Diamond City Vault Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Wilkes-Barre

Diamond City Bar and Grill is a relatively new dining venue located between Wilkes-Barre’s public square and the Market Street Bridge. The restaurant is located in what used to be a bank, and patrons have an opportunity to dine in the former financial institution’s vault.

We arrived approximately 15 minutes prior to our 7pm  reservation, and were immediately seated. While waiting for our drinks, we munched on some complimentary tortilla chips and hummus. The chips may have been homemade, and were tasty and crispy. The hummus, however, was completely flavorless and oily.

The overall menu includes soups and salads, pizzas, sandwiches, seafood and steak.

Chicken empanadas were our choice of appetizers. They consisted of smoked chicken, onions, peppers, garlic, and cilantro, with a tasty chimichurri sauce. The dish was excellent. The dough was soft, and stuffed with ground chicken and other ingredients.

For my main course, I chose the short rib grilled cheese sandwich, with braised short rib, caramelized onions,  aged cheddar and asiago cheese, with a side of french fries. This meal was a mixed bag. The meat was tender, juicy, and quite flavorful, combining well with the mixed cheese. The problem stemmed from the plain toasted bread that was used. The juice from the meat was too much for the bread, making it soggy on the bottom. Perhaps a bread of more substance, such as brioche or a pretzel roll, would suffice in this case. The fries were extremely greasy and soggy, making for a horrible and inedible side.

The highlight of the night was the buffalo chicken mac and cheese.The cavatappi pasta was served al dente, capturing the splendid cheese and buffalo sauces with every bite. The grilled chicken morsels were very tender. A delightful dish all around, and one I highly recommend.

I must also add that there is no immediate parking. One can park on public square or in the nearby parking garage, or find street parking. Either way, one must walk about a block in order to gain entrance. One final drawback is the noise level inside. The restaurant has high ceilings and thus a bit cavernous. Sound travels very easily here. The Christmas music playing was thus amplified, and made it hard to have conversation without raising your voice a bit.

Diamond City Bar and Grill has been in business for approximately three months, so there are undoubtedly a few kinks to work through; however, with the exception of the complimentary hummus and the choice of bread on the sandwich, the food was quite enjoyable and definitely worth one’s patronage. Hopefully it can stay in business longer than its predecessor, Broncos Vault Brazilian Steakhouse, which faced challenges due to the pandemic. If so, Diamond City Bar and Grill can certainly be encouraging to the rejuvenation of downtown...

Don't bother. Truth in menu is important to everyone, and not one item from any course that we ordered was prepared the way it was described, and the items claimed on the menu were not present in the dish.

The restaurant charges what appears to be about 3.5% surcharge on credit card payment, which isn't listed on the menu or posted in the restaurant anywhere.

-Pretzel sticks with cheese sauce. Pretzels served still frozen with canned nacho cheese

-Burrata with Grilled Peaches and Arugula. Peaches were a frozen peach marinated in a dark brown molasses tasting liquid. Definitely not grilled.

-Ordered Lobster Bisque from the menu, was told they don't have that anymore. No worries. Was suggested to order the pumpkin soup that isn't on the menu. Sure we'll try that. Was served a pale yellow puree that somehow was unseasoned and chemical-tasting at the same time. I don't complain about my food, but I had to tell them this was terrible. Was told it would be removed from our bill, it wasn't.

-Diamond Burger. Requested medium, served nearly rare. Fries were very basic, unseasoned.

-Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Lemon Buerre Blanc and Garlic Sauteed Spinach. No Parmesan crust, no buerre blanc sauce, and served with unseasoned steamed broccoli and shredded carrots. Looked like bad cafeteria food, with an ice cream scoop shaped flavorless mashed potatoes to complete the look. When questioned, the waiter responded "That's how we prepare that dish."

Char Grilled Tenderloin Tips - no description of sides on the menu, you take a chance. Was presented with a thick beef stew of tough beef, loaded with gristle and connective tissue. Random sized pieces, but so far from tenderloin it's not even close. I expected tenderloin trim, possibly butt end, but this had to be shoulder cold or beef knuckle, as the grain was running in different directions in every piece. Zero evidence of the beef ever passing anywhere near a char-broiler.

Find another...

If I could give it 0 stars I would. This used the be a favorite place of ours, primarily because I loved the bang bag shrimp appetizer and especially the shrimp tacos. Tonight was the last time we will ever dine there. To start, the bang bang shrimp appetizer was rubbery and rough to chew. I was starving so ate them and now regretting it hoping I don't get sick. When the shrimp tacos came they were not serve as indicated on the menu and had no mango salsa at all. It literally was the swme exact thing as the appetizer stuffed in 3 sift taco shells. We had to wait quite some time until they came over after we signaled for their attention. Note, there were only 3 tables in the restaurant that were occupied. When they did come over, both the waitress and the other girl had a serious attitude about it. They proceeded to take the plate back to the kitchen and return with some type of mini (very tiny cup of what I supposed they were trying to pass off as mango salsa) It looked gross, on the now very cold, sitting out for quite some time shrimp tacos. I had initially requested that they just be removed from the tab and taken back because they weren't what I ordered. More attitude from both and took even more time to bring the check. This in addition to it took forever to be served our cocktail orded when we first arrived, appetizers and meal had arrived before cocktails were even served. We certainly won't be going back again. Such a disappointment because it was a favorite of ours and we used to go just about once a week. In addition, I have to mention having a straight view of where the staff enter/exit the kitchen area. Witnessed a staff member walking out of the kitchen vaping before coming back to the bar/dining area. That is absolutely not acceptable and disgusting. I'd imagine of they continue like this, the doors will soon be closed. There are hardly any tables filled the way it is but it has taken a serious turn in the truly...