This is a real dive place - reminds me of places I used to go with my parents in the Midwest, 30 years ago. We came at noon - four of us. This was on a lark, since our first choice, Home Skillet had a 45 minute wait for a table, and then 45 minutes for lunch. Noon on a Thursday. This place is basically empty. A total of three other people here... I had the taco potatoes, and others had omelettes and one had a cheeseburger. All-in-all, the food was not really that great. Also, the menu was very limited. The wait staff was very nice and quick with our food, so that was appreciated. I am not really sure what I expected....because this is a diner with one "$". I am not sure I would recommend this place, unless they overhaul the menu. read more

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Had the blueberry pancakes. I couldn't eat them all, but so good! Blueberries were fresh and plentiful! Good coffee. Great service. Recommend! read more

This is a really good place to get an Eggs Benedict. In particular, I go for their seafood options (crab or salmon) and they nail it every time (which I come about 6-7 times a year). Their food is typical American breakfast-eggs, sausage, bacon, omelets etc. Their coffee is really good too. The waitstaff is so nice here. This is a hidden Bellingham gem! I wish more people knew about them. read more

YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!! Great people and attentive wait staff!! I am always satisfied eating here. Really hits the spot! read more

I have bee three times and love the food and the atmosphere! very relaxed and hospitable! The food is great not too big a menu but just enough to be able to have choices of what to eat! read more

Yummmmmmmmmm.... easy old town vibe delicious food . Fast friendly with good sized portions the cinnamon rolls were the best !

I've been coming to Arlis's for years now and it never disappoints. Most recently I ordered the cinnamon raisin French toast with eggs and sausage-- delicious! My boyfriend had biscuits & gravy and fried potatoes and loved both! Our coffee and water cups were always full, and service was quick and friendly. The perfect little diner for a quiet and tasty breakfast! read more

I fell in love with my husband at Arlis' We used to go to this restaurant every Friday morning after our Thursday evening class and subsequent slumber party together. I love this restaurant. They have a cool offer where if you answer the trivia question you get free coffee. my lovah used to always get their omelet special - often times it was the Neptune Omelet - stuffed with crab with a k and shrimp lovin. I loved their pancakes. read more

While I realize Arlis's clearly has a loyal following....I am not included in their cult like following. I don't hate it...I just don't dream about it. Why you ask? While I love the fact that it is truly a slice of AMERICAN DINER history and vintage inspiration--I find the food falling a little flat... and---as a rule...I try not to eat and places which namesakes include the letter combo "s's" I just feel not cute saying it....ARLIS'S. even typing it freaks me out. Also, the few times 5-6 visits, I have had a giant upset stomach, not going into details there. My verdict? hit diamond jims first, if they are packed...settle for a bronze medal meal here. read more

What I liked about Arlis's was the fresh vegetables. I ordered a salad with my BLT and the salad looked and tasted like they walked across the street, bought some fresh lettuce and tomatoes, and immediately chopped it up. The italian dressing had just the right amount of vinegar bite. My BLT was quite tasty with it's generous helping of tomato. The coffee was decent and so was the service. I'm sure this is a better breakfast place and aim to try it out one day. I may even up the stars. read more

Arlis's is a bit hard to quantify in numerical terms. Bottom line: I like it. I recommend their Eggs Benedict, swiss & mushroom omelet, pancakes. Their specialty Benedicts were good when I tried them. Burgers and such are ok, but don't blow me away with wonderfulness. Breakfast is where it is at. My only complaint food wise is that they went from hashbrowns to diced potatoes. The diced ones are tasty, no problem there, but I think (if you don't offer both) you should have hashbrowns in a breakfast place. Staff is always nice. I think one thing that draws me back, beyond good food, is that it is a "real" place. You can tell which cook has cooked your meal, if your favorite waitress is out for the day, all the things that most big chain places have eliminated with extreme prejudice. I don't think I could tell Denny's or IHOP's sausages from microwaved. Warning: They close fairly early, mid afternoon. read more

A very classic American cafe, but not anything to write home about. Pros? Pancakes were tasty Prices are cheap Service is efficient Never have to ask for coffee or hot water refill! Consistent clientele base Cons? Bathrooms are not clean There are just so many other places to go in Bellingham... read more

It is pretty easy for me to enjoy a diner: reasonable prices, tasty food, good service and bonus points if there are lots of old people hanging out. Old people = good diner food. Fact. Arlis's was all of the above, and the server was super helpful and sweet when my niece banged her head on the table. They have fresh pies but the pie we had (mixed berry) was actually the least enjoyable part of our meal. My sister had soup & sandwich and I had chicken fried steak--both were excellent. I definitely recommed Arlis's for brunch or breakfast. read more

