tl;dr - Unassuming place with friendly family staff, good food we've never had to complain about, and good prices. This place is around the corner from us, so we've been there a lot. Reasonable prices, good basic diner food (we don't order like $27 seafood platters from a diner), always friendly staff. Family-run, mom+dad+at least two sons. They and the servers remember us and are always friendly and professional to us and all the customers, many of whom are long-time patrons. I'm not going to say it's a fancy place - kinda small, kinda plain - but that's how I like my diners to look anyway. There's always a parking space in their lot. We have literally not had one complaint about the food, ever. Never had to send anything back or got takeout & it was gross. It's always good and we leave satisfied and happy. read more

In A Nutshell: -Route 3 Diner was a great find! -If you are looking for a traditional diner this is it. -Breakfast served all day? CHECK -Laminated menu w/ a huge selection of food? CHECK -I wanted to try "scrapple" to check it off the bucketlist. -It is like a hashbrown made of minced pork, crispy outside and moist inside. -It has a plain savory taste so I was advised by the lovely waitress and customer to try it w/ mustard, ketchup & syrup; all three condiments paired well w/ the scrapple. -I also tried it w/ Tabasco which was tasty too. Overall, this diner has plenty of seats & very friendly vibes. Thank you Delaware!! read more

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I ask for liver and onion good portion it great :: Service it ok waiter never came back into u look for him It quite and for a Sunday after church read more

Dined here for the first time today after a run at Bellevue State Park. The breakfast was good and crispy. This place is great and the ambiance was pleasant. I think a lot of the 1 star reviews are from many years ago, today this place is definitely nice. I would certainly return. read more

Route 3 Diner - Window view - New American Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

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I love this restaurant. Very friendly, good food. The shortage of eggs is no longer. I can't believe how tiny the eggs are. You raised your prices, so there is no longer an excuse for small eggs. read more

Food was delicious (breakfast) and service was great. Prices are reasonable. Portion size more than enough.

Let me start by saying I have loved eating at this diner. The owner does know and acknowledges his regulars. The waitresses are much to be desired. They do not pay attention to what you say and when they deliver the meal, you will not see them again. They raised prices by $2.00 throughout the menu which now they are comparable to every eating place around. So no longer a great deal of a place. We also noticed they have changed the way they make certain foods. Please go back to how you used to prepare and cook food. read more

Need to bump up the score a bit and show some love to my favorite local diner. It's a small diner with mostly great service and occasionally not great service. The owner is nice and recognizes his regulars. And the food is GOOD - I never had a bad meal there. Love the stuffed shrimp over rice (my favorite) and the flounder francaise was good, too. Also had a few other dishes that came out and were very good. As far as Wilmington diners go, I highly recommend this one. Pro tip: get the mini meal. Normal sized (and adequate) portions with a soup or salad, one side, and a dessert. read more

Senior rates were quite affordable. Menu options were varied. Prompt service. Diner was clean. manager came by to chat.

Great service, amazing prices, solid food, and nice atmosphere. The wife and I love this joint. The servers remember you and genuinely seem to care about the service they're giving. read more

Visited: Friday - May 6, 2022 - 12:20PM The diner was virtually empty. I was seated within a reasonable time. Within 10 minutes, the diner was nearly full. I waited about five minutes when the man that seated me, asked what I wanted to drink. I replied black coffee and orange juice - and was ready to order. He said that the server would handle the order. I waited another seven minutes, until the same man asked what I'd like to eat. I responded accordingly. Ten minutes elapsed and the food was delivered by the same man. I asked the man if he was the owner. He quickly responded - yes! I said it appears that he needed more servers. He responded with the now classic - "Nobody wants to work." I jokingly responded that he was the best owner/server I ever had. He laughed and cheerfully repeated what I said to an employee. The food was good - nothing exceptional. I asked and received the bill from the owner/server. The cashier admitted they were not prepared for the crush of patrons. Although no server took my order, I gave my tip to the one most prominent server in the diner. She hugged and thanked me and immediately returned to work. read more

