Pop Diner

It use to be better many years ago.
Not it’s all right… Nothing o rave about… so disappointed!

this location is now closed.

From what I hear, They are closed for business. DONE!

The food is decent enough. Service was only okay. I had the Chicken Ranchero sandwich which was tasty, but small.

We had our food delivered once. By the time the food got to us, it was cold and even after heating it up ourselves, we got sick.
No, no, no, no.

Love this place… fun atmosphere with real retro décor, great food and great service!!!
This place must be owned by Latinos because the menu seems to incorporate a few latin dishes and some friends say it is pretty good.
I ordered the Black Bean Burger but with a Turkey Burger Meat instead and it was yummo!!!
I usually get regular diner food but I think next time I will try out the Latin food and see how they rate!
This place is great for a casual date and a wonderful place to bring the family! They have a kids menu that looks pretty decent and lots of different dishes to choose from!
Mangia!

Pop Diner is a blast from the past, set in the 60’s era. It’s retro and does not look tacky all while in keeping with the theme. The only thing that stuck out were the modern LCD screens hanging from the walls. It’s an American diner with the traditional favorites, and featuring Asian Caribbean, and Latin cuisine. I was also surprised at the large layout of this place, that wraps around in a L-​shape. There is ample seating by the bar and enough tables that waits should either be very short or nonexistent. And a private lot?! Awesome!
I was surprised that the food was decently good here. I ordered the Empanada Breakfast ($ 8.95), which is 3 eggs any style, empanada with potato and chorizo sausage, 7 – 8 pieces of sweet plantains, a side of home fries, and toast. Also included is coffee/​tea and a cup of juice. Be sure to ask for your cup of juice as our waiter tried to play like it wasn’t included in our meal. The empanada was nothing to rave about as the pastry was slightly burnt and not very flaky. The potato was soft and chorizo seasoned, but it was nothing spectacular. The plantains were definitely a treat, and for $ 9.00, it doesn’t get any better than that. Portions were decent that left me fairly full.
I also tried the Old-​Fashioned French Toast with Pork Sausage. The pork sausage was humongous like a kielbasa. The skin was snappy and the meat was juicy and tender inside. It was very flavorful from the seasonings and not sodium induced, which many places try to get away with.
Table service was something a bit lacking. They did come once to refill our cups of coffee, but beyond that, they never came by to check up on us. Our waiter did walk by a few times to service other tables, so it wasn’t too difficult to get his attention, but good service is when a waiter waits on his customers, rather than his customers waiting for their waiter.
Pop Diner does serve some solid food. For me, the corner diner usually spells out substandard food that is simply used to fill the stomach while disregarding the quality of the food and service. However, Pop Diner is definitely a step above your average diner with specialty dishes that I would have never expected. Portions are large, prices are fair, and the ambiance is pretty cool. What more can you ask for?

This isn’t your ordinary diner, which you an tell immediately after you enter the place. With a retro 1950’s look, the Pop Diner is a great addition to the homogenous backdrop that is Elmhurst. Their menu selection is quite extensive and they offer a variety of cuisines. Of course you can order a hamburger or salad, but you can also order freshly made ceviche, mofongo, and even ropa vieja. Everything I have eaten here has been very good to excellent. A great place to go after a night out in Manhattan.

