I have yet to be wowed by any diners and the same happened here today. This is a typical Jersey diner, with the usual fare and mediocre service. When you walk in, the interior actually looks better than the exterior, which was surprising (nothing super special though). They have one menu devoted to breakfast and another with other foods. I ordered the breakfast quesadilla ($11.99), which was pretty filling and hearty. It also came with potatoes, which were fine. The guacamole didn't seem super fresh. I often think you should be getting more of a bargain at diners but mostly every dish was over $10/11. Overall, it's just okay. It seems like the parking lot can fill up, even if the interior isn't full, perhaps because it's near the entrance/exit to the Garden State Parkway. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Breakfast quesadilla - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

I used to love coming here. The food is fantastic and the service is super friendly. The dining room is clean and well maintained. During the pandemic I ordered breakfast to go for the whole family about 3-5 times a month. We were always happy. Today the owner made a show of adding $5 to my bill for a to-go cup for my coffee after spending $65 on breakfast. Most places just hand you a cup and a lid without a second thought. No business is making a 97% profit margin on handing people paper cups, that's just not realistic. I can understand that price if I walked in and ordered coffee from your coffee bar, but I asked you for a cup for a coffee you had already poured and got charged $5 for it. That's ridiculous, I won't be back. read more

Excellent diner I'm glad I gave it a try while in Paramus. Sandwich was great, sides very generous and friendly staff.

Went for breakfast on a sun morning. No wait Food was excellent Service was excellent I'll be back. read more

My family & I are visiting from PA & tried this diner. We were seated quickly & everyone was friendly, which was nice. We were surprised by how expensive everything was on the menu so we decided to try the Shepherd's Pie special. The Greek lemon soup that it came with was absolutely delicious. That was by far the star of the meal. Unfortunately, the Shepherd's Pie had a really odd taste & was not good. We also had to beg for drinks, which I hate. All in all I'd give this place a C or 3 stars. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - the Shepherd's Pie special that was not very good & had a really odd combination of flavors - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

This place is a ghost town for a reason. Ordered a grilled cheese with vegetables for my 2yr old and it was caked in oil. Vegetables we not even cooked. Asian Salmon salad was soaked in dressing. I mean soaked. It feels like they made it this morning and decided to serve it again. The salmon on top was excellent but some nice lettuce would have been nice. It's awful. $17 and they can't make a salad. With so many amazing dinners in this area and the impossible turn getting out of here I would keep going to Suburban or Gotham. Tom Sawyer himself would have jumped ship. When checking out I asked the manager if the waitress told him about the soaked dish and he said "yes I told the chef not to add so much dressing. Do you need change" Clueless. Just because you have been in business a long time doesn't mean you know how to run one properly. Or this place would be busy. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

Let's start with 5 stars and I'll show you how I get to one! 5 stars - 1 star: The Food; not good. Wife ordered a burger well done came out rare. My chicken blah. 4 stars -1 star: the price. On the high end for food of that quality. Plus a lot of weird little up charges. Penny pinching on things that I notice equals penny pinching on the quality of food you purchase 3 stars -1 star: the service. Odd remarks from the waiter. Not so much at me but rather what he was saying to tables around us. I'm guessing the owner is behind the register. Seemed to have an attitude like he was doing you a favor. He should hire a manager and stay at home. He will be better off. 2 stars -1 star: Why the hell is it so damn hot in here. Turn on the ac cheap ass 1 star read more

I'd describe the diner as nothing special. There are definitely more wholesome diners in Bergen County, but this is right by the highways and close to shopping centers. My friend and I ordered burgers and had good service throughout. We stayed for 3+ hours just talking, and they gave us plenty of pickles with our burgers and a free dessert too. However, the dessert was not so tasty (I'm still not sure what it was), but it's the though that counts! The no substitutions on burgers was a let down, so I'd definitely go elsewhere for a good burger. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Top of the World burger- bacon, cheddar, sautéed mushroom, onion. - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

See all

Worst experience of my life! My friends and I went to Tom Sawyer Diner on a Sunday night at 7:30pm, the front staff sat us down with our two children. The waitress came over as we were setting up our children and she told us that we had 30 minutes to eat because they were closing. She never allowed us to look at a menu and we had to make a decision quickly. We decided not to leave because we already had the children all set up (which takes a while). She kept coming over every couple minutes while we were eating to try to clean our plates....I only took about one or two bites of my salad! She was confused where to place the plates! What a terrible experience!!! read more

Really good food and decent service. Well priced. Enjoyed my few visits. Definitely will come back

The waiters were super nice and the food came out fast! It was so cute and homey feeling. Also very clean!!

