Chit Chat Diner — Restaurant in West Orange

I went to this place’s Hackensack branch…let me say my oh my the menu variety is very large and huge to the point where I may not be able to eat everything…every item in my entire lifetime…if anything. The menu was very large and enormous…and if I compared it to a city, it would be NYC next door due to the level of flavors posed by the food associated with the restaurant itself and the flavors valued by the restaurant. Seriously…you know the restaurant rating is going to be very high because of the high amount of menu items shown the moment you open that plastic book. I mean why would I not value and respect a restaurant that owes to its customers so many flavors worth of food.

It is very close to such a beautiful place full of quietness and nature. No noise and no problems, regardless of the time of day and therefore there are very few things to reckon with. On the other hand it has to be accessed by an Uber, given that I do not own my own vehicle thanks to some personal issues. This place is very great accommodating to those with disabilities and is great at maintaining its cooking standards, above the typical par. Their bar is extremely high and would be difficult to reach for someone who tries to individually compete against them.

In my opinion a restaurant should be intended to serve a community; BEYOND! - This restaurant in West Orange (despite not being there) went on to serve Montclair Students, Newark, and folks from NYC.

Perhaps the only controversy would be the risk of raw meat; which is very miniscule. The staff is very committed to cooking and maintaining their standards, even compared to most diners. I should set my alarm with the intent to taste their omelettes, regardless of flavor and their benedicts as well. This also applies to the restaurants breakfast deluxe specialities, that I would equate to even more than IHOP, Denny’s etc. They are good at engineering a meal’s appearance and how it looks to keep it modern… they keep you coming back in the mornings so that you will be waiting even in the longest lines, in who knows what time of day.

I also think this restaurant, burger wise, is competitive with Carnegie’s. I do not know which restaurant is better because they both have burger specialties. Some parts of the menu are similar to TGIF's and Chillies. Prior to coming to its Hackensack branch, and considering going to its West Orange Office sometime in the future, I have never seen a dining restaurant so competitive with both small and big restaurants, or at least not a case like this as I would have seen on such a scale. It is BY FAR one of the most competitive restaurants, and I would think of it as the Ivy League of Diners due to its somewhat high competition to Carnegie’s Diners and Diners across New York...

Today i went to this well known establishment in west orange known as the “Chit Chat” diner. Before this experience today, I was a loyal, dedicated customer. This day, December 27th, 2023, has made a mark on my relationship with this diner. Today I walked in with my lovely friend and we sat down on the high top seats. We were given menus, and I scanned through when my eyes laid on the “wraps” section. I pondered for a minute, asking myself if I should take a risk, a chance perhaps? (I never do this) I saw the words “Buffalo Chicken Wrap“ and thought to myself how amazing it would be if I could taste such a warm, hearty meal. I felt that if I ordered the wrap, it would heal me and do good for my soul. Thus, when the waiter strolled up to the counter, they asked if I was ready to order. With assertion, I said “yes”. The words “buffalo chicken wrap” rolled off my tongue. When the order was placed, I looked around the room. It was obvious they were busy, but I trusted them because this isn’t my first time. Less than 10 minutes later, my wrap was presented to me. From the outside, it was questionable, but I made a promise to myself to never judge a book by its cover. I took a generous bite, but the taste that touched my buds was something that i cannot even describe. After a few chews, it tasted like they broke into my house and stole leftover food from my fridge and tried to play it off by selling me something I already had. The chicken AND cheese were cold. Not lukewarm, cold. The wrap was bland and the fries were decent. Honestly, the 30-40 minutes I spent at the diner was a waste of my precious time on this earth. Wawa can make wraps better and i’m out of there in 10 minutes. They also give me points on their app so it’s cheaper than this $18 block of microwaved prison food. After my bite, I signaled over the manager to express disdain for my meal. I told her what I just experienced and she said “there’s nothing I can do about it, it’s policy”. She told me I can box it up and take it home, and when she said this it provided further confirmation that they did in fact take this wrap from my house. Ultimately, I was held against my will and forced to pay $18 and this woman had the audacity to “give me a discount out of courtesy” (manager quote). The lady at the register STILL charged me wrong after I told her there was a discount on the receipt. Yet another attempt from capitalism to rob me of my hard earned money. I am connected and surrounded with restaurant owners who understand the real meaning of hospitality. Never stepping foot in this “Chit Chat” diner for as long as I...

We’ve been going to chit chat for months now. Every single weekend is our go to, mostly because our daughter always gets so happy when we arrive. There were days the chicken teriyaki was extremely salty, but yet we kept coming back cause it felt a little like a regular routine and place for my toddler. Unfortunately yesterday was NOT that and I am seriously considering not going back. We used to go every Saturday morning, everyone was always lovely to us. Then we switched to sundays and it seems there’s a different server every time. Last week we had this new lady who was absolutely adorable to us (even telling me there was complimentary dessert with my order, which I know and most of them never give it to me), but yesterday we were served in an arrogant and condescending manner. As we got there and were seated we were asked what we wanted to drink. We always have water so my toddler drinks her water too. Then proceeded to order burgers for us. We were midway eating when the server comes with 3 boxes and asked if we wanted them. First of all I’m still eating and then what makes you think I want a box right now? He never checked on us again. I was out of my water long time ago and was never refilled and when we were done (didn’t even finish neither the burgers or appetizers cause the food was subpar yesterday) we were about to ask for the check and he ALREADY had the check in his hand. What if I wanted a dessert? As someone who worked in restaurant industry before I know exactly the type of attitude: thinks they’re not going to spend much money so get them out the door as fast as possible!!! When we got the check the name on it says Mike L. Well I tipped regardless, however I sure as hell didn’t want to tip anything cause that type of attitude sure doesn’t deserve anything from me. I don’t feel like returning since the whole family meal felt rushed and he was so rude I sure don’t want to go through that again!

I am aware this is a really long review cause for these past 8 months I felt like this restaurant was a bit of our routine with our toddler and we loved some of the servers there always so friendly. This weekend was NOT IT. The food is usually a hit or miss depending on the days but, to be treated like I was yesterday : rushed and with condescending looks…I don’t need that. I can take my money...