A Review of the 59 Diner in Houston, Texas

The 59 Diner in Houston, Texas has all of the diner favorites like milkshakes, breakfast food served anytime, burgers and of course, it's open 24 hours. I grew up eating at diners in New Jersey but somehow something got lost in translation when I entered the Lone Star State. The 59 Diner in Houston had green vinyl booths, friendly wait staff, and a casual atmosphere but the food - or at least the food we ordered - left us disappointed.

I ordered the oven roasted breast of turkey with cornbread dressing (aka stuffing), gravy and two sides. It sounds great, right? Well, unfortunately that dish is only available on Thursdays - how stupid is that? Needless to say, I was disappointed and had a hard time finding something else on the menu to eat.

I thought we would get frozen yogurt after dinner so I opted to get the Chef's Salad which was a big mistake and a waste of $8.29. The Chef's Salad contained iceberg lettuce, chopped smoked turkey which tasted very much like ham, shredded cheese, one hard-boiled egg sliced in quarters, diced ham (I omitted this particular ingredient), chopped tomatoes, and sliced black olives - not exactly gourmet.

I often wondered why they called it a Chef's Salad but after eating at the Diner 59 in Houston, I think I figured it out. The chef just uses the ingredients he has leftover and throws them into a salad. Well, at least that's my theory. The Chef's Salad I had just left me disappointed and hungry.

My husband had the chicken fried steak which is something I never even heard of in the northeast, but it's a common staple in Texas restaurants. They basically take a thin strip of steak, batter it, and deep fried the steak. Not exactly healthy but hey, it's Texas. The chicken fried steak was served with mashed potatoes, Texas toast (aka garlic toast), and a side salad. My husband opted to have corn instead of salad but he barely touched the corn. It didn't look very appetizing either. He ate the entire chicken fried steak and it was a huge piece that was covered in white gravy. The mashed potatoes were also covered in that same white gravy which I'm assuming was made from cream. Despite eating it all, my husband said he did not enjoy it. I guess he was just hungry.

I wanted to like the 59 Diner in Houston, Texas but about all that I enjoyed was the service. Our waitress was fantastic. I have no idea how the breakfast items or the burgers are, but if you go there, my advice would be to order one of them instead of an entrée or salad.The 59 Diner is located at 3801 Farnham Street, Houston, Texas, 77098. Their phone number is 713-523-2333, and their web site is 59diner.com.