Midnight Express Diner

“From breakfast wraps to hamburgers to crepes, this place does it all and does it well.”

“It's one of the few diners on the Upper East 80's/90's that is consistent with a nice staff.”

“Everything was super delicious, especially my pancakes which had a crumpet like texture I found particularly gratifying.”

Midnight Express Diner

Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes

Price range.

$$ Price range $11-30

8 reviews

  1. Consistently good diner food and good service in a nice clean environment. Been a regular lunch spot for years. They have nicely priced lunch and dinner specials. More expensive than triple decker down the block, but the quality of food and service is way better. My favorite go-to meals at this diner are gyro deluxe, chicken slovaki, burgers, omlets. Oh and the soups, love the split pea 😉  24/7 Can't beat that!

  2. I come here at least once a weekend. Food is delicious and quick, greasy without being gross, and in solid portions. I only wish their home fries were crispier!

  3. The food is not amazing, but if you want standard diner food then this is a good place. It's usually busy and crowded but also very fast.

  4. If it's 3AM and you need French toast in your life, come here. If its 3AM and you need pancakes in your life, come here. If it's 3AM and god dammit you're hangry, come here!

    This place was crowded even in the middle of the night. Mixed crowd ranging from us (concert goers who had to deal with swampass in NJ) to people returning from the club in heels they cannot properly walk in. Their French toast is damn good and very filling. They give you individual syrups and butter, are quick to refill your coffee, and the food comes out relatively fast. If I lived on the UES I would probably be here more often than I'd like to admit.

  5. The food here is good for a diner. The service is usually fast and friendly. But for the love of God, don't bother coming in around lunch time. When the schools let out for lunch, the place turns into a circus. The middle school aged kids are loud and obnoxious and have no boundaries. They interrupt others' meals to take their selfies and they shout across the restaurant at each other. They get up and walk into the kitchen to talk to the servers when ever they want and they stick their hands right over the counter to grab napkins and straws.

    Yesterday, we went in just before the craze and the music was super loud. I could barely hear the server when he asked about drinks. We tried moving to another table but it was still very loud and hard to have a conversation. We asked the server multiple times to turn down the music and they wouldn't. When the craze happened, they finally did turn the music down, likely because the music was causing the kids to be even louder…

    My boyfriend and I were both sorely disappointed because this was our favorite cheap and easy brunch location. It's highly unlikely we'll go in again, especially around that time of day!

  6. First visit to Midnight Express for 2016! Nice window seat for two. Tables are spaced far enough apart so we felt comfortable. The atmosphere was relaxed with good music playing. Reasonable prices charged for the amount of food. This place is always clean when I've been here.
    Service is very timely. We had water and drinks brought to our table right away. Coffee is refilled routinely. Everyone works together to get the job done.
    You can't miss with one of their huge omelettes. It comes with choice of potatoes and toast. No complaints about the Avocado, Cheese and Mushroom Omelette. My daughter requested hers without the mushrooms.
    I had your basic two eggs scrambled with bacon. Three pieces of bacon was the perfect amount. It came with choice of potatoes and toast. I was a happy camper with sweet potato fries and seven grain bread!
    Midnight Express is now my go to diner for breakfast! On cold winter days it will be worth the walk……Budget permitting:(

  7. A surprisingly very very clean and chic looking diner. They have these fishbowl lights above each table and dim lighting in the evening. All with the same usual great diner food. Their menu is extensive and their service is excellent! This is my go-to diner spot in the UES 🙂

  8. If I were to describe this place in one word, that word would be "inconsistent." Sometimes the people are really nice and the service is great; other times they are short with you for no apparent reason, or even try to pull one over on you.

    That was the impression I got today at lunchtime when stopping in to grab a quick bite while doing laundry. The busboy recognized me from my last visit (I live close enough to be considered somewhat of a regular) but gave me really weird negative vibes even though I had never been anything but nice to him.

    The bespectacled waiter said nary a word to me and did not bother to clarify whether my order was a Lunch Special or not, and tried to overcharge me at the end of my meal (I had ordered coffee with my burrito wrap, which is included in the lunch special. He tried to charge me for it separately. Additionally, the wrap did not come with fries, which I didn't bother to make a stink over, as I wouldn't have finished them anyway and didn't want to waste them. But, again, he could have asked, and the fact that he didn't made me think he didn't mind making me pay more and/or assumed I wouldn't speak up.)

    When I brought my check to the counter at the end to ask about the extra charges (which were negligibly tiny – but it's the principle of the thing), the busboy actually tried to stand in front of the menus so I couldn't get one to show my server what went wrong. Coincidence? Maybe. But I didn't get a good feeling from this experience. My server didn't apologize, saying only that "it's alright," as if the mistake were mine, not his. He didn't say or do anything in any of our interactions to indicate that he appreciated the fact that I was a customer.

    It's a shame because when this place is good, it's pretty great. But experiences like this make me less inclined to come back.

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