Really loved this place! We were staying at French Creek State Park 20 mins away from the restaurant. Wanted to come in town for a meal! The menu caught our eyes with all the variety! Lots to choose from. When we got there we discovered the soup choice is almost with every meal! Good price for all the food as well. Our waiter wasn't like jumping for joy but he was a pleasant guy! Fun diner atmosphere. Enjoyed this restaurant and would go again if we pass through! read more

See all

My family has patronized this diner for decades -- my aunt and uncle had their wedding reception in their event room nearly 60 years ago -- and we've eaten here a few times per year when we find ourselves in the area at mealtime. It's usually OK, typical diner fare, but today was a low point. It's a classic stainless steel diner, boasts a nice salad bar, and is clean and bright inside. Fixed booths, but plenty of tables available as well. We stopped by for breakfast just before noon today (they serve it all day like many diners) and it really fell short. how it began should have been our first clue -- we stood and waited a while for the manager to come out from the back and seat us. The waitress was quick to come and take our order though, and we ordered two standard breakfast choices -- nothing obscure or complicated. Nearly 30 minutes later we finally got our food. I don't know if it was missing one particular last piece, but I could tell parts of it were sitting under the heat lamps for quite some time. My scrambled eggs were hard and dry on top, and most of the food could be described as warm at best -- none of it "hot" or "fresh". The toast was barely toasted -- soft and not browned except on the very edges. Pancakes so cold, even the soft whipped butter did not melt, even in between two of them. When it was time to leave, there was a line of 4-5 others, because the same manager had disappeared again and I guess no one else could ring people out or something. We let him know about our bad experience when we left, and he said we should have said something when the food came out. Well, it's not like waitresses stand there while you eat and make sure everything is fine. And I wasn't about to complain and wait another 30 minutes for a re-do. read more

Service was great waitress was very sweet food came quickly and delicious! We frequent this place often when we come up we have never been disappointed read more

See all

We were in the area for a meeting, brought 10 in. Had the best milkshake, Joe met us and took care of us before the bandoff to Isabella. Both these people are a credit to the establishment and made us feel welcomed and cared for. read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - Orange fantasy: Presentation by Isabella - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

See all

got food poisoning from this place. I got the chicken parmigiana. Servers are overworked clearly. Don't support this restaurant.

If this place wins best Family Restaurant in Berks or whatever again this year, I will know the awards are rigged. The food and service are perfectly acceptable, but man, during my last two visits there was a mouse running around the dining room. The most recent visit had it darting from underneath a table to grab something from the center of the dining room then scurrying back underneath the table. Note: there were people sitting at this table watching it all unfold, and they were in hysterics. Just a wild sight. You see this bit of movement out of the corner of your eye, and you think to yourself, "Hmm, that's a big-ass cockroach," before realizing it's actually a furry mammal. Maybe it's someone's pet. Or the restaurant's mascot. Maybe it's some inside joke I don't know about. Like a local hero or something, a comfort mouse. Rodents aside, I gotta rave about the salad bar. This thing tops even Ruby Tuesday, and the RuTu garden bar is no slouch. Here you get all the premium ingredients, like ham cubes, hard boiled egg, black olives, and red beets. It just seems cleanlier, too. Staff doesn't let each topping get soggy and nasty like at that other place. There is no more cashier, but you still have to pay at the register at the front entrance. Basically you just wait there with your check until a server notices. Usually YOUR server, since other servers will ignore you. I would come here for late night grub. Maybe just a dessert. It's now the only game in town that's open 24-hours. The era of 24-hour diners is over. Those days were fun, weren't they? There was just something so simply indulgent about eating a western omelet at 2am surrounded by revelers, drunks, travelers, and castoffs. It was fun to be a part of that chaos. read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - Pasta special. Ya get a side and unlimited access to the salad bar for like $16. Helluva deal tbh. - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

See all

It's a diner, the real thing, not an imitation. We've always been seated quickly. The servers are friendly and efficient and the salad bar is great! Look for the "Senior's Menu" for smaller portions and proportionally lower prices! We stop in fairly regularly because it's close. read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - Nine AM, after the breakfast crowd. - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

