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Agoura, California
- "I really miss Denny's in Agoura, CA where we often went after the Santa Monica Rocky on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings." - written prior to September, 1999
- Vika Zafrin
- "I also see that someone wrote that they miss the Agoura Denny's. Is that the one high on a hilll overlooking U.S. 101? Is it long gone? I remember in the 60's and 70's driving up to Camarillo to visit my aunt when that was just about the only place to stop and eat for miles. In later years, massive development made it hard to see the restaurant in the jumble of road signs for competing fast food places and all sorts of other places." - written prior to September, 1999
- Joe Gattuso
- December 31, 2000 - "Ah, what a wonderful forum to share with you my many Denny's memories! Well, my most exciting memory of them all occurred in the Agoura Denny's, some years ago! I was sitting there very late at night having a bite with three of my close friends, Brent, Danielle, and Philip! We were just sitting there eating and minding our own business, when the staff decided to stage a floor show for us! Oh, boy! We sat back and watched the drama unfold: it seems that one of the waitresses had a drunken boyfriend who stormed in there demanding to know why she was flirting with a customer! "But I'm not," she protested. "I'm serving him a cup of coffee!" Not to be swayed by her protestations, the drunken boyfriend became enraged, and did his impersonation of a maniac, screaming, and shoving his girlfriend aside! For a grand finale to his act, he stormed out of the front door, slamming it shut with such violence, that the entire front window shattered into a million pieces! And it just so happened that my friends and I were sitting underneath that very window! The glass fell into our food! Philip cut his hand! WOW OH WOW! What a wonderful performance! We all applauded (except for Philip) and the waitresses replaced our food for free. All in all, just one of the many delightful memories I have of my dining experiences in the wonderful world of Denny's!"
- David Banuelos
- "I'm amazed that no-one is prepared to admit that they have been to the Denny's in Anaheim, California, across the road from Disneyland (I think on Harbor Blvd). I have been there several times and have always enjoyed the opportunity to get away from hamburger and eat a real steak. Never have I found reason to complain about anything." - written prior to September, 1999
- Graham DODD
- "Graham Dodd says he's amazed no one admits to visiting the Anaheim Denny's. Well, I'll admit it. I stopped there for breakfast one year while attending an Anime Convention. Everything was fine and the waiter was nice, but I was a bit frightened by an ambulatory corpse which shambled about the restaurant (an elderly female customer). Didn't see any WAY, though our waiter was kinda lanky and geeky" - written prior to September, 1999
- Dan Harkless
- "The Denny's accross the street from Disneyland is an enjoyable experience if you had just spent the day at Disneyland. After waiting in line to go on Roger Rabit's Car Toon Spin for forty-five minutes, (the ride lasts about forty seconds), and walking all over the place, it was nice to wash the day down with a French Slam, and a bottle of Bud. The walls are decorated with posters of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, etc. One Mickey poster was flanked by a neon Budweiser sign on the left, and a neon Bud Light sign on the right. I thought that was funny. This one also had something I had never seen in a Denny's before, and that was an ice cream bar, which at the time of my visit was not open. The downside of this Denny's is that being in California, you cannot smoke inside. This was made up for though, with one of those machines where you try to pick up various pluch toys with those claw things. That was the best five bucks I ever spent....roughly one minute of mediocre fun, and nothing to show for it. What was I thinking? A note to any Canadians, if you buy Denny's gift certificates in Canada for $5, there are good in the US, for $5. What a great deal! And if you get chagne it is obviously in US funds. I figure if I buy $100,000 worth of gift certificates, load it into a U-Haul, drive to a Denny's in the States, and buy 20,000 coffees using one gift certificate for each one, get back four bucks change each time, switch it back to Canadian funds, I'll come home with an extra $12,000!!! What a perfect scheme." - written prior to September, 1999
- Bryan Wright (Calgary Denny's Team)
- "The Denny's accross the street from Disneyland is an enjoyable experience if you had just spent the day at Disneyland. After waiting in line to go on Roger Rabit's Car Toon Spin for forty-five minutes, (the ride lasts about forty seconds), and walking all over the place, it was nice to wash the day down with a French Slam, and a bottle of Bud. The walls are decorated with posters of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, etc. One Mickey poster was flanked by a neon Budweiser sign on the left, and a neon Bud Light sign on the right. I thought that was funny. This one also had something I had never seen in a Denny's before, and that was an ice cream bar, which at the time of my visit was not open. The downside of this Denny's is that being in California, you cannot smoke inside. This was made up for though, with one of those machines where you try to pick up various pluch toys with those claw things. That was the best five bucks I ever spent....roughly one minute of mediocre fun, and nothing to show for it. What was I thinking? A note to any Canadians, if you buy Denny's gift certificates in Canada for $5, there are good in the US, for $5. What a great deal! And if you get chagne it is obviously in US funds. I figure if I buy $100,000 worth of gift certificates, load it into a U-Haul, drive to a Denny's in the States, and buy 20,000 coffees using one gift certificate for each one, get back four bucks change each time, switch it back to Canadian funds, I'll come home with an extra $12,000!!! What a perfect scheme." - written prior to September, 1999
- Bryan Wright (Calgary Denny's Team)
- "My *last* (and it will be my last, if I can help it) experience at Denny's was horrible -- they served me rancid hashed browns, and then were mock-apologetic about it:
On the morning of 10-26-97 a friend and I stopped by the Denny's in Anaheim (the one in front of the Day's Inn/Maingate Motel).
The first thing I noticed was that whoever had sat at the table across from us had left most of their food. In retrospect, I wonder whether they had also been served poor fare.
After that table had been cleared, the next people who sat there put a dollar bill on the edge of the table near the aisle, very conspicuously. I think that that might have been an attempt to get better service. We should have tried it.
Our waitress was Michelle. She was extremely slow, forgot the toast, and only offered one refill of coffee, long after we had finished eating what we *could* eat.
I had ordered a chicken-fried steak breakfast. The 'chicken' was square and overcooked, the gravy was gray and cool. The hash browns were the worst - they were brown and stiff, and RANCID. Even worse, on one edge of the hash browns was a small cluster of what looked like insect eggs - shaped like small grains of rice set on edge, but smaller. In comparing my hash browns to the ones served to my friend, his were much paler, it looked as if someone had given me leftover hashbrowns that had been refried -- they might even have gotten them out of the slops bin -- I can't think of any other reason for the fact they were rancid.
When the waitress asked "Is everything all right?" I told her 'no', the hash browns were rancid, and she had forgotten our toast. Her "I'm so sorry, can I get you some more?" was so obviously rote that I started to get mad, but I just said "No thank you."
My friend was embarrassed, but admitted later that I was right to speak up. He & I have been reviewing restaurants, in a minor way, in San Diego, but he'd never seen me complain before. Frankly, I was furious, because it seemed like this Denny's was just set up to rake in the tourist dollar (the booths were jammed together for maximum capacity) with the knowledge that they didn't have to worry about repeat customers.
My primary complaint with Denny's has been that they are all alike, and the food is predictable - you can order a meal in Denny's and it will be the same, coast to coast. But some armchair travelers like that, and it makes them feel safe and comfortable, so I can't fault that, but I *can* complain when their food and service is substandard." - written prior to September, 1999
- Stephanie Mortimer
- January 7, 2000 - "As I'm English, I never heard of Denny's until my parents and I first took a trip to the USA when I was 7. We must have visited loads of Denny's restaurants in that first holiday alone, and I thought they were brilliant - is there a more satisfying eating experience than ordering the chicken strips with dip at any time of the day that i feel like? Ten years and four trips to America later ( well technically five but the fifth was to New York and there were no Denny's restaurants on Manhattan), breakfast and lunch stops at Denny's remain an integral part of our trips to the USA. Although we've been to lots of Denny's in San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and other little towns where we've stopped when driving, my favourite has to be the one in Anaheim opposite Disneyland. The chicken strips are really cool, and when I was little they gave me free toys of 'The Flintstones' and 'The Jetsons', some of which I have kept as souvenirs of my childhood holidays. Denny's are the ultimate family dining experience - I wish there was something like it in England, but the closest we come is Burger King!"
- Laura Gould
- November 19, 2000 - "The Anaheim, California, Denny's on Katella is pretty mucked with all of the Disneyland California Adventure construction going on. The City is redoing all the major thoroughfares in the area, as well, which makes many of the businesses difficult to access. Some folks may find it easier to head around the corner to the Harbor Blvd. Bakers' Square."
- Kali Pappas
- "If you ever get a chance to visit the Denny's in Arcadia, CA., it would be well worth the trip as it's probably the only Denny's with a windmill on the top. The building used to be an old VanDeKamp's Bakery, so to go with the Dutch theme, they have a 50-ft in diameter spinning windmill. When the Denny's moved in, the windmill stayed, and has endured as an Arcadia landmark for years." - written prior to September, 1999
- Big John
- August 13, 2002 - "The Denny's sign off of the 91 Freeway is a welcome ornament to an otherwise unnoteworthy patch Artesia, California. Hemmed in by graffiti ridden signs, blank foliage straight out of Starry Night (and no offense to Van Gogh for mentioning his work in the same sentence as graffiti), and billboards in espanol--the Denny's signature emanates a glowing allure of red, and gold hope to those destined to clogged arteries, and au de pimpley skin. I've eaten here at least five times, and despite the fact that it's next to one of those "swanky" motels with a dried out pool, and an ice machine that burps every fifteen minutes, the place is virtually empty around the clock. Although I would've doubted that anyone could get rapid fire service anywhere on this planet on Sunday at high noon, this is one restaurant that defies the odds. Perhaps because the town is squeaky clean of religious zealots, or the guy on Artesia Boulevard has finally convinced folks to say no to church, and sell tulips at LAX instead? There's no crowd like the post sermon bunch! I'm thinking of locusts, and wheat fields. Nonetheless, as happy as I am to not wait, as my brother noted, there's a bit of disappointment in not having to crowd the "claw" machines, or crunch stale gum as a preface to service. I reckon it's the way Billy the Kid felt when he showed up for a gunfight only to be the only guy in the center of town--relieved, but disappointed too. The food tends toward lukewarm, and the service is not as fast as it should be according to statistics like the 5-1 staff/customer ratio, but there's an inevitable delight in "owning" a Denny's, and that's exactly what you can do here. The servers don't speak a lot of English, but the menu doesn't require advanced linguistics, and you won't mind a wild gesticulation here, and there. It all adds to the ambience, which given how pristine the nearly unused Denny's booths, and tables are...can only improve the setting. The food looks bland, but is greasy-yum-good. Just ask for the big bottle of Tabasco!"
- Brandy Price
- "My name is Leslie Richard Arrowood, and I live in Yuma Az. Today May 31, 1997 we was over in Redlands Ca. and on the way back home, we had to go thrugh Banning Ca, so we stoped at Denny's just off I-10 on Ramsey. And it was the worst Denny's we ever stoped at Befor. The service was real bad!!!!!! we all ordered brekfest, the 4 of us, and we wated for 45 minutes befor it came, and when it came, My grandson's food had a fly on it, and it was alive, and flying around, and our food was cold so everyone began to eat, and I did'nt have my toast yet, so after about 10 min.s I ask the watress, and she said it would be a short time. so after every one was though eating, she came back and I asked again, could I please have some toast????? so she went back to the cook's and about 5 min. later I got it, eggs like Ice, and as I said, all my family was all done. And had to wate on me to get though. And as for the other people in the place, it was just as bad!!!!! if not worse? some of them was leaving, without eating, and some, was like us, on the road and trying to get home, and just trying to eat something, befor we get sick!!! I paid over $30.00 for the 4 of us, for the worst food We've ever had.... So if you can, help me???? send this to the right people, so thay can jump someone's A?? over this... I hope you never come upon a place like this. Thank you very much." - written prior to September, 1999
- Les Arrowood
- November 12, 2000 - "I can't believe no one has reviewed what has to be the worst Denny's on the face of the planet, but perhaps my wife and I are the only ones who have survived eating there.
For anyone who's never heard of Barstow, allow me to give a brief description. Barstow is God's armpit. It sits smack in the middle of the desert. It gets hot there. REAL hot, but that's not the point. Barstow is right on the freeway you take to drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. It sits about that point your knees are starting to cramp and your back teeth are floating, so it gets a lot of rather unwilling visitors.
The Denny's is right off the freeway - there's a big sign that sits way up on a pole, and can be seen for miles. It's also the only thing open at two o'clock in the morning, at least in Barstow. So my wife and I decided to pull off and grab some coffee and eggs before heading back to LA. Bad move.
The staff appeared the sort of brain-damaged zombies you see teen slasher movies - I swear you could have added up all their IQ's and not reached three digits. And the food . . . (shudder) . . . if it can even be called food . . . nah, it's just too awful to even think about, let alone write a proper description. Let's just say that you have to be particularly talentless and inept to screw up eggs and toast, but these guys managed.