I haven't physically been in this diner but I order from here, often. I have never been disappointed. The food is made fresh and has always been tasty! The prices are very reasonable but what's more is that the portions are so large that I can divide them and get two complete meals! The service is top notch as well. Once, I was delivered the wrong order and the owner himself delivered the correct order to my home! That's service that you NEVER see these days! I love this place. read more

MONTE CRISTO IS HORRIBLE Please figure out how to make this before someone else makes the mistake of ordering. A Monte Cristo is deep fried....this was a open face French toast sandwich with cheese turkey and ham, no raspberry preserves. Which is supposed to accompany the sandwich along with powdered sugar. Either take this off the menu or call it what it is. A DISGRACE!! read more

Route 3 Diner - Monte Cristo Sandwich HORRIBLE!! I tried to eat it but I honestly couldn't due to it being so HORRIBLE. - New American Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

This is their veggie omelette. Dead on arrival. Completely bruised. More of a frittata than a fluffy omelette. Pretty bad. read more

Route 3 Diner - This is their veggie omelette. Dead on arrival. Completely bruised. More of a frittata than a fluffy omelette. Pretty bad. - New American Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

my absolute favorite local diner!! this area is filled with so many diners but the route 3 is consistent with very kind staff. best pancakes out of all the local diners ive been too and the wraps were huge! read more

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G O T O T H I S D I N E R! In town for my brothers 21st birthday. This is the best food in the entire world. It takes a minute for the food to come out but it's totally worth. The tables are clean and orderly not like a quick pass with a used rag. Actually thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. The silver is actually shiny, not like water spots or foggy and smudged. Bright inviting lighting evenly lit throughout. I highly recommend this place the food is amazing. It's not overly seasoned to make up for poor flavor or under seasoned all together. The staff is very friendly and it feels almost like you already know them. AND THE CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! If you have the choice choose this every time. read more

Route 3 Diner - Empty Plates Should tell you all you need to know. - New American Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

We had an excellent breakfast here! The service was excellent and the staff was so kind. We've only been once and felt like family!

Great food, great value, love this place. Ask for Jessica as your server, she is the best!

I really don't like giving bad reviews but we've truly not had a meal here yet that we've actually enjoyed and I'm not exaggerating when I say we have given it probably 50 chances while we had our kitchen remodeled. Service can be sort of slow for pick up even with plenty of time before arrival, sometimes there are some issues between employees, some mistakes here and there (missing items, cooked incorrectly, wrong sides, etc.). Just meh. read more

First breakfast visit: Delicious food (great blueberry pancakes!) Large portions Great service Highly recommend :() read more

I have to say over the years this diner has gotten better. We usually do takeout for Sunday morning breakfast from Route 3. Nice size portions and decent prices. I usually get an omelette or the grilled chicken egg and cheese sandwich and most of the time I can't finish. Hubby always gets the pancakes which are big and fluffy. Every once in awhile we will get the chipped beef gravy with gravy on the home fries to share. We do dinner from here every once in awhile. Have no complaints most of the time every thing is good. I enjoy their soups and they have very good chili. If there is anything wrong with our order they fix it with no problem. The employees are friendly and helpful. Once in awhile you might get one that seems a little irritated when you call to place an order but most of the time they are very friendly. read more

I haven't been here since it's changed from Sage Diner to Smiley's Diner. The waitress was really attentive and friendly. The menu was more limited than before and I had a hard time finding something I wanted to eat. I settled for the protein omelette with applesauce which tasted a little weird to me. Almost a little soured which made me question whether I should eat it. read more

Route 3 Diner - New American Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

Well I decided to try the Sage even though a coworker warned me about the food. I thought since it's busy every time I pass then it must be good. Right? Wrong! I ordered the chicken finger dinner which came with split pea soup. The soup definitely came from a bucket and reminded me of baby food. The chicken was honestly the worst chicken I have ever had. It was so bad the waitress took it off of the bill and brought me out a gyro. I thought how could I go wrong with a gyro? Well it wasn't as bad as the chicken but it wasn't good either. The "lamb" appeared to be deli meat that they heated up and the fries were ehh. The veggies however appeared fresh so that was a plus I guess. The waitress was great and felt bad about the meal! She definitely deserves to work somewhere that serves better food. I was really hoping that my coworker was wrong on this one but he was 110% right! I Will never go back to the sage and caution anyone who goes. If you like tasteless food then this is the place for you! Ps Ruthanne stated that their food was scratch made. LOL it was all frozen and the only fresh items were the tomatoes, onions, and lettuce. Smh please don't write a review that states scratch made if it is processed frozen food! Thanks read more

