Classic no frills diner. The prices are reasonable and the food is good, nothing extravagant about it, but a great place to grab a diner fare meal. My only complaint is the service, we sat for a long time without receiving the check or anyone asking how we were doing, also our coffee ran out without anyone attempting to fill it. read more

I Doordashed this on a snowy day, and I was not disappointed. The biscuits and gravy were fantastic. The biscuits hinted at sweetness, but the sausage gravy balances it out. The hash browns were cooked well, and I was shocked by how good the coffee was! Nice job, AJ's. I imagine the food is delicious on a plate fresh out of the kitchen. There is no picture because the food in a to-go box never does it justice. read more

This is a real diner. No frills, great service and great food. I love eating breakfast at the counter. Their corned beef hash is my favorite. You'll love it here!!! read more

Always a good experience and the best diner food going. Owners there all the time so it's well-run and supervised. Waitstaff is great.

A lot is said about fancy restaurants with exobitant prices. AJ's is not one of these restaurants. It is a solid local diner that locals eat at over and over. Why? Quality food, great prices, quirky, clean, and welcoming. This is why we look for places like this as we travel across the country. AJ's serves quality food at great prices. We have been here at least 6 times and never disappointed. The breakfast special with one large, crispy, fluffy pancake, over easy egg perfectly cooked, choice of meat and coffee included for just $7.50! I highly recommend this diner because it is a perfect example of a really good diner worth returning to. read more

AJ's Family Diner - Delicious breakfast including coffee for $7.50. - Diners Near Me - Cortland, New York

See all

Hash browns are white, potato. Omelette is over cooked egg tasted like leather. Coffee is good and the sausage patty is tasty.

Traveling from Syracuse home to Maryland searched for diners located AJ's in Cortland on a side street in town away from the big franchise restaurants at the interstate exit small comfortable seated immediately at a quiet table at noon on a Saturday delicious homestyle breakfast friendly service recommend for fans of locally owned small diners.Diner BreakfastDiner Breakfast read more

AJ's Family Diner - a plate of breakfast items - Diners Near Me - Cortland, New York

6 of us had breakfast & lunch dishes here today. First off, the restaurant was spotless, always a good start. The owner and her family were great, very attentive and friendly. The cooking was perfect, avoiding the dry, overcooked food a lot of diners serve up. You know someone knows how to cook when an omelet is light and fluffy with solid yellow, no bitter brown burn marks. My patty melt was juicy, and just pink in the center as requested. Much better that the other diners in town we've been to. All 6 of us were very happy with our meals, and we know we'll be back. read more

Typical small town diner, executed fantastically. Great food and service, bottomless coffee, cheap eats, and just a fun place to hang out. Clearly its where the locals go as there arent many other options nearby. Well I should say there really arent any other options nearby. Ha We had to stop and ask if there was anything close and luckily this place showed up. We were definitely some of the only non locals in the place and could feel everyone staring at us when we walked in. This is a very, very small town. The menu was your typical diner fare and I went with one of my standard choices for diner breakfast, a sausage and cheese omelet with rye toast. My wife ordered some pancakes, eggs, bacon and home fries that I think they called the Farmers platter or something like that. They started us off with some bottomless coffee, one of my favorite things about diners. Just keep it coming! Our food came up pretty fast as well. There really wasnt much waitressing help, they were spread pretty thin, so I thought they did a pretty good jiob considering how crowded it was. My omelet was fluffy, and packed with sausage and cheese. It was a huge meal, and I scarfed it down with gusto. I love diner omelets and nothing goes better with them than some buttery rye toast. Simple, easy and super satisfying. My wife's plate was tasty as well. The pancakes were fluffy, and although I prefer my hash browns super crispy. these were still quite good. The bacon was great as well. Even though this is really the only place nearby to get anything to eat, you dont need much else. Its cheap, the food is good and it has a very welcoming small town feel. Its definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. read more

See all

First visit, although I have been interested in stopping in for a breakfast or lunch. The challenge is the parking. There have been times I/we have driven by because of that. Today it was 1:00, and so it wasn't difficult to find a place to park. Keeping it simple, my spouse and I had cheeseburgers and fries. Good stuff. Good prices. The burgers were nicely cooked -- still moist. I am sure I/we will return, maybe with someone else who has never been here before. read more

Hands down my favorite diner in this entire town scratch that within a few counties. The staff is always amazing and the food is always great. If you're in town for anything this is the place to go for breakfast and lunch! One of the employees took over this establishment and its just as good as its been my entire life. Ive traveled most of the U.S. and this is the first stop whenever I come home to visit. read more

Parking is limited but don't let a full lot scare you off. There is more seating inside than it looks like there would be. A really fantastic broccoli cheese omelette with home fries and rye toast was $5.25. It was delicious and a great value! We also had the homemade corn chowder soup, which was very good too. Even with a fairly full house at lunchtime, service was fast and friendly. The food came out quickly and hot. The entire menu is very economical. I think this is a family business, which allows them to keep costs down. read more

Was taking my son to college. Wanted to stop for a good "Diner breakfast" versus Dunkin Donuts . Found this great place. Friendly staff, great menu, cheap but the food was excellent. Loved the corn-beef hash While it's nothing fancy, it's honest, friendly darn good home cookin'. Enjoy read more

Great little family diner that we found while passing through Cortland. Food is good and prices are very fair. (A two egg breakfast with toast and delicious home fries is only $3.50!) The staff is very friendly; cash only. I would eat here again! read more

