As always great breakfast they never let me down. Great service good food, great overall local diner.More

Had 1 of the best chicken sandwiches I've ever had at this place. My server was on her first day and was delightful. They have my recomendationMore

This is my 2nd review of Hometown Diner. While it may not meet the below criteria for 5 star, the Hometown Diner (now called "Kitchen Breakfast Bar and Grille" though it is for all intents and purposes very much a Diner. If it looks like...a duck . . . etc.) by any name it does a fine job and comes with this reviewer's strong recommendation. I have been patronizing this place on and off since its inception, and believe it is competently managed and has earned its success the old-fashioned way, by hard work, vigilance and adherence to a strong professional standard, as is its sister operation, the 248 Diner in Easton. The Gogoustamos Family (I hope the spelling is correct) is to be commended for its obvious dedication to superior operation. Below is the criteria I use for 5 star evaluation. 1. Scratch made food with an absolute minimum of frozen or canned food, a few obvious exceptions perhaps for frozen peas or canned tomatoes used for pasta sauce. Zero frozen appetizers. Zero frozen desserts. Zero frozen seafood (though frozen shrimp likely and acceptable ONLY if prepared properly for superior taste and tenderness, whether served cold as cocktail or hot as in scampi). Butter, never margarine, especially in baked goods but not limited to that. And God forbid never use fake crabmeat (Surimi) or iced tea that is not fresh brewed. Coffee must be really good. Most Lehigh Valley diners have poor or at best middling coffee. Well, you get the idea. 2. Clean and well organized, good housekeeping with constant attention. (Please note a sloppy serving floor even in the midst of a busy dinner hour must be attended to in real time without interfering with the patron's dinner experience. In my experience failure to ensure a clean dining room usually means that the kitchen is also going to be less sanitary - a potentially large problem when it comes to food handling and defense against food-borne illness.) 3. Nothing should be average. By definition one may find average pretty much anywhere. A menu that is more concerned with breadth than quality breeds average. Doesn't mean it can't be done. There are diner operations in my experience that get it "5 star right" despite the multitude of menu choices. But frequently too many choices make freshness and quality suspect. 4. Differentiation. What makes this Diner different from others you've experienced. Are there specialty items you crave and can't find anywhere else? Diners need to be great and consistent with the classics: Meatloaf, Crab cakes, Fried Chicken, great looking and tasty breakfasts. But it's not enough if you are just doing well at the basics. Some parts of your operation must be so different and so special that you become the stuff of legend. 5. Great food and great service. This mentioned at risk of stating the obvious. Hot food delivered hot and cold or room temperature food delivered appropriately. However, the mistake is in believing that great food and great service is enough. It's not and it never has been. Restaurant patrons remember the entirety of the experience. The feelings generated from the dining experience outlast any real memory of the food and service components. 6. Value. Please note this does not necessarily mean cheap prices. Value is the relationship between the entirety of the experience and the $$$ paid for same. There are Diners all over the East that approach the price points of fine dining AND they still present REAL VALUE because they're just that good: the quality of the dining well exceeds the price paid - even if the price paid would not ordinarily be associated with Diner food. The expectation for Diners however is that they are price sensitive and tend to be inexpensive to mid-range. 7. Attention to customers before, during, and after the fact. A well managed Diner will ensure that some staff member, preferably at manager/owner level, will pay serious attention and act upon all reviews available on social media. Each review should trigger a written response, and comments both positive and negative accepted as true. No defensiveness permitted. Patrons do NOT make make up their displeasure; it was real for them. Also Diner owners should not use superlatives in thanking patrons for their "fantastic" review or "amazing" comments on their "mouthwatering" dishes. That's like a guy preparing for his prom and overdoing the aftershave and the cologne. You're not kidding anybody. Keep it real! 8. Solid dining ambience. Nice decor, no piled up product on counters, music consistent with dining. (Loud or whining sounds are intrusive). I like rock as much as anybody but not with my meal, Though there are obvious exceptions (high energy taverns, themed restaurants like Hard Rock, etc) a restaurant should promote and support a relaxed atmosphere. 9. Lastly, true CONSISTENT professionalism in all phases of the operation. Skilled and competent while friendly, personable, within appropriate boundaries. Today I had a late breakfast. The hostess greeted me, took note of my seating preference and did her job well. Since the host/hostess is typically the first person one makes contact with, it does set the tone of the experience and therefore makes an important contribution to that experience. Tiffany was my server and she was by any standard a true professional. Dazzling smile that was absolutely genuine, not an ounce of phony in it. Competent serving skills, appropriate attention without being intrusive, and with a lovely personality. In general I have noticed that the Hometown must screen (and train) its employees quite well. I note that the Hometown utilizes a team approach so that one is not dependent on a single server who may be tied up with another customer while one's breakfast order sits under heat lamps in the kitchen. I ordered a scrambled egg breakfast with home fries (+ sauteed onions) and sausage and toast and coffee. Pleased to note that the coffee was considerably better than I am accustomed to at most Lehigh Valley Diners. Robust and flavorful it was a welcome beginning. The breakfast platter was attractive, initially missing the link sausage which showed up about a minute later along with butter for the toast. The toast was cold and the home fries were somewhat underdone, not crisp. Two things worth mentioning here: 1) I am all but certain the Diner would have happily corrected these two items had I brought it to their attention. 2) If I wanted the home fries more well done I might well have specified that upon ordering. All that said the breakfast and the total experience was more than satisfactory. I might also mention that the place was quite busy and the pace was just right. Though Hometown may be somewhat more expensive than its other Lehigh Valley counterparts, and though it may not have the breadth of menu items associated with Diners, they do appear to have a clear commitment to quality. For this reason I give them high marks for value. I have a healthy regard for the operation and wish the owners nothing but continued success. The restaurant business is brutal and highly competitive and these folks really care about getting it right.More

Great breakfast, very clean for a diner . I will be back soon. The omelette and home fries was good my son had a cocktailMore

Perfectly cooked Steak. The Seafood recipes are also very good and excellent prices. Full bar. Fantastic deserts.More

I took my friend there and she really like the food. We had breakfast. Everything was hot when it came out and you get plenty. I will definitely go there again.More

This was a very enjoyable meal. Food was very good and at a good price. Service was excellent. Coffee was hot and very tasty. Dessert was just an added pleasure. We will be back!More