Fireside Diner

When I go out to eat… I do so expecting that the food is at least going to be as good… if not better than what I can cook at home. I also expect it to be a somewhat decent value. I have been holding back on posting this review because I did not want to condemn a local business without giving it the opportunity to redeem itself. That just never happened here with the Fireside Diner. The food is over priced and under exciting. I have tasted far superior cafeteria food than what was offered here. Three strikes… you are out in my book. I have no idea why the businesses owners continue to fail at this location. It seems prime… with a huge parking lot. Of course the sinkhole caused a lot of headaches recently for this particular attempt at reviving this restaurant… but it in no way was completely responsible for its failures to meet even general expectations. If you look almost directly across the street… you will see that Wild River Pizza is still filling up its parking lot… even during renovations. There is a reason. If Fireside reopens after the sinkhole issue is remedied… I sure hope they change the menu… change their pricing structure… change their chefs/​cooks and business model.

Due to the ODOT work on the failing culvert that created the sinkhole, the Fireside Diner has closed — a blessing in disguise

Not horrible. not impressed.. Service was super slow. one waitress running like a crazy person. ordered bacon well done when it showed up it was still alive … prices are extremely high for what you get.

This was a very disappointing experience. I ordered a $ 20.00 rib eye dinner with the steak medium rare. It was served very well done. The garnish on my plate was wilted as was the lettuce in my husband’s salad. His salad had gobs of blue cheese in it although he had declined blue cheese dressing because he doesn’t like it. The waitress was friendly and attentive and she did not charge for my steak because she could see that it had not been cooked to order. I declined to have a redo because I was just too darn hungry to wait for it. My husband didn’t complain about the blue cheese. Luckily it was just a big scoop next to the lettuce and he scraped it onto my steak, which made it more palatable for me.
The steak was 12 ounces but very thinly cut. I think that made it difficult for the cook to get a rarer finish. A thicker cut would be easier to handle and would be more what I would expect for the price.
The baked potato and grilled zucchini and onions were just fine. I tipped well for the service not for the food. I don’t believe in shorting an attentive server for a mistake in the kitchen.
This is the third restaurant at this location which used to be an Apple Peddler franchise. The venue is cavernous and there was only one other couple there when we arrived. The new owners have done their best to banish the ghosts of the past but the heavy blue vinyl walls, an unfortunate product of the AP incarnation, are dreary and depressing.
I’ll try it one more time, maybe, for breakfast, since local folks have praised the breakfast fare. But not too soon as I’m a bit put off at this point. They have recently suffered a 40 foot sink hole in their parking lot too, which might discourage people from parking until it is fixed.

In one word: lackluster.
It’s overpriced for what it is. The menu is rather generic. My friend and I had burgers and they were alright. They have absolutely nothing to offer in terms of plating; it’s just your food on a plate. Like I said, the burger was okay. I probably wouldn’t go back to have it again. I definitely wouldn’t go back because of the fries. Unfortunately the vibe of the place feels somewhat like a cafeteria. It must be hard to take an old building like that and make it your own, but it still seems like something is lacking that could be better.
The french fries here seem to be frozen fries that are microwaved. They probably aren’t microwaved, but I say this because they were so mushy and limp, it was sort of bizarre. I looked around to make sure it just wasn’t my fries, but there were other people with the exact same thing. I’m not sure what happened to them. If the fries were at least decent I would have given another star.
I will say that the man who waited on us was attentive and friendly and took pride in the place. That’s worth a star.

We stopped by here for lunch the other day. (When we moved here last summer it was not open) Nice open dining area = very clean! My Sweetheart and I both ordered the Patty Melt, Both were good (not the best I’ve ever had — but good) Fries — we liked (kind of reminded us of In-​n-​Out fries.) Service was friendly and good. We will be back!
UPDATE: OK — now only a few days later we called and ordered take out. Wife had the Patty Melt again and I had the Meat Loaf lunch. Once again the staff was very friendly and helpful. Food was good. Things to improve on; learning which side of the To-​Go box is the top vs the bottom, and maybe having the gravy for the meat loaf in a separate container (soup) = mine spilled over a little in the Freddy’s thermal bag I used to transport the food in. We liked it — they have some small things to work on — but we still liked it! Hope this helps y’all!

Boring! Totally generic menu. I can make this slop at home. Why they put garlic powder in the hash browns is anyone’s guess? Just ain’t gettin it!

Excellent service, the manager was great with everyone, very clean and well priced. The croissant sliders with home made blue cheese were perfect and surprisingly tasty. Think it’s a new manager and/​or owners and they are doing well, cheers!

Our family decided to celebrate a special occasion at Fireside Diner. we weren’t dissappointed! All four of us chose the prime rib dinner. The meat was cooked to perfection, the bakers were served with all the trimmings including real bacon, the salad was crisp, fresh and artistically made, the salad dressings tasted fresh and handcrafted, the vegetables were fresh and made to order and the bread was soft inside with a slight crust. The owner as well as the chef came to our table to greet us and assure we were getting proper service and that we were all pleased with our meals. What else can I say? We were very happy that we chose Fireside. Oh, and the price was less than we usually pay for a meal of such quality. I recently learned that all of their meats now come from locally owned Taylors Sausage. Looking forward to eating there again!

We went to try prime rib for dinner. Got there at 5:30. We’re told they were out of prime rib. Settled on ½ rack of ribs, chicken Caesar salad and clam chowder. The potatoes in the chowder were almost raw, dressing was served on the side on the Caesar salad ?!?, and the ribs were very tough and needed much more cooking time. We asked for twice baked reds as a side and were told those weren’t available either though we heard them offered about an hour later at another table while we were still waiting for our food. The server was a sweet girl but the problems with the food preparation in the kitchen made her job tough. I don’t think we’ll be back for dinner here. Breakfast might be an easier meal for them to offer, we might try that.

Very good! Came here for breakfast their first day, it was a ‘soft opening’ and it was too chaotic so we left. Came back a couple weeks ago for breakfast, my husband had the large order of biscuits and gravy. The large was not very big at all. He was still hungry when he was done so I shared mine. He said it was absolutely delicious, it was just the biscuits were small and that is all it comes with. No potatoes or anything.
I ordered bacon and eggs because I wanted potatoes. They offer hash browns, home fries or country potatoes, I believe. Really yummy! Our waitress was great too. Very sweet.
I’ve been wanting to try dinner but keep missing it because they only serve it on Friday and Saturday night, so the kids and I came tonight (Friday). I had the Chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and country gravy (you can also choose brown gravy). It comes with a medley of sauteed onion, peppers, with a few mushrooms, carrots and squash. It was really good. My first bite had a lot of gristle so I was worried thinking the whole thing would be that way, but it wasn’t. That was the only bite with any gristle! Very good, crispy, well-​seasoned outside on the meat, and the potatoes and gravy were great! The kids had chicken strips with homemade fries. They loved them! We came away very full and satisfied. Our waiter was Theron and he was super helpful, attentive and a great waiter.
We’ll keep coming back and if the biscuits and gravy get bigger or come with potatoes, I’ll bump it up to 5 star.
Thanks!

Went here for breakfast this morning. They open at 6am which is nice for an early riser like myself. I could not believe how low the prices are, the quality and quantity of food. Trevor was my server. He has been brought in as a consultant and definitely knows what it takes to run a successful restaurant. He was personable and I felt the small town friendliness. They are open for breakfast and lunch and now they added dinner on Fridays and Saturdays. I asked to see the dinner menu. Rib Eyes for $ 11, Prime Rib for $ 16 and that includes all the trimmings. I think I have tried every restaurant in town and this is now my new favorite. Highly recommend.