So check it out, but make sure you take plenty of Alka-Seltzer - you'll need it."
- Dave and Julie
- "Round about the middle of our holiday. We'd had a very long drive that day from Bryce Canyon, Utah and were delighted to find a Denny's right opposite our Motel. As my son wanted to watch Star Trek DS9 (which wasn't showing in the UK at that time) we opted for a take away which my daughter and I went for. We sat at the bar and watched with admiration all the cooking and activity - it felt like being in a movie! Again the food was great and the portions huge - mind you by this time we were getting used to that! Our only problem came when we tried to cross the road back to the hotel when some local "good ol boys" decided to have some fun at the tourist's expense by stopping at the crossing and waving us across and then driving straight at us! Still - maybe there's little else to do there! Anyway the food was just as good eaten sitting on the floor of the motel watching TV and listening to the live combo playing for the group of middle aged men and their bimbos in the pool outside!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Pam Sheard
- "There's a Dennys off the 57 Freeway in Brea, CA that I frequent often, usually post-hangover or before school hours. The fact that it's the only place in Brea open 24 hours makes it a perfect after-dance, after-choir-competition, after-arrest, etc., hangout for the youth of today, and there's a group of about twenty or so that I'm a part of who frequent the establishment. While the food is adequate and the coffee hot and nourishing, there are several waitresses who I will not name (but I'd like to mention that English is NOT their native language) that seem to delight in taking as long as they possibly can to serve EVERYTHING. I know this is a problem with Dennys the world over, but I've been to other Dennys restaurants, and this one is the worst. However, the lack of speedy service has been cause for not only mucho bonding time for me and the 19 guys that I hang out with, but also grounds for an almost-lawsuit at one point: my friend's sister Emily was served a "chicken salad" that consisted of a large leaf of lettuce with a piece of chicken on it (you think I'm kidding but I'm not) and she pitched a fit at about 90 decibels for a good fifteen minutes until she got her meal for free. It was good quality entertainment the likes of which I haven't seen since The Love Boat went off the air. =)" - written prior to September, 1999
- Jessica Schlenz
- "If you ever make it out to California, make sure to visit Satan Denny's, on Beach Boulevard and Orangethorpe Avenue, in Buena Park. It's original address was 666 Beach Blvd, but they shifted it to an Orangethorpe address because of it. It's also a neat site because the cast of Knott's Berry Farm (right down the street) goes there after close." - written prior to September, 1999
- Seamus MacLeod
- "This Denny's is a great stop off I5 and is one of the few business establishments in the desolate desert town of Buttonwillow. I always stop there to refuel for the last push on the drive from SF to LA, pound coffee and chow down a grand slam while watching the sun rise. Service is friendly (hell, what other jobs are there in Buttonwillow??) and there's always a checkered crowd of passers-through. So, if you're doing the California road trip, don't forget to stop!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Meg
- November 13, 2000 - "Ahh, sweet sweet Buttonwillow. The Denny's there was discovered by my friends and I in 1997 on a road trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas. There were eleven of us traveling in three different cars, driving all through the night to avoid the harsh desert sun. About 4am, we were driving through Buttonwillow when the car I was in pulled off to the side of the road to reconnect the portable CD player that got unplugged. The other two cars followed suit and pulled over to the side of the road, and everybody got out to stretch and urinate and grab a breath of fresh air. Once people were ready to take off, we discovered that the alternator in one of the cars was busted and it wouldn't start again. So we all crossed the freeway on foot and ran towards the nearest Denny's to wait until a mechanic and a rental car agency were open. The staff there was certainly willing to let a dozen punk hacker kids monopolize an entire section of the restaurant for a few hours, and friendly to boot. Once the vehicular situation was straightened out we were on our way, but every trip since, we've stopped in Buttonwillow for old time's sake.
Free stuff: a pad of order slips, complete with the "Hello, welcome to Denny's. May I suggest a caraffe of fresh Orange Juice" banter the waitstaff is supposed to say."
- Victor Andersen
- March 6, 2000 - "I went on a road trip this weekend with my friends Matt and Rachel......from L.A. to Joshua Tree......we listened to some Phish from Florida `96.....and visited Denny's #295 on the way there.....Great new Denny's......This Denny's had a 50s theme, friendly staff, brand new everything and a great chef. The All American Slam was delicious....A bit too much butter on the wheat toast, but I masked that with the raspberry jelly. A scary family was having a fight at the table next to us, but they left before we were served, which was nice.......We talked about you during our meal and purposely took photos with the staff so we can keep you in the loop! As I've said before, this is a brilliant web page.....and I'm sure you'll be a great architect, but you're missing a career in writing! "
- Marc Luber
- November 13, 2000 - "Located just two or three miles away from the Pleasant Hill location, the Concord CA Denny's offers, in addition to more attractive employees, a lounge. Both are plusses in my book, however the attractive waitstaff are far less charismatic than the ugly ones at the Pleasant Hill restaurant. The waitstaff in Concord are also not amused by my friend and I making eccentric hats out of ZOOB toys."
- Victor Andersen
- "The Denny's in Corona, California on McKinley St. has a waitress that stands 6'4" and weighs a good 260lbs. This has to be a record!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- "WE Just had a late night snack at Denny's located at 1833 W. 6th Street in Corona,Ca. MY SON WAS SERVED WITH A HAIR IN IS FRENCH SLAM and WHEN WE BROUGHT THIS UP TO THE MANAGER JAY"S ATTENTION HIS REPLY WAS THIS HAPPENS TO EVERYBODY all the time, NO BIG DEAL !!!!!!!!!. Eventhough they served my son with another set of French toasts he lost his appetiet cause of the bad food and MANAGERS bad ATTITUDE.
I HOPE YOU WILL FIND THE COURAGE TO PUT THIS AS AN HONEST FEEDBACK OF YOUR DISSERVICE to customers and expose yourself to the unhygenic cooking practices at DENNY'S. " - written prior to September, 1999
- Dinesh
- "At the Corte Madera Denny's, there's this awesome waiter named Lloyd who is on speed or something. He was really in a hurry one night and my friend Dan was trying to ask him a question about the menu, so he was holding it out of Lloyd's grasp. Lloyd got frustrated and turned to walk away so Dan threw the menu at him. It went whizzing by Lloyd's head and landed in the lap of this big scary guy who was with his girlfriend about 15 feet away. Lloyd got so mad he wouldn't talk to us anymore, so Laura, who's my second favorite, had to be or waitress instead. We felt horrible, but, hey, it's Denny's, they're used to it, right?" - written prior to September, 1999
- Katie Petersen
- "Well, this was a long time ago so I've probably forgotten some of the good details, but here goes.
In 1984, the Denny's in Corte Madera was THE late night social spot for freaks. We spent the wee hours of most weekends there and were well loved by the staff because we ate a lot and tipped well.
It was a classic 60's Denny's with Pink and Orange asterisks and vynil and a giant display case full of weird unappetizing pies and odd dessrts that no one ever ate. (Well, I always got the tapioca)
It was best known for having a cook who murdered his mother and lived in the house with her for a couple of weeks or something.
Too bad, he was one of the best cooks they had.
But, by FAR thebest thing was it had NO lock on the door!
It hadn't closed for a minute since it was built!
Until one horrible fateful day...
We were holding court at our usual large booth with about eight regulars when Arlee (our usual wait-victim) came by and said, "What the hell are you kids gonna do when we close?"
WHAT!?! Whaddaya MEAN close?
She said they were closing the next week for remodeling.
REMODELING!?! We LIKE pink and orange! We like it the way it IS!
We demanded the mangers presence so we could voice our great displeasure. He told us that he had only found out recently himself.
And I piped in with, "Well you're gonna have an awful hard time closing with no LOCK on the door!"
He looked baffled.
He had no idea there was no lock on the door. Just a hole where you would usually install one.
Anyways they installed a lock a couple of days later. We pulled a 24 hour shift on the last night and took a few souveniers. (I had a tabletop that I picked up while the were gutting the place, now sadly lost.)
They remodeled it into a horrible, bland place that soon lost its charm for us, and we moved over to Zim's, because they had orange sugar crystals and Jello squares, and mostly because Arlee moved there too. But there was nothing like the Corte Madera Denny's." - written prior to September, 1999
- Wally
- "I think the last time I visited the Denny's in my home town was when they were still running the thankfully defunct "Lenny's" "Denny's!" campaign. This is a typical Denny's -- you might think that Southern California Denny's would be different from Denny's in the rest of the country, but they aren't, in my limited experience. You're pretty much screwed if you're a vegetarian, and if you're a vegan, forget it! I actually prefer the SoCal-only Norm's "We Never Close". There's more vegetarian food there, and the quality seems better than Denny's. Norm's even has a unique menu for each of its restaurants." - written prior to September, 1999
- Dan Harkless
- "Corner of Bristol and Redhill. This Dennys which is hidden away from the South Coast Shopping Center food establishments in the area. In fact it usually is nice and quiet on the weekends compared to the loud and noisy rucous of shoppers yacking about the latest sale and trying to quiet down their uncontrollable kids. In the past year the restraunt went into a remodeling spree and it looks kinda funky with pink neon signs commemorating its merging with Baskin Robbins. I like the fact that you can order a variety of desserts and shakes along with your food. I sometimes found myself studying/reading there and the waiters and waitresses do not mind that you are taking up a table for a while since there is plenty of room." - written prior to September, 1999
- Jason Savlov
- "Location: Harbor Blvd at 405 freeway
I ate here a while ago, 1995 or 1996 maybe. I recall it having been fairly good food, but I can't say much about the service except that they can withstand anything, including my 34-year old uncle's constant flirtations with the female waitresses." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "This is one of those wierd, old designs... I love 'em!!! Complete lack of symetry!!! The waitress on the night shift plays "he said she said", Bullshit (the card game), and "catapult-the-creams-at-the-fucking-tourists-across-the-room" with us!!! It's one of those Dennys where you always end up with "YOUR parking space" every time, regardless of how packed it is!! It's just a magical place! Coffee rating - ***************etc.etc.etc. - A fuckload of stars!!.... Folgers Instant Crystals have never tasted so good!! This is the good, pure, uncut, straight-from-the-jar shit, man!! 15-20 cups goes down smooth!!...of course, I've slowly built up my tolerance level...." - written prior to September, 1999
- Oran Davis
- "The Dennys with the most/biggest freaks working in it is the one in Crescent City, Calif. Entirely staffed by genetic mutants. The kid playing the banjo in "Deliverance" would look normal here." - written prior to September, 1999
- Joe D'Errico
- March 18, 2004 - "there is one in culver city, near my current home. and it's one of those that has a "lounge" in back; basically a glorified "bar"/"banquet room" that they probably rent out for parties, wedding receptions, and such (like all the old Masonic temples around southern California do).
for some reason, I could NOT bring myself to go back there. first of all, it looked very dark (which I suppose is to be expected in a REAL bar, but hey, this is DENNY'S for god's sake!!), and I had a very uncomfortable feeling about buying a drink at Denny's, which I associate, on a gut level, with going to AFTER or BEFORE you've been drinking.
my friend, who has gone back there, said the drinks were overpriced, and that it was always empty and creepy.
as for the food in the culver city one (this one is on Centinela; there is another one in culver city on Overland), it's as consistently good as 95% of the ones I have been to in my life, which I think is a plus for them. when in doubt, anywhere in the country, go to a Denny's. I've been lucky to not have any bad gripes with any of them. the service was friendly and quick.
The one on Overland is about the same size, just as good service and food (and the same creepy dark backroom "bar" situation I refuse to go into), usually more crowded because it's in a mini-mall next door to a supermarket and across the street from a massive condo/apartment/townhouse complex site that goes on for blocks and blocks. Captive Denny's audience right there, pal!
this particular location on Centinela, though is always uncrowded, day or night; I think perhaps it is because it is on the other side of a big freeway onramp, and on the other side of it is a big shopping mall and other restaurants, including a very very crowded Sizzler. frankly, if my friend had not told me it was there, I'd never had known it was there.
it's not a good location, but they are still in business to this very day, and they have been there about 20 years that I know of. the location on overland has been there at least ten. when I was a kid, it was something like a Copper Penny restaurant."
- Rosenda E. Moore
- "The Denny's we go to is in Cupertino Ca on De Anza Blvd. The only thing that stands out about our Denny's is the incredibly courteous night staff. A particular incedent comes to mind. It was about 2:00am and my friends Sean, Joe, and Danny(female) went in to grab some food. We were greeted by a waiter who did not speak a word of english and had no idea what was on a Denny's menu. So after 15 minutes of him going back and forth into the kitchen we thought we had an order. I order a grand slam and had asked that the meat be replaced with hashbrowns. About a half an hour later we got our meal. I got a Grand Slam with no meat and no hashbrowns. I asked the waiter for my hashbrowns and he brought them. When the bill came there was a charge($1.49) for the hashbrowns. We asked kindly that the charge be removed from the tab. At this point the manager, three waiters and the cook surrounded our table. After about a minute of explaining the situation to the manager he started yelling at us and calling us liars. About ten minutes later when we had finished yelling back and forth with the manager he finally took the charge off of our bill. By this time we were so pissed off that we threw the money(exact change) on the pay counter and left. As we walked away from the building the manager comes out and says," Someday I'll see you again when we are alone."
