Austin Diner

A good place for brunch with friends. 6 of us relaxed here for a couple hours, enjoying coffee/​orange juice and good size homestyle meals. Oh if only they had Mimosas!
The Mexican Skillet: I had a difficult time finishing it because it is very spicy! Excellent flavors and portion size! …but only for those that like that extra kick. ;)
The French Toast: Three of my friends ordered this and continued to rave about how good it was. They finished every last bite! I will definitely be trying these next time.

I feel like this is honestly a generous rating. The food here isn’t worth what you’re paying for it, i think the prices on the menu have actually recently risen. My fiancé and I live right down the street and have been here over a handful of times at different times on different days and it’s always the same experience. We never seem to get one of the waitresses that actually do their job, just the older man who works pretty often. He never comes around to the table. It’s hard to get them to come to your table at all even though a majority of the time they are just standing behind the counter talking and waiting for food by the window. Last time I ate here my eggs were watery and my sausage was undercooked and gave me food poisoning while pregnant. Won’t ever be back.

If I could give this place less than 1 star I would. This was by far the most disappointing experience I have ever experienced so much so that I am physically taking time out of my day to write this! I’ve never written a review before just an FYI. The service was awful, my boyfriend and I walked in no one said anything to us, finally after a very awkward 5 minutes the guy who was standing at the host stand when we first walked in said oh you can sit wherever. So we sat down another guy walks up gives us menus and said he would get our drinks within a 10 second window and a 5 ft radius he forgot our drink order and had to ask again. We got a water and a tea! Then the server comes, he doesn’t introduce himself nor did he speak any English, he asked us if we were ready to order we asked for a few minutes then he didn’t come back for 20 minutes keep in mind there’s about 10 people in this place it’s at about 8% capacity. We waved him down for a solid 5 to 7 minutes, I literally was flailing my arms, talk about tunnel vision. He finally came back we ordered then our order took forever people that came in after us were served, ate and paid. My order was wrong and cold, my boyfriends was okay. I ordered 2 biscuits with sausage gravy and a side of hash browns, they forgot the sausage gravy??? I’m sorry but how does that even happen. After all the disappointments we get our check from a different server, pay and never return! I’m not going to say avoid this place but consider with caution. Oh oh oh by the way we were there at 1 45 pm on Sunday they close at 4. Okay I’m done!

Walked in about 2pm for a late breakfast. Probably 10 other patrons at that time. Guy seats me and gives me a menu. Prices under $ 10 for bacon eggs hash browns and toast. So I wait for a waitress. And wait. About 12 minutes later the guy that sat me comes by. Do you want me to get someone to take your order? Well yeah. Place is so small that the servers can plainly see everyone in the diner. Server was just standing behind the counter 5 feet away.
Fatty bacon and tasteless hash browns. No one came back til I asked for the bill. Left a dollar tip and rolled down to Omlettry. Keep it moving. Nothing to see here

Fun little place with great service and really good quality food. I’ll definitely be back!

I came in to Austin Diner incredibly hungover and the Fried Green Tomatoes completely cured me. THANK YOU AUSTIN DINER!

No. Never again. We stumbled on this diner and thought we’d give it a try. The mushroom Swiss burger had 3 mushroom slices and processed white cheese, and the sweet potato fries were an odd combination of raw and burnt. The waitress was rude and even rolled her eyes when my husband ordered a milkshake. She never came back to check on us or the food or offer drink refills. When she brought the check, she never asked how everything was. The milkshake was decent, but it actually tasted like a malt. The ticket said the waitress name was Lucy, but I don’t know if that was actually her. Whomever she is, she clearly hates her job.

Uneatable! Never going back, hope it gets hit by a meteorite! Wanted American, got garbage. Literally trash food. Different owners it seems, waiter had trouble understanding the inquiry of «if there was bell peppers I the meatloaf», assume English was everyone’s second language… or third. What appeared to be the manager who served me had so much after shave on it made me want to vomit when he delivered my food.
Chicken fried streak was over cooked, almost burnt. Everything had too much caraway seed in it. Batter on the steak, and in the cream gravy.
Mashed potatoes had far too much of an u identifiable spice, and the brown gravy on top of that was obviously day/​2 old and re-​heated.
Salad had brown edges on the lettuce.
The cornbread looked to have been cooked a day or three ago, and was not as soft as baked today. It really is not that hard to bake cornbread daily.
I’ll cross it off my list and never go back.
…just not way it was with the previous owner, location and people that know how to cook home style food.

I wanted to grab some breakfast on my way to work, and I’d just discovered this place so I figured I’d give it a try. I ordered the California Skillet and coffee. The coffee was hot and really good. When the skillet came out, the over medium eggs were cooked perfectly, add was everything else in the skillet. Overall it was a great meal. So… why the 3 stars? My waiter sucked! It took what seemed like forever to get a refill on the coffee, and when it came time to pay, it took almost 10 minutes (no exaggeration) to get my change. I normally tip well, but not this time. I will be back, but I’ll be sitting in a different section for sure. BTW, the music playing in the background was fantastic! (from the 70s… I may be telling my age, but I really enjoyed it)

My favorite place to eat in this area! The milkshakes are awesome! Take it easy on the food if you want one though. They’re very filling. The food & staff are great! No complaints at all! I would eat there more often if I could.

