Angelle's Diner Troutville — Restaurant in Salem

Angelle’s Diner use to be a place that I spoke highly of. I spoke highly of it because I worked there for over a year the first year it opened in 2016. Still to this day after working in four other kitchens since my employment at Angelle’s I think it is the cleanest by far. Before I get started on the review and what I really want to say I will state that the servers and cooks were very nice. Some items from the old menu had been removed and they offered to cook me whatever I wanted from the old menu. I ordered a chicken parm sandwich which was pretty good. Thank you to the cook.

However, upon my latest visit I am unhappy to see that maybe the place I once thought of as above average maybe slipping a bit. First thing that really threw off me was when I saw a server holding a bag of dodges chicken or something right on the line and eating while taking my order and eating while being in the kitchen area. Completely unacceptable. Second thing, full uniform was a requirement and was expected when I worked there because it makes everyone look like a team and just looks good in general. But the head cook was wearing a hat with a fish hook on it that wasn’t even an Angelle’s Diner hat. I know this is a small thing but still. These little things matter with presentation and that would not have been okay back when I got started working there. I may have been trippin but I also didn’t see name tags on the servers either. Third, someone who appeared to be a manager or cook was walking around with AirPods in. Once again another thing that was just unacceptable when I worked there. The restaurant was rather dead at the time but wearing headphones while walking down the line and stuff don’t look good. If you gonna wear them when doing work in the office or doing prep that’s cool but maintaining that presentation and awareness on the line is important and was stressed by the managers back a few years ago. Lastly, all the food items not even on the menu anymore. Mainly on the sandwich side of things but there’s nothing on the Angelle’s Diner menu now that sets it apart from other restaurants in the area. I can go anywhere else in Roanoke and get the same food items at the same quality.

Angelle’s Diner looking more like a Waffle House now rather than a nice respectable diner. I am upset and will not return for at least a few months. Hopefully, I just caught y’all on a bad day and it’s not like that...

I eat here regularly with friends from high school because it's a good central location for all of us, and easy to get to.

The problem is, every time we have gone they have been understaffed, which means unless you get there super early and order, eat, and finish, before the crowd arrives, you're going to wait a good long time for things like your food, corrections to mistakes (and there's always at least one), and, finally, for your bill just to leave.

The food is good and there's a good variety on the menu - I've tried a variety of breakfast, lunch, and dinner items and have always and pleased... although I'll note that their spicy mac and cheese is 🔥, and I like really spicy stuff. I like it, but beware.

Unfortunately they swing wildly in their Sunday morning brunch type drinks in terms of pricing.

We had a very BAD experience with Bloody Mary's one Sunday because they turned out to be $14 per drink, what is not the price listed on the menu...

The way it was explained to us was that the drink price shown on the menu ($8) DOESN'T include ANY alcohol, only the mixer and garnish.

An $8 Bloody Mary whose price DOES NOT include alcohol?

We had no idea and had each ordered an "extra" shot in our Bloody Mary, so were then charged for two shots on top of the menu price...

NONE of which is mentioned on the menu or by the server, and which makes absolutely zero sense. What restaurant/bar sells a Bloody Mary WITHOUT alcohol?

We thought perhaps the server misunderstood pricing plan set up in the system, so we asked for management who then confirmed that this was the case. 😲

On the flip side, I ordered a mimosa with the orange juice on the side the last time we were there (I don't like a lot of sweet so I prefer just a splash of OJ), and it was very reasonably priced at $5.

Bottom line, the food is always worth a trip, ask carefully about the pricing on your drinks if you're having anything other than a beer, and come super early or you WILL wait a long time and your order...

First I would like to say the service is great and the outdoor seating was very enjoyable. Where this place lacks is the food itself. Everything I ordered was basically frozen food and terrible frozen food at that. We started with the bang bang shrimp, which I have eaten many variations of over the years and these were frozen breaded shrimp with a weird sweet and spicy sauce. They were almost too spicy to eat, and not in a good way. They should have came with ranch or some sort of dipping sauce. Overall they were at least edible. I ordered the fish and chips, which I knew was a risk but I figured they would be at least like the frozen fish filets I eat at home at the worst. Unfortunately, they were inedible and my mom agreed and she wouldn't eat them either. The waitress in the end took them off the bill but for me it was really crazy that they would serve something that terrible in thefirstplace. They were full of grease and the fish itself was just gross. The hushpuppies that came with it were good and the crinkle cut fries were fine. Overall it would have been better to go to Long John Silvers. Now for my mom's burger, she liked it but for me the meat just didn't look appetizing. This is the second time I have eaten here and the prior time was when they first opened up and we had a similar experience with chicken tenders tasting like fish and greae from the fryer oil. I wanted to give them another chance but it didn't work out. I hate writing bad reviews for local places but I really needed to be honest and hopefully they can improve, especially if they want millennials as guests. Over the years I have only ever heard of the older generation liking this place and I am thinking its those who don't get out much. I have never had the breakfast so maybe that is where this...