Waynesville Main Street Diner — Restaurant in Waynesville

We have been frequent customers since the diner first opened and have not had issues until now. The food was always okay, nothing to write home about. Dana and Paloma, our past waitresses have been so sweet and we always appreciated their help. Today, we came in for brunch, it took about 10 minutes for drink orders to be taken and another 10 for our food orders to be taken. For reference, there were 3 of us. We had no issues waiting as they were a little busy this morning though it would have been nice for our waitress to have communicated the delay with us. It takes about more 30 more minutes (50 minutes total) to get 2/3 of our meals. The blonde woman who brought them out was incredibly rude and proceeds to tell us that after being there almost an hour, they were out of grits (a side we all ordered) and asks what else we want. We told her and our waitress we did not want anything else (God knows how long that would take), we were just waiting on the other entree. They said it would be out shortly. Mind you, the 2 entrees we received were barely warm when we got them. 15 minutes later, we still had not received the 3rd plate and the first 2 were ice cold. Obviously we are going to wait for everyone to get their food before eating so we were just waiting. Between the cold food and lack of decent service, we decided to pay for drinks and leave. Our waitress was incredibly apologetic and told us to go speak to the manager. We spoke to the manager with short brown hair and she was incredibly rude and unapologetic. We told her we just wanted to pay for the drinks and leave (the waitress said she wouldn’t charge for the food since we did not eat). She told us she isn’t able to do that, we would have to wait on the waitress, then she scoffed and said she wouldn’t charge us and we could leave. We had no issue waiting for the food or even the lack of communication at first but when the blonde lady was rude, our food was not warm, and we waited a ridiculous amount of time for the last part of our order, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Then when management was dismissive and hateful, that was icing on top of the cake. We love supporting local businesses but we won’t be supporting Main Street Diner anymore because of this treatment. Highly recommend Beach Mountain Diner in Hazelwood if you’re looking for amazing food...

5/13/25- Update- downgraded to 2 stars from 5. I'm not sure what changed owner or managment wise, but this previously awesome local place seems to be trying to elevate itself, but not quite hitting the mark. The menu has changed drastically, cutting most of the selection including a large amount of the diner comfort foods in favor of more developed, refined dishes- that, in itself, is great- I'm all for restaurants reinventing themselves... but not at the cost of other aspects of their service. I understand shrinking your menu is more financially reasonable and managing a smaller menu if better for kitchen staff... but in addition to the substantial price hike ($15 for chicken fingers and fries?! $14 for a fried bologna sandwich) the food quality seems to have suffered. I'm not sure if they are sourcing ingredients from new companies or if they have changed their recipies... but this once warm and comforting diner now feels like an overpriced tourist trap. The $19 fish and chips was sad and soggy, the fish was flavorless, and the fries were limp. The $19 black and bleu salad was very skimpy on the protien and overall lacking in the toppings department. Adding a drink made it over $20 per person for a dissaponting meal. Maybe it was a bad day? Maybe this is just how it is now? I am very disappointed to mark this off the list of local gems until something changes.

Old review: Atmosphere is cozy, clean, and professional and the service has consistently been fantastic. The food is great-what ive tried so far, at least! Grilled cheese and soup, French dip, beef tips, and patty melts have all been good! My husband only ever gets the smoked ribs here- they are very fairly priced at 15.99 for a half rack + 2 sides (as of 1/25/25) and they are hands down the BEST thing on the entire menu that either of us have tried to date. Their half rack plate is enough for two meals! We highly recommend ordering with dry rub and sauce on the side! Their mac and cheese is also phenomenal. Tastes like it's all scratch made with a classic mornay and a perfect choice of pasta shape. A smoked rib mac and cheese with french onions and a veggie side would be an amazing dish option if they had it.

Can...

I had the pleasure of visiting Waynesville Main Street Diner during their soft open. The day before, I had been on their website and saw a fried chicken biscuit at the top of the homepage. I was in love. The photo made that biscuit look so good. It had goat cheese on it and red pepper jelly oozing off of the sides. I had to have it. That evening I was watching tv and found myself zoning out, just thinking about that biscuit. Breakfast couldn't come soon enough.

Upon arriving we were seated immediately. The ambiance in the restaurant has a classy but vintage feel. Gold/weathered trim on the lighting with mirrors. Lots of wood grain and white everywhere.

I ordered coffee, water, orange juice, the Fried Chicken/goat cheese/red pepper jelly biscuit, pancake, waffle and a feta/spinach stuffed omelet.

When I received the biscuit, there was a small piece of chicken sticking off to the side. I ripped it off and immediately tried it. I was so surprised by the flavor of the chicken and the breading. The flavor was robust and "peppery". I then took a bite of the biscuit.

When I tell you that it was a roller coaster, I mean it. I immediately was hit with the flavor of the biscuit and the goat cheese. A few moments later the chicken came through, and then afterwards the red pepper jelly began to show its face. Then the flavors came back around and hit me again. This biscuit was from another world and unlike any chicken biscuit I have ever had. The biscuit held together really well too.

The omelet was full of flavor and the feta was very rich and flavorful. I saved half of this for breakfast the following day. Usually I cannot stomach microwaved or reheated cooked spinach. But this was still delicious. I do not know what they did differently, but it was a nice surprise.

The pancake was a sponge for syrup and was really good. The Waffle had a great crunch while maintaining a wonderful chew.

The waitress was very friendly and welcoming. They provided great service and never left us with an empty coffee mug.

My experience at the Waynesville Main Street Diner was a great one. I look forward to visiting again and trying their...