Big Al's is fine. It's diner food and you get what you expect. It took us two tries to go here for breakfast on a weekend. The first time was at about 10 a.m., and there was a line out the door, and we didn't want to wait. The second time we got there closer to 9 a.m. and we got a table right away. I ordered the corned beef hash, which is supposedly the dish to try. It's not terribly memorable, but it was good. The service was adequate and the mood of the place was generally up beat. I left full and satisfied, but not inspired. While I would go back without any reservations, I wouldn't do so with any great enthusiasm either. Give it a try ... or don't ... you'll be fine either way. read more

Great Swiss and mushrooms omelet. Pancakes were loaded. Has both blueberries and chocolate chip. And the chocolate cake was delicious! read more

Big Al's Diner - Diners Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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Holy Hot Greasy Mess of Delicious Diner Eats !!! I love this place. Nothing new and shiny here, just good home-cooked breakfast and lunch eats that are sure to fill your belly and have you begging for tums! We frequent this spot on Sunday mornings, and offer this advice... the earlier you show up the better chances you'll have at getting a table. The restaurant is very casual and can get a little cramped, but it is worth the occasional spacial issue. Also, you never know who you could meet at the table next to you. Big Al's has the best pulled pork sandwich that I have ever had and their omelets are guaranteed to please. Also, if you want your potatoes crunchy or your omelet really custom, they will do it for you and get it right. Check them out if you are looking for a delicious greasy spoon with local charm. read more

I had high hopes when we found such a charming diner near our new home, and we came several times. The food was forest and the prices were alright, but the service is consistently terrible. The drawback of having customers seat themselves is that often we went completely unnoticed, and this last time we waited 20 minutes, during which we were visited by a server twice to check in on us, and told we would be gotten to shortly. It was disheartening to say the least, as I had planned to continue coming even with the long wait, but that level of disorganization and customer neglect will not warrant another visit. read more

I go by there often, never see anyone inside but then act surprisingly busy.. not worth the wait

Hands down the best place for proper home style breakfast. Staff busy busting their a** getting everything you need. Get the bacon, tomato, and cheese omelette and the country fried steak! We're from out of town and come to Cleveland a few times a year, and our only complaint is that we hadn't found Big Al's sooner. read more

I order today and did not receive what I ordered. I was not given my full order which would have been ok if I was eating in. This was an order for a couple people and take out. This is the second time the staff could not complete a simple task. A month ago I ordered and was over charged. This once was one of the best places to eat in the area now I would not recommend. read more

Despite it's compact size, Big Al's flavor is anything but. This was evident by the long line we discovered upon arrival. The food was delicious, an order of French toast scrambled eggs and bacon with a cup of coffee. The food is budget friendly also. Two #8 special ms at 6.25 each plus tip. Looking for a good weekend breakfast stop this is definitely the place to be. read more

Big Al's Diner - Big Al's Pancakes and French toast are so good! - Diners Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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2.5-3 stars I'll always remember Big Al's Diner as my neighborhood diner. However, my most recent experience with the food wasn't superb, and this may be because diners just aren't super friendly for vegetarians (pescetarian, technically.) (Before I made this life choice, I've enjoyed some of the other selections, including a pretty good corned beef hash and a pretty tasty fried liver dish.) I was very excited for my order of potato pancakes (sans bacon), but when they arrived, they weren't very crispy, they were very greasy, and they didn't quite look homemade. I'm usually a sucker for anything potato, and the combo of apple sauce and sour cream usually is pretty tasty with potato dishes, but for some reason the mixture just wasn't very appetizing. My friend ordered a breakfast special (~$3) and another friend ordered the corned beef hash. They both liked theirs. I tried the hash browns and they were very crispy and delicious. One of the pastries was super sweet and not very fresh. read more

I've never had any complaints at Big Al's! We've been going here for years & will continue coming! A great place to have a family breakfast on the weekend! read more

Crappy Service. Sat for 20 minutes without being spoken to. Asked when we would be waited on and was told that they were busy. Waited 5 more minutes and no one spoke to us after that, so we left. Won't be back. Would give 0 stars if possible. read more

Michael Symon told me to get the corned beef hash, so...I did...and you should too.

