Jay's Diner — Restaurant in Town of Brighton

Absolutely love, love Jay's! I especially love SARA! She's always got a smile on her face. She takes the time to listen to her customers and talk to them. She works doubles like I do and is still able to be funny and courteous and make sure that my family wants for nothing! She even knew the difference between a cranberry muffin and a blueberry.! AMANDA is our favorite on Sunday mornings. She's just like Sara, always friendly, always has a smile on her face, loves her job, and is great with kids and my elderly parents. Here's why my recent review of Jay's went from a five (5) star review to one (1). My dad had recently been admitted into the hospital, forty-eight (48) hours prior to this interaction at approximately 830p on 10/24/24. I don't know who the hostess was, but she was rude. She had no personality, she had no smile, and she had zero excitement or welcoming or warmth to her. She was wearing a Jack Skelington semi costume, which anyone who knows me knows I'm going to love, and I made the comment that I loved her outfit. No response. My husband agreed it was cute, and my mom asked who that was, and we laughed. She still didn't respond. Our waitress, we think, was Rutheve M., though we can't be sure she never introduced herself, and that was the name on the printed bill at the end of our meal. Waters were brought, and I was skipped because I asked for hot tea. The extra water that came with the hot tea had no lid, so by the time I was ready for my refill, the water was tepid at best. Ordering food was no picnic. There was constant interruption when anyone at our table was trying to order. A sentence couldn't be completed without her interjecting, and it was very confusing and upsetting for my Mom. We all knew exactly what we wanted, exactly how we wanted it, we were all doing breakfast, and we didn't care about up charges or extras. We just needed to get my mom to eat. Her husband of sixty (60) plus years was just brought into the ED by her daughter sitting at the table with her, and she has no idea what's going to happen. The food was excellent as always. Service was the pits. It's a good thing we loved our food because our waitress came back three (3) times in the two (2) plus hours we were there. Once to fill my mom and my husband's coffee. Didn't ask me about my tea or if I wanted water. The second time was to see if my mom or my husband wanted more coffee and to take my plate. By this time, I had started drinking my husband's water. It seemed as though a light bulb went off because she asked if I wanted more tea. I declined. The third time was to ask if we wanted desserts and boxes and dropped the check. That was it. That was the last time we saw her except when she was serving other tables. We had already had a rough forty-eight (48) hours. I just wanted to personally thank this waitress and this hostess for making the end of our crappy day feel worse and more unwelcoming than we were already feeling. If it wasn't for the reputation that Amanda and Sara had already established before this interaction, we would not be...

I won't lie, I am a little hesitant when it comes to diners. They make their foods a little different. However, when I am out of town, I ALWAYS like to try news places; places I won't find in the Syracuse area. When I walked in, you see Jay's had that oldies diner atmosphere. Which is GREAT! You never see that anymore. I was also welcomed with a huge smile from Amanda V., who later become my server too. Before I looked at the menu, I told Amanda V. I wasn't from the area, and asked her what's something she would recommend. She pointed out 2 things; 1st was something that Rochester was actually known for (the Garbage Plate), and the 2nd was their top seller in the diner itself. Forget the name of the plate, but I remember that the price was mid-priced. I noticed in the past, most places like to point out the most expensive plate offered, and it makes me feel like they are all about the paycheck, and not the actual service itself. However, I ended up not going with either. Ended up going with the Cajun Pasta Prima Vera, and Home Fries. For anyone who can't handle their spice, the Cajun Pasta isn't that spicy, so you have nothing to worry about. The entire meal was delicious too. Had a little spice, so it wasn't the basic Chicken Alfredo. Now for the service itself. Amanda V. was extremely nice and friendly to me. However, as I sat, waiting for my meal to arrive, I noticed she also was the same to everyone else. Had a little laugh, and even had other customer laughing. Shows you she enjoys her job, and she is all about service. When it came to my ending, she asked me about any dessert. Told her meal was a lot bigger than I expected, and I was far too full to get anything else in. Once again, she had that laugh, and stated the Pasta meals usually do have a good amount of pasta. Guess that shows you're definitely not leaving hungry; even though the desserts did look delicious. If I didn't have a 2 hour drive home, I would have gotten something to go 20...

We came here once before and it's 6 minutes from the doctor's office we're in Rochester to visit, so we thought we'd visit again.

As a lot of recent reviews state, the waitress was great and the food was meh at best.

It doesn't seem worth wasting your money. Not awful, but nothing great. White bread and no other option for a club sandwich is kinda gross.

When I asked if I could get my unsweetened tea to go I was told by the unsmiling cashier/manager woman I'd have to pay for the drink.

Nothing was refilled a single time at the table for all three of us, and it's unsweet tea, I can buy 100 bags for what they're charging for one glass.

The waitress had already started pouring it so she just gave it to me half full anyway after I said no thanks I have tea at home, trying to compensate me for the obviously stupid policy.

So it was the rudeness of the cashier that made me decide we won't ever go back.

Put your no refill policy on the menu, and most importantly, learn to apologize with a gracious smile when you state an idiotic policy and cause a repeat customer to decide they won't return a third time with your unsmiling rude policy enforcement.

That last impression ruined everything good about visiting this diner. It's obvious from this interaction and the sign about no drinks on the door you have some grand plan to profit more on drinks, but making customers decide not to return with your rudeness isn't profitable.

And thank you to the waitress, that half cup of tea was just enough to make the 30 mile drive home in the heat with no AC tolerable, and keep my disabled kid more comfortable without...