Really not trying to give it one star, But what the hell. Had Breakfast Saturday morning,We both had omelette's. Not WORTH 11$ each. No jelly's pack's sitting on the table's, waitress didn't even bother asking if we wanted any for are toast. Sitting in the window, and after we orderd, you look down along the window, im looking at dead flies up and down the window sill. I live in the city and we don't even charge 11$ for omelette. Would never go there again. OVER PRICED FOR FOOD WITH NO FLAVOR AT ALL. read more

This is a GREAT place for lunch & breakfast. The healthy options are a welcome change from the normal high-calorie fare found @ the beach, and the prices are reasonable. The service was friendly & fast - not sure what others were complaining about .... maybe that was "old news" as we've been there twice in three days & not been disappointed. read more

We went there for dinner tonight with two little ones. Many families were there so I would say it is very kid friendly. My pancakes were delicious - so many, I couldn't eat them all. Service was great. Loved it! read more

My husband and I stopped by for breakfast around 9am on a Saturday morning for a quick bite to eat before going to the beach. As we walked in, we noticed the place was full, so we figured the food must be good. Unfortunately this was truly not the case with this place. We were seated at the counter which was fine. We ordered our drinks and then our meal. When my coffee was served I immediately noticed something stuck to the inside of the cup right above the coffee fill line. After taking a closer look I saw that it was a used sugar packet that was stuck to the inside of the cup...GROSS!! Do they even wash their coffee mugs?!?! It was busy and our waitress was rushed, but seriously, how can you miss a piece of trash that big in a cup of coffee that you are serving to a customer? I should have taken this as a hint and just left after that unpleasant discovery. Both of us ordered an egg white omelette with veggies, English muffin and hash browns. Honestly, the highlight of the meal was the English muffin. My omelette came out with a noticeable piece of black lint on top of it. Rather than cause a scene by sending it back, I just sliced that piece off and continued on. Just a suggestion...I really think they need to reconsider how they make their omelets which contain veggies. The entire bottom of the dish turned into a watery mess after a few minutes. The potatoes were soon swimming in the water that leaked out of the omelette and the English muffin (which was the highlight of the meal) turned into a wet sponge. Overall I'd mark today's breakfast as a FAIL and I would never return. I understand things get a little hectic when it's busy, but serving coffee in such an obviously dirty cup and not knowing how to prepare a simple omelette is unacceptable. read more

Food was decent once we were seated and actually received our meal, but it was a 45 minute wait to be seated in a half empty restaurant at 11:00 a.m., and then one of the kid's orders didn't arrive until everyone else had finished eating. The manager was obviously working as hard as she could go. The wait staff and hostess in particular did not seem competent. read more

We went to this spot because of the sign out front advertising great fish tacos. Boy were we disappointed! They were $16 for 2, which I think is a bit pricey to begin with. One of my tacos had only one piece of grilled rock fish that was maybe 2 inches at best, and a huge sliver of avocado that I suppose was to suffice for an additional and expected piece of fish. The other taco had 2 very tiny slivers of fish...the rest just filler of lettuce, etc. Very lame! And, the menu said these were corn tacos, which to me tasted like flour. Their home made potato chips were sloppily scattered on top of the tacos. We talked to the manager and her reaction was very dismissive and defensive, and she made no attempt to resolve this situation. We should have returned our food when we noticed how skimpy these were, but we were starving after being on the beach all day. Another pretentious "farm to table" wannabe. Never again! read more

I must be going to a different place than some of the reviewers here. I have eaten at the penguin for the past couple of years and never had a bad or even a slightly unpleasant experience. Waitstaff has always been courteous and the food is average diner fare (above average for BB). Shakes are very good however and there is never a long wait to sit at the counter. read more

