O’Rourke’s Diner

I stopped in for lunch on a Friday out with my youngest daughter (age 3) and a family friend. I had to parallel park on the road and pay for the meter which I’m not extremely fond of but it is what it is.
We walked in the front door and waited a moment for a girl to come over and seat us. We were seated at a small table since no booths were available and were given a small plate with small samples of lemon-​poppy seed cake and pound cake. They were awesome!
The waitress was pleasant and our food came quickly. I totally recommend getting the Irish BLT on homemade multigrain bread! It was so good, I’ve never had bread so delicious! Also, it is worth mentioning that the coleslaw here is amazing. I am not the type to enjoy coleslaw but I could eat it the way they make it every day!
We had a great experience here, we were in and out before my toddler could become restless, and we all enjoyed our meals very much. I think I’ll look and see if I can find the episode on Diners, Dives, and Drive-​ins!

I recommend everyone to come and experience this historic place. Food is excellent and the service is great! Hash and home fries are mouth watering. Tony worked extra hard to make sure we were well satisfied! Thanks Tony!!!

This is a must! I’ve never actually waited here for a seat, but do pay attention to the time of day you are going and the day of the week — it could be more useful to base your venture here around that because it’s a small place. Every dish I’ve had here gets better and better, and the presentation of the food is excellent as well. The service is quick and friendly, and it is evident they love working there. I highly recommend any of the breakfast options… it is all so very delicious and filling!

First impression: at 1:25, still lunchtime in any universe, the guy behind the counter says, «we close in five minutes» meanwhile the whole place is full, you’re still open, what are you telling me you do, get out? Points off for hubris. The menu looks like it survived a nuclear Holocaust attack. The counter was a mess, but the waitress got that cleared up in like 3 seconds. Their menu is nearly entirely breakfast and maybe they should just kill off lunch together give up because they’re obviously not committed to delivering. Sausage patties arrived five minutes before the French toast they couldn’t keep it hot on the pass? Irish soda bread french toast was good but not transcendent. Unless they’re offering to pay me I’m not coming back.

O’Rourke’s Diner doesn’t look like much from the outside (actually I had seen it before and purposely didn’t want to go in because of it’s appearance), but according to the Unilocal reviews the food was quite delicious so I decided to give it a try.
When we arrived, I asked how long the wait would be and was told about 10 – 15 minutes. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon so we decided to wait.
The only issue is that you aren’t allowed to actually wait in the restaurant unless you are the next party in line. You form a line outside, which was fine for us because the wait was short and it wasn’t too cold out. However, if I went in the winter, my experience may have been different. Even inside the restaurant at the booths, it is a little chilly.
We sat at the bar and loved everything that we ate. First, they give you small pieces of freshly baked breads. They were unreal! The two different samples we tried were flavorful and dense.
The coffee, even though it was almost 2 pm when they close, was fresh and hot. I wish that I tried the ice coffee too, but I guess I will have to do that next time. I had the Brian’s Eggs which was a scramble of spinach, grilled ham and cheddar cheese. They served this with more fresh bread and spicy potatoes. It was great and not too filling. My boyfriend had the Dubliner which he loved. It looked pretty big, but he ate all of it. We both couldn’t stop picking at our meals even though we were full — It was just so tasty.
People on here have said that this place is expensive, but for fresh, homemade food like this, I thought it was super affordable.

Poor service, dirty fork and cup — waiter had negative attitude up the gazoo. Would never go back here again. From out of town– perhaps they treat the locals better?

Being from Middletown, I want to love O’Rourkes. Decided to come here for brunch on good Friday, and i’m sad to say that it under delivered. Was warned by a friend that the service and food has gone down in quality within the last year. But was willing to give it a shot especially since its an iconic restaurant in the downtown area. It seemed like every waiter was in the weeds or just needed a nap… The food was just ok, the veggie hash was inedible and tasted like vinegar (the waitress did take off for us), and the omelets are tiny. Nothing was clean, there were dishes all over the place, even the water glass given to us had old food left on it. Two stars because the Irish soda bread french toast was decent…

We have been talking about going here again for sometime, but my husband works during the week, and there’s no way we’re going on a Saturday (the line is out the door), so when Spring Break arrived, we jumped at the opportunity.
It was a early Monday morning, with parking spaces aplenty. We were seated immediately, with a view of the kitchen.
I ordered the Irish Embassy breakfast, which has corned beef hash, potatoes, eggs any style, and two soda bread biscuits.
The corned beef hash is probably the best thing about the meal — homemade, with chunks of tender beef melting in your mouth. I just wish there was more of it on the plate! The eggs were perfectly cooked.
My husband’s eggs were a bit overcooked, but he loved the turkey hash and crispy potatoes.
We will definitely come back on a weekday and have the steamed burgers (which they are also famous for)

