I'm really surprised this restaurant is still in business. My wife and,I went Saturday night. I ordered the calamari, which wasn't too bad. Then I ordered the bbq ribs and chicken breast. Two very thin pieces of chicken and the four ribs I got were under cooked and hard. Good thing the meal was only $22.00. When I asked the waitress for a little cup with some more spaghetti sauce for the calamari, she said it would cost $1.50 extra!! They don't give you enough to begin with! I just said no, I'm good. We have spaghetti sauce home. Luckily, my wife's meal, the fried haddock, wasn't too bad for her. Oh, and the waitress brought over garlic bread, but she said that had been sitting out for a while after we ate a couple pieces. She must've seen me struggling to bite off a piece so she ended up bringing over another plate of bread. Won't be going back anytime soon. read more

Food is always delicious. Wait staff are friendly and personable. Don't forget a slice of homemade pie and some nice hot coffee. I've never had a bad meal here. We'll be back soon! Thank you!! AA+ read more

All three of our meals should have totaled well below 60$ all together they charged me and 2 other people 85$ itemizing the receipt with items like bacon for one person costing 10.75 or chocolate chips for 5$ The waitress acted like she didn't want to be there the whole time cursing at us under her breathe from behind the counter because she didn't think we could hear her. Stomach ache after eating the food would not stop here again read more

Take a Break Restaurant - Food for 3 - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Vestal, New York

My first diner stop in the area. The food I ordered was their house breakfast something? Forgot the name, but it had bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, potatoes. Also got a side of French toast. The food was the highlight of the visit. Gigantic portions, eggs were cooked perfectly the way I like it, meats were good, pancakes were a little flat but decent, potatoes were my favorite. Perfectly cooked slices and nice crispy edges, perfectly seasoned. Coffee was yummy and refilled regularly. The French toast was honestly one of the best I've ever enjoyed. Thick bread, perfectly seasoned with the spices. Syrup is served on the side with togo ramekins. Service was great, friendly and aware of our needs and got everything we needed. Ambience. Adorable and cozy local diner feel. I can see myself getting lost in a book and enjoying a quiet morning with my breakfast...mmm definitely my favorite diner in the area. I will definitely come back again. I recommend the plates a dishes ordered. read more

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Old-school. Usually very solid service. Great prices, consistent quality and taste. As a college student this place fed me more times than I could count. Cant recommend TAB enough. read more

Where to start.... Husband and I decided to try this place after reading some pretty good reviews on Google. Just wanted a good diner, with good diner portions, good diner prices and good diner options. Pretty decent options as far as the menu is concerned but we settled on some basic fried mozzarella sticks with marinara. Our waitress was super sweet and very attentive. She put our app order in right away so we would have a nice break between that and our entrees. Mozz sticks came out, the battered kind not the breaded, I like both varieties so I was fine with battered. Sauce was a little sweet for my liking but still hot and tasty. The sticks were crispy on the outside but sadly still nearly solid on the inside. No cheese pull, no melt. Disappointed but still hopeful for some good diner grub. I ordered a hot coffee and a grilled cheese with ham. My husband ordered a water and a bacon cheeseburger with fries. We had a nice pause in between our mozz sticks and meal so we did not feel rushed at all. Our entrees arrived and both looked like pretty good portions. The bread on my grilled cheese and ham was nicely browned and looked like "good bread"--if you're a bread lover, you'll know what I mean. I had been craving a melty ham and cheese sandwich so I was very happy to tear into this one. I have a habit of always "deconstructing" sandwiches or burgers and then reconstructing them before i eat them--due in part to a nightmare situation where i bit into a burger only to find a very long hair baked INTO my burger. Sooo as I take my grilled cheese and ham apart I'm a little disappointed to see that even though the bread looks great, there is literally one square of American cheese on each piece of bread--it didn't even fully cover the bread. There was this big section of bread that had zero cheese on it. Well, i thought, I could just rearrange the ham and cover the bread that way. Nope. One circular slice of ham cut in half. The two slices of pickle chips were the highlight of my plate. So now I'm checking out my husband's plate to see what I can steal. Fries were a lil soggy but the onion rings were delicious. His burger patty def looked like it was a preformed frozen patty but he said that it was very good. I'll have to take his word on that! The dessert case looked very inviting and had lots to choose from. We decided on some mixed berry (strawberries, raspberries and blackberries)cheesecake. We had them boxed to go to enjoy a little later. Check came and I was slightly shocked to see a near 60 dollar total. With tip i paid over 70 dollars for ONE cup of coffee, barely cooked mozz sticks a pathetic sandwich, a burger with fries and some cheesecake. Now if this was the best damn grilled cheese I ever had, I wouldn't bat an eye...but trust me, it.was.NOT. Also, the top of my cheesecake had this maple syrup glaze that I was not expecting. Meh. Two stars only because our waitress was so very nice and my husband was "fine" with his food. I don't think there will be a return trip. read more