I spent last weekend at Bethany Beach and on Sunday morning, my fiancé decided to take a walk into the Bethany Beach boardwalk for coffee and breakfast. I know the beach is overwhelmed with tourists and August is the peak of high season traffic, but I have to say my dining experience is completely sub-par. Maybe the plastic silverware and paper plate should have tip off, but I simply ordered scrambled eggs, toast and sausage, hard to mess that order up. The eggs came dry and tasteless, the toast had a cardboard like quality and the sausage tasted like the microwave Jimmy Dean sausage. The saving grace of the Penguin Diner are the cute crayon colored drawings from the kid patrons, but a person generally goes to a diner for the food and not the drawings. read more

Oh no! What happened? This place has been a family favorite for years and we look forward to it year after year. Excited to return, we were happy to be seated at the counter quickly and our waitress was prompt and friendly. We ordered a TON of food as usual and were looking forward to digging in. As we sat, something very peculiar happened.... A staff woman, that we have seen for years, behind the counter was obviously trying to fix something up near the ceiling tiles and she took off her shoes and stood on the counter to get up in the ceiling. In all fairness, she did have socks on and it was an area of the counter where people didn't sit, but it was right at the counter during the lunch hour and the place was packed and it was quite weird. I might have used a ladder ..... Anyway, on to the food... Our breakfast items were hands down some of the best we have ever had. Perfect pancakes, fabulous French toast, exceptional eggs. Two of us ordered hamburgers, however, and we will never do that again. At first we were impressed as it was a HUGE double decker, but that's where it ended. The meat was far from good ground beef and they used some kind of unidentifiable filler that you couldn't miss. One of the best things I can say this year is that the menu had TONS of gluten free offerings, which we not only appreciated, but think is a very wise business move! Thank you! Please bring back your commitment to the environment in all paper/plastic products, which we missed as part of the charm and appreciated the standpoint. All in all, we still love Penguin, and we will still return, but please, staff keep your shoes on and we promise we will only order breakfast foods and keep the good reviews coming! read more

This is no ordinary diner. I went for breakfast and was so happy with the fresh food, Vermont syrup that I decided to try dinner. Dinner is amazing and so far it is Bethany's best kept secret, no wait for a table. The crab cakes are the best I have had and that says a lot since I am from Maryland. Also, the calamari was great, the blackened fish tacos, homemade potato chips, everything is excellent! Watch out Sedona, Off The Hook and Parkway, you have some serious competition. Great service as well, oh the specialty drinks, yummy. My new favorite place. read more

They managed to tick all the boxes for an awful meal out. Long waits for everything for no apparent reason, check. Not receiving silverware, drink refills, or several pieces of the dishes we ordered without explicitly requesting them from the waitress, check. Filthy floors and chairs, and flies everywhere, check. Having a day and a half of my beach vacation ruined due to food poisoning, check. Never eating here again, check. read more

I came to the beach on vacation and drove down to Bethany Beach from Rehoboth. The staff was friendly and personable, the food was delicious and presented well, the decor changes a little for the dinner crowd though it looked fresh and fun either way. The staff was incredibly knowledgeable about food allergies and my dish needing to be gluten free. The menu is clearly marked gluten free and each item on the menu is described clearly so you'll know what to expect. This place is bright and fresh inside - I was surprised with the entire experience. It was definitely worth the extra trip! read more

Let's keep this short. The service was pretty slow and the food was just okay. I had the French toast and it was mediocre. I was having breakfast with my Uncle and he found a blonde hair in his burger. Overall this place is not any better than my local IHOP. I would only recommend this place if you're out of places to try. read more

During a stroll throught the quaint little village of Bethany Beach, I asked a store owner where there was a good place to eat breakfast. Her answer: "The only thing open is the Penguin Diner." I should have emphasized "good" before going any further. As per Ian's comment, although cute enough, and friendly wait staff, paper/plastic utensils, going to the register to place an order......should have been my first clue. The food was bad......really bad. One piece of toast served with 2 eggs (a little odd), and potatoes/scrapple/breakfast sandwich that all tasted as if it had been prepared the weekend before, and thrown back on the grill. As if that wasn't enough, the bill was almost $20 for a breakfast left from days before. Bethany Beach is a wonderful little town, but do yourself a favor and bypass this location, no matter how cute the name sounds. read more

This local thinks the penguine diner is a great breakfast spot, especially with kids!

