Denny's — Restaurant in El Cajon

We had a very poor experience at this Denny's. My girlfriend usually orders the Loaded Nacho Tots, but gets the toppings from the Zesty Nachos instead. Other locations have made this substitution for her over the years. This Denny's refused to do so. The server would not even ask the staff working in the kitchen and instead pushed us to order a half-order of each (Loaded Nacho Tots + Zesty Nachos). The server already took and brought our drink order, so we asked for the drinks to-go and decided to leave.

At the register, the staff member asked how our experience was today. We told her, "Not good." She ignored the response. She then, after several swipes, could not process our credit card to pay for our drinks and had to go get the manager. The manager swiped the card without issue, jokingly telling us, "Why didn't you tell her she was swiping it the wrong way?" How were we suppose to know?

Our server was not accommodating. None of the staff, including the manager, cared that we decided to leave with just two drinks to-go. They all but ignored us. We will not return to this location.

To add insult to injury, we had just left a nearby Denny's located on Alvarado Road due to how hot it was in the restaurant and one of the customers streaming a program on their mobile device at practically full volume. We originally ordered a drink here as well (I did not receive my drink order yet because the soda dispenser was still being refilled).

We decided to give Denny's another shot, but 3 drink orders and two locations later - time wasted, money thrown away on drinks we would not have bought otherwise, terrible service,...

Food was excellent freshly prepared and hot, everything nicely sealed.

The hash brown potatoes must come pre seasoned because I always ask to please hold the salt (I'm supposed to watch my sodium) but they always taste salty when I get them and this is from several different locations of Denny's restaurants. I rarely order hash browns but I have a hard time resisting them especially when they come with pancakes and scrambled eggs!! I also have a weakness for bacon strips rarely order them but I can hardly resist when they come with the Slam breakfast and of course bacon is loaded with salt don't really care much for sausage or ham slices so bacon it is!! Once in a while treat.

Although I have been sneaking a pancake breakfast more often of late I've needed to be out early often lately and especially when I finish an overnight shift and need to charge my EV I'm usually hungry so that's a good chance I'll grab some breakfast.

I really like the curbside option it's super convenient and you can order ahead on the way from work or when you are at the charging station & get your vittles.

(I like their new To Go containers! I have arthritis in my thumb joints which means they are painful and also weak, it's hard to open many packages and beverages with thumbs like this the new To Go containers I don't have to...

Update: I'm giving this Denny's an extra star. I chaperoned a large group of teens including a few with disabilities. If you've ever been out with a group like this, you would likely observe that not all waitstaff are patient or understanding with younger folks or people with disabilities. We were treated so graciously and the service was excellent for how large we were and how busy the restaurant was getting. The waitstaff was excellent and everyone was treated with dignity. It's a Denny's. There are no surpises about what to expect as far as menu preparation goes, and that is a good thing. Sometimes you just want to go to a diner and get a consistent product. The staff here are friendly and courteous. The service was quick without being curt. It has been clean the times we've visited. Family and autism friendly with wheelchair access...