I don't really have much bad to say about this place. It was pretty good, service was great! The food wasn't outstanding, but it was good if you want classic diner food! Food came out pretty fast. read more

Avalon Diner - Chicken Fried Steak - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

Great diner style place for breakfast. Healthy options available . Excellent service. A neighborhood gem.

Food was ok. Service wasn't to bad. Was expecting it to be better from the reviews I read.

Came here on Labor Day, early morning. Practically ate with the senior citizens. So the place wasn't too busy. Sat at a booth table. Looked through the menu, as there were lots of food to pick from. Ordered the philly cheese omelette with fruit, which was an additional .50. Ordered the biscuit. Wife ordered the fried chicken steak with potatoes and biscuit. Philly cheese omelette wasn't bad. Portion was big. The fried chicken steak was good. The batter or breading was good. Crispy, juicy, and enough batter for the chicken. Thoroughly enjoyed both meals. Had an olé diner feel to it. Use to go to a diner place in Bay Area all the time. Rating Food: 4 Ambiance: 4 Service: 4 Price: 4.5 Overall: 4 This will be our go to breakfast spot. read more

If you are in River Oaks it is hard to do better for a breakfast than Avalon Diner. It is just that good in terms of the old-timey diner feel, the sheer extent of the menu, and the quality of the dishes. There is no reason to ever go to an iHop, Waffle Haus, Denny's, or other 'prominent' chain if you are near Avalon. If you have not been to Avalon yet you have no idea what you are missing out on - but judging on the lines, and there are ALWAYS lines for a table, most people in Houston already know about this place. My biggest and sole complaint, which has claimed a star, is the amount of time spent waiting for a table - always. A place has to be that good that you will wait for the table, but you will be a bit miffed at how you are still there waiting rather than truckin' on elsewhere. It's in a strip mall so there is parking. Even as crowded as it gets inside waiting in line there is still parking, so that is good. It also seems clear that several people are walking over from the nearby townhouses so you have to feel alright that locals have continued to pour on in over the years, making this a gem of the neighborhood for many years. I had high hopes my first time here that it was going to be a Bob's Burgers kind of experience with zany misadventures and very family-run. It's not. And there weren't any. It is definitely River Oaks-ish with the vast majority of the clientele, they would drop a monocle at the sight of anything going even potentially sideways. So Avalon is a really, very controlled environment where everything is pretty perfect. The wait staff is not exceedingly talkative or friendly, but they are not rude, and they do as instructed in a timely manner. You can always tell where the rich white people of River Oaks go because the service falls in line. But that leads to less interesting experiences as I prefer the all-sorts-come type of experience where maybe the waitress shows tattoos and joins in on a spirited Harry Potter debate - that would never happen here. The challah french toast is the one plate that makes Avalon an institution. It is the go-to plate of many. It is soft, flavorful, delicious, and visually-stunning as it sits there on the plate. It basically says "eat me" but in the good way, like Alice in Wonderland, not in the sarcasti-sad teenager-shopping-at-Hot-Topic voice. There are plenty of other things on the menu but really, why go to a diner that has challah french toast (if you're not familiar with Jewish people this is THE jam as far as bread and bread-related-products go) and get **Mrs. Featherbottom voice** a banger in the mouth? The place is so busy it gets very, very loud so just be on notice. There are the tables, in classic northeast diner fashion, smushed together as closely as possible. Plus the booths of people. Plus the counter service. Plus the throngs of people waiting in line to get a table. Lots of voices, small place, it is loud. But it is worth it for that first and last bites into the challah french toast. read more

I don't understand if I'm trying to buy food on this restaurant, they tell me to purchase it online what happen if I don't want to do it online I want to go and do it over the phone or go to the restaurant in order does low quality service!!! read more

