We just needed to see how Connecticut does diners, being from New Jersey which is the diner capital of the world. We stopped in at the Mystic Diner right after visiting the aquarium and before heading over to the historic seaport. The menu was just as large as a Jersey diner, but I wanted to get something along the lines of what I normally get as to compare it. If you are reading this and are not from New Jersey, you may have a hard time understanding. We take our diners very seriously. It is almost like a culture in itself.

Paninis are a favorite of mine, so I went with a simple Dijon Chicken Panini. It had juicy grilled chicken, Swiss cheese, and tomato, in addition to a generic packaged Dijon mustard, which I was not crazy about. The bread was toasted to perfection but the cheese was not melted and the sandwich itself was luke-warm. The side of fries was mostly limp and soggy, and the cole-slaw was a cold block of bland nothingness. My friend ordered the Hawaiian French Toast, which looked amazing. Upon first bite he said it was very good, but the fresh pineapple which they put on top was not quite ripe yet. The chunks were bitter, which in turn kind of threw off the taste of the dish.

This is a short review because there really is not much to say. Both meals we had were average—neither bad nor exceptionally good. My friend did have a “milk-less” mango milkshake which was good, but aside from that, nothing stood out. This diner would fit in with many in New Jersey that are just “okay”. You really have to dig deep to find the all-time greats. Mystic Diner is a place you should visit out of sheer convenience if you can’t break the bank with more expensive restaurants near the seaport or the shops at “Olde Mistick” which are across the street. They are in a great location. I’ll give them a very average 3 out of 5 stars. Maybe I should have been more adventurous, but I expected a simple panini to be a little bit better.

This review was previously posted here. The Mystic Diner is located at 253 Greenmanville Avenue in Mystic, Connecticut.