Day & Night Diner — Restaurant in Palmer

Very confused by the ratings for this one, but I assume they are left only by locals; the experience was not overtly hostile, but here are all of the events that scream "outsiders not welcome":

Did not offer us coffee or provide menus until 8 minutes after we had sat down Our food took an realistically long amount of time to cook, which I initially assumed was because their griddle was just broken or slow, but a local sat down 30 minutes after we arrived and got their meal 15 minutes before ours, so I can only guess that this was intentional on behalf of the cook. The food we ordered should not take an hour to cook even if he made each individual item one after the other When the waitress came to deliver the check, she deadbolted the front door as she walked to our booth, and when we payed in cash with tip the moment she arrived, she seemed surprised and walked back to the register, unlocking the deadbolt on her way. I presume this is due to her profiling us as tourists who were likely to dine-and-dash Our meal cost was $36 for an $11 Omelette, 3 servings of bacon, 2 eggs, 1 home fries, 1 toast. We do not have the menu prices on hand but are all confident the total from the menu was lower than $36, presumed "tourist tax" Took roughly an hour from walking in to getting our meal, presumably a tactic to get us to leave out of frustration, but we were stubborn Waitress watched us get into our car from the window until we left

The locals talking with the chef were loudly supporting anti-vaxxer rhetoric, so you can assume their political leanings; because of this and other factors, if you do insist on visiting this restaurant for breakfast:

Do not park outside in an electric, hybrid, or obviously rental/out of state vehicle (we arrived in a rented Tesla) Do not park directly out front, that is local-only parking Do not openly present in a gay or non-cis gendered way Do not arrive as a non-nuclear family/family without an obvious father figure (our group was myself, my brother, and my mother) Do not discuss any socialist, globalist, or otherwise minority sympathizing views Ensure that you can pay for your meal in cash before entering, accounting for tourist tax, God knows what they will do to you after they lock that door if you can't pay

Do all of these and you might have a better experience than we did, the food was pretty good even despite it being on the griddle for an eternity, and the aesthetic of the restaurant is initially warm, welcoming and rustic. However, the owners seem to consider this less of a "restaurant open to the public" and more of a "daily private breakfast club where attendees reimburse the host for food costs", and the owners should lock the doors before the uninvited enter so that they know where the...

Quite a dirty establishment, but that has to be expected a bit for a place this old. I went with my parents while out on a day trip. My mother got the BLT, my dad got the Cheeseburger Platter, and i got the Open Face Roast. The BLT bread didnt seem to be toasted virtually at all, and there was no lettuce on the sandwich (kind of a given on a BLT), but thankfully there was plenty of bacon and it wasn't chewy. The cheeseburger platter was nothing to brag about, standard burger and fries. The "Open Face Roast" i got was a piece of beef (looked like a hamburg steak) cooked to well done (i wasn't asked how i wanted the meat cooked) over a couple pieces of white bread covered in a bit of gravy. It was OK but about 30% of the meat was pure fat, not even an iota of meat within that fat content. It could have been cut off before cooking. In addition there were some standard fries, and cole slaw. The cole claw was probably the best part of the meal. Ultra-crisp and fresh. Ultimately, a standard greasy spoon diner, but maybe a little bit worse than others i've been to of the same variety. The only redeeming factor was the waitress who was nice and courteous. Would eat again only if forced to, must be something a bit...

The main reasons to visit this place are the intact historical nature of the place and Carl, the cheerful and funny cook. If you want great diner breakfast food with a little entertainment on the side, this is your place. The breakfast food here is the best in town. But there is a downside and it can be painful. The wait for your food here can be excruciatingly long. Carl only cooks one or two meals at a time, so you have to wait... and wait... and wait. Even worse, for some reason, takeout orders seem to take priority over in-restaurant orders. Others have noted the same odd thing. Your in-restaurant order will get pushed back while they do takeout orders if any happen to come in. So bottom line: Try to hit the place when it isn't too crowded and make sure you have plenty of time. The food and the show...