I've only been to maybe a couple real "old-skool" diners in St. Louis, and it wasn't until a couple…read moreweeks ago I finally went to one of the Courtesy Diner restaurants. Went during dinner time (5-ish) and surprisingly I was the only person there. But as I was leaving, people started coming in. I had the chili mac (the largest; they have two sizes) and an order of fries. Both came out very great. The only thing that was missing was parmesan cheese (didn't know if I had to ask for it...) but they had hot sauce on the table, which made up for it. It was just the cook and the waitress, who were keeping busy while it was dead. Service was great. Would go back to any location.

Great place for diner food. I had a western omelet and hash browns that was very good. Sometimes if…read moreI'm out on my own running around, I'll stop in and get breakfast or grab a quick burger. I like to sit at the counter when I'm by myself and the service is always friendly and fast. Ambiance is typical diner but it's clean and open allot of hours. (Early/late). Coming in is a great idea if you are game for a typical diner experience.

Dined here on a quick visit to STL and it was wonderful! My husband found Southwest Diner on Yelp…read morewhile searching for brunch spots near our hotel, and the 1200+ positive reviews sold it for us. We found a parking spot on the street nearby, and we were able to be seated right away on the patio. There were other patrons, but it wasn't terribly busy by any means. The menu is expansive, with lots of ways to customize your order with different breads, toppings, or meats. I ordered the Huevos Rancheros with Tinga Chicken, and my husband ordered the Biscuits and Gravy. We also shared an order of the seasonal Pumpkin Spiked Pancakes. Everything came out hot and fresh, and every bite was delicious! The pancakes are made with cornmeal, and they were flavorful but not too sweet. The gravy for the biscuits is made with their house sausage, which makes it taste even better. I'd definitely return to Southwest Diner the next time I'm in town!

The food was delicious, and the decor and overall aesthetic really do make it feel like you've…read morestepped into the Southwest. That illusion fades a little if you sit outside on a humid St. Louis summer day, but the vibe inside is great. The food is consistently tasty, the Bloody Marys are solid, and the whole place has a classic diner feel with a Southwest twist. There's usually a wait on summer weekends, so just keep that in mind, but it's definitely worth it.

Nice little diner, food is good and service as well, food is cooked right and very tasty. Owner is…read morenice and the place is always nice and clean

As much as I want to love and support this local place, the owner is completely oblivious and has…read moreno self-awareness. I honestly have no idea how they've stayed open so long. Possibly for some on a budget to dine out because they are inexpensive compared to other breakfast places around, but the quality matches the price. The service is basically nonexistent. We walked in on a Monday morning around 11:30 and there were three tables occupied. The owner was the only one working, I'm guessing because of how he treats his staff after reading other negative reviews that all sound strikingly familiar. My friend got one egg over medium, bacon, potatoes, and a biscuit and gravy. It looked disgusting. The egg was overcooked, but she seemed to be happy with it otherwise, so I won't make any other comments on her food. I on the other hand had already had breakfast earlier in the day so I decided to take a chance on a salad. Terrible idea. I ordered the grilled chicken salad, which is supposed to come with lettuce, tomato onion, cheese, green bell peppers, and dressing. I asked for honey mustard on the side. My salad did not come out until 10 minutes after my friend's hot meal came out. When it did, it only contained lettuce, tomato, cheese, and he gave me Italian dressing on the side. I immediately tried to stop him and ask him for honey mustard instead, but he dropped it and bounced without asking if we needed anything else. He proceeded to go up to the front counter, check out all three tables consecutively, make conversation with each as they were paying, completely ignoring my friend who was waving her hand and yelling to him. He kept saying oh I'll be right over! After a good 10 minutes, he came back over and handed me a ramekin of 1000 Island and told me, "Here try this one, I think it's honey mustard." Like seriously? Where the heck did that even come from? He didn't go to the kitchen on his way to the table! I took one look and could clearly tell it was 1000 island. I asked him if I could please just have honey mustard as I had originally asked for, and a side of tomatoes and green peppers with my lettuce, chicken, and cheese. This man tried to take my plate back to the kitchen to add those things instead of just bringing me a side dish. Make it make sense. At this point there are fruit flies buzzing all around our table because we're the only table now. My sad salad has been sitting there for 10 minutes and now you want to take my plate back? Anyway, my friend likes the place so I shut up and ate my unappetizing salad. This place is such a disappointment. I hadn't been in a while so, I had high hopes that it might have improved since I was last there. Honestly, I'm pretty sure it's declined. I wouldn't recommend it.

