great policy for restaurants that employ it, and probably helps patrons as well. However, sticking to this 'policy' when the situation warranted a different response was irresponsible of the manager at best, and negligent at worst.

Good managers make reasonable exceptions to general rules. If I had lied and said when we entered we had a party of three, the hostess would have seated us at one of the open four top tables / booths, and when our fourth came along to join us, we'd have spent over $60 (which is what we spent at Local Cantina). No table would have been lost in the 'flow,' and everyone would have been happy. When we shared we had four in our party and one was on their way, then policy won out over common sense: we weren't seated, and Starliner lost a long-term customer (one who will share this experience far and wide, and has already changed his plans to have lunch there next Friday with...

Starliner Diner A Big NO!

Got there at 1pm, open until 2pm. Took at least 5 minutes before anyone came by. Once the orders were placed, took 40 minutes for the food. I ordered the Cuban sandwich, which after the first bite, I should have sent back. I didn’t because my girlfriend would have said that I was exaggerating about the flavor. The sandwich was on bread the size of a hotdog by, and smashed flat. The taste was repulsive to say the least, so 8 put mustard on it to cover the flavor and that did not work. I ended up putting hot sauce on it, and that helped a little. For being a Cuban place, they did not know how to make a Cuban.

My girlfriend ordered the spicy chicken sandwich. This was a full size chicken breast, sliced in half pounded thin, and underseasoned. Actually, no flavor at all. It was served on a hamburger bun that was the size of the bun you get at Kroger‘s. So whenever you picked up the sandwich to eat it, your fingers were in and on the chicken breast. Supposed to be served with mayonnaise, dry as a bone. No mayonnaise. No mustard. No nothing. It was served with sweet potato fries that were cold and limp. Should’ve sent that back too.

We brought our mom along so she can have a Sunday meal. She ordered the Cuban pizza. Dried out big chunks of pork and look like when they put the pizza together they literally threw it on the pizza shell, cause half of the serving was off the side of the pizza shell. The other side was pure bread nothing on it. She ate a couple of bites, gave it to me and says she can’t eat it. I did mustard down eating it by putting on habanero sauce. That made it a little more acceptable.

Highly disappointed in the starlight diner. I’ve come here before and I plan on never coming back again. The service was poor from the kitchen and who the cook was needs to be fired. I do not recommend this place nor was it worth the price.

The only thing half decent was the French toast, that was served with only one slice of strawberry three slices of cantaloupe and a few berries. So when you see peoples pictures of the French toast covered in fruit, don’t expect that.

So the starlight diner is a big no and yes, we will never...

Bummer…… My wife and I thought that we found a hidden gem, because the reviews for this place are high.

The food was actually not bad, for the little bit we ate. but the experience, and service was beyond HORRIBLE!!!!

If you are of (Black Nationality), be warned, do not go to this establishment. Between the servers looking at us as if they never seen black people before, and their uninviting attitudes, it definitely told us that we made a mistake by being there. The two young waitresses that were working gave us funny and weird looks, they were not welcoming at all. We were rushed with our waitress, whose name on our receipt was Polina. She didn’t have any info about their menu when asked, and she was very stand off-ish, with a cold shoulder attitude. As soon as the food hit the table she placed the receipt on the table and asked if we needed a box. We were ready to leave, even though we hadn’t had a chance to eat our meal. Feeling like we were being rushed, I felt as if I had to scarf down as much food as possible, after realizing that they wanted us to leave. Half of my order wasn’t even brought out.

Also, to make matters worse, we saw what looked like a roach crawling across the wall, and down under the table. That was the final turn off. My wife and I didn’t want to eat our food, and she didn’t want to sit near the wall in our booth.

With us being foodies, we enjoy restaurant and diner experiences!!! We are generous tippers, tipping 30% and above depending on the service. However, Polina seemed to believe that It’s a crime to be dining while black, and we were guilty; her service definitely showed it. We didn’t want to leave her anything, but we are followers of the LORD Jesus, and our God, and our Faith teaches us otherwise. So we left her 15%, although she didn’t do anything to warrant that as a tip.

If I could leave zero stars for the treatment, and experience we...