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    Black Cat Diner

    4.7 (42 reviews)
    Open 6:00 am - 2:00 pm

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    Recommended Reviews - Black Cat Diner

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    Benny with corned beef hash and sausage gravy. Delicious.
    Marlene P.

    The place was full of locals. The staff was super friendly, joking around with the locals. They even bought a regular her breakfast because it was her birthday!

    Kitchen view from counter
    Jessica R.

    Don't miss breakfast here! True diner style. Loved sitting at the counter and getting the full cooking show. Kind and playful staff with just the right amount of sass :)

    Booth!
    Jake A.

    I visited the black cat diner in a Tuesday morning. The place had a cozy vibe with the chef in full view preparing food. Or server was prompt and helpful. My partner ordered a Benedict that was supposed to come with biscuits but was accidentally served with English muffins. However, she noticed it before we even had the dish and prepared one of the most delicious, butter, crispy, and tender biscuits on the side, and I was thrilled. I had the pumpkin pancakes which were savory and slightly sweet, and I can't complain about them at all. They were perfectly cooked and satisfying. I'll definitely be back!

    Chocolate chip pancakes with strawberries
    Shelby P.

    This is the cutest LITTLE train car diner! The staff is so nice and kind and fun! It will be a wait especially in Oct. but it was really maybe 15-20 mins. The biscuits n gravy were not the typical type of BnG but they were yummy and maybe sagey? Rosemary? Floral! But the pancakes were delicious and the juice was poppin! 100% go here and support these hard working ladies!

    Church's combo - comes with everything plus the coffee.
    Mike G.

    Looked for a local breakfast place in Salem and came across this well reviewed gem when searching online. It didn't disappoint and It is truly a whole in the wall joint, that is absolutely fantastic. Big portions, great taste and friendly staff make this an off the beaten path breakfast.

    Our Philly crew in Salem! Loved black cat diner!
    Julie C.

    In coming to Black cat diner there were so many things to be impressed by we felt compelled to send this review in. This is a wonderful way to support local family run businesses like black Kat diner. The food is outstanding, it was so good the first day we had to come back to get the rest of our favorites off the menu to try for day two. This is a really cool box car that's setup for luncheonette style and regular booth seating. In regards to what foods we would recommend off this menu? You must try the blueberry pancakes, I flipped over the Reese's peanut butter, pancakes, and French toast choices. I really enjoyed the steak and cheese, egg white omelette and the best recommendation was for the bacon egg and cheese on the everything bagel. The bagels are super fresh and absolutely the perfect ratio bacon and egg to bagel that you will find with any breakfast sandwich! Highly recommend this place! Our waitress was wonderful- she made the whole experience to this locally run diner so enjoyable and fun! We loved it here so much that we had to memorialize our trip by purchasing the T-shirts as well! We will see you guys next year!!

    Menu cover
    Chuy G.

    Stopped by Black Cat Diner and absolutely loved the environment. Staff was kind and attentive, and the star of the place was the food. So much food and every bite was perfect. From the pancakes to the bacon. What a treat. Definitely will come back when I visit again.

    French toast and pancake selection
    Elbert D.

    This is one of my favorite breakfast spot definitely my number one break-feast Go to when I want a good Delicious breakfast the staff is definitely like family every-time I come I'm full and satisfied so stop on by this wonderful place for some delicious breakfast

    Chef/owner Jennifer busy at work.
    Keith S.

    A small quaint historical diner nothing fancy but neighborhood friendly. A short walk from the Salem Public Library. The waitstaff consists of two ppl. Very friendly and amazingly polite and friendly. Watching the owner/chef Jennifer is astonishing how she interacts in a fast paced fashion while making you feel welcomed and relaxed. While she is behind the Heat with no break for 10+ hours. She remains strong and determined to provide awesome food and customer interaction is the key to a well run establishment. Kudos to you, Jennifer, wishing you much success.

    Huge pancakes

    So fun to watch the food being made. Everything made FRESH with pride. Such a cute train car diner! Very cool ambiance. Be prepped to wait a while as it is small and October in Salem is nuts!! Great, sweet waitstaff!!! Delicious food

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    2 months ago

    I love it here so much. Great prices, delicious food, outstanding service. They never miss!!

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    23 days ago

    Business owner information

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    Jennifer D.

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    2 months ago

    Wonderful hole in the wall. French toast with PB Nutella and fluff was fantastic. Nice people.

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    9 months ago

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    10 months ago

    Customer service was top notch and the food was great (taste wise and portions). Highly recommend this place if you're ever in Salem.