Great place! We were looking for a good burger and could not find one in the area. Stopped by here and were very pleasantly surprised by the burger we ordered. Fresh meat, hand made. Great toppings. The Greek salad with chicken was also very good. The service excellent and people very friendly! read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - The Sriracha Burger! - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

Good food. Great friendly waitress, but very nasty owner. Grumpy, unwelcoming. Cursing, annoyed at people. Don't even think about asking for a receipt from him because he will tell and curse at you. They talk badly about customers in their presence not caring that people can hear them. Very unpleasant experience despite a good quality food. The owner needs to work on his people skills. Never coming here again. read more

Solid diner with ez-off, ez-on access from the GS Parkway. Great spot to stop if you want a decent meal instead of fast food at the rest stops. Giving it the lower rating because of the cost for a kids meal; $10.99! Seems excessive for a hot dog and fries! Heck, my custom omelette was only $10.75. Kids meals should be no more than $6, maybe 8 bucks. Asked asked the manager/cashier about the cost when we were settling up...he couldn't have cared less. read more

So disappointed :( They had the worst pancakes I ever had! It tasted horrible, fake, worst than boxed pancakes! Everything else was ok (you can't go very wrong with eggs and bacon lol). My son had a panini sandwich, that came in a bun, but at least all the ingredients were fresh and tasted good. But they lost us with the pancakes... a diner with bad pancakes?!! Oh and the prices weren't friendly, they charged $12.99 for 2 pancakes, 2 eggs and bacon!! read more

I like to come to this diner, the food is good and well prepared. Had the Mango burger and it was delicious, well cook and great taste. The raspberry salad is also delicious and the serving size is just right. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Mango Burger - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

Food was fine. Service was as well. My problem is the cost. They are way over priced except for Suburban Diner. Sounds like a little funny business except for the fact that they both bring in the customers who pay. I for one will go to Benny's or Juana's in Fair Lawn. Juan's isn't cheap either but the food is s whole lot better than any other place around. read more

Food is always fresh and the staff is very attentive. Atmosphere is nice and clean and inviting.

Not sure why my cousin picked the Tom Sawyer Diner for a post-funeral meal for the family, but apparently he had been here after every visit to the nearby Cedar Park Cemetery, where several members of our family are interred. I guess he feels that while in mourning it is good to extend the suffering by eating mediocre food. Me? I'd rather not punish myself this way. Anyway, there we were. Fourteen cousins of varying degrees and a couple of friends. We had the back tables pushed together, and one server was assigned to us. The house looked well appointed for a Jersey Diner. Lot's of marble and chandeliers. The menu listed many standards, but seemed shorter than available in other roadside kitchens. I wasn't particularly hungry after standing in the cold rain for an hour, and breakfast in New Milford earlier in the day. So, I ordered a bowl of their soup special - Corn Chowder, and my partner in sadness, the gyro plate. Not impressed. For alleged corn chowder, there were precious few kernels (or anything else) in the yellow colloidal liquid placed before me. The taste was reminiscent of chowder, but lacked the right texture, and almost any veggies. It was clearly watered down. Guys. Just tell us that you are out of it. I would understand, and move on. That would have been better than what I slurped. The gyro was acceptable processed beef in pita with dill sauce on the side. The rest of the overstuffed plate was fries, cole slaw, and some other mishmash. We ate what we could, but left most behind. Looking around, most seemed content with their meals, but despite all our conversation, failed to hear any rave reviews for our lunch. Can't fathom what the Mark Twain reference here was about. Didn't see any fences to whitewash, nor rafts to climb aboard. read more

See all

Small piece of advice: Re-do your menu online It has a number of glaring spelling mistakes You have a whole section emblazoned in large letters "WARPS" ( instead of "WRAPS") You proclaim under Fountain Favorites that your "Black Cow" is made with "Real Beer." I am sure it should be "Root Beer." You should check it carefully and send out a new one read more

Absolutely horrible management. The owner should be ashamed of himself, no people skills and the food is horrible! If you're looking for a great food AND service go to Suburban diner! I will never go back to Tom Sawyer. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner isn't bad but there are much better diner options in the area than this one. I come here only when I'm very close by. Things I don't like: 1. No French onion soup. Seriously what diner doesn't have French onion soup. 2. No substitutions. Apparently they don't like when you ask for a baked potato instead of fries. 3. Limited menu. Not as large of an array as other diners. Things I like: 1. The food isn't bad. Standard diner food. No complaints. 2. Nice, clean restaurant and bathrooms as well. 3. Pleasant and quick service. All in all, Tom Sawyer isn't a bad diner but I've definitely had better. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Spinach pie - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