Nice Diner, good food and many things to pick from in their menu. Staff is nice and service as…read morewell, plenty of seating even when busy, just a nice place

The food was "fine". The scrambled eggs could have been cooked more, they were a but wet. The…read moreFrench toast was dry and lacked flavor. The bacon was perfect. My soda was too syrupy, they should have had more carbonation. Our glasses of water smelled funny. I don't expect it to be perfect, but the table and menus were sticky. The bottom of the syrup bottle had syrup crusted on the table and the restroom had water all over. I will say that the service was excellent. We were asked if we needed coffee refills frequently and the staff worked well as a team to help the customers.

We have wanted to try this hidden diner for awhile since we were headed home we made it happen!…read more Arrived right at lunch time. Now the outside might turn some people away, but don't do it!! Go inside, it's great!! The atmosphere is great, the staff are welcoming and the other customers were very kind in suggesting good items off the menu. It was Wednesday, so meatloaf was the special. I ordered that and my husband went with breakfast. Everything was absolutely delicious!! I'm taking half my food home, too much for me to eat! There was flavor in everything and his breakfast was cooked exactly like he ordered. Every table filled up while we were there. The desserts are freshly made and looked wonderful and according to our new friends sitting behind us are also something you need to save room for!! We will be back to try other items.

It's been a return after 2 years. It's still good. Like eating at your favorite aunt's or grandma's…read morehouse.

There is something new on the menu! They now offer Montecristo sandwiches. I ordered this and…read moredefinitely was not disappointed. It was a nice compromise for when I don't know if I want breakfast or dinner. The French toast with a little syrup on top was wonderful. I will definitely be ordering this again.

This place popped up on Yelp and I was in the mood for diner food. Hubby and I wanted an omelet and…read moreour son wanted a burger. What better place to go?! The location is convenient, right on Gravois road. Parking wasn't bad but the place isn't that big but it's a nice size. It There were about 4 tables occupied with only 1 server. So the service was a bit slow but considering she was the only server, she did a good job managing everyone. Diner vibe so the condiments are already on the table, seats are uncomfortable with torn fabric. Nothing fancy but that didn't bother us. The food was pretty good too. The toast was cool too long though. It was too hard to our liking but we still ate it. Yes, we return. I would like to try their pancakes and French toast.

My husband and I made a stop in Kirkwood to walk around a bit and knew it was time for lunch. Many…read moreof the other restaurants in the area were brimming with people (because it was a gorgeous Saturday and downtown Kirkwood is always popular). We opted to walk the block or two to Spencer's Grill for a late breakfast. It's a classic diner setup; bright, cozy, open grill space and the staff were absolutely delightful. We bellied up to the bar and ordered; their sweet potato hash was such a comfort food drizzled with a little syrup; their hand smashed sausage patties were absolutely flavorful and I love that you can add fixin's to your eggs. Adding some sautéed onions to my scrambled eggs was the cherry on top! My husband ordered their BLT; bright, crisp lettuce, fresh tomatoes and crunchy wholesome bread with a side of hashbrowns which remained piping hot throughout the entire meal. We had been looking for a good diner experience for a while and Spencer's did not disappoint. If you're in the area looking for some good diner food with a cozy atmosphere and an amazing staff, this place has got the goods!

