Amphora Diner

So this place has gone so down hill its not even funny. I have been eating here for a few years, and the food and service, are just sub par now. We arrived at non peak lunch time, were seated and ordered drinks. The server came back and we placed an order, I was immediately told that what I wanted wasn’t available, even though its a long standing item on the menu (not a special).
So I changed my order, and asked for a small order of fries to go with it. 20 mins later we receive our food, and my Co-​workers food has ingredients that she specifically asked to have removed (Mayo on a sandwich). So the sandwich goes back, I meanwhile have my food but no small order of fries.
When he returns with attempt #2 of the sandwich it was missing the required bacon. Again we request a missing/​incorrect ingredient. Then the fries arrive and its a large plate of what amounted to almost steamed potatoes without any seasoning on it what so ever. After the meal the bill arrives, and what should have been a side of fries, is a $ 4.75 plate of food almost half of what my entire entrée was.
Then when we arrive at the checkout counter the person behind the desk seemed almost annoyed to do her job, and then she charged me for part of my Co-​workers meal but at this point I just wanted to leave.
Additionally the food was virtually flavorless. We ate simply because we were there for lunch there was no enjoyment of the food what-​so-​ever.
Very disappointed.

Pardon the long review, but I encourage any long-​time customers to read below.
I’ve been a patron of Amphora since childhood and, regrettably, will no longer be a customer and will no longer recommend the diner to visiting friends and family due to the last several visits. Following my first poor experience, I voiced my observations to the customer service email address and was pleased with the professional and timely response. I would have addressed my complaints to a manager during the first visit, but none were to be found. The customer service representative who emailed me offered a gift card and, not ready to dismiss a local favorite restaurant, I obliged and returned today. I refrained from reviewing the first visit until today, when we experienced an equally unfavorable visit. I’m never inclined to provide negative feedback for one or even several negative aspects of a dining experience, but after two visits that were thoroughly unpleasant in terms of food and service, feel it prudent to do so.
During the first visit, we ordered the spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer. It was, quite literally, a bowl of melted provolone with no discernible traces of artichoke. The spinach could be found as nothing more than flecks of green scattered throughout. The massive amount of melted cheese created a thick layer of grease on top. After a minute or two, the dish cooled and the cheese hardened, at which point it required a utensil to cut.
I ordered the Mexican steak and cheese as an entrée and, while not bad, it was forgettable. The steak and sauteed onions lacked seasoning, as did the fries. I wouldn’t order the dish again, but it was by no means worth providing negative feedback (had it not been coupled with today’s visit).
The table behind us during the first visit had an incorrect order delivered and, although not a big deal, was berated by the server who accused them of unnecessarily asking for complex substitutions, which created the incorrect order. Granted, most customers are typically wrong, but the situation was handled very poorly and was very awkward for all around.
Upon leaving, the register area was mobbed with waiting customers, despite empty tables near where we were seated. The employee checking customers out was (understandably) overwhelmed with customers attempting to pay, and the whole front of house was a jumbled mix of exiting and waiting customers. No managers were supporting staff to clear the area.
We were optimistic for today’s lunch but found it equally as bad. Our server was a delightful older lady who worked incredibly hard to keep up with her tables. Unfortunately, the entire right half of the restaurant had, as best I could tell, only two servers. The left half of the restaurant was virtually empty and had a number of staff casually standing around. Our server was at a near-​jog during our entire visit, but that number of tables is simply unreasonable for a single server. We ordered coffee, which was as good as it always is, but unfortunately never got a refill because the servers were overwhelmed on that side of the restaurant. At this point, I noted a manager standing near the bakery counter, who at no point during our visit made any efforts to support staff or walk the floor to check on tables. The entire time, the few servers in the area frantically tried to keep up with orders and refills.
I ordered a side salad with my turkey reuben, but it never came. I imagine the salad order was lost in the confusion. The sandwich was tasty, but the service was very poor, and not for lack of effort on our server’s part.
The lack of managerial support and involvement is painfully obvious in the food and service and it’s making for uncomfortable dining experiences. I can only imagine how frustrating it is for staff.