While visiting my friends in Houston we decided that Sunday lunch was going to be burger time! Armed with the list of "Best Burgers in Texas" from Texas Monthly, as well as the similarly titled list put out by the Houston Chronicle, we felt well prepared. Our first choice, which will not be named here, was disappointingly closed on Sundays. It was from the Texas Monthly list. No matter! We chose Avalon out of the newspaper list as our backup plan and headed out... When we arrived at Avalon it was located in the middle of a strip shopping center. Not in any way attractive, but who cares if the burgers are that good, right? So we went on in. Hmmm. Yeah, kind of looks like a diner inside. Cheap, cheesy, kind of old. So, we waited for our table for a while, but after no one decided to seat us we finally just grabbed a table. Some time within a year after that, a waitress came over and took drink orders. As we waited on our drinks we toiled over the menu, trying to decide which burgers we should each order. Personally I opted for the sliders (mini burgers), while my friends went the more traditional route. So, let's just skip to the part where we have our food (which came like 30 minutes later, even though they were NOT busy): - The fries obviously came straight from a $.99 bag of frozen crinkle cuts. I could have done better at home. - My burgers were over-cooked. Despite that, the flavor was good. Not great, but good. I'd say they reminded me of burgers at Braum's. - One of the burgers we ordered came with onions, despite a no-onion request. To make it worse, while picking off the onions we found a hair inside. I don't care who you are, that is just wrong. The tables were littered with all manner of condiments, and each of them felt sticky and kind of gross. You just knew that avian flu might be hanging out all over those things. But the state of them kind of matched the rest of the diner. Meanwhile, the waitress hardly ever came by, so we got NO drink refills and never had the ability to correct the order problem or the hamburger issue. So, to sum things up for you: if cleanliness is next to godliness, this place is going to hell. Oh, and I'm being generous with two stars. That was the consensus of the group - I'd have given it one. read more

Avalon Diner - Sliders and Fries - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

Avalon diner is a great, classic diner. We tried it for a late breakfast/early lunch on a Saturday, and the place was packed. There's really no hostess, but you wait near the front and grab a table when it opens. The food is classic diner food: eggs, pancakes, burgers, shakes, etc. I tried the french toast, and it was great--I especially liked that it was sprinkled in powdered sugar and cinnamon. It was nothing fancy at all--just sandwich bread cooked up, but I liked it. And, I have to admit, though it was early, my friend and I split an Oreo shake--while I wish there had been whipped cream on the top, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Again, the shake was nothing fancy but good. read more

When I moved to Texas from the northeast, I was in need of a classic breakfast spot. I found it at Avalon diner. This place is a classic. Service is fast, food is always perfect. The fact that it's typically crowded should be a good indicator that Avalon Diner is where you've got to get your breakfast. The Big Breakfast is my go to, though every once and a while I'll switch it up for an omelette. My wife always gets something different and is never disappointed - breakfast wrap, corned beef hash, biscuits, short stack. All around best breakfast food I've had in Houston. Don't forget a milkshake on the way out, make it your cheat day. read more

I tried Avalon diner 5-6 years ago and did not like it, but gave it another shot last weekend. When you first come in, it is chaos (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/avalon-diner-houston?select=ooFGY0vawL9SVggPhGfuNQ#ooFGY0vawL9SVggPhGfuNQ). Seating is first come first serve with people racing to tables. The problem is if you haven't been there before, nobody tells you this and there is always a crowd of confused people at the door until a waiter walks by and tells the group. Hopefully if you go, it won't be as crowded. I ordered the Big Breakfast (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/avalon-diner-houston?select=9-KXSM6icjYgdDlkaxC-HA#9-KXSM6icjYgdDlkaxC-HA): eggs, sausage, hash browns, and pancakes. The eggs and pancakes were pretty dry with a rubbery texture. Most of my food tasted like it had been sitting out for a while. Many of the other reviews talk about the terrible service. I didn't think it was that bad. With that said, it wasn't good either. Our coffee was never refilled and the waitress gave us a little bit of attitude about sitting down before our entire party was here, despite the fact that I explained to her that we weren't going to sit together - I would say it's pretty difficult to come with a group larger than 4-6, especially on the weekends. At the end, I can't recommend this place. I know some people really swear by Avalon Diner, but with such great breakfast spots in Houston (Baby Barnaby's, Breakfast Klub, Buffalo Grille), you shouldn't waste money here. To be honest, I've enjoyed the pancakes, eggs, and hash browns at IHOP and Denny's a lot more than what I had here. read more

