Sunnyside Diner

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^
I don't think anyone has been negative towards the place; in fact I think all of the reviews (my own included) have been very positive. If a place is in its first week and the worst thing said about it is that the eggs weren't cooked absolutely perfectly, then they are doing pretty well.

Besides, I have this issue with eggs in lots of well-established and reputable places. To some extent it is because of varying opinions about what constitutes easy vs medium. Which is ridiculous. Everyone should use the same standard.

[TheTravellers]

^^^^^^^^
I don't think anyone has been negative towards the place; in fact I think all of the reviews (my own included) have been very positive. If a place is in its first week and the worst thing said about it is that the eggs weren't cooked absolutely perfectly, then they are doing pretty well.

Besides, I have this issue with eggs in lots of well-established and reputable places. To some extent it is because of varying opinions about what constitutes easy vs medium. Which is ridiculous. Everyone should use the same standard.

Oh, I know, I wasn't saying everybody said bad things, it's just that now I *never* go to places within a few months of opening because I've *always* regretted it in the past when I did, so now I just wait to let things settle down.

And yes, I agree that egg and steak standards should be just that, standard, but humans....

[kevinpate]

Gross! I want my food where nothing touches.

Never think about what may be going on in your throat or tummy at, or after, meal time then.

Some foods are made to not only touch, but rub up all over each other and shout the other's name while they be at it.

[Roger S]

Went back for a second try this morning since I had to spend the day in the office. Arrived about 7:45 and they were already pretty busy. All the booths were full and only a couple of tables open. Bar was empty so I sat up there.

Ordered the chicken fry steak. eggs over-medium. hashbrowns, and sour dough toast, with coffee.

The chicken fried steak is off the freaking hook good! Lightly breaded and seasoned perfectly with a great cream gravy. I will give you one word of caution if you do not like your chicken fried steak the way I do with a little texture to it... This is tenderized cube steak and you will notice right away that it still has some chew to it. You will have to chew on each bite and you will need the knife provided to cut it. But trust me. There is no reason to get in a hurry to swallow each bite. You will want to chew, and savor, it as long as possible.

My eggs were probably a little closer to over easy than a lot of you might like but personally I would rather have them slightly undercooked, rather than overcooked, since I love a runny yolk, and it was closer to over medium than the over hard I was served the other day.

I was also served some grape jelly with my toast today. They were scooping it from a container so I don't know if it was house made, or not, but it went great with the sourdough toast..... Which brings me to the only negative of this visit. My coffee was never refilled and hot coffee would have put that jellied, sourdough, toast over the top.

Now I don't feel that the adjectives ignored, or forgotten, are the correct words for the misstep in service.... I think I was more, just, lost in the shuffle. As they were definitely slammed at this point and additional waitstaff was streaming in for relief.

When I left at about 8:20 there were about a dozen people sitting in the waiting area waiting to be seated and I passed several more walking in as I was headed to my car.

So there are still a few hiccups but they are aware of them and I'm positive they will get worked out and I'm also positive this place is going to knock it out of the park. If you are going for breakfast you are going to want to get there when they open or be prepared to wait for a table.

And one other piece of advice.... There is a huge parking lot on the south side of the building. Take advantage of it.

[Pete]

^

Really enjoy and appreciate your detailed restaurant reviews!

[Roger S]

^

Really enjoy and appreciate your detailed restaurant reviews!

Thanks.... Maybe since Tim let EatAroundOKC, quite possibly one of, if not, the best local food review sites for any city, fade into obscurity... You should start a branch of OKCTalk for local food reviews and I could write for it.... I used to write for EatAroundOKC and I do eat other foods than BBQ.... lol .... Actually I've eaten so much outstanding BBQ in my travels that it's gotten really hard to eat mediocre BBQ at all anymore.

[kevinpate]

I miss eataroundokc.com as well. Pete, he's on to something. I wonder if that content even exists anywhere anymore. Maybe on wayback.org if no where else.

[Urbanized]

I think the jellies/jams must be house made. The other day I had an excellent blueberry jam with whole blueberries in it, which I forgot to mention.

Regarding coffee refills I experienced the same thing on one of my visits. I theorized at time that it was because most of the waitstaff probably didn't come from a diner background so might not yet understand the priority that diner customers usually place on coffee refills. In most established diners the coffee refills are usually offered to the point where they border on annoying, at which point you wave them off.

[Roger S]

I miss eataroundokc.com as well. Pete, he's on to something. I wonder if that content even exists anywhere anymore. Maybe on wayback.org if no where else.

Wayback would be the only place.... The domain was bought as soon as it expired.

Tim was really doing a lot of good with that site and like I said it was probably the best, and most comprehensive, site dedicated to any city's food scene but unfortunately other priorities of life took it away from us.

[Roger S]

I think the jellies/jams must be house made. The other day I had an excellent blueberry jam with whole blueberries in it, which I forgot to mention.

Oh wow.... That sounds right up my, blueberry loving, alley!

[Pete]

Wayback would be the only place.... The domain was bought as soon as it expired.

Tim was really doing a lot of good with that site and like I said it was probably the best, and most comprehensive, site dedicated to any city's food scene but unfortunately other priorities of life took it away from us.

I talked to him about partnering up some time ago but I really did respect what he was doing.