My buddy turns around and says, "you wanna kick my ass come kick my ass."
The manager came back with, "I'll kick your ass you little punk but I can't while I am at work. We just turned and started to our car. When we walked around the corner the cook threw his apron on the floor and said, "I ain't working now. You can't talk to us like that. We turned around and every employee of that Denny's was outside ready to back this guy up. We figured that 13 - 4 were not good odds and walked right back into Denny's and used the payphone to call the police. The police came and yelled at the manager for a couple of minute about how you can not treat your customers like we had been treated. I don't remember what else we did that night but we left about five minutes after the cops talked to the manager. I figure that ought to make the top 10 list of Denny's stories. " - written prior to September, 1999
- Matt Price
- "Location: Camino Tassajara at the 680 freeway
In April 1998, my friends from Southern California came up to visit me here at UC Berkeley. One night we were a little bored and so we took a drive over the bridges of the Bay Area. While in Marin County, we passed the Corte Madera Denny's off 101, and we got the craving for one of Denny's milkshakes. They were strangers to the Bay Area, and I'd only been up there for about 7 months, so we had no idea where we could find a Denny's. I reasoned that the suburban areas inland might be a good bet, so we drove towards Walnut Creek (unbeknownst to us, was the Emeryville Denny's, right off the 80). My friend, though, missed the Walnut Creek exit off the 24, so I told him to drive south on 680, hoping that we'd find one somewhere off the freeway. We weren't having luck, and it was nearly 1 AM, so we pulled off the freeway in San Ramon and found a phone book, which told us there was one back up 680 in Danville. We drove back and found it, attached to the Danville Inn. It was a cozy little Denny's, quiet, not busy, with nice friendly waiters and great food. We were somewhat loud, typical for our group, but nobody minded, and left us alone. A great Denny's experience, if you ask me." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "Here in Davis where I go to school at The University of California at Davis, by which is known as an Agriculture school, we have a Dennys owned by a nice Indian family. I always go with my friend Anirban because he is Indian and I get superior service when there with Anirban. But the other night Anirban ordered what he thought was going to be a "triple scoop sundae", the Spanish waiter Carlos, replied in a hushed town "Chicken Strips", to the perfect beat that Anirban had said "triple scoop sundae". Anirban was sitting a seat away from the waiter, and replied yes to what he thought the waiter had said. So, in fact, Anirban got Chicken Strips... I explained to him what happened and he still denied ordering the strips, although I had heard Carlos reply, "chicken strips". I think it was Carlos's fault, in fact later on he came to our table to presuambly check on those free refills, but it turns out that he was there to ask "What day of the week is it?" and we replied "Saturday". Anyways, I had Anirban complain to his fellow countryman and owner of this otherwise fine establishment, and he got his Chicken Strips removed from the bill and our sodas for free. I commend him the owner for taking action!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Chad Cooper
- October 2, 2002 - "Denny's #1, corner of Magnolia & Naranca Streets:
This Denny's is small, but quick. Located in the same building as some wacko sports bar, various and sundry drunk, agitated, proud, humbled, depressed or otherwise not-emotionally-normal individuals often stagger into Denny's after their team (or wallet) has won/lost. There are also a fair amount of homeless types hanging around as El Cajon seems to be San Diego County's homeless capital. At any rate, on someone's prom night (not my own mind you, though that would have epitomized my white trashness) some teeneagers were hanging out very late, obviously with no better place to go, the poor bastards! They were all decked out in their fancy garb and looked weary from a night of, ahem, dancing. One of the girls, in a lime green poofy hideous sparkly dress, appeared to be getting to go to the bathroom. One of the aforementioned homeless types was situated at the bar and addressed a comment to her, which she and her compatriots chose to ignore. On her way back from powdering her nose, the man at the bar grew a little more insistent. He lurched at her as she casually stepped out of harms way, only this time her date noticed and hastily came to her aide. "What did you say?" he sneered at the man who could only reply in garbled, mumbled words then proceeded to vomit all over the poor dressed up youth. Luckily for the homeless man, two El Cajon police officers happened to be having their break and were walking in at the exact moment vomit was spewing from his gob. They grabbed him and yanked him away to the patrol car before the soiled youth could retaliate, though he followed them shouting profanity and wanting the homeless vomiter to be brought up on assualt charges. Lucky for us we were done with our meal and ready to leave. ;o)
Denny's #2: West Main Street & Interstate Highway 8 This story is not nearly as fun as the last, but it serves its purpose. While visiting this Denny's on a Saturday morning while our car was being serviced (lots of car dealers within walking distance to this one), my wife and I were pleasantly enjoying our plates of grease when from out of nowhere a horrendus screeching of tires and revving of motors pierced the otherwise still morning air. Two jackasses were involved in an illegal street race! They came barrelling from down the hill and just when it looked like the brand new, shiny Mustang was going to win, he spun out and smacked into a telephone pole narrowly missing yet another homeless lady who had stopped to witness the race. The 'Stang was totalled and the fellow race simply drove off, probably laughing all the way at his "good" fortune. The Mustang driver, seemingly unharmed, exited his vehicle to inspect the damage, which was quite extensive.
The poor souls of El Cajon have now been immortalized on your Denny's Fan Site. This is one of my proudest moments! ;o) Thanks for reading!"
- Mr. Overturf
- June 28, 2002 - "How could you miss this one? I dunno the address but it is right across the St. from the Los Angeles Air Force Base. Although there are no aircraft at the base, only satellite antennas, this Denny's is notable for its intermittantly flickering interior lights. There must be something going on at the base that's draining the electricity in the area. Anyhow, the food is mediocre as always, but it is good to have a 24 hour rest. around in an area where constant robberies keep most others places dark after 8pm. Like your site."
- David
- "You know how Denny's is supposed to always be open. A beacon of light in the darkest of nights (and national holidays)? Well, this is the only one I ever tried to go to -- AND IT WAS CLOSED!!! I'm sure you're wondering "How? How could this be?" Pest control, baby. Yep, the locks on the 24-7-365 restaurant (always a mystery) aren't for civil unrest. Nope -- they are for WHOLESALE COCKROACH SLAUGHTER!!!!!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Shawn Roberts
- "i had the bad luck to be there in april. i guess our first clue should have been that we were seated by an armed guard. bad vibes there. i'm pretty sure there were approximately 40,000 customers in the restaurant, 2 servers and 1 manager. one of the servers appeared to be comatose. after sitting at our table for 10-15 minutes with absolutely no sign of a denny's employee, i got up and asked the manager if getting a glass of water would be too much to ask. she made irvin do it! irvin was the poor waiter who got stuck doing everything. we asked him later what the purpose of the bus staff and the other server was, and he honestly couldn't answer us. although it took a good hour and a half to get through the meal, the food was all wrong, and the service was horrible, irvin got a good tip, because he really was doing his best, under the circumstances." - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- July 5, 2001 - "The Denny's in Eureka is on Highway 101 North, which is also a one-way street called 5th Street in that part of town. The last time I ate there it was okay, but maybe a little greasy (I like my food really light on the grease, which may be asking a bit much at Denny's.) That was about a month ago. I had a grand slam. Right now the slugger slam is a better deal, by the way. The service is pretty consistent there, and I've never had terrible food. It's a standard Denny's: not a great one, not a bad one. However, I have a history of eating there that keeps bringing me back. A long time ago I went there with Kevin and his friend who was on his way to spend a month in the Humboldt County jail for fighting right. He almost got in another fight in Denny's because some drunk rednecks started throwing french fries at him. I don't know what it was with that guy. Also a long time ago a friend of mine worked at that Denny's and it was sort of a goth/pre-goth hang out. It was pre-goth because goths weren't called goths yet, but people had started saying “that's goth” as a compliment. But I digress. I drank about 10 cups of coffee in there one night and I put 4 sugars in each cup and then I went to work (I worked the graveyard shift at the CCC back then.) My hands shook until the next day. Never again. I'm trying to remember who was there, I think it was Scott Pechel (he was a bus boy), Scott Baker, Rainy, and Noel. Possibly someone else was there, too. I might not have spelled those names right either. We used to go there a lot because we could hang out for hours and then give Scott P a ride home after work."
- Tiffany
- "6-21-98-- This is the longest day of the year. Well it definately was felt by the people in Denny's No. 275 on 1360 Holliday Lane, in Fairfield, CA. At 8:00 pm on the Father's day evening I stepped into the Denny's at 2980 Travis Blvd. (same city). The place did not have but two people working the floor (at a very slow pace) and about 8 customers per server. I was seated and given a menu, as I waited for a considerable time there were two other groups of customers waiting longer than me, with thier orders not taken. This is a large Denny's and I would have thought it to be much more filled and had a larger staff on the perticular day. The Manager came up to me and told me that he was going to shut the restuarant down for two hours (maybe shift change) because he didn't have adequite kitchen help.
I left and went one block to the one at 1360 Holliday Lane. Although smaller they had 6 servers on the floor, with about 14 customers per server. With more people pilling in by the minute (from the overflow of the other place), the manager was in the kitchen helping the cook, with the rest of the employees working their "buns" off. I was impressed. These people knew how to work hard. They had a team spirit and continuity. I praised my server, "Brenda." When my meal arrived (quickly) I stated, "if I were at the other place right now I would still be looking at my menu, or at locked doors.
I hope that Denny's upper management reads this. I think they need to reward one franchise and investigate the other." - written prior to September, 1999
- Mike Meahan
- March 6, 2002 - "Friend of mine lives up in Fairfield and one time when I was up there after bumming around re-living the teenage years we never had playing shitty videogames and whatnot, we decided to get a late night bite to eat. Being Fairfield, there wasn't a whole heck of a lot open after 10pm, so Denny's was an obvious choice. Then came the bigger choice... which Denny's? The one on the left side of the street, or the one on the right side of the street. I shit you not, there are two Denny's locations practically across the street from each other. I've now been to both of them but forgot to ask the waitstaff, well... why there are two of them less than a mile apart?"
- Ian Kasley
- "Life comes to a crawl as you enter Fort Bragg, CA. The highway is spattered with street signs and traffic controls. But at the end of town there is a ray of hope. The denny's, though small, has James....When the scraggly, unkempt hair and the large oogling glasses approach you, you are hard pressed to refrain from yelling, "YES, YES PLEASE MORE SPICY FRIES". Just beat it they say if you come in without shirt and shoes. But the beer stains are allowed." - written prior to September, 1999
- Simon Foster
- July 5, 2001 - "Hey dude. I'm so beyond bored at work, figured I'd submit a review of the Denny's that's off my street.
Location: Denny's on Mission Boulevard in Fremont, California (zip code: 94539)
Now i've been to a few Denny's in my lifetime, so really all I have is to compare it to OTHER Denny's that I've been to. This one is MUCH quiter than others. I'm not even sure why they have this HUGE waiting area, maybe they thought they'd be so jam packed they needed to be SURE there was enough room.
This location is extremely clean, once again probably 'cause it's much quieter and there's barely any traffic that goes through. I have to visit the bathrooms (since my apartment is nearby and obviously I would much rather use my OWN bathroom than a public one) so maybe all the nastiness is accumulated in there. I have yet to sit down and have the table be not-properly wiped or sticky, although once I think someone else's bill was still there and last week my napkin was rumpled.
Their hot chocolate is kinda crappy, but that vanilla capuccino stuff KICKS ASS. I wouldn't recommend spending $$ on salad (I think they run over to a local grocery store and use the bagged stuff) especially since a salad costs MORE than an actual meal.
The last time I went, I asked the waiter what the thin strips of potato were called in a menu picture (I was having a debate as to whether they were hash browns or home fries). THe teen waiter told me hash browns. I asked him what home fries are. He told me that home fries are thinner. So I asked him what could possibly be thinner than the shredded potatoes in teh picture. He simply told me he didn't want to argue and walked away.
Lesson learned: the waiters at this location are not knowledgealbe on the subject of breakfast potatoes.
Other than that, it's a typical denny's (the waiters speak better english though)."