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    9 months ago

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    11 months ago

    Food was great, in addition to the very kind server. Would recommend for anyone looking to get good priced breakfast. Would come again!

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    1 year ago

    One of the best diner experiences I have ever had. All of the food was fresh and delicious, and the waitstaff are so kind!

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    10 months ago

    Excellent diner, and a busy place for a good breakfast right on Boston Street in Salam. Staff friendly and very helpful.

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    11 months ago

    Great atmosphere and food. Shout to our server, Day! She is super friendly and was fun.

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    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Black Cat Diner

    Review Highlights - Black Cat Diner

    I had the pumpkin pancakes which were savory and slightly sweet, and I can't complain about them at all.

    $12 Pancakes

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    Salem's Retreat

    Salem's Retreat

    4.4
    (98 reviews)
    0.6 mi
    $$

    First things first I had no idea how to get to the parking lot in the back. If you don't go in…read morethrough the back you will awkwardly be standing at the front of the building waiting for someone to notice you because the hostess stand is in the back of the restaurant. Not very tourist friendly because we're all trying to figure out where we're going and looking at GPS and not even noticing that in dark letters on the sign it says there's a parking in the back that you don't notice until you've already found parking on a side street. Just a bit frustrating but not much to be done about it. I got a hot chocolate and it was fine, just a standard diner-like hot chocolate. Then the burrito came and although it was supposed to have cheese and chorizo in it, all I tasted was beans and pico de gallo. Barely tasted the eggs. It was HUGE also and the beans are filling so I couldn't finish it but I was just disappointed in the lack of balance in the flavors. I will say the apple cinnamon waffles were fantastic. The crumble on the top was my favorite part. I would just get that next time. I tried my mom's eggs benedict and did not like the hollandaise so I'm glad I didn't get that, I think the waffles might be their specialty.

    From the looks of things this is probably one of the better restaurants in Salem. Fully decked out…read morein Halloween swag, this old house, turned converted restaurant is a busy spot. The spaceci itself is tight, loolts of tables are squeezed in. Be ready to meet new people, lol. The staff was cordial and service was pretty quick. I looked at a lot of different plates when I came in and decided to stick to my regular diner choice, grilled cheese & fries. My friend was far more adventurous with the turkey sausage eggs Benedict. It was good, very much so met the standatd. My friend said her dish was weird, but edible,thought it would be better with turkey bacon. Note: there is a parking lot in the back of the building l.

    Photos
    Booth seating against the wall looking toward the front door. There are a row of tables to the right, and a bar to the far right.
    Booth seating against the wall looking toward the front door. There are a row of tables to the right, and a bar to the far right.
    Salem's Chicken Sandwich
    Salem's Chicken Sandwich
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    Eggs Benedict three ways?!
    Hawthorne Hotel