Let me start by saying the food is GREAT! That isn’t the reason I am giving one star.
The reason I am giving one star is the way I was treated by my server Tony. This was the third year I came to O’Rourks for «Brian’s Breakfast» on Saint Patrick’s Day. The last two years, although I was there early and Brian wasn’t there, I was able to order «Brian’s Breakfast.» However, this year, not only was I told I couldn’t order «Brian’s Breakfast,» but I was mocked and disrespected. When I decided on something, Tony started, «That’s not very Irish.» After I had finished eating, and Tony was clearing my plate, he stated, «If you close your eyes, it is kinda like «Brian’s Breakfast.»
When you have a customer wake up early to come to your restaurant for a particular menu item, and the restaurant is NOT busy at all, try to accommodate them and don’t mock or disrespect them.

My wife and I went to O’Rourke’s on Saturday, 02÷27÷16. We saw O’Rourke’s on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives and saw all the great Unilocal reviews, and were excited to try it. Breakfast is all they serve on the weekend so that’s what we had. There was a line, and the diner was busy, but it moved quickly and helped that there were only two of us. We sat at a small table for two and our waitress came right over. We ordered some mint flavored coffee, which we enjoyed, and some delicious lemon poppy bread and almond bread. Unfortunately, it didn’t get better than that for us. I was excited to order eggs Benedict because of the great reviews. My wife ordered the Chef inspired breakfast ($ 18!). A longer than normal time passed and we started wondering where our breakfast was. Our waitress came over and told us that our order had gotten mixed up. A short time after that my wife got her breakfast and I didn’t. I sat there watching her eat for several minutes. When my eggs Benedict came I was underwhelmed. The very small eggs were over cooked, my English muffin was grilled, which was good, but it had been flattened on the grill like a pancake. The piece of ham was barely noticeable because it was so thin. My potatoes were just ok, nothing that wowed me. My wife’s breakfast was just ok. There were scrambled eggs with a tasty sauce, a sausage with cheese on it and a tasty beet salad but those were the highlights. The lowlights was a section of a potato stuffed with a mashed sweet potato, and a burned, dry turnover stuffed with sausage and potato. Service wasn’t great because of the mix up and we had asked for water several times and eventually had to get it from another waitress. I guess we had high expectations and they weren’t met. Sorry fellow Elites but I’m going to have to buck the trend on this one. Hopefully, we can try lunch at some point and have a better experience.

my husband and I tried to enjoy breakfast here and we were starving which usually means we order a lot of food and drinks… our bill usually goes over 200 $ at local restaurants just for two of us. WE COULDNT GET IN SINCE BUS BOY KEPT BOUNCING US OUT… it was 10 – 13 degrees outside and there wasn’t a line so I entered to give our name to hostess BUT everytime I stepped in to do so, he would march right up to me, get into my face and say «I don’t mean to be rude or nuttin’ but you gotta wait outside…» since the restaurant didn’t look busy, I was quite puzzled so after the second time this guy (dark hair, brown eyes average ht & wt — light skinned PR male) did that to us, we just left. I figured they just didn’t want the good business. Oh well, off to enjoy burger place in Glastonbury! Never going back to a place that treats customers like trash.

Great food, good service, cozy spot — O’Rourke’s Diner is fine by me!
I was fortunate enough to go with some regulars, because right after our party was seated, there was a huge line. Weekends are really tough, there really is only one table big enough to seat 4+ people. Luckily our party of 5 was seated promptly and so began our feast!
We started things off with some old-​fashioned peanut butter fudge, mint chocolate cake and poppy seed cake. Never had anything like that, they were pretty delicious with coffee. Served with home-​fries and toast, my girlfriend got theCajun Firecracker omelette. Mushrooms, onions and peppers, andouille sausage — it was very tasty. I was feeling super hungry and went for the Irish Embassy. The corned beef hash was spot on and so was the Irish bacon, very yummy! Our friends tried the Veggie Fritatta of the day and the Dubliner, smiles all around!
Haley our hostess and waitress was super friendly and very personable. Pricing is average, and so are portions. The locations is tough, I’m sure it’s WAY easier during the week, but weekends are just chaos.
Sunday-​Saturday: 6am — 230pm

Food that’s always delicious, staff that’s always accommodating and kind, and all around a great atmosphere.
I never get tired of eating here!

