Its probably my fault for stopping at diner when looking for something healthy to eat. There is not a ton of healthy options in the area unless you Subway and the like. I had a split pea soup (little flat but ok), side salad (bagged lettuce but cold, crisp and served with sliced green pepper) and salmon with carrots and peas (again flat) and rice (had a strange cinnamon/vanilla Moroccan flavor). The salmon was very thin which allowed to curl up on the sides and make for a cup shape to hold grease. Underneath the salmon was another oil slick. I used two napkins to soak up the grease and then moved the salmon to a clean plate and used another napkin to dab the rest of the grease off. After finishing the once clean plate still had a sheen of grease. I understand this is a diner but one that offers lobster tail for $39 per plate should be able to serve a better plate of salmon. What upset me the most was the lack of concern by the staff. When my server came by and asked how my dinner was and I described my disappointment he was like 'ok'. When I paid and told the owner or manager running the register he explained to me that is why he doesn't eat the salmon. He said it was just an oily fish, true but it does leak oil like the Valdez oil spill! I didn't expect much from the server but the flippant attitude from owner/manager's at the register was cause for concern. I think if you looking for a burger or chicken wrap this is probably the place to go. But anything more and you can probably do better elsewhere. read more

Soooo disappointed. First everyone just did their job. Not one friendly smile. Both of our salad dressing was sourish. My chicken gyro seemed to have boiled chicken on it and was bland. Our grilled cheese was some generic orange rubbery cheese. It was so bad we didn't even attempt the pie. Then my sister goes up to the counter and tells the hostess she would like to order a couple cupcakes. The woman says "What do you want?" We just looked at each other and said "FOR REAL?" We left and went to friendlys to get a grilled cheese. It was an upgrade. Ps the beef barley soup was really good. We are both in the service industry everyday. A smile goes a long way. read more

This isn't a diner. Diners are open 24/7, period. The food here isn't bad, but when I showed up at 12:40 on a Sunday and found the doors locked, I was finished with this place. Furthermore, if you insist on falsely claiming you're a diner, but have a closing time, is it too much to ask that you adhere to your own parameters? If the fake diner wants to close at 12:30, then they should advertise as such. Instead, the con-artists at Crystal say they close at 1, then lock the doors at 12:30. Never again. Like I said, the food isn't bad, but it's not that good, either. Moving on. read more

If you enjoy sitting with a bunch of ants and eating greasy food that may or may not be cooked properly, this is the joint for you. For everyone else, there are plenty of other options in town. Try one of those. read more

The only reason I'm giving 3 stars is because of our waitress. My corned beef Reuben was as dry as the Ghobi desert and tasteless. Save your money and find another diner. read more

My family and I always enjoy our meals at this local diner. They did a great job when refurbishing it several years ago. It's clean, comfortable & the service is generally efficient and friendly. What more can you want from a diner? read more

Crystal Diner - Diners Near Me - Toms River, New Jersey

I have eaten here many times and my meals are always great. They forgot tzatziki on my chicken sandwich once but nbd. I order different things every time I go am an never disappointed. The ONLY thing I don't recommend is their desserts. I have gotten 3 different desserts from them which look amazing in the window but taste quite the opposite on my plate. They are just not that great. read more

Dated and unattentive . Staff toke their sweet old time cleaning table while there are over 70 pple waiting. Management need to up their game if they compete with other diner further down the road read more

My family and I were planning on stopping in Toms River for breakfast during our drive down to Wildwood Crest. We saw the Crystal Diner and decided to give it a shot. We were NOT disappointed!!!!! Due to traffic, our trip time was all messed up so we didn't get there until just before noon. Our whole party hadn't arrived but our server came over and asked those present if we would like beverages. I ordered for the kids and myself. She promptly returned with our beverages and asked the other members of our party - who had arrived while she was getting the other beverages - what they would like to drink. Those beverages were brought just as quickly. We proceeded to order. My daughter ordered a plain bagel. We said it didn't even need to be toasted. Without hesitation, our server told us that the bagels were refrigerated so toasting would be kind of necessary. All good so long as it was lightly toasted. I ordered the #3 breakfast special (corned beef hash, 2 eggs, toast, and home fries. Everyone else ordered. Food arrived. Bagel toasted lightly. My daughter ate 3/4 of it. She's 6 so she was full. While everyone else's order arrived, mine had not. Our server was quick to assure me it would be out in a minute. And it was! Not only was it hot and fresh, but the corn beef hash was delicious. read more

