Ellen's Stardust Diner

Someone from this business manages this listing.

#632 of 12,515 Restaurants in New York CityAmerican, Diner, $$ - $$$

What is Travelers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ellen's Stardust Diner

Review

At a glance

Closed now

See all hours

Website

+1 212-956-5151Improve this listing

About

Ellen's Stardust Diner is a retro 1950s theme restaurant located at 1650 Broadway on the southeast corner of 51st Street in Theater District, Manhattan, New York City. The diner is regarded as one of the best theme restaurants in New York. The 1950s-themed eatery is home to its singing waitstaff known as (”Stardusters”). Ellen’s Stardust Diner has since served as the launching pad for many of its waiters/vocalists who have gone on to success in Broadway musicals and touring companies, domestic & international. Our retro 1950s-themed diner is filled with nostalgic memorabilia including the famous “Miss Subways” gallery honoring the beauty queens of a bygone era.

Features

CUISINES

American, Diner

Meal types

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Late Night, Drinks

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly

FEATURES

Accepts Credit Cards

American Express

Discover

Family style

Free Wifi

Full Bar

Gift Cards Available

Highchairs Available

Live Music

Mastercard

Seating

Serves Alcohol

Table Service

Visa

Wheelchair Accessible

Wine and Beer

Location

1650 Broadway, New York City, NY 10019-6833

Midtown

Is this a Barbecue restaurant?

Yes

Unsure

Top 3 reasons to eat here

Sponsored by: Ellen's Stardust Diner

"A fabulous venue, amazing food and even better singing and entertainment"

240viab

"Menu was extensive and their milkshakes were drool-worthy! "

awaywego123

"Food is fresh and yummy and you get to enjoy the performances while you eat.!!"

benbF7886NS

Save this restaurant

Hours

Suggest an edit

Closed now

• Opens at 7:00 AM

Sunday

7:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Monday

7:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Tuesday

7:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Wednesday

7:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Thursday

7:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Friday

7:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Saturday

7:00 AM - 12:00 AM

Contribute

Write a review

Upload a photo

Ask a question

4.1

23,413 reviews

Excellent

11,124

Very good

7,382

Average

2,797

Poor

1,077

Terrible

1,037

These reviews are machine translated from their original language. Show machine translations?

This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, express or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement.

Yes

Sam C

3 contributions

A fantastic experience

Feb 2025 • family

Absolutely fantastic. The food is good if a smidge more expensive for what it is, but the main draw is the waiters themselves and thats what you're paying for. They are amazing. A particular shout out to Matthew for singing a tune while sorting out a customer's bill. Would definitely recommend. The wait time is apparently a bit variable, but I think we got lucky only having to wait about 10-15 minutes. They'll sometimes grab parties from a bit further down the line to fill specific tables, but it is completely understandable.

Written February 11, 2025

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

LUCIANA C

Formia69 contributions

Top

Feb 2025 • friends

I had lunch in this particular restaurant in the company of friends .. we took the famous pasta cheese .. delicious and plentiful .. really unique location both as a table arrangement and as a harmonious and musical atmosphere .. the waiters sing and wait at the tables .. I highly recommend this place !!!

Automatically translated

Written March 5, 2025

PremierBoy98

London39 contributions

Ellen's is just superb. Loved it!!

Feb 2025 • family

This for me is what New York is all about. This restaurant is just out there, its crazy, its loud, its fun, its about having a good time and yes its not cheap, but what do you expect in NYC?? We visited Ellen's as was told when in NYC you have to go there and just try it, so we did and we loved it. Did we go for the food, probably not, we went for the experience, the vibe, the fun, and yes the Singing. We loved it so much we went back 2 days later on our final evening before leaving and had another round of Broadway exuberance and Divaness! Yes, i agree with some the food is probably not worth the dollars you spend but what the hell, these waiters and waitresses give it all and perform so well.. for us it was worth every dollar we spent and the extra we put into Philip. Go to Ellen's when in NYC, love it or not you can not get this anywhere else unless you are actually in a theatre in Broadway.