    Hawthorne Hotel

    3.9
    (381 reviews)
    0.8 mi
    $$

    I had my wedding here in May, so this will be a long but all encompassing review of all different…read moreaspects of the Hawthorne. When I was looking for venues, I wanted all inclusive and one location. I spoke with Christine Madigan via email and then over the phone. She assured me that the Hawthorne did weddings well. We booked, signed contracts, set up a room block and everything. The room block: 3/5 stars I originally worked with Beth who set everything up for me and then was transferred to Rob as positions changed. I initially had 15 rooms in my block which we filled pretty quickly, but I saved one for my husbands grandmother so she could stay onsite. She called to book a room and was told there were no rooms. There were rooms so I called and spoke with Rob because she was pretty upset. He assured me we had rooms and for grandma to call him directly. Evidently the folks at the front desk didn't understand how the room block was intended to work. This happened over and over and over again. I really wish they would have set it up so my guests could book online because I heard from nearly half of my guests that either they couldn't get the days we were promised or the room type they wanted. I even had 3 couples stay at another hotel because of this so Hawthorne lost out on money because they couldn't get their booking system organized. One of my couples ended up in a room with a TWIN BED for 2 people. How is that even possible? Meanwhile I had a single person in a room with 2 queen beds and 2 bathrooms? Like I get accommodating people's requests, but a little critical thinking and communication would have gone a long way for comfort here. I doubt those people will come back to this hotel for this reason, which is sad because its such a lovely place. The menu tasting: 5/5 stars We were invited to a tasting of hors d'oeuvres, dinner selections, wine, cocktails and wedding cake. It was amazing to be able to sample items we wanted to serve without doing so blindly. Their food is phenomenal so we were excited to be able to share this with our guests. Wedding planning: 5/5 stars I received packets of information before booking Hawthorne as my venue, so I was aware of the pricing up front. I was even able to create a quote using their pricing sheet so nothing was a surprise. Christine was available to answer all of my questions throughout the process. As we got closer, she gave us homework to complete so we were ready for our big day. We created a signature mocktail, filled out place cards, went over our timeline, dropped off welcome bags, etc. Everything leading up to our wedding day (outside of booking guest rooms) was super smooth and easy. Pretty much everything was provided by the venue. I only had to book a photographer, content creator, photo booth, DJ and HMU on my own. The rest was handled for me which really made things so much smoother. We ended up well under budget, too! Wedding day: 3.5/5 stars If I could go back, I would hire a dedicated day of coordinator who worked specifically for me and not the venue. Christine was great, and did her job well, but she wasn't dedicated to me the entirety of the evening. And she and my mom were butting heads over things we were promised and not delivered. My mom did my wedding florals. We asked in advance if we could have refrigerator space and a private room to set up in. We were told we could have both, and on the day of, there was magically no fridge space, access to water, or a secure room to work in. It was extremely frustrating to be promised things and then not have those promises fulfilled. We were able to pivot and adapt, but that added so much stress to me on a day where I should not have added stress. The room she was working in was also being used as storage for a wedding the following weekend. The hotel has tons of space so I'm not sure why it had to be there but it seemed at that point it was a battle of wills more than anything. My photo booth company arrived right at the time we were about to start our ceremony, which was planned in advance, but the way the rooms were set up he ended up being in the lobby. This turned out to be really fun for wedding guests and random hotel guests to watch, but it was a bit awkward at first. Some of the items we brought for our reception were not brought down and we had to track people down to retrieve those. There was a room upstairs that was dedicated for us to hide away in and eat our appetizers, but I wanted to be with my guests and the appetizers never made it to me and my husband so I was told they were good but I didn't get to try them all. Dinner was absolutely amazing. However, I heard SO MANY complaints afterward about our bartender. I guess he was rude, and terrible at making drinks and when people tried to go to the other bar they got turned away. Overall I had the best day ever and would do it over again with a few tweaks :)

    It's a neat historic hotel with a GREAT location. We had 5 in our group with a double queen room…read moreand they brought up the roll bed and extra towels before we had barely opened the suitcases. The room was nice, no complaints. I loved the lemonade in the lobby. Bonus: free parking. Here's the kicker... I accidentally made the reservation for the day prior, so we didn't have one when we got there (we were on a 10 night trip in 5 different hotels so things got scrambled). To make a long story short they found us a mostly comparable room and credited the charges for the previous vacant night. That's pretty amazing and basically saved this working-class family's vacation from being a downer.

    Photos
    Scraped paint
    Scraped paint
    Hawthorne Hotel
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    Fountain Place Restaurant

    Fountain Place Restaurant

    3.5
    (248 reviews)
    0.6 mi
    $

    If you're navigating the beautiful chaos of "tourist trap central" while in Salem, MA, do yourself…read morea favor and skip the overhyped, crowded "Ugly Mug Diner" down the street. Fountain Place Restaurant is just a few blocks away and had zero line. It's definitely got the "tourist trap price" as we walked away spending a little over $100 for a breakfast for three after tax and tip--but honestly, for the quality, the location and speed of service, it felt worth the splurge. The food was well-seasoned and not super greasy (which is usually the typical "diner food" struggle). We went all in on a spread: the Big Breakfast with a pancake, a savory crepe, the hash grilled cheese, a blueberry muffin, and a side slice of French toast. Everything was so good that our group of three actually finished it all! Skip the french toast and go for the pancake. This spot has that classic, cozy vibe without the "greasy spoon" after-feel. If you want a delicious, reliable meal away from the massive lines, this is your spot!

    Great quaint breakfast spot. Popped in around11 on Saturday morning and kinda shocked they weren't…read morethat busy. Got sat right away and menus at the table to review. Coffee came out quick and nice taste. Ordered the two egg breakfast with con beef hash, crossing and fruit. Everything came out great. Eggs perfect over easy, corn beef hash nice and crispy, fruit was good and the croissant was amazing. Nice and crispy! Overall solid breakfast spot and I'd totally go back when in the area.

    Photos
    Interior
    Interior
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    Fountain Place Restaurant

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    Black Cat Diner - breakfast_brunch - Updated July 2026

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