South Street Diner - Boston, MA

South Street Diner - 5.3


One of my favorite parts about living in the northeast is the variety of old fashioned diners. Suburban New England is full of great diners, but it is often tough to find one right in the city. The South Street Diner is open 24 hours and located right by south station at 178 Kneeland St.
The diner, built in 1947, has tons of history with scenes from Hiding Out with Jon Cryer (classic 80's film) and Second Sight with John Larroquette and much more importantly, Bronson Pinchot!

For Bronson Pinchot moment of zen, click here.

Location: The bathroom is right where you'd expect it to be after walking in. It's at the far end of the diner, in between the counter and the tables. In other words, next to the jukebox. Pretty intuitive.
Grade: 7 out of 10

Accessibility: There's a lot of people coming in and out of the south street diner, especially late at night. During the slower hours, it should still be reasonably easy to make your way in and use the rest room.
Grade: 7 out of 10

Number of Stalls: As far as I could tell, there are no stalls. More accurately, there is just one room. And that room is both the men's and women's bathroom. eek.
Grade: 1 out of 10


Stall Quality: Ahem? Do you mean room quality? OH! RIGHT! The room is a bit on the small side, with a toilet that is off centered. That usually worries me. There is an effective lock though.
Grade: 3 out of 10

Toiler Paper: Could be an issue here. There was one roll and it wasnt covered up. I did not see other rolls readily available and in an emergency, yo might need to tap into that extra roll.
Grade: 4 out of 10

Cleanliness: During my visit, the bathroom was clean. It was not during their peak hours. There will be normal wear and tear when theyre busy, but this seems like a good sign.
Grade: 7 out of 10

Scent: Nothing noticeable - BUT - as it is one restroom for the whole diner it could be a nightmare if someone unleashes.
Grade: 5 out of 10

Flush: The flush started out with a fury and teeters out somewhat after that. It should get the job done.
Grade: 6 out of 10

Aesthetics: Surprisingly, there was some effort put in to make the bathroom a bit interesting. There's a nice mural on the back of the door as well as some framed art, somewhat in the style of a layered diorama. I like the effort and the art itself.
Grade: 8 out of 10



The Bottom Line: There are some plusses and minuses here. As for the plusses, walking in is easy and the restroom will likely be functional. However, there is just one restroom for the whole restaurant. The diner is great, but I wouldnt necessarily use restroom unless I had to or it wasn't busy in there.