Ze's Diner Woodbury — Restaurant in Woodbury

My family and I had a TERRIBLE experience at Ze's Diner in Woodbury. We brought our 4 children to this (what we thought) a nice diner that would be something different for us. We first called to see how busy they were and no one picked up the phone. We drove to the diner and when we arrived, there were only 2 other tables with people. Quite confusing why the phone went attended. Next, while we were waiting for our food, our kiddos were going crazy and this diner does not provide any coloring menu or crayons for kiddos to keep them busy. They then were touching all of the toy trucks that were at their level and we had to keep telling them not to touch them. It only got worse as the food was not great at all. The fries (that we had to pay extra for that came with a kids meal) were so dark brown they were obviously using old oil to make them in. The Cajun pasta was really just alfredo sauce and tomatoes, nothing Cajun about it at all! They then gave me a bowl of Cajun spice to add to my plate of pasta MYSELF. My husband's omelet had NO cheese on it. At the end, we received our check and we paid at the front counter. When we came back to the table to wrap up the kiddos, the waitress came back to our table and asked if we were ready for our bill. Not sure how this happens when we were 1 of 3 tables in the entire diner. We did let the owner know of our experience that night. They told us that they felt bad and would immediately address their staff about these issues. The owner was nice to give us a refund for our order. However, after checking our bank account after a week, we discovered that the owner never really refunded us all. $70 for our family to eat there and was definitely not worth it!!

Terrible experience, would not recommend...

Lacking serious attention to detail regarding cleanliness. Had been here 4 years ago and had a positive experience but I'm leaving a new review because I wouldn't choose to eat here again.

I had the apple fritter french toast, which tasted like plain french toast with emphasis on the eggs. The scrambled eggs were fine, as were the hash browns. I'd liken the quality to Perkins or IHOP.

I didn't use any syrup because it looks very questionable. It was very cloudy and there was some kind of gross build-up inside the container. I looked at other tables with syrup and theirs looked the same, albeit in a different style container. I saw 4 different container styles.

It was the same with the pepper shaker! I'm concerned about whether they ever clean things. And if they're okay with those things looking like this, what do the things we can't see look like?! I'd be terrified of what their soda fountain looks like, those things are notorious for being disgusting and not getting cleaned enough.

This is why I didn't try the "homemade strawberry jam" they give you in a small squeeze bottle (like a very small ketchup or mustard bottle). As someone who has done a fair amount of canning and used to make jam and jelly, I worry about the safety since it's homemade. Not worth the risk.

Also, they coffee tastes like cheap diner coffee yet they won't even leave the carafe at the table, so you have to wait on your server to bring you a refill. When they're busy, you've finished your meal before they come back! You get a small ceramic mug (my guess is 10 oz) and they charge $3.50 as of the time of this review (July 2024).

Overall, I don't think it's worth the price. It's mediocre food at best and I seriously question the...

I am compelled to leave this 1-star review only due to an event that happened on New Year's Day, and other peoples' reactions after having told the story. I was alone. The place was hopping! I ordered a very simple breakfast. My server, Angela, came over to tell me that they did something wrong with my order so they threw it out and were making me a new order. The order was then lost amongst the other orders (it was very busy and turn-around was constant), and Angela came over three more times to tell me they were working on it. Everyone around me was served their food - even those who arrived 30 minutes later than I. The manager or owner was there, and only Angela offered to buy me a drink (which I declined). First, it was not Angela's responsibility to offer me anyhing. Second, I think it is in very poor taste that the manager or owner did not give me a free meal, or at the very least, take a significant percentage off of my bill. Again, the wait staff are all wonderful, and typically, I give this place a 5, but there is no excuse for ignoring this and making the server feel responsible for the error in the kitchen. (The 4 for food is only because my "basted medium" eggs were simply poached and very runny. Atmosphere score - just so...