The Diner -- Oradell, Bergen County

[menton1]

The diner that was called Haglers in Oradell (Kinderkamack Road and Ridgewood Avenue) closed last year, it hadn't changed ANYTHING, from the counters, cooking equipment, to the cash registers since the 1940s. Finally closed down. Actually it was quite a good place for breakfast-- eggs, etc. Looks from the outside that they have renovated some after being closed for many months.

Anyone been in this new incarnation with anything to report?

[toddevan]

looks like a total dive.

[jhlurie]

I was always scared to go in the old incarnation...

[Jason Perlow]

looks like a total dive.

Thats a good sign.

Frankly, I HATE what they've done to the Tenafly Diner. And the food sucks too.

[tommy]

is this the all brick place? it looks like something i would have liked.

[toddevan]

place has grease pit written all over it.

[tommy]

place has grease pit written all over it.

cool!

[menton1]

place has grease pit written all over it

Have you been inside, or is this a review from your car?

Can anyone actually report on this place? As in the looks of the inside, and the food? Thanks!!

Edited September 30, 2004 by Jason Perlow (log)

[toddevan]

have not been

[menton1]

have not been

How can you tell it's greasy then? They just did a major renovation--

[shugga]

Anything will be an improvement over the old place. It WAS a dive. My 80 yr old uncle used to "hang out" there.

And I totally agree with the person who said the Tenafly Diner is bad! The service stinks, and the food is not much better.

Also, what's up with that mural? Could they have found a worse painter?

Edited May 9, 2003 by shugga (log)

[Jason Perlow]

Today Jhlurie and I, after a failed attempt to get into a very busy Finks today for lunch, decided to try out the newly-refurbished diner that was once Haglers.

Oh boy am I glad we did!

Firstly, the interior of the place has been completely cleaned up, and decked out in 1950's style, with all chromed out cooking area, classic cars painted on the walls, nice black granite countertop and chromium stools with nice red cushions on em. A $4,000 CD Rock-Ola was also installed, which is always playing classic Rock N Roll.

Jon and I tried the two benchmarks -- a bacon cheeseburger and a turkey club. Their hamburgers are excellent specimens, 8oz monsters which are cooked PERFECTLY medium rare, with a nice toasted kaiser roll with crispy thick cut bacon and melted american cheese. This is among the best I've had in the area, and I have to say in this particular instance Finks has some serious competition in the burger department.

The turkey club was also perfect -- home roasted sliced turkey breast with crispy bacon, nice tomato, crispy lettuce , triple decker on wheat toast (my preference) with just a slight shmear of mayo. Perfect. Couldn't of been executed better.

Both of us had fountain cokes, which had the proper level of syrup and fizz.

The only thing that could have been improved were the onion rings and fries -- which needed to be cooked a little bit longer, so if you order them, get them "well done". The owner yelled at the fry cook when we pointed this out, so it should be corrected soon. :)

The diner has a limited menu, focusing on breakfast items, burgers, sandwiches and a few blue plate specials such as meatloaf -- but it seems they do a good job with everything and the owner, John, seems to care a lot about the management of the operation and the quality of the food.

As it turns out, on the other side of the building, he's building a 100 seat southern Italian restaurant, complete with stone fired pizza oven and fresh pasta made on the premises. He's also bought the ONLY liquor license in the town of Oradell, and he's paid a pretty penny for it. John is also the owner of Le Jardin, a fancy special occassion type restaurant on the cliffs in Edgewater overlooking NYC. I've never eaten there, but its a really classy place.

Unfortunately the town of Oradell is being a pain in the ass, not allowing John to re-do the neon sign. He was only allowed to repaint the building. However, I think once word of mouth gets around about the new restaurant (which will be the only bar in town) and the quality of the food at the diner, he'll be in good shape.

[menton1]

He's also bought the ONLY liquor license in the town of Oradell, and he's paid a pretty penny for it.

Thanks for the report-- I always pass the place, and I was waiting for an Egullet review to motivate me to stop there. Probably do Eggs & homefries. Hope they still have homemade soup in the cold weather. Good BLTs as well.

N.B. Charlie Brown's, just on the River Edge line, but still in Oradell, has a full bar. So that's another liquor license. As we have discussed elsewhere, they are VERY expensive. Hagler's probably retired on it. (Did they change the name?)

[jhlurie]

Jason beat me to it. I was about to enter a report.

Especially done well: the bacon. Absolutely perfect. And Jason isn't really getting into how good the burger roll was. Anyone who thinks that the roll is an ancillary part of the burger eating experience should try a burger at this place.

The man sitting next to us was having a really nice looking brown gravy meatloaf and mashed potatoes plate, with a julienned vegetable medley on the side.

Funny thing about the sign problem. Their inability to get the town to allow them to change it basically leaves the place without a name. It's sort of "The Diner and As Yet Unopened Italian Restaurant Which are Collectively NOT Known as Hagler's, but have a Neon Sign Which Says Its Called That Anyway".

