My Diner Disclaimer: Here's a double-whammy: One, I'm originally from the Southwest, where diners are scarce. Two, "Pennsylvania Dutch Food" really means, "We like bland and use a crapload of potatoes in everything." So moving to Southeastern Pennsylvania, but not close enough to Philadelphia, meant I was to suffer through a few years of Pennsylvania Dutch Food. After moving to the East Coast, I was amazed by the amount of diners. Through my own ignorance/inexperience of the diner experience, I've found that diners here have the tendency to be hit or miss on decent food. I'm a food optimist. I will try any restaurant, even try it more than once, to give it a good chance to offer me something that will become a craving that will need to be fulfilled in the future. Oh, and what's up with all the middle-easterners and diners? Seriously, I've now been implanted with this stereotype that all diners on the East Coast are run by Turks, Egyptians, and Greeks. As far as diners go, Michael's in Douglassville is one of the better diners I've been to since I moved to the East Coast. The diner is 24/7, which is great for those of us with weird sleeping schedules or random cravings. Michael's caters to the elderly population of Birdsboro and Douglassville and the truckers of 422, so there's a small, well-tended salad bar and decent coffee. The soup selection is typical. They have some nice daily specials that patrons should check out. The food is generic diner fare, but, their cakes and pies, when fresh, are lovely. I'd suggest asking a waitress when they were made, and within a two day window, indulge. Prices are cheap, there's a smoking and non-smoking section. read more

On my way to doctors appointment and wanted something else other than WaWa. So we decided to grab breakfast at the diner waited 35 minutes for our food and had to leave so I could make it to my appointment on time. read more

Slow, unpleasant service. Bland food. Over an hour to get breakfast and listen to the waitstaff grumble at each other. Hostesses seem oblivious. All I've come to expect from here. read more

So having lived within a mile of this place for 13 years, I've gotta rate it. This place is nothing special in my opinion, but does seem to establish a good aproach to the diner appeal. And that's an important thing to note, it started out, or atleast always came to be more a diner, not a restaurant, if that has changed, perhaps i'll update this review upon any surprises in my next visit. It is better than some, but this area doesn't have the most comparable competition. It has been remodelled very nicely, but the food hasn't changed as far as quality. Goods: Breakfast is about the only thing I reccommend for this place. Waffles, pancakes, french toast, hash browns, etc. The price is reasonable. Salad bar is the only other exception, pretty good spread. Parking is everywhere, they also have a large space underneath, good for banquets, etc (haven't been down there in quite a while, hopefully it was included in the remodel, used to look pretty drab). Good spread on the menu too. BAD: I wouldn't go for dinner, or lunch, food can take a while to be served, and like I said, it's nothing special. only one register to checkout. service can be slow. So that's it, this place is ok, but if your looking for something special, a diner in a small town isn't going to impress. Great for a diner style meal tho! read more

The food was not good at all. The seafood was over cooked and I don't think there was crab on the crab cakes. The filling was flavorless.

One of the best diners i have been to. Huge menu selection! Shirley is one of the best waitresses. Friendly and warm atmosphere. Fast service and prices are great as well. read more

Quality is poor. I mean like school lunch poor. Seems to be loved by the senior citizens though. The owner is extremely friendly and out going. read more

Three reasons this joint is still serving food...location, location, location. Do your gi track a favor and drive 7 minutes down 422W to the Exeter Family Restaurant. read more

I gave this diner 4 tries since it very close to where I live. The food is ok for the type of place, but the wait staff is what pulls it way down. The last three times I was there the service was well below par. The staff would rather chat and watch what is on the flat screen tv then be attentive. The last time the food came out wrong (second time for this) and we told her just to cancel that item. We complained to the women at the register, which I assume was either an owner or manager. She did apologize for the screw up. As we left we heard the waitresses (who were standing around the counter chatting) laugh and say "oh well". "oh well" indeed! read more

went into michaels after a veryyy long day & my waitress jocelyn made my day so much better, it was beyond excellent service

Service is slow, but the pancakes here are out of this world. I've never ordered anything here but breakfast or club sandwhiches, but those are good. The booth seats are terrible. You know, the kind where you sink into a hole? They've got those. read more