Amphora is a nice family restaurant with a HUGE menu. To be honest, the menu is a bit unwieldy at times, but you can always find something for everyone. They are somewhat vegetarian friendly. I usually go here for business lunches since you don’t have to worry about what anyone’s dietary restrictions are. They bill themselves as a diner, but shouldn’t. A diner should have hash browns, not ‘breakfast potatoes”. Even Bob Evans relented and now serve hash browns along side their breakfast potatoes. They need to serve hash browns.

Worst ever. Party of four. We ordered baked potato, he brings us none. When we asked about it he then explained that they are only served after 4 pm. My daughter Ordered scrambled eggs and they had some Mexican spice mix in them so she couldn’t eat them. The coffee was cold and bitter. Waffles were undercooked and gummy texture. I ordered eggs over medium well and they came over easy. We had to Continually flag down our waiter: Ashtad. I asked for A1 sauce to hide the over cooked steak lack of flavor and he brought me Worcestershire sauce saying that’s all they had. My Sister ordered a side of mushrooms and instead they mixed them with the ordered shrimp. Such an awful experience– it’s sad. He would walk away as we were still ordering or explaining he forgot to bring the English muffins or cream.

This place has gone down over the years,…last time i was there we saw a cockroach crawl across the wall,…and i shouldn’t have returned,…but we did on xmas day, and had this experience, that we had to let the management know about, read this email:
Hello,
I’m writing to lodge a complaint about a situation that happened Christmas evening.
My family and I have had a long year and therefore chose not to do the normal christmas routine this year, and chose to stay home and order in or dine out. We came in to Amphora’s for breakfast Christmas day, and were very happy with a wonderful server who took great care of us. We also noticed that you all were serving Christmas dinner so we were ecstatic, because we had no idea what we were going to do for dinner.
Around 545pm, we started looking over the menu online, and deciding which of the Christmas specials we wanted. We were delighted to see that we would be covered from appetizer to dessert, as the website stated. (see attached)
We called in with over $ 150 in orders pending. A gentleman picked up to take our order, and we gave him our choices and verified with him the salad, soup and dessert options.
When we asked about the pumpkin pie, he told us, «it doesn’t come with any pie», very rudely.
I politely asked him, why that is, since the website states it, and he said, «nope, no pie», very curtly.
My fiancé told me to ask for a manager, and he huffed and puffed and said hold on,…i imagine he meant to put the phone on mute, but he didn’t…and I heard the following:
«She wants to talk to you, she said something about some pie, that it says it on the website, but i told her that we aren’t doing any dessert and she asked to speak to you. [inaudible manager reply]. yeah i told her that, she won’t listen. ok. ok. yeah i know, she’s a pain. [inaudible]»
He comes back on the phone, without a manager, and tells me «like i said, no pie».
So at this point, I gave the phone to my fiancé, and he politely told the gentleman, to cancel our order and have a merry christmas. We hung up and spent our $ 150 with the Asian Garden chinese restaurant, who were more than willing to be kind to us on Christmas.
We are extremely dissapointed that he was so rude to us, and that the manager was so rude as well and dismissive, given that he never got on the phone, even though we asked for him. This is all in addition to the fact that your website clearly stated it (see attached). The man had the nerve to call me back to «complete my order» and left me a message! (attached as well)
You all have got to be kidding me. In NOVA we have plenty of options and there is absolutely no reason to continue frequenting a restaurant with this kind of service, ON XMAS DAY.
I will also be posting this to your Unilocal pages for other customers to see.
you all have a happy new year!

I’ve been in love with their chocolate cheese cake for years. …had 2detox off it at one time. Good 2 know the taste i love will never change.

