Owl Diner

Great place, been around forever, can’t beat the thanksgiving sandwich, always so yummy! Def going back again.

This place is amazing. The pleasant staff seated us immediately on a busy day and was very attentive. We ordered the eggs Benedict (of which I consider myself a connoisseur) and chocolate chip pancakes. I am crazy for hollandaise and always looking for the best around. Thankfully, I think I have found the best in the area at owl diner. It is creamy and lemony and not too thin. There is a perfect balance of yolk and butter. I got an extra side of it because it was so good! The chocolate chip pancakes took me back to my childhood. They were not too fluffy but not too flat and plenty of chocolate chips!
I would definitely come here again and bring more friends to experience this place.
Update: the waiter asked me if I wanted the hollandaise to go and she gave me extra in a to go cup! If I could give this place 6 stars, I would.

Haven’t been in a few years. Definetly gone down hill. The cook was swearing up a storm because there was an issue with a customer. Dropping f bombs left and right. No need of it especially with kids in there. Food was ok not like it used to be. Service was good. But to see and hear the cooking screaming swearing and slamming things like a 2 yr old, don’t think it’s worth the ride to go back. Sad they used to be great.

I give the French Toast a 5 the waitress I’ve gotten the 2 times I went there I’d generously give a 3. I understand working in a diner isn’t the most ideal job I did it for two years back in high school but I always managed to at least fake a smile. Like some people have said can’t give a cash tip. Well I go to pay credit can’t give the tip. I don’t even have my debit card on me. So I gotta run home grab money and bring it back. Good food good location I live nearby thankfully. I’m sure some of the customers give the waitresses attitude because that’s what happens. People pay for service to treat the restaurant workers like lower class citizens. Just how society works. Overall I would recommend it just make sure you go in there with your biggest smile and at least a few bucks in your pocket.

Super affordable and awesome food! It stays pretty busy on the weekend, so parking is sometimes limited. I just wish they had longer hours.

Grew up eating here, used to live a little bit down Appleton when I was a little kid. Spent some time in my early 20s eating breakfast here almost every day! It’s basically your standard greasy spoon but it’s a Lowell legend.

The kids were hungry and after trying other two places this was the only one with no wait on a Sunday at 12pm. We sat down right away, self-​service, meaning you can just walk in and seat where you please. Our waitress came by right away and took our drinks and food order. The service this time around was way much better than before. I think the service from her made the food taste even better than what it was. Huge portions and extremely affordable. Can’t go wrong in a place like this.
also, from driving around to find parking we found a lot on the street right next to the diner that its specifically for the patrons at the diner.

This place is a local favorite but the last two times there I thought the place was dirty and service was not great. Place has alot of history and sometimes a politician or local celeb will visit but I say give it a pass and get grub somewhere else.

Lowell Staple! Headed down there for breakfast. Thorndike St. is my favorite omelet.
Tho Benny is always fantastic. I can never imagine Lowell without this place. I miss the sisters working, but we all have to retire sometime!
Lots of history in this joint. Perfect Diner!

Food is decent but it is decently overcrowded a majority of the time. They definitely need to work on customer service, every time Ive gone I have always been pleasant to my server, being a waitress myself, and I have never gotten the same in return.

+: typical diner food, consistent, fast service
-: parking spaces limited (street and upper parking lot), crowded, sometimes lines

my mother and I came in on a saturday morning. We walked in and had to ask if we could seat ourselves because no one approached us. I should’ve realized that was a bad sign from the start.
My waitress, whose name was donna, I believe. was miserable. We were super polite and didn’t ask for anything extra or out of the ordinary, but yet she still wouldn’t smile and she acted like I killed her family or something. I did not get a refill of my water and was never even asked. The food tasted pretty good, except for the sausages. Their flavor was a little off to me.
We never got the check but wanted to pay. So we lined up at their cash register, which was crowded by two waitresses who wanted their checks processed. The old man who was working the register was a jerk and said very few words. Also didn’t know how to smile. We just stood there expecting to get service, but the waitresses came first I guess. By this time, I was so enraged that I had to control myself and just get out of there. Our waitress walks by and goes, «oh, i’m sorry». and hands me the handwritten ticket to give to the old man I supposed. We paid and though I wanted to give her zero tip, I cracked and gave her 20%.
super crowded. where we stood in line to pay was the same area where the entrance door was where ppl were walking and not getting greeted so it created a cluster of ppl just in the way.
was very loud and we had to practically shout to hear each other. parking is bad too.
we will never return here. they all need a lesson in customer service. (i work in the service industry fyi)

Tasty food, great prices, in an old dinner car from yesterday. My wife and I both ate a full breakfast for 20 bucks. Can’t beat that.

Had really great hopes for this place, after reading great reviews on Unilocal and being a diner aficionado. We are generally very forgiving where food service, especially diners, is concerned but this morning, after walking in at 9 am, order taken by 0905, and no food by 0940, we walked out. Our waitress made no effort to explain where our food was or to check on it. Other people in our area who arrived after us, were served well before us. And our order was basic, basic, basic. We both had places to be. I’m calling management about this. It was definitely irritating.
That being said, if you like classic diner cars, this is the place! Soo cute inside, I had such high hopes. Sad day.

