Elmo's Diner Reviews

A decent place with interesting food options. But not great for vegans and vegetarians. They messed up my order and put eggs in my food.

My young girls love this place. Very kid friendly. And good diner food.

Good diner food. Serve breakfast anytime...good place for having "breakfast for dinner". Lots of menu options. Went on a Saturday around 6pm. Seated right away. Busy but not crowded. Wait staff was excellent.

This is one of our favorite restaurants. Great food, great service! My daughter's favorite dish is the baked French Toast. We were in luck tonight, the dessert special was Blackberry Cobbler. It was super yummy!

We found this diner after relocating from NY - where diners are plenty. We actually ate here the first time last Easter Sunday. We love this place and have returned many times. The food is excellent and, yes, the staff is charming. Always trying to do their best to accomodate customer requests.

Named after a character in an eighties movie. Delicious American fare with breakfast on tap all day long. Enjoy coloring in one of the kids cards and make sure they put your art on the wall.

First of all, they have great food and their prices are fantastic. The atmosphere is also very family-friendly. However, everyone should be warned that their parking lot is in such disrepair that you risk damaging your car if you come and eat here. I've damaged my exhaust twice on the entrance to their lot because it is so poorly raked. All you have to do is stand outside and watch for 10 minutes to see numerous cars scrape either their front or rear ends upon ingress or egress. My car is admittedly low to the ground but is 100% stock. It seems crazy to me that the owner hasn't addressed this in the past three years that I have been coming here. Honestly, I would come a lot more if I didn't fear that my affordable meal would end up costing me tenfold in avoidable car repairs down the road.

Only solid option for diner food that I know of in Durham. Not 24 hours, and can be extremely busy at peak times. Food is good, and so are prices.

Great breakfasts at fair prices. Excellent service.

One of the most well orchestrated operations in town, simply well done diner.

Good "home style" food in a classic diner environment. Good prices. Great service.

Glad I found this place on the Food Network! Breakfast lunch and dinner all delicious with some fun twists. I wish I had enough room for their desserts (milkshakes and cheesecake!)

Classic diner food served with a smile. Good portion size and a large menu to choose from. Im from NY and Elmo's food made me feel like i was at home. Its perfectly located right near Duke so if your in the area definitely stop in for a bite.

We always eat at Elmo's after we drive all the way to Durham from Charlotte for my cardiology appointments at Duke. The food is amazing and the staff are friendly.

The worst waffle I have ever had. I ordered the pecan waffle. Could barely get a quarter of it down; terrible and strong taste; cardboard might have been better. I suspect they use some type of all grain unprocessed flour.
On the positive side the service was excellent, the coffee good and hot syrup was served.
My wife ordered pancakes and same problem - terrible taste and she barely ate any. We made early lunch plans.

Awesome food, and wait staff friendly and attentive. Where the locals go regularly. Will definitely go back when I'm in that part of the country!

Food is great but it's WAY to crowded and not enough parking

Great food and service! Depending on when you go there can be a significant wait time, but it's worth it. Good diner options.

Food not up to it's normal good quality. Pancakes to mushy. Not cooked enough.
Bacon to fatty not crisp. Cantaloupe not ripe enough, no taste and hard to cut. Hash browns over cooked and tasteless. We eat there a lot but today was not in keeping with their usually great food. Waitress and hostess could not have been more friendly and accommodating. Will be back but maybe not for pancakes with bacon.

Super fast and efficient with excellent affordable options! Never noticed this place before, but I'll be back soon! PS: the baked French toast is not what you would expect, but amazing either way!

A good family friendly restaurant that isn't overly "family friendly". That is, you can go without kids and not feel out of place or childish. I love their omelettes

Has become an institution in Durham and still delivers as a great spot for breakfast, brunch, and lunch. Food is outstanding. They offer a variety of options and have a number of specials to keep it fresh. Service is friendly and food comes out quickly. Prices remain very reasonable. Nothing special about physical space but totally works for what it is. The only real downside is parking lot is difficult and tight. There are typically waits for weekend brunch but they have self serve coffee and it always moves pretty quickly even when it looks really bad.

Great customer service. Been with large parties both times and top notch food.

This is the first time I've ordered an omelette plate from this eatery. The omelette had spinach, bacon, onions and cheddar cheese. I also had a side of home fries and an English muffin with jelly. This plate was generous for the $10 I paid. The manager, Scott, was extremely nice and helpful. I would visit again, whenever I'm on this side of town.