This place has terrible service is over priced and has no notion of polite customer service. We walked out after our rude hostess told my husband to wait till he was seated before using the restroom and that he was rude for not waiting. read more

I've been here a few times for breakfast and the food is consistently good. They have breakfast specials, with most under $10 and they include the entree, juice, and coffee. I've had their omelette's and corned beef hash and both were plentiful and tasty. The only slight negative is the scrapple, in that the serving they give you isn't very big. Waitresses are nice and always keep your coffee full. read more

I've been coming to the Crystal since I was in high school. It was done over a while ago, and looks good. Classic Jersey diner. It has all the diner fare you would find anywhere in NJ. This last visit I had a cream of turkey soup which was very good. Nice and creamy, a little gelatinous, but very tasty. I also had a grilled cheese with ham which was fantastic. The prices have gone up a lot more than I remembered, but all in all a good diner in NJ. read more

This place a local told us about got in late and the guy said its open 24 hours.. Very glad we came food was real good they for sure give you plenty very very clean .. The lil waitress we had was real nice .. I'd come back for sure read more

See all

We must have went at a mid shift time cuz the place was empty. The place was nice and clean. The server was really nice and very attentive. Lots of dinner specials were listed. I had the baked ziti with meatballs and it was super fresh. The meatballs were hand made (not some crap out of a bag). We got a lot of food for the money. The bathrooms were nice and clean and fully stocked. The diner does participate in a loyalty program called "SpotOn" so I took a card to learn more about that. The outside was very nicely decorated and festive. The crystal diner is definitely a gem in tons river and we will be returning. read more

See all

Typical diner food, quick, fast and decent amount. I was pleased to say the size and portions are very good. I ordered the philly cheese steak and also the pastrami and corned beef on rye. The plates create the illusion of more food, but really, it makes sense to have larger plates instead of making a dramatic dumping of fries or onion rings on top of your food, go figure......The menu is quite extensive and so large that it covers most appetites. There is nothing spectacular about the food, and not one thing that stood out in this sitting, but the food was served hot, portions were comforting and not sparse. This area is flooded with eateries and fast food restaurants galore. There are so many many places to eat, So many that a diner that has been a fixture in the landscape for many years, could be swallowed up in the scenery.There is also a lack of competition , its as if "here is your food" now eat it or take it home, nothing to rave about, well thats, Brick, New Jersey....sad.....I will return to Crystal though due to its extensive menu.... read more

Gross and tasteless food, very rude staff. It took a long take for our waitress to take our order and the restaurant was practically empty. First and last time eating here! HIDEOUS FOOD DONT GO HERE read more

Food was ok not great. Was offended that the Texas burger is just a burger with a fried egg on top. Nothing remotely texan about that. read more

Crystal Diner - Diners Near Me - Toms River, New Jersey

My kids love coming here when we visit seaside and Toms River- it's always one of our go-to places at least once during our vacation. That being said, & for what it's worth: their menu items are misleading. I ordered the avocado spring rolls and they turned out to be frozen vegetable egg rolls with a side soufflé cup of avocado. Totally not what I envisioned based on the description. Also, their menu contains all sorts of stock photos. They have a disclaimer that says "menu photos are just suggestions" or something like that. Kind of odd (errr false advertising?) The overhead radio is also extremely loud (it was playing hard rock when we were last there). However, I've never had a terrible meal and the baklava is delicious. Wait staff are always attentive and friendly. read more