AJ's Family Diner - Delicious!! - Diners Near Me - Cortland, New York

This is a great find. We were traveling this weekend and stopped by for lunch on Friday. We enjoyed it so much we made sure to stop again on the return trip. Service is friendly and prompt. The food is quite delicious, especially the haddock sandwich special on Friday. You MUST try it!! We will make AJ's a must stop next time we're in the area. read more

I just started school in Cortland this semester and I've come here almost every weekend and their customer service and food never fails to satisfy me. Their breakfast menu is delicious and their prices are super fair. I would 100% recommend this diner to anyone. read more

This is my favorite diner!!! Every time I come here the staff is always so friendly. Not once have I ordered something here and it came out bad. The food always tastes so amazing!! Great prices too! read more

We dropped our daughter off at SUNY Cortland this weekend and hung around until the next morning. We found this place through a google search of the area. Wow what a find. Love the small town feel and the amazing omelets. Service was good even with how crowded it was. We also had a blueberry pancake. It was great! read more

A great little gem here in the city of cortland if you like good value and good service for your money. They make a wonderful blueberry pancakes this feels you right up with bottomless coffee. Wait staff is always polite and quick to serve. My favorite place to have breakfast in town. read more

Took my granddaughter for breakfast. She loved the Minnie Mouse pancake. My omelette was great and the potatoes yummy.

My favorite diner around Cortland. Inexpensive food and big portions with friendly service. Probably not the best place for healthy eaters, but that's not why I go to a diner! A fun mix of college students and townspeople are patrons. Limited parking and seating so you may have to wait for a spot on a Saturday or Sunday morning. read more

Very solid diner good!! Service was quick and incredibly friendly. Super cheap too. Cash only.

Never in my life have I waited 45 mins for scrambled eggs. I guess the Cook has 1 arm.

Food was delicious! No complaints. But, the bathroom was nasty. Just don't go in there if you want to keep your appetite...

Nice atmosphere, cozy seating, awesome prices, kind of a wait but worth it for the good eats. Get there before noon on sundays if you don't want to wait for a seat. read more

WoW! VERY CLEAN in side ,fast and friendly service , deceiving from the out side. .Coffee is great I like the cinnamon and sugar mix available on the table for my coffee. For breakfast I ordered a Swiss-cheese omelette and home fries and it was great. Prices a very reasonable CASH only. Open for breakfast & lunch Parking in font very small and limited .I like this place and will return many more times for breakfast. read more

We went to cny museum and had lunch here. The food is decent and the service is good. We were impressed.

Great breakfast. Cheap daily specials. Fast, tasty and friendly. Will come back next time we are in the area.

Best diner here in cortland! The weekend waitresses are fabulous. So attentive and friendly. The food is fantastic. Sometimes there can be a little wait because they get sooooo busy. It's worth the wait though. Omelets and pancakes are huge and to die for. I recommend the peanut butter chocolate chip pancakes! Not a lot of parking, but you can park on the street.. Oh, and if you enjoy home fries, these one are crisp and delicious, hand cut every morning, as well as the French fries. If your there for lunch, try the potato salad, which the owner makes from scratch, as well as the Mac and cheese on Fridays. You'll never have a better Mac and cheese. I go Fridays just for Mac and cheese, it's ready by 11am, and sells out fast. It's that good. Just about everything is from scratch. Amazing food. And you can see all the areas the owner has traveled to gaining culinary knowledge by checking out some of the photos on the wall. Quite impressive. Oh, and the prices... You will be amazed! So cheap for such delicious food! read more

Great food, prices super low. EVERYTHING TASTES WONDERFUL. One thing though, when we were there last Saturday the "owner", or who at least we think was the owner came out into the dining room to "harshly" speak with some of the waitresses about cell phone use. We heard the whole conversation, this was uncomfortable. Now we 100% agree with what the owner was getting at, BUT her deliver was totally wrong. This conversation should never have been held in front of any customers. I felt bad for the waitresses. read more

Only been once and it was delicious. I ordered the French toast with strawberries and whipped cream. Everything on the menu sounds delicious. I will be back to try something new. read more

Best diner in town.. Maybe Hyde's is the only one on par with it. The staff is always friendly, the food is delicious and priced decently. Amazing!! read more

Great little diner. Food is good and the prices are great. Staff is also very friendly. I would choose this over Denny's or Perkins any day.

We stopped here on our way through town because of the great reviews on Yelp. Unfortunately, our experience was less than great. Several tables were available but none of then had been bussed or cleaned. We got to sit at one of said tables for 10 minutes until someone finally acknowledged our presence. This was after I had already taken the initiative to grab us menus. The service was poor, servers we not friendly but slightly curmudgeon due to the fact that they had to do actual work. All four of us ordered standard breakfast items (scrambled eggs and omlets). Refills on beverages had to be requested rather than offered. 45 minutes into our stay our meals arrived. The food was what I would consider "average diner food" except one of our side was burned almost beyond recognition. We will be skipping this stop next time. read more

Best greasy spoon in the area. Don't be surprised if you have a bit of a wait on Saturday or Sunday morning especially when the college students are here. It's worth the wait. Fresh wholesome ingredients. Prices are super reasonable and the services is great. read more

My wife and I go there several times a year for breakfast and always enjoy it. Plain old American diner atmosphere and good solid American breakfast food and plenty of it, Service can occasionally be just a tad slow but at least part of the reason for that is that they are so popular that they are often totally full. We recommend it. read more

We ate lunch here & everything was very good,the food,the price,& the service.Nice family owned place.Everything is made from scratch.Don't judge it from the outside. read more