Classic 24 hour diner with extensive breakfast, lunch and full course dinner. Full liquor and bakery. Been here many times and always a satisfying meal. Out near the Dulles airport, so a convenient place for preflight meal. Wish they had a location in DC.

Great food and service
Breakfast options offered all day and night
Reasonable prices
Solid choice to eat

Wasn’t sure if this one was the same as the one in Vienna, but it was. Great food — good service — classic, diner ambience — all of which we appreciate. The only disappointment is that I bought a carrot cake on my way out. I believe I was over-​charged ($ 35 for a 7″ cake.) And the cake was not very good — way too much heavy, overly-​sweet, icing, and way too little cake. Other than that we had another good Amphora experience.

There aren’t many places where you can’t go wrong no matter how many different people you have in your party and no matter what time of day (or night) it is but this is just that place. The menu is huge and exhaustive and after dozens of visits I still haven’t found something that I didn’t like. But what about the service? Top notch, just like the food. In an area where finding anything after 10 pm is difficult it’s incredible to find a place that you aren’t just «settling for» just because it’s 3am but a place you’d love to go no matter what.

²⁴⁄₇ diner that serves burgers, salads, Gyros, and excellent Greek food. Their desserts are awesome and to die for! Oh my gosh the pies! Ummmmmm! Way great breakfast served all day or night. After church or after the party or anytime is a great time to visit the Amphora. They also have one in Vienna. Good prices as well. A must try! :)))

Can’t believe I never reviewed this place. I’ve been going here for so many years I guess I figured I already have, and I’m sure the Vienna location has been reviewed. The Herndon location pretty much has all the exact same everything, and it’s just as good. Love, love, love the Amphora family of restaurants and the bakery as well. You can’t go wrong with just about anything on the menu!

In the area for Thanksgiving and Friday Morning before heading home to NJ we stopped at Amphora for breakfast.
Once again the meal was a delight and the service was excellent. Actually the best service I have had at a diner. The coffee cup was never empty and the coffee was very good.
I had a mushroom omelet with cheddar cheese. Excellent. Mushrooms were good, appeared to be fresh, the cheese was delicious. My wife had the Belgian waffle with fresh strawberries and she simply raved. My older boy had a bagel and lox platter. A large portion of lox on a nicely toasted bagel. Our younger boy loved the scrambled eggs, french fries and toast.
As I have said, I judge diners outside of New Jersey based on how they would compare to a NJ diner. This one would be among the best in our area, maybe the very best.
It is on our list of must go when we are in the area.

The food is outstanding here! Burgers, Cuban sandwiches, desserts! OMG! And I saw some amazing dishes being served at the table next to ours
A place to try and I am sure will become a favorite!
We are from NYC and finding awesome food in is a rarity around for us:) sorry but it’s the truth… This place hit it out of the park and leaves NYC in the DUST!!! OMG!

It has been a long time since we tried Amphora Diner and I would say that our visit was good. We ordered med delights, pizza burger, mixed grill and country steak w eggs. The country steak was the only one that we didnt like because it was too bland. The bread crumbs didnt have any taste and the steak. I keep putting salt but it didnt really give me the taste that I was craving for. The gravy was also bland.

I like Amphora. We were hungry at 2 am on a Sunday morning after a Saturday night out. Bacon, eggs, and toast… you can’t go wrong. I don’t know what it would be like for lunch or dinner, but the breakfast was on point… and I wasn’t drunk. I will return if I am ever in Herndon hungry in the wee hours of the morning again.
4 Stars!

