New York City: Brooklyn Diner (July 2018)



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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