McLean Family Restaurant

It’s gotten better! Father, son and I came in the morning after Christmas for breakfast. The food was great like always. What had changed was the service. It was WONDERFUL!!! Not only were they a bit over half full of customers but, this is why I think things were better, all of the regular wait staff that I normally see on a Saturday was gone. On Christmas vacation I guess. What was left were the hard charging go get ers who really made a difference. I felt very attended to. Coffee always full… without asking. Order was 100% correct. Asked if I needed anything several times. What a pleasant surprise.

SO HAPPY to find a family owned diner around here! We are surrounded by silver diner nightmares. Not a fan of them.
This place is everything we have been looking for. A little lacking in the service from our waitress, but they were packed and the food was great so we barely noticed.
My boyfriend got the eggs/​toast/​bacon/​home fries meal — everything came out perfect.
I got the pancakes, eggs, sausage and OMG the chocolate chip pancakes. So good.
We will be coming back!

Even when it’s packed, I get in. Sometimes when it’s really crowded I feel a little unwelcome since I am a party of one. Also, I have been coming to this restaurant since he late 1960’s and don’t feel greeted with any gusto – like I am a stranger. BUT, it’s okay – I love going there anyway – the wait staff is terrific and fast and the food is wonderful. A real McLean go-​to spot. Any meals on weekends are packed – esp. breakfast. Somehow, magically, the line never lasts long.
Highly recommend.
They don’t take AmEx.

In a word, Yum! I love their openface turkey sandwich, and it’s perfect for couple days… Gotta love comfort food, and their service is wonderful as well. If you love diners, you must check this place out.

We just had the most wonderful waitress, Carolina. She was fantastic, knew all of the guests, was more than attentive, and had the sweetest attitude. The food was also lovely. However, we would definitely go back simply because of her wonderful service.

Possibly the best diner I have been to. Great for breakfast, brunch, coffee meetings and dinner (adult beverages optional). The service is great and it can get busy at times here, but getting a table has never been any trouble. This is the best coffee spot in Mclean.

I’ve been in McLean for over 15 years and I get it… this is kind of the local diner place. Its not that it is bad, its just that I’d love for it to be better.
Service
Overall good service and friendly people. Nothing outstanding, but overall fine.
Food
The kids ordered waffles, bacon and eggs and they seemed to like it. Nice size waffle and all looked fresh but nothing of special to note. My wife ordered a Gyro and she wasn’t thrilled by excess onions she picked off the gyro (more than what you would normally see on a gyro). But a nice large portion of beef and all else looked ok. I got a roast beef sandwich with Au Jus and I think it was the smallest such sandwich I’d ever had. The beef and Au Jus were good, but very small portion on a small bun. Overall I’d say the food is ok.
Pricing
$ 54 for a family of four seemed very high. Each of had soda, tea or milk, but given we had two adults and 2 kids under the age of 10, I didn’t expect to pay this much for what we got.
Cleanliness
Fine, nothing to complain about.
Coming back or other options
We are normally Silver Diner folks and nothing about this visit would cause me to switch. I love local owned places and will give them the nod if all things are equal, but this is not the case with the McLean Family Restaurant. Silver Diner is just a much better option.

Well… Jim and I are out again. And we LOVE this place. It’s very clean. They serve coffee for one price until you say ‘stop’. They make pancakes with fruit ‘well done’ so it’s not doughy in the middle. Of course it is always busy, but it’s worth the wait! The staff is very nice and always friendly. We’ll always find a reason to come here!!!

