Broadway Diner in Atlanta, Georgia; Atlanta's Best Kept Secret or Secretly Scary?

One of the biggest problems my traveling group came across when staying in Atlanta, Georgia this summer was finding a good place to eat. Not familiar with the area, we turned to our hotel staff to recommend a great place to pick up a quick meal without having to spend all of our cash in one place and they quickly recommended that we head over to Broadway Diner on Peachtree Street.

The diner was cute, with celebrity autographed bits and pieces from past Broadway shows and murals of New York City on the walls. Sadly though, that is where our enjoyment of the diner stopped.

Although we were assured by a man at the front counter of Hotel Indigo Midtown that Broadway Diner would get us in, fill us up and get us back out on the town in a jiffy, we found the service to be slow. Very slow. Slow enough that later in our stay we opted to walk 15 minutes to the downtown area to eat at Corner Bakery Café because even with the walk we knew that we would be on our way faster than eating at Broadway Diner just a block away from the hotel.

We gave Broadway Diner several chances to "wow" us with their food and service over the course of our stay in Atlanta, primarily because of a lack of other affordable places to eat in the area we were staying. Each time we gave them a try we left more disappointed than the time before though, regardless of the time of day or number of staff they had on hand.

Our best meal was also our first dinner in Atlanta, where we all had hamburgers and sides of French fries. Even though it took nearly a half hour for us to get our food after we ordered, when it did finally come out it was hot and juicy. I tried the Bacon Burger and was pleased with how juicy the burger was, as well as the slightly crispy texture of the bacon on the burger. Even though it took us over an hour to get from being seated to paying the check, we were in a lounging mood and the wait was as much our chatter amongst ourselves as it was the staff. Our group deemed Broadway Diner of trying again, because even if it wasn't the fastest or friendliest place we'd ever eaten the food was decent and we agreed that even restaurateurs are allowed to have an off night.

The next chance we gave Broadway Diner was for breakfast, and although the breakfast staff seemed to be in more of a hurry than our previous visit, they also seemed more disorganized and less focused on getting orders taken and food to the table. Several tables of people who arrived after our group (4 of us in all) had their orders taken and were served before us. When breakfast did finally arrive, the hash browns were soggy and undercooked and my Egg Sandwich came out dry and bland; an amazingly drab combination even with the addition of and salt and pepper that I added myself.

A "fun" anecdote from our second visit to Broadway Diner came when we were waiting on our check. A busboy had come and cleared our plates, but rather than bringing the check our waitress continued to fill our drinks and then run off to another corner of the restaurant without stopping long enough for us to ask her for the ticket. While we waited, the owner of the restaurant came by our table (I thought he was going to bring us the check himself since he could see that we had been waiting for some time) and then stood... silently staring at us for several moments before launching into a story about a retail store he had once owned in New York.

Although by the end of our second visit we had decided that we were done with Broadway Diner and had started scouting the area on our own (when I asked Hotel Indigo staff for a place to eat a second time, they again gave Broadway Diner as the only restaurant they recommend), we found ourselves there once more. With a portion of our travel-group getting ready to leave Dragon*Con, we headed to Broadway Diner one more time for our farewells since it was close to our respective hotels and our friends were heading directly to the airport after lunch.

Sadly, we soon discovered that we should have made the effort to walk up Peachtree Street to downtown Atlanta as we probably could have saved ourselves at least 45 minutes of waiting. We had each ordered simple sandwiches and French-fries in an attempt at getting our lunch quickly so that we could move on to our respective destinations, but even that proved a difficult task for Broadway Diner. It took us over 90 minutes to get our orders taken, our food and our check.

Unfortunately, my experience with Broadway Diner was not a good one, and I made sure to let the Hotel Indigo front desk know about our experiences when I checked out so that they might think again before recommending the diner to other guests. Our group was delighted when we found other places to dine, such as Corner Bakery Café, Hard Rock Café and even a Papa John's kiosk in one of the hotels for Dragon*Con. Even if it was a hike to get to their downtown locations, each of the other eateries offered fast and friendly service in addition to fresh, flavorful food; all of which were items that were lacking throughout our visits to Broadway Diner.

It is with a heavy heart (and a roll of Tums) that I must say that Broadway Diner did not meet my expectations of what a good dining experience should be. Should you want to try it out for yourself however, their contact information is:

Broadway Diner
620 Peachtree Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
(404)477-9600
http://thebroadwaydiner.com

A look at their website yields plenty of rave reviews from May through July. Perhaps Broadway Diner was simply having a rough patch when I visited in September, but I certainly won't be back to find out if that is the case.

Want to read more about my trip to Atlanta on Associated Content? Click the links below!
Windham Garden Hotel Sells Property and Leaves Travelers Without a Bed
Staying at the Hotel Indigo Midtown in Atlanta, Georgia