Take a Break Restaurant - Grilled ham and cheese. More cheese please!! - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Vestal, New York

I took my 2 grandsons ages 4 and 6 last Saturday afternoon for an enjoyable lunch (so I thought). While taking one of the boys to the restroom I overheard a female staff say "they let the animals out" I was shocked by her behavior and will NEVER go back there!! You need more family friendly staff!!! read more

I've been here with my son twice while dropping him off or picking him up from the local SUNY school. Once in Dec 2023 for dinner and again in Mar 2024 for breakfast. The first time both of our meals were superb -- quickly prepared and delivered, with good service. I had a piece of cake to go that was also quite good. However, the second time, for breakfast, the food was merely OK and the service merely adequate. We'll be going back for dinner again, but for breakfast will try other local diners before returning. Oh yes, I got carrot cake takeout for my wife -- she thought there was too much and too sweet a frosting and so removed 2/3rds of it...but it looked somewhat typical to me. read more

Take-a-break is a go to for weekend brunch. Big menu with great food at reasonable prices. Can't go wrong.

At the beginning of 2021, my girlfriend and I made an effort to eat at as many different diners around Binghamton. TAB is our stand-alone favorite. The waitresses are always very friendly, not to mention very patient. The food is served fast, it's massive portions, and it tastes phenomenal. We almost always get the Chicken Souvlaki platters because they are delicious. I've seen other bad reviews on here and it genuinely confuses me because we've had nothing but great service and delicious food every time we go. Prices are relatively cheap too. read more

Take a Break Restaurant - Chicken Souvlaki Platter - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Vestal, New York

Horrible Service !I ordered Pasticho and was brought Spinach Pie instead. When I told the waitress It was okay, the waitress offered no apology but instead just said okay and walked away. My wife asked for some bread with her soup and never got the bread. The waitress never came back to ask if everything was ok, or to refill my coffee, or to clear empty stacked plates, but instead just ignored our table our entire visit. When we went to the register to pay, we were not asked if everything was ok. There are plenty of other places to eat. Take a Break does not deserve my business. read more

We usually eat here each time we're in Vestal - three or four times a year, and we haven't been disappointed yet. Our last trip was on Saturday the 11th of January for lunch. My husband enjoyed broiled bluefish with a cup of Chicken Florentine soup as a starter. I skipped the soup and had delicious, crunchy fries and a haddock sandwich cooked just right - and then I ordered another round of fries to go. Did I mention they were crunchy and delicious? Parking here is easy, a handicap ramp is available, and the service is great. I'm definitely going again. read more

Love the pastitsio though it's 1/2 pastitsio and 1/2 lasagna. We prefer takeout as the carpets are tripping traps. Prices are fair despite inflation. read more

Clean quiet diner (we came in at 3pm). Service was prompt. Menu had a nice selection of usual diner choices from burgers, Italian, and seafood platters. Prices seemed pretty reasonable. The soups are homemade. Italian wedding soup was very good. We had a cheesesteak/fries and a Reuben burger which was something different to try. I included pictures because the tomatoes were the reddest I've ever seen. Notice the all dark green leafy lettuce. Not the crappy almost white iceberg served elsewhere. The burger was cooked a little more than we ordered (medium) but it was still good. The cheesesteak was made with big chunks of peppers and onions that were obviously fresh and roasted nicely. The meat was slicked thicker than what you would usually get in a cheesesteak so it tasted nice and hearty. Overall, it's someplace I would certainly revisit. read more

