Golden Diner came on the scene back in 2019, putting an Asian spin on diner classics, with items like brightly colored Thai Cobb salads with fish sauce-y vinaigrette, and breakfast sandwiches with scallion pancake-style milk buns. TikTok crowds got wind of the diner around 2024, leading to longer wait times. But while coming here might require more planning (or patience) than it used to, the food remains consistently worth the wait.
Your odds of getting in have recently increased slightly: Now, Golden Diner opens an hour earlier at 9 a.m. Two days in, fans were on it already, with a line of about 10 to 15 people around 8:50 a.m. But once we left at 10:30 a.m., crowds thinned considerably.
If the line looms, pop down the block to the Mandarin, the cute coffee place just down the street, and pick up a honey pistachio hojicha latte to keep you warm while you wait.