On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Loading...
I don't think I've been here before 10:30 pm. Kind of your standard 50s era nostalgia diner. This was kind of our default place to head in college to when we were (a) drunk ("I have a crapload of alcohol in my stomach--of course a plate of diner food will make me feel better!") or (b) up late working ("A milkshake at 3 am? The homework's due in 6 hours? Sounds like a great idea!").
Food is meh--it tastes the same while drunk as it does while sober--I'm not sure whether that's a plus or not. Waitstaff is decent, but you can tell they've served one too many malts to a drunken clientèle. Milkshakes are tasty and the photobooth in the front is fun.
Not a place I'd seek out, but you won't get any unpleasant surprises here.
I was starving after a night of too much drinking and too much dancing. This place looks like it started out with the kitsch but has since devolved into just looking old. Booth backs give when you move, the place has a used feel to it. The waitresses have that charming vibe of been there too damn long.
The food was on par with any Denny's IHOP establishment. It worked, I didn't get sick. I liked that you could get sausage links instead of patties, though they have those too. The cokes and coffee kept coming and the pancakes were actually pretty decent.
It was busy busy, as we tried to go there the night previous but just bypassed it and had it in the morning. So expect to wait some if going during peak times.
It's probably wrong that I haven't written a review of 59 Diner especially since I eat here about 3 times a month. I don't even like it all that much.
The Good:
Breakfast Tacos (but not at all a traditional taco - but the ranchero sauce ROCKS)
Hashbrowns
Shakes/Malts
Waitstaff
It's really loud, so my obnoxious kids noise don't effect other diners
Free WIFI
Parking
The Bad:
Chicken Fried Steak
Biscuits and gravy
anything with gravy
the sodas here ALL taste a little funny - I think they need to clean out the lines
The UGLY:
They have major A/C issues in the front half of the building
The floors
The bathrooms
I some for breakfast only, I can't stand any of the diner lunch/dinner food here. I prefer to be in Dot/Dorothy's section. She knows me and knows what I want and is nice to my kids.
Yum. My best friend and her husband have lived next door to this place for two months now and we finally went.
We went at about 11 p.m. for a late dinner and were seated immediately. Our waiter, Jorge, was extremely courteous.
I had an avocado burger. More burger than avocado, which was slightly disappointing, but all in all AMAZING. The best part, though, was the onion rings that I subbed in for the fries. They're more like crispy onion strings... very thin and DELICIOUS.
The other two in my party had a Cheesebiatta burger and a Chiliburger. One subbed in the curly fries for the regular fries and said they tasted like they came straight from Jack in the Box, though she didn't find this to be a problem.
I seriously want to eat those onion rings for the rest of my life. They had a cool selection of burgers and chicken sandwiches. It's not gourmet, but it's damn good-- especially for a 24 hour restaurant.
Came here after the rocket's game tonight. It was decently packed and they were short staffed...1 waiter for about 10 tables??? But you know what he still did an awesome job. He was quick with our orders and gave us real recommendations.
The servings here are HUGE!!!
I had the country breakfast. It was a country fried steak, 3 eggs, hashbrowns, AND pancakes. I was stuffed even before the pancakes, but they were just too good!!!
Overall I could see myself coming back here instead of denny's or house of pies. Waffle house still tops this place.
I went here after going to the Stag's Head. What can I say, it was a night full of disappointments.
I knew I was going to be in for it when it was 1:30 and shockingly empty. House of Pies at this time of night would have a line out the door, so that's telling you something right there. Per my usual hangover prevention methods, I ordered something greasy and heavy. My burger was sad. It was a swiss and mushroom burger but the patty was lifeless, flavorless and just less in every way. It was also doused with mayo, which is just NOT how you make a burger in Texas, thankyouverymuch. And what's the deal with the plastic Fiesta brand bottles of ketchup, 59?! If you want to go with the vintage diner theme, don't skimp--get the glass bottles of Heinz and accept no imitations. Of course, with how dead it is, I'm sure they have to pinch pennies any way they can. :-/
One star for the really nice and perky waitress, especially well-deserved since she was working a double, and another for the photo booth...but seeing as both my stars come from non-food sources, I doubt I'll be back.
59 Diner has an old-school diner feel and serves up pretty standard diner fare. The portions are large and the food is greasy.
Pretty average all-around, but with one notable exception: the biscuits. 59 Diner's biscuits and gravy consist of 3-5 massive and airy, fluffy biscuits smothered in spicy sausage gravy, with a considerable amount of sausage floating around. On subsequent trips, I've always ordered either the biscuits and gravy as a whole meal or a side of biscuits. They're too good to pass up.
