The Diner

Everything I’ve ordered has been exceptionally good. Their onion rings are the best! Their hamburgers are wonderful. When I ordered a chocolate malt, they served it in a very large glass, and placed the metal container next to it on my table. I refilled my glass from that container TWICE. And it was one of the best chocolate malts I’ve had in my life. Of course everything tastes even better when you get fast, friendly service by pretty gals who are always smiling. The Diner is quite an asset to the community.

Silly me! We thought we’d try the country house but after waiting 30 minutes to be seated, in a half empty restaurant, we came to Papa’s 50’s Diner and got seated right away! Needless to say this place is great! Also the country house didn’t have a baby changing station and the diner does!

Excellent little place! The french toast is made with real french bread, and was cooked to perfection. There are the normal diner staples — all types of burgers and hotdogs, which looked great and smelled great as they were passing by to other tables. My mom adores their chili, which comes with onions and cheese on top and smelled divine. Great ambience, relaxed family atmosphere. I hear Elvis even stops by on Sundays…

Papa’s Diner fulfills the niche of a Classic Diner in every sense of «classic» that it can. From polished stainless steel dispensers, table accents, handles, doors and even an shiny polished exterior to classic 50s and 60s music playing to the dining stools at the coffee bar, replete with coffee mugs, silverware in white paper bags and pie under glass, there are even waitresses carrying coffee pots with them as they take order and seat guests. There is no mistaking that this is an all American Diner.
Breakfast is decently prepared and offered whenever the sign says «Open.» Hamburgers are satisfying and tasty either plain or loaded with bacon, cheese, green chilies, lettuce, tomato and onions; French fries are of the classic style too. Sandwiches can be prepared to your liking and are as simple and unassuming as a sandwich can be, or they can be made into a wrap with fillings from cheesesteak and Italian sausage to turkey or roast beef. Spaghetti, Tossed Green Salads, Hot Dogs, Fish & Chips and homemade Chili are also offered in addition to sides of baked beans, apple sauce, macaroni & cheese, hush puppies and onion rings or even fries with gravy. This is all in addition to the Blue Plate Special which changes daily and other Diner offerings such as BBQ Pork sandwiches, Classic Pot Roast, Liver & Onions or Meatloaf with Mashed Potatoes, gravy and dinner roll.
All in all, Papa’s offers a consistent dining experience with food that is traditionally prepared in American Diner style with service to match: which is to say that both are adequate, unassuming and neither memorable or forgetful — unless you eat here regularly, which many do as can be seen by the interactions between the customers and wait staff — and that is a good thing.
It is nice to have Papa’s as a dining choice in Sierra Vista when you just want a well prepared hearty breakfast, mid-​day soup and sandwich, or a burger, shake and fries without having to sit down in a franchised restaurant and feel rushed to eat and leave.
Papa’s is a nice place to visit with friends, dine with the family, or share a chocolate malt with a close friend while taking in the numerous nostalgic wall art, neon lights, shiny surfaces, listen to rock ‘n’ roll music and revel in a classic All-​American experience.
Overall Rating: 3.2 Stars
Food: 3 stars
Service: 3 Stars
Cleanliness: 2.8 Stars
Atmosphere: 4
Price/​Value: 3 Stars

Adorable place. Loved the choices. We’ve always had good service. Have enjoyed anything we tried on the menu. My son especially loves it here!

Always good, breakfast or dinner. I recommend the cod sandwich, really good and fills you up. Great atmosphere.

The food is good but the service makes for a negative experience. There is just not enough people working there. It’s standard diner food and atmosphere providing full plates and a home cooked feel. But the friendly diner service is missing for this diner.

Great outdoor service! Brought the dogs and they provided patties! Very friendly service. Food was great!

Recently visited again. My original review stays the same.
Great service, friendly staff, military-​friendly, and they still offer hamburger patties to dogs!

Went there for a cup of chili and salad The chili was served in a cup which was only ½ full! I couldn’t believe it! I sat and stared at it wondering if it would fill me up. I guess the few chips they put on top was suppose to hide the fact that I got about ¼ cup chili! A joke. I took a picture of it but wasn’t able to upload onto this site.

I feel bad for the servers-​half the time there’s only one or two girls working and no manager. Food is good when it’s not busy

If you like diner you will love this place. The French Toast is a must. They use French bread and it’s amazing. The place is fun and the service is fast. Didn’t try lunch or dinner but went for breakfast twice in a week. They also have grits which is sometimes hard to find!