Written February 27, 2025

Cesclaa

Stoke-on-Trent9 contributions

Shameless begging for tips. Excessive pressure

Feb 2025 • couples

First off, we had to queue for about 40 minutes, in the freezing cold with no updates on queue time. That was brutal. Then we got in and actually was given good seats on the balcony 2nd floor with good views of the singers. The good: Singers are talented. Hard working Atmosphere is quite positive, cheery. The OK- food. Pretty standard. Nothing great. The bad: right here we go!: The prices of everything, is immensely overpriced. Even for Times Square, it’s brutally over the top. If you’re a family of 4, Christ good luck. We were a couple and a basic one course meal with one drink and the fleecing of tips was $100+. The server Chris whilst amicable; forgot my side I ordered to which lad just said “my bad”. Awesome. Then the woman who was MC’ing, who clarified she wasn’t Ellen. Her name was Lisa. This woman did a speech about how the servers are all working class people and are basically on their arse, with no pot to pee in. Telling everyone who has already spent hundreds on their food and their tips, that the servers are paid NOTHING extra for their singing, just paid a basic wage like any other server. She then said that classes for singing, dancing etc are expensive so can WE, the CUSTOMERS donate some money to them so they can get classes. To clarify, this obnoxious woman boastly proclaims how the staff are paid peanuts by the owners so can WE make up their pay, on TOP of tips. I was astounded. Then she walks around the whole place with a bucket and a bell stopping at every table to ask for money for their staff. Outrageous. Pressuring the customers for money cause the owners are too cheap to pay their staff a proper wage,. They then after you decline that, she walks away all snobby and smirking to herself. The bill afterwards then includes a 20% tip, which they’ve decided on and then after you accept that begrudgingly, the next screen on the card machine asks for another tip. We asked what that was. “Ahh some customers like to tip further” Piss off. Unbelievable begging and bullying of customers to supplement their staff’s cost of living cause the owners pay them nothing, whilst they charge extortionate prices like $17.50 for a milkshake. Never ever again. Shameful

Written February 3, 2025

Suebovo

Dublin38 contributions

It’s an over priced production line

Dec 2024 • family

Queued for ages which was fine we were prepared but we were brought to tables down stairs which didn’t have the same atmosphere as upstairs. Waiter took our order, was friendly and we ordered starters and mains. Our starters came out, we were not even 1/4 of the way through when our mains was dumped, literally dumped on the table with no room I had to place bowls from starters on side of plates. Food was mediocre but I suppose you’re not going for the food. With all the food on the table and with no room to move it put us off eating. The waiter then spoke about their ambitions and goals and was coming around with a bucket we thought fair enough and between me and my kids we put a €70 tip in the bucket not know what would come ‘compulsory’ on the receipt. Dishes were taken and we were asked if we wanted anything else at that point we were finishing drinks and were talking about getting dessert but because we said ‘no thanks not right now’ the bill was thrown on the table so we took it as we were done and the waiting staff had made that decision for us. I looked at the receipt and there was a gratuity of €55 dollars added as part of the bill - if I had of known that I wouldn’t have put $70 in the bucket. Of course I wouldn’t have given a tip with the food but should have had the discretion to decide the amount I wanted to give. It then felt like they wanted us to clear the table - it really was a production line which takes from the atmosphere and the chance to enjoy and embrace it all. I will not go back again and would no longer recommend this diner to friends who are visiting NYC