See all

OMG just got back from Tom Sawyer diner. Food was ok but they nickel and dimes us for everything. My friend asked for a take home container and THEY CHARGED HER FOR IT. They also charged her 2.00 for a slice of toast. Their prices were OUTRAGEOUS ($15.99 for a grilled chicken wrap with fries). My regular old burger was $10.99. Then they charged me $1 for the American cheese on it. The waitress NEVER MENTIONED any additional charges when we asked for these things. read more

Okay I've never posted a Yelp review before, but I was viscerally upset about this. The wrap and sandwich we bought were both very soggy and flavorless. The bun on the grilled chicken sandwich was completely mushy and congealed on the bottom! Also, the online menu lists different prices for the items than we were charged. Overall, really bad experience, we couldn't even finish our food. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

I ordered food off of uber eats and I was brought the wrong food, which isn't why I'm writing a bad review.... but when I called to let them know there was a switch up and my driver was on his way back with the other food to switch them the man who answered yelled at me that the food needed to be returned immediately because the customer was waiting.... completely ignoring that: 1. I'm a customer too, and 2. I'm calling you to give you a heads up and you have the audacity to make me feel bad when I didn't even have to send it back being it was 4 trays of food and I only ordered one thing. Needless to say dine in or take out, I will not be back. I also never received my lunch either. read more

Howdy! Normally I would have at LEAST a 5 star review of Tom Sawyer Diner because the Staff and the Owner are some of the nicest people ever! A couple of years ago I wandered in and ordered Corned Beef Hash & Eggs. As you might imagine I presumed I would get the usual - wet and mushy corned beef hash from a can, loaded with potatoes instead of corned beef and always overly salty. To my surprise, what came out can only be called amazing. It was obviously homemade, was almost 100% corned beef, perfectly seasoned and with little crispy edges. Wow! Needless to say that whenever I have been in the area of Tom Sawyer I have always stopped in for Hash & Eggs regardless of the time of day or even if I had just eaten! Today, however was such a gross disappointment that I felt a review was necessary. There are probably many others like me who appreciate the "real deal" when it comes to corned beef hash. And, what was served to me today was truly nasty. I have been in the Restaurant business for over 40 years having created some of the top comfort and fine food places in Manhattan over my career. What I got today was mush. Typical of what comes out of a #10 can in an everyday diner. Overloaded with potatoes, wet and salty. When I asked if something had changed I was assured by the Staff that it was still homemade. If that is true then someone went to a great deal of trouble to completely destroy and ruin a wonderful item by making it a carbon copy of the crap out of a can. The Staff is still some of the nicest and attentive people on the planet and I did not punish the waiter but gave him a good cash tip. Oh yes, I almost forgot. Corned Beef Hash & Eggs with an Iced Tea now costs almost $20.00! RUFKM!!!!! What happened here? read more

In my 27 years of life, I've passed by this diner many times, as I have family who live nearby. I've never visited, so I picked a cold, sunny Sunday to stop by. My waiter was Phil, a nice Indian man who checked on us a few times while we were reading the menu. My cousin ordered the Top of the World Burger and a mango smoothie. I ordered the Honey Dijon wrap and a mango smoothie. While waiting for our food, I noticed the diner was immaculately clean and very modern, which I'm assuming was from the renovations they made after the fire closed them down. It's a beautiful space, but it's unfortunate the food is terrible. Our mango smoothies came out first, and I was very confused as to where the mango was. It was a yogurt based smoothie, but it had little to no flavor that I thought I had been given a peach smoothie. I asked our waiter about it, and he verified it was mango. He asked me if I wanted to switch it out for a different flavor, but none of them (raspberry, strawberry, pina colada, peach) appealed to me. He was kind enough to inform me to mention it at the front for the drink to be comped, but since I had drank 1/4 of it, I declined. Our food came out relatively quickly and was hot. I don't have high expectations for diner food, but this was terrible. The fries were crispy but underwhelming. My wrap was a chopped mish mash of skinny chicken strips, bacon, a TON of iceberg lettuce and a slice of Swiss. The honey dijon dressing was very mild and unpleasant tasting. I ate the smaller half of the wrap, and I packed the other half to go. I'll probably give it away to someone because I hate wasting food. My cousin's burger looked like a frozen patty with a very shiny bun. He said the burger was "decent, diner food." I had high hopes of dessert saving the day, but that was a miss. Maybe I picked the wrong dessert, but the chocolate mousse was awful. Two thin layers of semi sweet chocolate cake, sandwiched between slightly thick, flavorless mousse. A maraschino cherry topped it off with a border of sticky chocolate. I ate a few bites and the cherry before giving up. This meal was a bit pricey, around $46 (pre-tax/tip), which was not worth it. I'll give it the stars for the ambience, and our waiter was amazing and deserves 5 stars. The mystery of Tom Sawyer has been solved after 27 years, and this girl is going to stick with Suburban. read more

