Carlisle Diner

You get what you pay for. For the prices they charge, the food is pretty good. Recommended to college students especially, I used to go there once every couple weeks when I was a student at Dickinson.

One star for the extremely nice waitress and another star for the super short wait time for food. Sadly the speed that the food came out said volumes to the quality of the meal. The food was nothing special — sometimes a bit too salty, atmosphere was meh, and management was rude. I had a minor issue/​question about my dish that the manager came over to answer. She was a petite, blonde lady with the customer service ability of a twelve year old. She plastered on a very condescending voice when she offered to bring me something else if I wasn’t satisfied with my meal. I politely declined and thought that was the end of it.
HOWEVER, when you have a wall made of MIRRORS, you should remember not to pull a face after turning away from your customers. Ya’know, with the reflection and all. She was so incredibly rude and had the poor waitress scrambling and apologizing to me. Obviously the tip wasn’t affected because it wasn’t the waitress’ fault, but I really doubt I’ll be going back any time soon.

Had lunch at the Carlisle Diner today. Don’t get there often; only when driving to/​from NJ/​WV. Each visit has been a pleasure though. Have only had lunch there but the club sandwiches are top notch as well as soups and salads. Treated myself to a vanilla shake today and it was also quite good. The waitresses are very attentive and the food gets out of the kitchen pretty efficiently. It’s located right in the center of town but you do have to travel just an extra bit from Rt. 81 as opposed to some of the standard highway fast food places but the short detour is definitely worth it.

The food was good but I wasn’t impressed with the service. The diner wasn’t busy when I went there and I was seated immediately. However, I waited 15 minutes and a server still had not come to my table to get my drink order. I ended up walking to the counter to order my food. That server seemed annoyed because I wasn’t in her section. My server did apologize but didn’t pay any attention to me until I asked for the bill.

Apparently there are 3 or 4 diners owned and operated by the same people, this being one of them. According to my friend who is local, I’ve now tried them all. I believe there’s Walnut Bottom, Fairgrounds, and this one with possible one more.
All in all a diner is a diner. I usually frequent them more so for breakfast, but occasionally I’ll dine in. On this particular visit to a diner, I had a hot open-​faced sandwich; prime rib to be more specific. It was served with mashed potatoes and another side, I opted for beets which were somewhat unsatisfactory, but overall it was a good meal. The price was right as was the portion. The only shortcoming I can really point out is the service seemed rather slow. Almost inattentive. Granted, there was a large party sitting behind us, but I only ever saw one server working with them and it wasn’t ours. We hardly saw ours at all.
This place is good for a meal, just not when you’re in a rush. Of the multitude of diners mentioned above, Walnut Bottom is probably my most preferred.

We found the dinner on Unilocal after deciding to spend the night in Carlisle on our way to Brooklyn. I had the Greek Omelette and my husband had the western omelette. They came with real home fries and toast. They were delicious! Breakfasts are not something I normally get too excited about, but this food was so fresh and beyond reasonably priced. Coffee was very good. Also, it was very clean. I would not hesitate to recommend the diner. It is not to far from the industrial area or the main part of the borough.

Really cheap and delicious breakfast! Portions are huge too. Service was great. Highly recommend!

Good food, great prices and the waitress was on the ball. I never asked for more water during the entire meal. Everytime it was close, she brought another. Laid back place, has the traditional diner feel. I had a salad to be safe it would be gluten free. Had no issues. Would come back here.

The turkey was good and the ice cream tasted good. The waitess from guatemala was friendly and a good waitress. Hopefully you will get her if you eat at this diner. If you like car stuff or visiting from the car shows, then look at the wall. car pictures and other car stuff.

This is my favourite diner in central pa. Great service, good coffee, and they have grits! Can’t beat the prices.

Great Little diner outside on the outskirts of Carlisle! Gives you that old time Fifties Feel! Playing the old time Rock & Roll with Hot Rod décor and a table or booth choice! An American Menu! We were having a luncheon breakfast! The meals were very hot and the staff friendly an efficient! If your in Carlisle and looking for a meal this place is worth the stop! Maybe you’ll even see Fonzie, Richie, or American Graffiti peeps! It’s a. Great Throwback to another Era!

Extremely good, moist sliced roast pork open faced sandwich with very good hot gravy. Potato salad yummy. Cucumber salad delicious. Large portions. Husband had stuffed green peppers. Absolutely delicious.
Please come here for a clean place to eat with excellent service and homemade good substantial meals. A really good value for your dollar.

The wait staff is good, the food is diner food. Exceptionally fast kitchen. Atmosphere is a diner. You get a diverse group of people depending on the time you go.
Unfortunately I am not allowed to go there due to the owners discriminatory practices and her judgmental attitude. I do not wear shoes for medical reasons. The only thing that has cured a nagging back problem has been to toss my shoes out the window. I tried to reason with her to allow my shoeless presence (there aren’t any other diners that care that I’ve come across) but she wouldn’t have it. Didn’t even care that it was for medical reasons. It is not against any health code or law. It is no more or less unsanitary than one walking in off the streets wearing shoes. You see the same amount of foot as one wearing flip flops. Yet she still denies me entrance. I would say to go here anyway, but its very hard to support an owner with this attitude.

This place is infinitely less cool now that I’m not a teenager looking for a place to smoke inside after 10 on a school night anymore. That being said, it is still THE place to go after a night at the G-​Hole (AKA The Gingerbread Man) and the servers have become experts at not putting up with your drunken shenanigans. They will put you in your place as soon as you start running your mouth and I love every minute of it. The food is typical diner food, no better, no worse and the prices are the same.

Great food for a good price. Best weekday breakfast special and on Friday’s my favorite lunch the crabby patty. Crab cake on texas toast with swiss cheese! Next best Taco salad.

Crab Cake sandwich :)

Had lunch here and the waitress was attentive. filed our water glasses and refilled our coffee cups. What a nice experience

Does this place close?
Coming here was pretty much a tradition. Go out, get plastered, close the bar, end the night here. If we had to come home to Carlisle at 2 AM, then we for sure made a stop here to eat.
It’s diner food, nothing special, but it’s good for what it is. I love the sausage links in particular here. I think I rarely had anything but breakfast foods, and I was always happy at the end. Not to mention it’s cheap. What’s not to like?

Give this place another try! Just went thru a overhaul and the very tired pink décor is no more. The wait staff has snazzy matching shirts and a new attiude to match. Menu hasn’t changed but I tried the pancakes for the first time the other day and they were out of this world.

On the plus side, I haven’t had an edible breakfast for under 6 bucks ($ 5.95 including tip) since the 90s…
On the not so plus side, the meal was not much better than edible. My experience might have been better had I not been within eavesdropping range of the biggest mouthbreathers ever. I think my rating would have been a 3 star if it had been 4:00 AM on a Friday night (sat morning).