This is one of my very favorite diners in San Diego. I love the movie theme and the decorations of the diner. Today we had breakfast. I enjoyed their French toast very much as always. The service is friendly and professional. I always look forward to coming back here each time, I'm in San Diego. Highly recommend a visit to studio diner read more

Studio Diner - This is their very tasty French toast with extra butter. Delicious. - American Near Me - San Diego, California

Neat classic diner style location. Excellent menu choices. Everyone in our party enjoyed their breakfast. The orders were taken accurately and delivered promptly. Nothing to dislike. read more

Great experience, good customer service and overall met my expectations with the taste of the food.

We visited San Diego for my son's 11th birthday and he was dying to visit a Guy Fieri Diners, Drive-ins and Dives reviewed place and so we stopped into Studio Diner. While parking was tough to come by the ambiance was genuine to the 50s theme of the old fashion diner. We came for breakfast and we came hungry. What I loved: Count of Monte Cristo AMAZINGLY AWESOME!! I freaking came back a second day in a row just for it! Great vibes of the 50s diner. French toast, Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise sauce, hash and omelet were excellent. My son loved his BBQ Wings. What I didn't love: Hey, Guy picked a good place and quite honestly the only thing I could really complain about was the very limited parking. Fortunately, we ate both times late in the morning which made it easier to get a spot. I loved Studio Diner and can't even begin to describe and crazy awesome the Count of Monte Cristo is. I was so full after eating them but man it was well worth it. Like I said, I came back two days in a row just for these puppies! read more

See all

Food was great I was really full excellent service Country steak had great flavor. With a lot more food than I thought there would be. Highly recommend this place to eat. read more

So I went to Studio Diner last night for a banana split, which have been delicious every time I've been there. But last night I noticed there's no visible banana in there, I tell the waitress I think they forgot the banana and she says it's in there, I got 5 slices of banana in the whole thing. What is going on? There used to be a whole banana sliced in half one on each side. Do better Studio Diner read more

Returned when I had an errand to run in the neighborhood. It almost looked like the diner had been sold again. Apparently, the place was bought by the people who own The Godfather restaurant, a long tenured excellent Italian restaurant in Kearny Mesa. At around 1:00 pm I found the place doing only minimal business while being over-staffed at the same time. In spite of that I was served the wrong omelette and the wrong toast. After I had finished the waiter dropped my plate and utensils on my table and made a loud unsettling crash. For some reason when I arrived the greeter tried to seat me next to the front door entry, perhaps to give an impression that the place was busier than it actually was. I had to refuse and suggest another location. I'm sorry to say that the magic that was once The Studio Diner appears gone forever and will not be returning. And neither will I. read more

I'd been here before and it was good. Not so much this time. The French onion soup tasted like watered down beef broth. My wife had the meat loaf melt and it was not good either. Manuel was great at serving us. Breakfast looked good, that might be the only reason we'd ever go back. read more

My favs are the pork chops and the onion soup. I miss NY diners. Studio Diner has been a wonderful find. I am about 30+ miles north but travel for good food. I miss Jonathan. See you soon. read more

I went to the Studio Diner went it reopened just after the pandemic. I ordered my favorite sandwich. The Monte Christo was just not what I remembered. So very disappointed. BUT....... Went back again just yesterday (9/6/23) and ordered the same thing , just one more time. And YES the same great studio diner is back. Happy happy day read more

Studio Diner - American Near Me - San Diego, California

I loooove coming here, service is quick and they're nice. The place is cute, they have both inside and outside seating. I normally get the chicken Caesar wrap, and sliders, but they have a lot of other good food items. read more

Studio Diner - Banana split - American Near Me - San Diego, California

Air conditioner blows right on your table and a lot of small flies circling food. One landed in my drink. Charged be extra for a small amount of jelly for the Monte Christo which was very bland. The atmosphere is good and they are friendly enough but 3 stars is about it for this place. read more

