Tony's Diner — Restaurant in Trinidad

You know, when the owner of a restaurant puts their name on it, it's usually a good sign. However, when you meet that owner working the floor, bussing some tables, and helping the cook fix the vent fan on the roof, you know that you've struck gold. I met Tony and saw how he was an integral part of every aspect of his diner in a way that I’ve only seen a few times over my decades. What a joy.

I was at the gas station across the street, having driven 2 hours from Folsom, New Mexico the "back way", on dirt roads since Branson, and it was close to 1 o'clock. I was dusty and hungry and seeing Tony's diner was like a message from on high. It was Sunday and I didn’t think I’d find an open restaurant and would have to get fast food instead. Syncronicity prevailed….

I drove across and parked in back under the shade of a large tree on the slope (watch that huge depression in the dirt!) so that my good friend Raji the Rottweiler could take a comfortable nap while I ate. I could tell immediately that I was going to like this place partly because the bathrooms, spotlessly clean, were outside on the side of the building with the doors open. You could walk right up and not have to crowd into some tiny space like what is found in so many restaurants.

Tony’s has 3 primary spaces where a customer can sit and eat. The first is the wrap-around enclosed porch, with bright, large windows that let you look out to Main Street from the comfy tables lined along the porch wall. The second is the upper, inside space where just a few tables are placed within 15 feet of the cooks who were diligently at work. The third place to sit is along the counter where you pay for your meal, though I’m not sure it’s used that way since no one chose that option while I was there.

The place was packed and the wait staff, along with their amazingly efficient bus boy, were all running and working at 110%. Thus Tony was helping as well. My food was terrific and as many other reviewers have commented in their reviews, I scraped my plate clean. The portion was too large for me to finish as hungry as I was, so I wrapped up a large chunk of one of my pancakes and treated Raji to a mid-day treat.

I love local restaurants where the hustle and bustle doesn’t take away from the experience but rather adds to it. The sound level in the cook’s upper room where I sat was crazy loud from wait staff shouting orders and commenting on the work at hand, however I was in awe overall for the teamwork and friendliness that they all displayed. Where do you see that anymore, huh? And the menu, wow, look at the crazy number of choices.

And wonderful experience was...

Honestly, this was my worst experience at a diner in my entire life. We were seated quickly and the service was very polite, I will say. We were given our drinks and coffee almost immediately, but the coffee was so weak you could hardly taste it after putting in only a part of a half & half container. I was disappointed to see that the menu online is not updated for prices, or to say that they do not serve french toast or pancakes after 11 am (so much for the sweet and savory brunch I was after....) Very muggy inside with no AC, and for some reason most of the fans were turned off and the windows all closed. Yet, still flies are everywhere. We waited 45 minutes after ordering for our food to come out, and they were not very busy at all. Boyfriend's order was served with the incorrect meat and with mayo not on the side, as he had requested. My order was correct but did not come out with my toast, and was mostly cold. The bacon was burnt looking and tasting, and my over easy eggs were so overcooked they were dry and hardly had any runny yolk. They were also both broken yolks when they came out and had gotten cold and disgusting for the small part that was still runny. The hash browns were the most unappealing, dry cake of hard potato I've ever encountered in a restaurant. We also ordered biscuits and gravy, which my boyfriend said tasted bland and instant, with dry biscuits. I was embarrassed for the wait staff, who were very understanding did not make us pay for our food (I think I took two bites, both of which I regretted). We left and went elsewhere after wasting so much of our time. Maybe their lunch dishes are better, but if a restaurant (especially a diner) can't get eggs and bacon right, I'd rather not find out how the rest of the food is. 5 stars for service, 0...

If I could give Tony's a negative 5 I would! We stopped in to eat,my niece has a severe gluten allergy and out of an abundance of caution, we always ask questions on preparation, ingredients and possible cross contamination. Seeing that they offered a gluten free bread, we visited Tony's very erroneously thinking they were aware of gluten intolerance and would be accommodating...WRONG!!! I reviewed the menu online and went in with a couple of options my niece could eat. We asked the usual questions, informed the server of my niece's severe gluten intolerance and ended up ordering a steak with mashed potatoes, no gravy and veggies of the day. When she brought out the steak it had a giant piece of bread on top, keep in mind we informed her of the no gluten! I informed her we needed it redone because of the cross contamination. She went back to the kitchen and VERY LOUDY and RUDELY complain that the food was sent back. I called her over to ask her if the fries I got with my meal were fried in oil that also had breaded food fried it and she said probably. She AGAIN went back into the kitchen AND RUDELY, HATEFULLY and MOCKINGLY COMPLAIN that I asked her this question! When she returned to our table I asked her if she always complained about her customers; I went on to inform her that the questions I asked were because I was not willing to put my child's health at risk and she if had a child who could get severely sick she would ask the questions to keep them healthy! She had no response and immediately ran back to the kitchen! This woman has no business in customer service! We felt insulted, belittled, and as though we were an inconvenience! Truly disgusted with how we were treated! Can't give a review on the food because we never...