We had burgers, fries, and onions rings. All were really good. Our waitress was quick and checked on us a lot to make sure we were A-​OK. Haven’t had the breakfast but heard its really good too. Will be back! Yum :)

Haven’t tried the breakfast here yet (I have heard it’s pretty good), but this place is most definitely a burger stop. The burger I had from here was hot, fresh, moist/​greasy, and very good. We ate here recently and that’s about the only thing brought out that was good. Forget the potato soup (WAY to thick to be called a soup) and the fried catfish (we are from the south, I’ve had much better). Would definitely come back when in the mood for a burger… and to try that breakfast.

Went there tonight for dinner with the family… seven of us in the party… started off fairly decently… the waitress came to the table, she took our drink orders brought them out then took our meal order! Pretty much the lady time we saw her… Thank God for the red headed waitress!!! Though busier than a cat covering it up she was able to get our drink refills and help us when our waitress wouldn’t.
The spaghetti was awful, obviously prepared first and just sat in the window getting crispy and burnt. The salad was awful.
Positives…burgers were good and so was the breakfast burrito!
Seriously doubt we will be back.
Asked for a manager and was told there wasn’t one! If that was the case it was way obvious!

Renamed to Papa’s 50’s Diner by the current owners, this 50’s era neon-​adorned diner sticks out among the scrub and brush of the Sierra Vista landscape. The 50’s décor continues inside, with the counter and booth seats covered in sparkly blue vinyl, blue neon lighting on the ceiling, metal hanging lamps above each table and 50’s era metal signs decorating the walls. Like any diner, there is the obligatory pie case (a small one sitting on the counter) with several fruit and cream pies.
I ordered the Papa’s combo, which is a 3 egg cheese omelet & a side order of biscuits and sausage gravy. Instead of the omelet I subbed scrambled eggs & also opted for a side cup of grits. The biscuits with sausage gravy actually used a white flour gravy with pieces of pork breakfast sausage sprinkled all over the covered biscuits, unfortunately not a true sausage gravy. But, the sausage was very tasty and the gravy had a good consistency. The biscuits were not the light cake-​like Southern biscuit, but were reminiscent of smaller Northern biscuits and slightly dense. My eggs were scrambled a little on the firm side. And mirroring the sodium-​sensitive trend, no salt in my eggs or grits.
While the food was the expected standard diner quality, what made it was the service. Kathy, a new waitress, made several checks to confirm specifics of our dishes after taking our order. She was genuinely wanting to make sure that we had a good dining experience — contrary to some of the negative service reviews that some people had cited.
If you’re craving that 50’s diner experience in southwestern Arizona, stop by Papa’s 50’s Diner for a trip down nostalgia lane.

We had excellent service. Our waitress checked up on us frequently, and gave us good sightseeing advice. Our food was not life-​changing, but good, and worth the price. My eggs and bacon were both fresh and cooked to my specifications the first time, which almost never happens.
My french toast, while not the best I’ve had, was the best I’ve had in AZ.
My main gripe — serve real butter, not that fake toxic yellow crud!
Overall, a solid choice.

As far as 50s style diners go this place was pretty good. The burger was cooked perfectly (anyone who orders their meat medium-​rare knows how often it gets over cooked) and while the onion rings could have used a little more seasoning in the batter they weren’t bad by any means.
I was sitting at the counter and the waitresses were really nice. Pet peeve though… the waitress brought my food out then sets the check down and says «when you’re ready». It drives me insane when restaurants do this because it feels like I’m being pushed out the door. What if I wanted to get something else? Guess not.
Overall not a bad place for a filling, hot lunch.

Not many choices in town if you’re looking for a 50’s diner. It’s either here or Jeannie’s on base. A bit on the pricey side, but the food has always tasted great and can’t complain about the service. Probably not the healthiest, but when you’re craving a good burger and fries, the Diner will do.
Seems to be a new face each time I come here every couple of months. I suppose it’s just the new owners/​staff settling in.
I’m sure I’ll be back.

A friend had been raving about the Diner for a month before we went to check it out. Now it’s our regular post-​yoga class pig out place.
The place looks like a 1950s diner inside and out. I half expect Marty McFly and Biff to have a show down.
The menu has breakfast, soups, salad, burgers and all sorts of fried food. The service is friendly and quick. Food takes a little longer but comes out fresh. Burgers are cooked to order. Portions are HUGE. Try the fried fish, pancakes, burgers… everything is good. Only recently did I make it to dessert, blueberry pie tasted homemade. Heated up with ice cream was to die for.
Funny story… a gentleman came up and started talking to our table. He said we were in the lucky booth and walked off to get our prizes. Whaaaaat? We thought he was pulling our legs so he headed out. Nope, he was serious and gave us some cool presents (I don’t want to ruin the surprise but it’s awesome!). Turns out it was Papa, the Diner’s owner. He’s a retired Army cook who jokingly said that Army folks get 10% off but only 5% for Navy.
Stop in, try the awesome food and say hi to Papa!