Hometown Cafe — Restaurant in Town of Potsdam

This has been our local go-to place, for many years and counting. When you think of "Hometown Diner/Cafe" what comes to mind is exactly what it is. It is a small, old diner. We go there for good comfort food. I am an adventurous foodie but when it comes to true and tried, all-time favorites - they do not disappoint. Hubby and I get our favorite "angry bird" sandwiches there, which are not on the menu anywhere else in the north country, and of course ice cream. In all my travels domestically and abroad, this is one of the very few places that I would travel extra distance to get ice cream from. As local BNB hosts, we recommend this place to our guests who want a "north country" dining experience. The service is great. Priced very reasonably. There is plenty of parking in the parking lot and along the road if you must. They offer dine-in or will prepare food for take-out. Will continue dining there.

Suggested areas of potential improvement. Could use some updates with seating, lighting, bathroom, etc. I am not sure if the old garage bays next door are owned by the same people but I know a few local artists who could be commissioned to paint colorful mural-style art on those rather unattractive old bays and make the outdoor area more exciting. Outdoor tables are awesome, and very convenient, however during the warm season, when not cleaned promptly, which happens frequently, attract yellow jackets, it will keep even nonallergic folks on edge, or the sticky mess gets covered in dust making it harder to wipe with just a napkin. We have used our own cleaning supplies to clean them up in the past but we do not always have those with us in the car. Perhaps wiping them more often and providing customers with a way to wipe their own tables at busy times of the day could make the situation more manageable. Feature diner-style art from local north country artists...

This place is definitely hit or miss. Some days the food will be great, and others it will suck. For instance I went in on a monday got chicken fingers, they were great; juicy and white meat and nicely fried. I went in on a sunday two weeks later and they were horrid. They were so over cooked the chicken was literally as hard as a brick and when I bit into it, my teeth instantly were sore because I couldn't bite through it. I didn't finish and left after paying my bill. However, if you point out to the staff that you do not enjoy something/there is something wrong with your food, then they will offer you a replacement without charging extra. Some days you will hardly see your waitress and other days they are very attentative, hence my saying its a hit or miss. However I hope you stop on one of their good days and enjoy. Be warned though. If you order their hot turkey sandwich, the turkey is deli turkey slice thick not real "thanksgiving" turkey you...

Well it's a mixed bag here. The food was delicious and priced very well but the service left lots to be desired. They're friendly enough and food arrives hot and tasty. Food took a while and getting our dessert and check took ages! We had an appointment to get to so I had to ask for our check more than once. They were super apologetic which we appreciated.

Would I come again? Yes. Because my fried chicken sandwich with that creamy sauce was so good! The tots with gravy and bacon were as well, totally comfort food! My grandma loved her rueben too. We ordered slices of pie to go and those were all phenomenal as well. So, if you're not in a hurry and in the area I highly suggest you stop by! The decor is so fun and it seems you cannot go wrong with anything on the menu. Dinner specials looked really good, I would definitely return for the chicken...