Star City Diner & Pizza Parlor — Restaurant in Shoemakersville

We pulled into a fairly packed parking lot, expecting to walk into a place hopping with activity. What we got was malaise and a staff that clearly didn't want to be there. We walked in to a packed dining room, that has very questionable lighting. Blasting full on hospital white LED lights everywhere. We opted to sit at the counter because the only visible open table was directly in front of the doorway.

After weaving through the maze of seats and tables to the counter in the back of the dining room, we were seated and quickly had the drink order taken by who I assumed would be our waitress. Turned out, she just happened to be standing there and kindly got us our waters.

Immediately, we could tell there was an issue with something. The kitchen seemed flustered, the waitress seemed lost, and who I assumed was the manager was visibly and audibly pissed off. Talking to the kitchen, she mentioned people had been waiting over 40 minutes for a tuna melt, and thats after they waited to order it.

Then, a random man, who had been sitting and talking with another man at the counter, looking very much like a customer, walked over and offered us free pizza. We kindly declined. After that, a lady who I assume is part owner, came up to take our order finally, after 15 minutes of waiting. We politely declined. She walked to the next couple and mentioned "it would be a long wait, but would be entertaining".

The one guy who was putting in work and seemed to be the only one motivated to be there, was the guy bussing tables.

We decided to leave after witnessing this and so much more. We went across 61 to the Kwik Shoppe, got a burger and fries.

Just go to...

Party of 6. 4 Adults and 2 children. My mom ordered soup she ate the whole bowl she said it was the best soup she has ever had out to eat. My dad ordered the chefs salad it was huge and he said it was absolutely fantastic. My husband who is firm believer in if it’s a good cooked steak you don’t need any sauce made me try a piece of his steak because it was juicy, perfectly cooked as ordered medium well, and seasoned perfectly. We called the owner over to tell her to make sure she tells the cook how perfectly it was done. Most of the faces you’ll see are familiar from another diner near by we loved seeing those faces again. They said they are treated very well there. I believe the slow reviews that we have seen prior to our visit is because they naturally cook your food which is a nice change compared to the normal diner food which is usually expected to be just heated up and a weight cooked steak. My kids and I don’t eat much I got a grilled cheese very good as well and my boys ate all of their food fried shrimp and chicken fingers. Also usually when the six of us go out who ever pays is usually guaranteed around $120 bill but tonight when we got our bill for the six of us it was $90. Definitely told them we approve and told them to look out for our...

Food was terribly bland and the quality wasn’t there. It’s really hard to ruin breakfast, it was edible, but I could have made better quality, better tasting food at home. The bacon was cold and didn’t even taste like bacon…which is disturbing. I know it’s new, but they should be putting their best foot forward to draw regulars in. If I could offer advice, I’d say 1. Get a better food supplier 2. Find better cooks 3. Make a smaller menu with the staple meals. Typically when a restaurant has too much on their menu, their quality isn’t great. Also, not to nit-pick, but…the menu has several spelling errors and clearly wasn’t proofed before sending to print. The owner has good intentions, but she took on more than she could handle for long-term growth. I know what it looked like before, so all of the renovations she did inside look much better than the previous owners did. But the focus appears to be more on the esthetic, and not on quality food. One more thing…the booths are WAAAAY too close to the tables. Anyone with ene a slight stomach will have a hard time feeling comfortable with...