Gateway to a great value.
Updated: 02/07/08
Gateway Diner
Westville, NJ
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Price: $14 (Two – Includes Tip)
Meal: Breakfast
Time: 10:40a
The Gateway Diner (or G-Way, as my girlfriend and I have nicknamed it) doesn’t look like much from the outside. It has a modest brick exterior that makes the building look much smaller than it is on the inside. You won’t find any chrome, glitz, or glitter here – it’s purely a place to eat. The interior of the building is fairly simple; there is a section of comfortable-enough booths (with tableside jukeboxes) with a parallel bar and stool setup, and a larger section of tables and chairs across the building. I’d say it has a ‘timeless’ appeal – it could pretty much fit in a big northern city and a small southern town. Lately they’ve even added an old-style cash register .. it makes the cool ‘ka-ching’ sound and is pretty fun to take a look at.
For breakfast, I tried a denver omelet with eggbeaters, no cheese, and wheat toast. My girlfriend ordered a belgian waffle with fresh strawberries and sugar-free syrup.
The waitress, although certainly not brimming with excitement, nailed our order without any mistakes. Our breakfast was on our table in less than 10 minutes from our order time, and that was with a pretty steady flow of patrons. My omelet was served very hot, cooked well, with plenty of as-promised ingredients. The accompanying home fries were good and browned evenly, although from previous experiences they can be a little mushy when it’s busy. My girlfriend loved her waffle, and noted that the strawberries really were fresh and not frozen or canned. The wheat bread was slightly over buttered, but was more importantly actually toasted. We had ample resupply of water and anything else we needed.
Dollar for dollar, it’s tough to beat Gateway. You can even find some good coupons in Clipper Magazine, which cut the costs down even further. Gateway lacks some of the polish that a few higher-rated diners may get, but it’s a sure bet for an inexpensive, very satisfying diner experience.
Update 02/07:
We’ve been to Gateway so many times since our initial review it’s almost tough to count. We wanted to add that we discovered that they will accommodate takeout orders, and found them to be prepared almost as well as if we were sitting in the booth. The dinner specials here are superb; Gateway offers bread, both soup and salad, a generous portioned entree, and a desert usually for under $10. Most places offer soup -or- salad, so if you’re extra hungry Gateway is the place to be. I’ve tried the chopped steak, chicken francaise, flounder francaise and many other entrees and find them all above average quality. Autumn continues to order pasta and meatball (singular – but it’s a big meatball), so I imagine she likes it.
The appetizers are also worth mentioning. We’ve tried the onion rings, fries, and mozzarella sticks, and find the rings and sticks very tasty. The fries are good, but sometimes they’re a little on the undercooked side if the diner is super busy. As always, you’ll never wait long for your meal – I am amazed by the speed of the seat-to-eat service. Wow, we should trademark that phrase.
Gateway staff seems to have turned over somewhat, to a younger service force. Overall, we’re still happy with the service but have noticed that a couple of new waiters/waitresses are less attentive and less courteous than some of the more experienced ones. We’ll keep watch but so far we’re on a clip to visit at least twice a month.
For consistency in quality and value, we’ve upgraded Gateway recently from 4.25 to 4.50.
Pros:
- Great food
- Efficient Service
- Friendly management
- One of the cheapest places to get a good meal
Cons:
- Seating can be limited during peak times
- Younger wait staff not always on their game
- Bathrooms needed a good cleaning
Our Score: 4.5 Chews
Subjective Rating: We’re regulars!
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now they’ve added a tv to the radio and jukebox noise — you can actually hear the tv, jukebox and radio all at once — very NOISY — very annoying. they seem to try so hard, but this noise is just stupid — not good for business. i had a prime rib — about 1/4 of it was good — the rest extremely tough — well -priced though. the eggplant parmagiana was awful.
well being that my husband and I live in Mullica Hill, we are usually never in Westville but a friend of ours had nothin bad to say about “this adorable little diner.” We first went on a wednesday afternoon..The service was great and the food was delicious! It seemed as if everyone knew each other, almost like a cheers! Although gas prices are outrageous, we still go about 3 times a week!
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