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Had a haddock fish sandwich with sweet potato fries. So good. The food and service at Take a Break never disappoints. Definitely will be returning! read more

Breakfast, awful. Toast was black as coal hard as 2 x 4. Home fries i got the bottom of the skillet. Black, brown, hard both could not eat. Omelet was fine. Never going back. Many other places that take pride in quality and what they serve. NASTY read more

We've been eating at the TAB for over 20 years. The service and food are good, the prices are reasonable, and the daily lunch specials are terrific. I've never had an order done wrong, and I like the variety offered by the menu. read more

Doesn't meet expectations. Only three other tables of diners, yet painfully slow. Ordered eggs poached well-done. Received runny eggs. My companion ordered a lunch entree, which came on rice. Yet, we were told it came with a potato also! Substitutions are not allowed, even if you offer to pay the difference. Geesh! Exterior of restaurant sure could use a freshening up. Only good thing was that the waitress was very polite. Doubt if we will return. read more

Awesome meal. I love that they have breakfast and lunch/dinner all day- sooo many choices! We had a variety of items- chicken strips with fries, my daughter is LOVING the fries especially! Pancakes with bacon, they want to take a few orders home! And manicotti with soup and a bread assortment. Everything was hot, fresh and delicious. Lovely atmosphere, friendly staff and amazing desserts!!! Good value too! read more

I used to go here in the 90's and 2000's, and it was good for what it was. But evidently they are under new ownership, and I've heard nothing but complaints over the past year-or-so from people I know who have gone, including several close friends. I've also read some horrific stories from ex-employees about how they were treated. And the final straw that has solidified I will never go back is seeing a message sent from the owner's son to someone who left a bad review. Rather than trying to correct the matter, the owner's son instead threatened the reviewer with physical violence and made numerous and frankly disturbing racist and homophobic comments. I'd recommend staying as far away as humanly possible. read more

Garbage!! Another owner took ownership today July 4th 2018. She is as unprofessional as you can get. Do not waste your time. You are better off eating out of a dumpster then ordering food from here. Hopefully ownership changes again because they are clueless and do not know anything about customer service or how to prepare a meal. I wish I could make this review a negative 10 stars. I do not post negative reviews but they took it to another level. Horrible in every way. I was a once to twice a week customer with a family of four. Never again. read more

My boyfriend got hired here and only worked there for 3 hours until he got sent home, he did everything they asked, he could barely understand the owner because he was speaking Spanish. When they sent him home they said they'd call when they needed him again but he never got a call. His friend also worked there for a few days until he quit due to bad management. These people don't know what they're doing. Also there freezer had meat out in the open along with other food. When they got payed their paychecks came two weeks late. I would not recommend coming here. It's disgusting and a waste of money. read more

I hope that the criticism I'm going to give here will be used in the spirit in which I'm giving it. I want all of our local businesses to do well, but this restaurant isn't going to continue successfully unless some changes are made, and quickly. I'm going to lay out the good things about our most recent visit to this restaurant and then I'll address the negatives. The good: - The restaurant was still clean and pleasant, as it has been for years. - FOX news was blissfully absent from any of the televisions in the restaurant. - The server who helped us was very nice and very polite, even when things were clearly going poorly. - The salads we received were very good. - The entrees came out quickly enough. The bad: - The bread served before the meal is not up to the standard one might expect if they're spending money to eat out. Hot dog buns and Hawaiian bread are just not cutting it. - The sauces and the way they're being used in the entrees are questionable, to be polite. I have never tasted a sweeter marinara sauce in my life, not even out of a Chef Boyardee can; this was NOT a sauce that has any business being served in a restaurant. The use of this sugary red sauce on the pasta sampler was unimpressive, but the addition of this same(allegedly Italian-style) sauce into the moussaka on the Greek platter is simply unforgivable. The management/chef team need to get together and taste test some of these meals and see if they can't get them a little further from elementary school cafeteria grade food. - I understand that the pasta platter was one of the specials of the day, but it had been a put together a while before we came in, obviously. While not offensively stale, it had been sandbagged, clearly, and the time it sat under the salamander getting the cheese melted on top of everything wasn't helping it. read more

