City Diner

[HippyWitch]

CHRIST!! We went here Sunday morning and it was AWFUL. The food was ok, nothing great, but the service was horrific. EFF THIS PLACE 

[MCA™]

Are they open 24 hours a day yet?

[shahaggy]

I popped in there last night to grab a menu and had a chance to meet the 3 brothers that own it as well as their cousin.  The place looks great, the menu (which is in front of me right now) looks good and the prices are affordable for the area.  They have 6 rotating craft beers on draft + Miller lite and Guinness as well as a stocked bar.  They are going to be open from 6AM-10PM until they get all the kinks worked out and then they want to be Jersey City late night hang out.  Oh and check out their spiked shakes, they look delicious- you can thank Lefty who came up with the concoctions when you're there. 

[MCA™]

So I hear they're open. Anyone been?

[Bobblehead]

Because, in the end, the food became inedible, and the coffee was atrocious. The VIP was/is much better, and I've been there many times in the interim. I would much rather that the Flamingo had upped its game in the quality department than have it replaced by a hotel restaurant.

Wasn't sure about the counter seating, which is why I asked it as a question.

The diner in Arizona--was it in a city, where there is supposedly foot traffic at night (such as to and from the PATH train here?)

Not every diner needs to be 24/7, but I find it sad that a "city" like JC sees the early a.m. dining options disappearing. Soon, all there will be is chicken joints. And you know what that leads to. . . .

If it matters to you so much, why hadn't you been there in years? I never get that concept...
Also, not that I am really a Brownstone advocate, but they do have counter seating.
Another also, I worked at a well known amazing diner in Arizona and they weren't open 24 hours.

I welcome any new food near Exchange Place, as my lunches are quite drab.

Okay, I cannot hold back. Maybe it is a sign that I have joined the "things were better in my day" old man crowd, but this is sad.

I had not gone to the Flamingo in years, and I thought their food was pretty bad, but the disappearance of the last all night diner downtown is a loss. I guess the moniker of diner downtown is now held by the Brownstone--but is it open 24/7? Does it have counter space where solo diners can sit down and get served quickly and efficiently? I hear that the VIP diner is slated to close, too.

A diner is supposed to be a convenient place for anyone--a family of six or eight on a Sunday afternoon, or a single truck driver at 4:00 am--to get affordable food served to them efficiently. Where is the counter? Where are the booths? Are there coffee burners hidden behind the booze bottles? Calling this a diner is like calling that other thing a food co-op.

I may be going off on a Kindelanish tangent, but this is an indicator of our society's reification into economic strata. It is a diner for the rich, with the working man consigned to food carts. Who will feed the drunks kicked out of the bars downtown in the wee hours? Where can the cops, firemen, and nurses eat when they are off their late shift? Maybe this is the only restaurant model that will work in downtown JC, but in that case it is still an indicator that our society has changed, and the dream of providing a food service for the common masses is dead.

In England, there is a common statement--it's not a city if it doesn't have a cathedral. Well, in my mind, it is not a city if it doesn't have an all-night diner (or a museum, or a bookstore, etc.). How sad for JC.

[PuddinPop]

If it matters to you so much, why hadn't you been there in years? I never get that concept...
Also, not that I am really a Brownstone advocate, but they do have counter seating.
Another also, I worked at a well known amazing diner in Arizona and they weren't open 24 hours.

I welcome any new food near Exchange Place, as my lunches are quite drab.

Okay, I cannot hold back. Maybe it is a sign that I have joined the "things were better in my day" old man crowd, but this is sad.

I had not gone to the Flamingo in years, and I thought their food was pretty bad, but the disappearance of the last all night diner downtown is a loss. I guess the moniker of diner downtown is now held by the Brownstone--but is it open 24/7? Does it have counter space where solo diners can sit down and get served quickly and efficiently? I hear that the VIP diner is slated to close, too.

A diner is supposed to be a convenient place for anyone--a family of six or eight on a Sunday afternoon, or a single truck driver at 4:00 am--to get affordable food served to them efficiently. Where is the counter? Where are the booths? Are there coffee burners hidden behind the booze bottles? Calling this a diner is like calling that other thing a food co-op.

