Went for breakfast last week w/ my son. Quick service, but nothing memorable. Food was fine - would go back in a pinch, but there are better options in Durham (Rise, Bull & Bean on the other side of the strip mall). Paid $8 for a mediocre bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit (cheese wasn't melted). read more

Nothing is better than warm, home-cooked food on a cold day. We forgot to take a picture of our food because we ate it already! This is our go-to diner place. Update a week later: we came back and took pictures of our food this time We loved what we got last time so much, that we ended up getting it again! Also shout out to server Alex--he was very helpful/polite. The service was excellent; we were checked on frequently and taken care of. The pork chops and meatloaf are *amazing*. read more

Hope Valley Diner - Meatloaf with onion gravy (so flavorful), turnip greens (simple but maybe made with broth? So tasty!), tater tots, cornbread (sweet). - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Amazing home style food and fantastic service. They renovated the interior so the dining experience has exponentially increased; less crowded and more modern space now. If you are looking for a traditional, hot meal this is definitely your spot. Oh, did I mention they have great desserts too? Definitely save room because their cakes and pies are insanely delicious. read more

I've been here many time now , and their diner is my go to diner in the Durham area. Almost everytime we've been here, it's been on a Sunday morning, sometime Saturday brunch. Food : I typically get a pancake stack or the Greek or Spanish omelette and coffee with refills. They are definitely really good and come with hash browns and a biscuit and I feel like it s a good portion size for what I'm paying. My boyfriend typically gets the special which is meat, pancake and eggs and hot chocolate and also feels like he gets a good amount. The food had been consistently good and I've not felt like it's been particularly bad at any point. Service and space: again, every one we've been here we've gotten a table (for two) almost immediately or within a five minute wait even on Sunday brunch time. The tables are quite close but it's not an issue for me and I like how they've organized the space to maximize the no. Of customers without seeming awfully crowded. We've pretty much had good service always, sometimes the waiters forget that I asked for water without ice. In short, good food, good service. Will always be back. read more

Hope Valley Diner - Chicken and waffle - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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I met a friend here for lunch yesterday. Didn't know about them prior. Really glad to hear about them now! We had lunch, I had meatloaf, black eyed peas, and broccoli casserole. Delicious! Service was very fast and you can tell they are working very hard to be Covid compliant. I will definitely be back as soon as I can. I didn't think about taking a picture because the food wasn't around too long... read more

This place was a pleasant surprise. We stumbled in after using the post office and I'm so glad we did. Now I will say, aside from the staff, we were the only people in there under 55. It's definitely a senior friendly location. The food was so good and it was more than we could finish. We left full and happy and knowing we will go back. We went in around 5 and got an early dinner, not too many people there but definitely enough to see that it was a favourite place. The customers knew the staffs names and talked like they were old friends (love). By the time we were leaving, 6pm, the place was PACKED. We tried to leave quickly to open space for others which made us love it even more. Everyone was so kind from the moment we walked in, helping us decide what to eat, and then helping us check out. I will definitely be back here. I'm so happy that I found this place, my soul blended right in read more

Hope Valley Diner - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Rude server. Was basically ignored - had to stand up and find her to get our check (it wasn't busy). She also threw one of her co-workers under the bus while taking our order. Wait for food was long. Food was fine - not good, not bad. Had multiple tables reserved even though the place was nearly empty and no one came to sit at those tables while we were there. We originally sat ourselves at a table that was not marked reserved - was asked to move. Again, place nearly empty. Will not return. read more

Seated quickly (lunch). Prompt service & brought to table. Salad was crisp & tasty. Wife had fried chicken, which she enjoyed. Drinks were replenished quickly. Overall very good. read more

I'm so disappointed in the service on Mother's Day. I wanted their banana pancakes with eggs and bacon for breakfast. We order online as we've done in the past. They gave us regular pancakes instead of banana pancakes, egg beaters instead of shelled eggs and the gravy was poured over the biscuits instead of on the side in a container as usual. Disgusting. The biscuits are soggy and not edible. My poor husband called twice to be put on hold and disconnected. I can't send him back there. We are never going back. I'm making my own Mother's Day breakfast now. read more

