Darrell’s Dog Gone Good Diner

Fantastic comfort food in the tradition of a neighborhood diner. Fast service for a cooked to order meal. Breakfast food all day is really the best deal and there is nothing like it anywhere in the Villages.
The wait staff seems to always be in a good mood and very watchful. I always sit at the bar so I can see all the food coming out.
You can pay a lot more other places but these folks know how to fill you up for a reasonable price.
I’m going to try a dessert soon. They look delicious but I’m always too full.

This is horrible food. The entire experience was not good. It’s all super cheap food and yes. .you can taste that. The silver ware is greasy and not of quality. The only thing not cheap is the prices. My suggestion to the owner is, if your gonna charge what you charge for THIS type of food. At Least put some effort into making the food taste better.

Had to wait 40 minutes to get seated and another 30 before food arrived
Waiter was most attentive but how much coffee can you drink before breakfast arrives
Food was unremarkable when it finally did arrive
Not sure why this place is so popular

After arriving a guy at the counter next to us said, «It’s going to be a while, we’ve been waiting 45 minutes.» He spoke to the server and he said, «5 more minutes». that turned out to be foretelling, because they didn’t get food for another 30 minutes after that. After looking around we realized that everyone was sitting at an empty table. no food. it was eerily silent. 15 out of 20 tables sat there with nothing. yes, we counted.
It took an hour and a half to get out food. Was it worth the price. maybe. was it worth the wait. absolutely not. If you want to order your breakfast and get it in time for lunch. go for it. There are plenty of better options such as the Fruitland Park Café or even Denny’s.

Great breakfast. Best I have found in The Villages. Very reasonably priced. Great waitstaff. Very attentive even when place was packed.

We have had breakfast and lunch several times, both with my wife and with another couple. Always been very satisfied with the food, service and price. Their daily soup of the day is terrific.

We were deciding on restaurantsome for lunch and decided to come here. Glad we did decide on this little diner. The place has awesome food, I requested corned beef hash cooked well done, and to my surprise they even offered a English muffin. Everything was cooked to perfection. Who can ask for more?

As restaurants in or around The Villages, FL go, Darrell’s Diner in Pinnellas Plaza is easily the worst I’ve experienced in my 6 years here.
We seated ourselves, as directed, and our waiter took our orders promptly. Things went downhill from there. One person in our group is gluten intolerant and was hopeful when he saw the notice on the back of the menu «ask us about our many gluten free items». He asked what the had and was told «nothing». He could get a burger without the bun, that was about it. He asked about the wraps, still nothing but a something without the bread. Hmmm, maybe it’s time to either get some gluten free items or replace the menus.
I ordered eggs with hash, grits and toast. When my order arrived I saw the tiniest serving of corned beef hash I’ve ever seen, maybe ¼ cup. Likewise for the grits. I don’t require huge servings nor do want them but this was ridiculous. The eggs were ok, on the small side but not too bad. Notice I didn’t mention the toast. That’s because the waiter said it wasn’t up yet. I guess they had to send someone over to Winn Dixie for bread because we were all done with breakfast before the toast arrived and that was after reminding the waiter the we were still waiting. Why did we wait so long to notify the waiter? Because he was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t return to see how things were nor to offer refills of our coffee.
This place needs help. Granted, some of our problems were with our waiter which would be remedied by different personnel, but he had nothing to do with the selection of food available or the portion sizes.
The price were okay but not for what we got. My hash, eggs, grits and toast were $ 8.49. Coffee was extra. Not bad prices for a decent breakfast, keyword being decent.
After this first visit I’ll never know if Darrell’s Diner improves because I have no intentions of ever returning.

Good diner food served up fast by delightful crew. Love the dog oriented décor and bright atmosphere. Service is great here!

Awesome breakfast place! This is NOT a health food store. This is a diner like I remember from living in a small town in my younger days. My wife and I love it and will definitely be repeat customers.

The service is great! They’re always busy for breakfast but the wait is rarely more than a few minutes. The food is fresh and good quality.
This is one of our favorite places to go for breakfast on the weekends. Their early-​bird breakfast specials are offered from 6am-​11am and offer a lot of food for a very reasonable price.

I really, really, really would like for this restaurant to make it. Unfortunately after my first visit, I am doubtful.
There are few choices for breakfast in the area. There is McDonald’s, which, sadly (during season) it is hard to get a parking spot, and a local country club, which does an amazing breakfast buffet for under $ 10. They make omelets to order and have a large selection of fresh fruit and almost anything that one would want for breakfast.
The omelets offered at Darrell’s are only two egg and you can have two ingredients and are charged for additional ingredients (I thought it was a bit pricey for a two egg omelet). Fruit is not a choice as a side. I asked and was told it was an additional 50 cents. Also, I had to ask for it… it isn’t on the menu ANYWHERE. That isn’t much, but I just came from a vacation at Siesta Key and had breakfast out and was never charged extra for fruit as a choice with my three egg omelets!
The waitress (although very friendly) never checked to see how things were after my food was delivered.
I think if this business is going to survive in The Villages, where people are on a fixed income, then they will have to adjust prices and offer healthy choices (other than, home fries, grits or potato cake).
Darrell’s has a good atmosphere and it would be a great place for breakfast in the morning, but the menu has nothing special, nothing that makes you say… that is an amazing_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​.
I will try Darrell’s again. My father eats biscuits and gravy, the waitress said it was good…

Good fresh simple cooking served by super friendly waiters. I went to a late breakfast. Eggs were incredible just like the potatoes, the pancakes, the biscuits and the banana cream pie.

Just opened yesterday in The Villages. Went in for lunch today. I had the Philly Cheese Steak w/​Potato Salad. Sub was great. Next time I’ll try the Cole slaw with my sub. My wife had the Grilled Reuben. She enjoyed her meal also. Great service. Lots of servers, and they seem to cover for each other. We will be back soon to try their breakfast. BTW — their lunch special (homemade meatloaf) looked awesome.