Nickel Diner

06/21/11

Homemade Poptarts!!! - Freshly made!

by skegee18 at Citysearch

Just like the previous review I heard about the Nickel Diner and the bacon donuts from when they talked about them on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. I took my family with me while we were down in LA. I was expecting alot, but was somewhat disappointed. The lunch menu is very limited, maybe due to the size of the place. I had the Chicken Salad on Wheat sandwich. It was good, but I chose that because just about everything else on the menu I could get anywhere. The rest of my family had a burger, pulled pork sandwich and I forgot the last order. My sandwich came with shoestring fries,but they were lukewarm at best.

The place is very small, but it was defintely crowded on a Friday at lunchtime, even with professional-types from downtown. The service was good, the waitress took our orders with no hassle and was very attentitive.

Since I had heard about the bacon donut, when it came time for dessert we ordered ours to go. We order fresh strawberry poptarts, a ding-dong, vegan tapoica and chocolated -peanut butter cake slice. I can tell you the pop tart tasted fabulous and so fresh tasting. My daughter seemed to enjoy her ding-dong, but my wife said the taopoica wasn't anything special.

In general I would recommend trying thplace if you enjoy a hole-in-the-wall kind of place. Maybe the breakfast menu is the real appeal based on what I see online. Not sure I would show up there for dinner given its not the most welcoming part of LA. If I decide to go back I might try to see if I can get breakfast during lunch hours.

Oh I did happen to order a bacon donut as well, havent had a chance to sample it yet. Will let you know!?!

01/05/11

Definitely try the bacon donuts

by Meat Me in the Middle at Citysearch

I heard about the Nickel Diner then finally got a chance to go today for lunch. I heard all about the bacon donuts from when they talked about them on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. The only thing I was disappointed about with this place is the lack of bacon donuts - apparently they sold out so I didn't get a chance to try them, but everything else was amazing that I did.

I had the nickel burger which was really good - great sesame bun and really felt light not heavy, probably b/c I got a side of coleslaw instead of fries or onion rings.

I did this purposely so I could make room for dessert. I was there with three friends so we decided to each try and share three things - the nutella donut, red velvet donut and the homemade ding-dong. ALL were super yummy. My personal favorite out of the three was the red velvet donut - the cream was so good that one minute you thought it was ice cream the next cream and it had the red velvet crust on the outside.

I highly recommend this place. It's a bit small inside for the amount of people that go there now, but its worth it. I would go on the weekend so you can try the donut holes - which are only sold apparently on the weekends.

04/13/10

Great food and good vibe

by miss_delicious at Citysearch

Nickel Diner is yet another independently owned restaurant to grace the downtown LA scene and I'm thankful. They serve up delicious comfort food, olde-fashioned and exotic beverages (banana soda anyone?), and the owner has always been very friendly to me.

I've had everything but breakfast and am looking forward to next time I'm downtown to try it out! The Chili Lime Grilled Salmon Salad is divine and their Big Time Cheddar Sandwich is enough finger lickin' food for two. My friends love the burgers and fries. The portions are are on the larger side which is good if you like to share. All in all the prices are pretty reasonable for what you get.

Some people have noted concerns about the area which are valid. The restaurant is next to a social services office so people tend to loiter outside. Don't worry, they're not out to get you - they just want jobs. Suck it up, park at a meter, and disappear inside this downtown gem!

• Pros: Reliable menu, great atmosphere
• Cons: Street parking, occassional slow service

04/03/10

Great old timey diner downtown

by Jessica Lopez at Citysearch

In short, home made pop tarts, vegan chocolate cake, vegan muffins and vegan rancheros, stuffed avocado salad and vegan coconut tapioca pudding.

So I'm officially a fan.

They're literally a stones throw from my office so they'll be seeing plenty of my shining face. The decor is ADORABLE!!!!!

The desserts here are OFF THE RAILS PEOPLE. This is why I'm a crappy vegan... because of their freakin' red velvet cake with the crunchy balls of what I can only describe as God's tears. I'm STILL thinking about this damn cake, but I can't keep eating it unless I want to switch to a wardrobe comprised of only stretch materials.

So do yourself a favor and eat it already.

• Pros: great food & desserts
• Cons: not a quick place for lunch

11/01/09

DTLA Diner and Breakfast Too

by Michael Fran at Citysearch

If you haven't heard the desserts and donuts are pretty damn good. Try the red velvet or strawberry shortcake donuts, and for dessert get the Cher cupcake -- inspired by Cher but they won't tell you why. It's great having another restaurant on Main (besides Pete's) that serves a full breakfast menu. I probably have the eggs and spinach with polenta once a week. I've heard some complaints about service, but I've yet to have a problem.

• Pros: Desserts