It's odd that I have done the entire Route 66, ate at a lot of the legendary places on the Mother…read moreRoad, and haven't eaten here until recently. To be fair, I've always heard and read about this place closing and changing hands frequently. But I did get to finally experience Spencer's. They do have limited hours (closes at 2pm) but I'm sure it is for the right reasons. In other words, open only during breakfast and lunch. I should've gotten breakfast but it was lunch time at the time of my visit so I got the Oklahoma Burger, which was supposed to be onions galore. It was alright. Not a fan of breaded fries. But hey, the service was great and I got to see my food cooked right in front of me. Kirkwood is not really a Route 66 destination or stop, but if you do find yourself there - make this place a priority!

Visited for brunch today, 8/17/26. I had heard good things during my time living in the area almost…read morea decade ago but had never been, so I decided to give it a try finally. Overall rating 3.5/5, even though I can't give half stars here on Yelp. One star for ambiance/vibes. This is a gorgeous, quaint little eatery in a lush area of Saint Louis County, right near Grant's Trail. One star for service. My server was a kind lady who made sure I was always doing well and kept my water glass topped off. One star for going above and beyond--I ordered gooey butter cake as a sweet treat and apparently whomever cut the slices made them too small so they gave me two but only charged me for one. Half a star for the gooey butter cake and espresso martini. Neither was the best instance of either I've ever had but they were the best part of the actual meal. Unfortunately, I think I made the wrong entree choice. I went with the biscuit (singular) and gravy and a side of sausage links. The biscuit is described as "jumbo" but didn't feel much bigger than what I'd consider a regular-sized biscuit. It also wasn't nearly as fluffy as I would have liked and was quite tough and hard at points, nearly requiring the use of a knife to cut it. The gravy was relatively flavorless and wasn't improved much by either salt or pepper. The sausage links were passable. I'm willing to give the shop another shot (and order something different) once I try some other brunch places on my list but I was a little disappointed on this visit because I wanted to like my food more.

This is an adorable brunch spot with lots of character!! We visited here with some friends and were…read moreglad they got a reservation. The restaurant was packed and had a line (for good reason)! Once seated, our server checked on us frequently and listed their specials soundly. I opted for the sandwich special of the day, the Monte cristo, and my partner got one of the Benedict's. We split the special waffles of the day, the French toast waffle. We also both got a good drink with our meal. The Monte Cristo was perfectly sweet and savory. Incredible potion sizing for the price and a delicious plate. The French toast waffle was insane. Such a perfect sweet treat to finish our meal!

The crows nest has been a long time favorite of mine--I used to go to their weekend brunch at least…read moreonce per month. It is such a unique vibe, especially if you're into the horror or metal aesthetic. Most of the servers and bartenders are phenomenal as well. This particular visit, I popped in with a friend for a quick lunch. I have tried far less from their lunch menu, but oh boy! We decided to split the French dip and the fried pickles appetizer. This sandwich was easily the best one I've had all year! It is not your basic French dip--this one comes with marinated red onions and horsey sauce, on the most PERFECT crunchy ciabatta bread. Give it a try!!

This restaurant has been on my list for awhile, consistently popping up on my socials. Based upon…read morethe way it's decorated inside and the fact that Labyrinth was playing while we were here, they seem to be going for a Gen X crowd. Lots of little touches that age group will appreciate. Even though the place was packed, we found a seat right away. Service was prompt but not pushy, and based upon how hot the food was when it arrived, it wasn't sitting around in the kitchen for long. Pretty good price for the generous portion. If I had been going straight home after, I could have brought enough in leftovers for another meal. They also have a heavy metal themed brunch, which will be my next thing I have to check out here

The food was really good and hot me and my family enjoyed it the ambience was really goodread more

Nice atmosphere! When they first opened, I was really put off by all the taxidermy animals on the…read morewall, but eventually I the food, the great service, and the overall relaxed atmosphere won me over. However, if you have a strong fear of taxidermy animals, definitely stay away. Other than that, the food is really worth it. They have amazing burgers and the tandoori wings are amazing. I'm really not a bone-in wing person, but these are so excellent they make that detail irrelevant for me. Great place!