So we just love going to Old type diners and grabbing breakfast. Although not important to the review. I just came from Lahey hospital where I had a procedure done... So I didn't bring my wallet but I had my wife so everything should be okay. I was a little groggy from the procedure but we sat down and split an eggs benedict cooked perfectly and the French toast. Served up quickly with a smile. We talked to the people to our left and right and enjoyed our breakfast and that's when the bill came. Very reasonable in price. I handed it to my wife and she says well I didn't bring my pocketbook. You always have your wallet. I looked at her and said I didn't bring my wallet because I didn't want to leave it in the hospital. We said uh oh. This has never happened to us before so we asked what I think is the owner and explained our situation. She just looked at us and said never mind breakfast is on me. Who does that? Anyway, I grabbed the bill and we left laughing about our stupidity. On the way home grab day. Thank you card at CVS and wrote a check out and sent it to the diner. I never thought of the diner again until I saw an advertisement for it and said I have to go give it a review. Not only is it great food, not only is it great service, not only is it a wonderful retro place, but the owner is one of a kind. By the way, I paid much more than the bill with a little note. That said, please pay it forward. Love love love this place and haven't back since. read more

Excellent food; excellent service; reasonably priced. We always stop here when we are in the neighborhood.

Really delicious food, hot coffee and AMAZING service!! Plus it's very cute inside with classic diner vibes read more

Portside Diner - boston cream french toast and an omelette - Diners Near Me - Danvers, Massachusetts

Walked into the dinner and it was absolutely amazing with pictures of the old neighborhood old booths and a old breakfast bar nice yester years. The waitress was very friendly and nice with a smile it's good to see service like that she took my order 2 eggs over easy and bacon with wheat toast and it was delicious the eggs were perfect bacon cooked just perfect toast was good as well and a glass of OJ to wash it down everything was outstanding . read more

See all

Great breakfast!! We got eggs, bacon, toast and home fries. And pumpkin pancakes. All was great. Service was great - super nice. Diner was beautiful. read more

Great diner. Nice service. Food was as expected of better. It's a real diner car diner. Go there.

Server (Jessica I believe) was great! Had 4 guys with me for breakfast and aren't from the area and she was fantastic!! read more

Portside Diner - Diners Near Me - Danvers, Massachusetts

I love this place but disappointed that on my last visit my server asked if I wanted change as I paid my check with a $20 bill. My total was only a little over $10 which perhaps she didn't realize initially. However a server should ALWAYS bring change without asking rather than putting customer on the spot like that. I automatically reduce tip if that happens. read more

Portside Diner - Diners Near Me - Danvers, Massachusetts

See all

Simple and delicious. Very fast service and the waitress was attentive and nice, even though she was busy!

Happy to say that we have found our new favorite breakfast spot in town! After Chuck's closed, we were at a loss as to where to find a good (and cheap) breakfast on the weekends. After hearing some rumblings about Portside, we decided to try it for ourselves. I am so glad we did! They have your typical diner favorites on the menu, plenty of coffee, and phenomenal service. Not to mention that the whole experience is eating in the diner car. It is the so nostalgic and fun - there's nothing to dislike about it. We usually go for omelets and homefries, but I eye the pancakes every time they come out. I am going to have to get a stack for myself next time. Definitely head to Portside for weekend breakfast - you can't go wrong! read more

Really cute building and good food. It was originally the Worcester Lunch Car #813, "known as Cape Ann Grill, first started operating in Gloucester in 1948. In 1959 it was moved to Danvers and then became Portside Diner." The original features made it feel like we were sitting in a movie set. It was fun to imagine it was actually 1948. It's a family-owned business, on its second generation, which is always great to support. I had the Greek omelet, and it wasn't overdone like most omelets seem to be these days, which I appreciated. One of the specials of the day was Boston Crème waffles; it sounded amazing, but I was in the mood for eggs. Between the menu and the specials, there were 7 kinds of Eggs Benedict! My companion had the classic version, and enjoyed it. The coffee cake looked homemade and really good, but there just wasn't any room for it after the omelet. The service was very good. We sat at the counter (all of the built-in wooden booths were occupied) but that put us directly across from the coffee maker so my cup was never empty. I would definitely go here again. Also, it's close to the highway so it's a convenient stop on a journey north of Boston. read more

The Diner was very neat. Really cool and very historical. The service was wonderful. The lady was very nice and genuine. The food was excellent as Diners go. What a treat to have here in Danvers, such a great atmosphere. read more