Slow service, served after the white people who came in after me (a hispanic man), and the food was flavorless it's almost like i waited for nothing. Also I wear glasses and the lighting hurt my eyes. it was very much giving they wanted a "whites only" sign on that door. read more

The food is ok, the pancakes taste like powdered sugar. A diner should at least have good breakfast. Sometimes service is great, sometimes you have to wait to be seated, sometimes you have to wait to pay, both because there is no one at the front counter. I've had great service, and I've also seen people get up and walk out because after 20 minutes of waiting their waitress hasn't been to the table once. read more

Lovely old fashioned diner with a great salad bar and choices of soup which were included in the senior menu (55+). We had the liver and onion and also the veal dish. Both were excellent like a home cooked meal. The staff is very friendly . We enjoyed our late lunch/ early dinner date there. read more

Stopped in for lunch. Probably our best diner experience in Berks co. Soups are fantastic. We had the chicken orzo and tomato bisque, both were great. Beef open faced sandwich with gravy and club sandwich were were top notch. Service was also fantastic. We will be regulars from now on. read more

Delicious French toast. Friendly server. Great breakfast menu. Will definitely return.

I think Yelp's average of 3-3.5 stars is spot on for this place. Stopped it because the parking lot was full, so how bad could it be right? Upon entry, we joined a line standing awkwardly at the front counter waiting to be seated. It took some time before someone appeared. Then she had 2 people to ring out. She asked us how many and then said here's menus and see that booth by the windows? Go sit there. So we did. Our server seemed inexperienced. When we ordered and asked about the soup included with the meal, she told us the types but failed to tell us we had to get it ourselves. Turns out it's over with the salad bar. Same with the utensils and napkins; we got those ourselves too. The vegetable barley soup was good and the perfect temperature. My BLT (triple decker) was okay and my brew fries were tasty (even though it was a $2 substitute for the chips). We had water but no refills were offered. I'm struggling to figure out the appeal since we had a very average experience, mostly on the service end of it. (And we like diners!) read more

See all

Dinner on a weeknight. Our server a woman with a thick New York accent was our server and she was great The food on the other hand, meh at best. Meatloaf was sliced very thin and the 4 slices had obviously been reheated (that's normal). But on a flat top grill leaving them dry and burnt around the edges. Mashed potatoes were like paste, dry flavorless and stiff. Salad bar was nice Wife ordered a turkey club on white toast. Turkey lunch meat'ish very skimpy on layers and in the end was meh at best These are diner basic's and they fell flat. Won't rush back read more

Bright and clean diner, with typical options. Parents frequent this diner both on weekends and during the week, and I always visit when I'm in town. Reasonably priced. Parking can be tight, just like any other diner on a Sunday. This one is just off Perkiomen Ave. in Exeter, so that's both good and bad for convenience and getting in & out. Stepmom said she was going with the avocado toast, and I should have looked at the menu before just going with that. To me, avocado toast infers a spread of some kind, with the avocado at least smashed. But this was just sliced avocado on toast, with sunny side eggs on top. With avocados not in season and not a local produce in PA (lol), it was difficult to mash it up myself. Not saying it wasn't good, just not what I had expected. Entirely my fault for making assumptions. ;-) Still overall a great spot for an affordable and fulfilling meal any day of the week. read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - Avo Toast with eggs and home fries (or hash browns?), and an extra (guilty pleasure) side of CB Hash ;-) - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

Spur of the moment road trip stop! Cute shiny nostalgic diner with all kinda food to choose from. Soup and salad bar included with my meal. Not a huge salad bar but adequate. Two soups to choose from. The special was chicken and dumpling and it tasted homemade. The fried chicken was cooked perfectly. Our waitress Yvonne was really sweet and called me love! read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - It's so shiny! - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

I'm a fan of old school diners and this is a good one. Good size portions and a nice soup and salad bar with plenty options. Good attentive service. read more

just has gone done in service over the years, they are always out of stock of certain foods. Their inconsistent with coming out with hot food. Management seriously needs to do better such a disappointing breakfast every time we come better to choose another small business who cares. read more

