As I'm making my way across the states I decided to call it a night in Vandalia, IL at the Pilot truck stop. Sometimes you just need something hot to eat before calling it a night when refrigerated salads & wraps have run their course. And last night Denny's hit the spot. My server was a young man named Kolby who absolutely on top of things. Apparently there was a wrestling tournament in town & this Denny's was hopping. As I sat at my table Kolby, Addy & Patty were hustling between seating people, bringing food out of the kitchen, spending a moment talking with the regulars & wiping down tables. They were always on the move & very polite despite the hectic pace. I had the Brisket Melt sandwich which has become a new favorite of mine & it was delicious. They run a good operation here & the food and friendly service was just what I needed after a long day behind the wheel. I highly recommend stopping here when you get a chance. read more

I order take home alot for my elderly parents. Our Vandalia, Il, Denny's, is so great about helping me with this! you guys do a great job! Thank you! read more

Great service this morning and Veggie Omelette was right on! Of course the coffee too, and all at a good price in a clean restaurant. Can't ask for much more. I would definitely recommend this little gem read more

Very empty for the only sit-down open after 10pm. Ordered steak, not a great cut, but well seasoned and cooked. Salad was very simple, sides were good. Prices in menu did not match out bill. Waitress/cashier apologized that updated menus were not in yet after recent price hike, gave a discount to correct. Updated prices are me'h value, but it's Dennys in a truck stop. We needed food, they fed us and were nice about it, they did the job, but might want to rethink the prices and bring in more customers. read more

This place is located inside the pilot truck stop. The restaurant is very well taken care of. They really do have delicious food. The place has lots of spots inside. The menu is very easy to read and choose what you like. What I usually order from this place is bourbon chicken fried on a skillet but instead of a chicken I substitute with steak. It had fried red pepper on a bourbon sauce so is broccoli and potatoes with red skin. The food just melts in your mouth. Very delicious. At that day I ordered two of those dishes. Also I love their coffee it is delicious and strong at the same time. So if you're around hop in there and eat some delicious food. The stuff is very nice. Customer service is 10/10. The waitress was very nice and had lots of patience with me. So this place is 10/10 in any way. read more

Denny's - Diners Near Me - Vandalia, Illinois

See all

We were looking for a breakfast spot off the highway, all the small local businesses were either closed or too far off the exit. Staff were very friendly, it was busy but service was prompt and polite. Food was decent. Coffee was hot. Overall we were satisfied 15% off with AARP card too! read more

The food is consistently good, the diner is always comfortable, the waitstaff is always so kind to my parents and I! Love to go there

What is it about Denny's restaurants that make them so hit or miss? I seriously considered giving this place 1 star. But then I remembered how our waitress was really trying her best to give us stellar service. Which leads me to one of my biggest complaints about this one. The main problem with this Denny's becomes clear right from the get-go: lack of staff. I mean, it took ages for us to get acknowledged by a hostess, much less seated. They need to amp up their hiring process. I'm sure they'd have zero problem finding new employees to help serve the customers. I know thousands of people out there who could use the work right about now. But, as always....I digress. Let's talk about the food, shall we? Aside from the fact that it took too long to get out, the chefs cook like they don't give a shit. Now, I know what you might be thinking: "Isn't that like...ALL Denny's?" Well, no. Not at all. See, the thing is....I know how great Denny's breakfast can taste. So, you can imagine my personal annoyance level upon receiving overcooked bacon, hashbrowns burnt to a crisp, dry ass toast, and eggs over medium when I requested over easy. Ultimately, I felt like I was chewing rocks for days. Nice one, fellas. Oh, and you know your restaurant's in trouble when you have other waitresses (no, not ours) swearing in front of customers whilst throwing a temper tantrum. I get that the morale must be pretty low back there, but...please don't take it out on the customers. We just wanna get in, get our food, and get back on the road promptly. All that said, our waitress was outstanding, all things considered. We made sure to leave her a nice tip. But the food was pathetic and ultimately made the experience less than mediocre. 2 servings of burnt hashbrowns out of 5; would not recommend. read more

This Denny's is so busy the wait is very, very long. Understanding it's very difficult to obtain employees it would be worth the wait if the food was good. Twice I have ordered crepes because they have them listed on the menu. The first time I admit they were terrible but I thought I would give them another chance because how can you ruin essentially a very thin pancake? Well Denny's can. They prepared it like a crispy fried taco with a gross slimy vanilla crème inside which I had asked them not to include. If you choose to go to this location do not order crepe's expecting anything like a crepe because it's crunchy and tough with something unexpected inside that may help you lose your appetite. One good thing is the help they have is pretty efficient even though you have to wait so long and they have amazing capacity so at least you will be seated and won't faint from standing read more

service was good but the food was horrible, mac and cheese tasted microwaved, the cheese in the cheese sticks was hard, the marinara sauce burns your tongue. there was one waitress and she kept going to the back to talk crap on her coworkers with the cook. horrible. read more