- F. Sabina Ahmed
- "Like many of our sister stores we offer the "SLAMS" and Value for your dollar but, I think that our Denny's offers a little more. We have a friendly staff and we are always happy to give our guests a smile, a great meal, and a little conversation. I hope that you will include Galt on your page--It's the Great American Little Town and I hope that people will stop in and say HI--We are right off of Highway 99 between Stockton and Sacramento! Thanks--have a great day" - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- "Welcome to Grass Valley, California, heart of the Gold Country. We boast of senic mountain beauty and colorfull history. And, a Denny's that is home to waitresses with most bizzare hair doos ever seen on the human head. Some locals believe that these seemingly normal women are actually alien warlards who pile tremedous amounts of human gray-silver hair to conceal there enormous brainy craniumns. Really." - written prior to September, 1999
- Darin Barry
- March 18, 2004 - "Well, the food was damn good (EXCELLENT pancakes and EXCELLENT spicy buffalo chicken sandwich and EXCELLENT fries AND damn good coffee, even at 4pm in the afternoon); but that has got to be, architecturally speaking, the SMALLEST Denny's I have ever been too. Hell, even the Denny's in Barstow and the one off the Las Vegas Strip are BIGGER than this one, in terms of floor space. Even smaller than Rocker Denny's. However, the service is good, the decor sad and tired and dark, but clean, everybody is smiling that works there and they are quick and thorough. The clientele....well, being that Hawthorne is considered sort of the suburbs, there is the usual mix of churchgoers over the age of 50 dressed in their sunday best church suits and hats (mostly women), the so-called "white trash" family groups (mostly women under 30 with a couple of screaming kids in tow who curse a lot and smell like smoke), the young latinas with kids (who are usually better behaved than their mothers, who tend to smell like cigarettes too, and are always dressed in their cha-cha tops and tight jeans and platform shoes), and to my amusement the last time I was there, I saw this older biker dude wearing a really fly black porkpie hat, shiny satin baseball jacket, jeans and cowboy boots with his wife and kids; that guy I SWEAR is some character actor we've all seen on dozens of tv shows and films, but I have NO idea what his name is. He was very entertaining and loud, with a heavy New York accent. Guess he lives in the area. Anyway, that's my two cents. Hope it was helpful. Keep up the good work and I hope you enjoy further Denny's adventures!"
- Rosenda E. Moore
- "The restaurant during my visit started to become very busy. I observed the restaurant's manager (Mr. Jesse Duckett) assisted the waitresses in taking orders, cleaning tables, and greeting patrons.
It is hard to find management in any business nows days willing to help by physically taking part and doing the job he or she has asked others to do.
I feel that this you man should at the very least have someone say "keep up the good work".
(Note: The Denney's is located at Lyons & Flordia, Hemet, Calif.)" - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- "This was referred to in the KUCI (local college radio station) Program Guide as the "Goth Denny's". Apparently the Weird Al Yankovic factor is not the only Unexplained Denny's Phenomenon! The Denny's in Albuquerque, NM is also staffed exclusively with young vampiric women! Please see that entry for more information." - written prior to September, 1999
- Dan Harkless
- "To whom it may concern, Our local Denny's is in Huntington Beach, CA, off of Brrokhurst and Adams. It is staffed by the most irrate, freakish, generally pissed-off people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting in my life. The winner of the "20-foot-stick-up- the-a$$" award has to be Donna. Everytime I would go in, Donna would always greet our band with the middle finger and a pile of menus thrown in our general direction. After that, the only time we would see Donna was when she would come over to yell at us about bothering the other customers (the masses of people crowding Denny's at 1:30 AM were generally some punkers and a fat guy eating ice cream sundaes like they were going out of style). Donna was thankfully transfered to a Denny's in another part of the city, but her mark has been left on all of us. The last time we were there, our official band dumba$$ almost got us permanently banned. I don't know why we keep going back there, it's just tradition to go to Denny's after the games for some bad food and abuse." - written prior to September, 1999
- Jo-Jo Siddiq
- October 16, 2001 - "Been a while since I have mailed, but always intrigued at your site. Seems almost everyone I know on the web has heard of you now, bravo! I too live in Arizona and spend so much time on the road to Calif, that I almost always eat at the Denny's just off of the Ramon Rd exit if I am headed back in the morning. (In and Out burger if around lunch or dinner!) My last experience was great the other day, as there were no other customers there. We both had the 2.99 Grand Slam Specials and were back on the road again. Bathrooms were clean and service was great.
ps: going to the midwest next spring. Ill make sure to take the dig camera and get some shots to go along with subsequent reviews."
- Jeff Dorgay
- "They've just built a new Denny's across the street from the University of California in Irvine, near where I live (actually, it used to be a Hamburger Hamlet), and I had the worst French toast I've ever experienced. It was cold, tasteless and made my stomach hurt. And this was after waiting 20 minutes for someone to take our order. I think the waiter actually knew a little English." - written prior to September, 1999
- Michael Kirchhoff
- "Irvine is a small planned community with the worst night service. Always slow and apathetic, they really know how to let you know what a favor they are doing by waiting on you :) On an up note they do ahve the best waitress ever on the dayshift and ONE good night server, though I only saw him once, maybe he moved onto bigger better things. There buffelo wings are fabulous and the food is always pretty good, if a little late in coming. NEVER order anything from the ice cream counter it will be 45 min. in coming because the servers have to get it. I guess it cant be too bad I keep going back
." - written prior to September, 1999
- Jennifer Filson
- " Location: UCI Marketplace (Campus at Bridge)
This is a fairly new Denny's, having opened about a year ago and replacing a "Hamburger Hamlet". It's an OK Denny's, but is located right next to a trendy dance club, Metropolis. There's always a fight or two going on outside the club, right in front of Denny's, and inside the restaurant there's always big groups of people engaged in loud conversation. The demands of the club's problems keep the servers' attention focused on quelling riots and not on service itself, so you usually have to wait for that refill on your coke. If, for some ungodly reason, you find yourself at UC Irvine, it's not a bad place to go during the day, but I'd stay away at night. It's safe, but not worth the trouble. " - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- " Location: Culver Blvd at 5 freeway
This is a great Denny's, though not as good as the Santa Ana location. It's fairly large and somewhat busy, yet you usually don't have to wait long to be seated. The atmosphere is a good one, with lots of young couples quietly enjoying a coffee. The food is fairly good, but again it isn't great. Service is so-so, the fairly large amount of people this Denny's gets lowers the quality of the service somewhat." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- April 7, 2004 - "When I lived in Irvine for college we would actually drive 6 miles out of our way to the one on 14160 Culver Drive off of the 5 freeway. We never went to the one in the University Marketplace on Campus Drive and it has since shut down. About the Culver one: it is excellent. We always would go for late night study nights. They never would ask us to leave even after sitting at a booth for 3 hours one time. The waiters/waitress aren't the friendliest just doing their job but when we could get the 2.99 Grand Slam anytime, it didn't matter. Once we tried to use a coupon from a website and this 40ish year old man who was the manager would not allow us. Ridiculous!! Oh well, it has been great. The night before my boyfriend's birthday at midnight, they gave us a free dessert (we were studying for a final exam). Sorry no WAY here but maybe some day. The Grand Slam is great! I especially love the Buffalo Chicken strips. Wish I could be there now."
- Crissy Daniel
- "There are two Denny's in La Mesa (a suburb of San Diego). One is a someone quiet place, not too crowded, and is pretty much your typical Denny's, except for the notable absence of anyone resembling Weird Al Yankovich. The other Denny's is always more crowded and frenetic, being next to the freeway and close to San Diego State University. There is this one guy who works there (he doesn't look like St. Al, either--this Denny's is also Al-free), who I first saw during lunch. He was rather enthusiastic in trying to please me and Sara, and certainly seemed to have totally thrown himself into the job, and I remarked to Sara, "That man will be night manager someday." And sure enough, every time I have been to that Denny's since then, at night (90% of the time, I go to Denny's at night), that man is always working there, and is always enthusiastic and outgoing.
The other interesting story I can think of is one time, the Hot Chocolate machine wasn't working, and some man, whose two kids wanted hot chocolate, caused quite a ruckus trying to get some hot chocolate. Some people are stupid." - written prior to September, 1999
- Mike Myers
- "I have fond memories from the Denny's I knew growing up in California. Is anyone familiar with the Denny's in La Mirada right off the Santa Ana Fwy (I-5)? Is it still there? I remember that one because it was right next to (I think) what was or is Denny's world headquarters. I'm not sure I ever actually ate at that one, but I remember it especially because, before they built the 91 Fwy, it was on the route we took to Disneyland." - written prior to September, 1999
- Joe Gattuso
- "Location: El Toro Rd, about 1 mile north of the 5 freeway
We've only been to this Denny's once, and it didn't leave any spectacular impression in our minds. It has a bar attached to it with live music, which is fine if that's what you are looking for, but is somewhat annoying if you've just come from a party and are looking for a quite place to enjoy that chocolate shake of yours." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "everyday I have lunch with my daughter and there is this nice dennys on carson, in lakewood california.. and he food is good and the new things they come out with is really very good. besides the price is right,,, keep up the good work. I think denny's is the heart beat of America..." - written prior to September, 1999
- Dr. Nan Mackay
- March 20, 2005 - "I ran into the owner of this (and many other Southern California Denny's Restaruants). He runs a tight ship and I know any time I step into one of his it's going to be clean with good quality. LaVerne, CA. is one of my favorite Denny's to frequent. Servers are (mostly) friendly and the food just tastes better here. I used to eat at the corporate stores but found them to be too run-down and a bit dirty. This was different. Clean restrooms and booths. Food looked like the pictures in the menu. All in all it was a good experience and I go a bit out of my way (I pass 2 other Denny's in my area) to dine at this one. It's got that old Diner feel to it. And a little history... it sits at the only place where Baseline and Route 66 meet. They just need more parking space!!"
- Jenny McQuown
- July 26, 2002 - "Hi there ! My name is Jenny. My husband James and I live in Brussels (Belgium). (Yeah, well, not our fault !) We visit the U.S. almost every year (we have relatives in Lompoc, CA) and we just LOOOOOVE to eat at Denny's (especially breakfast). I am a big Moon over my Hammy's fan and James is more into the skillet thing (Meat Lovers, ...), but we also love the slams and the steak'n'eggs and ... and ... EVERYTHING !!! We are coming to the States again in about four weeks and we are already going over the Denny's menu to make our first selection. Needless to say that Denny's doesn't exist over here but even worse, the whole concept of a "family restaurant" is unknown here (can you imagine our agony ?!). The only thing we can do to survive is make ourselves a real home style brunch on Sunday mornings, with bacon, sausage, hashed browns, etc... which we then eat with our eyes closed, dreaming ourselves in a Denny' (it gets kind of messy from time to time, but that's the price to pay). Anyway, I must say that I'm kind of envious of your job, but some guys just have all the luck. Keep up the good thing !"
- Jenny
- "Your web page on Denny's is a real find for me. You see, my son and I are reconverting a coffee shop in the Brentwood area of LA to a Denny's. We are very near to the UCLA campus, on Wilshire Boulevard between Barrington and Bundy. We plan to be open around the first of November, and the feedback you have gotten from others will certainly help us to give as good service and food as we can. We want this to be a "class" Denny's, and we certainly invite you to visit us once we are open." - written prior to September, 1999
- Mike Leviton
- "The founder of Denny's aint the only one who died. The Denny's in Brentwood that I opened in November of 1996 folded on October 13, 1997 for lack of sufficient interest and what turned out to be an onerous lease. Despite the fact that would have done close to a million in sales had we stayed open for a year, the break even point was probably more like a million two fifty or more. While we were busy on Sunday and when UCLA students were in town, especially for mid terms and finals when they came in and studied and ate, ate, ate, the place sometimes looked like the Sahara Desert. I understand it is now a Coco's. Meanwhile the landlord lost close to a hundred grand by not renegotiating his lease with me, and I am sure the new tenant is not paying anything like what I was. So I am sorry we had to close before you got a chance to see the most beautiful Denny's in the system go down the toilet." - written prior to September, 1999
- Mike Leviton
- "I frequent the Denny's known as "Rock and Roll Denny's" on Sunset Blvd. in the heart of Hollywood California (the actual address slips my mind at the moment). It's quite fun to go late at night past 11pm to watch the Freaks come out. Freaks consist of Hookers,transvestites and other freaks that tend to think they are cool just because they are living the 'HOLLYWOOD' life....stupid mortals. Anyway...it's fun to go with a group of people and laugh at others. " - written prior to September, 1999
- Mike D
- "Bless you for what you're trying to do. I don't think you can possibly realize what this project means to so many people, all around the world. I hope my contribution will add to the joy that your site brings to people. I live in Germany, which has no Denny's restaurants at all. So, last year when I visited the States with a friend of mine from England, I couldn't wait to get to a Denny's. Since we were on the road visiting L.A. and didn't know anyone at all, we spent Thanksgiving Day '95 in the Denny's restaurant on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. It was excellent. It was also the only place we could really hang out. I was pleased to realize that Denny's in California can serve alcoholic beverages, and we took advantage of that situation as soon as the scrumptious Triple Slam Breakfasts were out of the way. We spent the whole day in the bar at that Denny's and enjoyed watching all the Thanksgiving NFL action; seeing Dallas beat up on some poor AFC squad particularly sticks out in my mind. I have ACTUAL PHOTOS of myself out front of the Denny's by the Denny's sign, and with the Hollywood hills in the background. If I can find an address to send them to so that you can scan them in to this page, I will. Anyway, thanks again for offering us global Denny's fans the chance to express our support for their fine restaurants. " - written prior to September, 1999
- Harry West
- "Wow, it's been over a year since I was last in a Denny's but let me tell you the Denny's in North Hollywood (Lankershim Blvd), California is damn fine. Even after that massive earthquake - they were open. The people in there are usually just the right mix of elderly couples, bikers and those just stopping for some quick eats. I live in London now, and it's the one thing that makes me homesick the most!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Alice Heywood
- "There is a Dennys on the corner of Sunset and Gowar, in the heart of tinsel town, that I don't think you can pass by. Hollywood is the ideal location for Dennys, and while we can't promise you the same fine food and racial discrimination the chain is known for, it's our bet that this will still be a fine Dennys experience. Try it late at night when all the rock and roller dudes and dudesses come out of their coffins. There is also a Dennys in North Hollywood with that certain "south of the border" flair. Ole'." - written prior to September, 1999
- Tom Flynn
- "try the one at sunset and bronson (?) in hollywierd. it's not too far from the scientology place. there's one in noho (north hollywood) that's kinda fun if ya like eating in seedy neighborhoods during drug busts. there's also the one's close to malibu that serve booze and have chili with onion rings and mozarella sticks. yes, it's an atual menu item!." - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- "For years I went to the Denny's on Sunset and Gower in Hollywood, CA, once a week for breakfast, and occasionally for "nourishment" in the late evening/early morning hours. The clientele at those times in Hollywood must be seen to be believed (think of a zoo), but what really got me was the Night Manager, who had the highest forehead of any human being I have ever seen. If, in fact, it was a human being. Think back to the David Macullum(?) episode of The Outer Limits TV show. Imagine eating breakfast at 2 a.m. lookin' at that guy." - written prior to September, 1999
- Martin B.