If McLean Family Restaurant didn’t exist McLean just wouldn’t be McLean! It is friendly, the food is great, and I think they have the best roast chicken I have ever eaten (my husband thinks the same of the stuffed peppers)! A visit home from my kids is never complete without at least one visit. Be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner, no one is ever disappointed. PS there are also wonderful Greek specials, and their Greek yoghurt is fantastic!

bf brought here b’c he wanted me to take a break from cooking
i got the ricotta cheese blintzes which i liked, they were quite filling. i also got ‘home fries’ which came out as hash browns; these were pretty bland. i asked for tea and was brought black, i was not given they option to select amongst the varieties of teas that they offer.
bf got a breakfast sandwich which he hated.
service is fine
parking is a plenty
overall: dennys and ihop are cheaper and probably better options. i was happy to try something i would not have otherwise come across though so i would recommend this to those in the area

McLean mainstay… nothing at all to write home about in terms of food, but decent service and good coffee. Might bump to four stars if they bring the biscuits and gravy out hot next time.

Interesting… great little diner in the heart of McLean. Was shopping with my mom and it was lunch time. Popped in since we were in the shopping center and glanced at the menu and there was plenty to choose from so we decided to stay.
I am no spring chicken and my mom is 20+ years older and we were the youngest ones in there… until finally some business men arrived. Interesting mix of customers to say the least. I think we were the only ones that were not regulars. Waitresses were bringing out drinks and food orders to folks without asking what they wanted!
I had a chicken salad sandwich — simple but tasty — on toasted rye bread. My mom had two poached eggs with hash browns and a toasted bagel.
Prices were very reasonable, place was fairly clean, staff was friendly and seemed local, variety of food to fit everyone’s needs.

A great place to have breakfast without the cheap diner feel. The welcome was warm and the coffee was bottomless. Food was pretty good and the service was attentive.

This is your typical diner, the food was good. The staff was very friendly and the food came out fast. The skillet and egg white omelette were very good. We got the chocolate pancakes because everyone raves about them we just thought they were ok. They were a little to heavy for us, but we prefer light and fluffy pancakes. We will definitely be back.

Not sure why they exist. Food is terrible. Service is bad.
Me: «what kind of teas do you have?»
Staff: «normal tea»
No atmosphere whatsoever. If there is a review saying this place is great, it’s a fake review.

Place was not what it led on to be. Was expecting home-​made food, not something I could of gotten from frozen food section at Giant. I ordered Chicken Tenders that came with fries. Both were terrible. The chicken and fries had no flavor whatsoever. Glad I tried it though, it’ll save me from going there ever again.

Nothing special but nothing horrible. Local family run restaurant that needs a refresh. I recommend the mfr omelette. This is a Family friendly diner but also can nurse a hangover.

It is just a small diner, probably best to stick to breakfast… it strongly reminds me of the little diners I grew up around in the northeast, as the bulk of the menu is eggs, any way, with home fries, meat and toast. Coffee is refilled quickly, service is polite, and the crowd on any day will include the elderly, a congressman, a few rednecks, and some yuppies families all getting their breakfast fix.
So, it does the job and has a certain charm if you’re looking for a breakfast/​diner experience that could be in a time warp from 20 – 30 years ago. It does that really well, actually, but I don’t feel like there is any reason to go exploring across the bland-​sounding lunch and dinner offerings.

A local diner that is just a mainstay. Nothing to rave about and nothing to complain about. It’s just nice to have a place where breakfast can always be ordered.
One of the omelettes that I really like is the MFR which has gyro meat, red tomatoes, and feta cheese. One thing to gripe about is that the feta is not always mixed in, and when your entire bite is feta, it can be off-​putting.
You can’t go wrong with ordering the Belgian waffle, but the batter used is a bit more dense than I prefer.
At the end of the day, this is just a local mainstay.

Who knew this would be the most happening place on a rainy Saturday morning in Mclean? This place was packed with patrons old and young, with the line stretching outside of the restaurant. Though the breakfast items were well portioned, and cheap for this area, the food was ordinary and comparable to what you can find at other diners.
I was impressed by the obviously understaffed but quick service during the peak breakfast hours. Our waiter even made several rounds to refill our coffee. On the other hand, I felt we were rushed through our meal to turnover the table for the next group of patrons.
This is not the best place to relax and talk over breakfast, but other times of the day may be less chaotic.