EJ’s Luncheonette

I’m a firm believer that bacon should be crispy, or at least cooked. My bacon cheeseburger was limp bacon on a tasteless patty. Rootbeer float rocked, but how could you screw that up? Service was good.

An Upper West Side Tradition… it is really good diner food… great for weekend brunch!

Closed. :(

I went here with a friend who lives in the area for take out. I got a cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. The burger was dry and overcooked but the fries were delicious. Very sweet and crunchy. The price is about right, I think mine cost $ 11. I would go back here to give it another shot but they aren’t winning any culinary awards.

3.5 stars… Our group ordered the California Club Sandwich, French Toast, and Bacon Cheeseburger. Everyone was happy. The food isn’t the best but its all satisfyingly good. I did not like the home fries or chili-​cheese fries.

EJ’s has great diner food, but it is definitely diner food with a couple of interesting variations. I came here for a hearty breakfast and left very satisfied but surprised that somehow breakfast for two was $ 42 (and we’re not talking a fancy or bottomless brunch sort of place).
The biscuits are big and fluffy, and the hollandaise is very lemony (good, but kind of overpowered the smoked salmon in my benedict).
In this neighborhood, I guess you have to expect that things will be pricey. I’d have a hard time choosing EJ’s over Jackson Hole or another similar location.

I’ve been going to EJ’s for brunch and lunch for years now. The food is pretty solid overall (I’ve had some bad dishes but there have been more good dishes than not). I like their breakfast offerings; their egg white omelet is delicious and their home fries are yum! The service can be a hit or a miss– depends on the waiter. And I don’t like that they don’t take credit cards. I would definitely frequent the diner more often if that were the case.

Today’s lunch at EJ’s was awesome, as usual. The service was great and the specials were really good. I had a generous chopped bar-​b-​q chicken salad and my friends both had the mahi mahi club sandwich with sweet potato fries. I took a bite of the fish sandwich and it was delicious.
This is a great diner with unique, tasty well-​priced daily specials. What’s there not to like?

#Meh…

Looks like a standard diner so I figured it was safe. Unfortunately, It was overpriced and the service was very, very slow.
We ordered two kids meals of mac and cheese, a burger and a greek salad for $ 45. The mac and cheese came way too hot for the kids to eat, was very plain and came in a small portion with nothing else for $ 7.
It took so long for the burger and salad to come that the kids were almost done with the mac and cheese. The salad was okay, nothing special and the burger wasn’t cooked to order but tasted okay.
Overall, I would not recommend this diner to anyone and I should have walked down the street to get some pizza.

A typical breakfast diner. Not great. Not Horrible. But it serves breakfast late. I sense that most people who eat here overslept after a night of excess drinking. There are also plenty of kids banging forks and screaming to make the NYC noise sound even more unbearable.
Still, with earplugs, as is any place here in Manahattan, the atmosphere and food is tolerable.

EJ’s is a solid diner. Nothing exceptional. They do pancakes and burgers well enough. They try to have some funky salads and healthier options on the menu… there was a steak salad with walnuts and cranberries when we were there a few months ago.
I guess the bottom line is that it’s okay food at a good price. Not a steal, but it serves you well if you’re desperate for a place to eat and tired of walking around the city. Good for families. The waiter’s are nice.

As far as diners go — EJs will probably satisfy you. That said, there are so many stellar brunch hot spots on the UWS that you just can’t compare them!
I ordered a bacon cheese burger with an egg on top, which was exactly what I wanted after a 10K, but won’t go back for.

I think EJs is a little underrated here in Unilocal.It’s at the very least a decent diner. I could kind of tell that it’s a good diner when my friend enthusiastically showed me how bloody and juicy their burgers are. I tried some of the BBQ burger with cheese and it was fantastic. I’ve gotten pancakes here before and they were huge, they tasted good, and they were very filling. So, I’ve had two experiences here and on both occasions I’ve had good diner food. My other friend has had the omelettes there and tells me that they’re also good.
You would think a diner like this would be open a little bit later, though. It’s kind of a bummer that they close at 10 PM. Manhattan Diner on Bway and 77^th is 24 hours, so go there if you want diner food after 10 pm. I don’t know how it compares with other diners in the area, but a good barometer of a diner is to try the cheeseburger and fries and they passed the test with me on that visit. It’s nothing extraordinary, but you will be full, you won’t pay much, and it will most likely taste good.

