Courtesy Diner

Okay come on, don’t act like you have high expectations, when really you just crave the good ol greasy spoon food from the ONE AND ONLY Courtesy Diner. Love, Love, Love the deep fried burrito with nacho cheese and chili on top! Oh by the way Cheryl is the best. Must try for yourself. Breakfast is always great the same, and of course the biscuits and gravy.

The name says it all. Great diner food which is famous for its chili. Especially the slinger. This place is usually packed after the bars close down at night. They’re open 24 hours a day have a old-​fashioned you box so bring your quarters.

best BLT. friendly and clean. bright!
good option after a Home Depot run.

Place has always been my go to place! You can usually get in and out. But the last few months every time I come here I waited 30 minutes or more for my meal. The cook cannot handle the volume of people

Yes, thank the lord there is a Courtesy Diner so close to me. Fast, cheap, and open late… much better than your other late night options *cough*cough* McDonalds.*
I came here after Lou Fest before I hit the bed. There were only a couple other diners but m’lady and I enjoyed some late-​night cheeseburgers and eggs+hash browns. The staff is super friendly. I recommend sitting at the bar and watching them work their magic if you’re with a small crowd. It sucks they’re cash only but they do have an ATM inside.
Everything is cheap and you could make it at home yourself but then you couldn’t go to Courtesy Diner. I’ll be back for some cheeseburgers soon enough…

The best! One of the things I miss the most about this city are all of the great late-​night diners. Food is cheap, fast, and good. Portions are great and the people are good. Get a slinger if you are feeling adventurous or hung over!

I like the Courtesy Diner, it’s cheap, fast, and a little bit better quality then a chain fast food joint. I finally see what people mean when they say just the right amount of grease, it taste great. Just wanted to note, that it’s extremely hot outside today, & the car AC just was just barely cutting it. So walking into Courtesy and feeling the blast of cold air, was satisfaction even before the meal.
Now for the food, I ordered the Single Cheese Burger w/​Bacon, Lettuce, and Mayo. It was delicious, perfectly cooked, I really enjoyed the thinness of the patty, and the bacon was on point, so crispy. And just the one layer of lettuce was perfect amount. The girls really hooked it up. The fries were ok… and the Soda was fresh, not a bad deal for under $ 10

Decent place with your typical diner food nothing great nothing terrible. Staff was all nice even though they were busy. I like the setup with the kitchen right in the open.

Food was typical café style food worth a trip back. The overall atmosphere needs some spit and polish. Service was as fast as possible and with a smile.

Good solid diner for ²⁴⁄₇ breakfast! Had an extremely lazy Saturday and woke up hungry at midnight so we headed to Courtesy. We got in before the bar crowd so no trouble getting a table. He got the Hangover (chicken fried steak and eggs smothered in gravy with side of toast), I got the Hoosier (sausage patties and eggs smothered in gravy with side of toast). Both were tasty but I think the Hangover was the best. Good service, good food, cash only with a&m onsite.

Great diner food, with friendly staff and quick service. The characters inside the place are always interesting, so it’s fun to go and see who will be there.
Standard diner food done really well. You’ll like it

How ironic this place is called ‘Courtesy’ diner…
Went here basically for a slinger after a night out. What we got was a bitch waitress (looks like Pensatucky from ‘Orange is the New Black’), who wouldn’t let us order cuz there was no seats and we couldn’t get it to go. Well we got one. She was basically talking shit out loud to the cook. About what… I exactly don’t know. Another waitress helped us and was very nice. I get it that they get some shady characters here but clearly we aren’t them. After reading other reviews discovered she is a common occurrence. About 25 mins later the slingers came out without the bread. Asked them for bread and foam containers and we were on our way. Slingers were good. Liked the food. Service was rude. Cash only.

Cash only. I love the name and the food was exactly what you would ask for. We sat at the bar for a quick breakfast and everyone was nice as can be. Prices are excellent.

Cheap! Tiny and cheap! If you come during the day, there will be some characters of the mentally unstable variety. If you come late night, there will be some characters of the drunk variety. All-​in-​all, it’s still pretty cool to eat in the original Courtesy Diner every now and then. Had two eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast for $ 5.85 and it was good. The burgers aren’t bad either.

Courtesy Diner was everything I expected it to be and more. I was hoping for a greasy spoon no frills diner dive food to well, that’s it! And that’s exactly what I got.
The double cheeseburgers were greasy tasty and cheap. The onion rings and crinkle fries were big and a good size portion. We also had the cheese sticks and a tamale… Just because! Both were relatively plain but fun to share and have as sides.
The lady behind the counter was awesome! She was just who you would want to be your server at a diner. Taking care of you and make sure I got everything just like I wanted it.
Make sure you bring cash… No CC accepted.

I used to frequent this location after a night on the town or an early morning greasy hangover cure. As for sober Ken, there is just so many better choices in STL for a breakfast diner experience.
HAVING SAID THAT. Time and time again I find myself frequenting this location as the service is fast, friendly, and they have a pay Jukebox that has some good tunes on it. (ask to turn it up if you actually want to enjoy the music though) If this is your first time going to this restaurant there are four important factors you must know.
1. CASH ONLY! (although there is an ATM machine in house)
2. Gravy is only served from 11pm to 11am! (no mid day biscuits and gravy)
3. Bathroom is in basement, don’t worry it’s only kinda creepy down there!
4. Seating is limited with only bar stools and four seat booths.
ENJOY!

One of the removed reviews cites a waitress that will bad mouth you to the cook in full view of you… and she’s real. We came in at 1AM and ordered pies/​sundaes. When we said we weren’t ready to order anything else, she walked about six feet from the table and started complaining to the cook that we weren’t going to order anything/​were wasting her time. I eventually ordered a burger and my friends ordered fries/​fried okra.
The lady’s probably just crazy. Another lady replaced my friend’s fries when a super drunk guy came and harassed us at our table and touched them all after trying to touch all of us which wasn’t cool.
I’d suggest not going to this place at night. There were some gang members in there, too, who were not drunk, and the drunk guys, who were not gang members, and as we were leaving, goth city punks in platform heels. Outside the cool waitress was smoking a cigarette and we got into a long discussion about how weird her life must be.
Basically, it was good food but everyone in the entire place was crazy. Except for the lady that replaced the fries. My friend almost used her mace on the drunk guy when he tried to touch/​grab her. I was carrying a firearm and that’s literally the only reason we didn’t pick up our burger/​fries/​fried okra and eat literally anywhere else at 1AM.

Came in for dinner. The atmosphere and décor reminded me of an older family style diner, like a Hen House Restaurant of you’re familiar. Quite a few tables, but sparsely patronized. Service was prompt and very courteous. Overall impression was outdated, but clean.
The food was good. I went with the Unilocal recommended supreme 2×2×2×2. It was just the right amount of food.
Eggs– I ordered them scrambled, wish I hadn’t. Reminded me of cafeteria style eggs. Pass
Bacon– perfection. Two thick slices cooked just right– not to done, not too soft. Excellent flavor
Hash browns– crispy on the outside, soft in the middle; what’s not to like about that?
Sausage links– tasted really good. No surprises here. Good quality meats served here.
Pancakes– slightly disappointed given they are in the name of the place. I found them to be a little mushy for my taste and could have punched them up with a little more flavor; I still enjoyed them though. Bonus points for serving with hot syrup, nice touch.
I’d definitely come back. This was my first experience so would like to try some other options on the menu.

When it comes to greasy, old fashioned diners in the Saint Louis area, Courtesy Diner on Kingshighway is by far the best. This original location is even head and shoulders above its’ more modern sister location on Hampton. Nothing beats a cast iron grill.
It was a simple breakfast before heading over to Home Depot. We started with an order of Biscuits and Gravy. Our waitress was great, she suggested having the B&G’s as an appetizer. How cleaver, normally when we share an order, it comes out with full breakfast. She even separated our full order on to two small plates. Great customer service! She was working that counter and other booths as if she were Tony Bommarito schmoozing folks at Tony’s.
We both ended up ordering the same thing; two eggs over easy, hash browns and sausage patties. Eggs fried to perfection, peppery sausage and extra crispy hash browns made a fulfilling breakfast. Like Patt C., we saw the poster for Frito Pie and are planning to return for lunch.
As stated earlier, our waitress was friendly and she also provided top notch service. The cook even delivered our food, when she was busy with another table. Their team work, was impressive.

Courtesy Diner is my favorite late night spot for grub after a few drinks. This little hole in the wall greasy spoon, which is open all night, has been serving up some of St. Louis’ best diner food for years. The simple menu features the slinger, burgers and breakfast food.
After 20 years of eating slingers, I’ve come to the conclusion that Courtesy Diner has the best traditional slinger in town. What is a slinger you might ask… well, it’s St. Louis’ unique creation consisting of 2 eggs over easy, hash browns, and a burger patty smothered with chili. At courtesy, you have the option of adding cheese, onions and jalapenos, which in my opinion makes it even better. The side of buttered toast that comes with it is perfect for wiping down and cleaning the plate. All this for about 6 bucks!
Slinger photo:
The burgers are almost as good as a slinger. On a recent visit, I got a loaded cheeseburger and scarfed this tasty treat down in no time. My only regret was that I didn’t ask for grilled onions over the standard raw onions, but there is always next time. I also like their standard thick crinkle cut fries and the crispy onion rings. Sure they come from frozen, but they still taste better than most casual joints. The onion rings taste similar to White Castle’s if that helps you out. No other rings come close to that unless they are homemade.
The South Kingshighway location is the older location, but adds to the charm of the experience. Finding your way to the restrooms in the basement can be quite an adventure. The men’s room has one of those old school revolving hand towel dispenser which is funny, but I feel like I need to wash my hands again after using it.
Don’t expect anything fancy when you come here. The service is sometimes typical diner «don’t give a shit» attitude, but for standard greasy foods, it doesn’t get much better.
4 big stars for Courtesy!