Metro Diner Raleigh
Rating
Family of 4
Roughly $60 to $95 for a family of four, before tip, with two adult entrees and two kids' plates.
Duration
60 to 90 minutes including the wait for a table. The kitchen moves quickly once you are seated, which is the nature of a diner, so the variable is almost entirely how long you stand at the door. A weekday mid-morning or mid-afternoon visit can be done in 45 to 60 minutes. A Saturday or Sunday arrival between 9 a.m. and noon can push past 90 minutes once you add the wait. If this is a stop between other plans, treat it as a full hour minimum.
Best Ages
Strong across the board, and one of the easier picks for the 2 to 10 range. Metro Diner publishes an actual children's menu with pint-sized versions of its own dishes, including a small Fried Chicken and Waffles plus grilled cheese and mac and cheese, which covers both the adventurous kid and the one who eats nothing but beige food. Breakfast is served all day, so a toddler who only wants pancakes at 5 p.m. is a non-issue. Big kids and tweens tend to be impressed by the portions, which run large enough to be a talking point. Teens do well on the burger, chicken tender plate and meatloaf side of the menu. Infants are fine in a carrier or a highchair, though the room gets loud and tight during the weekend breakfast rush, so a weekday visit is far easier with a baby.
About
Metro Diner on Falls of Neuse Road is the North Raleigh location of an all-day breakfast chain, and it earns its spot on a family list for two boring, load-bearing reasons: breakfast is served all day, and there is a genuine children's menu. Between those two facts, almost any kid at your table can be fed without negotiation.
The kids menu is not an afterthought. Metro Diner offers pint-sized versions of its own breakfast, lunch and dinner favorites, including a small Fried Chicken and Waffles, plus grilled cheese and mac and cheese for the child who has decided that beige is the only acceptable color of food. On the adult side, the Fried Chicken and Waffles and the Iron City Meatloaf are the signatures, the latter having been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Portions are famously large, which matters practically: three entrees and an extra plate can reasonably feed four people if your kids are young.
The thing to plan around is the wait. This location carries roughly 3,682 Google reviews at 4. 5 stars, and that kind of volume at a breakfast diner means weekend mornings between about 9 a.
m. and noon are the busiest hours of the week. Expect 20 to 45 minutes at the door in that window.
The workaround is built into the concept: since breakfast never comes off the menu, a Tuesday at 3 p. m. gets you identical pancakes in a half-empty room.
That is the single most useful piece of strategy for a parent here.
Logistics. The restaurant sits in the Sutton Square shopping center off Falls of Neuse Road, with free surface parking, so no garage math. Online ordering, delivery, curbside pickup and catering are all available, and there are Family Meal to-go bundles built to feed four, which is a real option on a night when nobody has the energy for a public dining room.
Reported hours run roughly 8 a. m. to 8 p.
m. , but the chain's own location page did not display times when we checked it, so call (919) 578-9053 before an early or late trip. We could not verify changing tables at this location, so plan on the car for diaper changes and bring a portable kit.
Budget on roughly $60 to $95 for a family of four before tip. Kids' items run in the single digits, with one children's plate posted at $7.49, while adult entrees price at the upper end of diner range because of the portion sizes. Water instead of four sodas and one shared entree between younger siblings keeps you near the low end.
It is loud, it is busy, and it is fast once you sit down. For a family, that combination usually beats a quiet room where a five year old has to whisper.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Limited
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
Available
Setting
Indoor
Rainy Day
Great option!
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Weekday mid-morning or the 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. lull. This is a well-reviewed all-day breakfast diner with nearly 3,700 Google reviews, which is another way of saying weekend mornings are the busiest hours of its week. The quiet trick is that because breakfast runs all day, you can eat pancakes and chicken and waffles at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday in a half-empty dining room and get exactly the same food. Reported hours run roughly 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., but the chain's own location page did not display times when we checked, so call (919) 578-9053 or check metrodiner.com before an early or late trip.
Wait Times
No admission line, but the table wait is the thing to plan around. Expect 20 to 45 minutes on a weekend morning between roughly 9 a.m. and noon, and close to zero on a weekday outside the breakfast and lunch rushes. We could not confirm whether this location takes reservations or runs a call-ahead waitlist, so call before you go if a wait would sink your morning. Curbside pickup and delivery are offered, which is the reliable workaround when the parking lot at Sutton Square is full.
Nearby Food
You are eating here, so the useful angle is what else is within reach on this stretch of Falls of Neuse Road. Winston's Grille is the closest option in our directory. Beyond that, the Sutton Square shopping center and the surrounding North Raleigh corridor hold coffee shops, bakeries, ice cream and casual chains within a five minute drive, which matters if the weekend wait outlasts your kids' patience. Grabbing a coffee elsewhere in the same center and coming back is far easier here than at a downtown restaurant with no parking.
Why Kids Love It
Pancakes for dinner is technically illegal at home and completely normal here. The plates arrive comically large, the chicken and waffles come in a kid-sized version so a six year old gets the same thing the adults ordered, and mac and cheese is right there on the children's menu as a backup. Diners are loud and busy, which means a chatty kid blends in instead of standing out.
Pro Tips from Parents
- Go on a weekday, or go weekend at open. With nearly 3,700 Google reviews, weekend mornings between 9 a.m. and noon are the crush. Breakfast is served all day, so a 3 p.m. Tuesday visit gets you the same pancakes with no wait.
- Order off the kids menu even for a picky eater. It includes a pint-sized Fried Chicken and Waffles plus grilled cheese and mac and cheese, so both the adventurous kid and the beige-food kid are covered.
- Split adult entrees. Portions here are large enough that two kids can reasonably share one plate. Ask your server which entrees are the biggest before ordering four separate meals.
- Confirm hours before an early or late trip. The chain location page did not display times when we checked and third-party listings show roughly 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Call (919) 578 to 9053 to be sure.
- Use curbside or delivery when the lot is full. This location sits in the Sutton Square shopping center off Falls of Neuse Road, and online ordering with curbside pickup beats circling with kids in the car.
- Bring a car-based diaper kit. We could not verify changing tables at this location, so do not count on them.
What to Bring
- Something quiet for the table during a weekend morning wait
- A diaper kit you can use in the car, since changing tables are unconfirmed
- An appetite, or a to-go plan, because the portions here are genuinely oversized
- A stroller you are willing to fold and park, since diner aisles are tight
- Headphones or a book for a noise-sensitive kid, because the room is loud at peak
- The phone number, (919) 578 to 9053, to check the wait before you leave the house
Cost Info
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
Roughly $60 to $95 for a family of four, before tip, with two adult entrees and two kids' plates.
Metro Diner's kids' items are listed in the single digits, with one children's plate posted at $7.
49, and adult entrees like the Iron City Meatloaf and Fried Chicken and Waffles sit at the higher end of diner pricing because the portions are large.
Prices change, so confirm on metrodiner.
com.
The parking is free surface parking in the Sutton Square shopping center, so there is nothing to add for that.
Tips to Save
- Portion size is the money lever here.
- Metro Diner is known for oversized plates, so ordering three entrees for four people and an extra plate is a legitimate strategy, especially with kids under about 8.
- Ask your server which items are biggest before you order.
- The all-day breakfast menu is generally the cheapest part of any diner menu, and here you can order it at dinner, which turns a dinner bill into a breakfast bill.
- There are Family Meal to-go bundles designed to feed four, which are worth pricing out against dining in if you would rather eat at home anyway.
- Water instead of four sodas is the easiest ten dollars you will save.
- And if you are heading to a paid attraction afterward, eating a full breakfast here first means you are not buying $6 snacks two hours later.
