Hampstead Diner

We had a lazy Sunday morning and a Groupon for the restaurant. The place is small but cozy. Loved the interaction with others. Food was what you'd expect from a Diner. Coffee was good, creamed chipped beef over biscuits with scrambled eggs also good. My wife had a sandwich and it was very good. My favorite was the hand pressed sausage patty and the desert pancake we shared. Caramel Apple Pancake.

Very slow. The two waitresses were busy but not very efficient - at least mine wasn't. My coffee cup stayed empty and had to flag not-my-waitress for a refill. Over easy eggs were cooked to hard yolks. Pancakes were good. Corned beef hash not good; no onions, very dry meat, potatoes seemed like the frozen-diced variety instead of hand cut & cooked. Step on down the street a couple miles to Dutch Corner in Manchester. Light-years better.

Hampstead Diner is a nice little diner tucked a little bit off Main Street. I've only been there on weekends and business seems to be pretty brisk in the morning. Service is down home Baltimore dinery with "hons" abound. Part of the reason I've only gone on a weekend is that they close relatively early during the week and are only open until 7pm Fri/Sat. That's ok, breakfast and lunch seem to be their wheelhouse anyway.

Their breakfast is pretty good with the standard bacon, eggs, etc. fare but they also have some interesting pancake combinations. Overall their breakfast is a good value and pretty tasty. Not quite as good as Dutch Corner in Manchester, but not too far off. I have had a few of their lunch/dinner dishes. Overall, they were solid, but nothing special. Except for the hot dogs...sweet jesus are those things good. The platter gives you 2 fried in butter dogs topped with chili mustard and onion along with fries. Man I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. They have a nice selection of shakes that I'm usually too full to try but I hear the maple bacon shake is a thing of beauty.

A good spot for a leisurely casual weekend breakfast or lunch with family and friends.