My spouse and I and a friend visited the Brooklyn Diner for
breakfast on a Saturday morning in late July 2018. The diner is open daily from
7:00 or 7:30 am until 11:00 pm or 12:00 midnight, depending on the day of the
week. (Unlike many traditional diners, this restaurant is not open 24 hours a
day.) You can make a reservation using the online Open Table system. (Note that
this restaurant gets crowded, and it is not unusual to wait 30 minutes or more
for a seat; however, it is located adjacent to a pocket park that offers a
comfortable place to wait.)
Despite its name, this diner is not located in Brooklyn.
Instead, you will find it in Midtown on West 57th Street (between Broadway
and 7th Avenue), just steps from Carnegie Hall and two blocks south
of Central Park. (It is close to hotels like the Essex House, The Parker
[Meridien], and The Viceroy.) The Brooklyn Diner is looks incongruous amidst
the Manhattan skyscrapers. Colorful Art Deco elements and fluorescent signage
decorate the outside of the streamlined stainless-steel restaurant that is
reminiscent of the prefabricated buildings found along roadsides in the 1950s
and 1960s. A second outlet of the Brooklyn Diner is located in the heart of the
Theatre District on West 43rd Street between Broadway and 6th
Avenue. The Fireman Hospitality Group operates the Brooklyn Diner, as well as
Bond45, Cafe Fiorello, Fiorella Pizza, Trattoria Dell Arte, and Redeye Grill.
Inside, the space is cozy, with black-and-white tile floors,
large windows, and coffered wood ceilings. Guests can dine at the small counter
(that also offers a full bar), at one of the padded booths, or at individual tables,
some of which share a padded banquette. The wood-paneled dining space provides
a backdrop for its baseball-themed decor, including a mural of Ebbets Field, former
home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Another interesting decorative element are the
black-and-white lighted signs mounted at the top of several walls advertising traditional
menu options.
The Brooklyn Diner serves upscale American comfort food.
Their chicken soup, Chinese chicken salad, and cheeseburger deluxe have been
named “Best of New York” by New York Magazine. The diner runs out of its
chicken pot pie every single day because it is so good! All items are
home-made, including their pastrami. We ordered a bagel tower (with cream cheese, Bibb lettuce, cucumber,
tomato) and the pastrami hash frittata (served with polenta sticks and
Pomodoro sauce, a unique alternative to traditional potatoes).
We enjoyed our breakfast at the iconic-looking Brooklyn
Diner.
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