A good old small town diner! Lots of booths and the local hangout spot. Very friendly manager, she made our visit so welcome. We stopped here for breakfast, the menu is huge! So many options it was hard to choose. I would highly recommend the empanadas, very flavorful and crispy. Also tried the salmon benedict which had a good amount of flavor and balance of egg, salmon, avocado on the english muffin. The ricotta and berries crepe was also delicious, not too sweet and the ricotta added a good subtle flavor to the crepe. Left feeling very full. Would come back again! read more

Fair Lawn Diner - empanada with eggs - Diners Near Me - Fair Lawn, New Jersey

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Very typical diner. Your standard looks and feel of it too. Staff is super polite and make the experience better. Food is typical diner food and quality. read more

Good amount of parking, place is clean, food is good and comes out fast, menu variety is plentiful, prices are respectful, manager and hostesses are friendly. read more

Food was amazing, staff was attentive, place was nice and clean The area was nice and we get our food fast read more

Fair Lawn Diner - Eggs with tomato and spinach and multiple grain toast - Diners Near Me - Fair Lawn, New Jersey

7/27/24 Really should be 2.5 stars. Server was polite but seemed confused. Ordered the Cod and Grits. She asked if I wanted toast, I had grits but ok I'll take white toast, but never got it... oh well. Oddly the cod did not come with any tartar sauce... had to ask for it and got a couple of packets of generic tartar sauce... I would have thought it came with housemate tartar sauce or at least automatically come with tartar sauce... Grits were dry, had to ask for butter. So this meal was meh. Irish Benedict was good but the English muffin was slightly burnt. Ordered black tea with lemon and honey. Had to ask for the honey, and again small packets... Underwhelming food and service. read more

Fair Lawn Diner - Cod and Grits - Diners Near Me - Fair Lawn, New Jersey

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The food here is very average, but the service was very friendly and pretty good. The folks here including the hostess were all very nice. In terms of the grub it was fine. We ordered two burgers and they were fine. Nothing snazzy or amazing to write home about. They did do a decent job of keeping the coffee filled up throughout our meal. The parking lot is pretty small, but at least there is parking but you're prob better off doing some street parking. This place is located in a decent spot near the busy part of town at least. read more

It had been years since I had been to this diner and it look like it now has a new name. However, still same concept. Below average diner experience. Extensive menu. Decent service. It does the job for a quick breakfast, but I probably wouldn't return. read more

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Definitely friendly and efficient We had a mixture of lox and bagels, eggs, egg white omelets and pancakes at the table. They were attentive and kept refilling our coffee which was great. There is something about a diner that I love. I still don't understand why it's only a NY/NJ thing. I'm happy to know that our food was good and that our party was thrilled with our food. Sometimes it doesn't work that way. Also, on this day we were able to park in the lot- sometimes you can't get in here. read more

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Came into this magnificent diner, immediately greeted by a smiling hostess, magnificent food, and a service impeccable read more

Fair Lawn Diner - Diners Near Me - Fair Lawn, New Jersey

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Went for breakfast, overall it was ok. Bacon was not good but everything else was good. Good service too. Would be interested in coming back to see how their lunch and dinner is. read more

service was awful, people waiting for their take out orders are standing over your table while you eat. ordered fries but got potatoes instead. told the waitress to bring the fries and she took my entire plate - walked through the entire diner and then brought it back. absolutely disgusting. Cesar wrap said creamy Cesar and it was not. Will not be coming back read more

I ordered the western burger. It came with 4 slices of bacon, which tasted great independently of the sandwich. But not even 4 slices of bacon could save this abomination of a burger. It looked like the patty was still frozen. I ordered it medium rare, but this frozen looking patty was cooked well done. It was served with some bbq sauce lazily drizzled on the frozen looking patty. It was bland, boring, basic, and low effort. This was my first visit. I thought a burger would be a safe bet in a diner. But it was indescribably disappointing. The fries are tasty, though my wife didn't like them. They come in a small basket with a liner, which makes it look like you are getting more fries than you actually get. The pastrami sandwich my wife ordered came with a ton of sauerkraut and cheese. I can see that some people would love the volume of sauerkraut. However the amount of cheese was ridiculous. My wife set aside about 6 tablespoons of melted cheese to leave a more normal amount on the sandwich. I can't fault them for giving too much of something. But I believe it came at the cost of not enough pastrami. I would prefer a bit more pastrami and much less cheese. However, the pastrami was decent, good enough to order again. And the bread was nicely grilled. This might be worth ordering, if it could be ordered "light" on cheese. Everything was very clean. The prices aren't bad. The waitress, hostess, and manager were all very nice. The service was 5 stars. The pastrami sandwich was 3 stars. And the burger made me want to give them zero stars, but everyone was just so nice. I'll probably never go back, just because the burger felt insulting to diners everywhere. read more

Great atmosphere, open and clean layout. The staff were attentive and extremely nice. The food was great and came out quick. Will definitely be back! read more

Fair Lawn Diner - Breakfast Panini - Diners Near Me - Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Hostess was very pleasant. Food was not good. Friend and I had salads with chicken. Chicken was tough and dry. Another friend had cub sandwich. Also dry, mostly bread. One friend did like her cheesesteak wrap. After paying and leaving nice tip, we remained chatting. Server came over and was annoyed that we were still there. Entire dining room was empty. Will not return. read more