Does everyone else remember Studio Diner pre Pandemic? It was a place you could meet up with friends 24 hours a day, eat for cheap and get portions so big that you were sure to have left overs. I hadn't been in a while so my bf and I ordered some food to go...we will not be returning. One of the items we ordered wasn't the correct item, the rest of our food was atrocious and mostly inedible. We spent over $60 on the worst meal we've had all year. A lot of beloved San Diego restaurants didn't make it past 2020 and as far as I'm concerned, neither did Studio Diner. read more

Studio Diner - Curdled hollandaise, anyone? - American Near Me - San Diego, California

This place was terrible. I ordered the biscuits and gravy at the recommendation of the waitress and the grave was almost clear - was definitely a powdered gravy - and they cut sausage links into it to try and pass it off as sausage gravy. It was not even edible. The waitress asked how it was and I told her it wasn't good and she said I'm so sorry, and walked away and she never asked again. Just dropped our check at the table. read more

I used to love coming here pre-pandemic! I always considered it an SD gem. I brought my family here on our way home to LA from Tijuana. I was hyping it the whole way there and was so excited to show them. Our waitress Priscilla was super nice and definitely eager to be of service. This review is for the food quality only. To start off, our food took nearly 40 minutes to come out and the place wasnt even busy at all (we came between lunch and dinner on a Tuesday). I ordered the ham benedict with a side salad as an appetizer but my salad came with my breakfast. My hollandaise sauce was broken which made it look very unappetizing and my poached eggs were overcooked and hard as a rock. My hash browns were undercooked but had a bunch of black debris from the grill. You can tell it hadn't been clean in a while. Gross. My daughters split a shortstack of pancakes and they were burnt on one side and undercooked on the other side. I understand staffing is hard these days but this is just not the quality I was used to receiving when I would frequent this place before 2020. Sad I won't be returning and can no longer recommend it. read more

See all

Haven't been here since after Covid. Definitely has a different feel to it. More like a "corporate" restaurant company feel not like a "mom &pop" ambiance. Some favorite food items are gone. It is not the Triple D restaurant that Guy Fieri showcased. It is more on par with what corporate restaurant chains did to ruin local favorites like the Broken Yolk, and others. This is on par with breakfast eateries like Snooze and Denny's. Service was not natural feeling; our waitress had a rehearsed (company designed) greeting and she was less than attentive. Our waitress looked like she got triple or quadruple seated on the patio shortly after she took our order. Only checked once with us on our wanting more coffee. Shortly after our food arrived and before we even had time to take a bite, she came by to ask how everything was My toast was served without offering me any jam which I mentioned. Then we never saw her again until she dropped off our check. Fortunately another waitress nearby was able to assist us with our requests for jam, a coffee refill, getting us a to-go container, and my asking for the check. As for the food, heavy handed on the white pepper in the chicken fried steak gravy. Breakfast burrito only had a spicy salsa and no pico de gallo available. Minor details, but typical of our experience in general. Previous owners would not have let things like that occur. Also, I just hate plastic laminated corporate menus almost as much as I hate ally plastic laminated corporate designed promotional flees, etc on the table! Arghh! I miss the old Studio Diner I once frequented often with family and friends. No need to return here again when I can go to better places in this neck of the woods like Fay's Diner & Cafe or Hoorah Breakfast Cafe for a good American breakfast. read more

The BEST pancakes EVER! My fiancé and i come here all the time. Whats funny is that i have been wanting to try their burgers but every time i come, i always get pancakes because they are THAT good. The service is also excellent, every single time! Also, their outside patio is dog friendly! read more

This place is very retro. Had a nice waitress and a great pancake. The rest of my breakfast was lack luster. Eggs were over cooked and the gravy is package or if they make Their own its a miss. Fairly pricey. I do not mind paying for quality. This was not. read more

Studio Diner - Chicken fried steak and pancake. - American Near Me - San Diego, California

A friend and I went there for lunch today and they really charged us for three small sides of dressing for our french fries. And the waiter seem to be put out that we asked for them They couldn't get any cheaper will never eat there again I recommend you to stay away too. read more

Studio Diner - Receipt - American Near Me - San Diego, California

Great food. Awesome service. Old-school attention to details. Great breakfast place in San Diego.

