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Olympic Diner
Category: Restaurants Diners Diners [Edit]
807 8th Ave(between 48th St & 49th St)
New York, NY 10019
Neighborhoods: Hell's Kitchen, Midtown West, Theater District
(212) 956-3230
- Nearest Transit:
-
50 St (A, C, E)
50 St (1, 2)
49 St (N, Q, R)
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner, Breakfast
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
About This Business:
Best Vietnamese restaurant in Broadway/Theater District
36 reviews for Olympic Diner
Review Highlights
"Tthis is where I fell in love with Matzo ball soup."
(in 4 reviews)
"...French Onion soup, Corned Beef Hash, and their delicious..."
(in 1 review)
"Fresh orange juice and great omelets."
(in 3 reviews)
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36 reviews in English
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Review from Ryan B.
Sandy, UT
7/2/2011
Great place. Service is quick and food was a deal. I tried the ham, really thin sliced and perfect for the portion.
Watch for space, seats really only seat three, there are a few larger ones in the back. -
Review from Kelsey B.
La Cañada Flintridge, CA
2/5/2012 1 Check-in Here
I stepped in here to get my sister and mom a snack. The waitress was was nice as well as fast and our food was OK, but unfortunately there was a crazy person talking very loudly to someone at the table behind me about how the world was going to end because of Obama. I couldn't tell you if he was a regular.
The restaurant was a little outdated and there wasn't a lot that wasn't deep fried. -
Review from Jacob Y.
1/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
Venturing out on an extremely cold night to watch some shows, we decided to originally go to Ellen's Stardust diner for dinner prior to the show. For those of you familiar with the Stardust diner, and as an advice for those of you who are not, this place lines up outside the door, and we only had an hour to spare prior to the show. In freezing weather, that was not an option.
So we walked back to 8th Avenue, and immediately saw a diner sign. Perfect, and only a block from the show.
Given the weather conditions, this was decided, regardless on what was on the menu. We got immediately seated. What was even better is the fact that they serve full bar here...nothing like a drink to warm us up from this weather and before the show.
And soon enough, the waiter came around to take our orders. This is how it went:
- First person - Mozarella fries and chocolate shake. Done.
- Second person - I will have a "vodka cranberry". Waiter replied, "Cheeseburger?" My friend answered "No, VODKA and cranberry, as in a drink!. Oh and a Buffalo burger."
- Me - I will have the same drink and a chicken salad club.
- Last person - "Um, what is in your Greek Burger?". Waiter replied, "Like a pizza. You know Italian." My friend asked again, "I meant, the GREEK burger". Waiter answered "Ok, like Greek. Feta". My friend noted "oh and a chocolate shake".
Thankfully, the orders came out just fine. The drinks, a bit weak. Ok ok...very weak. The burgers apparently were very good. My sandwich was passable.
As far as service....make sure you tell them exactly what you want to order. It is obvious from our experience that they are not very fluent in English. To the point where I busted out my Spanish to get some mayo on the side. -
Review from Lindsey J.
Houston, TX
1/10/2012 1 Check-in Here
I think yelp's choices sum this place up flawlessly - Meh...
We stopped in here for a late dinner because it is near the hotel we were staying in. They are open late which is a plus, but what restaurant in NYC isn't? I had the Greek salad which was supposed to be authentic, but I must say I have definitely had better "fake" versions in my day. I also ordered a cup of chicken soup that I felt necessary to eat quickly for fear it would congeal if I let it cool off too much.
And the price? Not considerably cheaper than other diners we experienced where the food put smiles on our faces. If you're only in NYC for a few days, spend your time dining elsewhere. -
Review from Tina C.
12/12/2011 2 photos
Dine at Diners
So bland fully ordinary nothing beyond extraordinary
Nothing to bestow
Lacks solid definitive underwriting
Bad quality food
Where it is all mass produced
With dismissive wait staff who are inattentive to patrons' needs
Dine at Diners
Why dine at diners?
The unfathomably nasty facilities brews a breathing ground of feces
Bears no excuse to compromise good quality food for a high price
What pray tell constitutes an excuse for bad customer service that is nonexistent?
