by ![[WWW]](http://rocwiki.org/wiki/eggheadbeta/img/sycamore-www.png){kind=small}
M J M 
| Location |
960 Clinton Avenue South, Rochester NY, 14620 ![[Directions]](/wiki/dd_start.png "Click for driving, walking, or bus directions from Google"){kind=small} |
| Hours (as of March 2009) |
| Monday - Thursday: 7:00AM to 9:00PM |
| Friday: 7:00AM to 11:00PM |
| Saturday: 7:00AM to 11:00PM |
| Sunday: 7:00AM to 3:00PM (Breakfast Only) |
| Phone |
| 585 461 5040 |
| Accessible |
| No |
| Review |
|
4/11/2004 Dinercity |
by Alex Storer
Highland Park Diner is a famous diner on the corner of Clinton and Goodman in Swillburg, across Clinton from The Cinema. The American Diner Cookbook and other books feature the Highland Park Diner. The diner is also immortalized in a collectible sculpture by the Danbury Mint.
This diner was manufactured by the Orleans Diner company of Albion, NY in the late 1940's. It would have been pre-built in their factory and moved to the site via rail car and truck, which is why diners of this type are always long and narrow. This diner may be the only surviving diner from this manufacturer (they only made 2 or 3 units total).
It has always been at this site, although the original name was Dauphin's Superior Diner. The diner closed in 1974, then re-opened in 1976 as an OTB parlor. At this time, most of the diner interior was dismantled and removed. After the OTB closed in 1986, the building was purchased and restored by Bob Malley, who owned it for many years. Several years ago, Bob retired and sold the diner to a new owner.
Awards
Highland Park Diner was voted "Best Diner" in City Newspaper's Best Of Awards three years running (from 2006 to 2008).1 2 3
Comments:
Note: You must be logged in to add comments
2006-08-03 13:34:03 Food is good, but overpriced. —MrPhil
2006-11-28 22:47:59 The food is really good here. I particularly like the banana french toast. It is one of the pricier diners in the area, but you can definitely tell that money's going to good use. The inside is of course very cool, and the wait staff is always friendly. It is very busy on Sundays, and you will likely have to wait 10-20 minutes on a Sunday. —StevenDibelius
2007-04-16 20:42:11 My favorite diner experience in Rochester, never to crowded. I don't think it's overpriced, but the food isn't "cheap" either. —TravisOwens
2007-04-29 23:32:00 Definitely one of my favorites diners around here. I love the authentic feel. The prices do seem a bit high for a diner at first glance, but the food is somewhat higher quality then most other diners I've been to, so I think the few extra dollars are worth it. This morning I had cinnamon French toast and sausage—the toast was good, but the highlight was definitely the sausage. Delicious. Everyone else at the table was really pleased with their meals, too (flapjacks, enchilada omelette, beef hash, and a few other things.) —RachelBlumenthal
2007-06-22 12:01:06 My friends and I always make a point of coming here for special occasions. (If it's someone's birthday and it's a weekend then we are here for breakfast.) We're all college students and I've never had a huge problem with the prices but that may be because I don't eat here all the time. My 'regular' dish is sausage gravy which comes with the best biscuits and some spicy homefries that I love. The staff is always very nice and service is REALLY fast. I particularly love the guy waiter who I get every time I go there, he cracks me up. —AnneRimbach
2007-10-28 22:16:36 Aren't they 24 hours? Or am I thinking of someplace else? I know there's more 24 hour diners than the five listed on RocWiki. —JoannaLicata
2007-10-30 08:38:28 I was very unimpressed a couple weeks ago. After a difficult time getting a server (they seemed understaffed) I ordered an omelette special that had avocado and a fresh-squeezed orange juice. The omelette arrived but the server said they didn't have avocado so he just gave me a side of guacamole, and the orange juice tasted more like Tropicana's "Fresh-Squeezed" product. Even at diners that charges half the price of Highland (not hard to find), if an ingredient is to be substituted, I've always been consulted. And although it's apparently "normal practice" to substitute store-bought, pasteurized juice for juice that is actually fresh-squeezed, I still call it "lying". —JasonOlshefsky
2007-12-06 21:40:31 I, like RachelBlumenthal, also like the authentic feel of this place. The prices aren't cheap, but I wouldn't call it over-priced, since you can get breakfast for about $6-$7 here, which I'm pretty sure is the going rate. Also, in response to JoannaLicata, this place is NOT a 24 hour diner (maybe it used to be, but it's not now anyway). I've filled in the hours up top. —EricArdis
2008-01-24 20:25:25 Also, forgot to mention in my last post... the staff here are always friendly to me whenever I go. They recognize me now since I've become a "regular", I'm considering exchanging names with them the next time I go (haven't gotten to that point yet) —EricArdis
2008-01-28 22:48:14 I love the home fries here. My boyfriend loves this thing I can describe only as a heart attack in a bowl - sausage gravy, eggs and other fattening stuff layered. It is a good breakfast place in terms of service and price (for the quality) - gets my vote over Jay's Diner any day of the week. —OneLove
2008-06-20 16:22:04 Good food, a tad pricey though. —JK44
2008-08-19 15:27:29 Cool place and good food. The last time I was there it was pretty dirty feeling though, maybe because it was so busy? (no time to clean?) Recommended for a try. —MrRochester
2008-12-06 10:02:29 The breakfasts are better than the dinners. Next time I go I'm going to try the peanut butter & bacon sandwich. —BatGuano
2009-04-03 13:54:17 I agree with the above comment, The breakfast options are way way better than the lunch and dinner offerings. I went here for dinner with a friend yesterday, and I figured I'd order one of the "house favorites" on the menu, spaghetti. I was skeptical of course, for all the obvious reasons, but I figured that if they listed it as a house favorite, it must be decent, so I gave it a shot.
It was beyond a shadow of a doubt, the worst spaghetti I've ever had. The sauce was runny and thin, without any hint of spices or seasoning. I literally would have enjoyed Chef Boyardee from the can more. Add to that the fact that I watched the cook make it by tossing it in the microwave, right in front of me. I paid $11 for this terrible meal, when I could have eaten better from a can for $1.
My friend got one of the specials, calves liver. I'm not sure I can say much about this as I hate liver and he had never tried it before(and later decided he hated it).
So, while I will probably give lunch/dinner here another shot, it's gonna take a bit to win back my confidence. And I'm sticking to familiar diner fare instead of venturing for something unfamiliar. —AlexD1234
2009-05-18 12:20:21 I will stick to the Country Club diner on East Avenue for my traditional Sunday morning breakfast. The Highland Diner is overpriced and overrated. —SMAKCruiser
2009-08-05 15:31:49 i love the atmosphere of ths diner. they have a very creative menu but i usualyl stick to my usual pepper, onion and mushroom omelette. it comes out great each time :) —limeylimer
