Becky's Diner — Restaurant in Portland

Becky’s Diner opened on March 13, 1991 in the heart of Portland’s working waterfront district. They serve breakfast all day, lunch at 11am and dinner starting at 4pm. They have indoor and outdoor seating. The atmosphere has a classic dinner feel and is very relaxed. Service was attentive and friendly and the food was hit and miss but overall good. They make a lot of things from scratch including their desserts. This place has been on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives from Food Network and Eater Magazine among many other mentions. I wish we could have been able to try their lunch and breakfast menu but my wife and I decided to go and try their lobster and lobster rolls. If you're looking for a place that has breakfast for dinner, a calm and laid-back atmosphere, classic diner service, all at a fair price, this is the place for you!

My wife got the 1 1/4 pound lobster with onion rings and mixed vegetables and I got the lobster roll with Cole slaw and parmesan brussel sprouts. We also shared a side of spicy waffle fries. I got the Bissell Brothers Substance IPA as a drink. We also got free biscuits and butter as a starter and got a blueberry cream cheese cake Togo.

To start, my lobster roll came with 1/3 of a pound of lobster meat on a hoagie roll with shredded lettuce and drawn butter. On our search for the best lobster roll in Portland, this was the worst that we've tried so far. The meat was tough, there were some tender pieces but it seemed a bit overcooked. The bun was not buttered or toasted and was overall bland. Not the place to get a lobster roll. Also, the parmesan brussel sprouts were terrible. I couldn't even eat them all as they were undercooked and had no sight or flavor of parmesan and just had a bitter taste. Definitely not the place to get these either. The cole slaw was the best part of the meal as is was a mayo based slaw and had decent flavor. The biscuits were also good and I would have loved to try them with their gravy for breakfast.

My wife's lobster was good and came with a bib, a bowl for shells, wet naps, and a nutcracker and picks with plenty of drawn butter to go alongside the meal. Her mixed vegetables were fine and weren't really seasoned with anything. The onion rings were great! We really liked the light, flakey batter with thin onion inside. However, when we got our check we saw that we were charged $3 extra for the onion rings as an upcharge but we weren't informed by the server. Had we been told, we might have ordered something else but we were told we could substitute our sides for any of the other sides on the menu but didn't mention an upcharge. The waffle fries were good but weren't at all spicy. Maybe it's because they added spices to it? Haha Spicy in that sense but not burn your mouth spicy which would have been nice. We just mixed up the hot sauce on the table with the ketchup and that helped amp up the spiciness.

My drink was tasty and Bissell Brothers are well known here in the Portland area as they aren't they only restaurant that has their glassware. My wife was the one who took the cake Togo and she said she liked it.

Overall, like I said I wish I could give this place more credit considering all the places that have recommended them. Maybe we didn't get the right things but what we got was less than stellar. They're probably good with the classic diner breakfast and lunch but don't spend the money for lobster here because it's obviously not their specialty, among other things.

Food - 3 ⭐ Atmosphere - 4.5 ⭐ Service - 4.5 ⭐ Overall - 3 ⭐

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I've never been so disappointed in a restaurant in my entire life. I have been a customer at this restaurant for probably 15 years. What a disappointment. For starters my fries were overcooked. Hate that so much it's not hard to cook fries. My partner who I was with wasn't impressed with the food either. He got onion rings. He had said that if you know known it came with onion rings he would've ordered fries. Nowhere on the menu does it say you can choose between fries or onion rings, or even that it comes with onion rings. May not seem like a big deal to people but it is. Every person likes what they like. Also, and I don't necessarily blame Becky's for this, but there was an older gentleman sitting across from us with his older friend, and he was very flirty with the waitress. I thought it was cute until he pulled out his phone , and whipped out a picture of a half naked chick with her boob showing to show his friend. My son was sitting right there where he could've seen it. Totally inappropriate in every way. The other problem is the exuberant prices for their food. I got a tuna melt and french fries. There's not a whole lot on the menu I actually like besides the breakfast. It doesn't come with the fries. So they charged me for that. Are you kidding me? So I wasn't happy with that. I got my bill and my son barely ate anything as he wasn't really hungry so really most of the cost of the food was me and my partner. $63! Not even including the tip! I figured my meal would be about 40 bucks. Unfortunately because I was not prepared for that, I had to give the server a smaller tip than I wanted to give her because she was great. Their food has gotten way too expensive. Not to mention most restaurants include the fries with the meal. You get a sandwich or a burger, you get fries with it. So I won't be going to Becky's anymore. The other issue the 3% kitchen fee. (think that's what it's called) Since when do I as a customer have to pay a 3% kitchen fee? It's not my job to pay your staff or your kitchen staff for their hard work. That's your job as the owner to pay your employees. Its not the customers issue. This almost reminds me of things like GrubHub, DoorDash, etc. Because you're expected to tip, you're expected to pay for your food, you're expected to pay a delivery fee, and some stupid service fee. I don't order a lot of those either. Money is tight for people right now. Business is like you shouldn't be taking advantage of that. I work in a store that sells food so I get the whole food cost rising. But this...

Becky's Diner is a must for those that want a good old fashioned breakfast (I only had breakfast here, so I can't speak of lunch or dinner).

This place seems to be a popular spot to eat, due to it being packed. Even though I went during a busy hour in the morning, I was immediately sat at the bar. Before I went to my seat, I observed a family of 4, who was in front of me, had to wait only 15 minutes. The reason for such a quick seating service, see the comment below:

From where I was sitting, I could observe all facets of this well oiled diner. Every staff member had a job, they did it well, and they did it with a smile on their face. No one stood around and they all helped each other without being asked. I could overhear the wait staff briefly talk to customers about where they were from, making the clientele feel welcomed. Restaurant Owners - You need to visit Becky's Diner to see how a restaurant should be ran. [Picture a colony of (busy) bees].

Now for the food: Becky's Diner offered your basic breakfast items, along with a handful of specialties, which I contemplated, but decided to go with the basic diner staple - French Toast, bacon, coffee and orange juice. Why? If a diner can't cook the basics, then I doubt their specialties will be worth eating. With that said, my breakfast was excellent! With the provided pictures, you'll see that the portions are plentiful. Even though this place was packed, I waited less than 10 minutes for my food. The coffee and orange juice came to me within minutes. I overheard one of the wait staff say the bread is from a local bakery, and you can tell (delicious!). The bacon was smoked apple, and was not too crisp, or too chewy, perfect in texture and taste. The coffee was hot and strong. The orange juice did not have that 'tinny' taste that a lot of juices have from restaurants, however it did have a little pulp - I don't like pulpy drinks, but that's okay.

When I go back to Becky's Diner, and I will, I can't wait to try one of their...