Oh, the Owl… Food generally so good, management so bad…
My wife and I have been eating here for years. She gets the pancakes, I get the corned beef hash, and my kids like, well, everything. Prices are good/​what you expect. Tastes are generally delicious.
For years, we’ve been suffering through their cash only policy, despite the fact that a ‘cash only’ policy is about as old as their original dining car. We don’t typically carry cash and we have made the walk of shame down the street to the nearest ATM more than once.
Today, a new announcement in their outdoor marquee: WE NOW ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS!
Yay! Welcome to the mid-20’th century, 50 years late… But sure we’ll go in and have a nice breakfast. Again, we tend to not carry cash.
The wife has pancakes, I have the hash… Nice breakfast, home fries are always good. We finish up and the Kids are getting antsy, let’s scram. I get to the register, and despite the glorious pronouncement on the outdoor marquee, we’re greeted with this sign at the register (see pic below).
Can’t tip on credit? Are you kidding me? Again, who carries cash? And I don’t want to not leave a tip, so I’m still forced to walk to the bank– in an establishment that NOW TAKES CREDIT CARDS!
So, (1) these guys haven’t really increased their clients’ convenience to eat at the restaurant, and (2) they’re apparently too cheap to pay the $ 0.03 charge per dollar to allow the patrons to tip on their cards.
If making those signs cost $ 10.00, then that would have been the equivalent of about $ 330 worth of tips. Stupid, shortsighted and CHEAP. — and puts your waitstaff at risk to lose their tips.
Again, it’s 2015. Grow up Owl.

First off, parking is horible. Not too many spots. There was no hostess to seat us so we went to find out own seats.
Coffee tastes burnt, they probably use an autodripper. Also came with only two creamers — I prefer black so I could taste the quality of the beans and brew but others might opt for more creamers than only two.
The one thing I find interesting is that this place has less customers and more waiters compared to another diner I go to but our waitress’ attitude was not really inviting.
So for the food portion of this review. I had the corned beef hash. Funny thing, I asked the waitress if the hash is made in-​house. She told me it was. Alright, I order it, you can’t really go wrong with corned beef hash. When it came out, it was very disappointing. It’s pretty much the Hormel canned crap that’s fried with butter on the griddle. Two thumbs down. The potatoes was also seasoned only with salt. Kind of bland, at least imo. I also had the poached eggs. They were overdone.
Would I come here again? Only if I’m craving canned food.

We were very fortunate to stumble onto this place! I would not hesitate to return. It’s hard to find places that have cream chipped beef on toast, so I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn’t believe it actually. One difference was that the beef was actually corned beef which is higher quality than the dishes that are served in PA, where it is also dubbed shit on a shingle, but equally delicious!

What a great place for breakfast! Parking is a bit suspect but we were lucky to find a spot right next to the door. Ordered some delicious muffins as we waited for my mother to arrive. Staff were amazingly prompt and pleasant. I ordered the sausage, cheese and tomato omelette with home fries and wheat toast. Good portions and the food was delicious. Will definitely be going back

Arrived on a Friday afternoon around 1 pm on our quest to visit as many NE diners as we can! High rated in a recent Boston Globe Magazine and by friends, fairly easy to find off of the Lowell Connector. Parked right out front and greeted immediately as we entered. All of the waitresses were very friendly and appeared to be helping one another at all of the tables. We decided on breakfast foods for lunch, me the Woburn Omelet with spinach, mushrooms, no cheese but onions with a side of corned beef hash, my friend, the Methuen Omelet with a southwestern flair (shredded chicken, salsa, onions, no cheese). Both came with home fries and buttered toast.
Our meals arrived fairly quickly and I was immediately impressed with the home fries which I often find too salty/​seasoned, oily and mushy. NOT here! They were lightly seasoned, hot, crispy and not greasy. EXCELLENT!
Our omelets were also very tasty. Since we’re both trying not to eat gluten, I only had a bite of the wheat toast which was good but had a lot of butter already on it. Overall, we were very pleased with our meals and would return again. The only odd thing is the waitress dropped off our tab before asking if we wanted anything else … perhaps because it was getting close to closing? Plus, they don’t tally your tab. I had to refer to the menu to cross check the prices of our menu items as it was difficult to read the numbers on our tab. After adding up the tab, I included tip and forgot about the tax. My friend reminded me … good thing because the waitress would have received a smaller tip if I had not added in the sales tax. Perhaps they should tally the tab for folks like me.

Really a 3.5 stars.
I had to try Owl when my niece who lives in Lowell pointed it out from the street and said that everyone loves that place. It really is an institution in Lowell. Very old school.
It looked packed from the outside, but it was bigger than it looked from the front. We found a nice window booth in the dining area to the right and behind the box car front. The table was covered in advertising from Lowell small businesses. The menu titled «four sisters diner» was given to us. The history if the diner is printed on the front of the menu and I thought it was a nice touch. Coffee was served in a mug full of advertising as well. I had no issue with this. It shows the diner supports Lowell businesses. It also reflects how popular the diner is with the locals.
I love the fact that this diner isn’t a pork haven like most breakfast places. I got the Irish Benny. I absolutely love corned beef and corn beef hash, so this was perfect.
The coffee wasn’t great, but what can you expect from a region that hails to Dunkin Donuts. The potatoes weren’t bad but nothing to write home about.
I’d recommend breakfast at Owl to anyone visiting Lowell, Mass.