Great service, great breakfast, great spot. My friend and I met up for a late breakfast and we had a great experience. The server was very attentive and took great care to adjust the umbrella to block the sun. She also preemptively brought out a second iced coffee when I was running low. I ordered the Eggs Florentine which was delicious. It came with home fries that I wish were a bit more cooked/ crispy. That's really my only complaint. The location has ample parking and is right off 128. I'd go back for breakfast for sure! read more

See all

The Portside Diner is EXACTLY what a diner should be: great food, excellent atmosphere, and a fantastic staff. My wife and I were in the area for a wedding and were looking for a place for breakfast the day after. We opened Yelp and based on the reviews, decided to give it a try. Amazing! I had the Eggs Benedict Florentine (sooooo good) and my wife had eggs over easy, ham, and toast. My wife admits she is super picky about how her eggs and toast are done (she likes to dip her toast in the runny egg yolk) and she reported that everything was perfect. Highly recommend and will definitely will make the effort to try lunch or dinner at some point, even though we live an hour away. I know it will be worth the effort! read more

Love love love this place. Good prices, great attentive service. Specials look good and breakfast was great. I'd be a regular if I lived close by. read more

The burger was amazing, taste like all American burgers should taste. Kitchen and Customer service was great. The breakfast smelled delicious. I'm very glad to work 6 minutes away from y'all. Can't wait to to get some breakfast.Thank you. read more

Portside Diner - Cheeseburger was 100% American - Diners Near Me - Danvers, Massachusetts

Awesome place ! Good old fashioned diner, great food! Great Staff , a must try! Only open until 2pm but worth the trip thank you! read more

Portside Diner - Portside Diner! - Diners Near Me - Danvers, Massachusetts

See all

Very good breakfast with all the fixings. The Biscuits and gravy are to die for! I highly recommend it. read more

Portside Diner - Diners Near Me - Danvers, Massachusetts

Great hometown feel and flavor! Very nostalgic and true boxcar diner atmosphere. A+++

I LOVE this place! I wanted to visit this place because of the film 'Hubie Halloween'. This place blew me away. The family-like atmosphere with frequent guests was incredibly heartwarming. We tried the Athenian omelet and their chocolate chip and banana pancakes. The food was delicious. If we're ever in Massachusetts again, we will be back! read more

See all

Welcome to the next generations version of this nostalgic diner. Fresh look and great HOMESTYLE food. Menu has great daily "specials" that will make your mouth water #support local. Family owned for over 40 years! Open for Breakfast and Lunch Mon-Fri 7am-2pm Sundays Breakfast only 7am-1pm read more

Portside Diner - Out of this world "FISH TACOS"! (all fresh homemade ingredients) avail. Fri and Sat - Diners Near Me - Danvers, Massachusetts

Excellent food and service. My brother-in-law and I stopped in when my sister was having a procedure done at the local hospital. We would highly recommend it again! read more

We were greeted with great service and a smile. The food and recommendation was perfect. The coffee was hot and delicious. Highly recommend this diner. read more

I think that most people above the age of 50 feel nostalgic when they eat at a diner. I find that it brings back memories of years gone by and the Portside seems to do exactly that especially when you realize the the prices on the menu are current and not from 15 years ago. I have yet to be disappointed by the quality and taste of any of the food that has been served o me by the really nice people who work there. Need I say more? read more

Outstanding diner! Clean, great service, good food. We sat and ordered and the food was served within 5 minutes. Coffee was good. Servers were really friendly and nice. Prices were very reasonable. $23 for 2 breakfasts - 3 egg omelette, one scrambled egg, toast, bagel, and home fries with coffees. read more

I stumbled upon this place when looking for another local diner. It's got that old diner feel and it's located in an old lunch car that used to be in Worcester many decades ago. It's a family-run establishment and the food is absolutely delicious. They're of Greek descent, so the menu has a tasty Greek flair. Today I had the Athena Omelet with egg whites -- yum! I've never had bad food here and the coffee is fantastic. I don't get a super warm feeling from the waitresses here (not bad either but maybe indifferent) but everything else is perfect, so I'll continue to grab a breakfast bite when I can from Portside diner. read more