59 diner .... there are a few of them scattered around town but me this is the one i think of as it. Came here the other night for the first time in awhile. meh
ordered a patty melt - hard to screw up right? well it was bland - red onions, really? and mayo when i requested none. One of the persons I was with ordered the meatloaf - a diner staple right? he said it was just ok ....
least they finally have 24 hour breakfasts - they used to stop after breakfast hours, seriously. OK so i guess their milkshakes are what you come for but they need to beef up the food.
Always get milkshakes here....i have never had anything else to eat in this place. the milkshakes are awesome!!
Other than that, there is a photobooth, in which we have got some pretty fun pics.
I visit this place almost always when I am in Houston.
The service can be touch and go depending on who your wait staff is.
When you see really fat people at the 59 Diner, you can place money on the chance that they'll order a "Big Country Breakfast". I mean it's a ton of food for the money, and these days the value-conscious consumer has to get as many calories for the buck as they can. Having never ordered one myself, I'm not exactly sure of what comes with a BCB, but it's likely a combination of eggs, bacon/ham/sausage, pancakes, hash browns, a biscuit or twelve, and all the gravy you can drink.
Instead, I opt for the still highly caloric chicken tender basket, which is excellent for absorbing however much alcohol is usually consumed when you're out late enough to need to find a 24-hour joint for a bite to eat. The chicken tenders are fantastic (drunk delusions of deliciousness aside), and they can be elevated to the proverbial next level if you dip them in ranch AND honey mustard. I know, I know, such culinary inventiveness demands awe and respect, if not a little intimidation, but trust me, it's awesome.
Service is quick, competent, and friendly, and the food certainly serves its intended purpose. Good shakes also.
If you are looking for a place to transport you back in time, this is the real deal, a diner back from the days when diners were diners. Step through the chrome and glass doors and you step into a time when stainless steel and chrome were novelties and tuck and roll upholstery was all the thing. The website says the current owner took over in 1987, but the 59 Diner has been in business a lot longer than that, and they have a gallery of photos to prove it. Imagine cruising route 59 when it had two lanes with stop signs and red lights, When no one had heard of unleaded gasoline aor worried about cholesterol. Not much about the decor or the menu has changed since. Mel's Diner in San Francisco with its photos of George Lucas shooting American Graffiti and all Asian staff is a silicon virtual reality imitation. Besides, there a now dozens of Mel's and commoditization has blurred out the character. There are only 4 59 Diners and this is the original. Red vinyl booths, blue plate specials, malted milkshakes and sundays served in tall glasses. And of course, Texas toast and chicken fried steak.
We had a Philly cheese steak sub, BLT and could not resist splitting a hot fudge sunday. No one asked "what kind of cheese do you want?" or whether I would like salsa on it because there is only one true Philly cheese steak, and it is made with melted American cheese. The steak was freshly grilled, not pulled off some steam table, and the mushrooms and onions were fresh and nicely grilled. Ditto the BLT, crisp lettuce, juicy tomatoes and generous portions of thick crisply bacon.
I am not going to argue that the 59 Diner is high cuisine, it is not. But it is a good place to grab a bite, relax and escape to simpler times.
Whenever I feel like eating 5000 calories (oh wait that's everyday), I come here. It's the perfect hangover indulgence!
I heart the cheeseburger, fries with melted cheese, and any of the shakes are incredible. Shakes are large and should be shared if you don't want to die of a food coma. The chicken fried steak is huge, and they offer a nice assortment of diner foods for when you have that sort of craving.
I think this would be an excellent place to eat if I were drunk. I might really appreciate the food. Since I was not drunk at 9 am, the food was mediocre. I got migas and they were OK. I guess what I was most disappointed with was that they made me choose either beans or hash browns... and I pretty much wanted both. I really wasn't drunk. I chose the hash browns, because they are fried.
The service was kind of slow, and it took us forever to get a check. They did not mess up our order though- and we were kind of a big party. Only one person's food came out behind the others- and nothing was wrong. I liked the decor except the large flat screen TVs that looked out of place in an old school diner. Prices were good for the amount of food you got. I'd go back. Next time after a jack and coke. Or three.
This is your average diner. Open late, pretty good selection of late night fare. The service was good, friendly and casual.
The food is mediocre at best. I ordered a grilled cheese. That's right, how do you screw up a grilled cheese? You burn the bread but don't melt the cheese... gahhh.
Oh well, it wasn't like I was expecting too much, it is a diner after all.
