Good food, large portions. Came here on a few separate nights. Would definitely return here. First night ordered the half pound chili-cheese burger. It was good. Didn't quite seem like a half pound, but it was definitely enough food for most people. My friend got about twice as many onion rings with her order, which made me sad. Second night ordered chili fries to start and then the country-fried steak with mashed potatoes. Saw that you could add an egg to any breakfast item for $1, so I asked to do that to the steak. It was a good decision. Chili fries were okay, steak was good, mash was pretty good. Friend ordered the same thing but ordered a baked potato instead of the mash and it was definitely more food (and seemed like a yukon gold). I'd probably get that next time. Service is a bit spotty -- first night got a woman who was 100% on top of her game. Second night got a guy who definitely cared, but was more scattered. There were a few stints -- before ordering, and before paying -- where we wound up just waiting for 5-10 mins. Ran out of water for a while. Probably could have fixed that by working to flag him down, but eh. Also note that the Travelodge across the street gives you coupons for this restaurant if you stay there. If you plan to stay at the Travelodge and might eat here, check in before getting dinner. read more

El Capitan Diner - Chicken-fried steak and mashed potatoes ($13) with an egg over it (+$1). All good, huge portions. 1/2019 - Diners Near Me - Hawthorne, Nevada

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Bad bad bad service overall. We were ignored by each person who works there in the beginning and then again ignored at the cash register to pay our bill. One of the servers cashed out one of the employee's then proceeded to walk away without even acknowledging us as we stood there. Servers running around like they were extremely busy but the restaurant only had a few seated customers. If it weren't for the line cook who was doing double duty with busing tables, we would have walked out at the first warning sign. Avoid. read more

My wife and I came through about 6 months ago. The meal was so good we had to come back. This time, I had the meatloaf and my wife had the ribeye steak again. Everything was delicious. I know there have been some past complaints about the meatloaf; however, I found the flavor and portion quite pleasing. The meatloaf is seasoned well with diced onion and diced green pepper. There is no doubt the meat contains bread crumbs as a filler, but it worked for me. My wife's steak was cooked to perfection and had grill marks and a good char - grilled flavor. It was served with a baked potato (with real butter) and vegetables. Our waitress was very friendly and quite attentive. We'll be back. read more

Needed some breakfast after driving all night and this place was recommended by clerk at 76 for their steak and eggs. It was a 6oz with eggs, hash browns and toast for $6.99. It wasn't bad but not very filling either. read more

El Capitan Diner - Diners Near Me - Hawthorne, Nevada

I was expecting a total dive with terrible food. What I got was an older diner in a small town that served a kick ass Omelet. I would say to stick to breakfast based on the other plates I saw. Our server Brooke knew what she was doing and was a great server. Give it a try, there are not to many alternatives. read more

Typical old-school casino diner, greasy-spoon-style. I've eaten here a time or two, and found it to be on par with an old downtown Vegas dive: burgers, breakfast, chicken-fried steak, anything-fried everything. Ambiance is smoky casino diner chic -- slightly busted, with a whiff of mentholated Americana. Not bad for the middle of nowhere! read more

We waited over an hour for a couple of sandwiches and then when our food arrived, one of the sandwiches was wrong. Another order was not cooked as requested. The quality of the food was very poor. Definitely not worth the wait! Next time it's McDonald's! read more

Clean it was, but when the waitress screws up she certainly doesn't know how to smooth things with the customer. Romey made a mistake. She's human But her customer was not to blame. Result: good cooks wasted their time, angry server, and customers giving terrible review of an otherwise adequate place. read more

one star is kind. service beyond horrible. How do you screw up a meatloaf dinner and a turkey sandwich- El Cap does that well. absolutely terrible. wish I could add something positive but.... oh. nice cigarette smoke atmosphere. realize this is BFE but someone must be able to cook a basic meal and serve it to you. almost forgot, ask for extra salt from the onsite salt mine and then you can surely choke to death. can deal with slow unhappy servers but when food is bad too, as Hall and Oats said: "no can do". more aptly named: El Crapitan read more

All I can say is this, if you're hungry and heading through Hawthorne, DONT eat here.. anywhere else would be better! Every time I eat their food I get very sick. read more

Evyn is the worst server I have ever had. He is lazy,unprofessional and rude,and why he would chose to work in customer service is beyond me. read more

Don't go here if you're vegetarian! The non meat options are fries, tater tots, DF zucchini, or a side salad. I had the salad it was made with iceberg lettuce, yuck! The don't even have a grilled cheese sandwich. read more

