Stirling House Diner and Seafood Pavilion

There are more diners per square mile in New Jersey than any other state and for that reason the competition to be considered a quality diner is high. I’ve been going to Stirling Diner for years as a local now and it has always come through for me as a solid Jersey style diner experience.
The few measurable items for me at a diner are how long my coffee or water cup stays half full/​empty, how fast my order is taken to food on the table ratio, and overall atmosphere. The Stirling House is rock solid on 2 out of 3 of these and that’s only reason for the missing star. Otherwise it’s a fantastic diner with an extremely robust menu.
The coffee is flowing and the food is fantastic here. If you’re in the «Jersey diner» state of mind, look no further.

Love this restaurant! Lucy makes every meal enjoyable with her attentiveness to every detail!

They’re expensive but food is good IF you get what you order. They will screw up your order if you take out. They don’t give a rats. Stopped going here. Food is good, but sick of paying high prices and not getting what I ordered.

Great traditional diner food. I’ve been going to the Stirling diner for years and you always get what you expect from a diner. The quality of the food is great, not too greasy, but not under seasoned. The omelets and salads are just perfect.
If you want really good diner quality food, my fellow NJ residents know what I’m talking about, the Stirling diner is a must stop.

A mixed review.
Food here is always consistently plentiful. Problem is the service. Sometimes it’s terrific. Sometimes terrible. I can’t seem to get consistent good service no matter what time I come here. The food is usually hot & very tasty. Love the dinner specials. Can’t come here without getting the lemon soup. Wish they had it every night. Seriously it is so darn good. You have to try it.
So 4 – 5 stars for food but only 2 stars for the mixed and inconsistent service. The average is a 3.

Ok. This is my first Unilocal post b/​c my wife and I are tired of going out to eat, getting average food and service and tipping 20+%. So I’ve been here before and was never that impressed but I thought I’d give it another try. My omelet was over cooked with fat white bacon inside and the home fries have zero taste… not to mention it costs about 10 dollars and my coffee doesn’t get refilled until I get up and ask someone for the 3^rd time… I’m done with this place. If your looking for a good diner this is not it, try one of the other diners in the area.

I come here with my cousins and brothers about once a week. The service is always great and there are a nice variety of options! It is always our go-​to restaurant and we are never disappointed. I love their chicken salad on croissant lunch special and the Philly Cheese Steak Wrap.

The Stirling House Diner and Seafood Pavilion, or more colloquially called «The Diner,» has been a staple in my life for well over a decade. The Diner is a haven for me, my family, my friends and the community. I’ve watched renovations over the years and have seen changes in staff. But no matter how its appearance has changed or who has kept it running, The Diner has always remained a constant for the community: a place to stop by before a road trip in the early morning, a hot coffee mug waiting for you, or a place for celebration, a causal birthday brunch or a late night adventure for the high school marching band kids who order cheese fries and chocolate milkshakes.
It’s hard to imagine how the epilogue of my life would read if I grew up in a different area, if The Diner closed years ago, or if it didn’t exist at all. Many would argue the menu and diner itself are the same as any other diner, and that may be so. But I’ve always left The Diner feeling satisfied. Whether or not that satisfaction was born out of The Diner’s delicious breakfast dishes, soups, wraps, entrees or homemade desserts, or out of the sentimentality I have for wide leather booths, warm lighting reminiscent of an Edward Hopper painting, and classic New Jersey diner décor is unimportant. The Diner has been a character in the story of my life and makes an appearance in every chapter, often playing the role of the confidant: the character who is there for you as you change, who doesn’t say much but offers you a safe place to figure things out, to feel like yourself.
Sometimes life is too much like driving through the night looking for a welcoming place and less like the moment you pull up to a diner and see the lights staying on for you.

We went to the Stirling Diner for breakfast. Our waitress was less than horrible. She wore black latex gloves on her hands (I didn’t ask why, as it was none of my business, and I assumed I should be glad she was wearing them). She was crabby, slow, and asked us if we needed anything else, but walked away before we had the chance to answer. We were there over and hour, and never saw her change her gloves or wash her hands. The icing on the cake, however was that when we left and were getting into our car, we saw the same waitress, wearing the same black latex gloves smoking a cigarette. This was my last visit to this diner.

Went for breakfast after winning a bet (woo!), and had the Crunchy Monkey pancakes. Pancakes were yummy and were topped with bananas and granola. It came with 3 huge pancakes, and I was only able to eat about 1.5 of them, so the portions were plenty. They also have sugar-​free syrup available upon request.
The granola appeared to be a broken-​up granola bar. I like granola bars, and I like granola, but I was hoping for the granola to be more bite-​size.
Waitress was friendly, food came out quickly, and the overall experience was enjoyable.

2 stars for ‘just okay’ egg breakfast at a higher price tag. Almost $ 12 for my standard «2 eggs over easy with bacon & coffee»… I subbed fries for home fries because I don’t like bell peppers in my home fries, up-​charge. I ordered my bacon «crispy», it was practically dehydrated. Eggs were over-​well, but that happens. Coffee is extra. I definitely prefer other diners for my usual breakfast. It’s nicely decorated and clean.