Today was the first time i went to this place. I dont know why people are giving bad reviews. I was very happy with the pollo chicken that I ordered the sauce was on point and very tasty, i also got the soup and salad bar that was very fresh and had a lot of choices to choose from on the salad bar. aeveryone was friendly. The service was very fast and got my food the way i wanted. I would definitely come back and I would recommend this place to anyone around the area. read more

Besides spending each Sunday at Michael's with family, my favorite part of Michael's is the owner. He is the perfect example of how a manager, leader, owner should operate. He cares so much for his patrons and is always giving the customers hugs, handshakes, and high 5's. Kudos to the owner for bringing us back. read more

The owners are really nice and are extra nice to kids. We have only been here for breakfast but each time everything has been great. Service is relatively quick, sometimes the kitchen can get a little backed up if it's busy. The server has let us know in those cases and we don't mind a slightly longer wait. read more

So did the last reviewer like the place? LOL. Personal Stereotypical commentary aside ... You will not find a better value that Michael's. This is a 5 star diner ... important note ... it is a diner, not fine dining or a chain, this is a diner at it's best. Whoever cooks their eggs is a master. They have the best egg dishes around. Anyway you like them, they can do it to perfection. Typical diner food but not the typical diner flavor. It is much better than that. With a few exceptions, everyone on the staff is more than friendly, they will treat you like you are family. The owner is a character be sure to ask for him and say hi. He along with his wife Rose will treat you like you just walked into their home. Also, do a search for coupons ... they have them. read more

Went to Michael's last week my son order the steak it look liked they boiled it thin cheap cut of meat should have went to a steak house my chicken was horriable will never go back. read more

Great dinner to go to at night with friends or family. I almost always get breakfast. The breakfast is probably one of the best things about this place. It's cheap for a dinner also. The staff is nice and are always quick to get you what you need. It is pretty slow at night so sometimes you have to wait to be seated for a minute but its not bad. read more

Both me and my girlfriend ordered omelettes with home fries. Omelettes were OK, the fries had a funky taste to them. Probably old oil. Coffee sub par, weak. Place needs a major renovation, as everything inside smells old. read more

We've been coming here for years, and I have to say this was our worst visit to date. The kitchen staff somehow made me the wrong dish twice in a row, so it took almost an hour to get my cheeseburger. My husband and toddler ate without me and we waited another ten minutes after that for my food. I have no idea whether the burger was actually good or not because I was so hungry when it arrived that I practically inhaled it. Our waitress and the manager on duty did a great job of keeping us informed and happy and somehow managed to help us prevent full toddler meltdown from sitting for so long. I appreciate how well they handled the situation, but I hope that if we come back again there will be better cooks in the kitchen who know the difference between a pizza bagel and a pizza burger! read more

At Michaels with my husband ! Best service ever 3rd shift we love Cheryl ! She's such a pleasant server

I ordered a teriyaki club and the bread was burnt but I ordered a bacon cheeseburger afterwards and it was perfect but the service here isn't that great read more

Michaels' is an OK, quick, and easy stop for food. We live fairly close by. For the most part, the waitresses do chat a lot and sit and watch the flat screen tvs. We haven't had a bad experience in the 3+ years we have been coming here. We usually sit with the same waitress, and she is very friendly. If she is not there, we do not care who serves us, except for one particular waitress. I won't go into detail just for privacy reasons, but she would always get something in our order wrong and she wouldn't bother to ask the kitchen if she did not know the answer to your food question. More or less, she would tell you what you wanted to hear. You can only take food being wrong so many times... really, it was everytime we sat with her. Decent food, it's a diner. We keep going back. Haven't ever been sick from eating the food here and I am not a picky eater. I will stay away from certain foods just because they have gravy or contain a food I do not like. I have to say the food has improved with the changes they made to the building -- awnings, painting, a facelift if you will. Food quality has improved here read more

Ate at this place yesterday. The only reason I gave it 2 stars was because the salad bar was decent. That was the only thing good. Here is the bad and the ugly... The bad, the food! I had turkey dinner (potato filling, turkey, and corn). I know this place is a diner restaurant and I have eaten in diners many times. My dinner was THE WORST pile of slop I have ever had at a diner. Filling was decent, but turkey tasted gamey, and the whole plate was covered with gloppy gravy which which I would give a 3/10 on a taste scale. Corn was chewy, tough cow corn. Ate about 3 forkfuls and quit. Husband gave me some of his turkey club, and again turkey was dry and gamey. One bite of that was enough. My husband only atr some of his because he was hungry. Waitress saw my plate and asked if there was something wrong and I tiold her the food was terrible. My husband watched as the waitress took my plate to older female owner, and she shook her head no; I presume the waitress asked her if I could be compensated. At cash register a young man asked me if everything was alright and again I said the food was terrible. He took $3 off my bill. The ugly, the bathroom. Filthy! Never going back! If you want diner food, good to the Exeter Diner a few miles on the same road towards Mt. Penn. read more