The tastiest lightest French toast ever! Great little place in an old school diner car. Love love love the place. Very very clean! No sticky syrup containers or grimy salt shakers here! The fried eggs come out like a picture in a magazine. Perfect! No matter over easy, over medium, etc. Just perfect! A huge variety of breakfast meats. Greek sausage. Who would've known? I'm new to the area living in Beverly but now that I found this place I'll be back at least once a week for sure. The service was awesome. Nicki was my waitress and quick to please. She checked in on my quite a few times and just had this pleasant aura about her. I like sitting at the counter so I can feel a part of the community and she made me feel right at home. Please come and support this place. We need to be sure that places like this stay around. A great hometown, friendly, clean, place for breakfast and lunch. Just wish they were open for dinner. This is what I was missing from my CT home. A local diner to call my own. Happy I found it! read more

Went for a Sunday breakfast. First time, last time. I like to try different diners and I go for the hash to compare to other diners. I got the hash omelet. I just wanted hash and eggs but they don't offer home fries on menu unless you get the omelet?! Hash was mediocre at best, cheese toooooo salty, egg so thin you didn't taste any eggs? How do they make it so thin it would stay in form of an omelette??..homefries, taste was good, spice nice not salty, but hardly none on my plate??? Didappointing. Who doesn't give a decent serving of homefries in a breakfast? Take your mom if you want more homefries so you can eat hers off her plate. OR order a side order for almost $3! Cause they are cheap on serving. Price average, seating normal wait. Server ok. Salem Diner still best hash yet. They also have gluten free toast. Coffee? Lol...get bigger cups will ya? I drank 3 cups to make about one decent mug full. Coffee gets cold cause it's too small a cup once you add cream. And it's annoying to keep asking for a refill. Looks like a diner, feels like a diner, Mediocre food, cheap serving, price ok, coffee cup tiny and hash eh.....I probably wouldn't return.. read more

See all

As a diner, one has expectations regarding food. Get the basics straight. Beyond that, if they offer and execute well beyond the standard stuff, that's even better! Then you really want the owners to care about the design and upkeep on these architectural beauties. The current owners of this mid-'40s gem really keep this place close to immaculate. The floor tiles, the extensive wood treatments, the metal work - you want them all honored as though they believe that they are custodians of a museum piece, and these owners do. You could practically eat off of what looks like the original floor tiles. The round stools at the counter are well kept and fairly shiny. A waitress told me that once per week they clean all of the blinds. They get the standard diner food stuff down very well. Is it THE best diner food ever? Well, the Rosebud in Davis Square, Somerville, may be the real standard for everyone else. But the owners at the Portside really try hard with a varied menu above and beyond the standard. For example, while visiting today, they had apple-cinnamon brioche french toast as a special. This may be the best vintage diner on the North Shore, certainly in the Salem area. I know you can venture to Rowley to the Agawam, but I think the food is better here. Service is very friendly, and they take credit cards. I rate the Portside Diner highly in my book. read more

I recently moved to Danvers and as someone who loves breakfast and diners, being down the street from the Portside felt like Christmas! (coincidently it was Christmas.) Unfortunately this was the only time I'll be celebrating at this place. (***note, I went on new year's eve morning, not actually on Christmas) The place wasn't that crowded and I was able to sit at a dirty countertop right when I came in (a plus for quick seating). Service was terrible. The waiter took forever to clean off where we were sitting, then longer to take our order (and didn't even come up and ask for drinks etc. first) Clearly he was someone that had absolutely no interest in being at work that day and it showed. He didn't even attempt to be personable or someone you would want to talk to at all, he was slow with taking our order, was slow with getting our drinks, and we never actually got any refills (or even had it offered) The menu was basic, nothing too exciting, but the actual food? bleh. Breakfast is one of those things that should be really hard to screw up but the Portside had that on lockdown. The portion size of my french toast and kielbasa was disappointing to say the least. When you pay an extra 2 dollars for a side of kielbasa I expect more than 5-6 thin slices. The french toast had a nice crunch to it and that was about it. It had no flavor at all until I covered it syrup and if i didn't know any better I would have thought I was eating plain white toast. Homefries were unacceptable for a diner or any breakfast place. I wasn't sure what they were trying to be, it was half mashed potatoes, half undercooked hard-to-eat potato chunks, and the whole thing was lukewarm and completley flavorless. I SAW that there was in fact seasoning there, but you sure as hell couldn't taste it. After I finished eating I had to hunt down my waiter after twiddling my thumbs for 15 minutes waiting for my check (which was 20 dollars for 2 people, not bad) This is probably one of those local favorites among Danvers residents but the terrible service and food left a bad impression for a first timer. Next time I want local breakfast I'll be sure to pass this place on by and head to the Dunkin' Donuts down the street. read more