Had their salmon cakes and 2 eggs for breakfast. Salmon cake was a bit on the salty side, but I liked how its flavor balanced with tomatoes, green onions, and eggs. I would've liked it better if they added more veggies (tomatoes etc) as I added an additional salmon cake, but it was okay overall. Also liked how they promptly brought the food out for the curbside pickup.

Love it every time I go! The Shrimp and Grits is one of my favorite dishes in Durham

Not as good as everybody ssid but ok once in a while

I go here all the time. Breakfast is served all day so that's all I've ever eaten there :)

It is one of the better diners in the area. But that's because there are almost no diners in the area. It's fairly unremarkable.

Good food , good service ,plenty of parking but dated interior

wonderful family breakfast.enjoy the warm feeling for almost everyone at this diner.

Great food and excellent service. This was my first time there and it was inviting and had that at home feeling.

The service was excellent; every member of the staff seemed to be helping everyone else. Which made our meal even better. Can see why they are so busy. Good job.

It was just delicious. My wife and I had 2 sandwiches for a first meal but, in time, we will go back.

Ate lunch there after reading reviews. Food we got was awful. Terribly lacking in quality and creativity. All of the vegetables we're canned with a little dash of this and that. Never in my life have I seen a broccoli casserole like Elmo's; it was cold and absolutely inedible. For what we got I thought it pretty pricey. Service was good but otherwise nothing else there to like. I would not eat there again.

A great place to eat; breakfast, lunch or dinner. There is normally a short wait to be seated 15-20minutes. The eggs are cooked right every time. The fry potatoes are steller and the coffee is fantastic and always fresh.

Quiet home-like environment. Friendly staff and great food.

Yummy breakfast. Good pancakes, kind service, fast and efficient

I grew up regularly going to Elmo's and now make a point of stopping in any time I'm in Durham. I love the food, the atmosphere and the people. Very family friendly.

Stopped for lunch in way home from Va. The chicken and dumplings were exactly how they should
Be....delicious! Waiter was so pleasant.

Food was great! Just caught them on an off day. No biscuits...

Loved the atmosphere. Food was pretty good. Great menu selections that make the diner unique.

Great local diner. Pancakes are a total recommend. If you're just passing through, this is a must try.

I really appreciate the resurgence of the diner. Elmo's is true to modern form. Delicious breakfast served anytime. Super friendly staff despite it being very busy. Lots of young families there. Very worthy of a visit.

Took the family there as part of a school fund raiser! Great food and a really large menu of meals to choose from. Will definitely be going back when it's not over crowded with so many fund raiser supporters!

Great diner. Full menu. All good. Especially like the salmon cakes.

Love the specials of good eats at Elmo's Diner, and regular menu is great too boot.

Place isn't worth the hype. Service was good. Wife got farmers omelette with broccoli tomatoes and mushrooms.. was literally like a bag of garden mix heated up and tucked in between the eggs.. no broccoli florets just stalks.. no flavor. I got burger.. lame.. waffle was good.

Fun diner. Worked out great with our two year old. Very inviting for families!

Great service and delicious food. Would definitely come back for a low key dinner.

Food was good. Hostess was rude, and "forgot" about our group of six standing in front of her desk.

Wonderful experience! We actually ate here twice while in Durham because it was that good! Was very surprised by the amount of vegetarian dishes, which were all wonderful. Service was good and atmosphere was great! This place has quickly become one of our favorites!

Definitely one of the best restaurants in Durham. The food is always delicious, friendly and timely service, and everything is reasonably priced. I love it!!

Same great staff, good dinner food and good pandemic protocols.

Visit for lunch was great. The food was good the service was quick and Heather the waitress was wonderful. Will visit again soon.

Quiche was delightful home fries were like terrible waiter was pleasant.

Good service, clean place, and a nice environment. Food was very good. What I wanted out of a diner. Small but good selection of craft beer. That was a nice surprise. All together makes for a good experience.

Exactly what a diner should be and in the center of a hip city. Breakfast all day - buy their coffee cup too.

Good typically dinner. Reasonably priced. Offers beer on tap. Worth a go if you want a quick breakfast.

We love Elmo's! Good food and lots of options. Waitstaff are all really great. This location is our favorite but we also like the Carrboro location. Prices are reasonable and when it's not too busy, it's a great place to relax with family and friends.

Breakfast is bomb, but lunch and dinner is garbage.

My favorite dinner, very homey and friendly, great breakfast, best pancakes anywhere