- "Location: Centinela Blvd at the San Diego freeway (405)
We actually didn't eat here at this Denny's, we simply took advantage of its restroom and parking facilities. It was January 1998, and we were on a quest, a quest to get into all the Hollywood studios and get discovered, becoming the next big stars. This Denny's is located just down the street from the Dreamworks "studios", which is actually an abandoned military base with a few hangars that have been converted into studios. We got onto the lot without any problem, but there wasn't any filming going on so we remain unknown talent." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "As a poor, sometimes homeless, oftentimes broke, most usually affected by some substance or another fellow, I have come to view Denny's restaraunts as havens; a place of peace in an otherwise cold and uncaring world (IE when I don't have any money or a place to sleep, and am far away from home, I can be assured of relative safety and comfort for the price of a bottomless cup of coffee). Of course, I fit right in with all the other middle-of-the-night freaks at my local Denny's (Santa Cruz, CA)... Or I used to.. My lifestyle and appearance both suffer from a sudden influx of money, due to a JOB, and my Denny's pilgramiges have been decreased in frequency, as far as long distance goes... Denny's holds a special place in my heart.. My formative years as an adolescent, consuming copious amounts of LSD, were spent mainly in corner booths in Denny's at 3AM tripping balls with other poor, giggling, substance abusing, weird looking white kids. But my Denny's tale is not a "Fear and Lothing"esque road trip with the glowing crazed letters of cheap coffee serving as beacons along a psychedelic journey.. No, my story takes place in a moment of full sobriety... it was a result of a poorly conceived semi road trip that entailed hitchhiking from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles with my then runaway girlfriend and my friend who has a thing for transexuals.. Now, I have NO idea if you are from the "Early-morning-going-to-work" school of Denny's thought, or the "7-day-methamphetamine-binge" club of Denny's customers.. However, even if you are not amused, and do not see fit to add my comments to your Denny's project, at least the seedy underbelly of disreputable Denny's patrons will have spoken it's peace. Now, we had a very interesting trip to LA, but that is of no consequence except in relation to Denny's.. As we arrived in Hollywood, expecting to see movie stars and all that stuff, we were confronted with grim reality.. The first person we saw was a hooker, who commented on my hair in a friendly manner (At that time it was in bright green dreadlocks), and the second was a homeless man who exposed himself to my girlfriend. We were not stoked. By this time, it was neearing 2AM, and we had to find a safe haven.. Police helicopters would fly overhead with searchlights scanning for perpetrators of unknown crimes constantly, gangbangers were laughing at us and asking us if we wanted some of their blunt, LAPD officers (Whom we feared as a result of TV and Rodney King) were patrolling, arresting black people left and right... This place was obviously insane. And just when we thought hope was lost, familiar letters were before our eyes, promising warmth and comfort and $1.99 Grand Slams in 4 hours. With haste we projected ourselves toward the only bastion of sanity in a world gone mad, and entered Denny's.. Aah.. formica tables and booths with seats patched by electrical tape have never been so luxurious.. We were suprised that Denny's had it's own security guard, but we decided to look like we wanted to get something to eat and not the vagrant travellers we were. Shortly after our arrival and 6 cups of coffee, we noticed commotion outside.. A man was bleeding from a massive wound, and was stumbling into Denny's.. The staff quickly came to his aid and called the cops.. now this is really the point of my story.. in the midst of the extreme apathy that we had been witness to in our few hours in the city of angels, these minimum wage earning, strung out waitresses and immigrant cooks took the time and care to make sure this man was alright.. the cops and an ambulance came, and the man was escorted to the hospital.. Our thoughts were with him, and we knew that should anything befall us, Denny's would help us in our time of need, as indeed it was at the moment, giving us shelter in an alien place where we had not a friend for 400 miles. We stayed until 6AM when the Grand Slam special started, and ate our runny eggs with all the gusto of condemned men.. We chatted with the staff, became friendly with the security guard, (In fact, the guard drew a portrait of me, with the crayons Denny's gives to kids, on the back of a placemat.. And I still have it) And we left with the feeling of hope that there were still decent human beings left in this bombed out shell of Hollywood. And, in fact, they were present at the bottom rung of the service industry, the graveyard shift workers at Denny's. We visited 4 more Denny's locations before the trip was over, but none left as strong an impression as that of the one I have mentioned. I would like to extend a thanks to the night crew and security of the Hollywood Denny's, and to you for hearing me out." - written prior to September, 1999
- Sedusa
- "Hey! My name's Tracy, and I live in the heart of ol' L.A., Mid-Wilshire. I dig my neighborhood - parts of it could use a face lift, but it's cool place if you know where to look (and where not to, if you get my drift). So I hereby recommend the Denny's just east of the the corner of Wilshire and Western, same building as the glorious old Wiltern Theatre. I eat there frequently (the Denny's, not the Wiltern), and am either well-taken care of (daytime hours) or heartily amused (late-night, weirdos-and-fucked-up-partiers-are-out hours). Either way, you can't go wrong." - written prior to September, 1999
- Tracy
- November 16, 2000 - "A few friends of mine and I are planning a Hollywood, California, Denny's Hat Trick - in one day, we managed to hit the Sunset & Bronson and Sunset & Gower restaurants...but there's one left! ACK! At any rate, we had most fun at the Bronson restaurant, because they had tv's all over the place showing those gossippy rock star documentaries on VH1 or whatever. This is why I associate Lief Garret with Denny's. ;o) The food and service at both restaurants were excellent...the five of us were quite happy!"
- Kali Pappas
- January 12, 2001 - "I actually saw a big drug bust go down outside one of the 3 or 4 Denny's (I've forgotten how many exactly) on Sunset Blvd awhile ago too. Haha it was pretty amusing. It was at the Denny's which is referred to by us locals as "Rocker Denny's", given its close proximity to, and patronization by, the rocker type fellows who hang out at the nearby Sunset Strip nightclubs like the Rainbow and such. We were in a long line waiting to get in at about 2:30 a.m, after the clubs had closed, and we all stood there looking in a rather jaded manner, I must admit. "Oh wow, look how those cops are ripping up that old Volkswagen...ooooh.", "Boy, those girls must be awful uncomfortable lying face down in the street with their arms handcuffed behind their backs. Poor things." Etc.etc."
- Rosenda Moore
- December 29, 2001 - "My husband 2 kids and I (7 months pregnant) went to this place on colousa highway in marysville for dinner 1 night. The smallest denny's you've ever been in, the only one in the area, and TERRIBLE!!!! Our waitress was wonderful (an older lady that usually worked graves, but was called in last minute and agreed to work after only sleeping for like 20 min.). there was a manager there (or a wannabe manager) who came out of the bathroom wiping his hands (did he wash or didn't he?) and said "how many?" my husband said, "um 4" he sat us at a table that was so small I had to squish my belly in. This man reminded me of Richard simmons with red hair if you catch my drift. the food took soooooo long that I swear my baby was going to be born at any minute! typical denny's food. there was a young waitress there who had 3 customers (she was all of 21 or so) and this older lady that was like 50 or so and the young lady took my husbands salad after the old lady made it and gave it to one of her customers. when the waitress returned to grab it and hand it to my husband she screamed, "WHO THE HELL TOOK MY SALAD?" we couldn't believe that she even did that and then yelled at the older lady!!! THE NERVE!!! We would have complained to the Richard wannabe, but we figured that the young waitress and him were sharing make up so what was the point? Anyway to end it, our waitress (bless that woman's soul for putting up with these people's shit....even though she should go to applebee's that just opened up in yuba city.....she'd rock there) asked us if we wanted anything else, we replied, " NO", she replied "SMART MOVE!!!" :)"
- Renee
- November 30, 2002 - "Just gotta re-inforce your previous correspondant on the local Denny's. The worst. I no longer go there under any circumstance (even when every other restaurant in the area is closed, and that does happen).
As a diabetic, I must eat on a fairly regular schedule, and since I am using insulin, I must inject myself prior to eating, and must eat within about 15 minutes of the injection. On the night in question, last summer, I entered Denny's (alone) and found it about one-third occupied. I went to the restroom to test my blood and take my injection (I don't even want to go into the concept of using my stuff in a typical Denny's bathroom -- it's scary!).
I then took my seat, ordered a slam of some sort, and waited. Coffee came soon. Nothing else. After 20 minutes, I asked the waitress to check on the order. She proceeded to the passthrough...nothing. After another coffee or three, again I sent her to check. About this time, the crowd from the local ampitheater had just ended a concert and started to file into the restaurant. Soon all tables were filled, there was a waiting line, and most of the newcomers were getting served.
Finally, exactly 55 minutes after I took my shot (I write down the time in my little logbook), as my blood sugar was tumbling like an avalanche, I left the table and proceeded to the cash register, told the manager I was leaving, and offered to pay for the coffee. At that point, the original waitress grabbed a plate off the passthrough and said I could have that breakfast. However, it was not the one I ordered; they were willing to let another customer get screwed so I would stick around for my lousy six bucks or so. I declined their generous offer and again offered to pay for the coffee. In what was the only decent gesture of the evening, the refused to accept the buck whatever.
As a sidenote, I was eating in the Taco Bell across the street about a month later when a guy walked in with his family, totally torked off about not getting served after more than 30 minutes at Denny's. I completely understood.
We've got Lyons, Coco's, Perko's and Applebees here in the Twin Cities of Marysville and Yuba City as well as a few independent coffee shop style joints, and Denny's will just have to live without me in perpetuity. (The above story is only the last straw in 30 plus years of disappointments at that spot... but I have only myself to blame, because I kept trying trying again.
By the way, I look a little like Wierd Al, only older, fatter and shorter."
- Mike Blachman
- "Dear Denny's Dude:
After I wrote a message to you about a Denny's that truly bit (see Ocean City, MD), I looked around to see what people had written about other Denny's I've been to. Lots of negativity out there! I've decided to write to you about the Denny's in Merced, California.
I think small town Denny's end up being the best. The people who run the Merced, California Denny's are a case in point! You get a little conversation with your meal, and if you're a regular, you might be in on a few inside jokes. Biggest side salads than any other Denny's and the most fun and polite servers anywhere. We lived in Merced for five years, and any time we went on a long road trip we'd eat at this Denny's before we left.