1st time coming here, sign said wait to be seated. I waited & the person seating me was not very pleasant. My waitress had the personality of a brick. I made a joke about it being cold and wanting to jump into the hot food, she just stared at me with this blank look on her face. I'm disappointed that I ordered a 4 vegetable plate with cornbread & a bowl of vegetable soup and it cost me $22. The green beans were terrible, I kept adding pepper and could not get them to where they would taste good enough to eat. The macaroni and cheese was in a bowl that was sitting in some kind of greasy fluid at the bottom and they were burnt on the side. Everything tasted really bland except for the soup. They advertise as homemade food but that fried okra was not freshly made. They had a lot of tables that had to reserved signs on them. When I came in and sat down it took a while to get my order taken & then I had to wait 35 minutes for my food to come to my table. People that came into for the reserved seats were treated a whole lot better by waitress and got their food ahead of me. My waitress was so slow, and another waitress was working circles around her with a happy face and personality, wish she had been my waitress. About three people came in to place food to go, they got their food and left before I even got mine and I had been there 10 to 15 minutes before them. It should not take this long to make a vegetable plate. The cornbread tasted sort of like yesterday's. The coffee was not hot, and the waitress never checked on me until I finished eating my food. I have to travel to Durham a lot for the hospital but I won't stop back here again, ever. read more

I had the breakfast sampler (scrambled eggs with ham, grits and a biscuit with gravy). The eggs and grits were seasoned well, but my biscuit didn't taste fresh and it wasn't soft. I would eat here again and try other things on the menu. Service was great! read more

Always a great place for a home style meal. It is usually pretty busy, but I've never had to wait for more than 15 minutes. My friends and I meet here for lunch and brunch all the time! Good food and good prices. read more

Delicious... my fiancé and i try to find a new breakfast place to eat on the days we have to work , well we've eaten almost everywhere in Durham, NC so the search went longer than normal but i finally landed on this place , and we are so grateful i did... did i mention my fiancé is pregnant and if she don't like it well let's just say i pay twice... lol... needless to say she was satisfied and pleased ... it was very good and the service is A-1... thank you ! read more

Hope Valley Diner - Steak and eggs with home fries - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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Great "BUT". So i live nearby and come in every so often for breakfast. I think the food for the price is a 10. They do a very nice job and the price is not crazy like so many other places these days. My only reservation has been and continues to be is the waitresses. As someone below said they are courteous but not very attentive. After finishing breakfast and sitting for a good 5 min they came back with a check and a pot of coffee. I sure wish that coffee had come 15 min earlier. Point is - I still recommend HVD just speak up when you need something. read more

How can I rate a caterer 5 stars without having eaten the food? When the service is as nice and kind as Hope Valley's has been. Steven and Debbie have been wonderful to work with. We hired them for catering for a large event at The McKimmon Center - they are one of the pre-approved caterers. Our event was March 14, 2020 and due to coronavirus, the Chancellor canceled all McKimmon events in excess of 100 participants. We had very short notice to notify participants and vendors. Hope Valley was very understanding and willing to work with us, and they refunded our money. This is important, because we are a small volunteer-run non-profit educational group, and with all of the non-refundable monies we've lost due to the required cancelation of our two largest events of the year (which were scheduled March 14 and March 21), we are worried we won't even have an organization by next year. Steve and Debbie's understanding has truly helped us in a tough time. Oh, and they catered last year and the food was delicious, so I'm sure it would have been wonderful this year. read more

Very nice place to visit and really good food as well along with the staffing very complimentary

