SUNRISE RE-VISITED AFTER A FIVE YEAR HIATUS--BETTER THAN EVER Okay, so I throw these superlatives out there, and the review gets filtered, they think I'm a shill. Be assured, just a fan, advocate. In my prior review, I was more like a ombudsman defending what I believed was unfair criticism of the Sunrise. Today I write to sing its praises. April 17, 2012, 14:00 hours, I walk in for the 1st time since 2007 (I was out of the area). In that time, food prices have increased everywhere.. Virtually every eating estab has been forced to pass it on. The Sunrise, miraculousy, has turned back time and just about held their prices. If you don't read anything else I write here, just read this paragraph. There is NO diner within a ten mile radius, that comes even close, to offering the unparalleled value of the Sunrise. No challenge. In neighboring towns, your choices are: University Diner, Mark Twain, Huck Finn and Plaza 22 in Union and the Tropicana in Elizabeth. They/re not cheap. Neighborhoring town of Cranford, I won't even mention, it's like another world.. Now, for the specifics. Lunch. Everything listed here is included. You get to choose from (4) soups: lentil, greek lemon, tomato, chicken noodle. The lunch includes a trip to the salad bar. The salad bar has chopped liver. Two dinner rolls. So by the time you've had your soup, salad and potentially two chopped liver sandwiches, there's not much room left over. You're practically full. Then they brought out the entree I selected. R U ready? Whole wheat penne (superior to semolina in nutrition--sorry, had to throw that in), perfectly prepared (the technique for cooking whole-grain pasta differs from regular pasta-most places screw it up), with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, strips of boneless filet chicken and seasoned in a herbed olive oil dressing. Sadly, I wasn't prepared to take a photo and upload it here. The portion has to be seen to be believed, in this huge bowl. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Could not finish it. Then Pat, my lovely waitress, came over and asked me what I wanted for.....dessert! The damage: for all the above.....$8.95. No, that's not a typo. Eight dollars and ninety-five cents. With drink and tax, the bill was $11.18. I don't know how they do it, nor what else they could do outside of giving it away. There is no other diner making this effort to give its customers outstanding value. On my way out, I saw a hung sign for their breakfast special. 2 eggs, home fries and toast for $3.50. Go find it elsewhere. You can't. Is there a downside to the Sunrise, an achilles heel, a weak link? As I alluded to in my previous review, its not the Taj Mahal. But again, this is an asset. Other area diners have pumped big dollars into renovation. Makes a big splash when you enter, but you get the food and the bill...big letdown. It bears repeating..the Sunrise has never tried to be something its not. Just an area diner doing its damnest to serve the best food for the money. On my visit, the owner was making the rounds, supervising the staff , especially on cleaning. If the public truly grasped the value here, there would be lines outside the door. Let's hope so. They're deserving of it. If I had to wait to get in, I'd be the happiest person in the world. Bravo to the Sunrise. read more

Why is that guy nick called a manager? All he does is park his butt & play on his phone. The food is horrible & the service is worse. DO NOT go there. read more

This place really took a turn for the worst. The one so-called manager is always playing on his phone & very unattentive & the hostess has an attitude & needs to get off her high horse. nobody there speaks English & I can't understand what they are saying. obviously they don't understand me either because they messed up my order & was rude to me when I told them it was wrong. The so-called manager didn't do anything & kept playing on his phone. They obviously don't know how to run a business. I definitely am not coming back & wouldn't recommend this place. you get better service at the McDonald's across the street! read more

I stopped by one time for coffee and a piece of pie, killing time between appointments. Service was friendly but somewhat sloppy. Place was nice enough but not really up to date. Decent coffee, poor lemon meringue pie. The place did not impress -next time I will go across the street to McDonalds. read more

It seems like the Sunrise Diner has been rapidly declining for the past 10 years. It's so bad that I won't even consider it as an option when I'm drunk on Friday night. I hate to give bad reviews to local businesses but this time it's definitely warranted. read more