I really wanted to give this place more stars for the HARD WORKING AND ACCOMMODATING SERVERS BUT THE FOOD WAS NOT GOOD. The grits were instant and watery, the biscuits were not homemade or even pillsbury they were out of the microwave the only things that werewolf was the eggs and water! If I go back I will remember to only order eggs and water! read more

A classic East Coast neighborhood diner on Larchmere in Cleveland. The friendly and responsive waitresses serve up a great breakfast at a reasonable price. The kind of place locals have been going to for years. I'm glad I discovered it. read more

Ive been here a bunch of times. Its good but I dont understand all the hype. Its a little divey place on Larchmere that are known for their breakfasts which are reasonably priced and the locals rant and rave about the corned beef hash. The coffee is good. Breakfasts are good. Meh Nothing special. I go in all the time. read more

Big Al's Diner - Diners Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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Best breakfast in Cleveland!! By far!! You need to get past the cramped space and the inconsistent service but the pancakes are the BEST!! Cheap eats!! Greasy spoon atmosphere. We are Sunday regulars read more

Big Al's Diner - Biscuits & gravy - Diners Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

The food is delicious and the service is decent but the sitting is ridiculous! They do nothing to kindly speed up the dismissal of a busy table. We sat at the booth but the party right behind me just sat and chatting way after they're meal was enjoyed. What caught my eye was the amount of people waiting for a table. I feel that an... is there anything else I can get for you? If not you enjoy the rest of your day!...would have been enough as a kindly suggestion for them to up their unoccupied table. This cute corner spot is quite tiny for a rapid satisfying dine in if you have to leave or wait a long time because there's literally no where to wait!! read more

Great greasy spoon style breakfast. Corned beef hash is the best thing on the menu. The pancakes taste kinda funny so stuck with the savory menu items. Service here is hit or miss. On a good day your order will be taken in a timely fashion, your order will be right, & they remember to refill your coffee. Don't expect any smiles. read more

Where to start: my girlfriend and I came here because we'd heard such great things. I should have read some reviews. It took 5 minutes just to wipe down a dirty table. Our server had the nastiest attitude and mumbled everything making it impossible to even understand her. We were never asked about drinks and when my girlfriend ordered a diet coke, a diet Pepsi was finally brought out towards the end of our meal. As far as the food goes, I ordered an omelet and my girlfriend ordered eggs and biscuits and gravy. My omelet featured a cold and what appeared to be pre made egg patty and half melted cheese. The biscuits were hard and the gravy wasn't very good either. On the plus side, the home fries with onions were pretty good. Overall, our experience was pretty awful. We will not be returning in the future. read more

Great breakfast spot...nice size portions. Good food!!! Never had an negative experience!

I so wanted to like Big Al's Diner, but our breakfast was completely disappointing. (I will say, however, that other reviewers' comments about lack of cleanliness and unfriendly servers were unfounded.) The large portion of "famous" corned beef hash (with over-easy eggs) was undistinguished: quite bland, under-seasoned. Its diced potatoes should have been browned first, to enhance texture and taste. How difficult is it, also, to serve hot, completely buttered, crunchy toast on the side? Finally, the one thing that a diner MUST deliver is a good cup of coffee, and Big Al's Diner failed miserably -- probably a combination of low-quality beans brewed in a coffee maker in need of thorough cleaning. I wish I had more positives to report... read more

One of my top breakfast spots! Their food is so delicious! and their portions are HUGE. Only thing that bothered me is that a flat, not so special waffle is $3.50. Sheesh. Anyways, the service is great, very pleasant and attentive. And besides the waffle, prices are great for the portion size. I ordered the veggie benny and it was so good. My favorite part is the abundant amount of onions they put in the home fries. How can you go wrong with onions and the great seasoning they put on the home fries-love. Also great coffee with free refills! I could eat here everyday. read more

It looked like a great place to eat. But it's a shame that the color of your skin dictates when and where you are allowed to sit.

We came here because it was voted the best diner in Ohio. I demand a recount on that vote. Horrible service, waited over 10 minutes just to order, never got a refill on coffee, can't cook over medium eggs, and then had to wait 10 minutes at the counter to pay. Nothing redeeming about this diner, and can't understand how it became the best diner in Ohio. Ever. And the other reviews are accurate, very unhappy servers. read more

Wow what a pleasant surprise to eat here the food was excellent service was good but they need a better dishwasher lol overall great diner food and reasonably priced. read more

Big Al's Diner - Diners Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

It was filthy. The cups were all dirty with soap smears, the mugs had old sugar at the bottom, the place in general looked unkept. Then the food came out and there was what looked like a spider web on the bottom of my pancake and on the surface of the pancake was a bug! This place is totally disgusting and should be seriously inspected!! read more

Big Al's Diner - They have bugs in their food - dusgusting - Diners Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

I'd give three stars, but this place really isn't worth the hype, so I'm giving it two to make a point. Go to Michael's at Shaker Square down the street, the food is a lot better for the same price. read more