So today my friend and I came into Hope Valley Diner with a bogo lunch coupon. I'm surprised to see that I haven't yelped about this place before, bc they are one of my favorite breakfast spots....anyway, today's lunch was on point! I got a reuben sandwich with a side of the homemade chips. The sandwich was soooo good!! The chips came with ranch dipping sauce. Let's just say that there was not a single crumb left on my plate! I failed to get our servers name, but she was attentive. Thanks for a great lunch! read more

Hope Valley Diner - Reuben with chips! (I snagged the corn bread muffin off of my friends plate-it didn't come with my meal!) - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Revisit last night with friends; it was excellent (as always); good menu; quick service; very tasty and fair prices. We had a club sandwich, a seared seafood platter, chicken cordon bleu, and a chicken sandwich, plus beverages. It was great! read more

Glad we had a gift card... Greeted at the door and was told servers were currently overwhelmed and would we mind waiting 15 or so minutes. No problem, we understand and waited 15 minutes and Wife and I were seated at a very small 2 top. Our server came right away, didn't say hi, just asked drinks? She returned very quickly with our waters. We placed our order Friday special of Prime rib, wife ordered Rare, mine Medium. Both side salads and a veg for sides. Our salads came quickly and shortly after starting on our salads our entrees came, wow. We told the young lady (not our server) that we just got the salads and she said she could take them back to sit while we finished our salads. We declined with visible disappointment, and made room on table for the plates. The Prime rib was barely warm, the au jus was very weak, the horseradish "sauce" was like mayo was shown a jar of horseradish but 0 sharpness. Very sad to say the best part of the meal was the salads, well once you removed the 15+ croutons that were the saltiest my wife has ever tasted. We paid, tipped and won't be back. Shame, they have real impressive menu. read more

Came here this past weekend in a group of 4. We had a good experience here and were pleasantly surprised that we were seated immediately at 10 am on a Sunday! Our service was not the best, but the food and coffee were excellent. They have a large brunch menu, but also serve lunch as soon as 10 am. I had the 1/2 stack pancake special with turkey sausage and hasbrowns. The pancakes were probably a 6/10, sausage was 8/10 and hash browns were 7/10. The only thing I was disappointed with was that everyone's pancakes except mine came out extremely large and fluffy, but mine were half the size and didn't taste great. Maybe they do smaller pancakes for the specific special I ordered, but I was displeased after seeding how large everyone else's were. Next time I will get something else for sure. My sister in law got the club sandwich with fries and it looked SO good and was HUGE! Might have to try lunch here sometime. Would come back here! read more

Hope Valley Diner - 1/2 stack pancake special - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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I'll try to keep this review short, but I have so much to say about my positive experience with Hope Valley Diner. If you are in the Durham-area and you are looking for an event cater, I recommend that you look no further than Hope Valley Diner. This restaurant goes above and beyond and absolutely exceeded my expectations. We worked with Lynn Gardner to create a menu for a family BBQ and a family Banquet that would accommodate 70 people. She was so patient and professional especially when we played with numbers to create a menu that would fit within our event budget. When it was time for our BBQ to begin, Lynn and two sous chefs arrived forty minutes before our event to set up. My family is very particular about food and they had absolutely no complaints. We had hamburgers, hotdogs, turkey burgers, turkey hotdogs, corn, baked beans, watermelon, potato salad, and cole slaw. Everything was delicious! Throughout the BBQ, Chef Brad and Chef Andy were going around and clearing tables, interacting with my family members so pleasantly, and were actively making the BBQ a remarkable experience with their impeccable customer service. We had a second, more formal family event in the Hope Valley Diner banquet hall. I love the hallway that leads to the eloquent space. We were able to fit 63 people in the banquet hall comfortably. Again, we were very impressed with the customer service and the delicious food. Coming from out-of-state, we were taking a chance by choosing Hope Valley Diner to cater our family event two days in a row for a BBQ and a banquet. This was one of the best experiences we have ever had with caters when it comes to customer service, food, and quality of the event hall. If I'm ever in Durham again, I know exactly where I'm going to go! read more

The prime rib was delicious and the meal overall was good. However the waitress was courteous but not friendly, I did not feel welcome here and the service bordered on rude. It seemed we were being rushed to leave although the place was not completely filled. Our plates were abruptly snatched and our bill brought to us before we even thought about leaving. The patronage did not seem ethnically diverse and we were not made to feel that our business was particularly wanted. However if you would like decent prime rib then you would not go wrong with this place. read more

Excellent food and generally good service. I wish they would not use styroform for take out containers.

