Beginners Diner
Diner · San Diego ·
Retro diner with boozy milkshakes, wagyu steak, and 24-hour service
Retro diner with boozy milkshakes, wagyu steak, and 24-hour service
"A deliberately traditional 24-hour, 1940s-era American diner realized with historical rigor: an American diner historian was consulted to ensure authentic detail and period atmosphere, producing a faithful, nostalgic all-day destination within the larger hotel complex." - ByKate Kassin
"Weave through the Lobby Bar at the Lafayette Hotel in North Park to find one of the few 24-hour diners in San Diego. Modeled to look like a nostalgic New York-style restaurant, Beginner’s Diner serves a menu of generous portions of eggs, potatoes, and Reuben sandwiches at the counter or at comfy booths. Fancier alternatives include banana bread French toast, a bacon avocado Benedict, and cinnamon rolls baked every day, all available to pair with a boozy milkshake. Breakfast starts at midnight and is served until 1 p.m. every day, including on New Year’s Day." - Helen I. Hwang, Candice Woo
"Stroll through the flashy chrome and neon entrance to Beginners Diner in the newly remodeled Lafayette Hotel and you’ll be transported to a retro diner experience in a gleaming vintage dining car. Chef Ted Smith has fashioned a menu full of upscale classics like duck confit hash with potatoes and peppers or country pâté with eggs, plus dinner specials such as wagyu meatloaf, chicken schnitzel, pot roast, sandwiches, and small plates. Pair your meal with a thick, creamy milkshake that comes in regular and boozy versions, and finish with a slice of tangy lemon meringue pie. The cherry on top? Beginners Diner is open 24 hours a day." - Mary Beth Abate
"One component of the lavishly restored Lafayette Hotel & Club is a 24-hour restaurant fashioned from a gleaming vintage diner car that features a compelling menu from chef Ted Smith of upgraded diner classics like wagyu steak and eggs and biscuits and gravy with housemade sausage along with sandwiches and pie." - Candice Woo
"Fashioned like a 1940s vintage diner car in chrome and neon and open 24 hours, this spot — led by chef Ted Smith in collaboration with CH’s director of culinary operations Perfecte Rocher — pairs boozy milkshakes with elevated diner fare, offering dishes from wagyu sirloin steak and eggs to biscuits and gravy with housemade sausage as well as Jewish deli classics like matzo ball soup and pickled herring." - Candice Woo
