We have been at Penny's Diner a couple of times while passing through Vaughn. The food is very good and also the service. It is a good option for us read more

We had a very nice meal here. It saw some negative reviews but our food was served hot and tasty! I enjoyed my fries. I agree that they are clearly short-staffed but they got the food out quickly and kept the place lovely and clean. I have to give it to the people working there. read more

Thank you Penny's Diner for being there!!! I'm a newcomer to New Mexico, and the beautiful open spaces. I'd been driving for hours from Hobbs NM, and after what seemed like an eternity of straight, open, mind-numbing road, not even singing along to Willie and Waylon could settle my stomach and keep me awake. There suddenly, a mirage transformed into an oasis stood the gleaming silver walls of Penny's Diner!!! You saved me!!! I was hungry, needing the facilities, and a hot cup of coffee!! I was not disappointed at all!! The Food: I love diners! I know exactly what to expect, and if a diner doesn't try to be trendy or fancy, it can deliver wonderful homemade food! In our case we all ordered the same thing: Patty Melt, on marbled rye, with Tater Tots! It was delicious!!! The beef was so good, you totally over delivered!! The Tater Tots were like a childhood memory!!! The Food at Penny's is wonderful!!! You are literally in the middle of nowhere and you could have been mediocre, but you weren't!!! Honestly my only complaint is about coffee. My first cup tasted like it had been sitting way too long and it had developed that slightly burnt acrid taste. After you brewed a fresh pot at my request, it was great!!! The service: super friendly and accommodating!!! Even when I complained about the coffee the service was wonderful!!! The Facilities: you know, the other reason I was there. Absolutely spotless!!! You clearly care about your customers!!! Even the bathroom tissue was the soft kind!!! If you're ever driving from Hobbs to Albuquerque, tired, hungry and need a little love; Penny's Diner is there for you!!!! read more

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After driving MILES looking for a place to eat (just driving through NM, highways for miles lol), this place was just what I needed! The portion sizes where large, the food was delicious, the staff was friendly, and the place was ADORABLE! plus, it was under $40 for my family of 3 to eat, have drinks, and a dessert! Theres not much around (a gas station across the street, a hotel behind, and a burrito joint down the road), but if you are passing through, be sure to stop! read more

Penny's Diner - American Near Me - Vaughn, New Mexico

We stopped in after many miles of driving through NM on our way to Washington state. You will not be disappointed by the food here at Penny's, a classic 50s diner with barstools and booths. Clean establishment, good service. My only critique is the tickets are made one at a time rather than a few burgers for multiple tickets (if that makes sense) so the wait time was a bit long. Otherwise, if I'm ever out in the middle of New Mexico again, I will surly stop in. read more

Jacqueline and Benjamin are absolutely amazing!! Food was wonderful and the portions were great!! Definitely recommend this place!

Stopped here for dinner. Service was fantastic. We were seated and got drinks and order in quickly. Kids meals came out first which was perfect since they were grumpy. The kids had pancakes and eggs and loved it. For the adult meals though they could have used seasoning. The burger and patty melt both had unseasoned or under seasoned patties. The grilled onions on the patty melt were still basically raw. The tots and fries were cooked perfectly but weren't salted at all. I would still go here again in the future because of the service and cleanliness, I would probably just stick to breakfast options. read more

I surreptitiously dogged some pancakes here. I was a little disappointed with the fact that there wasn't a dine in option at this time but I assume that it isn't their fault. Their pancakes are super fluffy and delicious and their bacon was just the right amount of crispy. I would definitely dog these pancakes again. I loved getting my peter plunged! read more

Food was very good--classic eggs & Bacon & hash browns. Arrived hot and promptly. Coffee was very good too. Service was prompt and pleasant. read more

Ate here today on our way from Santa Rosa NM to Ruidoso. We are pulling a travel trailer, so it didn't bother us that there is no inside dining. The staff were warm, friendly and helpful. I had a Penny's Pride burger; my husband had a Fiesta Burger. We both had fries. The meat patties were handmade and delicious. The fries were fantastic. Our food was superb! I would recommend this place to anyone. read more

Not the same & very expensive, it is mainly for railroad workers. Only one good cook.

