My family and I went on a mini day trip to a nearby antique store and were famished when we got to the area after a little car drive. We actually didn't even know Penny's was here but happened upon it because we missed our turn to Arby's. It was such a lucky accident and we greatly enjoyed the vintage diner vibes here. The aesthetics of Penny's are so cute, endearing, and truly embody the vintage soda bar diner environment in every way. Also, our server was the absolute best, very friendly and kind, and she checked up on us regularly. The food did take a little bit to come out, but we were a slightly larger group of four, but we were excited to dig in! I got the waffles and bacon combo, which was a great serving and enough for a snack later. The bacon was super crispy and tasty, and the waffles were a bit drier but still yummy. Everyone else was impressed with their meals and the chicken and gravy was a huge hit with my dad. I would love to come back here in the future, and very likely will! read more

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I read through the reviews beforehand and thought, "There's no way it's consistently THAT bad..." OMG IT IS. We arrived about 12:45. There was 4 or 5 other tables in the restaurant. Our waitress took our drink orders about 5 minutes later but didn't come back to take our food order until about 1:15. We got one malt at 1:20 and didn't get the other until almost 1:30. The table across from us had ordered shortly after we sat down and still didn't have their food at this point. The lady asked their waitress about the wait, who said they only had one cook, and it would be about 5 more minutes. 15 minutes or so later (1:45ish) the lady got up, walked outside, came back, and announced that the cook was outside smoking. She also observed that her order was sitting in the window. It's now 2pm and neither of us have our food. 5 or so minutes later our waitress comes to our table with multiple baskets - my Patty Melt and Fries (which the lady also ordered and observed in the window 20ish minutes earlier), my cup of Chili, a Reuben we didn't order, my son's Burger and Fries, my older daughter's French Dip (but not the Au Jus or Fries), and not my younger daughter's Philly and Fries. I informed our waitress of the errors and that the Patty Melt was cold. The table across from us got up and walked out. After several minutes, the other waitress came by and asked if we still wanted the Philly or Patty Melt. We said "No". They comped our meal which is why they get an additional star. That was just absurd. 30+ minutes for a malt?! An hour and 20 minutes after sitting down (50 minutes after ordering) to get about half of what we ordered?! And to mix up 2 tables orders that ordered nearly half an hour apart? What in the name of hot messes everywhere is going on at this diner?! I left a $20 tip to cover the malts, which were actually pretty good, and ($6 each I was told), and for the attempts at service. read more

Penny's Diner - Elvis Malt with Chocolate Ice Cream - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

We have been to Pennys many times. We enjoyed the food and the staff. However, lately both have been lacking and we tend to visit less and less because of it. Still a good find when passing through Missouri Valley read more

We have eaten here several times and had good results. This time not so much! At this restaurant, you seat yourself. So upon doing so & waiting 5 minutes without no server visiting us, we notice an order by phone sign in every table. We decided this must be the way it is done now. So after 2 of 3 of us finally get the app to work and our submitted (about 20 more minutes), a grouchy old lady showed up and barked " DID YOU ORDER ONLINE?!". And I replied well, we thought we had to because no one waited on us! She said she had been too busy...(6 other people eating here)...but no, you order from the "waitress". Needless to say not a pleasant visit. On top of this, she never came back after the food was served. Had to go up to the counter to get refills. The food. My "online" chopped steak came smothered in gravy, yet online didn't mention gravy and I am gluten intolerant, so, no gravy. The side was cottage cheese.... It was sour, I had to spit it up. And the fries tasted like crap. PISS POOR SERVICE, PISS POOR FOOD. I will never be back. read more

Penny's Diner - This is the sign. Doesn't seem to be many other options than ordering online! - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

The most disturbing and disgusting small dinner. Our waitress actually went and grabbed one of the chicken strips in our daughter's basket for herself. Right in the front of the pickup window in our view. She was eating from this spot the entire time we were waiting for our food. Don't expect to be in sort of hurry. Very slow service and a lot of flies trying to eat your meal. Thought it was going to be a great stop on our way to KC for Lunch. read more

Penny's Diner - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

No. Just no. Stopped after afternoon in Omaha for quick bite. Bathroom had sign to keep water running due to freezing pipes and a space heater on the floor. Grillled chicken salad had minced tomatoes and minced green peppers that had obviously been prepped several days earlier and intended for omelets or hash brown scrambles. Blue cheese dressing was in plastic container with lid and dated 7 days earlier. Mustard on table had "opened" date five months earlier. Husband ordered meatloaf that was not very warm. Seasonal veggies were canned green beans with undercooked bacon at the bottom of the bowl for some reason. Bowl that green beans came in had dried ketchup on outside. This place used to be kitchy - now it's just icky. read more

