Bessie’s Lunch

I came across this place a couple years ago while doing a running event called Reach The Beach. Not sure if due to the long hours running and the lack of sleep, but the food was really good. Simple breakfast food and fairly priced.
Since then, every year I come back here with my whole team.
Depending of what season you stop by, make sure you try the Pumpkin Waffle and/​or the Apple Walnuts pancakes. It was really good.

Bessie’s has been around for a long time… there is usually a reason why.
Nothing fancy just good diner food.

There is no possible way you can leave Bessie’s still hungry no matter what time of day you show up. The portions here are more than generous no matter what time of day you show up — to the point where sharing should be considered because I’d almost call it family style sizes.
Breakfast is a winner with custom omelettes — hash and kielbasa with onions for me thank you! The french toast specials are delicious and the waffles and pancakes.
Lunch and dinner has some favorites like meatloaf and mashed potatoes. The subs rival many of the local sub shops — the steak bomb is great.
Super friendly service and the mom and pop atmosphere is great. A hidden gem.

Good was fantastic. Pancakes the size of hubcaps. Eggs cooked excellent. All the while on a busy Sunday morning. Can’t recommend highly enough. And I visit a lot of breakfast places.

Went in for old standby, Bessie’s Big Breakfast. Excellent, as usual, with the French Toast expertly prepared and presented. I am a «meat and potatoes» type person that goes with conventional dishes. Bessie’s breakfasts are hard to beat. You want «fru fru» with an eclectic menu? Not the place. Good food, local atmosphere and reasonable prices? This is the best place in the area. IMO.

Have been coming to Bessie’s for a few years now. It was a few years after moving to the area before we walked in the door because it wasn’t overly inviting from the outside. But as the saying goes, don’t judge a book… Now we go at least every other week and we always take out of town visitors for breakfast or lunch. Like a certain Glaswegian who posted earlier this year.
I’m extremely partial to the lobster omelettes (usually with fruit and hollandaise on the side) and lobster rolls (comes with fries, curly seasoned fries, or a year’s supply of onion rings). Today I tried a new item on the specials board, lobster mac and cheese. Are you sensing a theme? I’m rarely disappointed with my meals there, but this didn’t quite do it. Was more of an Alfredo. I asked the server if there was a mistake, and she said that was the cheese sauce. It didn’t really taste cheesy until the sauce started to cool and thicken (it was blazing hot when served), but still not a baked dish as I had anticipated. Still tasted ok and a fair amount of lobster, though a bit more would have been nice for $ 15.99. Think there’s more in the omelette.
Love the clam chowder there. I usually get some cold, to go.
My husband loves the Bessie’s Big Breakfast (get a bigger table to fit the plates!), chicken parm, Honey BBQ chicken tenders and cheeseburgers.
Servings are quite big. We’ve never had room for dessert and if I have a pasta dish, I frequently take leftovers home.
Service staff is always friendly, greet you with a big hello and smile. Seat yourselves. Hopefully you don’t have to wait too long for a spot to open up. Fortunately we manage to go at off peak times so rarely have to wait more than a few minutes. But it is worth the wait.
No alcohol service. Instead you can bring your own beer or wine and they will provide the glasses.

Great value, great service and wonderful hospitality. Had the Saturday night prime rib and it was good. Bottomless cup sodas from the fountain. My family of four left stuffed. Food is always consistent here and hanging with the locals is entertaining too.

Breakfast… eggs and toast. It’s so simple and yet so many restaurants can’t properly prepare an egg especially an omelet. I’ve been coming in to Bessie’s for years but recently, I’ve been having breakfast there quite often.
A few weeks back, I had, for me, what was the best and most perfect omelet ever. I should have asked who was cooking that day because whoever it was deserves a major raise. I ordered a Greek omelet. The exterior was perfectly cooked, pale yellow with just a trace of golden brown. Most restaurants cook their omelets to death not understanding that eggs are a protein source and become tough when overcooked. The filling was mad, crazy delicious with chunks of soft feta cheese, real feta cheese which was just insanely good. The rest of the fillings, tomato, spinach, and cheese were plentiful making the omelet a full meal. The potatoes were also prepared properly, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
The service can be a bit spotty as not all of the servers are as friendly or efficient as the rest; but, considering how busy they normally are I’ve never been treated bad.
The lunches are good as well but it’s the breakfasts that keep me coming back.

