I heard that the original Capitol Diner was the oldest continuously opened restaurant in this neighborhood. The diner has been operating since the early 1920s, but with current and modern era and its crowd, the diner has changed its face and its owner. I never visited the old diner, but we decided to check out the brand new diner.
I have seen some photos of the old diner, and this brand new diner under the same name looks very different from what it used to look like. It is very bright, clean, and cozy. It keeps some nostalgia with the old, black and white photos of New York City on the wall. They had some baked goods on the counter, such as muffins and bagels. We didn’t try them, but they looked pretty good.
We started off with some drinks. My hubby went with Coffee ($1.50) with milk. A super affordable cup comes with refills!
I was feeling a bit more adventurous, and went with Banana Smoothie ($4.95). They had a good varieties of smoothies here. My smoothie was very thick and totally banana-y. I believe it has no added sugar, just the natural sweetness from the banana. Came in a plastic cup, which was kind of funny, no frills here. Tasty!
We were there for brunch, and their menu is quite large! It took me a few minutes to decide what to get. At the end, I went with Pancakes Decker ($11.95). It is layered with Greek yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, & topped with honey.
Now, the actual Pancake Decker looked very different from what was shown on their menu… What do you think? It didn’t have any berries in between, and although they did have some Greek yogurt between the pancakes, it was not deliciously draping over like it is in the photo. It didn’t come with honey either.
The pancakes were fluffy, and the berries were ripe and sweet, which was great. They did provide syrup, so it went nicely with Greek yogurt. I would’ve still liked to have some honey with this… Yogurt was quite thick, not creamy, making it very filling. Even though it didn’t live up to the photo, it was still a tasty dish.
My hubby went with one of his favorite brunch item, Monte Cristo ($10.95), made with French toast, ham, turkey, and melted Swiss cheese. It was a bit smaller than expected, but still a nice size. It was very tasty, nice flavor and seasoning on the meat. It didn’t look like much, but we enjoyed it. Never judge a book by its cover…
This diner seems like a popular spot among the locals. While we were dining, people kept coming in, it was almost full-house most of the time. The service was friendly and polite.
One thing to note is that we first tried to order Belgian Waffle with Fried Chicken. However, it was already sold out at 10am! What we didn’t know about this place is that their fried chicken is one of the most popular item. That made us very curious…and so, we will be back, earlier next time, so that we can try their popular fried chicken!
Capitol Diner – 4933 Broadway, New York, NY 10034