Mark Twain Diner Restaurant

Reviews 6

LA

Larry Eby

Sadly,I have to say this was the worst diner experience I have had in New Jersey. The waitress was sweet, and the hostess gracious, but that its where the good stuff ends. I ordered a steak dinner, which comes with a choice of soup or salad. I chose the salad with blue cheese dressing. I asked for my steak,a ribeye, rare. The menu offers a potato and vegetable, but I declined the potato and was offered two vegetables instead. I chose broccoli and carrots. As the waitress left to begin work on my order,I noticed the flies. A lot of them. I was checking email on my phone, and at one point had three flies on my phone at once. It was remarkable and disturbing. After about ten minutes, I saw a busboy headed in my direction with a salad with blue cheese dressing, but he sat down at the table next to me and proceeded to eat it. I thought it was coincidental, but another ten minutes went by when the waitress arrived with my meal instead of the salad I expected. I quickly thought it through and imagined the waitress handing the salad to the busboy and asking him to deliver it to me, and perhaps his limited English caused a misunderstanding and he thought she said, "go sit down and eat this." I dont know. I really didnt feel I needed the salad, and I didnt want to get the busboy in trouble, so I let it go. The broccoli was nicely cooked. The carrots were so over-cooked they disintegrated at the touch of my fork. Worse yet, my steak was beyond well done. Ordered rare, cooked well done, and then cooked some more. I can only take that to be an intentional act of aggression. This was more than a simple mistake. My first thought, of course, was to send it back, but then I thought better of it. I was truly afraid of what might be done to my steak if I complained. The bottom line is I was to be served four food items--one was eaten in front of me by the busboy, another was cooked into mush, another was cooked into char, and one was nicely prepared. $19.95 was a lot to pay for broccoli. Sorry, Mark Twain, I wont risk a second visit.

---

BR

brenda claveloux

I read all the reviews. The abundance of 5 stars is very suspicious to me. It is neither the best nor worst place I have been to. I dont like it since the remodel, which is lovely and clean. It used to be friendly and welcoming. The service is spotty at best. Sometimes good, sometimes not as good but I have had bad service only twice and it was with the same person both times. I found the bus guy to be the nicest one there. The manager/owners are not particularly friendly, one is outright nasty. The hostesses are also meh depending on who is there. One time I bought my 4 yo granddaughter a very pricey piece of chocolate covered cheesecake with a strawberry on top and put it in the refrigerator. Two days later when she left it here uneaten we decided to eat it. It was moldy!!! To be fair, when I told the hostess I had the next time, (she used to be a waitress, I think at Twain) she gave us another fresh piece no questions asked although she did act surprised that it happened with what she called their very fresh bakery goods. I find the food outside of breakfast to be of questionable quality. Some things are worse than others. The fries for example are not at all good, the burgers are fair. Breakfast is always the best bet. Lunch is ok depending on what you order but dinner for us is a no no here. Pricey for what you get and I dont mean the quantity of food but rather the quality. My biggest complaint is the men that either own or manage it are just not nice and like I said earlier, one is downright rude and nasty. The diner would be better if they hired new managers and the guys there stayed out! There are four diners very close. This one is not always my first choice and when it is it is because it is the closest to my home.

---

LO

Loft Apartment

I came here with my family for Fathers Day. When we asked for a different table that would comfortably accommodate our party, the staff did add a table, but not before challenging my mothers request and giving her an attitude. The hostess and other staff proceeded to talk about my mom right in front of me and my siblings, and they continued to complain about adding a table when it was 3:45 pm and there were plenty of open spaces in their establishment. (I have the photos of these multiple open areas.) Ive never seen such rude service in front of customers, especially my father on his day. I get everyone complains in their workplace, but do not do it in front of customers and over something so trivial. My parents are now going to change their normal date spot to another local diner. Its sad to see what Mark Twain has become--both food and service are subpar now.

---

GE

Geralyn Ackerman

Delicious fresh food, friendly staff, small bar area. Recently remodeled. I grew up in Union and Mark Twain diner was the place to go for great breakfasts and delicious hamburgers and late night munchies. They have only gotten better through the decades offering a extensive menu from the usual diner fare to full course dinners. Consistently delicious fresh meals. Their soups are the best, especially the chicken escarole served on Mondays. Ordered the chicken rice yesterday and it had large pieces of chicken in it, could have been a meal in itself but this is included with the order of a hamburger. The burger was charbroiled, juicy and cooked perfectly to order. At the time of this posting the hamburger along with pasta salad and bowl of chicken soup included has a menu piece of $6.99. Thats pretty incredible.

---

SU

Sunny Chica

I "USED" to Love this place. I went all the time with my family. Now since they remodeled the business their prices have sky rocketed and the service is sub par. My Sister and I went for breakfast today and we ordered our meals. Our food took more than a half hour to come. When we got out bill it was over $72. I noticed on the bill that they charged separately for the fruit that was said to come with the French toast as well as separately for the waffle w/fruit. $4.99 per fruit not including the waffle. We also ordered a side of bacon which was also $4.99 extra. Its like everything is a la carte!! I will NOT be returning which is sad because like I said it used be my favorite diner in Union....its a shame that they will be loosing customers due to the service and disgusting prices. I know I am Not Alone..

---

MI

Michael Capece

Ate there twice. FOOD IS DISGUSTING. First time I ordered a hamburger. It appeared to be a processed, mass produced meat patty with no taste and a horrible texture. I dont even think they added salt or pepper! Second time I ordered breaded pork chops with mashed potatoes. Again, it was some processed, frozen, pre-beaded pork chop with even less taste than the burger had. The breading wouldnt even stay attached. I received a baked potato rather than the mashed that I ordered. Tried this place again after the renovations hoping it would be better. Food was as disgusting as ever and they got several aspects of the order wrong. I will spare you the details. They even charged us extra for food we didnt receive! DONT EAT HERE!

---

---