Moriches Bay Diner — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

My family and I have come here probably once or twice a month at minimum for well over 5 years now. We live 4 minutes away. But recently, I was very disappointed. I'm willing to update this review, but hopefully this feedback serves to improve the experience for others and the establishment itself. Outside of breakfast, my wife always gets the "Steak stack salad." It's a meal she consistently goes to, it's prepared consistently, and she knows what to expect-- a good portion too, that she would always take home if she didn't finish. This most recent visit, she noticed a very bitter taste from the "fresh" mozzarella. She ate what she could of the steak and some of the fresh spinach and tomato, but avoided pieces that the cheese was in contact with, and couldn't eat the cheese. Anyone familiar with fresh mozzarella knows this is a sign of old cheese. I worked in the specialty food business and dealt with burrata and fresh mozz on a daily basis. While I was in the bathroom, she notifed our waitress that the cheese definitely tasted off, and couldn't really finish any more of the meal because of it. Not trying to make a huge ordeal of it, but obviously expecting a portion of the dish to be discounted, we discovered we were charged the full $21+ for the meal. Waitress did make an attempt to ask if they wanted to make her anything else, but 1) my wife doesnt get anything else, and 2) me and my young son were already finished and had somewhere to be. As we walked up to pay, we addressed it with "Kay", one of the owners/manager, who begrudgingly said she'd take $3 off the bill. She basically told us that they thought my wife ate half (she did not) and thus, they don't discount. As I stated, if that was the case, we would've brought the rest of the meal home with us as we typically do. Also, you guys are very often out of bottled water. Unfortunately, this was absolutely a subpar way to address this issue, especially for objectively less than fresh product being served, and made us feel unvalued as a customer with your reluctance to make it right. It literally and figuratively left us with a "bad taste in our mouth", and no one should leave a place of business feeling that way. The right way to deal with this shouldve been: "Hey, customer is stating the cheese tastes 'off', let's go check into that." Go into the back. Investigate. Expiration dates? Taste the cheese the kitchen is using? Come over to us, apologize, let us know you did or are looking into it, and so on. We weren't asking for a totally comp'd bill, but maybe half off the dish to accomodate our concerns. For as much business as you get, this should be standard protocol for a less-than-satsified customer. $3 off just felt like a pity discount to try...

This is the kind of eatery you go out of your way to visit. Way out of your way. We were visiting Long Island and had the serendipity to meet one of the owners, Kay, and to learn about Moriches Bay Diner. We promised to try it--and oh how glad we were that we did--even traveling the half hour to get there.

We feasted, and I mean feasted, on stuffed mushrooms, creamy crab stuffing with a delicious sauce stuffed in giant buttons. Then a Greek salad loaded with the best feta we have ever had (the owners are Greek) with a red wine/feta dressing, again awesome. Then we had the delicious onion soup, served traditionally in a crock with lots of melty cheese.

Our main meal was burgers--mine was lamb, with the wonderful feta salad topping, and French fries, which I requested as non-gluten so got them fried in Olive oil (yay!). The lamb burger was recommended by a long-time patron ("We've been here hundreds of times. Have the lamb burger.")

Hubby's burger was the Jack Daniel's beef--he's a cattle rancher and approved the quality of the beef. His fries were in the regular frying oil, which I suspect is soy--but wonderful to have the Olive oil option.

We splurged for take home baklava--and here especially is where I will tell you drive the distance! Wowie kazowie. Made at Moriches Bay, Nick the baker has definitely created the most delicious baklava we have ever tasted--and believe me, we have tasted quite a few. This one is masterfully made with walnuts, and just the right honey quantity to make it memorable without over sweetening. But it is sweet in every way.

Portions are generous, the food is high quality, the menu is vast, and the atmosphere is buzzing and busy. Kay and Manager Phil were extremely engaged with their patrons. Smiles and greetings, and a true hospitable, caring attitude.

Our server, Aly (Alexandria) was very kind, very competent, and very busy. But we lacked for nothing.

This will definitely be on our list of places we must return to.

Bravo Kay and Spiro, for maintaining what we imagine your parents, George and Christina had in mind when they opened this elegant diner-restaurant decades ago. You deserve awards!

P.S. I suspect a couple of reviews during Covid, stating a lack of taste, may have been due to losing their taste buds with the virus. There was no lack of taste here, and I can't imagine how hard restaurants had to work to keep afloat, especially in New York, during the pandemic--which is still affecting restauranteurs. Like Kay mentioned that they employ 60 people but are down to 40. If you're good at restaurant work, apply! This place would make you proud to be...

I was finally near enough to the Moriches Diner to try their much talked about burger.

I almost got sidetracked on the way there, and really had to fight the urge to stop at Espos Cheesesteak for a chicken cheesesteak. I think it's one of the best I've eaten on the Island. That big red food truck sits less than a mile West of the Moriches Diner, on the South side of the road, in the Blooms Nursery parking lot . Next time 🤷‍♂️

But, anyhow..

I was pleasantly surprised at the prices of the 8 oz burger..If you wanted only the burger, it costs just $9.85, and that comes with Cole slaw, and a pickle.

The amount of different burger combos, was near endless, and they all looked good.

I like French fries, so I ordered the plain burger, medium rare, with fries, crispy, roll toasted, which they say, is de rigueur, for their burgers, which was a $3.25 upcharge.

The burger meat was good...Mild flavor profile, for my taste, but still good. It was cooked a bit passed medium rare, but as long as there is some red color in the meat when I cut into it, I'm good.

The crispy French Fries were the coated type, a bit crunchy, which I enjoy, and there was certainly plenty of them.

The Cole slaw was really good; the creamy type, which I prefer over the vinegary type. I loved the pickle spear, as well.

You could not ask for better service. I adore Diner waitresses, as they dance a different dance, than most restaurant waitresses. Jenn, the waitress I had, was wonderful. Friendly, with a little bit of smiling sass, helpful, and professional.

The burger didn't break into my top 10, but certainly lands in the top 25 range.

I would not hesitate to recommend the burger, or the Diner.

There's plenty of parking, so that's not a worry...

It does get crowded, at times, so plan accordingly.

I had a nostalgic drive back West through Mastic, as I passed by Frank's Bakery, which I think has the best Semolina bread around, then the Ice Cream Cottage, which has some of the best Ice Cream on tbe Island...No time to stop today..My waistline thanked me😎

Moriches ...