The Hightstown Diner in NJ, as seen on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

I'm a fan of the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. I think it's great that Guy Fieri highlights little local places and showcases them, giving them exposure they wouldn't normally have gotten. Like many others, I want to try and make it to a lot of these places, to sample what they have to offer.

Well, I've known for years that one of the places-- the Hightstown Diner in Hightstown, NJ-- was pretty close to me. It was featured on The New Jersey Diner Tour episode. Now, having lived in Jersey all my life, I know a thing or two about Jersey diners. I was slightly disappointed in this one in that it does not fit one of my criteria for diners-- must be open 24 hours. Alas! I gave it a chance anyway.

On the Food Network show, Guy Fieri sampled and focused on the corned beef hash. They make their own from scratch, and add bell peppers and onions and such. So, I figured I should order it to see if it was as good as they made it out to be. I also got French Toast. If you've read my other article, that probably comes as no surprise.

The hash was good, certainly way better than anything you'll find in a can. I'm not a huge hash fiend, so it's probably not something that I'd order again, but the portion was very generous and you could really taste the vegetables in it. As Guy Fieri points out in the show, it has a bit of a crunch to the edges and is cooked well.

My French Toast was also delightful-- big, thick bread cooked nicely, and again, a generous portion of it. I had leftovers of both hash and toast for breakfast the following morning.

Next morning's leftovers

So, if you find yourself in that area of Jersey ever, give this place a try. It's not necessarily way different than other diners, but I'd say it's one of the better ones in the area. And their menu is quite extensive, food is tasty, and service was good.

 

Here's the clip of the show!

 

 

(Not sure if that YouTube video I tried to embed is showing up...)