Service is typically very quick. Food used to be extremely good, but has taken a mild turn in quality, likely due to inflation. Overall, good casual and family friendly vibe. read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - Bacon Bleu Burger - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

There is nothing like having a place to eat that you know will always be good! This visit to the Exeter diner was just as good as I thought it would be. I got the sausage omelette with home fries. It was outstanding! The eggs were perfectly cooked, the sausage was delicious and the home fries were not oily and perfectly done as well. The servers were very polite and attentive. There really isn't anything else to say accept if you want good food and reasonably priced you have to go to the Exeter family restaurant. read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - Sausage and cheese omelette. DELICIOUS - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

It's on ok restaurant. Staff was not the warmest, but not the coldest either. We've been here 4-6 times and each visit is the same as far as friendliness. The food is mid at best. Average portions, average quality, and average prices. read more

Food was great, server was super and they get large parties all served at the same time. Always busy but that's because it a great place to eat! read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - My Lorraine omelette - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

I love diner food and this place had all the makings of a potential triple D visit, bright, shiny metal facade, average diner aged 55+, waitress with personality and big hair but the food was just so so. I had a waffle with creamed, chipped beef. The creamed chipped beef was surprisingly bland, not even a hint of salt, hard to do with chipped beef. My partner's scrambled eggs looked two dimensional, no pile, just a streak of yellow. I would have to suggest skip the looks and head elsewhere. read more

See all

I knew I'd love this silver dining car style eatery upon pulling up! There's just something about diners that makes me happy. This one was very clean and we were quickly seated. There was an all you can eat soup and salad bar which I love. Sticking with the diner theme I opted for patty melt that was cooked perfectly and included a cup of seafood bisque I served myself from the bar. The prices were lower then i expected, $10.99 for my party melt, the soup and side. It would have been $5.99 to add the salad bar. I didn't take photos but it came with a generous side of sweet potato fries and didn't let me down on my expectations. I'd definitely return when I'm in the area. read more

I got the Exeter special and it was good. I didn't like the home fries, they were very bland and kind of tasted like cardboard but the pancakes were good. Waitress was friendly. When I went to pay my check the lady at the register was so impatient when I was trying to get the exact change. I wasn't even taking long but she clearly had somewhere better to be. She even left in the middle of me getting the money so rude. read more

Exeter Family Restaurant - a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, toast, and pancakes - American Near Me - Reading, Pennsylvania

A little understaffed so there was a long wait for someone to take our order. Two Eggs with Home Fries: Such a classic, hard to mess it up! The home fries were perfectly cooked - crispy outside with soft inside. Custom Burger (Angus Beef on Brioche Bun) with Sweet Potato Fries and Seafood Soup: The burger was dry and the seafood soup wasn't good, but the sweet potato fries were surprisingly delicious! read more

Love the soup and salad bar and their seafood is excellent. As good or better seafood than most local seafood restaurants. Service is good. Casual diner atmosphere. read more

We ate here for breakfast on Saturday morning. It was very busy but the front seemed well staffed. I had an rancher omelette which was very good. I also had a side of sausage links. These tasted good and were served hot. The eggs were fluffy and it was well stuffed with filling. I stay low carb. So I did not have the toast or potatoes. Instead they brought me a fruit cup which was a nice mixture of berries including strawberries. I am always happy when the fruit is not just a bowl of melons. My only real complaint is that the service was slow and if you are in a hurry, it may not be a good idea to eat here. It may just be a sign of the times. However, I am betting that the kitchen was short staffed. One should not be too critical of this right now I suppose. The coffee was good and the server often refilled it. The style is a traditional diner and this establishment is a good representation of that style. The bottom line is this is a fine place to eat breakfast. Just make sure that you have time for some good conversation with your companions before deciding to eat here. If back in Reading I would eat here again. read more

God Awful! Here's a sampling of what 9 of us experienced: 1. flatbread - not even sure exactly what was on it? Was that green stuff a vegetable? It was not edible. Worse my wife ever had 2. meatloaf - a frozen patty of garbage! 3. Veal parm - another frozen paddy that looked exactly like the meatloaf! Disgusting 4. Scrambled egg - right how can you mess them up? Without a doubt it was from a powdered egg mix! 5. Chicken fingers - Under cooked and gross Run from this place! read more