Just had an awful meal here. Cheesesteak where the steak was WAY over cooked. It was carry out for a concert on the board walk or I would have sent it back. I will not return. read more

Crab cake was surprisingly delicious. Really good coffee. The smoothly was good with lots of real fruit!

Food and service was great! There is new management and chef we were told. Breakfast was ordered and everything was hot and there was a lot. We will come back! read more

Best meal we had at the beach all week and very reasonable prices. Not the penguin we remember and a must stop in Bethany. Fish tacos were perfect. Eggplant unbelievable. I even ate one of my daughters sliders it was so good. read more

Went for breakfast this morning and it was much better than last time. Quick competent service. Orange juice was fresh, the granola French toast was excellent, & included a bowl of truly fresh fruit. Husbands breakfast had large tasty ham slice with nicely done over easy eggs. One bad note- hash browns were cold and a bit hard. Would go back. read more

We understand that it was much better when it was just Penguin but being the savvy New Yorkers we are we thought we would try it under the new name The Penguin! I am still trying to clear my throat from the dead dragon fly that was in my Bloody Mary that replaced the first drink which had a dead fly in it!! The crab meAt in my omelette was literally just a speck. The ADULT grill cheese (whatever that means),was bagged shredded cheese that was not melted with a piece of bacon fat! Pitiful...will never return and the waitress seemed confused as to our disappointment! Btw: not a penny off the tab for the bugs in our food! read more

Cool place in a fantastic location. I definitely thought the milkshake I got was delicious. As for my meal, I really enjoyed the chicken-cheese quesadilla. I, unlike a previous review, thought it was one of the least greasy quesadillas I have ever had (sorry Chipotle). Friendly service too. A good family place in Bethany. In a town where casual, sit down places (especially for breakfast and lunch) are few and far between, the Diner stands out. The hate has gone too far, guys. read more

My first time at the Penguin Diner! I did not experience the previous management so I cannot relate to the bad reviews. I ordered a BLT that was stacked with bacon. It was the BEST BLT I ever ordered! Everything was fresh and yummy. The hash browns were fantastic...all fresh cut! (not frozen!) My friends ordered pancakes and eggs. They raved about how delicious and fresh everything tasted! I also sampled the sweet potato pancake!!!! I WILL DEFINITELY BE BACK TO ORDER SWEET POTATO PANCAKES!!! The waiters and waitress were awesome, friendly,respectful, attentive, and right on time! The manager/cook even came out and talked to us! We were pleasantly impressed! If you went here under the old management and wrote a negative review...you just have to give it another try! read more

Don't eat here!! The wait time was for service and food was too long. The waitress was inept. The ham in my daughter's ham and cheese omelet was spoiled. Took forever to get our bill, only to stand at the register for over 5 minutes to pay our bill. I finally found the exact change and left it with my check on the counter. This has to be the worst place in Bethany to eat, and I thought the Frog House was bad. read more

We walked in and were greeted very nicely and sat quickly. A server also came over to us very quickly. Our drinks took a while but nothing I'd go out of my way to write a review about. Then the food came. The waitress basically dropped the food and ran. Even after my 6 year old daughter said 3 times as she was serving our food that we had no silverware. She never asked if we needed anything, I wanted hot sauce on top of silverware and napkins. We retrieved our own silverware and napkins and were never offered condiments or even asked if we needed anything. My husband and I added crab to our breakfasts. FULL of shells. I'm not talking 2 or three. A couple in every bite. I also ordered a side of bacon that had 2 strips of bacon, $4. We had bloody Mary's $10.25, were not drinking Grey goose martinis at a nice bar it's a little breakfast joint. We are so not ones to complain on the price of a meal. If it's good. The food and the service. But this $76 breakfast was nowhere worth it. Very disappointed in this place. read more