I frequent this place before Covid and it was my go to after the club since it opened late. But after Covid, as expected things have changed. They trimmed down the menu but lucky for me it still had my faves (Fish and Chips and Lobster Roll). Their customer service was great as our waiter was serving multiple other tables in his section. You can tell he was busy but his customer service was still great. The must have here is there breakfast and their East Coast food. Please come and support this awesome Diner. Pro Tip: They currently have a deal on Groupon which is great! read more

See all

Don't let anyone fool you - this is a great little diner! Their NY steak dinner is the best value in town!!! Definitely not a Denny's steak!! read more

Came here for dinner, honestly It was a pleasant visit. Our waiter and waitress were so nice, and the portion sizes were huge. We ended up taking some of it home. The service was great and the food was as well. I really like the ambience. Hope to go there again read more

Studio Diner - American Near Me - San Diego, California

I had talked my East Coast friends into driving over a hour to this place because Guy Fieri had said On his road trip that the Ipswich Fried Clams were so good. The restaurant did close during Covid and opened back up under new management, with that said this is one restaurant I will not be returning to. I was looking forward to the Ipswich clams and was completely disappointed! They were stuck together as one blob, extremely greasy and they tasted like old grease. Not one of my three other friends ate there meal and were all disappointed. read more

Studio Diner - Ipswich Fried Clams - American Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

The chicken strips were horrible both the chicken and coating. They tasted like a frozen dinner. Chicken strips should be crunchy and the chicken should be plump not thin & flat. The owners need to go to any chicken restaurant & learn how to make them properly. read more

Might be short staffed? We patiently waited close to 25 minutes with no acknowledgement. We walked out and asked for the managers name. Allison responded she's the supervisor on duty. There were 3 customers total in the restaurant. She acknowledged she didn't see us and offered no apology. Will never return. read more

Wow - they don't bother to answer their phone, then, when you go, they're closed. Their Yelp site says that they're open until 9:00 PM, but they're not. Anyplace that is this disorganized and disrespectful to their potential customers BEFORE you even have a meal there is gonna be horrible about everything else (food, service, etc.). I spent many a year working at a real, 24 hour, NY diner. So sad that they are so poor at customer service. read more

Studio Diner - Their posted hours - but they are certainly not accurate. - American Near Me - San Diego, California

Great food at Studio Diner, I was really impressed. The theme of the restaurant is cute and service is fast and friendly. Everyone was full and satisfied with our meals. If you're craving diner food and a good malt this is definitely the place to go. read more

See all

Learned of a cool breakfast (and lunch) spot near the hospital this morning. They've been atriums since 2003 . They open at 6am every day. Service was ok. Their AC was on blast-had to grab a jacket. It was chilly inside with the morning being nice to warm 75° outside. They had a really nice patio area with a view of the mountains. Food was worthy of another visit. I loved the old film movie set theme. read more

See all

Honestly kind of disappointed with my experience. I'm not sure if we just ordered the wrong things but it was not anything special. We ordered the strawberry french toast and the 2 eggs your way eggs with turkey sausage and an English muffin. The eggs were a nice sunny side up just how I like it. The sausage had a watery consistency. It was squishy and a burst of water released into your mouth when taking a bite. The country potatoes were okay. The peppers mixed in with the potatoes had a mushy defrosted texture. English muffin was good. The French toast part of the breakfast was actually good. The dish was ruined by the strawberries. There was an abundant amount of strawberries on top which in most cases would be good. However, the strawberries weren't fresh and were mushy just like the peppers. Again, it tasted like they were defrosted. I didn't even eat not one strawberry because of how gross the texture was. All in all, interior and theme are nice, service is okay and food was not anything special. I would be willing to give them another chance since they just opened back up. Just disappointed that most of our food tasted frozen. read more