Written December 28, 2024

Yvonne D

1 contribution

Poor queue management and overpriced for quality of food

Feb 2025 • family

Went with family for dinner on Saturday night in Feb 2025 (probably not the best night to pick) queued for 2 hours. Food below average and I would say overpriced for the quality. Entertainment was good but a lot of requests for tips which considering they include 20% in the bill as service charge which is not optional is not needed. Also, on the night we visited there was a school party of 20 teenagers with 3 teachers behind us in the queue. The teachers approached the hosts on several occasions I assume to request entry and they were accommodated but split into smaller groups. This is extremely unfair as they were taken in from really far back in the queue in front of people who were also waiting some with small children. When we eventually got in they were still eating dinner so they not only jumped the queue but took an excessive amount of time while in there holding tables and stopping others from entering. If there is a no booking policy nobody should receive priority except at the point close to the front when tables of a specific size are available. 5 of them were next to where we were seated at a table and we were a party of 5 so we stood for an hour longer just because they were a school party with teachers begging to get let in for whatever reason I’m not sure. Wouldn’t return I’d say pick your time wisely if attending.

Written February 15, 2025

Lorraine K

19 contributions

Disappointed

Mar 2025 • friends

Was looking forward to visit. Went for breakfast. 1st impressions were that it was a bit grubby. Ordered pancakes. Both myself and friend ordered the same. We wanted fresh milk for tea and asked someone twice fir this and told to ask our server who didn't come back to our table and we never managed to catch his attention. Why the girl we asked twice could not have just got it is a mystery. Pancakes were disappointing. Bacon on top was like some sort of crumb. Not pleasant. My friend had one bite and didn't like at all. When they cleared our plates no one questioned why a full plate of food was going back. When we got the bill I asked for the service charge to be removed and suddenly there were people interested. I just wanted to go so paid and left. The singers were excellent and we did donate to the bucket but felt so sad that the experience was nothing like I expected. I didn't expect gourmet but it was so poor.

Written March 8, 2025

Michael K

7 contributions

Wouldn’t visit again

Feb 2025 • couples

Average experience. The singing etc was good, but some were busy serving their customers to be singing properly. The food was largely poor and for the price you pay it’s really not worth the £££. We also received our starters after our mains, so not great service really overall, very much a conveyor belt.

Written February 23, 2025

Tourist13699825465

1 contribution

Food at ellen's stardust

Sep 2024 • family

To start the queue is quite an unknown, you can wait between half an hour and an hour and a half. As for the food on the New York line, fast food with a very fair quality, it could be cooked by my 12-year-old son. Plus if you're unlucky like us they put you on top. (when there was a gap downstairs, but for optimizing the table we were taken upstairs, the funny thing is that the size of the table was the same) you will not see the show, well if on the TV there is. I complained to the waitress, but she ignored, still when I finished dinner I said it on the way out and above they put edges and tell you that the singers tb climb up, every 10 minutes they climb, fast turn and down. Finally, I would never return, the restoration in Spain is infinitely better and also cheaper. An absolute deception

Automatically translated

Written October 1, 2024

Kristine Hope

New Jersey142 contributions

Just not it

May 2024 • friends

I pass this place all the time but had never been in, and went recently with a group of friends who were visiting NYC for a weekend and really wanted to experience it. I will say that the performers are absolutely incredible, *so* talented with amazing voices and a great array of songs they seem to belt out effortlessly in the middle of a brunch rush. Otherwise, every single other thing about this place is subpar. The menu is so unbelievably overpriced, which I could understand because of the big Times Square location and I'd be fine with if it was clear you're getting the meal and the show for a combo price (like I said, would be worth it to see these amazing performers!) but it's made clear throughout the show that the singers are only getting your additional tips, (which are split between the entire cast, so it feels like there's no reasonable amount you can add that would be rewarding for all the talent). I'd also be okay with the price if the food was amazing, but it was somehow among the worst food I've ever had in a restaurant, EVER. Not "bad by NYC standards" or "not my favorite," truly like, messing up eggs and pancakes and other easy, go-to brunch items. No servers stopped by to ask how anything was - because I think they just knew that nobody was going to be happy? My table had an okay time overall because of the fun atmosphere, but I would have much rather used the money to go to an actual Broadway show.

