Ellens Stardust Diner

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:26pm

I'm going into the city this friday night to see Spring Awakening. My friend and i are looking into eating at Ellens before the show..

How is the food there??
and does it take a while to get your food??

thanks!

[HollyDiver]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:29pm

The milkshakes are a staple there and TOTALLY WORTH IT! It's expensive for 'diner food', but its the environment you pay for. I dont remember it taking a long or short amount of time to get food- I think it's pretty normal. But, I would suggest going there with a bit of time to spend, though because its fun.

Oh, and I ordered a burger and it was pretty great.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:39pm

I agree. It's better than I thought it would be. When my aprents and sister were visiting for my sister and my birthday, she wanted to go there because someone had told her about it. We did (on our birthday, so of course we were sung to...thankfully just regular old "Happy Birthday" and nothing like "Happy Birthday To You And To You" since we share a birthday), and I really enjoyed it.

I second what HollyDiver said.

Enjoy!

[sgv123]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:46pm

I love it there. Yes, the food is a little expensive, but the environment is great. The food and the service is excellent too. a little plug......try the mac and cheese...yum.

[EnWashingtonHeights]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:50pm

My favorite restaurant in NYC ! For the entertainment and the environment. The food... is ok.

[Anakela]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:57pm

To throw in an opposing opinion: it's diner food, nothing special there; yes the singing is fun, but the service was *awful*- to highlight it: having to ask repeatedly for basics like napkins and utensils, being told 'order the minimum' or leave (there's a minimum $$ order per table- which yes we were actually ordering above when being told that we weren't), etc. Yet the singing tips bucket came around on time and often.

I went there once, have never gone back- Cosmic fills my midtown diner needs.

[DefyGravity777]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 5:58pm

I was there during the Broadway Flea Market. The food is good even if it a little expensive. I got there around 5:30pm and it didn't take long at all. Maybe 5 minutes before we got our food.

Enjoy Spring Awakening :)

Posted: 12/3/08 at 6:00pm

Great hot turkey sandwich as I recall. Good Brownie too. It's as much show as dinner.

[Kad]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 6:01pm

The food is alright and fairly expensive, and the service is questionable sometimes. But it's definitely a very fun place to go at least once to say that you did, and to see the staff perform.

[jarretSF]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 6:05pm

I remember when Forbidden Broadway was downstairs. Thought the place was a lot of fun!

[lusciouslace]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 6:05pm

It's funny that this has come up today, because my coworker just told me about it yesterday and I'm thinking about going when I'm up there in a couple weeks.

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 6:21pm

I agree, it is a great place to eat! Enjoy it!

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 6:24pm

SO weird this should come up. My friend and I were just talking about it this morning (about how her waiter was in about five different productions of the Lion King and kept talking about it). She said it's her favourite thing about New York, and I've always wanted to go.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 6:26pm

Don't go if you don't like being in an extremely noisy environment for an extended period of time.

[clever name]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 7:06pm

The brownie with ice cream is great. We go alot and the service is always pretty good. Really, really fun.

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 7:14pm

The Roy Rogers burger is fantastic!

[B3TA07]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 7:37pm

They never sing a song I like when I'm there

[jake6970]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 8:10pm

The food is ok and it's expensive but most of the waiters are incredibly talented. Seriously, they are much better singers than many actors on Broadway right now.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 8:13pm

My friend said that when she walked inside, she saw a bald guy standing on a table singing "Lily's Eyes," and without thinking, she automatically went, "... Anthony Warlow?"

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 8:15pm

thanks everyone!!!

[Parks]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 8:40pm

I got stuck going one time.. thinking I was going to be paid for (since I came into the city to see some friends from out of town who had their mom with them). I was wrong--I paid 9 bucks for the most mediocre strawberry shortcake I've ever tasted.

Some good singers.. but honestly, I think it's lame. They turned on Phantom of the Opera--and the girl singing Christine's high notes kept cheating the notes by hitting them for a split second and then laughing at the "Phantom" who was doing a silly dance.

Service was not very good.

I will never go again. :-/

[ashley0139]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 8:45pm

It's where you go for an experience, not for a meal. I've been once and it was fine. No desire to go back.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 9:17pm

i could care less for the entertainment - i'm seeing a show after...i don't need two.

maybe i'll go to John's pizza instead..thats one place that is always amazing :)

[enroutetothesky]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 9:20pm

I only went there because it was a "must" for a tourist from Toronto like me.

I have to preface this by saying that we went during the lunch rush so my "review" may be a little skewed. My friend and I waited 20 minutes to be seated, then another 20 minutes before a waitress even took our order, then another 20 minutes before the food came. The food was alright, nothing spectacular. The singing was good and fun but again, nothing spectacular. By the time we asked for the bill we'd already been there for about an hour, an hour and a half and to be honest I was sick of the singing. All the stuff they sang was pretty campy. The thing that really pissed me off was when we asked for our bill, it look 10 minutes to get it! Anyway, our bill came to about $24, $25 but since neither of us had change we gave two $20s and asked for two $5s (which I think was a pretty generous tip). After another 15 minutes, the waitress still hadn't come back with the change so we just left. $20 for a freakin' ham and cheese omlette.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 12/3/08 at 9:21pm

I've never gotten the appeal of John's. I find Famiglia's so much better. And cheaper.