Studio Diner - American Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

We have been to Studio Diner many times and have always had great food! The portions are very ample, and the service is attentive. They also have a nice selection of ice cream items and desserts. (And their burgers taste like real beef, too!) :) It's a nice cozy retro place to go. read more

I've so desperately wanted to go into this place but due to Covid it's been closed! I did not even know that this restaurant existed until I was in that area and doing some home remodel work. Then I saw a news story that it was going to be opening up, and of course lines in the beginning were wrapped around the entire area. So I waited a little while and was recently in the area again and didn't see anybody waiting - so I was able to be seated in the back patio area immediately. Of course the place was packed! But nothing like it was when I left after I got there was standing room in the parking lot and I had no idea where they thought all of these people were gonna be going inside and sitting together. I will say this, I will be back! I want to try so many of the other foods , breakfast lunch and dinner on the menus. And if any of it is as good as that meatloaf was today, I don't know how I would report a better review. read more

See all

Very reasonable price for good diner food. Service was fast and we enjoyed our food. Parking could be a little challenging is the down side. read more

Studio Diner - Chicken Country Fried Steak - American Near Me - San Diego, California

See all

I really like a good diner. They are expected to be casual, a place to for a welcoming environment, a good variety of food, and avg price. I want to rate this diner more, but need to be honest. The food was the best part by far. My wife had the BLT with avocado. It was a 5 and came with fries. The sandwich had great bread and quality of bacon and Avacado. I had the San Diego burger. I always rate burgers to Hodads as they are the best for me. The burger was a 5. Great burger with well amount of toppings like a Hodads. We both had shakes which were above avg. I would have liked them more thick vs milked down, but they were good. I had the chocolate and the other was the peanut butter banana. I give the service a 3. Basically nice server, but it was more like a basic sit you down and take order and drop food. They didn't come back for refills or additional needs like additional dressing. They ghosted. When you need a check you need to hunt them down. I had seen 3 other tables getting up looking for assistance. The miss on the food is the fries. For the cost of $19 for a burger and fries you will be disappointed in the amount of fries. Not many for sure which left half the plate empty. Cost would have been easier to take but the lack of fries. I would be more inclined at $15 for the burger and fries and allow the $4 upgrades to either onion rings or a salad. At the $19 with poor amount of the fries was sad. The worst part of the diner was the cleanliness on the walls and menus. When you get menus that have splatter and just dirt. The 1st thing you see when sitting down can be a turn off. read more

I really really wanted to give this place more stars but I find myself somewhat underwhelmed every time I order from here. It's not that the food isn't good...it's just nothing special in my opinion. Let's be real, I came to this restaurant because it was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It's not my first restaurant to visit from Triple D so I know that those places are hit and miss sometimes. This place isn't a total miss per se, but more so down the middle. Now as I said before, I've given this place a fair shot by trying out different dishes. First was one of the dishes that was featured on Triple D and also happens to be one of my favorite sandwiches in general - a Steak and Cheese sandwich. Their version here puts a little twist by adding bean sprouts in the sandwich. Sounds weird but honestly, I didn't really notice that it took away or added anything to the sandwich. So to me, that means "what's the point?" you know. I've also gotten the classic Monte Cristo sandwich and it just wasn't as crispy as I'm used to for this type of sandwich. Now I haven't tried any of their breakfast foods so maybe I'll give it one more shot before I make my final call on this place. Lastly, I guess I'm also used to diners having pretty reasonable (and some dare say, cheap) prices but to me one of Studio Diner's misses is their pricing. Both dishes above ended up being around $20 each and that was with no drink or other extras! If the food was 5 stars, fine. But so far, not so much. read more