Horrible!!!!!! Never wrote a review in my life. I had to write a bad review just for this just to warn people that this is the worst food I've ever had in my entire life and I am 44 years old!!! This makes a school cafeteria look like a five star restaurant. It's a shame considering how long this diner has been in this location that the food has decreased in quality so badly. read more

The food is great here, I never had a bad meal. The owners of this place are super friendly. The wait staff always isn't the best. Some of the waiters don't ask if I need refill on soda. read more

Recipe for Michael's tomato sauce 1lb mint, 2c tomato add garlic until gross... Who adds mint to italian tomato sauce? Complimented with a boiled prime rib, served in sweat juice. A1 could not drown the taste of wrong in my mouth. This place commits crimes against cultural recipes and food in general. read more

Breakfast Great! Lunch good. Dinner meh.... Chipped beef gravy on a waffle is tremendous, if you like that kind of thing. We have been several times and never waited for a table although food times vary depending upon how busy they are. Sunday breakfast is slow but I suspect as efficient as it could possibly be. Wait staff is excellent- with the exception of one waitress we refer to as the "Dinersaur". She's very nice, but very deaf and always messes up something.... So order loud!!! She's not a deterrent to eating here!!! read more

Just left after eating breakfast, it was the dirtiest place I've been in a long while. The creamer for my coffee was bad, the tv screen on our table hadn't been cleaned since that place opened it was freaking nasty. Never again read more

We had dinner at Michael's recently. I had the salad bar. The salad was OK; the dressing was pretty gross. I also tried the soup; it was cream of potato. I could not eat it - it tasted the way sweat socks smell. My husband had the salad bar and a burger. The burger looked worse than a fast food burger. He said it was pretty bad. We shared cheesecake and it was just OK. The place was grungy, also. We only went there because we were meeting friends. We were surprised that we didn't get sick. read more

My BFF and I went here for breakfast with a restaurant.com coupon worth $5. The owner was so concerned about the fact that she makes NO money on these coupons and tried explaining to us how she had to add $1.39 for my coffee because the waitress charged me the "special" amount for my entree. We couldn't use the coupon with a "special" discounted breakfast (where the coffee is free). So she added the $1.39 for the coffee and then used our coupon. But mind you, she did NOT make any money on this coupon. Are you serious? You couldn't just take the $5 off our bill??? It's always about money read more

Found hair in my food! The diner is so close by, but I was disgusted, so won't be returning!

Very good breakfast but very horrible dinners never eat here for dinner after I tried a couple times but the breakfast are very good

For a diner I think this place is pretty good and I worked in fancy restaurants for 10 years and from what I can tell it seems to be one of the better diners. And I'm always checking to see if things are clean because during service hrs it easy for the table and the floor to get dirty.. but if you go to a restaurant and the salt pepper and ketchup and the menu are dirty then you don't want to eat there. And every time I've been there it seemed pretty clean.. some servers there are good some are not that good and that's kind of random but to some of them I don't blame because most people don't tip especially at diners n that unexcusable because those people only make $2.83 an hour so their wage really depends on tips. Oftentimes servers do not even make minimum wage. So TIP 30 PERCENT... anyway I'd recommend this place for diner food.. like breakfast Burgers sandwiches that kind of stuff.. read more

Very poor service here. We had a waitress who just wasn't paying attention - and the restaurant wasn't busy at all, so no excuse. Went for a family New Year's Day breakfast. We ordered our drinks and my mother specifically asked for her tea not to be brought until the food came out. Waitress brought all the drinks right away, including the tea. The sausage was so salty, to the point it was almost inedible. I ordered the Garden Omelet with Provolone from the menu. I was brought an omelet with just provolone cheese in it. The rest of my family was done eating before my correct order was brought out. The omelet was also lacking the mushrooms and broccoli that were supposed to be in it. First time here and it will be the last. They need to hire better help. I heard from a couple people at work that the place was good, but the poor online reviews are accurate. There are much better options in the area. read more

The lady hostess are very lovely and welcoming, they always have a bright simile, and they are very polite. The foreign language of the mangers is not polite in a American atmosphere. The soup in the salad bar was the best I ever had plus I loved the chicken- nouky. Overall, the restaurant is great and one of the best in Berks county. Love this diner becuase of the great staff and great soup ! I recommend this diner to everyone in Berks county. read more

Great food and great service . The salad bar is always fresh with hearty homemade soups . I recommend this place .