Stopped in on a Saturday afternoon. Greeted warmly and promptly shown to a both. They have a good amount of Saturday specials listed. My wife and I were off the regular menu. Tuna salad sandwich for her and a French dip for me. Food arrived in a very timely manner. Now for the part that matters.. The food. Unfortunately we were both very underwhelmed. The roast beef was tough and lacked flavor. The tuna salad was different colors, some very dark. Unfortunately I don't know that we'll be back. read more

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Wrong food.... three waiters later still wrong.... owner didnt really know what to do with a complaint

Stopped in for a quick bite for dinner. The food was nothing to rave about. I ordered the Open Faced Turkey Sandwich. The mashed potatoes came with Beef gravy on them...(would have liked the turkey gravy). I found the place to be pretty dirty. Dead bugs on the window sills, had to wipe off my seat before sitting down. I would suggest that instead of the staff sitting at the counter gabbing to each other, that they sweep the floor, wipe off the seats and window sills or just do "busy work". It would enhance the over all appearance for any future customers. read more

We haven't been here in a while, so we stopped in for breakfast. Service was decent, portion size was perfect, although the wife had to get a to go box for her fruit rolled pancakes, see the photo, a the dining room was neat and clean. And $20 for two for breakfast. read more

Take a Break Restaurant - Fruit rolled pancakes with whipped cream - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Vestal, New York

Horrible. Wife order a philly steak sandwich......barely a pinch of meat. All bread and onions. Went to use restroom...cavelike. one light that barely lit sink area. Sat at toilet and toilet loudly slammed back and forth from wall. Never again. Only reason this dump got one star is it's required to leave review.. I have had better accommodations and food camping.... read more

Worst meal ever, soup was cold and salad was brown. The special was terrible, shrimp and scallops over rice. The shrimp still had the guts in them, in other words, not cleaned and they were tough. The server forgot to add the word scallops on the ticket, they were brought out in what looked like disgusting creamy Italian salad dressing. Our waiter was pleasant and attentive that was the only positive aspect of the experience. The food was so overpriced and just awful. For the amount we spent we were hoping for something palatable. We saw some friends there at the same time and said one meal was so salty they couldn't eat it and the other was a hot turkey sandwich and French fries, hard to mess that up. I would not recommend this place to anyone. read more

Ive been coming here for well over 30 years .. Im not sure what happened in the last 2 weeks but the food was terrible and there were hardly any deserts in the case .. a couple not so appealing cakes and a few pies .. The older waitress was nasty and unprofessional as always but seemed even more so making nasty comments about the other waitress loud enough for customers to hear .. food tool so long we just boxed ot up and took it home .. only good thing was the new waiter .. Im sure he wont stick around .. he was terribly embarrassed and to professional to work there .. thank god petes legacy is next door !!! read more

Back to the bad old days. 2 stars because the specials and breakfast are ok. Don't order off the menu. Everything is old, been standing in the kitchen. Back to lousy food generally. Waitstaff is great, though. read more

Horrible! Service was terrible. Restaurant was nearly empty - which should have been an ominous sign given it was during the lunch hour. My wife and I ordered moussaka. In summary, yuck. It was served with - tomato sauce?!?!?!? (Even though it usually comes with bechamel sauce and per the menu - it was supposed to have bechamel sauce). The meat was dry. Again, yuck. The waitress had disappeared (see above comment on service). The "hostess" was more concerned about stuffing her face eating her lunch at the counter. Our complaints to her were met with ambivalence. Unfortunately, there's not one positive to note - and we unfortunately will not be returning to Take a Break. read more