As all wait staff ignore customers of our party of to deplore
Sketchy, extreme inattentive wait staff
Stolid service
Empty and meaningless
Following a three hour poetry reading open-mike for a Saturday evening due to unforeseen circumstances which I'd missed, our party of ten continue the conglomerate of our network at Olympic Diner. After our party placed food and drink orders we waited nearly an agonizing forty five minutes to be served entirely. Subsequently upon ordering drink refill requests, the entire wait staff fled for their lives by ignoring to deplore. We were completely invisible, yet the quality of food was repulsing vulgar to the bland and dreadful without flavor, without substance. My burger deluxe at $8.00 was disgustingly bland, yet overpriced, a slab of meat with yesterday's stale bread and a hodgepodge of brown lettuce and a dried-up slice of tomato. ICK! Evidently Five Guys conjures a juicy burger of better quality to bear solid substance. Seating is entirely cramped where it is surely elbow-to-elbow room as our party of ten were like squeezing an adult size elephant into a sedan car!! This is BLASPHEME with customer service that spews vile anthrax!!
This diner is certainly no Olympic metal worthy visit for patrons to seek nor obtain a winning dinning experience. -
Review from J L.
Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, CA
3/27/2011 1 Check-in Here
Needed an emergency grilled cheese. The combo of buttery bread and salty american cheese is classic diner fare and doesn't disappoint.
The $6 price, however...well, I'm guilty of paying it. If it was $3, it'd get 5 stars. -
Review from Rachel j.
8/15/2011
My breakfast here wasn't great! Not gonna lie! I got french toast with maple syrup and it was a bit too heavy and greasy for me! The fresh orange juice tasted well cheap too! but to be fair it was very cheap price and maybe it would be a better place to go for lunch as the reviews may suggest!
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Review from Joshua W.
Brooklyn, NY
4/26/2011 1 photo
NYC, littered with diners that serve expensive breakfasts that usually provide nothing out of the ordinary. Like the odds of getting served overcooked bacon, this falls in that category. There is one additional note. My breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal with raisins. Terrible, I know. The oatmeal was standard, what wasn't were the raisins. Resting on top of the oatmeal, looking like rat turd, and about the same size, were about 20 mini-raisins (note my picture with the tip of a car key for size comparison). When I asked for raisins, the reply from the waiter was even more shocking, "$1.75 for more raisins"! I would never imagine the going rate for 15-20 prematurely born raisins was $1.75. These raisins should have been aborted, along with my trip to this diner.
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Review from Jeff H.
7/9/2008
I stopped into the Olymic Diner one morning as some friends on I were waiting for student rush for a show. The gentleman working take-out was friendly and immediately struck up a conversation with me about broadway and such. The food was served quickly and he packaged everything nicely and gave me some free cookies to bring to everyone.
The food was good too. I ordered a Bacon Egg and Cheese and it was thick and tasted good. The other folks who ordered different things all enjoyed it. And those cookies were fresh too! -
Review from Anne W.
San Francisco, CA
1/15/2011
This diner caught my eye on the way to another restaurant. It's homely appearance sucked me in, what can I say!
There is not much for vegetarians/vegans to order (typical diner fare) but they have veggie burgers for vegans & lots of pastas, etc. for vegetarians.
I thought the food was good & the environment RULED. The owner was a cute old man. We overheard him making old-man jokes about his diner Christmas tree bringing people to NY rather than the Rockefeller tree. Oh my goodness, I loved him! -
Review from Will K.
Weehawken, NJ
4/14/2011
I went in here for a quick meal around five. The blackboard advertising a burger special for sevenbucks caught my eye as I was walking in. I ordered it and the waiter asked me what kind of beer I wanted. Since I don't drink, I said, "Oh, I'll just have a Coke." He then asked me if I wanted cheese on it. I said sure. A short while later he came out with the burger, which consisted of a bun, the burger, and two pieces of cheese. No lettuce. No tomato. No onion. Oh, it also came with a small container of inedible cole slaw. How about a little warning? Maybe something along the lines of, "You know this is just meat, cheese, and bread, right?" or "You know this comes with nothing, right?"
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Review from Nicole C.
5/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
Typical diner food but it was pretty darn good....especially their matzo ball soup. Would come back just for that!
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Review from Jim O.
5/20/2010
We stayed at the Belvedere and when we asked where a good place to get breakfast was, Olympic was mentioned. IMO, this was our little gem during our visit to The Big Apple.
Yes, I am sure there are other diners and maybe even better diners across the great city; but this one was great by me and certainly convenient to where we were every morning.
I ate pretty much the same thing each morning; but we did eat here EACH morning, if that tells you anything. In fairness, that may not have been entirely based on the merits of this place, because we did not have a good idea where else to go for breakfast; but... This place was good enough not to necessarily go looking either.
I like Plain Jane breakfasts and this place has no shortage. Good eggs and bacon, decent coffee, and their pancakes were very delicious as well.
