Dream Diner — Restaurant in Tyngsborough

I was travelling in Nashua, NH staying in a hotel nearby (literally just across the border from the Dream Diner in Tyngsborough). My hotel offers a free breakfast buffet which is mostly continental (cold cereal, bagels, etc) but also included warm bins of scrambled eggs, cheese omelettes, bacon, sausage and potatoes, with do-it-yourself toast. It was fine and free, and you get what you pay for. Nothing to write home about, but it's free, so nothing to really complain about either. That said, on morning-two I was craving something better. Entered a Google search which resulted in a hit on the Dream Diner. From the score and other reviews I read, I was expecting to be WOW-ed with a classic American diner experience. What I received had a luster that was less than my complimentary breakfast at my 3 star hotel.

At the Dream Diner, I ordered their Brill omelette (shaved steak, mushrooms, pepper, onion, and swiss cheese... side of home fries and sourdough toast.)

As with any dish, your first impression is what it looks like when it arrives. For me, the presentation was rather unimpressive (see photo). It arrived looking ALMOST as good as the presentation I could have made myself on the breakfast bar at the hotel. While the presentation was not off-putting per se, it didnt exude any confidence that this was going to be a great breakfast. At least what followed lived up to that expectation...

The potatoes were cooked on a grill that was obviously used prior for something else. Not sure what exactly, but it was apparent as they picked up a bitter flavor that clung to them in the char that formed from over-cooking them in whatever came before it. The bread for the toast seemed like a budget brand from the nearby Dollar Tree... it was very thin and lacking much taste for a sour dough.

The omelette itself also lacked much flavor and seemingly had no fresh ingredients. I would be surprised if the eggs were cracked on-site as they tasted like liquid/carton eggs. The shaved steak had little flavor (noticing a trend here) and a texture similar the kind you might buy in the frozen section of the grocery store. The mushrooms were easily from a can, and the peppers and onions were a bit sour (I'm guessing they were chopped and prepped quite far in advance... maybe even the day before.) Oh, and there WAS cheese, but there was so little of it I barely noticed and almost forgot to mention it just now.

There was really almost no taste to the entire ensemble, that I question if there was any seasoning done at all during cooking. It was to the point that I found myself covering it in table salt and pepper myself, which i almost NEVER do at a restaurant, let alone at breakfast. If a dish is cooked and seasoned properly, the customer should never have to add anything to "improve" it.

My other complaint was the atmosphere. The place was only half-busy, and while the staff were not unpleasant to ME... they weren't to one another. There was some in-fighting and some apparent dysfunctionality present -- and with the completely open concept kitchen to one side, the cooks' language on a couple of occasions, while not excessive, I found to be a bit unprofessional.

I had a few known options that morning... For FREE I could have the breakfast bar at the hotel and saved my time venturing out in the cold. I certainly wouldnt have enjoyed it any less than I did the Dream Diner and would have saved myself 15 bucks. There was also an IHOP nearby and a Denny's a bit further up the road... either of which would have been a better choice.

I'll know for my next trip but whichever I choose next, it won't be the Dream Diner.

[2-stars because the service was adequate, I got what I ordered, and the food wasnt completely inedible. It's just not worth a revisit nor price of...

We went to the dream diner for our first time this morning and it was incredible. They really made a show out of it being our first time, and you wanna fight it but there's no reason to, the people aren't worn down by a corporate world they just love their job and want to make a good impression with the service. Luckily the food speaks for itself, but our server Bridgette really was high energy and fun she stamped my hand at the end and put out signs and told us the history of the diner, she took a picture of us all (appreciated but not asked for,) you're not gonna want this at breakfast time, but try and enjoy it, they're just trying to show you how much love they put into it and the food comes out quick so quit trying to rush the experience. Let's get to the meal, I had the greek omelette with home fries and sourdough toast (included with the omelette) a side of bacon, and the specialty banana bread french toast, my girlfriend had the Florentine Benedict with home fries, my friend had the chipped beef on toast (his first time trying this) and eggs Benedict with sausage gravy, and his girlfriend got the Irish Benedict. My meal was great, a perfect french style omelette with the perfect amount of filling, great ratio of tomatoes to olives and spinach to feta. The sourdough was well toasted and not burned (but if someone told me it was white bread I wouldn't have known the difference.) The potatoes were lightly fried and seasoned, and juxtaposed the saltiness of the olives and feta with a mellow and well cooked potato. They gave plenty of bacon, I shared it with the whole table, and there was a mix of crispy and chewy. The banana bread french toast was a great idea but I think it needs more butter in the recipe to bring out the flavor. We all shared it and everything I've mentioned so far got inducted into the clean plate club. My girlfriend really enjoyed her Florentine Benedict and coffee. She said it was the perfect amount of spinach and the homemade hollandaise was buttery. She ate all the Benedict and we saved the potatoes for later. My friends first experience with chipped beef seemed to be a hit, and he washed it down with the sausage and gravy Benedict, again a clean plate club for both his meals. He almost ate himself into a coma, and he loved the coffee. Lastly his girlfriend loved her meal, it was enough for two meals for her with everything else we ate, but our first visit to the dream diner was one to remember. I can see why it's so popular. As for the atmosphere, it's a really good size that is set up so it still feels intimate. They have outdoor seating which we were advised against to get quicker service (we took the advice) and the parking lot was huge enough to fit all its patrons. The decoration is all 50's diner furniture (a tried and true aesthetic) and it's got a bunch of Betty boop memorabilia. It was a nice touch and probably the most appropriate place to still see the Betty boop character. All in all we'd definitely love to come back to The Dream Diner, it ended up costing around 130 bucks with the tip, which granted was probably on the expensive side, but not really too bad all things considered. It's all homemade stuff, they have speciality items, the staff is super friendly, and the service was quick and efficient. Everything you could ask...

Was super excited to try. But my French toast didn't come with butter. My husband ordered an omelet and the menu says it comes with home fries and toast, but we were billed like they were separate sides. So our bill came out to 47$ for an omelet, French toast, and one side of home fries that I ordered with my meal. And I didn't even get but with my French toast. And my husband didn't get butter with his toast. Honestly kinda scamy behavior. Not going again. All of his "sides" came on his plate with his omelet too. I really feel like they double charged us. We asked our server about it and she just told us that it's correct.

Edit: I understand that you were understaffed and busy, but we didn't get butter or jelly with our food. We did bring the bill problem to the server as stated with our review. She told us that they are billed separately, however on the menu it says it comes with them. That typically means that it's included in the price. So if you looked at a menu at a restaurant and the menu says omelet with home fries and toast for $x. Then I'm going to assume that you get all three of those items for $x. When we got our bill we were shocked and asked the server about it and she said that we ate them and that we didn't say anything when we got them. But how were we supposed to know that the sides that come with the omelet aren't included in the price for the omelet until we get our bill. That doesn't make any sense. We wouldn't have gotten those sides if we knew that. Also this was our first time at your establishment, how are we supposed to know that the toast comes with butter and jelly and that the French toast comes with butter if they aren't brought to us and we aren't told. You can be upset with our review but I'm not taking it down. Maybe make your menu more clear and make serving extras like butter and jelly easier...