Since we like unique and quirky places, Austin Diner seemed the perfect fit. We walked in and were excited to see a throwback to our youth with the torn plastic, and lumpy booths. The tables were the old formica tops. They even had the small coin operated music boxes at each booth. We both concluded, this is going to be really good, or really bad. Guess what, really bad. In addition to the food, the service was terrible and slow. The food was delivered and by-​by waitress.
My wife order the french dip, which was just weird. In addition to just a few ounces of odd tasting beef, it was top with cheese and raw peppers. The 2 ounces of au-​jus came in one of those small tasting cups. I decided to treat myself to the chicken fried steak, but don’t worry about the calories, I couldn’t eat but a few bits. It was almost as good as Banquet frozen dinners. No flavor, weak texture and thick gravy. The fries were limp and few, which was okay because I couldn’t eat those either.

This is the best place. So classic. Everything on the menu is delicious, right down to the chocolate milk

The restaurant had an Austin vibe to it when we walked inside. They have displays of various antique kitchen tools and glassware around the place which looks cool. It was clean and the staff was very friendly. I saw some early bird breakfast specials on the table (see pic). I decided on a two egg plate which came with a choice of bread, one side and one breakfast meat for about $ 6.50. The food was good, although the bacon was a little overcooked. The coffee was alright, typical diner coffee.
The highlight of the visit was a patron that stopped by our table on his way out. Out of the blue he said hello and then performed a magic trick for us, making a small piece of fabric dissappear in his hand. He was only two feet away and I still don’t know hiw he did it. He then told us three adult jokes and left us laughing. What an experience! I would go back just to see if he was there.

Alright another establishment I pass by regularly and ignored for years. I don’t know if it peaked my interest truthfully. June 2, 2015 that all came to an end. My Wife wanted a hot breakfast and wasn’t trying to hear anything else.
She called me asking about restaurant’s off Burnett road. I informed her of what was familiar to me and she cast her net. About 20 minutes into her meal she called and exclaimed the food was good and I needed to give her my order. She read the menu and I decided.
Fifteen minutes later she came to my Mmm job and dropped off my breakfast. It’s always cool to see your love during the day plus get fed. My food was in two different bags. I pulled it out at my desk as coworkers clamored to see what I had. After all the drooling, ewing and awwing (by me) I dug in.
The pancakes are really good, not to heavy and flavored well. My eggs were good soft scrambled and a nice layer of cheese. The sausage was alright, not terribly greasy. I’m liked my meal though.
We’ve actually been back a few times since. My Wife says the building is clean and a nice area too. Give them a try you may be surprised.

Why 5 stars? I drive all the way from Round Rock to have breakfast here. It’s fast, friendly, and has that classic Austin vibe that you usually find only downtown on South Congress. It’s laid back and I enjoy the crowd. If you want the big family with screaming kids experience, stay in Pflugerville and northward.
The food is fast and fresh made and I enjoy the soundtrack that is playing every time I eat there.
You want a surprise at this diner? Try the need enchiladas. They are very good. and being Hispanic married to a Mexican woman, I’m picky about enchiladas.
Breakfast tacos score high as does the coffee. The price is also better than reasonable so no reason to be acting like a freakin‘ food critic.

I drive by this place every day to and from work and have thought, why the hell is a diner in a strip mall?
I finally had the time to stop in and as someone else described, it is like the diner out of Seinfeld, but campier, and with a strange mural on the wall featuring a longhorn and an armadillo eating a smörgåsbord.
I split the Californian skillet with my friend and it was deeeelish! It was also the perfect size to split if you (like us) have a long day ahead, and don’t want to be totally stuffed. My 12 yr old got the basic taco plate which was two giant tacos that she couldn’t finish.
The pancake was middle of the road, good but not great. The service was great, and it was really reasonably priced. We’ll definitely be back.

Everything tasted very old. My potatoes were hard and dry. The tortilla chips were stale and the chocolate milk shake was very watery and I could not make out any chocolate. It just tasted like blended milk.
It was also really stuffy and hot in there.
The service was nice though.

This is my second visit. I was a little skeptical at first glance, not because of the strip mall, but because of more telling signs such as the condition of booths or the air vents. That aside, I’m glad I gave them a chance.
First visit– had the Vegetarian Tacos and hash browns. To make the tacos vegan, I was able to sub black beans for the refried. Loved them, very suprised/​impressed. Tortillas and veggies were fresh and on point. I enjoyed both of their salsas. The hash browns could have been crispier, but that may just be my preference. Coffee was good, not watery or anything. Service was spot on for a slow weekday (think the weather was very bleh that day).
Today– kept it lame and simple, just water and oatmeal. Very tasty. I enjoy their presentation. Granted, oatmeal is oatmeal, but still. Liked the brown sugar, raisins, and nuts. Busy, little Saturday. Sat at the counter top. Service warm as usual.
Besides, everyone loves the 50s/​60s diner feel. Oldies playing softly in the background. Modest, yet fun décor. Just an overall cool spot. Glad I found ya.
Cheers.

Had the cowboy skillet. It was decent. I left Satisfied.
Not a bad place for breakfast. Huge selection, solid food. Would recommend to friends when in the area. Cozy atmosphere, fair prices, friendly staff.

Well, whenever I see reviews that are all over the place, my train of thought goes something like this:
1. I’m just blessed.
2. Maybe I’ve been lucky here.
3. I know I wasn’t drunk, slopping everything up, and calling it all great shit.
I think the bottom line is Austin Diner really is a diner, it’s in a strip mall, and the address is 5222 Burnet Road in Austin, not 11 Madison Avenue, NYC. Seriously, what were you expecting? It’s casual food with casual service and casual prices. For what they do, I think they do it well.
Yeah, I stick to the back page breakfast stuff, I’m not going to tell you I’d rather come here than Café Java, and I think the pancakes at Kerbey & Mags rule. But when I’m around 5222 Burnet Road, and I want breakfast stuff anytime, and I want table service and decent coffee & quick & cheap & good, then here ya go.