Avalon Diner - First come first serve seating. - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

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Great place for a business breakfast. Food is good, coffee is both crappy and good, some of you will know what I mean. The service is excellent and the tables are clean. I have never been here for anything other than breakfast and they do a great job. Bacon is cooked to be crispy but not hard. I am sort of odd and I am not always in the mood for breakfast food. You can have a club sandwich or a burger should you choose. The ladies who work there may make fun of you but no big deal. On this, try a burger for breakfast, it cures a hangover pretty well. read more

This is as classic of a diner that you can get in Houston except for the fact that it doesn't open for dinner. The staff has been there for years and so are the regulars from the neighbourhood. Stick to the basics from breakfast to their burgers and you'll do fine. If you're feeling adventurous, you can try their blue plate lunch specials where they give you tons of food for cheap. The pickings can be hit or miss though but you're out of luck if you're a vegetarian. Most of the vegetables are cooked with meat. The only other items to mention of course are the milkshakes which are made from Blue Bell Ice Cream. It proves you don't need fancy glop to make a good milkshake. read more

Absolute GEM! Friendly, prompt service even on a packed house Saturday morning. Being our second visit here, only because I couldn't remember the name on our last trip to Houston. When searching be sure to search "diner". I love the atmosphere. Reminds me of the old sitcom "Mel's Diner". True American Classic! read more

Avalon Diner - Eggs, bacon , smoked sausage, grits, toast. - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

I have been to Avalon a handful of time and I have had an ok experience each time. The food is good diner food but this is not a place you go if you are looking for good service. The lines are not managed, you will get overlooked if you don't look like you belong and you will get terrible service. The servers are not the cleanest and unless you speak up you will be ignored. Today I had a server that completely ignored our table until eventually I had to walk out. I am a former server so I understand that she may have been busy and I was plenty patient. But the service was simply un acceptable. After this experience I would never return. read more

Great patty melt and curly fries. quick consistent coffee service. the original diner style experience

Service is great and friendly. Food comes out fast. My husband enjoyed his breakfast. My vegetarian omelette was ok but then I found hair in my food and then I lost my appetite. Their hash browns are good though. read more

OMG --- I love this place ! It is perfect for the 'morning after'. The staff is fantastic - old school style. I think that must have all worked here for years - you can tell that they are really a family. The food is typical 'diner' food -- good and greasy, but not gross. I love a hamburger with a fried egg and they have the best - give it a try. You will find a wide demographic of people from the area here. You could easily be seating next to the 'who's who of Houston' or me - regardless everyone is friendly and genuinely glad to be there - customers and employees. read more

Avalon diner offers tasty breakfast and brunch for a fair price in a setting that reminds me of the 50s, or at least, pictures I've seen of the 50s. I will say that the number of white folks at Avalon is ultra high - maybe because it's so close to River Oaks? Anyway, it was something very noticeable. I've been a few times and can vouch for the quality of the basics: the eggs, pancakes, hashbrowns, biscuits, etc. are great. But this time, like the previous time, I got ambitious and ordered the Super "6" omelette off the healthy portion of the menu. The omelette is a six egg white omelette with bell peppers, mushrooms, and other veggies inside. It was way too watery with veggies that did not taste very good. I found myself not eating the vegetables and focusing on the egg whites, which were drenched. The moral of the story is to stick to the basics at diners, and to not get too fancy. You can be sure I'll be back, but it'll just be two eggs over medium, some form of potato, and some enriched flour product. read more

Avalon Diner - Super "6" omelette with fruit cup and biscuit - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

I would give this place no stars if I could. Very rude nasty staff. Waitresses eating at the counter with their fingers then going to tables to pick up money or serve customers without washing their hands. Had to beg for a menu that was rudely dropped off and waitress walked off to continue to eat with her fingers. Sat for over 10 min without an offer of drinks or anything else. Finally gave up and left. Never got to try the food, which might be great if anyone would have taken our orders or served us. read more

