Tilt'n Diner — Restaurant in Tilton

**gluten info

Food 6/10 Service 10/10 Value 7/10

I had noticed the Tilton diner on my way up to a hike of the Flume. On the way back, I was starving and stopped at this local staple I was quickly greeted and given a seat at the food bar. The place has a great retro vibe and the staff there carries themselves like they have been together for years and probably know every regular's name.

Food: celiac info Whie there is a cross contamination risk, the restaurant provides does have a "gluten free" menu. Although it is just a tiny slip of paper, it is considerate of them to have. Waitress understood "allergy" vs "preference" my wife ate there and did not have an issue. But eat at your own risk.

My food: Take this review with a grain of salt because apparently the kitchen was understaffed this night. I tend to be indecisive when I go to restaurants and will take people's suggestions. But I'm this case, I used the restaurants suggestions. Convenient stars were put next to item that were "making us famous", so I had to obliege even though I knew better. (note: when restaurants put a star, bold, or box-in a menu item, it usually, not always, is low-cost and/or very quick to prepare. NOT necessarily a "must have", although sometimes they are.) I ordered the philly cheese steak and upgraded to onion rings. What I got looked like a cheeseteak that was overstuffed with meat, but upon first bite, I realized it was overcooked and over charred vegetables. Seasoning was decent, and the roll could have used a toast. Onion rings were a bit of a let down. No seasoning to the breading which was a pale shade of yellow and not the golden brown you would expect from an onion ring. It was a very okay meal.

Service: Cora was great. She came and took our drink and food orders in a reasonable time and understood allergies and what items contained gluten. Checked in while running laps around the restaurant. Then I overheard her say she was going to stay later to help the kitchen close since they were understaffed. She didn't seem stressed or feel the need to alert us of the internal issue A true team player and a model of service.

Value: Cheap, good, and fast. They say you can have two of the three. Cheap and fast took the lead here. I would like to catch them on a good day with the right staffing. But my honest...

Back in '88 I was excited about the growing Common Man "family" concept of offering unique food and services throughout NH. and have actually been privileged to eat and enjoy the experience at many of their locations over the years. Now, 30-something years later, I realize that this "family", like so many concepts before it, seems to have grown into a tired, overworked, overloud, superficial, nostalgic-appearing cliche slopping out fodder to the herds. This has been a gradual and subtle change from the sparkle, altruism and basic-good-food that empowered the concept and maybe reflects more of the "acquisition-dominance" corporate energy rather than the deep service to the common man-energy that began in 1971. Yesterday, we stopped into Tilt'n Diner for comfort food -as we did 9 moths ago (wrote a good review). We were seated in booth 38 with the peeling paint, next to the kitchen which normally is fine, but the line-blower in the roof lacked maintenance and was so loud, the over-worked server could not hear us. And it appeared the management had cranked the music up through bad speakers to cover the sound of the blower. I wondered "What happened to the shiny Tilt'n Diner in so short a time?" I thought I had been transported back to a Howard Johnson's. My partner orders a salad (which is always out-of-the-bag fresh) and a veggie burger (which was old and dry). I ordered Shepherds Pie, a simple diner standard that should be the reason the common man comes to a diner (comfort)..except it has changed from equal amounts of delicious hamburger/corn/potato to TASTING LIKE 4 cups of Or-Ida Instant mashed potato and an ounce of hamburger/corn mixed with some sort of cheap, canned brown gravy. I chose this meal specifically because of its simplicity - if the kitchen cannot accomplish this, then what are they doing with more complex ideas? It was all terrible and gave me heartburn and a headache. This was by far, the worst experience I've ever had in this modern corporate chain. I feel really sad about this NEXT example of avarice over service to...

Heard quite a bit about the Tilt'n Diner and finally got around to trying it out. First thing I noticed walking in is the place looks a bit run down. Could use a bit of upkeep with the decor and just worn out tables, chairs, booths, and floor tiles. The ceiling has a huge electric guitar decoration that just looks like it's falling apart. However, these are just first impressions and I'd gladly overlook these things for a good dish.

However, the food also seriously disappointed. In my family, we ordered turkey dinner, shepherds pie, and kids burger meals. The turkey dinner was probably the best dish of them, but the turkey wasn't the most moist. It tasted a little tough and overcooked. The entire plate was also swimming in liquids. The gravy is understandable, but it seemed as if the broccoli side was either steamed or boiled and not left to drain before it was thrown on the plate. Just a very wet dish. The shepherd's pie was very plain tasting. It said the beef was seasoned, but I could hardly taste any seasoning or salt in the dish. There was a heavy layer of grease at the bottom of the shepherds pie as well and just was not very appetizing. On top of that, the beef tasted very low quality. Almost like it could have come from a can. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I've never had beef that tasted that un-fresh before, without necessarily tasting like it was going spoiled. I didn't try the kids burgers, but they did not look appetizing and their fries tasted like they had been fried in old oil that was starting to go rancid.

If one thing I can say good about the place, the service is good. The waitress was very attentive, kind, and helpful. So they have that going for them. They need a serious overhaul in their food quality though. It was bad enough that I would probably...