I used to go to Sunrise at least once a month when we would meet my aunt for breakfast or brunch until Super Storm Sandy. Sunrise was the first diner to get their power back. My roomie and I were among the first to get on line. Getting in and out of booths hurts her back and my knees (I use a cane) so we requested a table. We stood there for over an hr. while watching the hostess sit down groups of four or more at tables. When we saw a table of four getting ready to leave, we asked the hostess if we could have that table since we have been "next in line" for over an hr. She said no - that we had to wait for the two seat table. We told her we were willing to share the table with another couple behind us waiting just as long and again was told no. We finally had our fill of not being seated and told the hostess we were leaving and won't ever be back and haven't since. Any positives about their food went out the window that day with the way they treated us and the guests behind me who were in parties of two. read more

Ordered food tonight forgot our soup, forgot the onions on my burger and the food was cold!!! Order from this place a lot every time something wrong with the order the food is OK though !!!!! When they read me back my order they soup was on the list but never got it !!!!!! read more

One of my favorite place to eat, the crew is attentive. Prices are reasonable. And food is delicious, penne vodka with shrimp is exquisite, and the hot buffalo wings are the best juice. Ps ask for Oscar. read more

Never been to this diner before but it's got great reviews and the pictures of food look great! Have to stop in soon!

My wife and I love this place. Not sure why it's taken me so long to write a review. We've been coming here since my son was 3 months old in 2017 at least once or twice a month for breakfast. Staff is always great and the food is always delicious. My son loves their pancakes and always asks to come here. My wife and I have, more recently, begun to try other breakfast meals but the 2 eggs, bacon, and hash browns call us every time. The tropical waffle is also amazing. Nice family ambiance and we always feel welcome. Although we moved from the area, this is still our diner of choice for breakfast. read more

We go here often, as they have the best veggie burger around. Nice waiters, salad bar, and they give you pounds of spaghetti!

The service sucks!!!! You order a large water and they bring you a large juice.. then they don't want to take it off the BILL!!! Go somewhere else!!! UNLESS you like to give money away!!! read more

sure hopes the management I tried to call earlier and once again the hostess karie was extremely rude and unprofessional!!! how a business allows this woman to be in management is unreal. She is very sloppy and rude to the employees. Went to eat was very slow, makes the girls stand when there is nothing to do but she can be on her cell phone sitting down and eating surprised they still have a staff read more

I came here for dinner with a friend. Just to say, it was packed at 6:30PM but completely empty at 8:30PM. I think sunrise is a very local, older crowd diner. They have a open salad bar, which wasn't bad at all - but it was already ravaged by the early bird crowd. The dinner selection (which comes with soup, salad, entree, and dessert) is pretty extensive. $15 looked like the average price of the dinner selection. Nothing special. Nothing to really frown upon. It wasn't the greatest diner meal ... It was alright. I think they have a ridiculous breakfast special. ($3.50) I think? read more

I come here quite often. Bf and I love it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The waiters basically know us and the one knows our order so that is always nice. She knows to split up one order because we like to share. Service is typically great and so are the prices. Chicken salad pita is delicious! read more

Love sunrise! They deliver, which is awesome. You can't beat the price and it's a nice change when ordering in to have the option other than italian or chinese.. The italian panini is the bomb! Soups are always good, I always get the chicken rice or noodle.. Love the waffle fries and the people are really nice. Especially the woman, I think her name is Maria? She runs the front when she is there, not a typical waitress. So friendly and remembers people, super nice lady! The mexican omelette is the bomb.com I get it whenever I have breakfast there. All around an awesome diner read more

We come here when we don't want to cook and never had a problem. Good food and the people that work there are always smiling and helpful.

Sadly, this place lacks any reason to return. Food is bland...mediocre at best. Nothing has a kick or zest or special touch. It doesn't do Jersey diners any justice. Hope their managment or 'chef' reads this and rethinks things. read more

This is a no-frills diner with decent food. What makes this place is the waiters/waitresses. They are just so nice, and make you feel welcome each time you come. It's no wonder this is always a first choice for us when we're in the mood for a mid-week dinner or Sunday morning breakfast. 5 stars for the staff. 3 for the food and atmosphere. Recommended. read more

They're okay for breakfast, but the rest of the food is not that good, especially the buffet.