The service is horrible there's an old black guy super rude and a low life scum bag. The first time I came here he brought my food my drink and a refill in a plastic cup with the check. Today I came in with and did the same thing. Than had the nerve to smack me on the arm, and tell me I need to leave so other people can sit down. Half of the restaurant was empty. It was only because some better dressed people wanted my table. Don't come here. The food is ok. He's not the only person here that has an attitude. I can't believe he put he's hands on me. What a piece of garbage. I just paid my meal and moved on. He clearly has problems. read more

Awful. My son and husband went in for a late lunch and bring me back something. Not one blue plate item was available and my husband have jokingly said guess my wife won't get to eat today. Waiter's response. Probably not from here. Guess what I had for lunch - dang PB&J. Not funny! We will never go back after 10 yrs of patronage. read more

You can't get more "old school Houston" than this. Come back to a diner of the 50s. Many regulars and families (often from River Oaks). Traditional breakfast and lunch items. Friendly staff (might even call you "honey"). So for a traditional diner breakfast or lunch from your youth... read more

I recently stopped in here for the first time with my coworker for lunch just to try their breakfast. I have heard a lot of positive things about Avalon, mainly being an older establishment which has great burgers. Since they were recently named one of the top budget spots in River Oaks for lunch, I wanted to see if the article was true. I ordered a fairly fail-safe dish, the chicken fried steak and eggs which came on two separate plates with toast and hash browns. The meal looked great when it first came to the table so that was a good sign. The eggs were pretty standard, the wheat toast was supplemented with good quality strawberry and blackberry preserves on the table. The chicken fried steak was the only dish I was most worried about since I am picky when it comes to eating them. This CFS was hand-breaded according to the menu and the best part of it was probably the country gravy. The meat seemed like it wasn't the best quality or too fresh. The breading was crispy but just seemed like something was missing about it. Although I was able to eat my entire meal, it was filling but I probably wouldn't come back just to order this dish. I will have to make another trip back for the hand-spun milkshakes since they seem to be a popular item. I just didn't have enough room for one on this trip. My lunch mate ordered the Migas and they looked like a soupy mess when it arrived at the table. He was a little leery about ordering this dish from a non-mexican restaurant but he still cleaned his plate as well. He didn't mention how good the dish was, but that just usually means "nothing to write home about". Overall, a lunch for less than $10 in River Oaks, I was proud of myself and the HP. read more

Avalon Diner - Chicken Fried Steak with Eggs - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

This location is the best. Great greasy-spoon breakfast.

Kirkwood location: The other day my check showed a $1 higher charge for my sandwich and sales tax at 9.25%. Houston sales tax is 8.25%. You would think the point of sales device would automatically know the price of a sandwich and the correct sales tax rate. While not a lot of money was involved, multiply these mistakes by the number of customers per day, then by the number of Avalon locations. It will add up. Double-check you bill before paying. Make sure this isn't a usual practice. read more

My review is based solely on lunch. Apparently avalon diner is an institution since it's been in houston for so long. I came for lunch and ordered their lunch grilled chicken breast with pineapple and a side of sweet potato. There was nothing spectacular about this meal. The grilled chicken breast looked like it was flattened and marinated in a salty sauce. I should have asked how the breast was cooked but there was no mention in the description that there was sauce so I assumed it to be plain. The pineapple chunks are not fresh, it's pretty much from canned pineapple. The sweet potato is your standard 1/2 baked sweet potato. The only thing I surprisingly enjoyed was their cornbread. A tad dry but the flavor was good. Service was lacking. The side salad that came with my entree was a bit pathetic. It was served in a small soup bowl and the leaves were ice berg lettuce which is just nasty. As I've heard, I'd stick to avalon diner as a breakfast go to and not anything else. read more

Avalon Diner - Grilled chicken breast with pineapples and baked sweet potato - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

The inside of this place is so retro. I had the sliders, strawberry milkshake and fried pickles. The food was surprisingly very good. I'd go here again, but it wouldn't be my go-to place for lunch or dinner; maybe breakfast though! Overall, good place to chill and get breakfast with close friends/family. read more