All Hail Denny's Merced!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Rasha Kowalewski
- January 17, 2004 - "The denny's in Merced, CA, is one of the better ones I've been to over the years, but it does have a few problems.... Since it's a franchised location, it's their choice whether or not to participate in national promotions (like the $1.99 grand slam). This Denny's location instead creates their own grand slam promotions with very restricted hours (like 7AM-10AM). Also, when they remodeled a few years ago, they installed a light-blue neon light that goes across the top of the counter that is so bright & such a weird shade of blue that it seems to burn into your brain... it's very distracting! You can actually see these blue lights glowing through the front windows from the freeway (even in broad daylight!) as you're driving by. It's the same shde of blue that's used in those bug-zapper lights...lol! Anyway, their service is good, their food is usually served just the way you ordered it, they do their chocolate milkshakes just right; All-in-all it rates around an 8 on a scale of 1-10. If you're in the Merced area of California's Central Valley and want a Denny's that participates in the nationally advertised promotions, it's worth going about 5 miles down the road to Atwater, CA to a 2-year old Denny's that's very clean and very consistant on food quality. The Atwater Denny's is a little slower on service (2-5 minutes slower), but if you want a $1.99 grand slam, that's your best bet in Merced County, CA. PS: I'm a nightclub DJ, so I've eaten hundreds, if not thousands, of late night meals at many different Denny's round the state of CA...."
- Ken S
- August 24, 2000 - "Many good times have occured at the Denny's known as "D on A" (denny's on alicia). The crowd varies at night from the usual Orange County sleazewhores to wannabe punk rock and skater kids, but it's all pretty entertaining. I haven't been there ever during daylight, but why would one go to a Denny's during such odd hours?? One comforting fact about this Denny's is that our waitress Melissa always knows just what to order (fries and a side of ranch, a super bird for my friend, and lots of cherry coke). It's almost scary to think that in the time my friends and I have been going there, Melissa has somehow managed to become impregnated and have a child who is probably almost a year old now. Also, there is never a shortage of the neat little gameboy things (go penguin game!)."
- jessalyn
- "Modesto ,California has three of them. I used to think they were ok, but now my good friend works at one of them and I am finding out all kinds of stuff. They are running the grand slam for $1.99, if you order one of them the waitress considers you white trash. The company is cutting hours to cancel the workers insurance. I will be going back to Lyon's" - written prior to September, 1999
- Billy Jo
- September 16, 2001 - "please take note! i live in california and i go to corona and norco dennys where they give you great service.......today i took 10 people to a dennys in montclair ca. on 4th street......service was poor food was ,bad or dis colored.........didnt get the orders right......food was cold we canceled 4 food orders...................the waitress had a bad additued...................the manger told us they dont put up the health ratings as you can buy them now.......i dont beleive that is true.......now i no why only 6 or 8 people came and went while we was there.............i cannot beleive this was dennys..............thanks for litening but this is very poor business............."
- Joan Hamilton
- "Towards the end of the holiday - getting weary. Had a bigger meal this time. I think I had some seafood - which again was great. I loved the atmosphere here. It was busy but friendly - lots of family groups. We got free holographic baseball cards which meant absolutely nothing to us, but looked good!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Pam Sheard
- "If you're interested in getting the worst service of your life, being served by people incapable of finishing a sentence, and getting your food cold, then by all means bop on up to Monterey, California. You might get better service since you're male and you're not a student (are you?), but don't count on it. And yes, I processed your disclaimer, or whatever you call it, but I still find it odd that when I try and track Denny's down on the internet, your page comes up before anything else. Is it because they at Denny's *know* that people like me are pissed off? Just curious..." - written prior to September, 1999
- Naomi
- November 9, 2003 - "This Denny's has average service but a very friendly wait-staff. This is the only Denny's that I've visited which has its own Tavern. The Tavern serves alcohol, like any other bar, and also hosts a weekly karaoke night. I think this is about the most ingenious Denny's idea ever - as one can go get drunk then walk through a door and sober up with some coffee and an All American Slam."
- Cody Sharp
- "My name is Pho Leat, and I just love the Denny's here in Moreno Valley California, USA. It is like a community landmark. I think its been in our city for over 15 years at least but im not sure on that. Its right next to the Home of the Whopper and right acress the street from the old Bobs Big Boy, turned Coco's. You can see it from the 60 Freeway so its not too hard to locate.
What more can I say? There are too many fond memories of first dates, prom nights, and post football game team meals to list. And if yer getting the munchies like me right now then its a deal you cant miss." - written prior to September, 1999
- Pho Leat
- "Though lacking in full Weird Al ambience, Morro Bay denies makes up for it in sheer service style. The great majority of service people get on their knees when taking your order. A closer, friendlier environment than nearby Madonna Dennys in SLO, CA a must visit if you have the chance." - written prior to September, 1999
- Simon Foster
- "This one sucks. It's one of those "non-participating" Dennys which jacks up all of its prices. Once got stuck there for eight hours when our bus to LA broke down, and they were kind enough to let us take over their conference room or ball room or whatever its called for a good six hours, though." - written prior to September, 1999
- Tom Flamson
- "First of all, the Denny's in Napa is very strange! Built in some sort of a warehouse or something. Strange tubes and shit running all over the ceiling, the service is usually nothing to write home about, and you have to be quiet outside due to it being built into a hotel. Coffee Rating - *** - Three stars... Nothin' special, but not too bad." - written prior to September, 1999
- Oran Davis
- "I used to hang out at this one a lot the summer after graduating highschool. One of the waitresses was really old and bitchy. She was really wrinkled and got mad when she couldn't remember your order. All the local kids who hung out there referred to her as Moses. I wonder if she still works there or if she's still alive even. There was also a nice manager and an evil manager. My mom bought a mug off of the nice manager for $5 (more than its value I think) and gave it to me for Christmas one year as a joke. I had stolen one of the silver milkshake cups from there in highschool and she made me return it. This Denny's has a fireplace which they "turn on" in winter - its one of those gas ones. I guess those are all the distinguishing features. The staff at the Lyon's in Napa were always much cooler.
I forgot until reading some of the Napa Denny's comments on your page that there are two Denny's in Napa. One (which the guy talks about being surreal and having to be quiet because its in a hotel) is the newer one at the end of Imola Ave, opened about 6 years ago. The other which I was talking about has been there for ages and is off Hwy 29 near Trower Ave. The Imola Ave one is lame." - written prior to September, 1999
- Meg Sharkey
- "Normally I wouldnt say anything bad about somebody, however= Mothers Day at Denny's in Napa ,CA was something else! My wife and I frequent Denny's alot. On this visit we were shocked! The hostess told us they were running 30 to 45 minutes for seating (no problem, we waited) But on going to use the restroom I counted 12 tables within sight that were set and no one sitting there. We had given my name to the hostess who wrote it down at the very top of the page (1st name on the list!) yet when I checked about 30 minutes later I found 2 names had been written in above mine (squeezed in on the margin!). I was shocked and said so. the hostess said evidently we were not 1st as there was names above ours. I pointed out that the other names were not on any lines and where squeezed in above ours, she basically said at that point "to bad and if we were not happy there is alot of other places that would be happy to serve us" Well, we where finally seated and the waiter took our order ( very nice and polite) the section we where seated in had a total of 6 tables yet the table next to us and ours was the only tables filled (even though the waiting line was long by that time). The food is usually good at this particular Denny's yet that day it was way undercooked. All in all we would have to rate our visit to Denny's in NAPA, CALIFORNIA as the worst restaurant experience in a long time. Thanks for letting us sound off on your web page, and we would like to say usually we have a good experience at Denny's but after this time I think we will think twice about going there." - written prior to September, 1999
- William & Paula LePage
- August 4, 2000 - "I have dined at many Denny's and have found all of them great-except for the one mentioned above. I have never seen such a dirty filthy and disqusting restraunt in all my life. Scum drooling down the seats, walls and ceilings. GROSS, GROSS, GROSS. Nasty and gross wait staff. To make matters worst. I asked for extra tomatoes on my western omlet and I was charged for it, .99 when I told the manager Cyrus that I disputed this charge and he gave me 2 options I can either pay for the tomatoes or not pay the entire bill which the Napa police will be waiting for me outside. I paid the bill and called the guests relations office at the corporite headquarters office. I was told that the Denny's is independantly owned and that there was nothing they could do except contact them and forwards my complaints. I was also told that if the owners chose to contact me they would, or maybe ignore my complaints. This made be beleive that Denny's doesn't care what kind of filthy place donned their name on the sign out front. I am totally disgusted at the entire experiance with this company. I will never enter another Denny's I will find another place to eat. I will also share this "LOVELY" with anyone who will listen. SHAME ON DENNY'S....."
- Dorreen Longo
- "I indulged in the motzerella sticks and my sister had a hamburger with a side of hash browns. I can't recall any WAY's in the place, although there were a lot of cute guys in tight jeans. Another benefit of this Denny's - it was in the motel 6 parking lot. The bus boys were great for bumming smokes. Ate breakfast there the next morning and it was edible. Note: in Needles they don't seem to think that thermals underneath men's boxer shorts and mickey mouse high tops are a fashion statement." - written prior to September, 1999
- Jennifer Rosevear
- "Location: Newport Blvd at 17th Blvd
This Denny's is usually really busy, and thus the service suffers. The food is of passable quality, though it's not something I would go out of my way for. Its proximity to the beach and Triangle Square, two busy areas, means there's usually a lot of people here and a long wait, and in the end it's not really worth it. We've only been here once, and it didn't go well--it was just after a church dance, and three girls of questionable appearance followed us there and insisted upon flirting with us. One of them thought I looked like George Harrison. Usually this would have flattered me, but coming from her it was just plain annoying." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- February 6, 2000 - "I ate at the Denny's in Norco, California last night after a night of drinking. I have noticed that they seem to have an "After Midnight and Too Drunk to Care How Much The Food Costs" menu that they start using late at night. It seems like the prices are higher on these menus. Is this some form of "Drunk Tax"? Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? I can't believe I have been coming to see this page for 4 years, is there something wrong with me?"
- Joe D'Errico
- "When I was younger my family would always eat at Denny's on road trips. I hated it. I always associated it with the Flintstones for some reason. Anyway, the Novato Denny's is the best. I have no idea why, butduring the spring, a whole big group of my friends started meeting there. It started out as a meeting place before camping trips or whatever, but now it's where we go at night. We don't always go in, we just mostly hang out in the parking lot and chill. It must really scare people, a group of 20 or so youngins hanging out in a parking lot. But it's fun, and I call it my second home. i have a theory about that place- if you wait there long enough you'll see at least 20 people you know. And I'm right! The food's not bad either. There's 1 kick ass waitress who makes the best sundaes. You should definately include the Novato Denny's on your list of visited Denny's! (and the n's on the signs look like 12s.)" - written prior to September, 1999
- David Bedar
- October 2, 2002 - "Okay this is about the Novato Denny's. It's true it WAS the best Denny's I've ever been too. All my friends and I would go hang out there after the rodeo or whatever and there was one kick ass waitress that did make the best sunday's BUT that Denny' was independantly owned by a grocery store or something like that. Anyways to make a long story short they closed it and that really sucked. Where the hell are people supposed to go? Especially late at night. If you've ever been to Novato you'd know there's not much else to do. And on top of that now there's only one Denny's in ALL of Marin county and it's all the way in quartamedera. That's about 20 min away from Novato. To top it all off that Denny's is the only place in all of Marin that people under 21 can go after midnight. It's sad really. When our Denny's closed it was like the end of an era. Thank God I moved anyways just thought I'd let ya know Tootles."