Came in for a late dinner around 9:30. Practically no one in the place. Some people at our table ordered breakfast and one ordered a burger. After 30 mins of waiting after ordering, we flagged down our server. When we asked how long our food would be we were just told it was the burger. Burgers should not take that long especially when there are only 3 other tables. Table next to us was seated after, ordered after, and were practically done before our food arrived. We waited at least 10 more minutes after asking about food with no visit from the server.
Finally when our food is brought out, it isn’t hot. It had been clearly sitting under a lamp or something for 10 min or more. The plates were hot. But the eggs were cold and rubbery on the outside, waffle and French toast barely still warm.
If you have a table with breakfast food and a burger you start cooking the waffle and eggs later so they won’t sit. It takes only a few mins to cook an egg.
Server assured us the food was hot. Insisted.
And then the table next to us yelled at us for complaining to the server saying it’s not the server’s fault but the kitchen. Yes that’s partly true, but the server should have been by our table to acknowledge us once when there was clearly an issue. Or gotten the manager! I should have the right to complain to my server when I have issues with my food! The server is the intermediary since I can’t talk to the cooks.
Had to leave after that without eating or paying. We were so upset and starving. Worst restaurant experience I’ve had.

To me, a diner means a huge menu with everything from breakfast all day through entrée plates and a big dessert counter. And that’s what they have at Amphora. Except it’s fancier with a waitstaff in decent uniforms.
It was breakfast time for me, so I went with breakfast though I think the entire menu is available all day. I had the pancake and eggs special, which also included sausages and I had an extra side of toast. The eggs were cooked properly and the toast was excellent, but the highlight here were the pancakes. Simply awesome. A little fluffy, a little crunchy on the bottom and a perfect sponge for butter and syrup. Very very good.
Lavazza coffee was excellent and my cup was kept refilled as often as I liked. After the meal, I sat for a bit with my laptop and more coffee. No one seemed to mind.
I would totally return to Amphora. Good stuff.

I was super hungry and of course being that it’s 2 AM on a Thursday night, everything was closed except for Amphora Diner, which is open 24-​hours and thank goodness for that!
I showed up and asked for a table for one and was seated right away. My waiter Eugeniu came by to greet me and asked if I wanted anything to drink. Being that I’m at a diner I automatically ask for a vanilla shake. I don’t know why I always associate diners with shakes.
He came back a few minutes later with my shake and I took a sip from it, only to find that it was super watered down and watery. Like it had been sitting out for a while so I told him about it and he went to ask them to make me a new one. The second one was delivered personally by the chef, I believe. And it was definitely better and I actually finished it after my meal.
I ordered the pastichio with a side of steamed mixed veggies. It also came with a house salad, but I asked to upgrade it to a Greek salad for $ 0.99 more. For a person who detests onions and tomatoes, a Greek salad is definitely not the way to go. I sat there picking through the whole thing only to be left with a few cucumber slices, a few olives, some romaine lettuce and a load of ricotta cheese. The dressing was good even though there wasn’t much left to eat of the salad. Smart girl! Lol
The pastichio is somewhat similar to a lasagna with ground beef, but it tastes more buttery and less cheesy. I love cheese and butter so for me that was the perfect choice. I couldn’t finish it because it was so rich and filling. Although I did finish all of my steamed veggies, which consisted of asparagus, zucchinis, squash, bell peppers and carrots! Got my veggie quota for the day! I needed it too after that vanilla shake. Lol
When Eugeniu brought me the bill, he told me the vanilla shake was on the house. How sweet of him! I feel like I’ve been drinking a lot of free drinks lately.
Good food, great service, open 24-hours…sheesh! A constant eater’s dream has finally come true!

A favorite lunch spot in the area, although their prices have risen and the portion/​quality have maybe decreased. $ 1 upcharge to swap fries for five small pieces of fried zucchini? Not worth it. Iced tea/​sodas are $ 2+. Pricey diner. Lunch typically runs around $ 15, plus tip.
Most of the food is good — gyro, chicken souvlaki, and the buffalo chicken wrap are all tasty, and breakfast all day is fun (get the eggs benedict plaka — eggs topped with gyro meat). Treat yourself to a slice of strawberry cheesecake.
This is the kind of place where you can come for weeks and order something different every time — the menu is expansive. Service is consistent although not overly friendly. Classic diner atmosphere — cozy booths and a counter if you’re dining solo.