Pine Grove Diner — Restaurant in Pine Grove Township

We had a very disturbing experience that, as a former multi-restaurant owner, I was hoping would have been addressed/handled better than it was. We had our annual family reunion at nearby Twin Grove and all of us (nearly 50) went to this diner the morning before we checked out. We were all seated in the same section and our order (for 8 of us) was taking longer than all the others. Our guess was that Lauren misplaced our order or just forgot it. While the other 42 in our party were served and eating (within 30 minutes) we politely waited as they were served. After 50 minutes we called this to our servers attention and she seemed to blow us off. She wasn't really rude, just didn't seem to care- some of us still had to checkout (thinking that we had plenty of time to eat and check out with 2 hours to spare). Apparently calling this to our server attention was the wrong thing to do as she stopped acknowledging us while serving the tables around us in our party, specifically not refilling the 4 kids drinks in our party (had to go up to the counter). After 75 minutes (how could we go somewhere else when our whole extended family was all seated around us and we still needed to say goodbye) I literally had to stand up to get her attention and cancel my brother in laws order so he could go back and pack (they had more stuff than the rest of us since they had a toddler). After 89 minutes we were served (the food was good, as it had been the 3 other times we brought the family there in years past). We hurriedly finished and said goodbye to our patiently waiting extended family and sat back down to get the check. The restaurant was not particularly busy (something I pay attention to) and they were well staffed for the duration of the experience. Lauren dropped off the check and my brother in laws order was still on the bill (the food was not prepared or brought out earlier). I called this to her attention and was met with "well, he did order it". It was at this point where I felt myself getting quite angry...we brought in 50 guests (actually had called to see if they were busy), waited patiently with 4 children to care for the entire time (all parents know how much fun that is, especially since we were hungrily watching our extended family eat all around us), were ignored for refills, and we had to cancel part of the order because we had been there for over an hour and they had to check out of where we were staying and she is trying to charge me for something that didn't come to the table?!? As a restaurant owner, I would have likely compensated them for the meal and would have apologized for the hour and a half wait to be served. I was shocked when I went to talk with her manager and was also met with dismissive attention. The bill was corrected, however nothing more. Very bad experience...would rate service a zero however would give the food a four, which explains the 2 out...

While visiting the area my family decided to enjoy our last breakfast in PA before we got on the road. We came in had to wait about 10 minutes despite several empty and available tables. Noticed they seemed to be very short staffed with only 2 servers who seemed overwhelmed and unable to handle the crowd. We finally got sat at a table but were consistently ignored. We as given menus but not one glass of water. As we sat and watched other tables greeted, orders taken and food served we continued to be ignored. The 2 servers continued to greet and seat NEW tables despite not only our table but other tables not even given water or had our orders taken. Why continue to seat more tables when you haven’t even taken care of the tables you just sat. Seems to not follow the simple protocol of work smart not hard.

The new tables should’ve waited until the tables that were just sat were served and taken care of including food orders out in.

Not one time did either server apologize or even say I will be right with you. Acknowledgement, Accountability and simple manners such as I apologize for the wait or I didn’t forget about you be with you momentarily goes a long way in the service industry.

I failed to mention we were the only minorities in the diner. Which seemed to not be welcomed. Especially since people kept staring as if they never seen beautiful and handsome people before.

At the end of the day when we do return to PA since our entire trip besides this experience was absolutely amazing we will NOT be retuning to this establishment.

Sad because we TIP VERY VERY WELL MORE THAN 50% even sometimes more than the total of the entire bill. So you lost out on an easy $100 tip all you had to do was acknowledge, provide service and treat us like you would want to be treated.

We went to another diner and the experience was night and day. We were greeted with grace and hospitality, sat immediately and given waters within seconds of being sat.

The waitress was warm, bubbly and beyond friendly. She provided recommendations but most of all thanked us for being there.

Order taken within 3 minutes of being sat and food came out in less than 15 mins for a table of people.

She treated table to dessert and we...

My fiancee had been begging me to stop here for breakfast. I am hesitant because I have Celiac's and it's hard to find cooks that don't mind taking a little extra time. Upon entering the diner, two employees were behind the counter. Three others looked to be taking a break in the corner booth. There were only two other people in here, so it wasn't too busy. We waited a couple of minutes, then the female behind the counter filling napkins or something said "just have a seat anywhere and I'll be with you whenever I can"! We thought ok, apparently someone is having a bad day. We sat at the smallest booth in the place, it was cozy. After another 5-10 mins we were asked for our drinks. Then our meals a little bit later. I asked if I could substitute home fries for french fries. I was told the owners do not allow substitution. Ok I thought. The menu is already subpar, now we cannot make an exception for someone with allergies. What's the difference your thinking? French fries are done in a fryer with breaded products. In this manner it didn't matter, because unbeknownst to me the home fries apparently are too. So ordering home fries did not solve my problem and the waitress really didn't care to let me know. My salad was wilted iceberg bagged lettuce mix with croutons and tomato chunks added. When the meal came out, you would expect the waitress to take V/O bottles and plates to make room, especially since we are in a table that only seats 1 plate comfortably. Nope, let's shuffle everything and leave it. Unfortunately I will not be returning. It felt like a cheap knockoff of Nifty Fifties in Philadelphia. One would think that with 8 employees and only 15 booths the place would have better service and faster service with semi quality food. Not the case. You cannot find quality diners in the area. That's why I go to diners in Philadelphia area once a month. Maybe the owners should visit the blue fountain in Bristol or equivalent to get an idea of how run and operate. 38.00 for two people and I would usually tip 10-15.00. my fiancee wanted to tip 3.00, but I felt 5.00 was fair. Even if we really didn't have any service. Maybe I'm to generous. McDonald's is after all 30.00 for 2...