- DixieBubbles66
- " Dude... I can't believe no one said anything about one of the ones in Oakland, California! The one i'm thinking of is really close to the Oakland Coliseium. It's oh-so convenient after a Raiders, A's, or a Warriors game to stop by and munch. It's also close to the DMV (I guess to console yourself over a cup of coffee if you fail your driving test) and it's right off the 880 Freeway. Across the freeway is a movie theater and a rollerhockey rink! I love all that conveneice. I've also been to the one in Emeryville. That's in the middle of a shopping complex and is a short drive from batting cages, an arcade, a movie theater, a nice CD/movies/book store, a bar and a cool club. Anyway, thanks for letting me rant!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Hopper James Amn Det8
- "This was our first meal in the US. We were driving down to San Diego from LA - first day of the holiday when everything was very new to us. Denny's was great! We were served by a lovely lady who was very kind and patient with us. We were gobsmacked (old english saying!) by the size of the sandwiches and the free refills of coffee and coke." - written prior to September, 1999
- Pam Sheard
- "The Denny's in Orange, California on Tustin Ave by the Orange Mall is pretty standard as far as Denny's goes. It's fairly busy at night but they have a few older waitresses whose sassiness make it all worth while. Unfortunately, they have a Mother Butler's ice cream counter at the front of the store, which makes the ice cream more expensive and the shakes aren't near as big. In addition, every time I have been there they have had the section of the restaurant that is usually the designated smoking area (you can't smoke in Orange County in any restaurant) closed. Last but not least, they charged me 50 cents for a stupid side of ranch dressing. Needless to say I was appauled. But overall, it's a decent Denny's experience." - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- "I have been dining at many different Denny's restaurants and was very happy with the serves. However, once a week I go out to lunch with my girlfriend to the Denny's about 1:30 p.m., located on Chapman Avenue in Orange, CA and have terrible service the three times we have been there. The time period to set us was at least 15 minutes and there where plenty of empty seats. Not to say that when I asked for a kid's meal menu I didn't receive it until I asked two more times. Then when ordering drinks the waitress did not ask my daughters what they wanted to drink and tossed the kid's menu on the table and walked away mumbling. I was very upset by this time and walked out because this has not only happened once but on the three times we have been there. It's not like someone was having a bad day or something, this is continuous. I don't know what can be done about this but I would sure like a response from someone. I have alway found Denny's to be a nice place to dine but now I am having some doubt." - written prior to September, 1999
- Dawn Fields
- "Location: Chapman Avenue at the 5 Freeway, by the Cinedome
This Denny's isn't all that great, for the service really is bad. This was reviewed by another person who complained about bad service here and I must say that she is right--just keep heading down the 5 to either the Redhill or the Culver exits, where decent service awaits." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- May 15, 2001 - "Nice to know that I'm not the only person with such high regards for Denny's. My review is of the Denny's at the Chapman off ramp of the 57 Fwy in Orange Ca. What a crew they have, I stop for breakfast usually 3 days a week on my way to the office and sometimes that is where I get my morning laughs. The 2 ladies who are usually there provide lot's of reasons for anyone to HATE DENNY'S. They spend more time girl gabbing than taking care of the paying customers, I have tried several ways to let them know that if just once they actually acted like a waitress of the past, they might even get a decent tip out of ME! Wrong thought, they will just be your average dumb *#@&^ for life. FYI The blonde is about a 4.5 on the scale --5 being average, but her license plate say's FN UNBELIEVABLE --unbelievable what ?????? The Spanish brunette is an average 5, and her plate say's-- I've had 31 flavor's do you want to be # 32 ??? may-be on a Friday night at 1:58am."
- Morgan, Jeff
- "Seeing your site brought back a bunch of teen years memories for me. Denny's was the ONLY restaurant we would go to during my junior year summer of high school (and still go to quite frequently). Originally being from the small town of Pacifica (a few minutes from San Francisco), there would be nothing for a young kid to do but sit at Denny's on massive quantities of acid for 10 or 11 hours at a time, picking up all the surrealness that can possibly be packed into a small family restaurant. They did not have an employee that looked like Weird Al... but one of the waitresses' boyfriend looked exactly like him minus the poofy hair. The fact that this Denny's was right next to a cowboy bar called Cheers (to which all the cowpokes would come late on weekends after hours of boot-scooting and Jack Daniels) added to the surrealism.
Imagine if you will: Being on three tabs of highly potent drugs when 75 hungry hicks come waltzing in and stare at you because you have a mohawk. And then there's always the cops, stopping by for a Super Bird and a coffee. But the Surrealism Prize goes to a woman named Rose (who can still be seen at this Denny's... hurry up, she's old). Rose sits at the counter near the bathrooms every single night, and will talk to anyone who gets within earshot. She owns about 500 cats, her hair is falling out, she smokes too much, and she claims to have her sister in her purse and that she is good friends with Honest Abe Lincoln. Once a waitress jokingly asked Rose to take our order, and all of us refused because we were frying hard and we didn't want Rose to screw our orders up. My friend Shawn is still traumatized by it.
Being a writer/director of surrealist films, I feel like Denny's has influenced me greatly and I plan to write a script based on that summer's drug-soaked insanity (Hunter Thompson's got nothin' on me). So, if you have a chance to visit up near San Francisco, I suggest rolling on down to that Denny's in Pacifica and give Rose a nice wave... she just might put you in her purse, too." - written prior to September, 1999
- Justin Sane
- November 12, 2000 - "While you are in the San Francisco Bay Area, please do not miss dining at the Denny's in Pacifica. ÊOur grandchildren insist that we have breakfast there everytime we visit and it has always been an amazing experience. ÊLike the time that we asked for additional cutlery for the six people that did not have any. ÊA very strange young woman came to our booth and proceeded to slap down Êplace settings for at least Ê20 people before we stopped her. ÊAnother time, a very hyper young male wait person spilled milk on the top of a baby's head a couple of tables over. ÊAnyways, not a Denny's to be missed."
- Ellen Kantola
- "The old rundown Palmdale Dennys was the site of weekly AA pigouts after making one's soul naked and vulnerable in meetings. In place of alcohol, one could regularly see that chocolate became the new drug of choice. Once located just off the 14 freeway on the East side of town, it tried to upgrade its image by moving a block West to the West side of town just on the OTHER side of the freeway. The AA crowd STILL managed to find it after only one week of confusion. HEY! What happened to Dennys?!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Deborah Hines
- "Location: Ramon Rd at Interstate 10
Like the Banning Denny's just 20 miles down the freeway, this one is simply atrocious. If you ever find yourself out this way on I-10, just keep on driving until you hit a decent fast-food place or something. This Denny's is fairly busy, as it's located on the main route from LA to Phoenix, but it doesn't have anything in the way of quality food--in fact, when we got home to Tustin a few hours later, I threw up. I also recall the service having been less than stellar, as we waited a long time to be seated." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- January 27, 2003 - "The Denny's on the east side of Pasadena was an excellent example of authentic coffee shop architecture until 2001 or so, when some genius decided to re-do it in a phoney diner style. The interior and exterior natural rock walls were painted (two different colors!), the full width windows were narrowed and a bunch of chrome was added. The food has never been very good here (it gives me the runs about half the time) and now the decor matches the meals. The Denny's Diner concept should be reserved for newer shopping mall locations, not authentic original coffee shops. Why can't they get it right?"
- Hal Carter
- "You should definitely get the word out on our own wonderful Denny's here in Paso Robles, right smack-dab in the middle of California cattle ranch country!! It's right off of Highway 101, which is the scenic north-south route of California (and used to be the main route).Ê It's convenient because it's right in town with easy on/off ramps.Ê Plus there are gas stations, convenience stores, motels and other restaurants (though who would need one?) right next to it.Ê Since it's a long way in either direction to any such convenient stopping-off place for travelers, this Danny's, with it's friendly hometown waitresses and great service, is a very important one.Ê Also, if you have a little while during your stop, after your meal at Denny's, you might want to stop by the fantastic Pioneer Museum, right up the street, next to the Mid-State Fairgrounds.Ê The Museum's open 1-4PM, Thursday - Sunday (admission free) and has a great collection of wagons, coaches, buggies, farm machinery, and all types of items connected with cowboys and farm living.Ê Keep up the good work--I even took my friends >from Scotland to Denny's when they came over recently (the Denny's in Mission Valley on Friars Road in San Diego)." - written prior to September, 1999
- Gary McMaster
- "I have a friend who constantly slags Denny's because of a Bad Experience at a BC location. I never understood what she was on about, since the various Denny's I went to in the Sacramento, CA area, particularly Roseville, CA and the Denny's just off Howe Avenue near the 50 were always just fine by me. Then I stopped at the Paso Robles, CA Denny's and discovered that, alas, not all Denny's are created alike. The food was terrible, the service was downright surly, and there was not a WAY in sight. Not even close. I'm just glad it wasn't the first Denny's I'd ever been to, because then it would have been the last. This was in May of 1997, so maybe things are better now. If there's more than one in town, I'm talking about the one just off the 101 near the junction of the route that goes to Kettlemen City, 41 or 46 I think." - written prior to September, 1999
- Emily Gifford
- December 31, 2000 - "Hi. I travel between the San Francisco area and Fresno, Ca. on a regular basis. I have been stopping in at the Denny's in both Patterson and in Los Banos. They are at a good half-way point for a nice stop. However, the Denny's in Los Banos seems to be the better choice. The Patterson Denny's always has very slow service, and once got a bad chicken salad that made me sick. Also, being in an agricultural area, there a re a lot of insets crawling around outside that usually make there way indoors at the Patterson location. I've since stopped going to the Patterson location unless I can't help it."
- David Banuelos
- "My most "memorable" experience at a Denny's restaurant was when my husband (of 6 1/2 years) first asked me to marry him in the Denny's parking lot in Perris, California (in So. Cal.). Who knew you could find true love at Denny's? It ranks right up there with that rooty tooty fresh and fruity breakfast!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Mrs. Kimberly C. Dahl
- "This is one of the Denny's my wife and I eat at the most now. The others in Santa Rosa are already covered. There is nothing special about this Denny's. It's one of the origional (based on my first contact in Merritt Island) designs, which I prefer over the Dennys that attempt to be more fashionable. The more open Denny's are not as comfortable to be in. Anyway, the spees here of service is about average, and the food is always good (of course, all Dennys food is made with Denny number 5)" - written prior to September, 1999
- Rod Cook
- "Only in a dire emergency must one attend this Dennys. Though still offering the scrumptious bacon-swiss burger and all amenities, including spicy fries, this Dennys completely lacks Weird ALness. The first time I attempted to enter this 24/7 restaurant it was closed. I had driven the hard 10 miles from the nearest Denny's in SLO, CA as The Bear Denny was closed for cleaning. This was tragic as the four Denny's in greater non-101 SLO county were all closed for cleaning. They are owned by the same company, so all is tragic when the cleaning signs go up." - written prior to September, 1999
- Simon Foster
- "After the Walnut Creek, CA Denny's closed last year, our little group of Denny's devotees have migrated to the Pleasant Hill location. Although it is a bit further from most of our homes, and does not have as many good memories and emotional attachments that the Walnut Creek location held, it is still a great place to eat. They keep their prices low, and the service is great. We have gotten to know the service persons quite well over the past few months, and our group of 10+ friends is always welcome, and usually assured our table in the back. If you are ever in the area, check out the Pleasant Hill Denny's, located on Contra Costa Blvd, right next to Toys R Us." - written prior to September, 1999
- Victor Andersen
- September 17, 2003 - "That Denny's actually kicks ass. The food is decent, the service great, the people nice, etc. And they get SLAMMED with customers on some weekends, they deserve a medal! It's still Denny's food but they do the best with what they have. And they're a 24-hour one like they're supposed to be too. By the way, if the Grand Slam isn't cheap enough for you, one way to get *something* that will last you a while for b'fast is get a side of corned beef hash. That's only like $1.65 and unless you're a really big person it will do you just fine. "
- Alexandra Carter
- June 1, 2000 - "Gee, what's up with the "Denny's Diner" concept? In Redding, CA we have two Dennys, one on each side of I 5 within shouting distance from each other. One has become a "Diner" and I can't stand the 50's music! So now I have to go to the other one. It's just that I'm all sentimental about the old one. We used to sit in the back booth and nurse coffee, milk shakes and french fries all night while plotting the overthrow of the government. One friend ,who has since become a professional cartoonist drew up a hilarious "Last supper at Denny's", with apologies to Da Vinci. Best of luck on your quest-Northern California is just crawling with the big Ds. Now, the real hard part is finding old "Sambos" restaurants! "
- Misha
- "If you are ever passing through a small town in the Mojave desert, Ridgecrest, not really famous for anything, oh, except the green glow in-the-dark sticks used at Halloween, stop on by Denny's on the corner of the two main drags. This establishment has pride and it shows. I can't name one bad experience I have ever had there. It may be just another Denny's, but the employees and managers enjoy what they do and it shows in their performance. If you ever do stop in, ask for Frank, the manager; a great personality." - written prior to September, 1999
- Carrie Adamson
- June 14, 2001 - "Let's face it, most Denny's suck. The one in Ridgecrest, California, though, is pretty good. We have eaten there twice now and it has been fine. The hired help is friendly and efficient, which is almost unheard of at Denny's. And the food was ok, too. I recommend this Denny's to anyone who happens to be in the area."
- David Owens
- "Location: University Ave, 1 block west of the 215 freeway
This Denny's is not located in a particularly great part of Riverside, and thus it lacks a certain something in the way of quality. It's just down the road from UC Riverside, which is why we went there. We were staying overnight in the Roach Motel (hehe...the Super 8, I mean) and went to Denny's for breakfast. It was crowded, loud, and the service was simply atrocious. We had to wait 15 minutes for a refill on coffee, and roundabout 45 minutes for our food, and once it came it was not easy to stomach. If you ever find yourself in this part of Riverside, resist the urge to eat at Denny's, you're better off just getting the heck out of that scumhole part of town." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "We eat there at least once week and have been eating there for almost 3 years. The food is great and the service excellent. We live in Sun City Roseville California. We have to drive 10 miles to get to this Dennys. There is a Dennys a couple miles form our home on Foothill Blvd, Roseville. It was recently completed. Who can tell me when this new restaurant will be open. There are a lot of us (senior citizens) waiting for it to open. I would appreciate it if someone in the know would e-mail me the opening date. We want to use this closer Dennys." - written prior to September, 1999
- Donald Gradle
- "I noticed you haven't been through Sacramento. If you do make it up here, check out a couple of oddities. Near Watt and Auburn, there are two Denny's within about a 1/4 mile of each other...one at that corner and one just on the other side of the Watt/Business 80 interchange, which is near the Watt/I-80 interchange. I believe a couple of Denny's in Woodland, CA (15 miles northwest of Sacramento) are similarly close." - written prior to September, 1999
- Mike Ward
- January 4, 2005 - "I have been working for this company since 1991. My boss has been here for 17 yrs. We have an employee, William, the best waiter and the only waiter, he has been here since 1995. We have a waitress in the am, Diana, she has been here since it opened in 1978. I am Michelle the tall blonde, by the way. Don't forget Edna. She is the person in charge early in the am. At least give us a buzz. If you want pics I got em. Even the Gm with his mini mullet."