Solid no frills diner breakfast food. And, as is often the case with diner breakfast food, it was a little too greasy. Don't get me wrong, I dig a greasy breakfast when that's what I am after - just be prepared for that. We had eggs+bacon breakfast, eggs+sausage breakfast, and biscuits and gravy breakfast. All were good with good portion sizes. They didn't blow my mind or reinvent the wheel, but they were solid and what I expected as standard breakfast fare. The service was awesome. My coffee was never less than half full and the servers were friendly and quick. read more

I love this place for breakfast or lunch! Good, regular, inexpensive food, attentive and fast service. My fave is the Veggie potatoes with a side of Hollandaise and an egg on top, or the Crabcake Benedict special they run sometimes. Great for families, brunch with friends...they have some big tables in the backrooms that we have used. Highly recommended if you like unpretentious real food in a comfy atmosphere. read more

This was my first visit with my boyfriend and I have to say breakfast anytime is a huge plus for me. I Iove hashbrowns! Service was great, prices are well worth the quality of what you get, and we got our food quickly. We will be returning to try lunch. read more

I love this place. Because the service is amazing. The food is nothing special, except maybe the chicken fried steak, which is really really good. Here's the trick: Get pancakes instead of toast. The biscuits and gravy are also really good. I am part of the cult following, I will admit. But I appreciate cheap food and service from genuinely good hearted people. read more

Staff is usually friendly and there always seems to be a table available no matter what day or time to go. That doesn't mean its not busy, it just seems that magically there is no waiting for seating. Hmmm... Its like a Twilight Zone Greasy Spoon. Anyway, I digress. The food is standard breakfast fair. They have a trivia contest where you get your coffee free if you get the answer. Its usually pretty easy so most the times... coffee is free... read more

Arlis's to me is so good. I recently started eating their for lunch from time to time and it is great. They make a great burger, or sandwich! Breakfast is so good!!!! Clean, friendly service, locally owned. This place is a great stop for breakfast of lunch. It is somewhere I will be going to on a consistent basis. read more

Best Breakfasts in NW WA ! All the omelets are great and the home fries can't be beat! My personal guilty pleasure are the crab cakes Benedict when they have them. since I found Arliss', it's become a weekly sunday morning event for the past 7 or so years. BTW: the service is uniformly both down home and excellent. read more

They have good food and maintain a clean place. We've always enjoyed eating breakfast here because of the friendly attentive staff, the quality of the food, and the fair price. read more

This one is easy- Great food Reasonable prices Great service What else can you ask for. Awesome breakfast- I got the super Potatoes with an egg on top with a side of Gravy (guilty pleasure). I've since had most breakfast items. Never disappointed. read more

Great diner. Perfect thick sliced bacon, eggs exactly as ordered. Team waitressing. when they weren't serving the people in their own booths, they were making sure everybody had coffee, not just their own customers. Strawberry rhubarb pie is heaven. read more

Yummy breakfasts and friendly staff!! Great place to hangout in between trains and ferries, buses or storms!! read more

I used to like this place. Today we sat for an hour waiting for our order to show up, while being assured over and over that our order was coming. After an hour we punted and I offer d to pay for the coffee. They certainly were prompt in charging me for that. Went down the road to Avenue Bread and had an excellent breakfast of eggs Florentine which they produced in less than 10 minutes. Next time you are near Arlis's, just keep driving and head for Avenue Bread. I know I will. read more

I've tried most of the breakfast places in Bellingham over the past couple of years and Arlis's continues to stand out! I was there yesterday for the Veggie Benedict. Absolutely delicious! The wait staff is friendly and keep the coffee coming. I like it enough to wear their T-shirt! read more

Good service, crappy food. Hamburger overdone and like a hockey puck. No flavor whatsoever. Got a garden salad with it. Handful of brown lettuce, 2 tablespoons of chopped tomatoes, and 4 slimy cucumber slices. $5. Then they charged me $2.19 for the small plastic cup of dressing. So basically $7 for a pile of decaying vegetables and 2 ounces of dressing, and $10 for a hockey puck and a scoop of potato salad. The potato salad was pretty good. That was basically a $17 scoop of potato salad since it was the only real edible food that I got. The waitress was friendly as were the rest of the staff. My coffee cup was always full. I probably won't be back. With the competition downtown for the breakfast and lunch dollar, I'll go elsewhere. read more

I love this place. My boyfriend took me here when we first began dating and now im hooked. It is one of his fave places to eat and now its one of mine. Its seems that even on a busy Sunday we never have to wait more than a few minutes to be seated, which is amazing! They have great food that reminds me of my grandmas cooking. I love the atmosphere and somehow we always get the same spots:) I enjoy coming to Arlis' to get a nice meal and make me feel like im back home. Also, I enjoy their Trivia question ( which if answered correct = free drink) even though never get it right! read more

Good breakfast. Noise level OK. Attentive service.