See all

One of the best diners I've ever been to. The service is always excellent, it's super clean inside and the food is all great. Their corn beef hash is unbelievable like really one of the best I've ever had. Their sandwiches for lunch are really good too. You could do a lot worse for an NJ diner. This place is awesome and I'm very happy to live so close to it. read more

I've been missing having breakfast at the Tom Sawyer Diner. The way the cheese just melts into the eggs and the bacon, who doesn't love bacon! What about you? read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Breakfast Sandwich - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

My experiences at Tom Sawyer Diner have always been four star. If I am on my way to Campmore, have business in NJ or on the way to Philadelphia; if it is breakfast or brunch time, you can bet this is where I will stop, hands down straight up they do it right for me. Eggs fluffy and light, smokey bacon that is more than plentiful and some of the best home fries on the trail. For me home fries are the tell tale sign for any breakfast restaurant, it sets the entire tone for the meal. Tom Sawyer has some of the tastiest crispiest home fires I have had anywhere. Damn, if you can't golden crisp them tater's with some excellent flavor drop that item from the menu or git out the bizzness. Sadly this admonition is never heeded and many restaurants are totally unaware that most customers believe and feel as I do, maybe not quite as militantly. The Diner is decorated beautifully inside, the service is excellent and the breakfast menu rocks, give it a try and see if you don't breakout in your happy dance. read more

See all

I went here tonight with my sons. We had been there in the past and it was really good. Out of three meals only one was good. I asked for a simple tuna melt. Basically I got a cold tuna sandwich with little attempt to melt the cheese. My son got a grilled chicken wrap that was supposed to also be warm with melted cheese. The cheese looked like plastic.. my other sons panini was ok. I wasn't going to complain but then the bill came to $50 for 3 sandwiches and 2 sodas. I don't mind paying that if it was good but if you pay over $13. For a tuna melt. ( I figure that's $9. Profit for them ) it should be perfect. They weren't even busy. It was a little bit later. Anyway the waiter was really nice as was the manager but the food not so much. Won't be going back. I mean really how do you mess up a tuna melt?? . read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

See all

Diners are like a pair of well worn slippers; we all have our favorite and comfort is key. This joint is not comfortable (closer to creepy) and that about sums up my experience here. It was late, we were hungry, and Tom Sawyer was on our way home. It is now morning, we both have bellyaches, and I stayed home to nurse mine. I like Mark Twain just fine, but this namesake eatery has only one thing in common with his famous character; a penchant for food related misadventures and mischief, and in that respect, it is aptly named. You can usually count on some decent basics at a diner in NJ -- like coffee, french fries, gyro's or reubens. But here the french fries tasted like deep fried balsa wood, and the open faced"combo" reuben came with too much sauerkraut, a few paltry slices of rubbery "mystery meat" masquerading as pastrami and corned beef, soggy rye bread and a tease of swiss cheese (at $13.95). I gave up at 3 forkfuls. The gyro (at $14.99) was greasy and sold as lamb (seasoned chopped beef all the way) accompanied by a congealed tzatziki sauce that spread like cream cheese. The gyro stayed behind too - mostly. The cole slaw looked and tasted old, and even the jarred thousand island dressing had an off flavor. The watered down coffee and iced tea was undrinkable. About the only item on our plates that tasted more or less as it should was the pickle. C'mon folks -- some people actually know the difference!! We declined dessert but our waiter brought a gratis piece of pumpkin pie anyway. I should have avoided this, but I was hungry and the meal sucked to that point. I tried it. It tasted like leftovers from well before Thanksgiving, and was served on a plate that had "Tom Sawyer" painted on in syrup. But the syrup (intended to be eaten with the pie) had hardened, providing some provenance of it's age. So far as service goes, it was little better than the food. When we arrived, the restaurant was empty -- it's night time after all -- but our waiter was impatient (like hopped up impatient) and constantly at us to order -- must have been to our table 7 or 8 times in 5 minutes. WTF?? The lady at the cash register was surly and indifferent, and the maitre d was frenetically walking about the front of house -- in a rush to go nowhere it seemed. Bizarre. I hate slamming restaurants, much less after a single visit, but I saw enough flaws in this operation to give it a failing grade -- and agree with many of the complaints posted by other reviewers on Yelp. It seems TS survive's mostly by dint of it's convenient location. Just off the Parkway and astride a shopping mall with little competition nearby, it probably attracts plenty of suckers and stragglers (like us). WIGB? Yeah -- right. "Bang - zoom - To the Moon Alice!" read more

