Joe Jr's

Many New Yorkers enjoy comfort food as much as their suburban brethren and in America, the restaurant of choice for comfort food is the diner. These places appeal to Americans for so many fundamental reasons - large portions, low prices, long hours (many are open 24/7), fast service and typically an enormous, extensive menu of virtually every staple in the American diet - even breakfast items can be had all day.
Of course in New York, we just love those legendary places and iconic diners are no exception with places like the Market Diner in Chelsea and Moondance in SoHo which made big news when it was sold and completely moved to Wyoming in 2007.
Food reviews at diners are mixed - much depends on individual tastes and also the type of dish ordered - food quality can vary more than in a typical restaurant - a place may be good for burgers and breakfast but not great for filet of salmon. The safe bet is to go with simple, low risk, "standard" fare.
Joe Jr's Restaurant gets rave reviews with numerous patrons calling it the "best diner on earth" and other superlatives. I have only eaten there a couple of times so I leave you to be the final arbiter. Joe Jr's has two locations - the one in the photo is at 482 6th Avenue; the second location is at 167 3rd Avenue in the East Village. These establishments have been around since the 1930s and have stood the test of time ...