It has an older diner look and feel to it, no doubt about it; but I dig it. The staff is friendly enough and efficient.
Whenever I am back in town again, I will definitely be making a trip back to Olympic. -
Review from Demitasse E.
Manhattan, NY
6/22/2008
My favorite "dive diner", if there is such a thing. It's cheap, it's crowded, it's loud and chaotic. It's already obviously popular as I've never been there at a time it wasn't packed.
I can't quite describe it, but this place is a blast. A Greek-themed diner with an outgoing, all-Hispanic staff. A loooong menu of anytime-breakfast-lunch-dinner, always served in the blink of an eye. No matter how full, there always seems to be room to get you squeezed in. I usually opt for the bar so I can be entertained by the chaos while I eat. My pick: silver dollar pancakes, fresh squeezed orange juice, and an endless cup of craptastic diner coffee. Yay! -
Review from Jennifer v.
Norfolk, VA
5/25/2007
The diner is a small restaurant, but it serves good meals. We had about nine people in our group (it was the place to meet before going out) and we had two tables. We all had good meals there and we were satisfied. It is a great place for a quick breakfast meal or even a lunch, because the service is pretty fast. It is very inexpensive and very chill.
Oh and it has alcoholic drinks and it made me happy, because I love drinking some with a great hot breakfast. -
Review from Joy G.
2/6/2011
Classic dingy NYC diner. Right across the street from my hotel, so it was a no-brainer. We went in for brunch, so my honey had breakfast and I had lunch. Unlike most diners the portions were just right. Service was okay, ambiance was very New Yawk, and prices were reasonable. I was intrigued by my mousakka because it had not only eggplant, but also zucchine. Interesting twist, but I wasn't really crazy about their red sauce... it wasn't as sweet and cinnamony as I prefer. It was a good experience though. Recommended if you're in the area, but not something I'd go out of my way for.
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Review from John B.
Milford, NJ
Ana got chili, Brian got onion rings and a Swiss burger. I got wings (no sauce) with side salad. Food was excellent and staff was attentive.I would definitely recommend!
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Review from V C.
CA
3/29/2009
Some people deserve better. I speak of the staff, whose service is far better than the food. Couldn't some trendy diner adopt these salt-o'the-earth types?
As to the cuisine, the cheese layer was a miserable disguise for the fact that the pastrami sandwich was overcooked. (Pickle was good.) The matzo ball soup was harmless, but the filling for the lemon meringue pie came from a can, likely one from the 1970s.
The decor did offer that overstuffed, haven't-been-cleaned-out-in-three-decades appeal, and the menu had the same rat-pack approach. Maybe something out of the Greek/American/Mexican/Jewish offerings would've been better, but the Sunday night pickings were miserable. At least I don't have to come back. Someone please rescue the staff from this fate. -
Review from Maria K.
San Jose, CA
12/13/2010
Recommended by the staff at the hotel we were staying, and granted we had just landed in NY, we went to this diner for breakfast. First impression was that prices were decent (~$6.50 for the #1: two eggs, hash browns, toast, and coffee/tea), but the portions were on the smaller side. We actually preferred the smaller portions so we didn't mind that much. Taste is OK - outstanding? no. Service was OK. The owner, who was taking orders, was a bit on the scary side, but he seemed friendly enough.
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Review from Casey M.
2/21/2010
My roommate and I order delivery from here all the time. The chicken fingers are soooo good if that's what you're in the mood for. And the food comes very quickly! I'm happy to live close to this diner.
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Review from Belle N.
Brooklyn, NY
11/7/2008
There are moments in life when, hungry and weary, the salad or sandwich from an organic food store or made from home, will not cut it. You're craving comfort food and warmth, possibly a smile or two. No, this is not that phony smile kind of place. Walk in, pick up a menu, or stay. I order out - can't be bothered, impatient - but, they give you packets of mustard, pepper and salt, and two or three slightly salted pickles with (my choice) beef brisket on rye and matzo ball soup. I mean, I feel like my grandfather when I go here, and maybe that's why I like it. I wouldn't go here every day, in fact, I think the last time I stopped in was a year and a half ago, but a lady has to mind her figure. Real, home cooked food. I saw a slice of cheesecake and I almost turned around to order one.
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Review from Steve C.
San Francisco, CA
9/22/2007
I would definitely not recommend this place, when we walked in, my friend and I were seated quickly but it took a while to get any service despite the place being relatively empty. When we did eventually order, we received our food very quickly, although, maybe the quickness was attributed to lack of preparation, my omelet was completely forgettable and the potatoes were not even cooked. I would not go back again.