Hands down the best restaurant in Durham that I have visited thus far! The service was phenomenal and the food was outstanding! If you want a good meal on the weekend or a weekday, this is the place to go! read more

If you are black they will ignore you. Literally got fussed out for asking why I was not being responded to. Wrong orders, no refills. read more

Hope Valley Diner - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

Would love to give a higher rating but when your waitress asks 15 minutes after sitting down for your drink order, and when she gets mad if you ask can you give her your whole order at that time, then never comes back to the table to give some tea or water or anything it's hard to. although the kicker was 30 minutes in, after 4 tables that came in after us had food, and we ask can she check on it? and get the response "Let me check on that SIR" in a pretty rude tone herself, 15 minutes after that she sends the other waitress to tell you she "forgot" to put your order in, it's a hard pill to swallow. When I walked back over I was told we were rude to ask her to take the whole order AND it was rude to ask her about it because they were swamped. We left. I give the one star for the Host, who was the only one to bring us a refill on tea and water and tried his best to help. He was wonderful! Too bad Grumpy ruined the rating. read more

Food was horrible, fish was cold and the bug they served in the turnip greens was well done. I understand mistakes and I am a forgiving person but I am insulted when someone tries to convince me of a lie. IT ABSOLUTELY WAS A BUG WITH LONG LEGS IN THE TURNIP GREENS!!!!!!!!!!! read more

Hope Valley Diner - The bug's leg in the turnip greens. For those who think it is part of turnip green stock.Look at the color, shape and length of the legs. - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

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We love this diner! We have been dining here for a couple of years. I couldn't decide once on my meal. I ended up getting the vegetable plate: 4 veggies of your choice & either roll or corn muffin! Topped with sweet ice tea with lemon...Wow! It was so delicious I have come back three times in 8 days, each time I've ordered the same veggie plate!! read more

Don't know what happened here. Always been my go to spot but just recently I don't know what happened. New cook maybe? I ordered take out- 2 salmon patties, collards, and peas. The peas could have been cooked more. The collards were grind like mush and way too salty. I have no idea what the patties were made from but could not have been salmon (the worst)!! Threw out the complete meal. Gas too high to turn around and take the meal back to them but I should have. read more

Decent menu terrible service. Staff didn't seem to know who was serving who. Not very friendly.

This is my go-to place when I come home from an international business trip. I enjoy the ambience on weekday mornings when you have locals and regulars come in, and it's a nice cross section of Durhamites. I know that I'll have a delicious breakfast when I go and have never been disappointed. My go-to dishes are Debbie's Waffle Breakfast and Steak and Eggs, but anything you order doesn't disappoint. I have to concur that the service here is super inconsistent, but I usually come when I have a lot of time for a leisurely breakfast. Sometimes I have to hunt someone down to get a refill on my coffee but after being in Europe where no one pays attention to you, the service is still a step up. ;) The kid's menu is excellent, and my 10-year-old son really likes the French toast. I know one of the waitresses from the time my son was born, so it's always fun to see her, especially when she sees my son is with me. Always nice to have someone familiar. read more

This is where you take your parents/grandparents (and that's not a bad thing). I've never had a bad experience here, but i've never been wowed either. However, the older people I know LOVE Hope Valley Diner. If i have to equate this place to somewhere it's very similar to the old Piccadilly Cafeteria at South Square when that still existed. There's a very dedicated crowd here that love it. I'd say it's probably because it's reliable what you'll get everytime and it's mostly comfort food and a very wide menu. Upon my last visit I got the steak and cheese and onion rings. The onion rings were fantastic! The steak and cheese was fine. A little dry and I included some toppings I had specifically asked for them to leave off. The staff is always very friendly. At this point Hope Valley Diner is an establishment and someplace where you can easily take your family and everyone can get something they like to eat without there being any conflict. read more