The food here is pretty good - although today when I went the homefries were just French fries cooked on the griddle (they weren't crispy - just mushy and weird). Our server was very nice but made some mistakes. Overall, a pretty good place for a classic, simple diner-style breakfast. read more

This place is dirty, the staff is beyond rude and I witnessed the owner blow his nose then continue to work with his BARE hands in the kitchen. Will NOT ever return. It's sad this place has "regulars" with how disgusting it is. I wouldn't be surprised if the place was infested with rats. read more

I love breakfast, and Big Al's had everything I generally look for for a great greasy spoon. However, it was a huge let down. I'm only giving it two stars because it is very cute, 1950s style and therefore has some charm, and because its dirt cheap. You can walk out fed for less than $5. Let's talk about the service though. It was horrible. We sat down with very few people in the restaurant and it took well over ten minutes for a waitress to even acknowledge our presence. When one did, we got our coffees right away, but she never returned to take our order. Once another waitress took our order, our food took a very long time considering we only got French toast and eggs. It overall took way too long. Next, the food. I'm convinced this place only stays open because Michael Symon raves about their hash. Their eggs on the other hand, they haven't figured out. I ordered two poached eggs on toast with sausage patties, pretty normal breakfast food, and the chef failed. The eggs were completely hard on the inside, the toast cold, and the sausage bland and overcooked. Let's just say I won't be back. read more

I love the food here. Always great. My complaint? The attitudes of a few of the waitresses. Seriously eating and ignoring customers while it's busy.Extremely crappy and rude replies. Rolling of the eyes, dirty clothing and nails too long. There are a pair of servers that have been there for years.. Pray you get one of them.. Big Al... Please screen your new employees and hire kind people that care about your restaurant. Cleveland loves your food! read more

I don't like to give 1 star but I was left with no choice. We were visiting and heard nothing but the best about Big Al's Diner. When we walked in we were not greeted, we waited for a few minutes before someone told us to sit down. The only tables available were ones that had not been bused. We waited about 5 minutes before someone came and took away the plates from the diners that sat at the table before us and wiped down the table with a dirty rag that smelled. After our order was taken the food was slow and not that great. Someone at our table got the wrong (like a totally different dish) order and when we notified the waitress we were told that they would have to remake the order (we already waited over 30 minutes for our food) so she decided to just eat the wrong dish. There was nothing special about the food and the corned beef hash was dry and did not have a lot of flavor. My potatoes were not fully cooked but I was too hungry to wait another 30 minutes. Overall I would say that everyone at the table left at least 25% of their food on their plate. Given everything I would recommend skipping Big Al's. read more

This place had a good review in Cleveland Magazine so I had to check it out. I was leary about the location but as they say, "never judge a book by it's cover!" It was busy at 11am on a Sunday morning. Ordered some coffee while looking over the menu and it tasted like dish water. The atmosphere was nothing special and the place was dirty. I ordered the western omelet. It took a long time to get the food and the service was lousy, slow and unpleasant! The omelet was good and fresh veggies were used. However, after eating and letting it all digest, it did not sit well in my stomach! My friend ordered the famous corned beef and hash and raved about it. Perhaps that's the only thing on the menu worth going here for...otherwise, not worth it. read more

Big Al's Diner is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! Corned beef hash with eggs over easy is a must. It's pretty much one of the best things that I have ever eaten, hands down. I've been here a bunch of times and it is always phenomenal. The blueberry pancakes are huge, fluffy, delicious, and bursting at the seams with blueberries. The prices are low, but you get a ton of food. It's small and you seat yourself, but we've never had an issue getting a table. read more