I'm not a big diner person but this is a really good diner. Good breakfast, & lunch && dinner are just fine. Always good soup. Fast service! The ambience is fine....it's a very good diner.Enjoy! read more

Better than most diners/family restaurants in the Reading area. Burgers are pretty good. Spicy bourbon chicken was really good. Mac and cheese was very good. I only tried the plain variety. Chicken croquettes are made on premise and excellent. Breakfast served all day but I've only ever had breakfast in the morning. I almost always get eggs benedict and it's perfect. Don't go too late in the evening or they will usually have run out of soup. Last night was no exception. The waiter said there were two kinds of soup but when I got up to the soup bar there was only one soup available. That's ok because the soup that wasn't there wouldn't have been my preference but the soup that was there was really tasty. Also, I thought they used to have bread available where the soup bar is but there was none to be seen. Maybe that's gone or maybe I'm thinking of another restaurant. Salad bar is decent. Service is good, not intrusive. Never had a female waitress call me "hun" or "sweetie" so that's a plus. read more

I'm giving this four stars because of the waitresses and, for diner food, it's pretty good. The atmosphere is very much a diner vibe but not like a truck stop diner. They have a bar with some good bloody Mary's. read more

What a great value for the price. Soup, roll, sandwich and fries for $7.99...you can't beat it. The second soup was a chicken and dumplings. The noodles were very thick and dense, not a lot of flavor. The cabbage soup, on the other hand, was warming on a cold, rainy, snowy day. Plenty of cabbage, shredded thin and ground beef. For a diner, I was very impressed with my sandwich. Nice healthy portion of arugula, thinly sliced apple and sweetness from the dressing added flavor to the chicken. I would recommend having a "please wait to be seated" or "please seat yourself" sign posted. We stood there for a few minutes not knowing what to do. Otherwise the staff was friendly. read more

See all

Food was good, reasonably priced with great waitstaff. I had the Buffalo chicken salad, which was delicious, but much too big.

Tried this diner a few times, the last experience was the best. The others not so good received rude service and food was horrible the milk shake was basically milk with sugar. Another occasion I received bloody fried chicken and the waitress said you still have to pay for it. Unbelievable but as I stated last visit went well maybe making improvements. read more

Good menu selection Big venue Good service Clean restaurant Nice atmosphere Friendly staff read more

We've been here numerous times for breakfast and dinner. We have yet to see a subpar experience. It seems to be a very poplar place for the locals. Breakfast: pancakes, scrapple, sausage gravy over biscuits, home fries. Dinner: custom built burgers, rib eye steak, french fries, salad bar. It's hard to screw up breakfast and they definitely don't. Scrapple is crispy on the outside. Home fries are crispy. Custom built burgers? You got it. They have a huge list of toppings you can choose from. I made a "breakfast" burger with mushrooms, bacon, a fried egg. SO GOOD. The burgers are pretty big and they're perfectly cooked. Personally, I wouldn't expect such a good steak for a little local diner, but dang that was one of the best steaks I've ever had. I love a good rib eye and they have it! Atmosphere is your typical laid back diner. Nice little salad bar with a couple yummy soups. We love this place! read more

Great food and service! I stopped in after a hike on Mt Penn because I was craving a home cooked meal away from home. The waitress was very personable and friendly. I ordered the char-broiled chicken with rice and peas and they threw in a nice soup and salad bar. Because of the generous helpings, I had almost 2 meals for the price of one! I moved out of the area 4 years ago, and I had forgotten how good this place was. Keep up the great work Michael!! read more

Great service. The Server made sure we were taken care. We order few items, the steak was supposed to be medium rare which was about medium than rare. The fast was still excellent. The please looks very clean. The salad bar was well maintained, doesn't look messy. Overall was great experience. We'll repeat. read more

Love this place so much. Prices are great and they have a great variety of food. Some items are ifdy but the vast majority is good and i look forward to going when i have the chance. Good french onion soup and omellettes read more