Nice diner-like atmosphere, very friendly staff, low prices. I went here yesterday for dinner. I got a salad with salmon served on top, which was excellent. The salmon was seared very nicely (crisp exterior and flaverful) and they served it with balsalmic vinegar dressing. My girlfriend got the london broil served with mushrooms, and it was pretty good. The london broil was an $8-$9 special it came with soup, a salad, and dessert! Can't beat that, considering they have to pay the staff! Would come here again. read more

My granddaughter was up at 3am throwing up everything she from there,,my daughter had chicken wrap i had a piece of it I told don't eat that ,it's was old meat,,,the cakes are way over price $7. $8. Really slice!!!! Not home made too much lard in frosting,,never will i go there,,I feel they should refund my card,,,if 4125. 0 is my review read more

The best experience I've had dining EVER. All of the food was amazing and the service was great.

I've never had a bad meal at Take a Break! Today I had the bacon cheeseburger deluxe-it was Perfect! Classic flat top burger (not greasy) with a toasted bun, old fashioned hand cut types fried-cooked crispy and a few onion rings to kick it up a notch. I also highly recommend the Greek Salad-or anything Greek there for that matter, because they use the best feta cheese you will ever taste! Seriously, try the Greek sampler-I defy you to finish it! The spinach pie is to die for. Now let's talk about breakfast-get there early or everyone else will get there before you and you'll have to wait for a table! That's because they make the best braekfast around. The bacon is always perfect, eggs are just the way you want them, and wether you're in the mood for fried potatoes or something sweeter ( I love the Belgium waffles-my better half is a pancake man) you won't be disappointed! read more

The service was friendly, but excruciatingly slow despite the restaurant being fairly empty and plenty of wait staff standing around. Three different entrees ordered across the table and all shared, at best, blandness. The mac and cheese was mushy and lacked any flavor at all; and the cabbage rolls looked like dishrags and tasted like they were coated in ketchup. The cheesesteak was awful - I am still not entirely sure what meat it was. Even the soups were bad - the clam chowder had hard bits in it and the yankee bean tasted canned. The salads were limp and yellow. the whole experience was disappointing. read more

a few months ago Plaza Diner on the parkway closed down and they ended up taking over Take A Break. i wasn't really familiar with either restaurant too well so i can't compare the new to the old, so take this for what it is. the breakfast here was mediocre. the pancakes were a little on the tough side, not a very good texture but the taste was ok. i remember the bacon being decent as well as the home fries, and the scrambled eggs were also pretty good. i'm on the fence about their lunch/dinner items. i tried the chicken souvlaki and the meat was good, but i didn't like how it was plated. i was expecting a wrap with lettuce, tomato, tzatziki sauce, feta, and chicken, but they just gave me chicken served over a pita that was cut into quarters and a side of tzatziki sauce. the sauce was actually pretty good, and the chicken was seasoned well and cooked well. the pita didn't seem like it was the freshest but it was better than the one i had at Greek House in JC. the fries i had with it weren't good at all though. i also had their roasted chicken dinner with mashed potatoes. the potatoes were ok, as was the chicken. the chicken was moist and seasoned well. the gravy could have been a little more flavorful though, and the stuffing that came with it was too sweet. they have a lot of desserts that look really good, but i've only been able to sample a few. i tried a cherry danish that was underwhelming, but the baklava here is really good, possibly the best i've had, so definitely try that. i also got a cream puff that was probably good when it was fresh, but this one seemed a little stale. the place looks really nice on the inside and it's very clean. the service was good too, i don't have any complaints about that. when it comes down to it, you can get a decent meal here, but do you really want to settle for just decent? there's better places out there, i'm not sure if i will be back anytime soon read more

This place is me any mother's favorite diner in town. So many different options to chose from. My favorite dish is the chicken gyro wrap, the pita is delicious and the chicken is cooked perfectly and I am in love with the to tezzeki sauce and amazing french fries. Also the desserts in the display case are absolute heaven! read more

Our family meets here once a week for breakfast. Our server, Maria is the absolute best. She has our coffee ready as we walk in. She is friendly, funny and attentive. Now for the breakfast, the homefries are terrible! Eggs usually arrive exactly as ordered. Service is always fast. Prices are on the high side. read more