Cheyenne Diner

r.i.p. the split pea soup.
this business closed last month, rumor has it the classic structure might be moving to red hook. the space owned by the owner of skylight around the corner is converting it to something yucky.

I’ve pretty much hit all the diners in this area and this was my fav. Best looking exterior by far. Pretty standard diner food and I avoided the bathrooms, and this was a local stop after dive-​bar drinking.
But no reason to mention this since as of a week ago they closed down. Heard they sold the place and they are trying to move the railroad car styled diner but who knows if that will happen. Better go now to check out the outside, before it gets demoed. It’s a loss for the hood.

Eat history — while you still can.
Rerun stares at you with a giant goofy grin when you walk in. Rerun. The celebrity headshot of Rerun from What’s Happening is by far my favorite in any business in Gotham. What was with that suspenders fad in the 1970s? Rerun needed them because he was so damn obese, but Mork from Ork? Unecessary. Hey Robin Williams! Use a freaking belt.
But I digress.
Cheynne serves a very important purpose — it keeps me from going to Jersey. Because once the Cheyenne is gone, and the current spastic development in that ‘hood tells me it won’t be long, the last chrome clad shot gun shack trailer diner in New York will be gone. To get that sense of history, to recall Flo saying «kiss my grits» and bask in the glow of neon signs you’ll have to duck into the tunnel and drive down route 3 in a state that appreciates its diners. And I hate driving in Jersey.
Let’s tip a 40 to the New York diners that have gone the way of the automat: shed a tear for the Moondance, weep for the diners of 10^th avenue in the 40s and 50s. Miles of faded formica, bolts of vinyl, tons of cheap steel silverware. Gone, all gone. Where will the cab and livery drivers, the beat cops, the plumbing supply store clerks and the waitresses in pastel uniforms speaking some unknowable tongue of the Caucasses go?
Food, schmood. It’s a diner. You know what you’re getting: a 73 page menu with 342 choices when 98% off all orders consist of burgers, fries, eggs, toast and bacon. And it’s pretty hard to fuck up eggs and burgers.
Added bonus: the booths are clad in that supple vinyl with a bright background and sparkly reflective shiny bits. The same material you find on bumper cars seats or the benches of the teacup ride.

Besides the dirty bathrooms and uncleaned silverware and table countertop, I liked this place. My friend said it well that diners in NYC are not exactly diners, but «too cool» places that just try too hard to be a hotspot. Diners cannot be your 5 star restaurant in Zagat. They are diners. As a Jersey resident for four years, I appreciate a good place that serves cheap and good American food, and this place does it for such a reasonable price and taste. And I love the large menu too :) Way too many choices for an indecisive Unilocaler like me!

After being rebuffed in my efforts to receive either nourishment or hospitality from the nearby Skylight Diner, I went to the Cheyenne Diner for the second time in a couple of months. The outside the Cheyenne certainly looks the part of the classic long chromey diner, but in a more subdued fashion than the chrome diner boxes you find in the suburbs. The inside is no less authentic, but is much less appetizing; it has classic comfortable booths, but seems badly in need of a scrub job.
The food is a little sub par for an East Coast Diner. Most of those garish NJ and Westchester Diners offer tastier food and a wider array of options. You have to give the Cheyenne credit, though. In addition to Bison burgers, they offer a plasticated:-) cheat sheet of about 20 different burgers with almost each named for a Native American Tribe, but with none managing to be particularly exotic. That having been said, the service is very nice, attentive, and quick, and the menu has decent variety. Bottom line is: there’s something so nice and comfy about being there that with decent service nothing else really matters.
A good late night hangout, I’m sure.

Walking in might not be the most enticing experience — the surrounding dirty concrete outskirts of the jungle hardly inspire my appetite — but what Cheyenne lacks in location they make up for with the comforting simplicity of great diner food.
I have walked by every morning and night for the past four months on my way to the office, but for some reason, perhaps my NJ roots, on this crappiest of mornings after one of the most depressing days of my year, (sick pet? anyone?) I was drawn in by the thought of a few more pensive minutes collecting myself over a quiet over a cup of coffee. The long counter and vinyl booths a little worse for wear, but clean. Soot from millions of cars driving by on their way in and out of the city has grayed the color scheme down to a sepia toned stolen moment in time. A time that feels like it happened 20 years ago in an old school detective story.
I am told to sit where I want. I do. Coffee ordered and delivered immediately. Good, strong: paired with a glass canister of sugar on the table with a cold from the fridge pot of cream. A cursory look at the menu confirms that I have all the Greek diner choices one expects — but I asked for the most basic of breakfasts (and a true test), 2 eggs over medium (perfectly cooked and with a served egg over medium.) with toast (generously buttered) and homefries (crispy flattened chunks of potato and onion). Seven minutes later my plate arrived.
It. Looked. Like. Heaven…
It was. I ate. I read. I sipped. I slowly came into my day.
Thank you Cheyenne, for being a tiny oasis of away for a girl who needed (needs) one. And all for a great price of $ 4.20. I’ll be back, on good days and on bad, or even at night, as I hear you’re open 24 hours.
What all classic diners should be, you are.