The food and the portions were not bad, it's the only thing saving my review from a 1-star. The service is beyond awful. This place has terribly managed wait staff. Completely went out of the way to ruin my experience. Let's start from the beginning. Me and two friends heard about this and decided to check it out. So we noticed there's a wait. I'm used to this sort of thing, however there's no organization on who is getting waited on first. People were cutting in line to grab a table first, the staff barely gave a hoot about that. In fact, we had to find someone to actually ask for a seat. Luckily the locals eventually were nice to us when I started insisting we would just squeeze in a table that really didn't fit us, but I was losing my patience quickly. This ordeal took 45 minutes and we were "next" in line, even though we watched two group cut right in front of us. It took 10 minutes to get our waters and 1 tea. 10 minutes. Then she walked away for ANOTHER 10 minutes after dropping the drinks off. When I flagged one of the girls to take our order, she said she had to get another server to serve us "right away". That took literally 15 minutes. I stared at how many orders were waiting in the kitchen and there were 3, so it's not like the kitchen was backed up.. Now the food came out fast but COMPLETELY disorganized. We were constantly telling them we were missing someone's homefries, someone's grits, waiting on someone else's toast, etc. Mind you, server never came to check up on us ever, no drink refills, nothing. We never saw her. Nice girl, but came back to give us our check. I let my friend do the nice talking because I was fuming at that point and didn't want to be a jerk nor create a scene. No one had any sense of urgency, all the workers took their sweet time to help tables, but no one had any sense of checking up on all their tables rather only particular ones. In short, the servers all seemed like they're beginners. I asked for recommendation or what people usually get, server had NO clue (I'm sorry but every restaurant I've been to, even new servers are trained what the signature or popular dishes are. Awful training and customer service). Didn't even bother asking someone else. They're completely unorganized, don't check up on you, and take forever to get any simple request for you. I should also mention the bathrooms had flies swarming all over the place. Nasty. I can see why to-go orders were popular. Food is tasty (I enjoyed the homefries and the corned beef hash), but NEVER EVER eat-in. Take it to go. That's what a lot of people were already doing, and I don't blame them. *edit* I'm looking at other reviews and I'm noticing a pattern with the awful service. You'd think that the management or owners actually give a damn and try to actually train their waitstaff. I never tip below 20% but I couldn't justify giving more than a buck for a $15 bill. read more

The past few times I've been there, the service was horrible. So, I stopped going. I tried again today and again the service was terrible. After waiting 10 plus minutes and not being acknowledged by a server, a server waited on the table next to me with people that just sat down. I finally had to ask for service. read more

While working in the area Big Al's was strongly recommended to me and my coworkers. It is a very small diner. After entering you're not sure wether you seat yourself or be seated. We were directed by the waitress across the room to seat ourselves. This is your typical diner with a variety of comfort food menu items. I got the Reuben and fries, one coworker ordered an omelet, the other a fried fish sandwich. All of our meal portions were a decent size. I was very pleased with the taste of my sandwich. The coworker who ordered the fish was not, she said it was a tasteless minced fish fillet straight out the freezer. The omelette was a winner too, pretty large with fresh ingredients. The service was fairly fast but not the friendliest waitress. No drink refills and no checking up on our meals. My sandwich and fries came to around $9, not too bad for the amount of food. Would I come back, probably, is it one of my more memorable diner experiences, no. I'll probably try a breakfast item next time. read more

Big Al's Diner - Rueben and fries - Diners Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

A place I always try to hit whenever I'm visiting CLE. The menu is pretty standard diner fare, but it's prepared well and there are some items like salmon cakes and fried green tomatoes that are a bit out of the ordinary. The atmosphere is great, too, with friendly servers and a pretty diverse mix of diners. You might wait for a table at peak times, but usually you can find a spot without too much trouble. read more

Just had to leave after waiting way too long. Thank goodness for the lady bussing tables or I would not have even gotten a beverage...people coming in and getting serviced before me...I guess I put on my invisible body suit this moring...smdh read more

Big Al, this place is headed downhill. I had some out of town guests visiting who mentioned they had heard about this place. I had also heard about it from some Cleveland colleagues, but had never gotten a chance to check it out so we all ventured together over to Big Al's. We got there early on a Sunday (~930AM), walked on and no one made any eye contact with us. We stood awkwardly at the door, until I waved down a waitress who told me that you seat yourself. Okay, we can handle that. Sat down at a table that needed to be bused still, and eventually a waitress came over to clean the table with what appeared to be a dirty washrag. Each side of the table got one laminated placemat that also served as the menu. I'm not a germophobe, but I couldn't help thinking what the kitchen must look like if this is the way they "clean" in between patrons. I ordered the corned beef hash, which is what they're supposedly known for. Not a fan. The corned beef was dry like it had been scraped off the griddle. The potatoes, green peppers, onions were greasy and nothing special. The coffee was eh, and my cup was empty way too long for a diner. Oh, did I mention that they brought the wrong meal to one of my group members? They didn't really seem to care about the mistake when we brought it to their attention. My group member ended up eating the wrong meal regardless since it had taken SOOOO long to get her food to begin with. When I went up to pay the bill, I waited about 10 minutes just for someone to come over to handle my check. No eye contact, no hello, just a "Give me your bill." Oh and she also complained about how hot she was. I very rarely give a restaurant one star, but between the lack of service, dirty environment and bad food I really couldn't find much to give this place a star. I guess I did get a close parking spot? If Michael Symon thinks this place has the best corned beef hash he's ever eaten, then he obviously must have eaten here a long time ago. read more