I ordered a half pound burger was generally ignored while staff spent the time walking past until finally a tall gentleman... noticed me, about 10 minutes! 7:30 pm July 21st. 2019. The building was about empty of customers! Service is currently very bad. The burger was raw and the chef should be fired being a health risk as well most of the staff for waiting on each other to attend a customer read more

If you're starving you may think the food here is ok. Short on servers although Steve tried his best to accommodate every table. There seemed to be a second server there but she did nothing that we could see. A couple of tables left before even being greeted. The two teens that worked there put forth more effort than the adults but were limited in there capabilities. Don't know if there is anywhere better to go but if not go back there again read more

For a small town this place was actually good. Really convenient to eat at the diner since it's right next to the Travelodge. Once you get past the smokey smell from the casino, it's not bad when you sit in the diner area. The salads were fresh and soups were really good. Especially their chicken noodle soup. Ribeye and NY Strip steaks is a hit or miss on how they cook it for you when it comes to medium rare. It was still good to eat the steaks. The chicken fried steak was juicy with all of the gravy and mash potatoes. The only issue was a couple of nights they ran out of NY Strip steak. They won't tell you until your order is already put in their system. The chicken strips were decent with the fries and El Capitan skillets was really good for breakfast. Make sure they have it before you order. In addition, sometimes the waitress kept mixing our orders with kitchen with our large group of at least 7. read more

El Capitan Diner - Chicken Fried Steak - Diners Near Me - Hawthorne, Nevada

We stayed in Hawthorne with a group of 16. We ate breakfasts and dinners here. The service was always top notch and everyone's order was correct. Steaks were amazing! Had to get drinks from bar but that wasn't a big deal. Would definitely recommend this place if you are passing through. read more

What was I thinking? Out of town and didn't have yelp help us decide. Worse meal ever!!! I ordered the meatloaf because it was the framed item on the menu. I thought it would be a safe bet but no. Looked and tasted like bad hospital food. My husband ordered the chili burger, always a safe choice for him..... he hated it!! Barely eat any of it. The terrible food wasn't ever the worst part!!! Service was seriously the worst ever. I could go on and on about ever terrible detail, but If you're reading yelp then just trust the reviews. I've worked many years as a server. I never leave less then a 20% tip. My husband had to approach our server for our bill. Her response "Who was your server?" When he told her, she was, she replied "oh, where were you sitting (her section) No apologies or concerns for our experience at all. Ummm, needless to say, she did not receive our typical tip. No stars would be the right rating!! read more

The worst service ever here and I grew up in this town. Came back to visit and on the way out decided to eat here for breakfast. Four tables with people seated. Two of those tables have their food already. And there are three waiters here and one bus boy. Bus boy no issues. Still waiting on some one to take our order. We asked if someone was coming over and was told yes. Then we watched the waiters talk about whose turn it was and one said I'm going to lunch. And another waitress is filling the sugar containers. I guess getting ready for the lunch rush? What the fuck Hawthorne. No wonder you're barely hanging on. When I worked here in high school as a bus boy nothing has changed. You want a tip you have to at least put forth an effort. Can I select no stars as a review? read more

I've had breakfast her a few times and I can definitely say for the price, it is worth it. Their pancakes are a good size, their sausages aren't small by any means, their bacon is nice and crispy, and their hashbrowns are perfectly cooked as well with a slight crisp to them. I've actually had the same server three times (I should really get her name) and she has always been great. I have yet to try lunch and dinner but going off of what I know for the breakfast side of things, this place is worth a shot! read more

Basic food that doesn't impress but gets the job done. The service was polite but not friendly, which surprised me for such a small town.

Omg,, terrible service!! Microwave corn & potato!! Ribeye steak was poor quality!! Didn't even leave a tip.. it only gets worse if I'd seen a cockroach.. I refilled all my (3) lemonade refills.. I even got up and got my condiments.. I have no problem doing that.. I just thought people worked for tips?! Stay away!! Avoid!! Let the locals get there gut bombs here!! read more

Great food best breakfast I've had in a long time. Courtney was incredible waiter. Whatever we come to Hawthorne this is where I'm stopping

A health inspector obviously doesn't exist in this dump town. This place shouldn't even be open. The food is absolutely disgusting and overpriced. It looks like the decor hasn't been changed since 1979 and there is a musty smell throughout the entire casino to go along with it. I'd highly recommend going across the street to the 76 gas station for food before eating here! The only thing good about this place was our waitress Misty. She was great! read more

Contrary to some of the other reviews, we had a very nice prime rib dinner; a very generous portion, with a salad, baked potato and some veggies, all for $13.99 (on special). The staff were very friendly. We go through Hawthorne every year to visit my daughter in Nampa, ID. The restaurant is in the El Capitan casino; however to our surprise, there was no significant smoke in the dining room. read more