Once upon a time, three little girls by the name A, B, and C decided to enjoy a late dinner at a local diner after a long tiresome day of shopping. They had no trouble finding parking and was welcomed by a warm host, dressed in a suit attire. Little did they know, their wonderful splendid day was about to come to an end!
Waiter Service: Horrible! Didn’t provide the table with adequate utensils (there were only two sets of utensils for three!) Took the waiter fifteen minutes to come with glasses of water, after two reminders and setting down two bowl of soups. (Honestly, how is it that soups can make it out of the kitchen before water?!) Half an hour to forty minutes later, a bus boy came with a small platter of warm breads, with two plates. and there were three guests at the table. When the girls were done with their meals, they waited forever for the waiter to come back to take their check. Upon leaving the restaurant, they noticed their waiter was too busy watching a movie or show in one corner of the restaurant closest to the entrance, and a group of other waiters watching a show or movie as well in another corner. No wonder there were no waiters around!!!
Food: The menu was populated with variety of foods, ranging from Latin American to Asian cuisines. Two bowls of soup were ordered. The New England Clam Chowder was a bit too salty and was not thick, rather it ran like water. French Onion soup looked like they had the wrong type of cheese. Entrees were a good portion sized, however the creativity of the dishes looked forced. (A few spider looking red pepper on top of the paella, that looked like little kids have snipped it for an art project)
Environment: The place feels like a diner at least. There are booths with small jukeboxes on each table (except most of them are out of service). An open kitchen that allows the guests to see the interaction of chefs inside. There’s a turning display upon entering the diner, which showcases different desserts they have. Lastly, flat screen tvs hanging around here or there.
**Overall, if you’re looking for a diner with horrible waiter service, large portions of average tasting food, and an environment that feels like a diner in Elmhurst, then this is the right place!

I had breakfast here the other day and it was pretty amazing!!! This diner has typical diner food, but with a spanish flare. I had the crab cakes with 2 eggs over easy, a side of cheese grits and iced coffee. My boyfriend had a mushroom and swiss omelette with home fries and iced coffee. Everything was delicioso!!! If we weren’t in public, we would have licked the plates clean:) They would have gotten 5 stars, but the first dish i ordered (a new item on the menu) was not available and it took annoyingly long for us to get our check. I cain’t wait to go back:)

We ordered some take out from Pop Diner this past rainy Sunday afternoon.
We’re still waiting for our food to arrive.

A fun little place if you get bored of the Georgia Peach diner. Certainly more space that the Georgia Peach, and much better looking décor.
While the menu is of typical diner fare, there are some Latino dishes available. Monfongo for example. Definitely a reflection of multicultural Queens.
The booth seat jukeboxes never seem to be in use. The song list is dated from the 1990s.
The waitstaff is hit or miss. One waiter I had was overzealous, not giving us enough time to decide. Other than that, never had a problem.
It seems to be a typical place where local club-​goers go for their hangover meal.
So if you don’t want to wait for a table at the Georgia Peach, Pop Diner isn’t a bad alternative.

If I steer away even 1 person from the disappointment that is the pop diner then it would make my registering for Unilocal worthwhile. They charged me six dollars for a bitter banana milkshake that tasted like skim milk blended with green unripe banana. The fries were cold and tasted like the frozen kind. The burger was burnt; no use asking how you want it cooked. This place is a tourist trap and only survives because of the steady flow of unsuspecting diners from Queens Blvd.
People that gave this place 4 stars are all jerks and I hate them.

Yuck.

This is an adorable diner.
The décor is funky and awesome! Lots of bright colors. Lots of comfy booths to sit in. its very 1960’s chic.
The menu is standard diner fare with a little bit of awesome thrown in. What diners do you know serve tostones? or Waffle Fries? or Latin themed dishes?
Its open 24 hrs a day and on a late Saturday this place is BOOMING with club goers who are coming to fill up before an alcohol induced sleep.
I have been here at all hours of the day. I like the service. I like the food.
I overall like this place!

