Rudford's Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

Rudford's is one of those old school diners on El Cajon Blvd. For those who've recently moved here, El Cajon Blvd was THE main east-west artery for San Diego from the 1920s thru the 1950s. So along here you will find many older storefronts and eateries. Some of the older buildings have been repurposed into boutique craft or food shops. Many of the original stores though have been demolished for new big box apartments/condos. Rudford's is one that survived.

My wife said her 93 year old father wanted liver and onions for dinner and found that it was listed on Rudford's menu. Walking inside the restaurant was like walking back in time, a classic piece of Americana, the mid-century diner. The place was only about 1/3rd full, but I attributed that to my timing (I was there at 4:30pm on a Monday) and not because it was struggling. The clientele were quite varied in age and demographic which attests to Rudford's appeal to a large cross section of San Diego's citizenry. As some entered they were greeted by name by the waiter, it was clear that Rudford's has faithful regulars. There are (5) picnic tables outside on the sidewalk which may be left over from covid dining.🤷‍♂️ I imagine Rudford's probably gets pretty full on Friday's and weekends.

My order was for carryout and then I had a 20min drive to my father-in-law's house so I must preface my food rating w/in that context. The entire order consisted of the liver & onions, a bacon bleu cheese burger, and a BLT.

I've never had liver & onions growing up but my father-in-law said that it was good so I'll take his word on that.

I ordered my wife Rudford's BLT and added avocado for an additional charge. She found it very good. I tasted the potato salad that was the side dish. The potatoes weren't overcooked and had a delicate tartness to them, quite flavorful overall.

I had one of the chef's specialty burgers named "You're My Boy Blue". Basically a bacon and bleu cheese burger. After the 20min drive in a non-ventilated container, my burger was rather mushy. The beef patty was handmade as the edges were irregular unlike the neatly pressed and shaped patties you find at most chains. I usually have my meat cooked medium or medium well, and prefer a little pink, but I thought the patty in this burger was a little too pink in the center. Unfortunately during the 20min drive, the bleu cheese chunks melted, the lettuce became soft sitting on a hot patty, and the bun became soggy. I imagine the burger would've been much different (better) if I had a dine-in experience. Overall the flavors in the burger worked well and was quite savory.

Some time I would like my family and I to dine at Rudford's, I think it would be a fun. Unlike other nostalgia-themed, chain diners, Rudford's would be a more...

Would give a 0 for food. service was terrible . staff ignored me and tried to seat someone before me even though I was there first. parking was terrible . i had to keep driving around the place for 10 minutes to finally get lucky and grab a spot. I get seated and tell them I just needed a minute to decide. they didn't come back to take my order for over 15 minutes. I ordered something simple. cheeseburger with onions on it and half fries and onion rings. wait for my food. staff ignore me. i finish my water. no refills. staff doesn't come by and ask if i need anything or how anything is! they don't even ask me how the food is. I get my food and try a small bite the food looked decent......tasted like greasy nothingness. no love, no flavor, no soul, no nothing! even when i added salt and ketchup to the burger it wasn't even decent. barely any cheese on MY CHEESE BURGER! the onions on my burger tasted like nothing. do people not believe in spices or salt? I try my fries and onion rings. again taste bland. I sit there completely disappointed and want my check and to just go home. I just wanted a good cheeseburger. took the staff over 10 minutes to let me check out. by the time i finally got my bill i just threw down a 20. my burger was 19.93. also people sat right next to me, making me uncomfortable and even more uncomfy when they started talking about sex. this is a diner! what the heck! I was in such a hurry to just leave because the place stunk, the food was terrible, the staff ignored me. mind you I was sitting right at the window for food to come out. also i saw at one point peoples food going cold. snapped a picture for proof. the food was sitting at the window for over 5 minutes. understaffed as well. if I would be honest I wouldn't of paid 5 dollars for this burger let alone 19.93. never coming back here. I have a theory why the food is bland. there is too many options on the menu and the cooks have to churn out...

Always a winner, Rudfords!

Locals & tourists alike will find a winner of a classic American style Diner along El Cajon Blvd, aka The Blvd, in San Diego.

Rudford's Restaurant has been in operation since the 1940's, and remained open all through Covid with a Take-away food to-go menu. The vibe is a very cool, laid back eatery.

Locals sitting at the Counter, multiple refills of very good coffee and big glasses of ice water are the norm. Rudford's is my favorite for their big breakfast, breakfast specials, great burritos and Omelettes.

They have an extensive menu for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Many great choices, Day or Night such as their Cobb Salad, delicious Onion Rings, mugs of hot chocolate, etc.

Rudfords a full size Diner sits on a corner with both street and free parking onsite, lots of windows, clean bathrooms, modern payment systems at the table - it is a great local institution! The Staff are all very friendly, efficient, welcoming and polite.

If you enjoy the feel of a good American classic Diner, well managed, healthy size portions, Rudford's in a central San Diego location is a total winner.

A visit to Rudford's is not possible without looking at the building's outside wall, admiring the large colorful photograph poster of JFK's Presidential Motorcade in 1963 actual driving past Rudford's.

JFK was enroute to San Diego State University as he was to be presented a PHD, the first given out by SDSU. The photograph is exceptional as JFK is looking right at the camera, and the teenage boy photographer.

Highly recommend Rudford's...