The food is alright but the service is really what did it for me - let me start out with I've worked in the service industry for a long time and I understand if it's a bad day or busy- but god what a sad sack of miserable staff members. Not one employee smiled or displayed any sort of courtesy while we were there. The hosts were disorganized and rude. Our server had the worst attitude - not only were we constantly ignored but she was dismissing her other tables with an even stronger attitude. Just completely unprofessional. After we got our food (which she never checked to see if it was all good) our server disappeared. We waited about 15 minutes and when she finally reappeared we kindly asked for the bill and she speed walked past us and said "I'll be with you in a minute." Apparently another table had already asked for something else and when they tried getting her attention after us she YELLED ACROSS THE RESTAURANT "HOLD ON IM GETTING IT OK" and shook her head as she sped back behind the counter. after another 5 minutes she finally came back and asked what we wanted before and then after refilling a few coffees she finally stopped at our table and gave us our bill. I don't expect much from a diner but this caliber of nonsense was beyond unnecessary. There seems to be no level of organization for seating or the staff because they all seemed overwhelmed and overworked. Not sure where the hell the owners were but I'd be humiliated if I owned a mess like this. Sell it to someone else if you can't even figure out how to train your staff to smile and display basic human decency. read more

Not a bad place for diner . food is good and never disappoints place is always clean and the wait staff is very cheerful and nice and very efficient. read more

In early April 2014, being discharged from the hospital I didn't feel like cooking. So I stopped here with my brother for dinner. I ordered the prime rib with au jus, baked potato, beef barley soup, salad, and chocolate pudding for dessert. First the meal was so big, that most of it went home with me and I had leftovers for lunch. The soup was amazing, chunky with beef and barley like the name says. A salad is just a salad. The steak was right on spot, like it was cooked at a steak house. It had to have been at least a 16oz cut prime rib, cooked to medium rare as I asked. It was seasoned just right, not too much seasoning that it masked the beef flavor, but just enough to enhance it. The meat was extremely tender. The baked potato was baked just right, not like it was just thrown in and reheated after sitting all night. If you are looking for a steakhouse prime rib, look no further, you can find it at the local diner. Crystal diner that is. read more

At the crystal diner the Puebla platter an the French fries are amazing food here at the crystal diner read more

See all

I feel like most diners are hit and miss. This one fits that example. Some of their food is decent/good, other dishes are bad. The last handful of times I have come here, the food wasn't good, or it wasn't worth the money. The restaurant is gorgeous but the waitstaff and food are mediocre at best. Last time I went was Labor Day weekend and our waitress was so nasty I didn't leave a tip. I had to hound her down for everything and she didn't check up on our table ONCE. My suggestion if you come to this diner. Choose your dish wisely. I don't think I will be coming back here due to the prices of food and the quality as well as other food establishments are just better... read more

Sad to find out that they strongly enforce their $4 per person minimum. I've been a patron of this diner for years. Sometimes people just want to have a late night cup of coffee and nothing to eat, or only one person wants a meal and others just get drinks. This required minimum doesn't allow people to come and just share an appetizer or two either. Unfortunately, I don't think we will be coming back quite so often. Late night diners should be more accommodating to those who want to catch up with friends and family and will leave a good tip. read more

They sing happy birthday. Never experienced that at a diner. Fries were soggy. I had the Greek gyro which was typically over stuffed with lettuce. Although a bit on the greasy side it was good. My gf had the chicken ranch wrap which was "good". The coffee was your typical breakfast blend/foldgers/maxwell house taste. Coleslaw was excellent. Creamy but not to thick. Sour dill pickle. It's diner food, kinda hard to mess up. If the fries were a little crispy maybe a 4 star. read more

Crystal Diner - Pretty big coffee. Asked for black and they filled it to the top - Diners Near Me - Toms River, New Jersey

The wife and I have been coming here as our kid free breakfast/lunch spot for years now! Food is always hot and fresh!