I love diners. I like to sit in booths and order griddle food and milkshakes and eat iceberg salad with blue cheese dressing and saltine crackers. And Pop Diner is an adorable diner, with two large rooms filled with 50’s pop modern booths. When we walked into the place, I’d already decided I loved it. I was craving a burger and a shake, so we sat down and got to ordering.
Pop Diner is cutting way too many corners for a restaurant and they’re taking it out of all the wrong places; namely, the food and the cleanliness. Here’s what transpired at the table:
Adequate service. Nice enough. Waited about 5 minutes for a server, food came out a bit slowly. It was clear our entrees had sat under the heat lamp for too long. But generally, no complaints about the staff.
Salad. Boo. The lettuce was chopped and the flimsy salad held too many soggy slices of red onion, too many for a side salad. Filler. The dressing was so watered down that after drenching the entire bowl of lettuce with it, it still had no taste. It, essentially, was like eating water-​mayo and cabbage. Sick. Big disappointment.
Burgers. Ugh. I don’t know what to say. It was unnecessary for us to request them cooked at certain temperatures. Medium rare my ass. It was burned. If its possible to burn a frozen beef patty in the microwave, I’m certain that’s how this patty was cooked. Cold fries, no mayo/​sauce/​mustard on the bun. It tasted like bowling alley food. Definitely not worth the calories.
Banana milkshake. Even though the menu says, «any flavor» for milkshake, they charged us a $ 1 up-​charge to add «banana» to whatever mess of a milk concoction they were blending up. And though the cost was $ 5, they didn’t even bring the blending cup on the side. There didn’t seem to be any ice cream in the milkshake. There might have been, but it was a sad ratio.
And the bathrooms. Filthy. Three stalls, all unusable. And I’m from Nevada; I’ve pee’d in the dirt.
Pop Diner: We’re still traumatized.

Ordinary diner prices for ordinary diner food.
They do have sweet potato fries though, which seems like a rarity amongst diners.
I got the Godfather burger and Rusty got a turkey club.
The Godfather burger was good, but I was not asked how I wanted it cooked, so it was delivered rather well done. The turkey club was ordinary.
Rusty enjoyed it because there was some guy there that was able to look at porn while he ate (free wi-​fi in this place). The big flat screen tvs are nice and the place is huge too.

Okay I just ate here tonight and all I could think was «I cant wait to Unilocal this freaking place». 8:30 on a Sunday night. not busy at all, so you would think we would get great service… NOT
We came in and it took the hostess a minute or two to even acknowledge us. she just stood there! Then, without looking at us, she told the waiter in Spanish to seat us.
We sat down… and were left there. The waiter did not come to our table for about 10 minutes. I say again, he had only one other table besides us. not busy at all! … Once he did come, he just walked over to our table with pen and paper and stood there silently. No «Hello» or «What can I get you?». nothing.
As for food — the clam chowder soup was horrible. Chicken quesadilla was horrible. The Steak quesadilla actually tasted great.
The waiter paid NO attention to us while we were eating, never once did he come to see if we were okay or if we needed refills. He just stood there and talked with other coworkers. The only attentive one was the busboy that picked up our plates when we were done and wrapped up my leftovers.
We, then, waited for our check for 20 minutes. Yea we should’ve just walked the fuck out of there. but no, we waited to see how much longer he would ignore us.
Once we went up to the register to pay, there was NO ONE at the register. The hostess was sitting on the side texting on her phone, the waiters were sitting and bullshitting… The night manager FINALLY came over to us. AND HE WAS A RUDE IDIOT TOO.. he didn’t say a word to us, just reached for the money. Are you serious???
I don’t think I’ll ever be coming back to this place… Get a new hostess, night manager, attentive waiters, and chefs… and maybe I’ll consider it.

Seafood Omelette and a small bottle of bubbly for brunch? What’s not to like?
The eggs plus shrimp and scallop combination was one I hadn’t tried before and I liked it. I love the orange décor and the dots everywhere and I enjoyed the bread selection.

(2.5 stars) Pop Diner is a funky little diner on Queens Blvd about a mile west of the Mall. Pop Diner is a diner with a Spanish twist and retro American décor (unlike most Diners which have Greek twists). The portions are a little smaller than most diner’s I’ve been to and there really isn’t anything spectacular about the food here.
Last time I was here I had awful service where I didn’t see my waitress for a long time and had to flag her down a number of times to get a refill on my water and to get my check after my plate was sitting empty for at least 10−15min. The other time I came here the service wasn’t that bad so it’s a hit or miss. The food has never been horrible so I wouldn’t worry about having a traumatizing experience but don’t expect to get something exciting and wonderful to call home and brag about either.