Western Diner

Excellent service. Only one waitress on at 7 AM, but she was amazingly attentive. Refilling coffee without asking – constantly. Breakfast was very good. Husband and I both had combination omelettes, mine without the mushrooms. Cooked perfectly. The only minor complaint was that my toast was barely toasted, but my husband’s toast was fine – therefore the loss of a star. Would definitely return.

I think this diner is great. Really good prices and good portions. I do think they could use a facelift, but otherwise I love it.

Great value — good portions — good food.
This is a great local place — cozy, friendly, fast.
I’ve never had a bad meal.
Especially nice as a single guy who really does not cook at home.
Breakfast and Lunch can be under $ 10. Dinner $ 15.

RECOMMENDED
Looking for a dining destination on ¹²⁄₂₆ to facilitate a visit with my wonderful nephew (Z) who works nights my brother chose the Western Diner, literally a minute from his workplace. The space is not modern but is homey. It looks dined in, like an archetypical diner should. I liked its simple décor. Our server, Letha, provided menus upon our arrival and we ordered.
Z graciously averted a haughty caution from Mr. Food Critic who advised against ordering an Italian-​American dish in a diner. He chose the Chicken Parm. Bro, the breakfast maven, ordered the Bacon and American Cheese Omelet. Mr. Food Critic chose the venerable Hot Open Turkey Sandwich, at $ 7.99 and accompanied by potatoes, vegetables or soup/​salad, a ridiculous bargain.
I loved my turkey dinner. It started with a delicious vegetable soup, loaded with vegetables in a perfectly salted, not bland, tomato broth. The turkey, arriving in a light colored gravy was fresh, not dry and very flavorful. The pieces were from the better part of the breast, not those gross pieces attached to the carcass. Fries were fresh, crisp and tasty, covered in the turkey gravy as requested. The vegetables, mixed beans and carrots, though a little soft, were delicious. Z’s Chicken Parm, a VERY large cutlet, arrived above spaghetti and generously topped with well-​browned and melted cheese. Z pronounced it better than the version at one of his favorite casual pizza restaurants. He, a big eater, could not finish it and saved it for his next meal. Bro’s omelet arrived medium cooked as requested. He enjoyed both it and the accompanying home fries.
Letha was a pleasant, prompt and efficient server. She filled our coffee cups without being asked. Dinner for three was less than $ 37.00 before tip!!!
We enjoyed our experience at the Western Diner and I think you will too.

If you want to eat here you had better bring a date unless you want to sit at the counter (not conducive to sitting quietly and reading) or you’ll be forced to wait until the ideal 2 top opens up while they seat parties of 2 or more ahead of you. While being a single is not a protected group, this is still a DISCRIMINATORY practice and will keep me from EVER going back to this diner again. Which is sad because I’ve been going for at least 30 years but I guess I’ve always gone with other people and not alone. Now I won’t be going at all.

Tuesday special — soup, salad, chicken parm and dessert for $ 8.99… Doesn’t get any better than that. Huge portion and had enough leftovers for the next night. Fast service and pretty good for diner food. Might go back next Tuesday.

My husband and I stopped in while visiting Albany recently. He had bacon & eggs with home fries and toast and said it was the best breakfast he’d had out in years. I had a veggie wrap with fries. Despite being a bit greasy, the veggies were very tasty. The french fries were excellent-​crispy and salty on the outside and tender on the inside. Coffee was good, too. Our server was very friendly and efficient. The atmosphere was a little dated, though. Will definitely go back next time we’re in Albany.

My wife and I were headed to Howe Caverns and not impressed with the hotel breakfast in Albany, so we decided to try something on the way. Found this and we were SO glad we did! Best breakfast we’ve ever had in a restaurant, ever! Inexpensive, good portions, fast service.

I have often driven by the Western Diner, thinking to myself that I should check it out. Yesterday I decided to finally give them a try for lunch. Their lunch specials are a real bargain; for 6.49 (plus tax) you get your choice of sandwich, a cup of soup, a side of fries, coleslaw, a pickle, and beverage. Here’s how mine broke down…
Sandwich — BLT (duh, what else??) — 4 out of 5 stars. Bacon was crispy, good amount of lettuce and tomato, but the bread slices were a bit small for all the toppings. Overall it was a very good BLT.
Soup — cream of chicken — 3 out of 5 stars. My other option was ham & cabbage, so they weren’t exactly killing it with the soup choices that day. I chose cream of chicken and with a little salt & pepper, and some crumbled up saltines, it was good. It was also piping hot which is a must for a cup of soup!
Fries — 5 out of 5 stars — crispy and hot, no complaints here.
Coleslaw — 0 out of 5 stars. The dressing was watery and flavorless. Yuck.
Pickle — 3 out of 5 stars. Average sour pickle.
Beverage — 5 out of 5 stars. It was brought to me immediately and was refilled promptly, so no issues there.
Additionally, the service was 5 out of 5 stars. The hostess and waitress were very friendly and did their jobs promptly and efficiently. The ambiance was a 2 out of 5 stars. The interior could use a makeover. In sum, I would return but probably wouldn’t stray too far from their lunch promotion!

