Carnegie Diner & Cafe — Restaurant in Vienna

Food was great. Our waiter was awesome. The space could be a bit bigger- but it’s also a very busy restaurant. I would’ve given a lower rating if it weren’t for the GM and our server. We had a reservation at 12:30 PM on a Sunday. We had gotten to the restaurant about 15 minutes early, but our whole party wasn’t there so they told us that they couldn’t seat us until everyone arrived. We were OK until that part.

The problem started after our whole party was here. First, they asked us if we would be willing to sit in a booth that is meant for four adults. Mind you, we had five adults, a toddler and an infant in a car seat seat. We said we would wait because they told us it would be another 5 to 10 minutes. When we had waited for almost 15 minutes past our reservation time, we went back up to the front to ask about how much longer the wait was going to be. First, they told us that they had a lot of reservations today that ended up having more parties than they had originally said as well as many walk-ins. I understood that it was a very busy restaurant and a very busy day however, then this restaurant should not take reservations during busy days. Reservations don’t mean anything because they were unable to deliver the time that they have promised us. Another 15 minutes went by, so we asked again and then they informed us that the table that they’re waiting for us has already paid and they’re just sitting there talking. So we asked if they have a dining time policy that would allow for the restaurant to ask ask the customers to leave due to the tables being reserved. They did not.

Again, at this point, they were expecting us to wait aimlessly until the party decided to leave, whenever that was going to be. At this point, all the adults are hungry, and my toddler is hangry and we had been waiting for 30 minutes past our reservation time.

Then we asked for a general manager because it seemed really unreasonable to make a party that had a reservation to just wait when the party that is using the table has already paid and it’s just sitting there and talking and NO ONE asking the party to even consider asking to free up the tables if they are finished.

Finally, the general manager stepped in and the party left and we were seated. Thankfully, the food came out quickly, and it was really good. The general manager also came by at the end to give us a complimentary dessert to take home because of the wait.

I would highly recommend the restaurant to consider either enforcing a strict 90 minute policy like some of the popular restaurants have, especially during busy times OR just not taking reservations during busy times if they cannot guarantee a table at the time of the reservation.

Due to the unfortunate start of our lunch, I was unable to take any pictures of the food. However, the portions were very generous and the food overall was very delicious. And KUDOS to the general manager for stepping up to be as fair and diplomatic as she could have been to both...

We finally stopped in here as both my wife and I love diners. Our experience was not one where we will be going back.

Initial impression is good - decor is great - it is clean - and the service was friendly and timely. That is about where the good part ended. The menu is inaccurate. They cannot serve any of the liquor that is featured on the first page of their menu. Apparently waiting on liquor license. Not sure how long one of those take - but why list these things if not available.

Then we were informed that not all of the menu items pictured are available any more. Some have been removed. The one I wanted was a traditional club sandwich. There is one pictured on the menu (ham/turkey/cheese/bacon/LT/mayo 3 pieces of toast) - but not listed in their three decker section. So I asked if I could get what was pictured and after checking with the kitchen they let me order it. What came out seemed more like 2 ham/turkey sandwiches put in one. The sandwich was far too big (maybe 6 inches tall) to be able to take a bite. I'm pretty normal size guy - and there was no way to get that thing in my mouth. More is not always better. Good/great food is about balance. I had to take 1/2 of the meat off and the sandwich was still pretty massive. Bacon was piled on top of each other - so I had to dismantle that part to get the bacon covering the entire sandwich. just sloppy kitchen work.

My wife ordered a pastrami 'Reuben' and what came out was, to be kind, underwhelming. The bread was not grilled or even toasted. She sent it back and it appears that they dismantled the sandwich, put the bread in the toaster, and brought it back out. Our expectation was a grilled version - butter the bread - put it on the grill to get it toasted. I've never seen a rueben sandwich that wasn't actually grilled. Putting bread in a toaster is not the same. After sending it back, nothing else was refreshed on the plate - so fries were cold. Her proportion was the opposite of mine and still had a $24 price tag. The amount of meat was very underwhelming.

We did mention the cold fries to the waitress - but she seemed uninterested in addressing it and just said sorry. So we kept the rest of our disappointment to ourselves.

So 2 sandwiches and 1 soft drink came to about $63 (with tip) -- Not enough quality...

I really want to like this place in Vienna, Virginia. We've gone here two or three times (and really enjoyed the first time), but on July 13th, we went and were very disappointed.

I will start with the good. Carnegie is a nice looking place. It's clean and well lit. It has a cool, modern New York sensibility, and it is busy on weekends. Their desserts are the stuff of dreams. They have some real hum-dingers.

Once, we also met the executive chef, and he's a great guy who gave the impression that he knows his stuff.

The food is good.... if you can get the wait staff to deliver it hot while you shiver in your seat.

And this introduces the bad.

First is the environment. We sat in a kitchen-side booth in the middle of the diner which feels like it's located squarely in the middle of the walk-in fridge. It is very cold. (If you go, bring a jacket just in case.)

Second (and this is IMPORTANT) is the wait staff. It was reasonably busy when we went, but the service was .. well ... almost terrible. It didn't take long to get seated (in spite of being busy) or to give the server our order. We got our drinks quickly.

Then... we both received our food after a fairly long time and it was not much warmer than room temp (and it was cold there, let me tell you.)

I had french toast and my wife had (I don't remember) with frozen fries. Ok .. I am exaggerating a bit, but they were almost room temp.

It took a bit to attract the attention of our waiter. After all, he had some important stuff to do behind the bar. But when he did finally notice us shivering and waiving our hands, he promptly took the dish back and returned it with slightly warmer fries.

I am not kidding. They also were barely warm. Once again we asks for real warming up, and this time he brought some nice warm fresh french fries. Only took three tries!

Similarly, my french toast was not very warm, but I was willing to just put up with it. I ate two pieces and figured I can take the rest home and gussy it up for breakfast the next day.

So, here is my suggestion to the management: TELL YOUR WAIT STAFF TO SERVE CUSTOMERS FIRST AND GET THE FOOD OUT ASAP!

I am not sure if we will return. This recent visit really put us off... and we really want to like...