The Putney Diner — Restaurant in Putney

Had been looking forward to coming here since moving to the area and back to New England. What a huge dissapointment.

Walked in to two young people standing behind the bar/counter. Waited for a bit for anyone to offer a greeting. Was looked at numerous times and ignored. When I finally asked if I could take an open seat at the counter or if I needed to check in with the waitress up ahead, I was told that was fine. I sat down to zero welcome and a dirty counter with cold food crumbs a big rack of silverware waiting to be rolled right in front of me. Neither person "working" cleaned it, offered me water, or moved the silverware. Finally another waitperson gave me a menu. She was not terribly friendly and seemed way too stressed out. I noticed a young woman (the only other customer at the counter) waiting a long while for anyone to clear her obviously empty plate. She put her cc out and waited even longer. She eventually left after someone ran her card and not one person of the 4 waitstaff near the counter/door said a word to her like "thanks for coming in! Have a great day!" And two of the staff were just chatting to eachother rolling silverware literally next to the door the woman left through. The young man working behind the bar had an attitude as if he was mixing martinis at the Ritz instead of pouring mugs of drip coffee or tap water into plastic cups. I had to ask for the counter to be wiped down before my food came which the young girl behind the counter, seemed out of her depth to handle. I tried to tell my waitress things felt bad, she seemed like she couldn't handle a comment like that and said "sorry that's been your experience we are busy and we all kind of handle different things" and pretty much ran away as fast as she could. I've worked as a waitpersson, a bartender, a catering manager. I get it. But there is zero need for negligent and unfriendly service no matter how busy you are. You can always smile and say "Someone will be right with you. Welcome in. Have a nice day." Etc. The young man brought my food, set it down without a word. When I asked for some ketchup you'd think he'd been asked to move a literal mountain and not the bottle from the end of the counter 5 feet away. ZERO "can I get you anything else? Enjoy"

An older waitress realized something was off and was kind enough to ask me if I needed anything. She apologized saying how sorry she was and that they need to do better at being attentive and kind even if they are busy. But sadly her attempt to fix it was followed up with probably the most ridiculous part of this whole experience. When I decided to just get a to go box and leave, it felt so yucky there, I said "excuse me" to the young man, who was, for the third time since I had been there, leaning against the bar looking at his cell phone, he literally didn't move his phone, looked at me over the tops of his little orange tinted glasses as if I had interrupted him. I proceeded to say "may I please have a to go box" to which he said "what size do you need." without moving the 1 foot where he could have seen that I hardly touched any of my food. I guess I am supposed to know what sized boxes they keep in the kitchen/ The nice waitress watched this whole thing and told him "I think a medium will be good" he brought it back with the same attitude he had from the moment I walked in. Not "how was everything?" "thanks for coming in" nothing.

However he was very friendly to folks he clearly knew that came by. But he never cracked a smile to anyone that seemed new there including myself.

If your restaurant operates on a "we all stay in our own lane and are put out by having to help our coworkers when they are in the weeds by doing "their" jobs like greeting customers, wiping dirty counters, getting someone a glass of water" etc. then you have a very problematic and divicive front of house strategy. And if your staff have such huge attitudes that they can't actually provide basic customer service to ALL your patrons, not just the ones they clearly know, then you...

Quintessential is a word you sometimes hear used. It refers to a principle in, of all things, alchemy, where it represents taking the essence of something, then repeating that five times with the result (Take the essence of the essence of the essence of the essence… .)

The Putney Diner occupies an unassuming space, in a Vermont house deliberately built close to the road by an innkeeper in 1850. Enter through a small mudroom; peek through the window and you see a tight, warm room. Step in to be greeted by the big espresso machine and stacks of cups stacks on the barista stand that anchors the 5 seat counter. The owner and a diverse staff continuously pass through this space, on their way from putting in and picking up orders from the window, and the owner interacts with you as you get your table.

Look right, over the fresh muffins in glassed-in trays, you see eight cozy fourtops and one table for two.

There’s sometimes a wait, but as I said, people talk to you, so the time passes well.

Sit as we did, in the almost-hidden booth, and there are all the essentials. Pancakes, French toast, eggs and omelets nestle in a generous — but not overly so — menu of sandwiches, salads, and specials. Your server is modest and friendly and manages the small space with grace.

We got a toasted bran muffin — the right amount of sweet nuttiness, crunch and salty butter; a maple latte, a plain latte — the creamy milk and sweet maple balancing the double shot potency of the espresso. A Reuben and a scrambled egg-hashbrowns-pancakes NE breakfast.

The sandwich and breakfast were generous and just right. The eggs tasted local, the Reuben had flavorful corned beef, the onion rings focused on the crunch, the bacon was in that sublime meat candy state. All pretty much what you’re after. And the price is reasonable… the low end of reasonable, even.

The entire experience is something not enough eating establishments provide. Unhurried, in touch, hitting its marks. It’s cozy, but private. It’s a Vermont thing, and it’s a diner thing.

Give this place a try. It’s not too far out of way,...

I was very excited to try this diner. It's close and a beautiful drive from my home, plus all the good reviews!

The cappucino was delicious, but it was downhill from there. My Portuguese muffin was dry, burnt, and flipped over to hide the charred side. I received the wrong side of potatoes (it was correct on the check!) Do not order the turkey sausage; they're frozen sausage links from the grocery store (think jimmy dean sausage links or patties, not fresh) for the price and marketing of locally sourced or made.

I wouldn't have cared too much, everyone gets a miss here and there, but the issues kept adding up. My partner ordered an omelet. They didn't cook the vegetables: just warm raw veggies.

Unfortunately we couldn't even ask to fix anything because our waiter never came back after dropping off our food and never looked towards us once. We had to get up for the check and even then they handed us the card machine and walked away.

Will never visit again, very...