If you didn’t know about this place, you would simply drive past it without a second glance, although you may wonder why there are so many cars parked outside at breakfast and lunchtimes.
It’s a very unassuming grey shack at the side of the road, with flaking paint, a large sign saying ‘Bessie’s Diner’, and a slight air of decrepitude about it. There’s no paved car parking area, simply a patch of bare earth in front of it deep enough to accommodate two rows of cars.
Fortunately, we have two local friends ‘in the know’, and before we had even passed 10 hours on US soil we were rousted out of the house at 8am on a Sunday morning to get some breakfast.
Arriving around 8.15am, there were already quite a few cars in the car park and we hastily went inside to grab one of only three remaining tables in what was a very cramped space.
By 8.30am there was a queue outside and the place was packed. And this on a Sunday of Memorial Day weekend too! That says it all about the popularity of this diner. If you want to eat there, you need to get up pretty early in the morning.
As for the breakfast… two words: lobster omelettes. Lobster frickin’ omelettes! With home fries too. Just the job to banish the jet lag and set us up for the rest of the day. There were plenty of other choices too, but I’m afraid I didn’t get past the special. Absolutely delicious. The coffee, although the usual weak American standard ‘Joe’, was at least ever-​flowing and did eventually kick-​start the system by the 4^th refill.
Cheery and bustling service, and very reasonably priced too. Don’t come for the décor, come early, and come for the lobster frickin’ omelettes!

Family style, informal diner. Friendly staff. Pastrami was very lean. Generous portion size. Definitely will return.

A small diner type establishment with few ammenities, find your own seat when you walk in. They have enormous portions, my haddock plate had a whole fillet draped across a mound of curly fries. The starch options are fries, seasoned curly fries or onion rings. I would recommend the rings which are light, thin and crisp. The fries and curly fries are standard supermarket fare. The fish was good and the meat options like meatloaf are equally as large a portion size from what I witnessed at other tables.

We did not stay. Not very friendly people.

So much potential here! Just ok diner food. There needs to be more passion in the kitchen. Staff is nice.

I went here to get a quick breakfast sandwich. The first and last time. After the waitress finally decides to pay attention to me, I ordered an egg, cheese, and ham to go. It came to $ 5+ with tax. Yikes! It tasted like nothing. The best I can say is it was edible.

Had a quick lunch on my way through the area the other day. Always like to go to the mom and pop places for that homestyle feel. This place was that, food was great, hearty, good service. I had a fantastic cup of chowder with turkey club, my friend i was with had the french toast stacker??? french toast layered with fresh strawberries, blueberries, bananas, topped with brown sugar and sour cream, yes sour cream! It was great. Looking forward to going again next time through.

Anything less that 5 stars is a lie, this tiny place serves some of the best breakfast in the tri state area. I’m here every weekend I didn’t want to write a review because I don’t Want to wait for a table it’s usually a 15 minute wait, staff are friendly love coming here!!! Pancakes are the best I’ve ever had in my life. Come try the breakfast you’ll see it’s worth the drive.

We stopped here for lunch one day, since it is called Bessie’s Lunch, right? Oh, but they were only serving breakfast that day… needless to say, we left hungry.

We had to stop in for breakfast since all the cars must mean it’s good right??? Nope. No way. Rude service, old, hacking, coughing regular crowd. Dry scrambled eggs, room temperature bacon and cold toast. Won’t be going back any time soon.

Bessie’s Lunch is a little roadside eatery along Route 125 in Brentwood, which offers homecooked meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Full service dining inside and outside takeout window service including ice cream treats (during the warmer time) is offered. Bessie’s Lunch is very cozy inside with tables close to each other and a small TV in the corner of the clean dining room.
After some early morning work in the area, I was getting very hungry and made a mid morning stop for breakfast at Bessie’s. When I arrived here, I could sit anywhere I wanted. The atmosphere is very relaxed and laid back and the dining room had several diners, mostly local old timers and retirees. The waitress offered coffee as I sat down. I looked over the breakfast menu which offers dishes such as eggs, omelettes, pancakes, malted waffles, sausage & gravy and sides. Mickey Mouse Pancakes for the kiddies (12 & under). There are specials posted on the wall including the 5AM-7:30AM Early Bird ($ 5.75) and Steak Tips with Eggs.
The coffee (Donahue Brothers) was decent, not too strong. I decided on the Meat Lovers Omelette ($ 6.99) served with home fries and choice of toast or English muffin. The food took around 15 minutes to come out, while I read the paper. When they said Meat Lovers, they were not kidding. It was a cheese omelet packed with lots of bacon, ham, & sausage, the proportion of meat greater than the egg, almost like a meat frittata. Though the omelette really filled with meats, there was no fluffy texture on the outside. The red skin potato home fries were decent, lightly grilled and I chose Raisin toast which was already buttered. The omelette was very filling indeed. The waitress walked around the dining room topping off coffees.
HOURS: Mon: 5AM-​2PM; Tues-​Thurs, Sat: 5AM-​7PM; Fri: 5AM-​8PM; Sun: 6AM-​12PM