Avalon Diner - Sliders with fried pickle chips & a strawberry milkshake - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

After our first time to try Avalon Diner, we were very happy with everything we ordered. French toast, deluxe breakfast sandwich, and chicken fried steak and eggs. Everything was fresh and cooked perfectly. It's definitely your typical diner style (nothing fancy whatsoever) but nonetheless, delicious. The coffee is amazing, as well. We will be back! read more

Avalon Diner - Diners Near Me - Houston, Texas

One of the worst experience we had. First we had to wait like 10 minutes to be acknowledged by the waiter. Then the waiter started off by throwing straws at us, he was running around trying to be fast, but almost spilling coffee on me. He basically rushed us out of there. He told us to pay so he could leave and yet he was still there after we paid, keep in mind we were still eating. The food here was just plain. You'll be better off at Ihop or Denny's, sorry but its true. read more

The food was great. Our hostess was very nice and gave us service with a smile. I think we came at the wrong time of day because there were so many of the menu items that they were out of it was disappointing. read more

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Hi I am a longtime fan of Avalon everyone is friendly food is always good, but today when I wanted coffee, really wanted coffee, it was awful. You would think with all the coffee competition they could step it up a bit after all they proudly display their coffee cans... Bartholomew should try again and not get the gyro, that's not diner food, you ought to tell about the waitress, that's not picky. Avalon is not cheap and you deserve to get what you order and correctly, they need to say sorry and fix it. I have been going to Avalon for around 60 years and they still have great food you just ordered poorly. read more

The waitress was great. The food was not. I ordered a gyro sandwich, fries, and a side salad. The gyro and fries were cheap, low quality frozen. The "salad" was served in a tiny little bowl. I like old school diners, but whoever has taken over this one is disrespectful of the concept and very very cheap. Like Mr. Crabs on the Spongebob Squarepants cartoon. Maybe even cheaper. So terrible. read more

I love this place for breakfast on the weekends. It can get packed but the food and service is always consistent. I have been going here for years and they have always had the some staff many who have been working here for decades. Also, there are always familiar faces with the customers. Truly a classic diner dive and exactly what you would expect. read more

Food was OK diner food but wait staff was extremely rude. Waiter Ronnie felt the need to scold my party and I for moving to a table in his area because we had more guests join us after we had already ordered our food. One time telling us that he didn't like what we did would have been sufficient but he felt the need to do it twice making us feel extremely uncomfortable. Will not be coming back here any time soon due to the way we were treated. read more

Went and ordered a mushroom Swiss burger from avalon which when it came out the patty was overcooked and the color gray as further investigation of my burger it wasn't even hot that lead me to say the burger was leftovers. I can only imagine what they feed the surrounding schools. read more

This was the spot to go many years ago when I was managing the apartments next door and it looks like nothings changed! Still the same delish diner favorites excellent milkshakes, omelette was superb and the country fried steak was outstanding! They give generous portion of fries and they are crispy just how we like. They were busy but what place in the city isn't at noon on Sunday, and impressive less than 5 minute wait they clean tables fast and food is served quick too. A River Oaks staple, highly recommend you check them out and they serve breakfast all day by the way! read more

A great old-fashioned soda counter where we had a wonderful cherry soda float and a delicious strawberry shake. :-) Will definitely be back.

Came in a day after Yom Kippur. All my sins were repented for. Then I've tasted the best bacon in the city. Hallelujah! I became a great goy and a scholar. Now I attend this establishment frequently. I love how fast is the service and how good the food is. I'll be back, many times. read more

While food is as good as always (4 stars), service continues to be poor. I keep giving it another try but it is time to say no more. Yesterday the male waiter just toss things down, I never received my iced tea refill after asking, and twice asked for to-go box and never got it. I felt like I was speaking to a mannequin especially ordering. Perhaps I should have commented sooner, but I kept thinking it was just a bad day. read more

Food is ok. Atmosphere is loud. Staff friendly. Cashier the rudest person i have ever come in contact with. She never looks at you and grabs the ticket out of your hand like you are a thief. read more