I live between Cheyenne and another competing diner called Stage Door. In my area (Midtown South), these are the only two diners that matter. I say this because I can’t imagine anybody seeking either of these out when there are far better diners in Manhattan. Only the local hoodies (ahem, neighborhoodies) would find these as options.
Both have decent food but I give the edge to Cheyenne, for better lunch/​dinner food and good service. (Breakfast is better at Stage Door, except the omelet… Cheyenne is better for that. Am I confusing you already?)
Cheyenne itself is dingy and makes food unappetizing when eaten there. So if you can, order in. Delivery is fast and good.
My faves are the Cheyenne Triple-​Decker sandwiches: egg-​salad, turkey club, and tuna salad! They use thin-​sliced cuts of real turkey. Not the deli kind. It’s amazing! Then try the amazing curly fries, spicy style. Oh yeah! Everything is served in good portions here.
And finally, avoid ordering any Italian dishes: parm, pasta, vongole, lasagna… In fact, avoid this at any diner at all costs. Leave Italian to real Italian spots.

As far as diners go, Cheyenne is pretty standard. The menu is overwhelmingly large with a mix of breakfast, sandwiches/​wraps, burgers, greek, Italian, and American standard. The ambiance is quaint with the usual tables and booths with a hint of the railcar diners of yore. Our waitress was passed out with her head on the counter when we wanted to order. It took a pretty loud ‘Miss!!, We’re ready now’ to stir her from her peaceful repose. She sauntered over droopy eyed and wrote down the order without an once of personability. I can’t blame her though, she had probably been there for nine hours already. The food arrived in less than five minutes, which was great. The fries were great and the Philly Cheese Steak was ok.
I haven’t seen much of traditional diners since my college days. Who could resist a comfy banquet, never ending coffee, and a slice of pie over midnight cramming for a Music Theory Final?

The Tick Tock Diner looks like a diner from the outside but it’s just a restaurant. Big Daddy’s Diner is a great place to get tater tots but it isn’t a real diner. The Malibu Diner and the Skylight Diner are almost but not quite real diners.
The Cheyenne Diner is a REAL diner. It is rough around the edges. It is not ironic. It is open 24 hours. I am glad to have found it.

I had a burger and coffee here the other week around the middle of the day. I found it to be pretty damn good considering the neighborhood. It’s an oldschool railcar style diner and for that it deserves extra ambiance points.

This is a tried and true classic. Cheyenne boasts an authentic shiny silver diner car. The walls are decorated with kitschy images of Indians, Indian chiefs, and horses. The food is standard diner fair with the added bonus of several more exotic items (Bison anyone?). The fries are crisp and golden, the eggs are fluffy and well cooked. The Ritz it’s not, but this is one of the best diners in the neighborhood.

The fact that any eating establishment is open ²⁴⁄₇ is impressive. Normally. I have a distinct problem with this place though…
It’s just not good. Not at all.
They have the standard menu of diner goodies. You name it, it was on the list. Granted, it was 3 in the morning and the two of us (my bf and I) were tired from dancing. The lady that was servicing us should have had no problem getting my order right. Grilled cheese and curly fries. Is that hard? I don’t think so. So how in the world did she FORGET I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich?! I mean, WTF?! Come on. And I don’t need attitude with it either. Like she was doing me a favor.
The bathroom… hmm… not a good idea either.
Everything was just unremarkable. Maybe they give a damn when it’s the middle of the day and working folks are out and about and there’s a modicum of traffic. But it appears they don’t give a rat’s tuckus at night.
Don’t even get me started on the name of this place…

Walking up the street after a 5 hour dance session at 3:30 am is not easy. Hungry as we were we came to Cheyenne Diner. There are not many options at that time of the morning except for the sandwich trucks right at the corner of 27^th and 10^th. (we were at Spirit [reviewed on its own]).
The place seems to ironically be themed with the native American motif, none the less does not make any justice to its name. Its almost a sacrilege. In any event, the décor was the standard diner décor, very spartan, and practical. With the exception of the countless indian imagery over the counter and pasted to it as well. Sigh… pretty sad sight. But well… We were seated promptly at a nearby booth, clean, standard, by the window. The menu had no signature dishes or anything you wouldn’t find at any other diner anywhere in NYC. We ordered our food, clearly and explicitly, but maybe the time of the night or the waiter not understanding us caused us to wait an extra 15 minutes for a grilled cheese sandwich. This is above the original 15 we had already waited. I received my roast beef triple decker at that time. Curly fries were delivered to my girl. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much spice as you would expect, even after being the pre-​prepared frozen kind. The cheese in the grilled cheese sandwich was or at least tasted like Processed cheese food that wouldn’t fool a drunk… mind you we were very sober. As for the roast beef triple decker, it was fairly fresh. None the less, it didn’t speak to me as some sandwiches I’ve had in many deli’s around the city. So, with blah food and mismatched politically insulting theme, we got to give it at least 2 stars, one for being open at that time, and 1 for being comfortable and clean… enough. By the way… the menu clearly indicated my sandwich would have a pickle on the side… they didn’t give me one… but we were too tired to realize it, or to even argue with the unresponsive and communicatively challenged night shift staff. NO PICKLE with a sandwich… what self respecting diner would forget the PICKLE???