Let's start off on how wIll never step in this place again. I was sat and wasn't even given a menu. Other people were given a table and menu and served before I was given any acknowledgment. I highly suggest that you dont come here. I eventually got up and left and the servers didn't care. The sad part was there wasn't much business. So you can't even justify it by being busy. If I could give negative stars I would. I honestly think they serve people they recognize. Whoever the manager is should reevaluate their servers. Waiting for almost an hour should not be acceptable. read more

I ordered fried chicken and when I received it I took a bite only to find it was still raw in the center. Not under cooked but cold and still bleeding. I returned it and watched the cook dump the chicken I had taken a bite from back into the same oil he was cooking everyone else's meal in. My advice here is proceed with caution. read more

We ate breakfast here. It was good and I would eat here again. This is an addition to the original review about breakfast: I ate here again on another occasion and had the grilled salmon. It was very delicious and I really enjoyed the meal. read more

Food is par (expected) for a small casino coffee shop. Price and fare match. Attached to the casino so good for gamblers and/or smokers. Not good for those who expect super high quality service/food or think you're in a Reno/Vegas casino (you know who you are!)... if you're high maintenance, don't come here. If you like a casual and local atmosphere, go! read more

Not bad at all for the middle of no where. Yes it's typical casino atmosphere, but when your tired from traveling all day, the food was hot & tasty & our server, Jillian, was great. We were able to unwind after a long day. Better than a fast food. read more

My favorite is the deep fried vinigaroons. I ordered them with a side of cough syrup and a couple of no-doze. Was in town for a local visit to the old watering hole, figure nothing short of the nuclear activity in Babbitt would have anything better then them fried "Vinnies". Heck now who would! read more

A visit to God's waiting room. There were more people on oxygen than an ICU unit. Someone was under the convoluted impression that having their cooks wear a chef coat would somehow produce a product that is edible. Lousy burger steamed on a flat top. Julienned lettuce sopping wet, soaked the already soggy burger. This calamity of carelessness created a burger so watery that the bun was falling apart. Just dipped french toast was dryer than my bun. Fries.... The simple act of deep frying a potato should be something an entry level cook should be able to make. My fries were still firm in the center. My partner had a plain turkey sandwich that, while had a fair portion of meat, the veg was soggy. He had the coleslaw as a side. It was more like cold cabbage soup. There were maybe 20 people in house and these "cooks" were hopelessly in the weeds. I say cooks fully realizing that it is a profound insult to even the most inept of culinarian . This place needs a serious relationship with food. There is a gold mine waiting to be tapped. This place could be THE spot. It like they decided that since very few people immediately died from the food, that it was good enough to stand on. read more

While the food can be decent, the service is hit or miss....mostly miss. Tonight I decided to sit at the counter, the place was busy but the staff seemed to have plenty of time to chat. Every waitress on staff walked by multiple times without acknowledging me or even making eye contact. I had no idea who my server should be. After 10 minutes, the patrons to my left got their food so I figured out who my waitress was, however she still didn't acknowledge me, just walked by 2 more times. Took 15 minutes for her to ask if anyone had helped me....uhm...no, not yet. Finally got a menu and a glass of water, then placed my order. When my food arrived my glass was empty. Think she offered a refill? Nope, had to speak up and ask as she walked way. That would be my only refill as she never came by again....even had trouble getting the bill lol....finally just went to the register.....2nd time I've had this gal....same story both times basically.....sadly, she appears to be the shift manager... read more

Their food is worthy of a LAST SUPPER meal. We stayed at the hotel across the street which wasn't very fancy but clean enough and were happy to have one of the only restaurants in town be so fantastic! Their french toast and biscuits and gravy were top notch. They forgot my blueberry muffin but the waitresses seemed tired and overworked. I can't wait to go there again when we visit my Grandpa! read more

Awesome wait staff but not the best burger in town, if you're in a pinch and need some quick food maybe stop here but don't think it's going to have any flavor. read more

Despite the 2 1/2 stars it was reviewed, we had a great experience. On our way to Reno, we stopped in for a late lunch. Expectations weren't high given the small town appearance but all was good in the end! I'm only giving 4 stars because I'm not fond of the strong smoke smells of casinos. read more

I am honestly flabbergasted on how RUDE & IGNORANT a worker could be. And the food dont get me started the food is so trash all I order was a grill cheese and it was horrible I could make a better one. next time I won't come eat here I will go take my business down the street to old Nevada pizzzzza. read more