Half decent food but nothing to write home about. Convenient 24 HR availability for weary road travelers. I asked for a crispy chicken salad. Maybe the patty would have been better? There were a couple wet fries in the salad. Just okay. read more

Penny's Diner - Crispy chicken salad at 10pm - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

Chocolate chip milkshake and Mushroom Swiss Burger are awesome. The waitress was on her own so service was slower but she smiled and was very nice. the Diner itself is a cute old diner with old pictures. read more

Great little dinner. Friendly and attentive staff. Had the penny's burger with a side order of onion rings. The hamburger beef is cooked typical flat fry grill style and paired well with the lettuce tomato onion and pickles. Fries were crispy and very lightly salted. The onion rings had a very nice crispy batter around the onion. We also had a side salad with ranch that was very good. We will be stopping again when visiting the DeSoto Bend Nature Preserve. read more

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Food so flavorless made me think I had Covid. Place was cute but I'd consider elsewhere.

Waitress didn't look like she wanted to be there she was a mean lady. Awful service. Food was good could be better.

Old fashioned look but modern menu take. Need to bring it up on your phone or borrow their iPad Still service was good - thanks Trinity My western burger was tasty but needed a bit of salt on the patty. My wife's patty melt was just right. The fries were hot and crispy To top it off we had the Elvis milkshake. That could have been thicker and colder but the flavor was great read more

Nicely done comfort food. Friendly service. Cool retro diner ambiance. If comfort food is your thing Penny's delivers. read more

The biggest thing they have to offer is that they are open 24 hours a day. As for quality, when the manager is too cheap to spring for menus, and instead just writes the menu items on whiteboards on the wall, with no description or price, you can expect the food quality to follow suit. Not the first Penny's Diner I've been to, and the previous one was very good. I've been to this one twice, and will avoid going back until I see a sign saying that it's under new management. read more

We came to visit and take some senior photos. The employees were gracious. We got a strawberry milkshake that was a dream! We didn't order a meal but a shake could be a meal read more

The food was very tasty; however, the service was sloooooowwwwwww. It took over 40 minutes for us to get our food, even though it wasn't very busy. Pretty sure there were two front of the house and only one in the kitchen. We finally asked for the milkshakes, ordered with the food, to be put in to-go cups since we still didn't have them by the time we were done eating (over and hour from ordering). read more

I live about an hour and 15min away from Penny's Diner. In between driving to and from Omaha or Lincoln, this is a great place to stop at. I've been about 3 times I believe. First trip I got the cheese burger and onion rings. Burger wasn't huge, but it was tasty. My onion rings could have been a little more time in the fryer. (I should have told our waitress that I wanted them SUPER crispy.) I was with my Mom and she and I had fun looking at all the old band posters and decorations; trying to guess who the singer was. They also only play music from the 50's - 60's. I LOVE that. And the building looks like a true old fashioned diner. Second time I got a club sandwich and it was great. I got fries that time and they were great. Used the bathroom on this trip. It's small and just has 2 stalls and 1 sink. (No diaper changing table.) Third time I ordered a chocolate malt. OMG it was one of the best malts I've ever had. I had that puppy gone in about 5 minutes. Wish I woulda taken a picture. I ordered the crispy chicken sandwich. It was good, but I wasn't wowed. And I knew the bacon they used was defrosted and not 'real' bacon. You typically seat yourself. They have about 8 booths and you can also sit at the 'bar.' (No alcohol, just really good ice cream.) They do to-go, but no delivery to the hotel it's next to. I thiiink they're open 24/7 or at least stays open till late. They have what looks like an amazing breakfast menu. It's served all day, but I wasn't in the mood for breakfast. Parking lot is shared with the hotel. Just going to see all the really cool decorations and feeling any nostalgia is recommended. Only one time did it take forever to get our food, but I think there was just 1 cook and 1 waitress. Next is a banana split. read more

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Everyone is so nice and the food is always cooked great. I come here every august when I visit Missouri valley. Very retro diner just a cute little place. read more

For a long time Penny's has been a family tradition on road trips, but the past two times we have literally had waitresses tell us they didn't have a table for us, without any "there will be a short wait" or "we will be with you shortly." Today the waitress basically told us there were no tables and turned her back on us. Needless to say, we are sad that a place that once felt like "home" on our trips has lost the same warmth and welcome that once made Penny's so special to our family. read more

