Restaurant Review: Connie's Diner in Waterloo New York

A local gem in the Finger Lakes region of central New York State is located in the village of Waterloo. Besides being the birthplace of Memorial Day, this charming little village has a quaint fifties style diner that is definitely worth a visit. Located on Route 5 & 20 just east of the center of Waterloo is Connie's Diner. Established in 1989, the diner features homemade entrees and desserts at reasonable prices. This fifties style diner boasts booths covered in blue and orange colored vinyl as well as having individual working coin operated jukeboxes on many of the table tops in the diner. Coat racks are mounted at every booth. Photos of old time celebrities such as John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Annette Funicello, Cary Grant, the Mouseketeers, and the Beatles grace the walls of Connie's Diner. Old 45 records also decorate the walls providing a border along the top of the walls.

Although Connie Caratozzolo, the original owner and namesake, retired in 1998, she still keeps an eye on the business and, as the story on the back of their menus goes, is only a phone call away. The restaurant is currently run by Connie's two sons and has 38 employees with nine of them being family members. Everyone working there is very friendly and upbeat and they make sure each and every guest feels welcome. The food is cooked to order and their service is pretty fast.

Connie's Diner is located at 205 East Main Street in Waterloo New York. To get there from the New York State Thruway take Exit 41, turn right on Rout 414 and follow this for about 4.3 miles until it intersects with Routes 5 & 20 at which point you will make a right. As you travel toward the Village of Waterloo, Connie's Diner will be on your right hand side of the street about 1.1 miles from Route 414. If you reach the center of the village, turn around because you just missed it.

Connie's Diner was featured in the July 1997 edition of Bon Appetit magazine. They are open on Sundays from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM and on Tuesday thru Saturday from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM. They are closed on Mondays.

Connie's Diner offers many delicious homemade dishes. Their extensive menu offers the usual breakfast fare as well as a wide variety of sandwiches, dinners, and pasta dishes. Their signature dish is Connie's Quickie which is a hamburger and French fries smothered in gravy. Not exactly a low fat dish but boy is it delicious! Their other sandwiches include the usual hamburgers, hot dogs, club sandwiches, BLT, grilled chicken, and grilled cheese. They also offer PBJ sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, western egg, veggie burgers, and wraps. Dinners include honey-dipped chicken, calves liver with onions or bacon, a few chicken dishes, as well as homemade meatloaf. Pork chops, cube steak, and ham dinners are also on the menu. Connie's pasta dishes include ziti or spaghetti with meatballs, baked lasagna or vegetable lasagna, eggplant Parmesan, and linguine with red or white clam sauce. Fried scallops, shrimp, or clams are on the daily menu as well as shrimp-in-a-basket and fish filet dinners. They also have a Friday-only menu featuring fish dinners, homemade mac and cheese or tuna noodle casseroles, and creamed cod served on toast or potato. Their delicious homemade desserts are the perfect ending to any meal. The servings are very generous and the prices are reasonable.

Now that you have read this article, what are you waiting for? Slick up your hair, put on that leather jacket and drive over to Connie's Diner for a sock hopping great time down memory lane.