I came here for some breakfast. I was seated promptly. I got a country omelette and an orange juice. The best part of this meal was the orange juice. I asked for no butter on my toast, and no cheese in the omelette. I have a milk allergy. The waitress informed me there wasn't cheese in this specific omelette. I got toast with butter on it, the omelette didn't have cheese. As far as the meal. The omelette was nothing to write home about. I had to add a lot of salt and pepper to eat it. The breakfast came with hashbrowns. Again no flavor whatsoever. Even after salt, pepper, and ketchup. I couldn't get the waitresses attention to get toast without butter so I went without. I waited for fifteen minutes after she asked if I wanted anything else, waited no longer and with no check in hand, walked to the cash register and paid. During the breakfast there was confusion among the staff and the owner as they decided to change which waitress covered what tables. I don't recommend this place. read more

The food is good, the service is fast and friendly. When you are done don't wait for the check just go cash register at the door. The menu has everything- stuffed grape leaves, prime rib, seafood, soups and of course cake! I got a hot corned beef for St. Patty's day with fries and pickle- it was perfect! The French fries as crispy and tasty! It is comforting place - they greet each customer by name or sweetie... try it out and trust me you will leave smiling. My meal was $9. read more

There aren't many diners in Northern Delaware. I had my eye on this one for a while, ever since they took over the space from Pizza Hut, and finally got out there for lunch. I've been to quite a number of diners and I have to say this one compares favorably. The lunch/dinner menu has an almost endless variety, although they are missing some diner classics, like Eggs Benedict, and they don't seem to have daily specials. I ordered a Mexican Omelet. The portion size was pretty big. The omelet was done just right and the fried potatoes were crisp. Service was also rather good, considering how busy the place was at lunchtime. The one downside seems to be that space in their parking lot is limited. We'll have a problem parking when the restaurant is packed. read more

Route 3 Diner - Mexican omelet - New American Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

We were a little nervous about the rating but everything was delicious!!! Anddd the personnel was welcoming and kind!

The food was great and they even covered odd requests. I asked for the three eggs and ordered the extra for $1. I wanted 3 scrambled and the other over easy on top... Not a problem at all. I even wanted extra extra crispy bacon and not only was this done but the broght it out with a paper towel to catch the grease (that is the extra mile). The wait staff was great and extremely attentive. This is Smiley's at its best. It is a local chain with Marsh Road Diner and a location in Newark. This was the first time here but I will be back. read more

First time eating here, and the service was outstanding. While I did enjoy the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich, the hash browns were meh. The restaurant has such a very nice homey feeling to it. read more

This spot is the best breakfast diner around. We've been going here for years and it has literally never disappointed us. The portions are generous and the meals are always put together thoughtfully. The wonderful family who owns this spot is clearly hardworking and know good food!! After going here for breakfast for 2 years, we finally ventured out and began ordering from the lunch/dinner menu. Boy we were not disappointed! The sandwiches are commercial-worthy. To give you a few examples: a side of bacon comes with at least 6, thick-cut, full pieces (none of that measly transparent bacon from other spots); the breakfast omelettes come on a plate the size of a platter, complete with a full half plate of hashbrowns; the BLT is basically 2 BLT's stacked (3 pieces of bread, one in the middle) and it comes cut into 4 triangle-shaped pieces which are each held together by a toothpick (it's a thick sandwich); the carrot cake, which is beyond delicious, comes as a very generously portioned slice. The ingredients are always fresh. The people are always friendly. It's a dream. I feel so grateful to have this spot so close by! They deserve all of the patrons, and some. read more