Without a doubt this is the very best breakfast and lunch spot on Bellingham. Their menu has something for everyone, my favorites include the Beast, the Taco omelette, and the pancakes. All meals are generously sized, fair priced, served quickly and very filling. Come with a big appetite and you'll leave satisfied. Weekends are busy but the friendly servers and hard working team in the back keep things moving quickly. Highly recommended +++++ read more

Just had some meatloaf for breakfast it was really tasty and the potatoes were cooked perfectly.

Best breakfast joint in town (haven't tried their lunch yet). Reasonable prices, wonderful service, and delicious food with sizeable portions. Lovely old-time diner atmosphere. read more

Quality of food and service has gone way way downhill here. I've been coming to this restaurant for 10 years (longer than this waitress has worked there for), and in the last year or so, it has been strongly lacking in just about every way possible. We sat down and waited for our order for half an hour. People who sat down after us were served (received better service than us too) and left before we even got our food. The waitress was barely attentive to us, we had to wave her down a couple of times in order to get my coffee refilled (don't get me wrong, she walked around with the coffee pot in hand to offer refills, but avoided our table for this every single time for some reason). The food was bland. Ordered a potato scramble, the only flavorful bites came from the meat. The veggies were okay, but the potatoes were not skillet fried at all. They had been boiled and not seasoned, and relied entirely on the meat and cheese for flavor (when the plates were brought out, the cheese wasn't even melted - literally a fresh pile of cold shredded cheese slapped on top of a lukewarm plate of bland food). So it's like the meat and veggies were fried separately, then slapped on top of boiled potatoes (not fried), with cold cheese thrown on top. It was not satisfying, at all. I've ordered this multiple times before and absolutely everything was skillet fried together, so this change *is* new). It seemed like our order was *the last* order to be taken care of. I really would've preferred that she just ask us to leave if serving us was such a big deal, because I would've gladly spent my money elsewhere. We let the waitress know that we weren't satisfied, but she took that to mean that she could debate this with us (by insisting that the potatoes were seasoned with salt and nothing else and that "this is how they've always been", she didn't say anything about their lack of being fried and not soft/mushy). This place used to have staff that was friendly, fast, and efficient. Not sure what happened recently, but it has turned into a giant letdown for this avid bruncher. Won't be going back again. If you want amazeballs breakfast, go to Homeskillet or the Daisy Cafe. They will absolutely hook you up with a great breakfast and service to match. read more

Just a good classic spot for breakfast. Good prices and portions and are service has always been great.

This is a second tier Bellingham breakfast establishment--and mind you, that is no diss. Want a place that's got great food on scrawny budget? This is your spot. Great for family, students (cheap food!) and big groups of friends. read more

Great spot to come with some chums for breakfast. If you come with 5 or 6 people, try and get the room in the back because it allows you to be a little louder and not feel guilty. The french toast is good, and the coffee is hot, and constant. read more

MMM yum breakfast! Get here during breakfast time since they close at 2pm. Their omlettes are amazing, light, fluffy, and very full of flavor. Their prices are good too, $9 gets you out the door with a full stomach and a tip on the table. Have fun, eat safe! read more

Places like this remind me of my childhood, of the little diners scattered throughout skyline-chili land back east. I love these types of places, granted- but either they are nice to be at or not, regardless. This one is nice to be at. You can just relax, it really is nice. For some reason I think the name Arlis is kinda cool, too. Good thing I have no kids. ;) read more

Really just not as good as other places In town, especially Diamond Jim's. Potatoes we're not that warm and the gravy was somewhat bland. And kind of pricey considering these facts. read more

Visiting from out of town, always on the hunt for a great country fried steak. Didn't find it here. I was greeted by friendly staff, seated myself, server arrived promptly with coffee and water. After browsing the menu (even though I knew what I wanted), I asked the server if the the country fried steak was house made or a pre- made frozen product, she didn't know. I was there and hungry so I ordered the beast which is an eleven ounce chicken fried steak, it was indeed a pre- made frozen product. The coating completely slid off the meat while cutting it, and the was a soft zero textured mess similar in texture to bologna, not good, the potatoes,eggs, coffee and toast were good, but the steak was a failure. Made the mistake of ordering a jumbo breakfast burrito to go for my wife. The taste was ok but definitely not jumbo, and definitely not worth $10.50. Can't always trust reviews. read more