Written May 20, 2024

Linsey

Dundee122 contributions

Not a great experience

Dec 2024 • friends

We managed to get a table very quickly as there were 4 of us and one has come free. It was all fine, food was good enough and entertainment/singing ok. We were encouraged to tip $20 which was fine but then another $30 was added to our bill. When we said to take the tip off the bill we had already given the waitress had a hissy fit. We already tipped🤷‍♀️ in our opinion and certainly wasn’t giving $50 in total. Waitress was horrendous just downright rude. Sorry that’s not how you behave.

Written December 24, 2024

geraldine bsn

Cavalaire-Sur-Mer29 contributions

Amazing a good back

Oct 2023 • family

The burgers are a real delight and are very filling. The waiters are super friendly and above all they sing and they all have crazy voices…. I didn't expect to hear so many beautiful voices The atmosphere is amazing We ate there on a Monday lunchtime, 2 adults and 2 children each ate a burger and fries with sodas, we had more room for dessert. The price is reasonable when you think you saw a real show $148 Tips included

Written October 20, 2023

Claire N

37 contributions

Very over priced

Dec 2024 • family

I was incredibly excited to visit Ellen’s Stardust Diner, so waiting an hour for a table didn’t bother me at first. However, the experience fell far below my expectations. The food was extremely disappointing—poor quality and outrageously overpriced. For instance, my son’s plate of waffles with banana and strawberries cost $25! Our breakfast, with drinks, totaled over $160, and none of us enjoyed the meal. Adding to the frustration, they automatically tacked on a 20% gratuity to the bill after we had already contributed $50 to their donation bucket. This felt incredibly unfair and left a bad taste in our mouths (pun intended). As for the entertainment, while a few performances were enjoyable, others were downright painful to endure. High-pitched wailing and off-key singing were not what we had anticipated from a diner showcasing aspiring Broadway talent. If you’re an aspiring Broadway performer, I would seriously question associating yourself with a place that serves such subpar food and employs inconsistent talent. Working at a reputable venue with glowing reviews would better reflect your abilities and enhance your CV. Ultimately, Ellen’s seems to thrive on its long line of tourists, which might explain the lack of care for quality or customer satisfaction. Sadly, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone hoping for a memorable dining experience.

Written January 2, 2025

bettymA6973QK

6 contributions

Set the Stage for our Weekend in NYC!

Nov 2024 • family

We were just in for the weekend but went for dinner our first night in town and enjoyed it so much we went for breakfast our last morning in town - both experiences were wonderful! Don't let the long line deter you - they seat by party size table availability, so even if the line appears long, you still might be seated before those before you depending on party size. That said, I think it's worth the wait! The food (2 adults, teenage boy) filled us up, was as good as any other diner food we had all weekend and was priced similarly to all of our other food experiences (except with entertainment!) Our waitress on the 1st night and waiter on the last morning were attentive, kept my coffee cup full (while performing!) and were so kind. This really "set the stage" for our weekend in the city and wrapped it up beautifully! And these individuals are so very talented! Literally dinner and a show!

Written November 4, 2024

Lavinia B

6 contributions

Nice 😍

Dec 2024 • couples

We had dinner on December 25 and it was a beautiful evening. The concept of the place works a lot, the staff very friendly and helpful as well as being, clearly, very good at singing. Point in favor certainly the fact that there was a bathroom in the room, which is not obvious. We were also lucky because we were put on the second floor and had a nice view over the whole place. The only flaw is the price because for a Mac and cheese, a burger, as an “aperitivo” of chicken wings and 2 Pepsi we spent $107, the price automatically includes 20% tip but the receipt says that on request you can remove. But overall nice evening.

Automatically translated

Written December 26, 2024

…

Showing results 1-15 of 17,573

ELLEN'S STARDUST DINER, New York City - Midtown - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor