Tastee Diner

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

This is a local diner partially inside and old railroad car with a wall broken down into the adjacent building to make it bigger than it seems from the outside. It is definitely a "local hangout" - it is the old style counter and small booth type of seating with one long, narrow aisle that runs the entire length of the restaurant with booths on the two ends of the long aisle in slightly larger "rooms" on each end. If you have a group larger than 4 people, you will get put into 2 booths at best. If you have over 8, good luck - they cant "pull tables together". There isnt enough room to even put a chair on the end of a booth to get 5 people together. Tastees serves "cooked like mom used to make it" style of dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My family and I were pleased by 1) the cheapness of the food, 2) the funny waiter that we had (who helped us wake up nicely on a Saturday morning and 3) the service from this waiter was quick and efficient - just like what diners are supposed to do. The portions were not huge but not miserly either and everything came at one time so we could all eat together quickly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone with the classic hamburger deluxe with fries and true to style, it came out quick and the other diners across from us having lunch appeared to sink their chompers into nice juicy burgers with the requisite golden fries fresh out of the deep fryer. I agree the ambiance is somewhat noisy, diner-like clatter, the coffee mugs were a little small but bottomless, the booth was just enough to sit (but my wife had to slide her pocketbook between her feet on the floor) and we werent dining off of fine china. We certainly didnt expect any of that. I got the sense that the cashier that someone else mentioned was the owner by the way he paced back and forth nervously trying to keep the line outside the door moving in that style of a parent nervously awaiting their child giving birth - its not what you know that worries you, its what you dont know that does. He clearly was on a mission to fill seats and not let one potential diner get a way from him by seeing a line outside the restaurant. We arrived at Saturday pre-primetime (10AM) and had to wait in the small covered, outside waiting area for 5-10 minutes before being quickly guided to our booth at one end of the restaurant. We werent subjected to any rude comments so I cant comment on that but hey - you get what you paid for - our entire meal was the cost of just the tip for a more luxurious brunch served in an elegant restaurant. A couple of things. Parking for those that drive is on the street and you must bring quarters because the meters want to eat while you are too and you will have to feed them again after the one hour maximum time if you want to stay longer (which actually might be tough in here because the service is that quick). As usual, Tastees is at the intersection of a bunch of streets so good luck circling the block. We didnt do too badly but this is just a warning for out of towners that dont understand the parking problem in some parts of Washington D.C. metro area. Ive also dined at another coffee shop a couple of blocks from Tastee so I would comment that the pricing wasnt all that special for the area. I recall that the other coffee shop was similarly priced and the ambiance was a little calmer there for a weekend early breakfast (I just wanted people to know breakfast in this neck of the woods can be under $7 a person as a normal price). What I liked was that Tastee had a little "attitude" that either sits well with you or you wont be back at all. If you want a quiet spot to pull out your paper and leisurely sip your coffee in solitude, dont come here. If you want a little hustle and bustle and that flavor of a good "short order" cook in the back, this is one of Bethesdas little corner places. For the price of the food as diners go and the speed of the service and being served overall, its a good value diner.

MA

Martha Luboch

***** do not ever go to this place***** I absolutely wish I could give this place negative stars. I am all about supporting small businesses and will try to go to a family owned business over a chain any day of the week. Quite frankly, it was a big misstep going to this place as this was LITERALLY the worst breakfast I have ever had. Started off with the service being "rough" - if you are looking for anything fancy obviously you wouldnt come here so I thought MEH. Then enter the food - French toast was made on wonder style bread.. Ok... My eggs were ordered over medium (I like me some yolk)... Except there was that gooey clear egg membrane everywhere and the eggs were barely cooked. Whatever, I chop them up anyway.. Toast was hard from being left out... Ok thanks for the 10 minute old toast. Working in diners before I know the waitress is responsible for making the toast and sometimes that happens... Except they werent busy. Then I didnt get my French fries (which were ordered well done). The waitress then comes over and rushingly drops the pie plate (this is a side that you charge $2.50 or possibly $5.00 for??) of fries over. Bit into one - they were raw to the point where they were cold to the touch and I could taste the raw oil on them. There were parts of the fries that clearly had not even been fried. From the looks of it the owner saw the whole situation and did nothing. I hope it was the owner as he was sitting right at the counter pointed out toward our table and rudely watching me eat this terrible food. Honestly I am almost certain we were also overcharged - though I couldnt even ask about it since the cashier put her hand out and rudely grabbed the check and my fiancés credit card and did not say word one to us.... Probably because a "how was your breakfast?" Wouldnt have boded well for them. I would not wish this place on my worst enemy. Obviously the only way theyre able to stay open is because their drunken clientele must not know better - GROSS/HORRENDOUS SERVICE - do not go!!!!

A

A Private User

I came in to the diner looking to eat and watch my cousin on the Tonys, he was amazingly nominated! I dont have a TV hook up that works in my apartment yet. First time I came in a gentleman was watching a sports game. He was the only person in the TV area. I came back a second time and no one was in the seating area. I asked a woman putting on her apron at around 9:30 pm if I could order food in the TV area and watch the Tonys. She said no, we need to keep the sports channel on for the guys. Now mind you there was no one at all in that area of the restaurant. I would not have minded if she said, OK, but if another customer comes in we need to change the channel. But the policy was, no changing the channel even if there is no one sitting there. Now, with a policy like that I have difficulty coming back - it is illogical and it turns customers away. I would hope they change their policy to allow you to change the channel if no one is in the area with the TV, as that is a bit extreme.. it is not everyday that someones loved one is on TV. Also mind you when I came in trying to get someones attention even just to sit down and get served, no one came by. First time I came in, people were responsive... those people werent there when I came back. Its like no one was working there except the "no lady" who is accommodating invisible customers. Eat there at your own risk, thats all I have to say. There are over 100+ restaurants in the surrounding streets. Eat in one of those places instead.