I NEVER EVER LEAVE A REVIEW BUT THIS IS BEYOND UNACCEPTABLE ANYWHERE IN THE US. Yesterday was the first day I visited Bethany beach and I made the horrendous mistake of leading my family to this place. I have a very very special need child with a severe diet restriction and i was hoping this place will have something for her because her food got sand from the beach. While we were waiting for our food, I saw one of the kitchen employees eat from a plate using her hands while wearing gloves (no big deal so far, right) well, this person never removed the gloves, she kept working like nothing happened!!!!! 3 minutes later ANOTHER EMPLOYEE grab something from a bowl and ate it right there, in this case she wasn't wearing gloves!!!!!! But for this place, seems like this is not a big deal!!!!!! Then she continued to get a bagel bag, she took one and proceed to work. I was the winner of that bagel!!!!!! They brought our order to the table with the typical phrase: enjoy it!!!!! I kept looking at the kitchen when the bagel lady did the same for the second time!!!!! I went to the counter and I asked for the manager, the lady inmediatelly went to the kitchen and spoke with 3 people there (2 of them were the uneducated disrespectful workers) I thought that because the manager expressed a clients complaint the bagel lady will get a pair of gloves, right???? Well NO!!!!!! In fact she was arrogantly murmuring because of what I said.!!!!!! Unless I am in the desert I will eat in this place, but I AM PAYING FOR MY FOOD and this place is not cheap at all. Super conventional sandwiches are $9.00 and u get a 2 tablespoon salad for $1.00. This is definitively one of those places that don't deserve a second chance unless u lost ur mind. read more

Slow service and mediocre food with some really weird combinations. BBQ sauce on a black bean burger = gross. The adult grilled cheese was the most disappointing thing ordered. It's got such little cheese on it that calling it a grilled cheese is misleading. It's more like tomato and burned toast sandwich. There wasn't even enough cheese to hold the burned bread together. Seriously, we could have walked 60 feet to the beach and snacked on some sand for the same effect. The Robin Roll was not made with freshly prepared turkey - definitely pre-made, packaged meat. It's also cold, which was a surprise and not so much in a good way. The ranch dressing had soured and the tomatoes were on the way out as well. Overall, the experience earns a D and we will not be coming back to Penguins. The chalkboard sign out front said farm to table, which is laughable. This restaurant clearly just put some foodie buzz words out on the sign and my family is the suckers who went in and fell for it. Please don't do the same. It's crappy food, boring, expected decor, and painfully slow service. read more

We've always loved the Penguin for breakfast, and were looking forward to trying the 'new' place this year. But the experience wasn't good at all. When we walked in, there was a hostess station with two girls behind it, but neither of them were paying attention to those coming in, so we weren't sure if we were supposed to seat ourselves, which we finally awkwardly did. The waitress was nice but seemed overwhelmed, though the place wasn't that busy (a bad sign we ignored because it wasn't as busy as years past). It took awhile to get menus and water. My wife ordered pancakes with no sugar and two hard-scrambled eggs. I ordered scrambled eggs with bacon, home fries, and a biscuit. Her order came out with sugar on the pancakes. My eggs were also scrambled hard like hers, and I hate them like that. The home fries were those pre-formed frozen ones out of a bag, with no flavor, and some were burned. The biscuit was served with no jelly or butter on the table or the plate - by the time I could flag someone down to get some, the biscuit was cold. Then when the check arrived, we weren't told what to do with it - it was just a check, not in a folder, so we thought we were supposed to pay up front, but we weren't - and it took a good ten minutes of standing around before we could actually pay and leave, it seems that our standing up just threw the entire operation into a tizzy. My wife's pancakes and the great syrup moved the review from one star to two. The lack of organization, the sterile nature of the place (there's no background music playing, so you only had other diners to listen to), the useless 'hostess station', the poor execution of something as simple as scrambled eggs and hash browns, made me long for the old days of The Penguin. We didn't come back for the dinner - or any more breakfasts. read more