See all

First I thought it was just a movie theme restaurant, but after reading about it, I found out it was built long time ago as a set, then turned into full time diner to cater to cast and crew back when they still running a studio next door Stu Segall Productions, as much involved in the industry now, I wish I was working at the golden age when they were making movies down in San Diego so I could experience that and not having to drive to LA all the time, it is a good market down here, yet less opportunity presents for some reasons; the studio now become a training ground to military and police, but what's inside the diner remained some great histories, including the like of James Brolin, Dan Aykroyd and many more who had dined here. The food were great too, I get to check out a few dishes including meat loaf, burger and hot dog, truly old fashioned American style, the interior design made you feel like you were inside a film trailer back in the day, they have movies memorabilia and props on the wall, also a back patio seatings for larger group gathering. I will start coming here more often due to my annual meeting. read more

See all

We were really excited to go back to Studio Diner after it finally opened again. I honestly don't usually write reviews on Yelp but I just couldn't not say anything about our...interesting experience. We walked in and was told a 20-minute wait, which ended up only being maybe 10. We got seated and waited a bit for our waitress to come greet us. My fiancé got a Mihammy Vice and asked if he could get French fries instead of hash browns. Our waitress said yes and asked if he wanted shoestring fries or farm fries, he picked farm fries. I got a spinach egg Benny and asked for the hash brown extra crispy. Both of our entrees come with a side of fresh fruit, based on the menu. We waited for a while for our food to come, but expected the long wait since we read the reviews and didn't think much of it since they were pretty packed. Another waitress brought our food, and I realized my hash browns didn't look extra crispy. At the time I didn't want to voice anything since this wasn't our server. She then put down my fiancé's food, which had the sandwich, shoestring fries, then an extra plate of farm fries. My fiancé told her we didn't get extra fries, we asked for substitute. The waitress apologized and said she'll take off the extra side. We also realized that we didn't get a side of fresh fruit with our food, and it took a while before we waved down the waitress that brought our food (because we couldn't find our waitress) and asked for the fresh fruit. I then told her I asked for extra crispy hash browns, she said she'll bring me some new ones. I was so surprised when she brought me my EXTRA crispy hash browns as you can see in the picture, and gave me a look. I actually like it really crispy but I think the comparison is quite...apparent and honestly could not believe the passive aggressive-ness. The real highlight had to be when we asked for the check and our original waitress pointed at the extra crispy hash browns and asked what THAT is, I then told her it was the extra crispy hash browns and she honestly LOL'd and walked away. We still got charged the extra side of fries but we didn't fight it, at that point I was so done and just wanted to leave. It took another 5-10 minutes before someone else noticed us waiting and took our card. All in all the food wasn't bad, but it's very apparent that the service needs A LOT of improvement. And till that, I'd rather go to Denny's than here to get my food with no attitude and save some time. read more

See all

This place is San Diego's secret, I've never had a better breakfast. Service is perfect, fast as could be. Don't forget to check out the patio. There is a big parking lot next door that people don't realize. The place is much larger inside than it looks. Gonna be our new go-to for sure. read more

Studio Diner - American Near Me - San Diego, California

Stopped in on a Wednesday night around 8pm. Last minute yelp search. And we were pleasantly surprised. It's got a cool movie theme (hence the name, Studio Diner) and the menus options are movie themed. Pretty cool. I'd say the food is definitely in the high 4's. Nice size potions and very tasty. I myself got the Pancake, eggs , and sausage, however I was given the bacon. I'd say I would've reviewed a 5 but our waitress was a little on the grumpy side. Not directly rude but gave us a sense that everytime we asked for something such as condiments, or to add onto order that we were annoying her. Which is why I didn't mention not getting my sausage lol. Despite that , I'd say this place is worth the try. read more

Studio Diner - Massive portions! - American Near Me - San Diego, California

Was excited to try this diner. Full of locals and nice staff. Omelette with feta and spinach, very nice and warm. Cold potatoes smh, why put warm or hit food on a cold plate , grrr. Waitress got me a second plate and they were hot and delicious until I find an unsavory hair on the plate sometimes you can't win. Told her we don't need comps, just have this addressed so no one else has this cold food or hair on plate. Mgr supposed to take care of that. read more

See all