Center Diner

I am almost ashamed that I never visited this place despite all the time spent in the area.
The Patio II, just a few doors down used to be our fav, but a change in ownership has done nothing good there, so it is time to retest local diners.
Been in twice now, once for breakfast and once for lunch. Here are my observations:
Ambience — this is old world style, shiny aluminum exterior and with counter stools and original countertop. Plenty of booth seating along the windows. One can simultaneously admire, and also wonder when an update is coming. All thats missing is the booth juke box.
Staff — everyone seems to know everyone, with love, hugs and happiness all around. Amazing! Service was swift and friendly.
Food — breakfast included a thin light pancake, eggs, sausage and home fries. All Very good. Lunch was a «Balboa» roast beef and cheese on buttered garlic bread, which will likely clog my arteries, but allow me to go out with a smile on my face
Prices — some throwback low, some more in line with the competition.
Overall — takes new #1 spot over Mohegan, Burger Diner & others

Great food, fantastic service, and the low prices are unbelievable. Cash only though.

Ordered scrambled eggs, toast, sausage. Eggs were so fluffy and tasty. The sausage was very flavorful. Toast came warm and crunchy. Service was excellent with the waitress checking in on us every few minutes. I would recommend this place again. I felt so comfortable here, its a small place but comforting.

Excellent food and excellent service. Top notch breakfast!

Such a great place — nestled right in the heart of downtown peekskill!
The food is great, the atmosphere and the mood are amazing, and the people are nothing less then great!!!
Come in and sit on a vintage stool at the original counter in this relic forgotten by time!
Order your breakfast, and get rewarded with wholesome deliciousness. Well far from gourmet, who needs it to be?! I’d rather pay $ 8 for an ample, filling, delicious, Hardy, and flat out great meal, then spend twice as much somewhere else for something that has an accent.
The coffee cups are as vintage as (and authentic to) the place itself. So make sure to come in and sip from one! In keeping with that theme, please note only cash is accepted.
Nation of your belly with their food, your mind with the history and nostalgia herein, and your spirit being surrounded by such great folk!

Looks better on the inside food and service were both good. Basic breakfast choices. Bathroom was old & dirty.

Old-​school simple diner with excellent service. You wont see this place on «Diners, DriveIns& Dives» due to the fact that the menu is basic, but they get all the basics right. The nice old lady is efficient & attentive, and the food is modestly priced and plentiful. If you are hungry and nearby, its a nice little rail car diner.

My first time to Peekskill my Daughter just moved here. After getting lost and finding closed breakfast places I ate here Very good complete breakfast and excellent and friendly service.
Rich

Great food great service! Came in a Saturday morning for breakfast. You can tell that the locals prefer this place over the Other diner next door. We ate next door prior and weren’t impressed! This place is a traditional as diners go. Great atmosphere! Hope to make this a regular place for us to visit!

Great service plus I had an amazing time …

The food was ok but, the dining experience was not. I ordered the stuffed cabbage… The lady tells me they no longer make that. Why is it on the menu then? So, I had a Ruben, my wife had a BLT, and my son had the French Toast. Both the Ruben and BLT were good. The Cole slaw was bad and the pickle was old and tasted bad. We also had onion rings which tasted like they came from a frozen box that had been opened and they got freezer burnt. The bathrooms are disgusting. They are super tiny so, there is no reason why you can’t have good flooring. Instead, what they have has holes, and is very dirty. You see urine stains on the wall as well. Again, that bathroom is so small, it wouldn’t be expensive to make it look nice. Then I get ready to pay and they don’t take credit cards. There is NO SIGN ANYWHERE SAYING THAT! The lady said «We used to have a sign near the register but, kids keep taking it down» I had to walk over to an ATM and pay a fee to get cash. It’s 2014, why don’t you take cards? Hell, use square it’s a free app! I won’t come back.

The Center Diner is a Peekskill institution. The food is basic and unfussy. Portions are large. Stick with diner favorites and you won’t go wrong.

Trying to change my review by deleting but I am
unable to do so.
This restaurant was not open when I went and so I did not eat here. The one star is not a reflection of the food, service or anything else about this restaurant but was the only way I could post my concern about the restaurant not being open although the Unilocal information said that it should have been.
I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Everything a diner should be – classic old rail-​car structure, long friendly with kitchen behind it, clean Formica, waitresses who mother you with lots of bacon and no judgment. I hope more of Peekskill and surrounding areas will make it a regular stop.

Went last month on 6−21−20 013 on this sites recommendation. Seems like they are going out of business, no egg creams, only cola soda, rueben sand was good but only had mayo not Russian dressing on it. Place was ¼ full of locals for breakfast at lunch time, maybe the breakfast is the way to go. The patio grill is right next door and has everything.

Old school food and service. Nice people. Kids enjoyed it.

Excellent, excellent diner. Anna the morning waitress is a whirlwind, ensuring all patrons are seen to and served in a jiffy no matter how jamming busy it gets. And it gets crazy busy, like everyone in town has to eat breakfast here. Not that I blame them. I was in town for 3 days and ate here every morning.

I love this place for breakfast. It’s an old, dated, and worn out. Exactly how a diner is supposed to be. The french toast and Peekskill omelet are excellent!

The location is the same, but from what I could see this diner is called, «Center Diner». Either way, my meal was extremely satisfying. Our waiter was very good, in fact, more adept and keen than some of the waiters I’ve had at the haughtiest of eateries. My girlfriend and I both ordered a cheeseburger and milkshake (chocolate for her, vanilla for me). This was probably the best milkshake I’ve had in recent memory. The burger was also very good and my girlfriend concurred. We were stuffed, and at such reasonable prices, I can definitely see going back to try out dinner or breakfast.

I had dinner there with friends (a couple) on a weeknight in ¹¹⁄₀₃. The food was very good, and quite a bargain because of the enormous portions. My husband & I then had lunch there with the same couple plus two other friends on a Saturday in ¹²⁄₀₆. Our server was very feisty and funny, the food was very good (I had a huge bowl of soup, and — surprise, surprise — bread pudding for dessert) and the atmosphere in that wonderful old diner was great. The other customers all seemed to be «regulars» and they were a friendly group, plus the owners were also very pleasant.