I would not recommend this diner to anyone. If I could rate this place with a big fat '0' I would! My younger brother was here visiting from New Hampshire, and it was Thanksgiving evening. We had already had our holiday meal earlier in the day, so we just wanted something light to eat. So, I suggested we go to Michael's. When I first moved here 12 years ago, it was a different owner, but the food wasn't half bad. So, I thought we'd try it under the new management. Bad, bad choice!! Right away I noticed on the front door, there was a small handwritten sign. I can't tell you what it said, because I was too busy looking at the bug that was dead in between the sign and the glass door. Not sure if it was a fly or what it was, except that it was gross, and not very appealing for someone that's about to eat. Then, just as you walk in the door, there sits the salad bar. In my opinion, I think having it sit right there by the door isn't very sanitary, with the door opening and closing all day and night long. All I could think of was how many people have stood around or near it waiting to be seated, possibly coughing, or sneezing all over the place. And little kids touching, or grabbing some of the utensils, or the food. It's just not a good location period! The food on it looked horrid! I knew my meal was going to include a salad, but I also knew that I was going to pass on it. We sat down in one of the booths, and it made me feel like I needed a booster seat. So, we moved to one of the tables instead. On the way to the tables, I couldn't help but notice all of the gumball/toy machines on my right. I thought that was odd having them there inside the restaurant, and they looked really old, as well as the stuff inside of them. When we sat down, the first thing I noticed was that my silver ware was very dirty. Almost as if it never got picked up from the last person that ate at this table. Between the bug on the door, the nasty salad bar, and then the dirty silverware, I had already begun to lose my appetite. Not to mention the strange smell that seemed to linger in the air the whole time we were there. So, the menu says Haddock or Cod (can't recall which one), and then there also was just a "fish" meal. I love Cod, so I went ahead with that, and got some rice pilaf for my side. My brother ordered a cheeseburger, and fries. Well, I don't have any clue what my meal was. It certainly wasn't Cod! It had a real strange flavor, which I'm guessing is an India type seasoning, and as for the rice, well that tasted just like the fish! My brother's burger was flat and dry. He said the fries were okay, but the burger, not so much. I gave him a taste of my fish, and he didn't know what it was either. We went straight back to my house, and I brushed my teeth, flossed, and gargled, but there was nothing that would get rid of that taste in my mouth for the rest of the night! And, every time I burped, it was NASTY! I cannot believe this place is still in business!! Not much else in town open in the evening unless you go to McDonald's (no thanks!) or one of the many pizza places. But, being a holiday, nothing was open anyways. Pretty sad....not to mention embarrassing to have subjected my brother to this place they dare advertise as a restaurant! read more

I live in stow I stoped at Michaels for the first Time for dinner that offers free glass wine with dinner that was nice and food came out fast and beautiful and that have the biggest salad bar I ever seen read more

I went to this restaurant this past Saturday with a few of my friends for breakfast. There was about 10 of us at the table. I ordered my food and when I received it, it was not what I expected. I ordered 2 pancakes (I did get them) and home fries well done with fried onions. the home fries were not well done and the onions were raw. On top of that there was an eyebrow lash in it. I informed the waiter after she gave me by bill. She was not happy that I asked for it to be removed from the bill. I was not hungry after I found hair in my food. The waitress stated that if I didn't want to pay for something the manager would need to remove it. I said "ok no problem." I went up and informed the cashier what happened and asked if the manager would take off the home fries due to the eyebrow lash being in there. He thought I was lying and that I wanted free food. I had to have witnesses state that they saw the same thing as me. Needless to say after some arguing he took it off. I will not be going back there. read more

Been eating here since i was a child and would never even think of going somewhere else. Food is wonderful and portions are big. The atmosphere is great and the service is awesome. Chicken parm is to die for and the creamed chipped beef i could eat everyday for breakfast. Love this place. read more