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Review from David C.
Royal Oak, MI
10/18/2010 1 Check-in Here
Good service and food at a reasonable price. Great spot for breakfast with friends. It is what you expect for a fast, simple diner.
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Review from Jason W.
Venice, CA
12/17/2008
It is a good place to go. The breakfast is cheap. It is pretty tasty. The food is a little buttery and greasy to be called great. You will get that typical diner air feel with a salt of the earth type of deal to it.
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Review from Jando S.
2/7/2007 3 photos
While on the outside Olympic Diner may not look too distinguisable from any other diner in NYC, their consistent service and decent food has kept me coming back. I have never had to wait a long time for the food to be prepared and have always enjoyed their fast, prompt, and amiable service. Beware of the crowded mornings, but even then it should be no problem getting a seat. The establishment itself is not large or fancy, perfect for couples and groups of 4-5. Pricewise it won't set you back too much and the portions of the food are decent. I love their French Onion soup, Corned Beef Hash, and their delicious Spaghetti and Meatballs. One might want to avoid the salad and french fries as a side. Now that the place is 24 hours, it will be hard not to make this a nice late night spot along 8th Avenue.
Listed in: Diners R US (NYC)
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Review from Rob R.
Newport Beach, CA
10/21/2010 1 Check-in Here
Great quick service. Fresh orange juice and great omelets. This is everything you want in a simple diner.
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Review from Alex H.
Redondo Beach, CA
1/3/2009
Looks scary from the outside, but inside is a more than acceptable diner. Breakfast was fine, I had a monte cristo sandwich, which was french toast with some chees melted on top. Other dishes looked pretty good.
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Review from John N.
San Francisco, CA
5/9/2011 1 Check-in Here
food was edible, and the service was good, thats about all I can say which is sad for being in the city.
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Review from Rita L.
9/9/2008
We stayed at the Hilton garden inn and the olympic diner was right across the steet. We had breakfast here like 4 times here...I loved the soups here...Tthis is where I fell in love with Matzo ball soup! Big portions too...the service was quick! The place could be cleaner, but I still loved having hot soup here when it was sooo cold outside! (came here in Nov)
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Review from Brian M.
12/11/2009
Had breakfast here recently. I'm not sure this this is good for NYC-as am from Philly. But by Philly standards this place is nothing special. That's not to say it's not decent for a quick -run-of-the-mill breakfast. The service is prompt and good. The food's a bit greasy and very average.
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Review from Regina D.
Forest Hills, NY
3/1/2010
Went here for breakfast, and it was less then good. I would say just do not bother.
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Review from Mary C.
Houston, TX
2/13/2011
What a great place! This is our 5th trip to NYC and we eat breakfast for the 3 days we are in town. Will never miss an opportunity to eat breakfast at the Olympic Diner!
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Review from juan m.
Orlando, FL
7/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
only 2 waiters for 20 tables, they messed up my order, the food wasn't tasty at all (how do you mess up a chicken gyro?!) and they took forever. never going back.
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Review from Paula D.
Oklahoma City, OK
12/15/2008
The concierge at our hotel on Broadway recommended the Olympic for our party of 5, which was looking for a diner where we could get a reasonable breakfast during a recent trip during the holiday season. We were seated immediately, greeted by our waiter and served promptly. We all ordered breakfast and were very pleased with the selections and the quality of the food. My mother had been looking forward to having oatmeal, but we didn't see it on the menu, so I asked the owner who was walking around checking on his customers. He said they had one bowl just for her, which sealed the deal for us. The price was quite reasonable, the food tasty, and the hospitality excellent. A much more authentic experience than we would have had at the pricey, sterile restaurant in our hotel.
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Review from Ryan P.
San Francisco, CA
8/13/2009
Most disgusting food I have ever had delivered, hands down! The burger (regular cheeseburger) was warm but tasted like it was about 3 weeks old and they recooked it (imagine that taste lingering in your mouth hours after). The onion rings tasted like paper and were undercooked. The mozarella sticks tasted like they had also been recooked from weeks past and were hard, crumbly, and absolutely horrible. Never go here. Ever.
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Review from helene k.
Wantagh, NY
3/8/2009
looking for a pre matinee place to eat lunch. Juniors was crowded and loud, so we took a walk and found this place. I tried the buffalo burger and my husband had a portabella wrap. they were both pretty good, reasonably priced and had a great pickle! service was quick .