On a side note, Janelle B. ordered the pot pie and liked everything but the lima beans. So if you don't like lima beans, then don't order the chicken pot pie... chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot piiiieeeeee
The 59 Diner is a great place to go to when it's late, especially if you've had a bit (or more) to drink.
I always used to wonder why they closed before the drinking crowd was released from the bars and then, last year when a friend and I was driving past, much to my delight, I saw that they had a sign on the top that said "Now Open 24 Hours!" It was like a little glimpse of heaven.
The atmosphere is casual and really laid back. It's very retro and looks just like I expect a diner from the 50s to look. There's also a photo booth and a jukebox with tunes from the 50s to sing along to.
The food is perfect late night fare. I always get the Texas Sampler that comes with ham, bacon, eggs, hash browns (which were absolutely perfectly crispy. I hate undercooked hash browns!), and pancakes. The ham and bacon are some of the best breakfast food that you can get anywhere. I can't even eat half of all of this, but it's a great way to get all of my cravings.
Speaking of cravings, don't forget to try the onion rings. They are thin sliced sweet onion rings and the breading is so very good. The ranch dressing that comes with them is also extremely tasty. It's a great sharing item.
One of my favorite things about the 59 Diner is its drink menu. They make incredibly excellent cherry Cokes and their shakes are absolutely delicious. I recommend either the plain vanilla or the Oreo shake that comes with a real Oreo cookie on top.
Another great thing about this place are the waiters and waitresses. Most of the time, they've either been really friendly or a downright joy. Our group was waited on by Ryan who was just awesome. He was funny, attentive, nice, and bent over backwards to attend to our every need. You could not ask for a better guy and I hope he's there every time we head back.
Bottom line, if you're looking for good food, a fun place to eat it at, and awesome wait staff, you positively cannot go wrong here.
We couldn't decide where to eat for dinner on Friday night, so we went to 59 diner on 249.
We've eaten good breakfasts here - which is why I ranked it a 3 instead of a 2. They have decent pancakes and eggs.
Hubby ordered Chicken Fried Steak and the server asked him if mashed potatoes and salad were OK for his sides. He asked what else do you have and she replied by telling him the sides are on the menu. It was more in a sassy way, so I was already starting to get annoyed. He ordered a root beer and she made it clear that there were no refills. We didn't see the reason to make a big deal about it, but she did. It really wasn't what she said that was a problem, it was the delivery.
I ordered the chicken finger basket with gravy and honey mustard along with some iced tea and a chocolate shake. I should have ordered the shake for dinner, but ultimately it was the highlight of the meal.
After she brought the drinks and the shake, hubby and I tasted the shake in the silver container that they bring you that holds the extra shake. It was thick, creamy, not too sweet. Utterly delightful. My BFF had advised me that 59 Diner made the best shakes and she was definitely correct. The shake in the glass was topped with a big dollop of whipped cream from the can and in our opinion, the whipped cream made the shake too sweet. Next time, we'll order it straight up without the whipped cream, probably kept in the silver container with two spoons.
Our dinners came out and they were pretty uneventful. Hubby's chicken fried steak was smothered in gravy and tasted like cardboard fried in batter. It definitely tasted like freezer burned meat that had been disguised in a lot of batter. The mashed potatoes, on the other hand, were real with lumpy pieces of potato.
My chicken finger basket was OK. The chicken fingers were moist on the inside, but I wasn't impressed with either the gravy or the honey mustard. The gravy tasted very flour-y, like they hadn't cooked out the flour enough and the honey mustard tasted more like mayo than mustard. Even fast food restaurants serve better honey mustard than that. The fries were soggy and probably my biggest disappointment of the evening, besides the service. They were pale and soggy.
Our waitress was too busy chatting with the customers seated two booths behind us to notice that we needed more iced tea. Hubby had to remind me that we were in a diner, so I shouldn't expect much.
We would come back for the big breakfasts and the great shakes, but with less of an expectation on service.
It seems like it's been a long time since I had to wait to get a table at a restaurant. I no longer associate a long wait with good food but I thought that the popularity of this place was a good sign. Plus, a friend of mine who use to live in Houston said he missed going to the 59 Diner and I usually agree with his recommendations.
I was disappointed with my Diner Cheeseburger. I'm pretty sure the burger was a previously frozen patty. It was thin and lifeless. The bun had entirely too much mustard. I tried to scrape it off but I was still tasting mustard the rest of the day. Their fries weren't quite thoroughly fried. Disappointing.
I do love the motto for their milkshakes "Rich Enough to Be Your Landlord" so maybe I'll go back and try one or try out their breakfast but otherwise I think I'll go elsewhere for my weekend cheeseburger.