Consider the effort.. Working inside is a privilege in the winter , It's hard to support a person who does not want easy work like cooking food and cleaning dishes read more

This place was off the highway. So we divided too stop in. It is a 60s style dinner with the bench seats and all. Man they had the pie case full of cinnamon rolls they look fresh. The food for a road side dinner I was Very surprise that it was VERY good food. A little down home cooking I'm always a sucker for a breakfast joint and this one did not disappoint. Yes I read the reviews one about bugs yep I seen one it was a gnat as we walked out side we noticed the area was full of flying bugs at other stores and such as well. But remember this area also just suffered a major flood. And it is located in a farming community. The restaurant had up a industrial bug deflector in the mud room as you walked in to the firs set of doors. I highly recommend a stop in here. read more

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Bad service. Racist. Rolled his eyes as soon as I entered the door. Even though we complimented the food, the waiter kept responding with sarcastic comments. Before heading out we let him the food was really good he said it was not the best, Denny's would have been a better option but he was sure they were the only thing open that time. If you are not caucasian do not stop here. I recommend you going to the Macdonald's near by or grab snacks from the gas station. read more

First time here. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, pancake, coffee for $9.58 Service was the reason for 3-star. The China Flu has decimated getting quality help. Brianna was the server and was terrible. she didn't provide a menu so I asked "can I get eggs, potatoes, and bacon" and she looked bewildered. She then looks around more so I said just "give me eggs over easy, bacon, hash browns, and a pancake". I went too fast for her. Had to ask for coffee, twice. The owner got me the last refill. Brianna walks by, sees my FULL coffee cup and I kid you not says "would you like a refill?" Later, after setting a $20 bill on top of the receipt, Brianna says, "would you like me to take this?" WTF? this woman needs to be trained better. Food was good, owner was fine and NOT a racist like the idiot below said. read more

This is a cute diner with friendly service. I rated a three because the food was mediocre. I was expecting a more home cooked taste, but as it turns out, the food tastes like it was out of a can. For example, the gravy on the biscuits and gravy was bland except for being over peppered and there was no sausage! I asked for onions in my hash browns and it was left out. My husband asked for limp bacon and it came out crispy. However, the server did correct it and let us keep the other bacon as well, which is why the service was so great! read more

Caution.Do not eat here. Stopped in with my wife and daughter, wanted to give them the cool diner experience. The waitress was strangely irritated, rolled eyes while taking order. we ordered 2 Hopped Up Hashbrowns, 2 a la carte biscuits, 1 Deluxe Buscuit and Gravy, and 3 fountain drinks. The waitress waited to put in the biscuit order for like 10minutes after we asked for them, I know because we sat at the front counter. Then she apologized saying they took longer than anticipate. she then told us our total was $58.15, my wife looked at the receipt when we left and it didn't itemize, so we called and asked for the cost of what we ordered. It was actually $35 ish plus tax. We returned and she voided the transaction instead of ringing us up for what we should have paid. We didn't ask for a free meal, we just didn't want to be stolen from while trying to have a family outing for breakfast. This wasn't an error, it felt like it was on purpose. It was really all unnecessary. We will not be returning, we all work hard for our money and I will spend my money in honest establishments. read more

Penny's Diner - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

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Almost Everything frozen. Only go in a pinch. I ask what was made fresh. Meatloaf was the only answer. It was horrible. Not sure of the spices. Green beans were worse. How do you screw up green beans? read more

So disappointing. Stopped in to enjoy lunch with a friend and was promptly reprimanded by a waitress that we can't just seat ourselves. Told her we assumed we could because no one acknowledged us at the door nor was there a sign indicating we needed to wait. So we stood by the door for almost 10 minutes with no one acknowledging us or seating us. We decided to leave and won't be back. read more

Wish I could give more stars, but not at this point. Stopped there with my wife for lunch after hiking at Hitchcock Nature Center. I really WANT to like this place. Very cool vibe inside with the 50's diner theme. Clean and comfortable seating. Service was brutally slow. We finally received our order (double cheeseburger and fries for me, club sandwich and onion rings for my wife over an hour after we ordered. The food was just ok, though my wife did really enjoy the rings. There are obvious issues between the wait staff and the cooks. Lots of eye rolling, whispered conversations and such. Not what you would call a harmonious environment. These issues seem easy to fix to me, providing the owner isn't the one causing them. I will give them another shot in a few months to see if things have improved. read more