Love Penny's Diner...old school with nice staff! When traveling through I usually get a breakfast! Last time I had an old fashioned milkshake! Really good! Bacon Cheese burger and tater tots :) Yum!! read more

Great, old fashioned diner-great hand-scooped milkshakes! Server was down-to-earth and helpful.

Cutest diner and best waitress and we got to draw on the walls. Super fun and food was great.

Only place look half way decent from Albuquerque to Roswell. Mediocre at best, not a bad thing when you travel for work. Freshly fried onion rings and a bacon cheese burger with no surprise. Minus one star on the service. read more

Penny's Diner - Back in 50's - American Near Me - Vaughn, New Mexico

We had been searching for a breakfast place since getting on the road to home after leaving Santa Fe. I came across a review for Penny's Diner and it sounded just what we were looking for. It was a bit difficult to find as it sits off the road a good ways, but walking in was like walking into one of the old diners of years gone past. Service was very friendly and prompt, which was a plus seeing we had a ten hour drive ahead of us. Both is us ordered the standard eggs, bacon, has browns and toast which were cooked to perfection. Only slight complaint was that the coffee was mighty weak, looked more like tea. Highly recommend this place! read more

Vaughn, NM. This diner is a new version of a 50's diner. Glitzy. Ultra clean. Their sunrise skillet is best I've ever had. We pulled off to get gas and noticed "Penny 's Diner" across the street. What an excellent 5-star place. read more

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Food was good. It was 1 egg and 3 sliced bacon. How much do you think? $4? 5? 6? No. 7 dollars. Be forewarned. One egg 3 sliced bacon.

This Dinner looked promising from the outside, but don't let the looks fool you, they have the rudest employees, not only that but they use it as after hours check in for the adjacent Travel Lodge Hotel. Do yourself a favor and keep driving. read more

Only place to go for a very long time... Perfect place to stop in the middle of nowhere: that long stretch from Texas to Colorado. The staff is friendly, coffee fresh & hot; the food is ok. I give it 5 stars because the lovely ladies helped us out both times we stopped here on our road trip with smiles! Almost seems like we stepped into a time warp... Love this little diner read more

Penny's Diner - Welcome to Vaughn, New Mexico - American Near Me - Vaughn, New Mexico

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We saw the place in Vaughn on the way down to Roswell, and we immediately wanted to try it on our way home- it has the cutest 60s inspired set up that stands out on the side of the road. I wanted to love it so much, but the food just let me down. The pancakes had a sticky-chewy quality to them, the hashbrowns were not crisp. I was happier to stop here than a road trip McDonald's, but my hopes were just too high. read more

This place is exactly what it is, a diner. Don't come here expecting the most fabulous food you've ever eaten, but the food and service are good. It reminds me of Waffle House. I got the breakfast skillet (eggs, hash-browns with bacon, cheese, green and red peppers, jalapeños, and tomatoes) and a pancake. My husband got the cowboy burger (open faced with cheese and green chili) with tater tots. Everything was pretty good. I recommend this place as long as you expect regular food vs the most amazing food you've ever eaten. It's in the middle of nowhere right off the highway in a cool-looking building. read more

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This place has good food even though their tater tots and onion rings were frozen. Burgers are big and juicy. Now the bad, they need more servers! We were there for over 10 minutes before anyone came to hell us. Don't be in a hurry. read more

For staying here at campground & only having all subs gas station for food penny's diner is very good very fast on there orders too!

To give you an idea of how bad this place is, I made my yelp account just so I could post this review. Diner beware. 45 minutes into our visit this evening 1/13, we inquired why our food hadn't been yet served. The waitress blamed her cook, saying she was new and worked really slowly-- it should be 10-15 more minutes. We didn't have food in front of us until we had sat in this restaurant for well over an hour. Advice to wait staff and management: be honest with customers about long waits in advance and don't throw your co-workers under the bus. If there was just a long wait, we would have been fine. But the food was horrible. They charged me 10$ for undercooked grilled cheese. My friend who also ordered grilled cheese asked for no jalapeños but received plenty of undercooked jalapeños and raw onions (and unmelted cheese). The sad thing about this place is that there's not another restaurant nearby, so they can continue to provide awful service without suffering repercussions. With a dining experience so poor one would expect part of the meal to be comped at check-out.. no such thing. Spend your money on gas station snacks, you'll be more satisfied and get to your destination 2 hours sooner. read more