The Crystal Diner is one place to stay away from! The food is mediocre at best, expensive and they have the nerve to charge a "Covid 19 Table Fee" of $2.99 added onto your Bill cause they want to make more money from each table! Stay away! Stay away! Stay away! read more

Came here on Christmas day evening for comfort diner food. Our server Jessie was nice & sweet, and took care of all our needs. Food was great-- the calamari surprised us, it was so much better than what we read on the reviews. Will definitely come back! read more

The worst seafood ever!! We didn't get menus until after 10 mins. The sides of mashed potatoes and corn were ice cold and it's not fresh food. read more

We went here for a late lunch /early dinner about 3 weeks ago. My wife and I chose from their dinner special menu that day and we both selected their 'Seafood platter'. It had no description on the menu and we both assumed.we were ordering a typical fried seafood platter. I even asked the waiter to please give me just tarter sauce and my wife used only cocktail sauce. Well, out comes our salads and warm rolls which were fine..fresh salad veggies and the rolls were good. We finished this just in time for the waiter to bring out entree...which was a pasta dish with seafood in red sauce( highlighted with Mussels!! Both of us look at the dish and just about gag thanks to the strong fishy odor emanating from the dish! I immediately tell the waiter that this is not what we ordered and he insists that it is. We all look at the menu and there's no mention of pasta (as he originally asserted) or Italian anything....just Seafood Platter! I explained what we were expecting and he acts dumbfounded...like who would expect a fried player of shrimp, fish, clams, scallops, etc. I then asked other employees what they thought they would receive based on the menu offering and surprise. They also thought as we did. But that's not the worse off this terrible visit...the waiter falls to the owner or manager (not sure which) and she comes to our table and was very cold asking us what the problem is..looks at the menu and walks away. Few moments later, the waiter comes back and says they will let us order anything from the menu and only charge us half price for the dinners we don't want??!?! At this point, we are both disgusted with the way this was handled and neither of us want to be there any longer than necessary. I explained that we aren't ordering anything else and he hands me the bill. Yep..they expect me to pay for the food we couldn't eat...that either the menu was wrong or the order was misplaced by the waiter. Rather than make a scene, I paid and walked out, knowing I'll be writing a scathing review here. This place used to be a decent Diner...but I'll never step foot in there again; So long as the current ownership is in place!! read more

I've been in a lot diners, but by far after decades, this is the worst place I've ever been. Horrible food, bad service and the owner is just mumbled when I asked a question. I think pet food tastes better. Garbage! I don't recommend to waste your money. read more

My husband and I went to the Crystal diner yesterday, my hubby soup came right out. My shrimp cocktail took over 20mins. Shrimps were good cocktail sauce was terrible. Dinner came 5mins after that.my chicken was over done on one side under cooked on the other. I complained,dinner was comped. We will not be returning ever!!!!!!1 read more

One star for the nostalgic diner feel- zero for the food. Might have been the worst breakfast I've ever eaten. Protein omelet with potatoes and wheat toast. Simple right? Chicken was dryer than a camels asshole, potatoes were prison grade and I swear they chiseled some cedar shingles off a house built in 1957 and called it toast. Fire the cook, learn the culinary industry or close up shop. Embarrassment to the diner industry and Toms River. read more

DISASTER. DO NOT GO HERE. I came into this establishment thinking I was going to have a nice "diner" style meal with my girlfriend. Instead, I was greeted by flies in my booth when I sat down. Brushing the flies away, I decided to order anyway. The food was obviously microwaved (i.e. chicken sitting in a pool of Luke-warm water with unwashed spinach and mangled orange peel as a "garnish"). The "meatloaf" my girlfriend order was like stale bread that was cooked with a blowdryer and had taco spice seasoning thrown on it. It gets better. One of the thuggish flies dove head first into my ranch dressing, and started to twitch as it suffocated. Needless to say, we did not eat our entrees. After calmly mentioning our dissatisfaction with the food, the waitress could only reason with the owner for a partial compensation (because he could not charge for the disgusting entrees, he jacked the price of the side iceberg lettuce salads to $4 a piece). The owner was rude when we went to pay for the meal as if the horrendous quality of the food was our fault, and we were being fired at our expense. Honorable mention: The owner sat in a booth with a dusty tissue-paper suit and hands-free wireless phone device around his ear the entire time we were there. This look alone screams insanity / dated behavior. He was obviously unconcerned with the quality of service or food his establishment was producing. He seemed to be acting a part in a deceitful play - sporting a distasteful, frayed mustache similar to a street vendor in some foreign nation looking to cheat tourists out of their money by selling "national antiques". I will never return to this place. read more

