Carmel Diner — Restaurant in Town of Carmel

Came in from out of state to visit my parents it was close and we love diner food so decided on Carmel diner. It was dingy but small town so I looked past that. Waiter was kind but when my moms salad came the chicken was not fully cooked through, we HATE sending food back lol but undone chicken is not something you can look past. We showed the waiter and apologized for any inconvenience and asked for it to be sent back, my mom was grossed out so decided on a waffle instead. He said it wasn’t an issue and took it back. When it was time to go my dad paid the bill and left a tip as we were leaving he realized they charged for the untouched undercooked chicken salad so he went in and spoke to the manager/owner (the older women with glasses) she refused to refund the cost of the salad and was not nice about it at all (which I expected here in NY ) my dad came out upset feeling totally shocked with how he was treated when asked about the nasty raw chicken salad… If you can look past raw chicken and like being treated less than, this your place to dine!

*Edit to respond she did not say her stomach was bothering her and that’s why she “changed” her mind she said if she ate the chicken her stomach would not be okay! A misunderstanding is one thing, being charged for a meal she didn’t touch; fine whatever, however the treatment my stepfather received was DISGUSTING just like the RAW yes RAW chicken. Kindness would have solved this the day of service but kindness was not something that was...

Straight-up old school, no frills diner, and that's a good thing. Food and service are about what you expect: nothing to cheer about but also not much to complain about. It's a solid diner.

You can always get a decent meal here. I really wish I could give it four stars… but I can't. It doesn't excel at anything specific and your experience definitely depends on what time you get there to eat and who is serving you. When your toast is covered in butter that hasn’t melted, you know that toast was buttered cold. Little things like that keeps this place at three stars for me.

Also, I avoid this place when it’s super-busy as wait times seem much longer than they should be compared to non-busy days. If you're not in a rush and don't mind waiting a while for your food, you probably have more patience than I do, so sit tight. But when I see a full parking lot… I go somewhere else.

Note: Updated 8/29/22 based on...

It was the worst service we have ever received. The waitress was so confused, and asked over and over the same questions. She brought 1 thing out at a time, for each item that went with each meal, with long time spans in between. She got 2 of the 3 orders completely wrong. 1 order was editable although wrong, I asked for a salad platter with balsamic dressing, and I got a sandwich. The other order had the wrong bread, which the person does not like. We were not offered any kind of credit. That food went in the garbage. Even after the food came out, we still didn't have utensils, so I had to flag someone down to get them. We were offered another meal with the correct bread ,but at this point, being there so long with a toddler, we simply had to leave. Would NEVER go back. Waste of time and money and oh so agrravating! We still left a 20% tip, even though we didn't get a goodbye or thank you when...