Clarence R.
Yelp
This was my 2nd experience at this historic diner. Upon arriving it looks like a diner from the cruising era. You could have expected drag racing on the street in front of it back in the day.
There's vintage, quaint, and inviting, but there's also old, run-down, and shabby. This is the latter. Upon entering it was run down since my previous visit 7 years ago. I didn't really look around until after I ordered my food. At that point, I became concerned but held on to my nostalgic memory of the place and the amount of what appeared to be the usual crowd.
As I looked around I noticed the Formica edge on my table was taped on with shipping tape, but not even done well. There appeared to have been a significant water leak at one point where the ceiling was repaired. However, the ceiling was not all repainted, just that spot. The paint was peeling off the ceiling next to the register and hanging down about 6 inches. That was directly above the service window. Everything looked shabby. 115-volt outlets were missing covers and had been for quite some time. The return register in the ceiling had caked on fuzz from the last year or so. Upon a deep dive of the Google reviews it appears that the paint on the windows is at least 5 years old and has been used to scratch messages into it for future generations. There was what appeared to be heavy dust or maybe termite droppings on the window sills. There was a conveniently placed nail sticking up a couple of inches in the window sill. Convenient for what I am unsure. The dirty old brackets for blinds that may have been there during its heyday were still mounted minus the blinds. Apparently, after the windows were painted the blinds were no longer necessary. The trip to the restroom was a drive-by as I walked into the room the urinal was donning a plastic bonnet (okay it was a clear plastic bag) and the stall in darkness at the other end of the room seemed to have been occupied. I decided to wait until I got home.
The coffee was not good, but it was not swill. It was just warm and coffee-flavored without being too bitter.
My dining companions' food arrived about 5 minutes after it was ordered. But, I guess it's easy to get the food out quickly with powdered eggs and hash browns made from boxed potato flakes. My friend could not finish his food or his coffee. My food arrived about 8-10 minutes later without an explanation for the delay. The biscuit was a flat square that had no flakiness to it. The food was a few dollars more per item than down the street at another diner we tried. $45 for 2 smaller than-average powdered egg omelets, 2 boxed hash browns items, 1 biscuit, 1 order of sourdough toast, and 2 coffees.
Upon exiting the building we noticed that the no parking signs were at least new (insert eye roll here). We were convinced that this place had to have a failing health rating and cut padlocks where it had been chained up by the health inspector but disregarded. To our shock, it appears that drive-by inspections must occur in Covina as they have an A rating. We were both stunned by this rating and began to question our sanity.