It was a cute 24/7 diner, like the ones you would see in movies. It was a seat yourself situation and the menus were on the table. I ordered the 3 breakfast sausage tacos and it was delicious. The price was reasonable also. read more

Penny's Diner - American Near Me - Vaughn, New Mexico

Good food and very friendly service. It was really late and we were very hungry. This place is in the middle of nowhere. Brianna is a very good server. If we ever go near Vaughn New Mexico again we will stop and grab a bite Thank you for all your help in finding us a place to catch some zzz's read more

Cute and amazing feel to the location but don't be fooled this is just the hotel restaurant and is owned by a chain. It's not by any means local. The food was terrible and they were out of shakes. What kind of diner runs out of shakes The salsa was only Pace salsa and was not local. read more

Came in on my way back from a climbing trip. It was a little bit understaffed but very delicious! I got the chili cheese burger Christmas style and loved it. It's a cute little diner that I would go back to again! read more

Our family made an emergency weather related stop in Vaughn, New Mexico the day after Christmas 2018. Here's an article that explains our experiences and appreciation for the wonderful people at Penny's Diner, the Travel Lodge Hotel, and the Conoco gas station across the street. You all played important roles in our adventure as we waited out the snow storm. Hope you read and enjoy this article. We'll definitely make our way back there to visit, enjoy a stay at the Travel Lodge, and eat a meal at Penny's Diner. Kindest Wishes to all of you in Vaughn! https://www.worldofwritermom.org/2019/01/wednesday-writers-prompt-1.html read more

I heard from a friend that there was an old '50s prefab style diner in Vaughn, and since Vaughn isn't exactly a big place I was curious to check it out. Turns out this is a chain attached to the hotel behind the restaurant and there's a few in New Mexico. It definitely has a lot of style, in a classic metal building with period decorations. It's also clearly rather popular with the locals, unsurprisingly since there aren't a lot of choices in town. The food was good - we didn't get to try the malts as the waitress apologized that a film crew had cleaned them out on ice cream, which I won't hold against them since these things happen. Instead I got a sandwich which was very good, and opted for the tater tots... there's something I haven't had for a while. On the downside, the service and food were very slow. We sat for quite a while before anyone came to take our drink order, and then we waited quite a while for our food... and it didn't seem particularly busy. I wouldn't have minded much if the waitress had made an apology or otherwise acknowledged they were running slow, but that didn't happen. Since we were passing through on a schedule I was frustrated enough with the slow service to knock a pretty cool niche restaurant down to three stars. read more

Do NOT eat here!!!! They were out of everything on menu we wanted. No shakes (out of ice cream), no soup (we don't have any), I ordered a bowl of Chili (this is how it is spelled on menu advertising cup or bowl) and she said "red or green". When I said I wanted chili and beans like it says on menu, she said "oh no, we don't have that." When I asked for lemon for my water she directed me to packaged lemon juice...YUCK! You are better off with fast food. Whoever heard of a diner without milkshakes? read more

DO NOT COME AND EAT HERE. Seriously go too the gas station across the street you you'll thank me. Came here a week ago and it was okay but food is very bland no seasoning whatsoever. I come back today being that this is the only restaurant in Vaughn. There are 2 people in the reasturant as I order my food I watch them make my food then just sit it too the side and they started making food for people that came in after me after about 15 minutes of my food just sitting there I walked out and I will NOT be back read more

We stopped by in a snow storm. They were crowded but still super attentive. Our waitress was very kind and accommodating. The food was excellent--great veggie and egg scramble, chicken fried steak, and delicious buttery pancakes. Accommodations were cleanWe would come here again. read more

Not sure impressive. Staff was friendly but not organized. We were expecting to dine in but they only had take out. They also messed up the order-- highlight was the French fries. read more