Food: 3 Ambiance: 3 Food/Price: 2.5 I subject every independent diner to the waffle house litmus test, and this place unfortunately failed. Waffle house is as good if not slightly better on tastiness, and offers a better price point. Hope Valley provides a calmer, cleaner and less hilarious ambiance. This place isn't bad, but I doubt I'd go back given the general quality of breakfast/brunch options in the area. Pro-Tip: Bull Street Gourmet is a much better brunch place in the same shopping center, a literal 10 second walk away, though they do not serve quite the variety of diner fare and their hours can be somewhat limited. read more

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I would say 3.5 stars. I got the vegetarian omelet with sourdough bread and side fruit. I also decided to try a slice of their french toast. The omelet was nice and hot, and the egg wrapped the ingredients snuggly, which was all topped with some vegetables. I had to salt the egg, but I appreciated how the filling in the omelet were cooked and wrapped by the egg (some would just put the raw veggies on the egg and then flip it halfway over). They were also generous on the veggies. The omelet was a little watery on the bottom though (because of the tomatoes?), and I would definitely suggest them draining the extra water before serving it or somehow prevent it from being watery in the first place. I liked how they toasted the bread with a little butter - not too much), which gave it a happy medium of slight crunch but still soft in the middle. When the french toast came out, it was soggy. When I told my server this, she immediately took it away into the kitchen and told me that a freshly grilled one would be coming out. The new one was better. I wanted honey instead of syrup, and they were happy to oblige, which I definitely give them points for. My server never came to ask me how my food was, and I had to actively find her to tell her about the french toast. But I'm satisfied with how she managed the situation. read more

Such terrible service. We got there during a busy time so we expected to have to wait but not like this. We got seated, two tables next to us did shortly after us. Their server had them served with beverages before we even got greeted by ours. Then we ordered, two simple items, everyone around us got their food before us. We had to ask why our eggs and a grilled cheese took 25 minutes. The waitress said their was a large part before us, absolute lie, we had been waiting and watching the entire time. The woman who seemed to be a supervisor came over when eating, didn't ask us and just snatched our plates from the table. Absolutely so rude. Our waitress was obviously not paying attention to our table but there was no need for the rudeness from the rest of the staff. Food was decent, nothing to brag about. I would recommend different supervisors and friendlier staff! read more

We have visited this diner several times. The food is good .. if you can actually get what you ordered. First experience, the server "forgot" to put in our appetizer order. Never got that order. Second experience, the server disappeared! We finally had to ask the hostess for more tea, boxes and the ticket. Third experience (yes we gave it another try), we waited 40 minutes for our order which was basic breakfast. I asked three times for a glass of water before finally getting it after I was mostly done with my meal. The server offered nothing (jelly, ketchup, to refill our coffee) when the food finally came. I ordered sausage and received bacon. She never came back with the bill. She basically acted like we weren't even there. Too bad, since the food is good, we won't be going back. read more

Very good value for the amount of food you receive. The service was nice and welcoming as well. Emenu at the tables. read more

Hope Valley Diner - Western Omelette with bacon and wheat toast - Diners Near Me - Durham, North Carolina

AMAZING FOOD perfectly fried scallops and oysters Bloody Mary was a bit thick but good. Service was fine. read more

Really good place for breakfast! Great prices on the food, but I wish they had some vegetarian "meat" options! The drinks are averagely priced. Came on a busy Sunday morning and everything was really good, they almost forgot our appetizer so they put it on the house which we really appreciated. Definitely would come back again! read more

This spot has always been a favorite, but the recent floor to ceiling update makes it even better. Fantastic new bar seating! And the owners are so nice. Still A+ at this great hidden gem. read more