Horrible Cold coffee No waitress came to take our order But took plenty of time to check her cellphone ! We had To leave the table ! Don't waste your time read more

I got sat, I ordered. They brought my food and never gave me another thought. I needed refill on my ice tea and nobody cared. Ordered a burger that saturated my bun in grease. They didn't bring me my check until I stood in front of the register for 10 minutes. I absolutely hated my experience. read more

Dtopped by for some breakfast on the way to Cincinati staff friendly food good owner was proactive helping out and friendly great place Gary C Garden grove california read more

I took my grandmother to this restaurant for dinner and we were really disappointed with the food and service. My grandma order the country fried steak with extra gravy. The waitress came with our plates and she did not have any gravy on her plate. Then when we asked to get gravy, it took up to 25 minutes for them to bring it back. When we received the plate it had a baby sized portion of mashed potatoes and discolored corn. Which she did not order. So basically this restaurant sucks and my grandma's whole day was ruined because of this. read more

Denny's - Diners Near Me - Vandalia, Illinois

We went in there and waited for like three hours only to get cold food it was like really bad my grandma became enraptured

I ordered the Santa Fe Sizzlin' Skillet. It was the skimpiest one I've ever gotten compared to several Dennys. This location does bait and switch where what you get is nothing in size like the menu picture.It is very misleading. The manager acted like too bad. They deliberately cut back on the size to make money. Places like this need to be closed by corporate read more

My wife and I have been doing take out from here about once a week (my night off from cooking). They have been consistently good with their menu items. The prices are very reasonable and the food has always been ready for pickup when I arrive. We always order off of the classic menu dinner and we have found them to be delicious. Thx Dennys! read more

This has to be one of the better Denny's I have ever been to... everything was well made. The people are very happy. I would definitely recommend this place. Thank you for the great breakfast read more

We came back to Denny's thinking this time the food would be better, we were wrong! There was barely any staff there and our waitress was barely at our table. Now for the food, our scrambled eggs were very undercooked and runny, our chicken tenders were very burnt, like last time, I'll insert a picture, the marina for our cheese sticks looked like orange ranch, I'll insert a picture, AND in the mix of our fries and chicken there were a lot of these burnt little pieces of something, I'll insert a picture, and they did not feel like any food you'd want to eat! Lastly, it did not look like the cook had gloves on, yuck! In conclusion we will probably not be coming back to Denny's until they get better cooks and stuff, there prices are way to high for what your receiving... read more

See all

One cup of coffee, waited forever to get my check, wasn't even checked on how I was doing. The food was good.

They have great staff. They where short handed given how busy they where. But we never felt neglected and our waitress was professional the entire time. The food was very good. Only gripe the sausage links where under cooked. read more

Guys trust me on this. The food is awesome! Mad props to the cooks and staff for a wonderful experience. Order the pot roast sandwich with BQQ sauce, straight up delicious. Ask for Jenelle nothing but greatness from her. read more

I ordered a super slam but got grand slam. Eggs were not edible ( brown ), bacon was burnt in spots, pancakes were turned inside to hide the very dark to burned in spots. That was on the cook. Afternoon I guess don't eat breakfast because the cook can't cook. Server Maysen needs improvement since she can't get the order right. Slow to refill coffee. Does seem like she must have been on the job for her first week, not sure. Don't think I'll be going back there. Worst Denny's I've ever eaten at! read more

Delicious food and great service. The best Denny's I have ever been to. I built my burger and it was exactly the way I wanted it. The fries were crispy and hot and I got one of their limeades. It was delicious. Not too sweet and not too sour. read more

This is for Dennys in vandalia,il,day 2 yesterda was day 1 in sayre,ok...here in vandalia dennys is a huge difference, for 1 the queso pepper chesse sauce was separate, on Oklahoma dennys the sauce was pretty much baked on the the red skin potatoes, and hot,here at vandalia it was cold and the chef didn't dress the plate,look at my photo from last night in Oklahoma, and tonight in Illinois..he put the cali sandwich on top of the red skin potatoes and it was a small portion,im like everybody when eating chip or potatoes every bite of sandwich with potatoes...it was finished in the 1st half of my sandwich yesterday in Oklahoma every bite was perfect from potatoes to the entire sandwich big difference, also i had to tell the waiter about the pepper queso sauce he did not give me the options,i had tell him if not he would've gave me fries like the menu also the sandwich here was bigger then in oklahoma but over there gor some reason the sandwich taste better,anyway the waiter did apologize for rushing me atleast...you can tell quickness is being a priority over standard and the restaurant wasn't even half full...look at photos, between sayre,ok and vandalia,il dennys and compare...good luck read more