I may be going off on a Kindelanish tangent, but this is an indicator of our society's reification into economic strata. It is a diner for the rich, with the working man consigned to food carts. Who will feed the drunks kicked out of the bars downtown in the wee hours? Where can the cops, firemen, and nurses eat when they are off their late shift? Maybe this is the only restaurant model that will work in downtown JC, but in that case it is still an indicator that our society has changed, and the dream of providing a food service for the common masses is dead.

In England, there is a common statement--it's not a city if it doesn't have a cathedral. Well, in my mind, it is not a city if it doesn't have an all-night diner (or a museum, or a bookstore, etc.). How sad for JC.

[Bobblehead]

WTF? They don't even have ketchup bottles!

They have been replaced with hoisin sauce dipping stations.

[jehu]

FE, the yuppies have taken over!!!

WTF? They don't even have ketchup bottles!

[Bobblehead]

Good god that is hideous. 

It is like a hotel lobby bar/restaurant.

Here's the designer/builder's site. Plenty of hotel lobby/bar restaurant experience.

Whoa.    Mostly hotels. Doh!

[fasteddie]

WTF? They don't even have ketchup bottles!

[Woodsy]

and to think I signed a petition back in 2002 or '03 to save the Flamingo when the city wanted to tear the building down to widen the street 

Don't worry.  You still helped to save the best sushi restaurant in Hudson County, Honshu.

[MCA™]

Good god that is hideous. 

It is like a hotel lobby bar/restaurant.

Here's the designer/builder's site. Plenty of hotel lobby/bar restaurant experience.

[shahaggy]

and to think I signed a petition back in 2002 or '03 to save the Flamingo when the city wanted to tear the building down to widen the street 

[Bobblehead]

Good god that is hideous. 

It is like a hotel lobby bar/restaurant.

[Bad Circles]

Good god that is hideous. 

[Bobblehead]

Okay, I cannot hold back. Maybe it is a sign that I have joined the "things were better in my day" old man crowd, but this is sad.

I had not gone to the Flamingo in years, and I thought their food was pretty bad, but the disappearance of the last all night diner downtown is a loss. I guess the moniker of diner downtown is now held by the Brownstone--but is it open 24/7? Does it have counter space where solo diners can sit down and get served quickly and efficiently? I hear that the VIP diner is slated to close, too.

A diner is supposed to be a convenient place for anyone--a family of six or eight on a Sunday afternoon, or a single truck driver at 4:00 am--to get affordable food served to them efficiently. Where is the counter? Where are the booths? Are there coffee burners hidden behind the booze bottles? Calling this a diner is like calling that other thing a food co-op.

I may be going off on a Kindelanish tangent, but this is an indicator of our society's reification into economic strata. It is a diner for the rich, with the working man consigned to food carts. Who will feed the drunks kicked out of the bars downtown in the wee hours? Where can the cops, firemen, and nurses eat when they are off their late shift? Maybe this is the only restaurant model that will work in downtown JC, but in that case it is still an indicator that our society has changed, and the dream of providing a food service for the common masses is dead.

In England, there is a common statement--it's not a city if it doesn't have a cathedral. Well, in my mind, it is not a city if it doesn't have an all-night diner (or a museum, or a bookstore, etc.). How sad for JC.

[MCA™]

WTF? Is that supposed to be the Embankment? And what kind of diner has wine glasses at the tables? Oh, wait, the same kind that has a bar instead of a counter.

Sosh was right. . . .

The Shitty diner indeed.  Another good spot RUINED.

I also saw beer taps.

[Soshin]

WTF? Is that supposed to be the Embankment? And what kind of diner has wine glasses at the tables? Oh, wait, the same kind that has a bar instead of a counter.

Sosh was right. . . .

The Shitty diner indeed.  Another good spot RUINED.

[Bobblehead]

WTF? Is that supposed to be the Embankment? And what kind of diner has wine glasses at the tables? Oh, wait, the same kind that has a bar instead of a counter.

Sosh was right. . . .

[MCA™]

City Diner
31 Montgomery Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
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