BTW: If you folks haven't driven by recently the OUTSIDE has been painted as well as the inside. Going Southbound on Kinderkamack Rd., the northern face of the building is a rather mysterious black color now. Going Northbound, the south face is a bright and cheery yellow. The entrance to the diner portion is in the rear. The entrance to the as-yet unopened Italian portion is on the southern "yellow" side.

Its been a good week for "simple" eating for me. I was also along for one of Jason's two visits at that Mexican place in Bergenfield, and also discovered that Bergenfield has a Quinzo's--a sub chain which puts Subway and Blimpie in their rightfully shameful place.

[tommy]

quizno's isn't so good. there, i said it.

the diner part of hagler's appears to be called "The Diner". that's what the menu says, and that's how they answer the phone. of course, it will always be "Haglers".

the burger is quite good. the roll, as jon mentions, is very good too. it's a kaiser roll, which i usually don't appreciate for a burger. however, the all important bun-to-burger ratio was right where it needed to be. i think a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda was 6 bucks.

[jhlurie]

quizno's isn't so good.  there, i said it.

the diner part of hagler's appears to be called "The Diner".  that's what the menu says, and that's how they answer the phone.  of course, it will always be "Haglers". 

the burger is quite good.  the roll, as jon mentions, is very good too.  it's a kaiser roll, which i usually don't appreciate for a burger.  however, the all important bun-to-burger ratio was right where it needed to be.  i think a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda was 6 bucks.

We won't get off topic with Quiznos, okay? It certainly can't live up to a good burger. I was just comparing it to a place like Subway--which Fat Guy is a fan of, but I'm not.

I hadn't thought about the all-important burger-to-bun ratio... but you are right. And I will never ever get a burger there without cheese and BACON after having it that way.

Were your fries undercooked a bit too tommy?

[tommy]

Were your fries undercooked a bit too tommy?

they are the big steak fries, so i kinda expected them to be how they were. however, i spent most of my time looking for the small ones (cooked more) if that's any indication. to me, they were probably how most people would want them. i like 'em done until they're basically just a shell.

[jhlurie]

The Onion Rings were good too--if also a bit undercooked. Not at all greasy.

[tommy]

do we think the diner/italian restaurant is going to go over well?

[Jason Perlow]

I for one WILL be visiting the Italian place, which will be open in a month in a half. If his food is good, he'll likely do well, and I'll be more than happy to recommend it to the powers that be. My eyes went wide when he said "fresh pasta" and "brick oven pizza". We need a place like that around here. And with the only remaining liquor license in Oradell, with a decent bar, he'll probably do more than OK.

[tommy]

My eyes went wide when he said "fresh pasta" and "brick oven pizza".

ah. that's refreshing indeed. i hope they spend a little time on the wine list. if it reads "merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and chianti", i'll likely cry.

[Rachel Perlow]

They're still building the Italian place so if you visit the diner you have time to influence the wine list.

All that talk of meatloaf made me want to go for dinner (I wasn't with Jason for lunch). Actually, I ended up ordering the braised pork chop special, while Jason got the meatloaf. I prefered the zesty chop, braised with tomatoes, carrots and other vegetables & herbs to the meatloaf, which was just good, IMO.

Actually, the best part were the side veggies, best diner veggies ever. Green beans, carrots & other shredded veggies (zucchini, onion), freshly sauteed with garlic - I bet he could mix them with some pasta and call it primavera.

Nice people, plenty of parking, currently BYO, but soon they'll have the bar, go there and give them more business at dinner time!

Jason will be posting pics soon. Oh, and since no one posted the address, here it is:

The Diner (6 AM - 9 PM)

279 Kinderkamack Road

Oradell, NJ

201-261-9500

[Jason Perlow]

Diner Interior:

Meat Loaf, I thought this was very good, gravy had a lot of spices in it

Pork chops, also very tasty, nice and tender, not overcooked

Perfectly executed turkey club with fresh roasted turkey and crispy bacon:

1/2 pound Cheeseburger, whats not to like?

Grilled cheese with tomato and bacon. We didnt try this one, but it looked good:

[jhlurie]

Well, since I know Jason didn't have a camera with him the first time, that means he either pestered them to carry other people's food over or had ANOTHER hamburger and Turkey Club. Or both.

I hadn't gotten that good a look at the vegetables at lunch, since the guy with the meatloaf was almost finished when I looked over.

That pork chop looks very good.

Okay... there is something wrong with that hamburger. No bacon. I know its a matter of taste, but the bacon was SO perfectly done on the one I had.

Are you going back for breakfast? Doing the trifecta (3 meals in a row)?

[Rachel Perlow]

There was another table, and we got to chatting about eGullet, etc. The burger was supposed to be bunless - an Atkins orderer.