But 1) it takes an enormous amount of time and 2) there was really no money to be made.

Same could be said about this site but we have many more contributors and I'm dumb enough to keep doing it just out of passion.

[Roger S]

I talked to him about partnering up some time ago but I really did respect what he was doing.

But 1) it takes an enormous amount of time and 2) there was really no money to be made.

Yep.... It is definitely all about passion... I've spent thousands of dollars on my project and other than getting an invite to the soft opening and some free burnt ends at Butcher BBQ, because they know me from the KCBS circuit, I've received no monetary compensation for what I do.

And I don't know all the circumstances behind what lead to Tim having to step away from EatAroundOKC and I do know he tried to revive it a couple of times near the end and I had a couple of reviews waiting in the queue that were never posted.... I know how life can get in the way of our passions because I came close to ending my project, and it has really slowed down, due to an extremely heavy work load and some marital issues..... The 2016 OKC Rib Tour almost didn't happen this year due to that and losing some judges due to scheduling conflicts and illness.

[Pete]

^

Yes, to really do things right, it takes a tremendous amount of time and continuous commitment.

And if you don't have the time to do it right, it's not worth doing at all IMO.

[Paseofreak]

Everyone's work on EatAroundOkc was pretty great and most appreciated, but Andrew's Shady Restaurant series was genius! I still go to many of the places he dug out of obscurity.

[Roger S]

Everyone's work on EatAroundOkc was pretty great and most appreciated, but Andrew's Shady Restaurant series was genius! I still go to many of the places he dug out of obscurity.

Andrew's Shady Restaurant reviews was what inspired me to start my blog..... If you've read my blog you may notice a similar writing style because I'm always trying to inject some humor into the story.

Tamales El Patio is a perfect example of a place I would never know about without Andrew and his shady adventures.... so let me use that and my love of a good tamale to segue us back to Sunnyside..... has anyone tried the pork tamal at Sunnyside yet?

[David]

Tried it again on Saturday morning after my run down at the river, the place was packed at around 8-ish. Would have had to wait for a table except for the bar having some open seats.

I imagine that my experience last week with it being nearly empty was just a combination of it being about 6 AM and from going in the day after opening.

[Roger S]

Neighbors dogs woke me up at 5 AM this morning so I decided I might as well go have some breakfast.

Tried the biscuits and gravy and they are really good. The yolks in my over-medium eggs were perfect this morning. So I think they are getting most of the kinks worked out.

[catch22]

This will be on my list of places to try in a few weeks when I come down! I love all things breakfast.

[Martin]

went today and ordered breakfast for lunch... everything tasted great but my order arrived wrong and then its replacement arrived wrong. the order was taken correctly but somehow the kitchen didn't get it right... twice. they handled everything very professionally, so no worries there but there are definitely some communications problems that need to be ironed out. overall, though, this is a great place and i'll definitely be back. -M

[bucktalk]

Gave Sunnyside Diner a try this morning. Nice vibes, good attitude from waitress. Place was very clean. Service: B+, food quality A. There was a small mistake on our order but it was corrected fairly quickly with apology. Would I go back? Absolutely!!

[Roger S]

I noticed they have an ad out looking for experienced line cooks. Sounds like the issues may be inexperience or understaffing in the kitchen.

I was one of two people in there first thing this morning and it took longer than it should have for my order of biscuits and gravy to come out. The waitress apologized for it but it all worked out in the end as I was doing updates on our office server with my phone at the time. So I was in no big hurry.... Now the growing crowd of people coming in as I was leaving might have been affected a little more by it.

[Tundra]

Went for breakfast this morning, and got the biscuits and gravy, eggs over easy and bacon. Coffee cup sat empty for quite awhile before it was refilled and they weren't all that busy.... My meal arrived and the first bite I took was of the b&g and it was lukewarm, they guy I was with asked me if my gravy was hot, so it wasn't just me... Waiter never came back by to check on us, so we just kept eating...honestly even though it was lukewarm it was so damn good it didn't matter that much too me.

When the waiter came back by finally I did tell him the temperature just wasn't right and had it not been so good, I woulda had him take it back. My eggs were more medium than over easy, but also still had a good flavor. I'll be back but they need to correct the few little issues I experienced , not everyone will be as easy going as I was...

I too noticed they are looking owing for line cooked and wait staff, that tells me they are aware of the problems people are having..

[catch22]

Sounds like lack of experience. New servers either over-refill, or under-refill; either over-check or under-check tables. It's part of the confidence thing. They just lose track of time, and either check too often and annoy, or don't check enough and frustrate.

[AP]

I went on Saturday morning and the service was excellent. The biscuits and gravy were delicious. Coffee remained full the entire time. The wife and I decided this will definitely go into our regular weekend breakfast rotation.

[Bullbear]

We went Sunday and there was about a 30 minute wait. Very nice touch to have coffee at the hostess stand for us to have coffee while we wait. we had French Toast, The chicken Biscuit and the hangry man breakfast. All were great! the roasted potatoes I really enjoyed and tried a bite of hash browns and they were very good as well. The French Toast was good but LOTS OF FRUIT on it. I prefer less but that's just a personal preference I will probably get plain French toast next time if I go that way. The eggs were over medium and were cooked correctly. Was a great breakfast we will be back.