We can't figure out the low rating on this place. We've been there 3 times for lunch since they've rebranded with Rt 3 (used to be Smiley's). Each time my wife has gotten the chicken quesadilla because she's a fan of them in general and she says they are delicious here. I've had a burger twice and the last time the cobb salad with chicken on it. Everything I've had has been great including the french fries which are frankly perfect. That salad I just had days ago was huge and the grilled chicken strips on top were prepared really well. Our daughter tends to get the blueberry pancakes and gobbles them up. Oh, the food comes out in a reasonable time as well. The service has always been great and the owner/manager is very welcoming. We also like Hollywood and the new Metro dinner on 202 but its great to have this place closer to home and near our daughter's pre-school for a quick congrats on a 'great day at school' lunch for her with the family. read more

I have never given a poor review in my life! Unfortunately there is a first time for everything. The woman who takes the take out orders should not be answering the phone. The first time I had the "pleasure " of speaking w her was when I called back after picking up my order and noticed it was not complete. I just wanted her to be aware and wasn't asking for anything else. She huffed at me and asked me what my problem was!!! An employee next to her took the phone from her and apologized. I gave them another chance a few weeks later......the order once again was wrong. I called back and asked to speak to the manager and she hung up on me three times and then she told me she was the manager, which was not the truth. I would never go again or recommend to anyone!! read more

Gross gross gross! Food, service and wait time are seriously lacking stay away - far away!

Probably one of the most ridicolous restaurant experiences I've had. Food Is whatever as well. I know this place keeps changing names all the time. Our waitress she had all the food on the plate on her portable table. She started taking the plates off and then the whole tray tipped over knocking all the food on the ground. She managed to grab the toast and its plate but we were like you just touched it with your hands we dont want that. Ridicolous but funny experience read more

Wow could the food be any worse? Obviously it can get twice as bad since this is a second location for the family owned diner. I went there with a friend to wait while a custom Christmas order was being filled at Marini's (check out my review of thier Christmas shop) and I can honestly say I had the worst "omelette" ever, and I have eaten is some pretty bad places, including Russian airlines The version of omelette here was scrambled eggs with stuff thrown in the mix, cooked till hard and brown. Theses thin layers of eggs were then folded in to give one the impression that it was an omelette. Kind of like saying "hide that" when you screw something up big time. Dry and crumbling with nothing but burnt egg flavors. Even the wonder beard wheat toast could not hide this monstrosity On the plus side, it did cover the entire plate when the tasteless cold home fries were added. Save your money and go to McDonalds at least there you will know you are eating eggs. read more

Very slow on a Wed at 830 am yet the hostess was unfriendly and service slow and unresponsive. The omelette and hash browns were actually pretty good and coffee average for this type of place. I asked for crispy bacon. There is a difference between crispy and burnt. 20+ mins after my food was delivered before the server returned to ask if "everything was ok". I motioned to the burnt bacon. She asked me if I wanted a box. I declined a replacement since I was mostly finished. I've never been to a diner that wasn't generous with coffee yet I was not offered a refill. I'd say I doubt this place will last but after almost 3 weeks still packing it in. We'll see. read more

Route 3 Diner - New American Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

Love this diner. Food is always good and friendly staff. Doing wonderfully with covid as take out has been flawless. I highly recommend it read more

Ordered here on a whim through grub hub - and after seeing these reviews on yelp, I was kind of worried about my order. I don't live too far away so it was still warm and crispy and perfect. Their chicken club sandwich was on point - chicken was cooked and seasoned perfectly. My bf and I were RAVVVING about the fries - best fries we've had in a while read more

Route 3 Diner - FRIES and chicken club sandwich - New American Near Me - Wilmington, Delaware

I had breakfast here this morning and was pleasantly surprised. My parents loved it when it was Sage but then supposedly it changed hands and the quality declined, however my experience today was perfectly good. Our waitress was really friendly and the food was quick and delicious. I will definitely be back! read more

This is one of the best diners in town. Try their green beans as a side. Always plentiful sides and entrees and quite delicious. I'm on the keto diet, so I eat a lot of meat. I order their steaks regularly and I can tell you this is the only place in town who knows how to properly cook a steak! I order it medium and it always comes out perfect. Waitress Nya is a doll and an excellent waitress. Owner is a sweetheart who helps out the servers when it's busy or when they're low on staff. Will always be my go to diner bc of the excellent service and great prices! read more