See all

I'm on a road trip. I just stopped by to use the restroom I didn't have any food but it's a pretty decent restroom in you need to make a stop. read more

I gave this Denny's another chance on a recent visit back home, as relatives assured me it had gotten much, much better. They were right. These days, the employees know the menu, and the waitress I had this time was even kind enough to make sure I got chewy bacon instead of crispy. I'll probably go back again during the holidays, as (a) there aren't many restaurants in Vandalia, and (b) the second visit was 100% better than the first. It's still Denny's, but now this one is consistent like the others. read more

The food was really good, service was fast, and they were so polite. The food portions are large but it is definitely filling. It is worth the money. 10/10 would recommend. read more

Pretty good food, only two staff members and the service was still fine. Clean and relaxed.

Food was good we had the bourbon chicken and the blackberry pancakes with eggs, hash browns and sausage. Service was decent. Our gripe was the cook had rock music playing which competed with the Christmas carols playing over the system. It was pretty annoying so we asked them to turn the rock music down. We were ignored and that's was irritated us! They could of turned it down for the 20 minutes we were eating and turned it back up when we left. Instead it was to heck with the customer. read more

I decided to give this place a second chance. The first time I ate here I had a chicken fried steak which was only so so and the vegetables were not fresh. This time I had breakfast there on a Saturday morning. I cannot recommend this restaurant I would think on the weekends when you're busy this would be your days to shine. Unfortunately the food was terrible, my eggs that were supposed to be scrambled hard took the shape of the skillet they were cooked in....like a patty. Exactly like one of those microwavable eggs from Subway that they throw on a muffin or something. The pancakes were so tough you couldn't cut them with a knife and the toast was stale also. To speak in defense of the waitress she had the eggs and pancakes recooked which were good the second time. I asked the manager if he ever ate there, he said he did.........now make up your own mind. read more

This place is terrible, I asked for a coke cherry and they came out with a god damn coke zero. What do I look like, a diabetic?

Quick friendly service, and Beth the waitress has made a point to remember our names and preferences.

We eat at this new Denny's quite a bit. Food is good, on a par with Vandalia IL cuisine, such as Ponderosa, which is a few thousand feet away. We like to go there for the Pancake Puppies. read more

Dave and Joyce really seem to be church goers and a couple to look up to. It didn't take long to realize Dave really needed his wife more than she could be there. Dave may be a church goer but has a habit of talking to employees about other employees. I worked for this family for a year until I stopped walking. During that year I was teased I was a hypochondriac by their son Josh and Dave himself. I knew something was wrong because I couldn't remember simple things, I was in pain, dropping things and tremoring so bad. I couldn't do simple tasks anymore like roll silverware or deal with money in register cuz I couldn't feel and I was losing all fine motor skills. Employees would talk constantly about me but I was losing myself then in October 2014 my left leg stopped working and being dedicated I pushed til I couldn't anymore. I would receive calls from other employees saying boss and other employees were saying I was diagnosing self when in fact something was seriously wrong but I didn't know what. I kept doctoring and couldn't work n keep up with pace and eventually used a walker for 75 days. No calls of concern just are you coming back. My power of attorney had a benefit for me and 2 of Dennys customers called me and stated Dennys won't donate a dime due to I was working few hours when I could at Dennys I originally started at. Anyone that knows Dave knows he would not be that flexible for anyone nor understanding. I had to feed my kids and pushed myself til I tore both ACL'S in my knees. Absolutely can't even put an hour into a job anymore. I am sad but proud to say to Dennys in Vandalia Illinois I have finally been diagnosed with PPMS one of the worst types of MS that's untreatable. I have 13 brain lesions and tons of pain I hope you never understand nor have to watch a loved one go through. I'd like to say keep your judgemental ways and penny's and I'm proud to say I gave you all I had left in me even though it wasn't good enough for you I know I did my best. Your money and all you can give your kids could be taken away an in instance, just remember I'm living proof of that. I have recently stopped recommending your place of business to anyone. I'm ashamed to say how much I put into this business rather than taking care of myself. Three words for you, shame on you. read more