Neighborhood diner and they are super kid friendly there. Highly recommend if you're in the area. Extensive menu and loved how they gave our toddler a free cookie on the way out. read more

Went for Mother's Day with the wife. Ordered an overstuffed sensation called the Carnegie Deli which is available with either pastrami, corned beef or roast beef. Asked for toasted bread and pastrami. Got a wimpy sandwich with Corned Beef! Mentioned it to the waiter. Came back from the kitchen indicating it was pastrami an showed some toast lines on the inside of the bread. This place used to be good but I'm not going to pay 8.99 for skinny sandwiches any more. We are not in NYC or the airport. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Overstuffed? - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

Dissatisfied customer. All, and I mean all, eggs are cooked on a flat top. The omelets tho many choices are dry and tasteless. They even cook scrambled eggs on the flat top therefore they turn out dry and even more tasteless. Couldn't even finish them. Then, how can you ruin eggs over? Just go there and find out. Most of the time, at least one is overcooked or broken. The runny yolk is what makes the meal. The toast is always cold so the butter just lays on it. So gross. The owners are pleasant but out of touch. No one seems to be watching the kitchen. They need a kitchen manager to oversee consistent quality control for their customers. Luckily, there are a plethora of diners in the area. read more

Of course I didn't get the waitress' name but gave her a difficult order for four people... i want this well done, I want to add this, I want to exchange this for that. NO ticket. Just all in her head. Not one slip up either. All our food was great, nothing out of the ordinary requested, but it all was delivered quickly and just as we asked for it. What else can you ask for? read more

When I was younger this was our go to place after school events. It had been many years since I had tried it and during that time it had been rebuilt so I decided to meet a friend here for breakfast. The restaurant was fairly empty so I was seated to wait for my friend before she arrived. The waitress was very impatient and rude and actually changed shifts with an equally rude man sometime during our breakfast. I ordered the breakfast quesadilla with crispy bacon however it was extremely tough. It was a large portion but it was so hard to eat and unappetizing that I left 3/4 of it on the plate. It also came with guacamole that had rock hard pieces of avocado in it which were also inedible. My friend ordered the ranchos wrap which she said was ok. Food and service was overall disappointing. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Breakfast Morning Quesadilla very tough - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

See all

Well I'm in for a roast again this place is absolutely awful after 20 years of trying to come back and think it was gonna be great I wish I had mistaken by the hinting flavor of Clorox bleach old food and pancake mixed waffle mix as a substitute for what I would not call pancakes. Definitely very disappointed upscale atmosphere is obviously fueled by these prices and terrible food not going to return here. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

See all

I don't expect gourmet food at a diner but if they say the have lobster bisque soup I expect something that will be close to it not crab meat imitation in tomato-vegetable broth! Disgusting! This is their 2nd soup I've had here and they are pretty bad. If you have to eat here stick with breakfast and salads. **See picture of soup in picture gallery. read more

Tom Sawyer Diner - Tom Sawyer's lobster bisque. Crab imitation meat in a tomota-vegetable broth - Diners Near Me - Paramus, New Jersey

Like a rising phoenix, it rose from its ashes to become something more beautiful and majestic. Ok, actually it burned down 1.5 years ago and they rebuilt it to look cooler. Tom Sawyer diner has a nice selection of food filled w/ delicious shakes and various appetizers. Their menu isn't as extensive as most NJ diners are (it was before it burned down) but it's a simplified menu and good, quality food. There's also fresh gelato! The only thing that was lacking was the service and some side sauces for our dishes. I guess it's understandable since I went when it was only newly opened for a day. I'm sure they'll work out the kinks. If they don't, I'll be sure to let you all know. read more