Always a unique and great meal. The whole place is unique. They almost act like they are sick of us day after day but the food brings you back ! Hash is yummy and pumpkin coffee was a treat. Veggie hash tasted strange but usually we love it. Breads are always yummy too !

I now understand why the locals raised money to rebuild this place after a fire destroyed it years ago…
Brian is kind and gentle, treats staff and customers like gold, and is an inventive WHIZ in the kitchen.
Worth every long line you may encounter… but to avoid the line, go early early on the weekend and you’ll be sure to get a seat and a friendly smile along with the complimentary plate of fresh baked treats.

Breakfast doesn’t get any better than one cooked by Brian the Chef at this Diner!
It’s almost like two diners in one. You have that olé traditional huge portion breakfasts and then you have the upscale ones that only a real chef could master. Though Chef Brian doesn’t think of himself as anything more than your typical diner cook — his food proves that he is far above your run of the mill cook!
In addition to both old fashion and upscale breakfasts, you can have Chef Brian create a one of a kind original breakfast just for you — where no two plates are exactly alike ever! Of course I had to let Brian create a masterpiece for me and boy was it a masterpiece. Word of advice — when you give a chef the creative ability and trust to make you something special — it’s typical far more surprising than you could imagine and Chef Brian knocked it out of the park on mine!
Parking wasn’t bad and it was free at the time of day we were there. Also — the selection on the menu is amazing, perhaps not just because of the priced, but because of the offering and how good they are.
The staff are also amazing folks and I was lucky enough to have Chef Brian come out and explain my breakfast masterpiece to me. That’s where I learned he doesn’t think of himself as a chef, but rather just a cook — either way — anytime I am remotely close to this diner — I will return and would also encourage you to give it a try.
Amazingly even though my breakfast was a work of art and my two colleagues ordered the old fashion breakfasts — everything arrived quickly and together — another real showing of the skills of this chef!
Nice job — it doesn’t get better than this! Anyone who gives this place 1 star must be working for the competition and hasn’t a clue!

One of the best omelette’s I’ve ever had! Cooked perfectly — nice and thin with the eggs! Coffee was good as well — they put the carafe on the table for you. I really regret not ordering the «chef’s surprise daily special», and this will haunt my dreams until I go back.
I love you Chef O’Rourke, I love you!

Great food, okay location.
I was ready to give this 5 stars for the food! Its the best (and only, but still great) Irish Diner I’ve been to. I love the addition of corned beef or irish soda bread all over the breakfast menu. The food was great (portions a little small for omelettes), and the offer hazelnut coffee (which is a welcome change). I had a reuben omelette which was fantastic and a great idea. My boyfriend had french toast which looked amazing. This place also gives you bread for the table for when you first site, which was perfect because I came to the restaurant with an empty stomach.
The service was a little slow, especially when the place was packed. I would not suggest having more than 4 people in your party, we were a party of 5 and we had to squeeze into a 4 person booth. Thats where I had to take a star off. We waited 20 minutes for a seat, and we still had to deal with a small space. Other groups of 2 and 3 were being seated ahead of us. I did notice that parties of 2 were being seated almost immediately. Parking is also difficult, most of the parking spaces being further away than I’d like and also metered.

This place is great if you’re looking for variety. I have only gone for breakfast and I have to tell you there’s lots to chose from. Brian the owner has a «Brian’s Special» which is whatever he feels like making-it’s a complete surprise! And there is a mix of everything from eggs, meats, potatoes, French toast, lentils, you name it!
Another nice feature is they bring over pound cake and or biscuit samples once you are seated. Oh and be sure not to arrive too late for breakfast as there can be a lengthy line! Staff is great and very friendly.

I am a fan of the show diners, drive ins and dives, so when I saw this place was featured I knew I needed to try it!
Stopped in for breakfast on a Sunday morning and my first impression was wow this place is small! We thankfully beat the crowd! If you are going on the weekend my advice is go early.
I was delighted when the waitress said they offered hazelnut coffee. Then with our coffees (in unique mugs) she bought a small plate with a sampling of bakery treats. That was a nice surprise.
The menu is classic breakfast foods with an Irish twist. We decided to share two dishes. We got the Irish Embassy (eggs Benedict) and Dubliner omelette. Both were a huge serving and delicious! The loved the soda bread and raspberry jam that jam with the omelette.
They offer something called Brian’s breakfast which is a chefs selection and no two plates are ever the same. The people at the next table got it and boy was it a massive plate of food!
I will definitely be back! Next time maybe for lunch.