Harry's Coffee Shop

"This nostalgic diner is La Jolla’s oldest family-owned restaurant, which has a newer offshoot in Del Mar. The famous B.W. Benny is a favorite, featuring a thin waffle embedded with bacon morsels and topped with more bacon, ham, and two poached eggs with hollandaise sauce. Try it with the horchata, made in-house daily." - Helen I. Hwang, Candice Woo

"This family-owned coffee shop has been serving breakfast for over 60 years and remains a perfect slice of old school La Jolla. Known as a locals hangout, the place buzzes with regulars reading the newspaper in their beloved bar seat during the week. On weekends, you’re likely to notice families checking out the black-and-white photos of San Diego hanging above their leather-cushioned booths. Their standout dish, the B.W. Benny, brings together a bunch of typical breakfast foods for something great: a golden-brown bacon waffle is piled high with poached eggs, grilled ham, creamy hollandaise, and a drizzle of maple syrup for good measure. It’s a diner we wouldn’t mind spending all day in, but they’re only open from 7am to 2:30pm." - Sabrina Medora

"This family-owned coffee shop has been serving breakfast for over 60 years, and it remains a perfect slice of old school La Jolla. Known as a locals hangout, the place buzzes with regulars reading the newspaper in their beloved bar seat during the week, and families checking out the black-and-white photos of San Diego hanging above their leather-cushioned booths on weekends. Their standout dish, the B.W. Benny, brings together a bunch of typical breakfast foods for something great: a golden-brown bacon waffle is piled high with poached eggs, grilled ham, creamy hollandaise, and a drizzle of maple syrup for good measure. It’s a diner we wouldn’t mind spending all day in, but they’re only open from 7am to 2:30pm. " - sabrina medora

"Harry’s Coffee Shop, one of San Diego’s essential diners and a fixture in La Jolla for decades, is setting up shop in Del Mar. Owners Liz Rudolph-Gotfredson and her brother John Rudolph are taking over the spaces formerly occupied by Americana Restaurant and Elixir Juice & Food on Camino Del Mar. The Rudolphs have already assumed operations of Americana and will be changing its signage over to Harry’s branding by the end of September; its revamped menu includes popular items from the diner like the BW Benny, which features a bacon-studded waffle topped with ham and poached eggs. The restaurant will also be open for dinner, serving elevated bistro dishes along with wine and cocktails. While John is the main operator of the La Jolla restaurant, the siblings are partnering to run the Del Mar location. They plan on expanding the menu and incorporating more favorite dishes and drinks from Harry’s La Jolla into the new Del Mar location. Their parents, Harry and Catherine, opened the original Harry’s Coffee Shop in the ‘60s when they moved from Brooklyn to follow their beloved Dodgers to the West Coast. In searching for a New York-style diner, they decided to just open their own." - Helen I. Hwang

"An institution in downtown La Jolla since the 1960s, Harry’s still serves up classic eats like country ham steak and eggs and corned beef hash as well as over-the-top morning starters like the B.W. Benny, a bacon-studded waffle topped with more bacon, grilled ham, poached eggs, hollandaise, and maple syrup. Along with its popular milkshakes, the diner also pours breakfast-time cocktails like Irish coffee, mimosas, and Bloody Marys." - Candice Woo