Food was great and came out hot! Service was friendly and quick! Coffee and water got filled throughout the whole meal, which is always important. The renovation looks amazing and the location is very clean and cozy! The paninis are top notch and the pancakes here are amazing, whenever I get lunch here I always have to order pancakes to go to eat for breakfast the next day. Can't top them! 10/10 recommend read more

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I should have taken a picture of my food. Only took a picture of the Matzoh ball soup. They have an extensive menu with many options for everyone as most diners do but their Early Bird specials run from 4-8pm. Not sure if this is the norm, but was pleasantly surprised. We went with the 8oz steak with choice of potato and choice of veggie. The special comes with soup or salad, coffee, tea or soda, ice cream, pudding or jello. All this for $16.95. I was impressed. The portions were enough. The Matzoh ball was huge! Our server Joanne was absolutely fabulous! So incredibly friendly and came to check on us multiple times while we were there! We will definitely be back! It's impossible to get this much food at a diner these days for less thann $50. Our meal was $37. Totally worth it!! read more

Fair Lawn Diner - Matzoh Ball soup - Diners Near Me - Fair Lawn, New Jersey

My boyfriend and I went to Fair Lawn dinner today and we had a fantastic experience. The environment was very homey and the hostess was very delightful. My boyfriend and I got paninis for lunch and we ordered bloody Mary's as well. The drinks were very well made and we had a lot of fun. We will definitely be back! read more

I found a short curly hair in my food. When I pointed it out to the manager, he grunted and gave me a dirty look. Not even an apology.

Typical diner, nothing special, nice portions, good to excellent service and prices are moderate. I've dined here at dinner time every other month with friends since the place reopened under new owners with a new name. The food is usually mediocre to good. Although a poor meal happens occasionally, they always make it right. All of what you expect at a local NJ diner. Good spot to go when you're hungry. read more

This was my first time at Fair Lawn Diner. It was New Year's Day at 12:30pm after having run a 5K race a few blocks away. I planned to eat a meaty salad but chose the Fiesta Breakfast Bowl instead which was listed on it's own separate menu. I enjoyed my meal while watching diner activity pass me by. There was background music playing but the volume was too low to hear over the collective chatter. I enjoyed my spicy huge bowl of deliciousness and toast. When I entered, it wasn't that busy. I ate quickly. By the time I left, there's was a line waiting out the door. read more

Second chance here Ordered take out Simple Corn beef hash and eggs Rye toast Got home no rye toast Food not great New owner better wake up Will let the Chamber of Fair Lawn aware of this Lost my business Would not recommend read more

How does any restaurant, especially a well known location, screw up a Bacon & Egg on a hard roll? Seemed pretty simple till I waited and waited, way too long, for a Bacon & Egg Panini. Bacon was not edible, just a bad sandwich all around. This is certainly NOT the Empress quality food I grew accustomed to. read more

Everyone had a snow day off so we decided to try this place out. The food was edible just barely. We got potato skins which could have doubled for hockey pucks.(see pic) I asked for a blue cheese burger and I got barely noticeable crumbs. We all asked for medium well burgers and got overdone hard and inedible edges. My son ordered a chicken panini and got an overcooked hard chicken on a hero with grill marks (not pressed). The fries had a small hair on them. I'm not a Karen and haven't done a review in a long time but I had too. Do NOT go to this place. Only if you're starving. read more

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The food is not even close to what it was when it was Empress dinner. My home fries tasted like they were fried in 90 days old oil the bacon eas so greasy I couldn't eat and the coffee was watered down. First time hear before new owners will never come back again. read more

Great food, ambiance, and service but I may be biased!! Andy has used his talents to decorate nicely to give it that homey, cozy feeling! read more

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Very disappointed. I looked up what time the diner closed today on a Friday as I wanted to order dinner. It says it closes at 10:00. The person who answered the phone at 9:15 said they couldn't take my order as the kitchen was closed. At 9:15 on a Friday night a diners kitchen is closed. How could they be closed and turning away business at this time. Only a matter of time until this place closes. Oh well. read more

The service is decent, very nice waitresses. The food is sort of ok, nothing really good. What I had a serious problem with is phantom charges on my bill and 18% tip added to a four person bill. One of my friends didn't like her neon yellow chicken in her salad. Nobody event commented, we paid full price. The weird random charges the person at the register actually argued with me about. It took at least a half hour to get a correct bill and even then I was very skeptical of their charging practices. read more

I was with my friends Friday in Fairlawn diner, I was looking for a healthy delicious meal. Mila recommended spinach pie and the cobb salad. This was very delicious, thank you Mila for this recommendation! We will definitely be back! read more

Nice outside big place but when it came to the food I treated myself to a night out for dinner I asked for a steak medium rare it was more like medium well the broccoli was cold the baked potato was under cooked the owner came over to apologize for the poor service but he smelled like an brewery which I was confused because I didn't see a bar very unacceptable the server an older woman felt like she was rushing me out she kept insisting that I get a takeout box but I wanted to complete my meal there the only good service is when I was greeted at the door and seated she was nice pleasant and made me feel welcomed I will not go back here and I do not recommend 0 stars read more