Worst diner I ever been to. If I could give it 0 star I would. The soda tasted like seltzer water when I order a sprite. The Greek gyro tasted disgusting And the bacon I order on the side was uncooked . Waiter gave us a check with additional items on the receipt which I didn't ask for and gave us many issues. Won't be coming here again. read more

Horrible food! The Manhattan clam chowder tasted like warm salt water that had been dyed red. The "over medium" eggs had raw, runny whites. The pancakes had a grainy, heavy texture and nasty flavor. This place might look cool on the outside, but don't let the swanky exterior fool you. Keep driving and find someplace else! (Service was friendly at least, but the prices weren't - especially considering the quality of food.) read more

Worst diner ever !!! Greeted by "I'll seat you but there will be a delay"... no menus given.. no silverware.. after 15 min waitress came asked for drink order.. another 15 min and only 2 of our 3 drinks came... asked if we were ready to order.. our reply was.. Can we have menus??? 30 min and no menu???? Another 30 min for food..Burger was overcooked... seafood had no taste and sides were cold.... will NEVER go here again!!!!!! Would give less than one star if i could. read more

A very quick update. I popped in here this morning and sat at the counter, ordering a plate of steak and eggs. Medium rare, sunnyside up, white toast - pretty straightforward. While cooked perfectly to temp, the 10 oz. "ribeye" had no real sear on it - just a brownish-grey pallor from being cooked on a cool flat top - and was cut from some mysterious unknown rib section where grizzle and fat do battle to eliminate all meat. It also tasted slightly off; I don't mean in a good, dry aged way, but in the 'sell by three weeks ago' sense. It was topped by two eggs (topped as in completely covered - definitely to hide the meat and its appearance), whose whites were still half clear. Yuck. Splash and cover. Short Order Cook 101. The potatoes were dry as a bone, and the toast served in what I can only assume is a cajun style - totally blackened. Additionally, I ordered a Coke, and that was fine. All in all, it was one of the worst breakfasts I have ever had, and I've even eaten breakfast in jail on one occasion. About a third of the way through, I put my napkin on the plate, and picked a large piece of nearly-rotten meat out of my mouth while trying not to be sick. A server walked by, saw this, and asked, "Is everything okay, hon?" I replied, "I'll just take the check." At that, she said, "I'm not your waitress, dear; I guess we all must look alike to you." You know what bitch? You approached me. Have a nice day. By the way, that's code for "go fuck yourself". If you don't want to help, why ask? Anyway, I left a $5 tip on the $18.00 check, because I didn't want my actual server to hear something from Miss Not Your Waitress, and think I was an asshole. Nonetheless, if I had bought and tried to eat $18 worth of cow shit, it would have been a fresher, more properly cooked, all around better meal. read more

My husband and I come to this diner all the time since we live right up the road and I work late alot. Typical diner experience, we don't expect much when we go there. The staff has never been overly friendly or attentive, but we don't normally say anything because it's not that important to us in this type of atmosphere. The food is normally decent. We usually just get pancakes or grilled cheese. Cant really mess that up. This time though, the service was a complete turnoff for both of us. The server we had walked up to the table, where we were clearly already an inconvenience to her, and said simply "drinks?" We ordered our drinks and when she came back with them she took our order, with some nasty remarks when we had a question about the menu. The only other time she came back was to bring the food. She slammed our plates down without a word, and then about 20 minutes later, she came over and said "done?" My husband then asked if he could have a refill on his soda and she pulled the cup away so angrily and stormed away without a word. I don't know what this girls problem was with us, but it was just flat out rude behavior. If she had checked back, my husband could have asked for his refill sooner. She had only one other table she was waiting on. I don't understand why we were such an inconvenience to her. When we mentioned it to the hostess while paying the check, she didn't seem to care much at all. She just said "sorry" We will be taking a break from this place for a while. This experience was just that bad. read more

We found this place as we were staying nearby. Have eaten here now about 15 times. No matter what was ordered, fast service and great food. Will eat here anytime we are in Toms River read more