Walked in and had the chef scream up front because the waitress didn't open with we're only takeout currently. And throughout the whole event the server was attentive and nice though "dale" complained about having to do his job loudly. Didn't spit in our food at least. read more

Great place, great service.. pass on the chain places and stop here, they have it all and its all prepared proper

Overall it was a good experience with friendly courteous staff. Unfortunately the prices are near highway robbery for the product you receive. I received a very small portion of french fries and a hamburger of moderate size for nine dollars. The malt ran me another 4.50 . with tax included it brought my bill up to approximately $15. As a truck driver I am always on the lookout for authentic diner food and mom and pop establishments that I can stop at and get A good home cooked meal. Don't mistake me the food here was actually pretty decent I can't knock it to hard as far as quality goes. Unfortunately the prices for the portions you are served is problematic. For a meal that is going to run me $20 with tip I expect to be questioning my ability to finish the meal 2/3 of the way through. (Yes I'm a truck driver but I only weigh 200 pounds so it's not like I am expecting a buffet portion size) However at the end of this meal I was left wanting more . Good food small portions hi cost. As a sidenote the waitstaff is responsible for making the milkshakes this takes up a considerable amount of their time so they are not at your table very often if they have a lot of these on order. Just a heads up. read more

Penny's Diner - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

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Great gem tucked off I29. Was a little nervous after reading previous reviews, but was so glad we ended up at Penny's Diner. My husband and I brought our 3 little girls in for lunch on our road trip, great service and food! read more

Penny's Diner - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

Stopped here on a Sunday night. There were just 4 tables of customers and two waitresses. We waited 10 mins just to have her clear off a booth. Then another 10 to order milkshakes. 15 mins later, still no shakes, or water, nor have we placed our order. We had to get up and walk over to the counter and ask them what was going on. Our waitress apologized, saying it wasn't her usual shift, the other girl is sick, she's not even that great of a waitress, etc. Which let's face it, really, really doesn't matter to your guests. This isn't a 5-star restaurant. It's a chain diner in a small town. Just smile, be friendly and get the food out correctly. Fast forward to our meal - the chicken finger basket had maybe 10 fries, the cheeseburger (which was a sub for the pork tenderloin they were out of) was cold, and my chicken Philly was just straight up sad. The country fried steak was so hard you couldn't cut through it. It's a shame. We've been here lots of times before, but after this experience we won't be coming back. read more

Penny's Diner - Saddest excuse for a chicken philly I've ever seen. - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

Milkshake and food was amazing! A nice little find among the fast food restaurants. Service was great

Currently staying in a hotel in Missouri Valley and we found this little gem. An honest to God 50s style diner! The food was excellent, the service was excellent, and the prices were reasonable. Honestly can't wait for their breakfast! read more

Stopped while on the road for breakfast. Cute look to the dinner. There were bugs around the floor by our booth. The waitress was a bit hard of hearing and wasn't interested in helping recommend something to order. Our group ordered a cinnamon roll (warmed in the microwave), patty melt, pork tenderloin sandwich, hamburger patty with a 1/2 order of biscuits and gravy. Very average food. My patty melt the onions were overcooked which made the sandwich bitter. The hamburger patty was overcooked. The pork sandwich was dry and lacked condiments (it was served with lettuce, tomato, and onion but no condiments). They are service dog friendly. It was okay if you need a quick bite but don't expect great food. read more

Penny's Diner - Patty melt on marbled rye. - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa

They seemed like nice enough people. However, it took five minutes before they came to take a drink order; the coffee was lame. We then sat there waiting for them to take a food order for another 10 minutes while the cook stood around and wait staff walked around aimlessly. Unfortunately we ended Up at the Golden Arches next door. Cute old school diner impeccably cared for but travelers should be aware that they were slow. We had to leave without eating. read more

Driving to Yellowstone from NYC and just happened to stop at Penny's. My husband never had stuffed pepper soup before and the waitress was nice enough to let him try it, he loved it. He had the meatloaf and I had the turkey plate everything was very good and the place is super friendly. read more

Food service ambiance atmosphere tasty delicious burgers friendly restaurant family atmosphere great dining

Great spot for hot coffee especially when it is served by Senator Ted Cruz. Blue plate special and roast beef sandwich looked very good. New York Times and Washington Post reporters also hang here. read more

Penny's Diner - Ted Cruz behind the counter; Senator from Texas and candidate for President. - Diners Near Me - Missouri Valley, Iowa