I don't know why I do it. Nor does my wife know why we do it. You WANT so badly for this place to start getting better. It's a cool old diner. How can you mess this up? After today I think I know the 3 things you need to own a successful diner - 1. You have to enjoy being in the food service industry. 2. You have to enjoy working with your family, or get rid of them and stop it. 3. It helps if you like people. Squiggly bacon, cold hash browns. Ugly. Great TOAST. It's a shame to see a cool old building like this go down hill. They don't seem to want to feed people, to paint the building, or to clean it either. I'd continue to elaborate, but My stomach feels like I ate a squirrel.... We went here because there was no line and no full lot like there was at daily harvest. Go figure. read more

Definitely a Diner vibe and I loved it! Comfortable parking. Great energy from our server. Had the simple two egg with bacon meal. Nice fresh whole piece, crispy bacon Delicious! Coffee was a lil watery at one point I questioned if I got tea instead. And yes I see the caked on dust on the ceiling fans as well. Yes I would return. read more

Portside Diner - Breakfast open at 6am - Diners Near Me - Danvers, Massachusetts

Excellent diner food. Staff was very good. She apologized for a wait, but honestly, there was no wait so they definitely make sure their service is top notch. The food was good. read more

They have the best EVERYTHING! My best friend and I always head down there, a few times a month. It becomes very busy and it's a little cramped in there, so grab a booth or seat before the bus boys have a chance to clean the table up. I have never had a terrible experience there-the food is always consistently delicious. I say just go and eat. No questions asked. read more

Went in on a Sunday morning and the parking lot was packed so we assumed there would be a long wait. When we went in however a table had just opened up. Service was fast & friendly and food came out quickly. I got a spinach and feta omelet with egg whites- came with homefries and toast, I got wheat with no butter. When it came out my order was correct which was a pleasant surprise because most places always forget and butter the toast. The omelet was delicious but the homefries were reminiscent of the sliced potatoes you can get in a can. Prices were fair. For 2 filling meals it was only $19, not bad. Overall food, service and prices were all good so I will be back for lunch or dinner soon. read more

I've driven by this diner so many times. Well, last Saturday, my friend and I set foot into this time machine. We sat ourselves on the counter stools and I took in the environment. In front of me was a picture frame of the husband and wife team that runs this time capsule. Directly above me was a glass case menu board showing the specials. Upon closer inspection, I found laser printed paper menus taped onto the board. They cheated!! The waitress said it was just too time consuming to use the block letters. I can understand, but those laser printed menus sure look out of place. I asked if every piece of hardware is original and she said they were. "How about the silverware," I asked. To which she replied, "Oh, no". My friend chimed in, "I wouldn't eat with them". I asked the waitress when the diner first opened its doors. She thought for a moment and blurted out 1948. Let's see... that's the year when U.S. President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, ending racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces. It was also the year when Brandeis University was founded. It was beginning to get busy around 8:15am. My order of scrambled eggs, potatoes and toast was delicious. The waitress was very pleasant. I believe the family is from Albania. I learned that the car was built by the Worcester Lunch Car Company, Number 813. It was built as the Cape Ann Diner and sent to Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1948. It later moved to its current location in Danvers, Massachusetts and renamed the Portside Diner (Elizabeth Thomsen, Flickr) Verdict: If you're into diners and nostalgia, come up with a friend and enjoy a hearty breakfast. Make sure you bring a good appetite and a camera. Afterward, walk down the street to John George Park; there's a 1 mile walk loop and a playground for kids. read more

Service can't be beat, great place for a quick breakfast, with fresh food. Bar stools for more of a diner feel it's great

Great service & food all around. The omelets are delicious, as well as the kielbasa. The staff here is very prompt and friendly, family run so they have a great relationship with the local residents who come here alot. FUN FACT: An original Worcester Lunch Car Company diner, it was originally sent to Gloucester as the Cape Ann Grill! read more

While very quiet for a Saturday 11am Diner, the staff was nice enough, tired I'd go with. The menu is pretty standard fare, I did not see food go by as it was so empty. We waited to order until 11am. All 7 minutes so we could order lunch. I guess this rule makes sense, not. Tuna club good, salad with turkey tips really tasty. I'd try breakfast here for sure next time. read more

Have only been here once, but it was great. Our local sit-down breakfast/brunch place was recently converted to a pizza-counter, so we looked online for a new breakfast venue. Service was prompt and friendly, food was well-executed diner fare. When the ice in my iced coffee had melted, i was offered more ice. That's a first for me. read more