Very friendly. Great food. My wife, my daughter and I always come to lunch and to have breakfast here from Chatham.

This place is good. I recommend cash on hand as my friend was overcharged on her card during to this male cashier. The food is fast and tasty. It’s worth a quick side down. I love their burgers and wraps. I’m not a french fries person but they are seasoned well. The twin burgers are as awesome as the Caesar salad. Great spot.

I was blown away by the added list to their breakfast menu since the change in ownership! I certainly took advantage of this. I ordered the homemade salmon & hash breakfast which was amazing! First of all, I’ve never even seen or heard of salmon & hash w/​eggs before so I was intrigued by the choice on the menu. I figured I had to try it and it did not disappoint. It was everything I could imagine it to be and more! A dreamy breakfast of sorts and one that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a great breakfast in the area. My girlfriend had the stuffed french toast which was another new addition to the breakfast menu and another hit! Several pieces of french toast stacked up and stuffed between each of these pieces were loads of delicious fruits. This was definitely an interesting twist to french toast and made for a delightful initial presentation and a delicious meal too! Definitely the place to go for a sit-​down breakfast in this area! But if you’re looking for breakfast-​to-​go, look no further than across the street at O-​Bagel!!!

Got there an hour before the lunch rush. Ordered a mushroom, pepper, and cheddar omelet. Came out with onions. Got a new one. (Waitress was friendly and apologetic.) The mushrooms and peppers had not been sauteed, and the eggs were overcooked. So it was basically an overcooked frittata (and eggs smell AWFUL when they’re overcooked) with disgusting, flabby vegetables. The home fries were flavorless, and even the toast was bad. Under toasted with way too much butter. Ate maybe 20% and pushed the plate away.
Disgusting. Never going back. Would give it zero stars if I could.
Disgusting.

I don’t go to diners for seafood, steaks, meatloaf, triple decker sandwiches or mile high pies. For me, there is only one meal to be had-​Lox and onion omelette, well done home fries and rye toast with a good cup of coffee. I’ve had this very same meal at dozens of diners throughout New Jersey. From the horrifically bad to mighty fine.
Stirling Diner gets the coveted five omelette award. I just made that up-​no award exists. But, like I said above, I order this meal everywhere and Stirling prepares it the best. And the hash browns are so good that I always ask for extra.
Yum.

We’ve been going to this diner for over 20 years. After the renovation and new owner taking over the quality has gone down tremendously! The veggies are frozen and not fresh. One of the managers is very rude and should not be allowed to deal with customers! It’s so disappointing because they did a beautiful renovation but the food quality is not what it used to be;(
I wish Manny could come back !
They mess up to go orders all the time! We make a point of avoiding this diner even though it’s 5 mins from our home. It’s such a shame!

The worst experience I have had in quite some time. I have never been wowed by the food at this place, but kept coming back in the hopes that it would get better. After today, I’ve given up completely.
I ordered a salad described like this, «Olive oil roasted beets, walnuts and goat cheese with balsamic dressing.» When it came to the table 25 minutes later, there were canned pickled beets in there and the dressing was raspberry vinaigrette. My friend ordered a wrap that came out soggy and the fries were cold. Our table had an empty ketchup bottle on it as well.
Now onto service; when I asked for balsamic dressing and more ketchup, the server said nothing and looked annoyed. He brought back only the dressing and again said nothing. He left quickly before I had a chance to ask for my first refill of coffee and water. Mind you, we had gotten our drinks over 40 minutes prior to this. He would come to the section, take care of one table, then quickly leave without asking how any of his other tables were doing. We then waited for exactly 18 minutes for our check before the manager noticed that we looked miserable and told him to give it to us.
The management was another issue. The place was not busy, yet the owner of the place, a Korean guy who is trying to buy many restaurants in the area, sat at the counter eating and not taking the time to talk to his customers. The managers stood behind the cash register and did nothing, even as our entire section complained about wrong orders and poor service. When we went to pay, the manager did not ask how everything was, barely looked up at us, and did not tell us the total.
It was $ 24.00 for a wrap and a salad and a coffee, and we both left SEVERELY unsatisfied. I have waited tables in the past for many years, and managed as well, and I have to say that seeing this place go downhill so fast is really disheartening, but no one there really seems to care.

$ 18.99 Imitation crab meat in the crab cakes??? They should have just simply not served it. Fish tasted freezer burned, unseasoned, and flavorless. It was a white lump that didn’t flake. Stay away from the fried seafood platter.
The wife’s portabella mushroom panini was just, «meh»

Coming here reminded me why I should not settle for a substitute meal.
Post-​snow storm, my family and I were in search of a brunch spot. After learning about the Mockingbird Café’s silly brunch hours and being turned away, we set out in search for a nearby diner place and stepped into Stirling House Diner.
The veggie fritatta I ordered (from their «specials» menu was quite bad — I’ve made much better at home before. There was some sort of questionable yellow substance (praying it was just dried honey) on the creamer they gave me, the servingware was dirty, the server was very haphazard, and I dealt with all of that only for some very mediocre food.
Bottom line is … not recommended. You’d definitely have to pay me a LOT of money to convince me to come back here.