We moved to the area about a year ago and have eaten here maybe a dozen time. I love this place. In fact, the only reason it doesn't get 5 starts is because the deserts are not good....at all (and I've tried quite a few) . But the food is great....they don't try to be something they are not...they are a diner, and not a 5 star restaurant you get home style food, and allot of it, at great prices. Ordering from the dinner specials menu you get, soup, salad bar, bread, dinner, and a small desert (pudding or a scoop of ice cream. The dinners come with sides like mashed turnips, collard greens etc....where else do you get that stuff...its great. the staff is always very friendly, and as diners should be service is quick. read more

Unfortunately, I can't give more than 1 star while they still have this awful and rude waiter named Nando. He refuses to serve fresh coffee to anyone, but his friends. Told me to move my arm this morning and refused to add my sausage to my breakfast plate. He also is very nervous when he thinks someone is taking his picture. I've been coming here since around 1975 when this place was built, I rode my bike in the dining room when it was still under construction. I never seen anything like it. Too bad Jacob won't correct the problem. read more

ive been to this diner plenty of times since it's opened. the food is pretty decent but i will not return due to the staff and servers. it seems like a family owned business and the girls (who seem to be sisters because they look very similar to each other) are incredibly rude . they are not friendly at all and can careless about serving customers. the 2 or 3 girls that i received as my waitresses really ruined my experience here . it would be such a nice place to eat at, especially since there's not much in jackson, but those girls really ruined it . they need to fix the attitude problem and start treating people nicely! read more

their portions are amazing especially for the price! and their staff are very polite!! we usually go when they have the early bird special from 3 to 5 PM and the salad bar is great. Especially that they have the salad bar all day too. read more

I think this place has changed owners recently, but I'm not too sure. If it has, then this review may be a bit out of date. Last time I was here was about 6 months ago. Just awful. We decided to try the special of a meal + salad bar + dessert for something like $10. Salad bar was not impressive (not that I expected it, it's a diner). The meal was disgusting. I was hungry, so I managed to get about 4 bites in. But it was clearly soaked in sauce to try to hide the low quality underneath. The other dish was just as bad. We left without getting our desserts. We haven't been back since. Maybe it's changed. It's too late for us though. We always joke that we're starving, but not hungry enough to go back here. read more

Not too great. The service was really crappy and the food didn't deliver. I would recommend going to another before going to this one

Over the last two to three years this place has been getting consistently worse. The place feels dingy and dirty. The glassware and dinnerware is cheap. The food has been going downhill. They don't even have real ketchup on the table. It's some Mexican off brand ketchup. Good grief. Stay away. read more

The sunrise is a diner. It's a very nice diner. The food is generally good, and the service is fine. They do everything about as well as you'd expect a local diner to do. They have good burgers, breakfast, and sandwiches. Over time I've gone to learn not to stray from these offerings, though. It would seem that they do best with the old standbys. read more

Best diner ever. The chicken salad is my favorite!! The cheesecakes are excellent and moist.

This a place I have going to off and on for years. I always found the staff very friendly. I always order take out. For the past two times I've been there I found the staff unattentive unorganized. Reason for this I sat for five minutes before anyone even noticed that I hadn't been served. And that's because I said is anybody taking orders here. The response I got I thought he was what she was taking care of you no one came to find out. Secondly I ordered three eggs with cheese, no potatoes whole wheat toast with orange marmalade. What I got was scrambled eggs with cheese landed on top of it beef bacon which is what I wanted potatoes no toast. When I spoke to the that bought the food out he said I'm sorry I didn't have time to wait since I had been there almost 20 minutes. This is the second time I found their service unsatisfactory. Apparently the people that I'm used to dealing with or being here are no longer there and there's a new crew someone needs to come observe their service so you don't get reports like this for the price of $10.40 period for three eggs some cheese and some beef bacon. That along with bad service and it wasn't busy read more

Much better that jacob's back. Real pork is back on the menu. I walked out on the other owner when he served me a Cuban sandwich w turkey. Don't force ppl to eat as u do.if I wish to eat pork nobody is going to tell me otherwise! read more

Great place to eat. Great prices and good quality food. Service is ehh ok but it is what it is. I come it with my wife very often.

