Ellen's Stardust Diner

Ellen's wait staff last night were an amazing group of performers. Two of the women, especially had voices that should be heard on a Broadway stage or a recording instead of this Broadway diner. Have read a great deal of reviews of Ellen's on this site and have to say to the negative comments about service that if you go there you should be aware that service can be slow because your servers are also your entertainment. For the negatives about the tip jar they pass around, you should also understand that these servers are not paid well, and living off of their tips, which in a tourist place can be iffy. Obviously the management there is cheap. The food is basic, the place kinda shabby, and they are getting the maxiumum use out of a minumum number of staff. Actually, it was kinda interesting to watch a waiter sing and enter an order into the computer at the same time. The food reviews that are positve here are probably not from folks use to fine dining. However, the food is servicable and no different than what you'd find at the other touristy spots like Planet Hollywood or Hard Rock. Don't go there if you are in a rush. Don't go there if you are looking for a great meal. Don't go there if you are looking for a cheap meal (tourist restaurant + tourist restaurant prices). But DO go there if you want a different type of entertainment experience with your meal. Again, as performers, this wait staff is phenominal!

We went here with about seven kids, and we were seated right up front, where everyone was singing. It was so fun! Our waitress was very nice and even sang Happy Birthday to a girl in our group. We very much enjoyed the singing, and the hilarious "Single Ladies" Dance done by another waitor. The food was great as well! I would recommend this to anyone with kids, or anyone looking for a day of fun!

My sister & I selected this restaurant because of the singing waiters. Upon entering this establishment, we were seated in a very busy area. The location was inappropriate , due to the fact that people passing by would inadvertently hit Maxine, which became very annoying. To curtail this issue, Max moved over into another seat. Maxine received her order first, which was meat loaf & supposedly real mashed potatoes, (not) with rye bread & butter. she had to request that the mashed potatoes be warmed for they were cold! Reluctantly the wait staff took her plate back to be warmed. She also requested additional butter for she had only received two small tubs. In the meantime, I finally received my order of corned beef on rye. The bottom bread was falling apart, the top was hard not toasted. I was willing to deal with this & just eat the meat. I requested mustard, and to my shock & horror , I was given yellow mustard! Who puts yellow mustard on corn beef or pastrami? I wanted brown mustard , that's the mustard for these type of sandwiches., besides that the meat was salty as hell! The wait staff returned with 6 tubs of butter that were frozen solid. Tell me, how in the hell can anyone spread frozen butter on your bread? By this time Max had enough and stated " I am Not happy" I knew it was time to go, for I wasn't happy either, plus I had to get Max out of there! I asked our waitress for the check! I told her we didn't want the food. She removed the plates without uttering one single word of apology or even asking what the problem was! She didn't have any concern about our displeasure at all. I was going to tip her for her efforts, but due to her lack of concern, she got nothing! We hightailed it right straight to Juniors and got a terrific meal! The old adage stick to what you know rings true in this instance!! The food & service was absolutely lousy! We will never go back there ever again!

I've been to NY many times, but this past January was the first time I'd been to Ellen's. We went with a large group and the manager was very accomodating and sat us in a great spot to see the performing. The singing servers was amazing and our even did a tribute song to our entire table. The food was great, along with the atmosphere and I will definitely return when I visit the city again this summer. AMAZING!!

My sister and I took my daughter and our niece there before an evening show. Arrived at 630, seated quickly, short wait. Waiter took our orders, brought our drinks, we were thoroughly enjoying the entertainment. It was getting close to 730 and our food hadn't arrived, ane parties who were seated after us were getting their food. I don't know what happened, maybe the waiter forgot to place our order? We had to go, so I asked the manager if I could just pay for the drinks, that we couldn't wait for the food because we would be late for the show. He said no charge for the drinks, and apologized. We were disappointed, and to say the least, starving. So my advice is to give yourselves plenty of time, and make sure your waiter knows you have to be somewhere.

Went there today with my 3 kids. My two little guys split a meal, my son had a hot dog and my aunt and I split nachos and a vanilla shake with water for all and it was $53. I felt ripped off!

It was the most fun I ever had at a restaurant! I loved the singing and I even sang along to some of them!