Salem Oak Diner — Restaurant in Salem

We're in here as often as we can be! Prices are reasonable, servings are plentiful and satisfying, waitresses are friendly and efficient and the atmosphere is warm and welcoming. You can feel it in the air when you walk in. They excel at breakfasts, their homemade soups, sandwiches, salads, all of the seafood dishes and if you're in the mood for a basic "diner burger", this is the place! Excellent coffee! Even the mini-meals are easily big enough to take half home for another meal. We tried most places in the area since we moved here, about five years ago, and often experienced grumpy waitresses, snooty service, tense atmosphere and/or higher prices. We always ended up returning to our "home diner", with a sense of relief. We eventually stopped even bothering with other places. When they bought the Salem Oak Diner building, about a year ago, after their lease ended at the old Quinton Diner, many of their customers followed them and business seemed to stay steady. Now, with the recent closure of Vicente's, Michael's, Salem City Cafe and Salem County Diner (the very same building that they leased as Quinton Diner for ten years), this place is hopping and their success is well-deserved. The owners and kind, generous and inclusive and we couldn't be happier for them.

ETA: I'm intrigued by Joe Knapp's review, below. Of course, not everyone's looking for the same experience, and everyone has an off day, but when we tried the former version of the Salem Oak Diner (previous owner), it's true that it was never busy (not a good thing, for a diner), the iced tea looked good but tasted like water (every time), the waitresses were clearly not relaxed and happy and my husband once found a moldy tomato on one of his burgers! Once the old Quinton Diner closed, I'm sure that the Salem Oak expected to pick up a lot of their old customers, and we did go there twice, and we did see some people from "QD", but we were disappointed both times and gave up. We apparently were not the only customers staying away because the owner (thank goodness!) finally agreed to sell the Salem Oak Diner building to the former "QD" people, and you could see the increase in number of cars in the parking lot the very first night they were open. It's not just us; public opinion has spoken and it has come down squarely on the side of the new...

I live 350 miles north of the Diner but my wife and I had some business in the area. We were an hour early so I thought, lets take a drive through Salem. Went by my Grandparents old house on Oak Street onto Broadway and decided to have breakfast. I think the last time I ate here was in the late 60's with my Grandfather. I remember he had to help me get up onto the stool at the counter. It's just like I remembered it. While waiting for our food I pointed out to my wife where the Salem Oak used to be and that it was where William Penn signed the treaty with the Indians. The food came and it was very good, especially the bacon. I eat diner food 5 mornings a week and the bacon was exceptional compared to what I'm used to. If I ever get back to the Delaware Valley, I'll...

The diner had the promise to be cute but instead felt dated and dirty. The hostess was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, and the rest of the staff wasn't much better. Everyone seemed annoyed to be there. We had an easy order - 2 of the burgers, nothing extra or omitted. We were one of maybe 3 tables and it still took forever to come out. Both water cups were so dirty that they had visible black sticky stuff around the rings. The food tasted like cardboard. There was a man (the cook, maybe?) who made both of us very uncomfortable. He just stared. We came because of the good reviews, but I can't imagine how this place got even one positive review. We sprayed ourselves down with sanitizer before we...