Philly Diner

by Hank C.

What was once located at the old Eat @ Joe's spot by the old Cinemagic Theater ("Ghettomagic" to some of the locals) down the street has moved into the old College Buffet at 39th Walnut.The seating and the location has changed, ever so slightly, but the food pretty much is the same greasy-spoon diner food available at all hours that students love to have when late, drunk, or just craving something other than food cart. Usually good on the breakfast foods, I would advise against eating the cottage cheese, fruit salad (it tastes old) and the applesauce.Other than that, the milkshakes are consistently good, though.

by Shaun O.

You want a local Philly Diner? You got it-Thats how I brought an potential UPenn grad student here, as he was asking to go to a place where the locals eat. After passing over the recently opened Chipotle (looong lines), we stumbled over here.  It looked like a local place and not frequented by many students.I will agree that the service is ok. It took the waiter a few minutes to come for our order. However, I really liked the corned beef reuben sandwhich, and found it to be pretty tasty.  I just wish it was a little bit bigger.....but it only cost less the $20 to feed the both of us, so that was a big plus.

by Jacquelin K.

Dave C. says it all.  I'm not going to the new location, but the old one was very eerie indeed.  Needless to say, the food was crap as well.  There's only one circumstance where the diner is worth attending:  your first time being there on a Fri/Sat night at 2am.  There is much hilarious activity to be witnessed at that hour, but even then, you won't want to stay if you're anywhere near sober.  Even if you're starving at some ungodly hour, skip the diner's crappy food crappy service.  Fresh Geezy is a block away with prepared food.

by M W.

It's a diner. a little more expensive then diners i used to go to in high school, and serivce is exactly when you expect to get from a diner. not somewhere i'd go unless i'm drunk or it's to early to go anywhere else

by Oski B.

Not cheap and you don't even get what you pay for.  Service is sub-par.  The only reason to come is if you're with a group of people who can't decide where to eat and don't want to eat from a food truck because you want to sit down and have a conversation.   At least that's the reason why the six of us came here.

by Jonah M.

This diner have 4 ceiling fans, see http://www.yelp.com/bi... . It serves great food. It's the best diner I have been in Philly. People who said it's not a diner are liars. People who says that the food is terrible are also liars. The poster has been abusing multiple accounts and post comments that it's not a good diner, to make sure that Philly Diner doesn't get fully occupied. Do not listen to the posters with the low ratings.

by Andrea G.

I have never been here when I'm not drunk at 3 AM or hungover at 2 in the afternoon. This is a decent diner, though not the best I've ever been to. It's great for its convenience to the Penn campus, and they have good carrot cake (though anything tastes good at 3 AM). They serve breakfast all day, and have great eggs and waffles combo dishes. The service is only okay. Basically, not a destination place, but if you're around and hungry (and drunk), worth going to.

by Alicia R.Jessica W.Natalia B.Shaun O.Mallory P.

What do you get when you cross a cheese steak and philly diner? No mayonaise, and chewy meat. How am I going to order a cheese steak IN philly at a place called PHILLY diner and get a lousy cheesesteak? I'm devastated. I ordered mayonaise on mine, for the record. And I thought tomato and lettuce came complimentary but not here. We got charged extra for asking for it! Lame. And while our waitress was precious and sweet, she must not have understood the severity of my no mayonaise or sour cream order because I had to ask 6, I counted, times to get them. Who forgets that many times when they're waiting 2 tables? Come on now. They also have a tiny sign up front that you barely have a chance to read because you're urged to sit and I didn't realize it was minimum 15 dollar credit charge. 10 would be more reasonable since to get to 15 I'd have to order a meal, drink, dessert, and possibly something else. Luckily my friend had cash. To be frank, I'm a germaphobe and I didn't even dare enter the bathrooms because the floors were disgusting. I held it to save my sanity. It's like a waffle house roy rogers adventure without the fun and a lazy diner slapped on the front. Diner food shouldn't be terrible. :\ Why do these places get away with this?!This diner is solid.  I've come here pretty often recently when I've been in the city, hanging out with my friend from UPenn.  Sure, they don't use fresh fruit, but it does the trick when you want breakfast in a big portion.  In my experience, the service hasn't been bad.  It seems to be a pretty popular place.  There's always a good amount of people here and it's always interesting, because all types of different people come here- it's not just another college hangout.  I also await the day the random hookah they have on sale will finally have been sold.Dear Philly Diner,If I wanted to eat an entire can of cherry pie filling, I would get some for half off at Save-A-Lot and some plastic spoons and go to town. When a person orders "cheese blintzes", it is not acceptable to instead pour 32 oz. cans of cherry pie filling into some flat pancakes and then, when I tell you that I ordered cheese blintzes, to tell me "oh I thought you said 'fruit filled crepes'." If those were "crepes" then I'm not French Canadian.omg I'm fighting back the urge to gag at the thought of the cheese blintzes which I'd originally ordered which they finally brought out a half an hour later. Again, approximately 32 oz. of cottage cheese ricotta cheese mixed together wrapped in flat pancakes. Eggs hasbrowns were cold. Had to wait forever for one (bitter) coffee + (tap) water refill, too. I want to like this diner because it's the only one near where I live University City needs things like diners with great food and service. C'mon, make me like you, Philly diner. You're getting a second chance. I'll even divulge my secret crepe recipe if you give me free coconut pie for a week. Sincerely,MoiYou want a local Philly Diner? You got it-Thats how I brought an potential UPenn grad student here, as he was asking to go to a place where the locals eat. After passing over the recently opened Chipotle (looong lines), we stumbled over here.  It looked like a local place and not frequented by many students.I will agree that the service is ok. It took the waiter a few minutes to come for our order. However, I really liked the corned beef reuben sandwhich, and found it to be pretty tasty.  I just wish it was a little bit bigger.....but it only cost less the $20 to feed the both of us, so that was a big plus.There are only a few reasons that someone would go to a diner:  They're poor, they want a good home cooked-ish meal and can't go home, or it's 3AM and they're drunk.The question is, would Philly Diner help fulfill this criteria?  So, is Philly Diner cheap?  No.  You can get Philly Diner's grilled cheese for the same price as a veggie panini somewhere that doesn't involve tipping.  Is the food good in that home cooked way?  No.  It's not very good.  Not in any way.  Is Philly Diner open at 3AM?  Yes, they are open 24 hours.  So I believe that we can deduce that the only reason someone in their right mind would go to Philly Diner is if they are actually not in their right mind.

by David S.

Mediocre diner... I was staying on the UPenn campus for work and didn't know where to go for dinner. I stumbled upon Philly Diner at random after walking around campus, but probably would have been better off going somewhere else. I got the BLT and a chocolate shake: both of them were rather bad... and the water tasted like chlorine. I probably wont' be back.

by Sabrina G.

I only come here for the breakfast. The lunch just doesn't look like it's worth looking into. Decent coffee, amazing omelets. I can go in and take a seat getting refills while enjoying a good book. It's reasonably quiet during the weekday mornings, so it's a nice place to go into around 9 or 10am if you want to enjoy a quiet breakfast to yourself. Don't expect superb quality meals here, but if you're on a budget and just want something to hold you over until dinner, this is probably a decent choice. Much better than going to McDonald's not located far from there.