Visited here from out of state (CA) and my husband liked it so much we went back 3 times… we got the Philly lunch with fries and it was VERY good!

Great breakfast location and reasonably priced lunch specials. Overall their food is a your typical diner fair. The breakfast is very reasonably priced and a good selection of items on the menu. During the week for lunch specials are amazing deal. For seven dollars you get a sandwich fries soup and a drink. Well worth the price.

The breakfast here is priced cheaply and reasonable? They throw on a ton of butter on your toast so it’s delicious and unhealthy. It’s also a good place to hang out if you want to meet a bunch of people 2x to 3x your age and any locals…

The first time I have ever had eggs over medium actually come out correctly at any diner anywhere!!! Excellent food and atmosphere. Great diner food.

One of the best diners around. I go almost 1x every weekend. For my girlfriend and I we tend to walk out stuffed for $ 20 Thats with tip.
I usually get the 2 eggs scrambled with bacon home fries and toast with a side order of french toast.
She usually gets an omelet but she changes more then me.
Why 4 stars and not 5???
The service depending on who you get is typically alright. I tend to notice that the some waitresses pay more attention to the regulars.
Also the soda comes in a very small glass and you only get one free refill not a huge deal but I love soda. So no sucking down a soda for a quick refill here.
Last con is the juice glass size is small. I mean small like smaller then a shot glass. Don’t believe me check it out for yourself.
Overall a great diner for breakfast I always go back. Never gone for lunch or dinner but a thumbs up for breakfast.

There’s a sticker on the cash register here that says «Eastern Office Supply.» Go figure.
Anyway, we’d skipped trying the Western (on 20 aka Western Ave.) before now for two reasons. One is there’s a pretty skeevy motel right behind it, like RIGHT behind it, and during the lunch rush that’s the only place to park. The second is it looks kind of grimy from the curb.
Well, the motel’s stlll there but the odd coloration of the stones turns out to be fossils embedded in the rock, which the menu informs us is from the Helderbergs and was hand-​picked in 1976 when the diner was built. And in fact the rocks are pretty interesting to look at.
The inside is a cross between Cracker Barrel and your great Aunt Millie’s dining room. It’s a bit past its prime and in the country manner, not the classic glass and steel diner ethos. Booths on the outside and a middle aisle, counter in the back. Patronage is almost entirely the senior set: I was the youngest patron in there, and that is saying something.
The service was stellar in the hiya hon area; in fact it nearly crossed over into being intrusive, but it most certainly passed the coffee-​fill test.
The lunch specials are quite cheap for diners: $ 6.49 for most of them, for more than enough food for lunch (see above about patronage). Food is pretty diner standard; soups slightly above average, salads well below (nearly white iceberg lettuce, ugh).
But, all in all, definitely homier and more pleasant than many diners in the area, even if the food isn’t remarkable and the locale a bit odd. And I definitely recommend stopping by to see the fairly unique fossil-​rocks.

You couldn’t pay me to go here since new ownership. Worst food and service now– was never like that years ago. Ordered eggs with cheese. They forgot the cheese– I asked for the cheese and they just put a slice if cold cheese on top of eggs not melted at all. Needless to say we left after they refused to do anything about it. Haven’t been back since. If I could put 0 stars I would– I guess I will mark 1 star.

Typical dinner food, fast friendly service, cheap with good portions, coffee cup never gets less then half full before its topped off — somedays that’s enough to keep me coming back :-) definitely seems to have the cute older regulars that local dinners get

The décor is standard, people were very nice. Food tasted fine. Soup came out cool for me and luke warm for my Dad, he was fine with it I sent mine back to be heated. Came back hot. Dinner was served mine was fine, Turkey Club with hot crispy fries. Dad got a hot turkey sandwhich with cold gravy, he sent it back and it came back luke warm, he ate it but was dissapointed.
We will go back to try one more time but we will not hold our breath to get back there.

Quite good. We have breakfast there every time we’re in the area and always enjoy it very much.
Good food, reasonable prices and decent service.
Well worth a try!

As I am looking through the stars I see the word «Meh» in the description of the two star review. It is a perfect description. There is nothing wrong with the diner. There is also nothing that stands out. It really is just kinda «meh».
The diner is close to work, and I was going with a co-​worker who did not want to travel far. He had a buffalo chicken wrap and a plate of fries. For whatever reason, he ate all the fries and decided to take the wrap home. I did not even try to understand.
I am still trying to eat healthy so I had a soup and salad. The soup was nondescript, nothing special. Seemed canned vegetable with some extra beans added. The salad was nothing special, just like anything I’ve made for myself. Except for the olives, greek olives, which completely overpowered the salad and repeated on me all damned afternoon.
And yet, the place was filled with people who seemed to be regulars. Something in the place resonated with them that I just did not notice. Chances are we’ll be back again at some point, it is pretty close to the office and the service was quick. Maybe I’ll pick up on what other people see in the place.
Until then…
Meh.