3rd Street Diner Restaurant Bakery
3rd Street (A1A) & 9th Street South
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
(904)270-0080
www.thirdstreetdiner.com
3rd Street Diner
OPA! OPA! OPA! Yeah! Sorry, I had just got into the Greek spirit. The 3rd Street Diner is a Greek influenced restaurant in the beaches area of Jacksonville, Florida. For years there has been a restaurant in this location either a Chinese place or as in the last few years the 3rd Street Diner. When these guys opened, they were a 24 hour diner, but now they are known as a late night diner. Now instead of around the clock they are opened till 2 am. They also offer a large menu of both American and Greek food, either for dine in or delivery.
Dining Room
On the day that we stopped in, neither one of us had been to the 3rd Street Diner before. This would be a new experience for the both of us. As we were seated we noticed the table was extremely uneven and would wobble back and forth to the point that drinks would spill. Rhonette had to take a small stack of napkins to wipe the old food off of her chair, and we needed the server to wipe down the table that had dried food on it. So the beginning of this visit is taking its toll and we are on very edge of getting up to leave and go to get tacos down the street. We really wanted to give another place a try and so we allowed this beginning flaw to slide for now.
After looking at this menu of 5 full pages and watching other’s food come out we are still at a bit of a loss of what to order. When our server comes we both just go with the first thing that we see on the menu at that time and hope for the best. My order was for the Chicken Rueben but instead of the French fries I asked if they would substitute the roasted Greek potato wedges, to which they were glad to accommodate. Our server took off to put in our order and we were still talking about the place in a manner of negativity. This will always happen to either someone who is writing a review or anyone who has an opinion. Notice it for yourself, the next time that you are with friends at a restaurant, if you start off with a bad experience you will look for every negative aspect of the rest of the time that you are at that place.
Chicken Rueben
With this in mind we are hoping that we have not made a mistake by not going to the taco place down the street. We are glad we stayed; the 3rd Street Diner hit a home run with our meals. Typically I only talk about my meals in these reviews, but in this case I will mention that both my meal and the potato salad that Rhonette ordered was great. Let me start with the Chicken Ruben, the server gave me a small dish with the Russian dressing to put on the sandwich. This dressing was amazing, so amazing that I asked the waitress to tell me about the recipe that is a specialty of the chef on duty. It was the must have on the Chicken Ruben, and the flavor was so full and not overbearing. The roasted potatoes were in the Greek style, drenched in olive oil and spices on top. These potatoes are not listed on the main menu but on the Greek section near the back. Not having had the French fries at 3rd Street Diner I cannot tell you that you must get the roasted potatoes, but I will tell you that the next time that I am there that I will get the roasted potatoes.
Rhonette's Potato Salad
If the Chicken Ruben for $8.95 is not your style then you can get a hot dog for $3.95, a club sandwich for under 9 bucks, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, salads, or if you want a seafood dinner they have the option of fried seafood dishes in the $15 range or even broiled selections for just a bit more. For those of you that have little ones, the 3rd Street Diner has several items on the kids menu including pancakes, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti with meatball and more. All the kids’ items include a soda or iced tea and they are willing to substitute fresh veggies for the French fries all for under five dollars.
Desserts
I will let you know that on the way out of the 3rd Street Diner I looked at the desserts that are almost all made on location. The items that are not made there are ordered directly from a bakery in New York. Also, I got a cannoli, typically I do not like a cannoli, however this one was calling my name and boy was it good.
If you find yourself at the beaches of Jacksonville and are hungry I highly recommend 3rd Street Diner, it is worth the wait and the dirty tables.
Review by Pie, email: pie@piesplate.com
I had a bad exp. there in 2005 and havent been back. Dirty tables, cold food and rude service. I will have to give it a second shot. Hopefully they have cleaned their act up over the past few years. Thanks for the post.