Diners. Every has great childhood memories at their favorite, neighborhood diner. As I've gotten older, I realized something about diners - they are more than just a go-to for late night meals, they are for desserts.

Recently, I celebrated my birthday in Harrisburg with my twin brother. We went to Bricco - 10/10 would recommend - for dinner and it was about 9:30 p.m. by the time we finished our meals.

By this time, we were craving our birthday dessert, but no bakeries were open this late, so I figured that diners might have dessert, right?

With that thought in mind, we decided to finish the night off with a celebratory piece of cake at the Front Street Diner. The diner had a whole case full of of baked delicacies. 

I was drooling over each piece of dessert and suddenly realized that no other place would offer foods such as Baklava Cheesecake or Snicker's Cheesecake at this time of night, not even a bakery. Diners have proven themselves superior to bakeries.

1. Lower Cost, Same Quality

cake, cream, mousse, cheesecake, pie, chocolate
Phillip Massey

If I were to go to my local bakery, I would find similar desserts as those of my local diner. There would be the layered Napoleon, the New York Style Cheesecake, the German Chocolate Cake and more. 

A family-run diner typically holds a lower price, but provides the same quality of desserts that bakeries do. Diners are known for their inexpensive food and late night meals, while bakeries are famous for their high quality, costly pastries. In reality, the desserts from diners have the same amount of taste in your mouth, but a different one in your wallet.

2. Diners Pull Through

candy, pastry, cookie, pie, cake, chocolate, sweet, Dessert
Phillip Massey

The magnificent desserts in the photo above come from my local diner, Lancer's. While the bakery down the street will run out of pastries at 6 p.m., diners like Lancer's will satisfy your late night, sweet tooth cravings with a full bakery case. Bakeries show us a barren case, while diners give us a packed one.

3. Like pie, diners are always there for you

Little known factoid: The average bakery has a closing time of 9 p.m. at the latest. This bummed me out until diners came to my rescue. Like most diners, Lancer's and the Front Street Diner are open 24 hours.

Underrated diners provide late night sweets that are low-cost and as satisfying as the bakery down the street. While that bakery nearby may be your favorite, it runs out of desserts and closes before you finish dinner. So friends, count on your local diner; it'll come in clutch.