We pulled in to the car park of this sparkling, old-style diner on our way through to LA from Vegas. The atmosphere continued inside with 50's decor and great music playing. Our waitress, Bettyjeanne, immediately greeted us with a glowing smile and let us know we could sit anywhere we liked. We ordered two malted milkshakes, a monster burger with the lot and a chicken ranch burger. Bettyjeanne gave us the best service we have received while travelling throughout America and went about her work happily singing, talking and joking with us. The burgers were delicious! We were told that their patties are handmade each day, "never frozen" and that they take pride in the quality of their ingredients. The difference was obvious from the first bite. The milkshakes were like I remember as a young boy. Not watery at all and a great flavour. My only regret is that I was too full to try their pumpkin pancakes or some of their other tempting treats on display. We will DEFINITELY be back when we are next in America and recommend stopping if you are travelling through! Desserts.... stressed spelled backwards! read more

Penny's Diner - Great views and a slice of history 3 miles away. - American Near Me - Vaughn, New Mexico

Chain diner imitating 1950s style. Reasonable diner-style food, 24/7 breakfast, friendly service, but long waits no matter how full they are or are not. Not a bad choice given that--depending on the time of day and direction of your travel--this may be your only option within an hour or more. read more

Penny's Diner - Menu - American Near Me - Vaughn, New Mexico

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We love spring here when visiting family in the area. We really like their poodle soup made with hamburger and potato. Maybe it's green Chile soup with som hominy... but it's great! read more

If you're going to be a 24 hour restaurant, please commit to delivering the same quality of service throughout your entire business day! We drop by here while on a road trip through NM based on the positive reviews on Yelp! Yes, we dropped by late in the evening (11:30 PM) so being a little bit of lackluster performance is understandable. But we certainly weren't dining so late as to warrant a service that indicates you don't even want to try! When we walked in there were two employees in the diner, both of whom were busy cleaning the equipment. The "leader" of two had that look of "oh crap, customers". We seated ourselves at the counter and she brought us some menus. We placed our order then were notified half the things weren't available. No problem, we understand, it's late so we pick some alternatives. I ordered the blue plate special of green chile chicken enchiladas, my wife orders vegetable soup and my son, hot dog and fries. Here comes the horror show. While the two ladies continue to clean, they go about "preparing" our food. Since we were at the counter, we had full view of what was going on. "Preparation" of my enchiladas consists of wrapping some tortillas around some shredded cheddar cheese, microwaving some cold prepared Spanish rice, microwaving some canned chile sauce with frozen chicken meat, microwaving a bowl of pinto beans, plating all that together and microwaving once again to "melt" the cheese. Since the "cook" was so busy cleaning, the plate was not heat long enough and the cheese was barely melted. The rest of the plate was definitely not hot enough to be served safely. Ironically, there's a sign on their wall stating all food must be 140 F or greater. I shouldn't have to comment on the quality or taste of the food since you should know what to expect when it's just a microwaved plate of slop. My son's hot dog was grilled on a flat top that just had been cleaned...perhaps with some residual cleaner on it as it sure tasted off. Surprisingly the fries were fresh cut from a real potato. Not surprising, the fries were under cooked and greasy from their rushing to get the food (and us) out. My wife's soup was scoop into a bowl and microwaved. All this was happening while the staff was still cleaning. Needless to say, they forgot the soup during all this and we were never served it (probably a good thing). Horrible experience overall on every single aspect of the service. Maybe they're OK during "normal" hours but if they served me microwaved food at 11 PM, you can bet they're doing the same during the rest of the day. Again, if you find it such a bother to serve at late hours, you should just shut down. Every customer that passes through your door, deserves the same quality of service, regardless of time of day if you are a 24 hour business. Also, the fact this place serves microwaved food should be a major turnoff. You're better off going to a minimart and picking up a frozen meal and microwaving it yourself! Avoid this place, especially if it is past "prime time!" read more

Penny's Diner is that place that you go in to with great expectations of d fashioned service and food, that makes you long for the mid 60's again. That is the true basis for the disappointment, the only thing reminscent of the past is the building and furnishings. Food was served up with sour attitude, but not classically rude. It was the indifference that clouded any uniqueness. I ordered a green chili cheeseburger. The one meal I look forward to I NM. It was completely different than any NM classic! It was an open faced burger with a ladel of green chili sauce poured over the top. Looking around they burgers, turkey club and other traditional items looked normal. I will stop again and try to not have high expectations! read more