Just ordered from there for delivery for the first time. We ordered two wraps and a sandwich. The guy that took my order said it comes with soup and would be delivered 30-40 minutes. An hour later with no food I called back and spoke with some woman who said they had no such order. She asked me if I was sure I called there. I told her yes, I just hit redial, so whoever I called just got recalled. I wound up scrapping my order as it is already 9 pm and wasted an hour waiting for a delivery we were never going to get. Should you opt for delivery, get a name, keep tabs on the time and good luck! read more

My boyfriend and I came here for brunch. I always pass this diner on my way to Kean and figured to give it a try. I have never been there before, but my boyfriend has and said food was always good. We were warmly greeted, and seated quickly. There were only a couple booths and tables left because they were so busy, so we got lucky. Our waitress was very kind, as was everyone else. I ordered the eggs Benedict and my boyfriend ordered two sunny side up eggs, with Taylor ham, home fries, and rye toast. He ate everything off his plate so you know that there are no complaints from him. My eggs Benedict was perfect! The English muffins my eggs and Canadian bacon were on were nice and fluffy and large - I felt like I was eating a cloud. The hollandaise sauce was just perfect. One of the best eggs Benedict I have ever had. I will definitely be back in the future and perhaps grab some breakfast before heading to the University. Thanks for a great brunch at a reasonable price! read more

We went here for breakfast this morning and this place is a lost zoo. Manager yelling at hostess about to go orders and not worrying about seating the cliental that is waiting. Servers telling people to sit anywhere never seen anything like it. There are no substitutions even if you are willing to pay the difference. Food has little to no taste and isn't hot at all. WORST COFFEE eve taste old and burnt. and no cappuccino. Thought I would speak to hostess Carrie well this woman has an attitude that shouldn't be employed in any business forget with the public!! desserts look like from 3 weeks ago. Good luck as they will deff need it!! read more

It gave my mother AND I food poisoning (caught it from her)....she had it severe and I had to call 911 (couldn't stop throwing up, sore, couldn't move)...she ended up in the hospital and eventually it caught on to me... we were in the ER from like 9 pm to 7 am.... NEVER will we be eating here again! read more

Don't know how there are so little reviews. Came here with my family on a Saturday. Food was great for a Diner and very large portions. Stuffed mushrooms were amazing! read more

Just happened to drive by this diner with kids. Very friendly service and food was really good. What set this apart was an awesome little salad bar.. whenever I'm the area will absolutely stop in again read more

I've been going to this diner for around a year and a half now, and I'm very surprised it has such a low rating. The ingredients are fresh and the staff knows how to cook - well. They not only know how to season properly, but the right temperatures to use for different ingredients. Some of my favorites are: Veal Parm (the veal is super thin, but somehow still juicy and tender, served up with light, tender homemade rolls on a pile of spaghetti - it's easily shared or eaten over at least 2 meals); spinach salad w/ grilled shrimp (the baby greens are always fresh & beautiful & the shrimp is always savory, warm, and tender); honey roasted chicken salad (the chicken is tender & juicy & they lay it warm over the top of the cheese on the salad - can't be beat); cheeseburger & fries (burger is always a juicy medium rare, just the way I order it); eggs benedict (although I do not order it often because the portions are huge & poached eggs don't keep - but I have to say that they know how to poach a perfect egg!) I could go on & on. The staff is also super friendly. Beware the "specials" unless you are particularly hungry - you get soup, salad bar, huge entree, and dessert...I usually don't opt for that at lunchtime. I do wish the portions were a bit smaller, but they don't mind giving you a take-out box. read more

It's good to have a diner that delivers. They're always really friendly and the food is always good. This place is always a great idea! Only thing is that I wish they were open later. read more