Grand Stage Diner — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

I've been to the Grand Stage (and its predecessor) many times, but I have never had as disappointing an experience as I did today.

My party of four went for breakfast around 9 a.m. and were seated at a table. The waitress came over very quickly, and we apologized, as we had not yet had a chance to look at the menu.

She took our drink orders, and we settled in. A conversation started at the table, which distracted us from diving into our menus. The waitress soon returned and asked if we had decided yet. We apologized again and asked for one more minute. To be clear, the diner appeared to have steady customers but was not in any way busy.

One member of our party has some allergies, so they took a few extra minutes reviewing their options. At this point, the waitress returned with an exasperated tone and informed us that it was time to order. She did not ask if we were ready—she essentially told us that we were.

We were a little taken aback, but we began placing our orders. At this point, the waitress complained about how hot it was in the diner, mentioning that she was uncomfortably warm and expressing incredulity that one of our party members had not removed their jacket. When they explained that they were comfortable, she seemed even more annoyed.

The party member with allergies explained their situation: they are extremely allergic to wheat and potatoes. They asked if they could have an omelet but replace the home fries with something else, such as a small bowl of sliced cucumbers or half an avocado. The waitress seemed visibly annoyed by this request and growled that it would be a $5 up-charge. While we expected a surcharge, $5 seemed excessive. The party member decided to skip the substitution and just take the omelet as-is.

We then waited a considerable amount of time for our food—much longer than usual. Again, aside from a large party in the adjacent dining room, the diner did not appear overly busy.

When our food finally arrived, one plate’s scrambled eggs were cold to the touch. More importantly, the party member with allergies was served an omelet with a heaping pile of home fries. They explained that they could not accept the plate because the potatoes could have contaminated the food. At this point, the exasperated waitress informed us that the eggs and the home fries were cooked on the same griddle, so there was already cross-contamination, and she didn’t understand what the "big deal" was.

We carefully explained—again—that the potatoes could make the guest very ill. The waitress said she would "see what she could do."

At this point, the party member told her to cancel their order.

I think the waitress realized she had gone too far because, suddenly, her demeanor changed. She became apologetic and offered to get something else. Maybe she genuinely regretted her behavior—maybe she was just worried about her tip. But by that point, everyone at the table was uncomfortable, dissatisfied, and ready to leave.

The waitress gave us our bill, and I noticed a $1.00 egg up-charge for my omelet. Now, I’m fully aware of the ongoing egg shortage and that many businesses are passing this cost on to customers. However, nowhere did I see any signs indicating there would be an extra charge, nor did the waitress mention it when I placed my order.

There is no shortage of diners on Long Island. In fact, I can count at least four up and down Hempstead Turnpike alone. I think it's time to try one of those and let the curtain fall on our patronage of...

On Valentine’s Day for lunch my husband and I decided to visit the GRAND STAGE DINER for our first time. We have eaten at this diner over the years most notably when it was the COLONY DINER and maybe before that when it was under a different name (or not we are talking about going to this location way back when we were kids) but still when you walk in , except for the new aesthetics, you’re basically walking into the same old diner. Let’s face it they are all pretty much the same just some have tables positioned differently. But I was excited to try something new (or so I thought) and was dying for the Friday Lobster Bisque soup that I always order at any diner on a Friday and also a grilled cheese with tomato and well done bacon. (Extra charge for both). I also order a side of Mashed potatoes with gravy instead of the fries. Let’s just say the soup was not as I remembered very bland and the Lobster bits that are usually in the LOBSTER bisque soup were basically non-existent. I ordered a bowl I hate to see what a cup would reveal. The grilled cheese was So under cooked that it was on the mushy side and it did have a slice of very well done bacon but minus the tomato. Mashed potatoes were cold minus the gravy. I wanted to say something but my husband was so enjoying his meal that I figured ah why bother. When we got into the car he looked at me and asked if I enjoyed myself. I said yeah sure you looked like you did he said Susan that was the worst diner food ever but I could see you were enjoying yourself so I didn’t want to say anything but for 45+ dollars I don’t want to waste our money going there again. I was floored. I honestly thought he was enjoying himself he said no he was enjoying my company and happy to see me laughing. He then told me the Hamburger deluxe was so waxy (his words and when I asked him what he meant he said kind of like it was sitting under the heat to keep warm so that we could eat our soup first.). He said his soup, the chicken noodle tasted like water and while it was plentiful with noodles his chicken was almost non existent as was my lobster. Worst though at the end he pulled out a napkin from his shirt pocket. He said this is why I didn’t have it wrapped up to go. There was a black curly long hair in his food on the side by the fries. He only noticed while 3/4 of the way through. Now I have light blonde straight hair, he has light brown straight short hair and our waitress had dyed color short straight hair. I said lets go show the manager he was like no what for. But its been bothering me. I know these things can happen anywhere to anyone. But just too many things. For $45+ next time we’ll take our business to the Texas Roadhouse. No more diners in our future unless its the one by the...

I usually love going to this diner. The staff is very friendly. Today was an awful experience. My daughter ordered breakfast cereal and one egg in the side. On the menu it “add on $1” one egg. That’s exactly what I ordered. The waitress comes back with a full platter with two eggs and french fries. I said to her that we only ordered and extra egg. She said that how it comes. When we got the bill, she charged me for a whole entire kid’s breakfast besides my daughters cereal breakfast. I politely asked to please readjust the bill. It was a misunderstanding. She didn’t put the order in properly. She came back and said that the owner said no. I asked to speak to the owner. It was such an awful experience. He was combative, rude and expressed how they don’t rob people and told me how wrong I was. He raised his voice with my 8 year old daughter right there. He then stormed to the back and yelled at me and said that I didn’t have to pay. That he would pay for my breakfast but not in a nice way. His behavior was so horrible. He handled that so poorly. From the beginning he was condescending and dismissive and refused to adjust the bill. I will not be going back. He doesn’t seem stable. Called the next day to speak to someone else, perhaps a higher supervisor or the owner. He was dismissive. Did not offer an apology and said that his manager was right. He talked over me while I was trying to explain what happened and when I called him out on his non caring behavior, he hung up on me. I would never go back there. My 8 years old daughter was crying and asked why was the man so mean and why did he raise his voice at the restaurant. No one took responsibility for this problem. It could have been handled so much better. It was not about the money, it was about the fact that “manager” has no people skills and stormed to the back of the kitchen yelling at me in front of my daughter. The other “manager” also was rude and awful to talk to and then when he didn’t like the truth, he...