Chocolate Chip pancakes. Is there anything more delightful in the world? Maybe Pecan pancakes. But I'm not convinced.
Either way, pancakes are always on my plate when I go to 59 Diner. There just isn't anything that evokes such adoration as this portion of their menu. I always have to wonder which one I should get. How many? Should I have eggs too? What about the French toast?
There's another reason I like 59 Diner. The photo booth. Every time we go there is a wait so we cram the whole family into the photo both and get our pictures taken. I just love the 4 little shots that come out. I've seriously considered getting color copies of them and sending them out with holiday cards. This is the best way to spend your time waiting on a table.
I love the whole atmosphere at 59 Diner. The juke box, the decor, the uniforms. If I can ever get past the pancakes, I'll try something from the lunch or dinner menu. But, it will be a while.
So not impressive. So many people talk about 59 Diner as if it's the next best thing to sliced bread. It's not. The burger was ho-hum and the fries were even less impressive. Seriously folks, it's a burger and fries... if this isn't good at a diner was is?
The service was ok, the place was pretty empty for a late lunch, and it has a nice diner atmosphere. Other than that, go to Free Birds across the street as you will in enjoy it more. The only reason to come here... nothing else is open, that gives it 3 rather than 2 stars..
The food is great, service is great, professionalism not so great!
Well i usually get the chicken tender platter.. its not in the menu but they do have it .. its like the chicken basket but it has more chicken for like a dollar more.. great deal!
Service is good some way some how!
Professionalism is not so great , I was there with some friends bout a month ago and they had the movie American history X on the the TVs it was on cable so it was censor . Any who these two waiters were talking among each other and all of sudden i look back and the two guy are about to go at it. Seem that one of the guys made a joke about the movie that might of offended the other guy. Well while all that happen the manager goes up to them and didn't say much. he was actually laughing at the situation. Made me feel like " are you serious"
any ways the other guy was bragging to the customer how everything happen and that the other guy was backing down from the fight. i was like WHAT !
FOOD IS GOOD THEO! LOVE THE CORNBREAD!
This place was really talked up to me and that's what it was ALL talk.
It wasn't bad by any means but was it something to write home about? Nope sure wasn't!! It was your average run of the mill diner. I ordered biscuits and gravy because in the south every diner should make kickass gravy.....it should be a law seriously! umm yeah not so much.
Not somewhere I would be inclined to visit again
This is sort of what denny's probably really looked like in the 50s. So the name of this place not only reflects the highway it is off of, but also the "decade" they are trying to pay homage to. But the whole feel and decoration of the place seems sort of fake and really insincere.
I liked the chicken fried steak and the semi rude, too busy waiter and the photobooth. it is probably the only real photo booth that i've seen in Houston in like 4 years.
While I was really excited to check this place out, since it is so close to mi casa, I have to say that it is below expectations, especially along the lines of breakfast. The shakes are amazing, i will give them that, but the food is no better then anything of this ilk. It might be a fun place to go for shakes or malts but for food there are far better choices. Nostalgia is only as good as the food memories it evokes and I don't have any food memories here.
Well. . . it's diner food. It never goes above or beyond that for me, but when I want diner food (which is rare) this is where I go . . or sometimes even when we don't know where else to go. The service is random, so good luck!
an ok diner. Nothing special, but it at least has that 50's diner feel to the atmosphere.
59 diner I had good ok, the humas breakfast is one of my favorites. I worked here as a hostess before also, and it is very gay friendly
I love 59 Diner: it's got nostalgic booths, it's open 24 hours, the service is friendly: it's an awesome all-round diner. I always get their spinach salad with blueberries. I know I should try something else next, but dammit it's good. I've been here late at night and it's still great. Definitely one of my favorite haunts on a late night.
Retro diner with with ample parking and great shakes. I always order the cheese fries and Jalapeno grilled cheese. It's open 24 hours so it's a great pick for late night dessert or post drinking eats.
I can't hate on 59 Diner... the food and service is so-so but it's nice to go to for a late night meal after a night of boozin'. I say stick to simple diner food such as chicken friend chicken or breakfast otherwise you'l be unsatisfied with the food. Believe me, I had a grilled chicken ciabatta sandwich and was unimpressed.
Neighborhood: Upper Kirby
Category: Diners
Neighborhood: Second Ward
Category: Pubs
Neighborhood: The Heights
Category: Diners
Neighborhood: Fourth Ward
Category: Breakfast & Brunch
Best places to escape from the office and get your…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
When the bars close, here's where you can go to…