When a picky weekend guest requested «breakfast, not brunch» I figured a diner was our best option. EJ’s is literally directly across the street from my apartment, so we headed over.
10am on a Sunday and it was bustling. We waited about 15 minutes for a table for three, which isn’t that bad when compared with hour-​plus waits at other neighborhood eateries.
Service is what you’d expect from a diner – no frills but quick. Prices are reasonable because you get a ton of food.
I couldn’t finish my sampler plate, which had scrambled eggs (way more than two), toast, sausage, bacon and hash browns. It was all good. My sister had subpar banana and chocolate chip crepes (but then again, we used to get crepes all over Europe when we were younger so we’re biased in that department). And our house guest from hell raved about her scrambled eggs and potatoes.
My advice: don’t wait in a long line here, skip the french toast and pancakes, stick with basics like eggs and bacon.

Do you know the feeling of getting woken up by extremely annoyingly loud construction sounds? The irritation really doesn’t go away does it?! Well, this is how I felt after my brunch at EJ’s.
Seeing that most of the restaurants had extremely long lines, we resorted in coming here (where it had a smaller line, but a line nevertheless). Thank god it was a party of two because we were seated in about 10 minutes. Right when we sit down and start having a conversation, I barely can hear myself speak nor can I hear the other person. After raising my voice higher and higher, I figured it’ll just be easier to wait till the noise dies down… but it never did. Regardless of a Sunday morning hangover or not, I hate having brunch with overwhelming noise and having a literally screaming conversation.
Seeing that the place was packed with crying kids and loud families, our server was in no rush to get us to order asap. After a glance, I decided to go the safe route and get the E.J.‘s Special 2 eggs, sausage, and homefries for $ 7.45. Btw, the menu very standard nothing special at all. The homefries were burnt, scrambled eggs were scrambled, and sausage wasn’t the ones from the frozen boxes. I would say the meal wasn’t too expensive but i wished that I waited in line and paid more for a quieter and better food experience. With crying babies and high tense waiters with 2 star quality food, never will I do this experience again.
Oh! and they don’t accept credit cards. Bad food doesn’t make this fact better by any means.

I think our trip to E.J.‘s was undoubtedly prejudiced by the fact that Good Enough to Eat had a ridic long line, and we were too hungry to wait. We also didn’t order the pancakes, which is what they’re known for. But in my opinion, any place serving «brunch» should pony up and serve a decent eggs and bacon dish.
It was ok, but really not worth coming back for. Pancakes may be a different story, but don’t order an egg dish. Not worth it. Other people’s meals looked more appetizing.

Mediocre, overpriced food. I paid $ 15 for my strictly average grilled cheese sandwich and below-​average bowl of chili. AND they have the nerve to be «cash only.» Eff that.
Seriously, go somewhere else. There are much better diners in UWS.

It’s sort of like a diner… food wise, looks wise. You have the blue and white vinyl seats in the booths, old advertisements on the wall. I wouldn’t run back to eat breakfast here, but I would if I had no other choices. Everything about the place was average, just nothing to get excited about. The portions are not big, but decent. The food was good, the service was good. We showed up just after 9 on a Sunday and we were seated right away.
I guess I just wanted a nicer place, a warmer place. I wasn’t really in the mood for the throw back diner vibe. That said. it’s not a bad place.

Has a old-​fashioned diner feel to it. I ordered a Belgian waffle with fruit toppings which was made somewhat quickly. It wasn’t the best tasting but wasn’t bad either. The waiter seemed attentative but that’s probably it wasn’t too busy.