- Michelle
- "I went on vacation last week with my family and had Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner in at least 7 Dennys. I must complain about your facility in Salinas,CA. It was the filthest restaurant I have ever been in. The restrooms (MEN/WOMEN) were a disgrace and We complained to the acting manager. After our meal I checked the restrooms on the way out and nothing had been done. We enjoyed both our vacation and dining at Dennys but I had to see if you woulf follow up on this site as it ruins the Dennys image.................." - written prior to September, 1999
- Jim Weaver
- "Not sure which one this is (there are probably three or four in San Diego) but the one I went to sold T-shirts with a Gorilla holding a surf-board and the Dennys Logo emblazoned somewhere" - written prior to September, 1999
- Tom Flamson
- "I'm a former employee of Fat City Denny's in San Diego, CA. It's on PCH about a block from the airport. It's gonna be pretty hard to miss though as the entire building is pink! It's all done in an art deco kinda design. Along with a great Denny's there's a very swank bar attached to the restaurant, and a Chinese food restaurant in back. Though neither are affiliated with Denny's they all add up to a not to be missed Denny's adventure. If you get there, say hi to Pete Esquival, he's the general manager, or Ann, she's the late night manager." - written prior to September, 1999
- Justin
- "In San Diego people are not allowed to smoke indoors, so the PB Denny's added an outdoor patio complete with heat lamps. The extra added bonus is that the check reads "Dennys - with a patio"" - written prior to September, 1999
- Shannon Paige
- "I am writing this "Denny's story" for my friend who has frequented the Denny's in San Diego on Coronado Avenue (not to be confused with Del Coronado Island which is too "swanky" for a Denny's ... they think!)
Anyway, my friend and "his" friend were 86'ed from this restaurant for a simple, harmless remark! It seems that the waitress "pursed" her lips and my friend said, "what a small mouth she has". This young, unattractive lady was so insensed at this remark (because, it was later reported by a co-worker that she knew a "dirty joke" that dealt with "small mouths"), that she wrote a complaint and the GM (concerned that she would also tell a lie about him) told a subordinate manager to "86" my friend and his friend. To this day, she is continuing this charade and has asked that my friend be placed on "Permanent 86 Status". You will recognize the waitress, instantly, when you go there because she looks like "Weird Al" Yankovic and will not bring you water or if, after asking for water, refill it -- or refill the $1.19 cup of coffee ... nor bring silverware to eat with. Unlike you, we CANNOT STEAL any silverware because she won't bring any! She has learned to pick up the "tip" (if you are foolish enough to leave one!)
Overall, it is sad that a long-time, dedicated Denny's customer is now eating at "better restaurants" in the area (note: this is no SHORTAGE of good restaurant in the San Diego area).
This customer can tell you the location of every Denny's from Spokane to LA to the Mexican border. Doesn't Denny's Corporate care about losing such a good customer? I'm sure that you know the damage that can be inflicted by such a poor employee -- one average, an unhappy former customer will tell "TWENTY people" of his dissatisfaction ... in the case of my friend, multiply that by 20!
It's a strange, strange world ..." - written prior to September, 1999
- D. Norris King & Clarence Rethford
- "my wife works at the dennysw in mira mesa on mira mesa blvd and I-15.her manager is of oriental decent and is the biggest chauvanistic,rasist pig that you could ever imagine. i will not go into details but i have countless stories and data to back this up. so if you go to eat at dennys on mira mesa blvd in sandiego, just remember the manager on day shift is making racist remarks about behind closed doors. beware!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- November 17, 2000 - "I wanted to sit down for one half hour before a meeting. I did not want to sit in the car in the parking lot of a fast food place, so I pulled in to Denny's.
The waitress was inattentive (first of all) and just kind of giggled when she realized she had missed me. (I guess that was the signal for me to giggle too, and then we both could giggle away her neglect of not noticing me.) Since I was the only one sitting at the counter and there was only two tables occupied, she only had three positions to monitor,
Miss goggles was absolutely trailer trash and knew nothing about serving food to anyone. She came over to where I was standing and the coughed in her hand and was very congested... fully infected with some kind of serious respiratory thing. She said "gee, I h have had this laryngitis for a month." I said to her "you do not have laryngitis, you are seriously infected, .. don't you realize that" The she gave me an angry look as though I had offended her by observing that she was not simply unable to talk.
She said "what do you want to have?" I decided I did not want pie or anything to eat. I still had a half hour to blow, but I really did not want anything. I said "coffee" and I watched her handle the cup with the hand she had coughed in to, thus exposing the cup and coffee. She brought the cup over and placed it on the counter and said "are you sure you don't want something to eat?" I said "I am sure."
I was working with my Palm Pilot in preparation for my meeting and when she saw if she leaned over the counter, over my coffee, over the silver ware and I drew back because I thought she was going to make contact with me and she said "Oh, gee, I've never seen one of those. Her hair was hanging (limp from days of not being washed) on the coffee and the silverware. Now the entire counter was contaminated.
I was really annoyed at this invasion of my space. I don't let anyone get that close to me except my girlfriend, and she had this roaring infection.
I kind of glanced around to see if the manager was "monitoring" this and saw what she did, but just about that time the manager wheeled around the corner and it was a guy from Mexico. What they don't know about personal hygiene and food handling in Mexico would fill a book. Mexico is the only place where the manners and the food handling is worse that trailer trash.
If you think Tiajuana is bad, the further you get from Tiajuana the worse it gets. So he thought she was being friendly.I could only guess what the kitchen must look like. BUT, it had a San Diego "A" for cleanliness and food service.
I used to have a rule not to patronize Mexican or Chinese restaurants ... two cultures that have no concept of safe food handling. I now include Denny's. Essentially it IS a Mexican restaurant with an elite corps of trailer trash waitresses whose entire upbringing was sitting in front of a TV while mommy avoids being mommy.
Yes, I have the cold. I am going to have to visit a physician because I realize it is dangerous and can serious lung problems. Thanks to Denny's. I also thought this: if that woman served 200 people that day then 200 other people are getting her cold too. If each of those people spread it to 4 people in their family and 2 or 3 at work, then 1200 people have that cold today. If she has had the cold for 15 days (like she said) then 18,000 have her cold today. Since she was not treating it, another 18,000 may have it before the month is out.
I am not going to calculate the tertiary effect of the 18,000 infecting another 4 or 5 people. I would like to know how they got the San Diego "A" for food handling. Perhaps the San Diego inspector is also from the trailer park (and knows nothing) or he may be the manager's brother (and know nothing), or maybe Denny's was good to the inspector in other ways. (You have never seen a more money-grabbing city government).
I any case I am taking aspirin for the fever and will go over to a doctors office and get whatever they have to mitigate the cold and make it easier to live through. It will be a cold day in July before I got back to Denny's for any reason. Besides, I just do not fit there, IÊAM aware of hygiene issues."
- Paul Pitt
- January 12, 2001 - "Finally, somewhere where my Denny's stories will be appreciated!! Denny's on Garnet Avenue after 1:30 am is the place to be on a Thurs. night!! One Thurs night we went there with a guy and his friends who we met at a club who claimed he was the heir to the Roebuck fortune (of Sears.) They bought us shots all night and food and flowers from the great lady who is always there trashed with her basket of flowers to sell! After they invited us to fly out to Vegas the next day we ditched them and later found out that the Roebuck family was black-and he wasn't!! We have had guys send pie and milkshakes to our table and even toast to try to win our affections. We even had a fight once!! These guys who were uninvited joined our table and started getting mad when we weren't swooning at them. I politely told them that we didn't ask them to join us and told them goodbye. The leader didn't take that very well and shouted "Excuse me, excuse me everyone, I have an announcement to make. These girls at this table are too good for us. They think their s**t don't stink and this one over here needs a meal!!" The whole time we were yelling "Bye Bye" to them and they didn't even get kicked out! Every time we have gone to this Denny's we have ended up with a story to tell. It's so much fun, and you gotta love a restaurant where you can order things "Buffalo Style!!""
- Kim Verbeck
- "The Denny's at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco is definitely one to be avoided! It's pretty much the coffee house to the Holiday Inn (it's practically inside the hotel lobby). They have the Grand Slam breakfasts but charge over $5.00 each for them! Breakfast for two with coffee cost us $14.00!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Chad Jones
- "The best Dennys is the one in the little Tokyo section of San Francisco. It is Two stories with people eating on these balconies above you. You have never seen freaks like this in your life. I swear Sid and Nancy were eating at the table next to us. Give it a try sometime." - written prior to September, 1999
- Joe D'Errico
- "I have never replied to anything I've seen on the net, but I was so moved by the stories of your quest, I HAD to respond. I, too, am a big fan of the #1 white-trash dining-out establishment of our great country. I have yet to find a chicken strip as worthy as Denny's. I frequent them whenever I'm in suburbia (usually after a night of dancing) and was pleasantly surprised to find out(3 days ago) that there is one close to home(Japantown, SF). I was not pleased to discover that they don't have the special night-owl menu and I even went so far as to argue with the head waiter over their existence.."are you sure you were at a Denny's?", he asked condescendingly. My waitress was also void of healthy teeth, most decidedly on speed, new, and overly helpful. Avoid going to the upstairs dining area if you ever venture this way." - written prior to September, 1999
- Danae
- "My only free birthday meal came from the JapanTown location." - written prior to September, 1999
- Shawn Roberts
- "I just wanted to let the readers know that the japantown (San Francisco) Denny's was WAY over priced. The Grand Slam breakfast, let alone the others, was over $5.00!! We were forced to eat there because we had already ordered coffee, so I was stuck ordering something I didn't really want so I wouldn't feel like I was getting ripped off too much. I don't care that it was two stories tall, paying too much SUCKS!!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Mandi
- "Very funny stuff eh? If you guys ever make it out to San Francisco, you will definately have to stop at the Denny's on Sutter Street. It's located right in the heart of Japantown. To my knowledge, this is the only Denny's in the mainland USA that serves SPAM! They also have quite a menu catering to Asian Americans. i.e. The Loco Moko special." - written prior to September, 1999
- Rocky Sebastian
- "There are several I haven't had the fortune to try yet, but the Dennys in the Holiday Inn down off Bay has a great waiter that looks exactly like "Kaiser Sozei" (sp?fuckit) from "The Usuall Suspects", and he serves very well. On a weekday, it's a great place from about 9pm-4am! Not many people at all. Coffee rating - **** - Again, goodstuffmaynard... I recommend it!! Note: For a trully frightening experience, try the "Midnight Cafe" at Lombard and Van Ness.... It's run by terrorists.....trust me....[shhhh]" - written prior to September, 1999
- Oran Davis
- "i hope you can make it out to san francisco sometime. we have a very special denny's in the japantown district. the house special is SPAM (no kidding). the serve it for the older japanese-american patrons who started including it in their diet after WWII, where it was served to them in internment camps." - written prior to September, 1999
- Dennis Aman
- "Hello from England. I have just found your wonderful site and couldn't wait to send you my reviews. I'm afraid they are a little out of date as my family(Marie, my wife, Amy, my daughter and Tom, my son) and myself(Bryan) visited the US in 1996 and 1998 and we ate at a Denny's on two occasions on each visit. The first one was at 495 Beach Street, San Francisco, California on 3rd August 1996. This Denny's was part of the ground floor a the Holiday Inn. We have talked about this one in the family and we all agree that it could have been quite good. We can't remember what we ordered but we had just arrived after a fourteen hour flight so maybe Denny's wasn't a good choice as we were all jet lagged. I do remember we didn't eat all the food." - written prior to September, 1999
- Bryan
- "We live down the street a ways from #1926 on North First Street in San Jose, CA. We have concluded that this Denny's must have bad management because the service, while not aggressivly bad is certainly apathetic. They are slow slow slow. And they don't remember things like who ordered what or to put the dressing on the side. We were helped by four different people during this visit, but increased numbers do not improve the service. They are usually like this. Occasionally we'll hear something cool on their musak, so that helps a bit. No WAY noted, but I'll keep an eye out if we ever go there again." - written prior to September, 1999
- Dinah Sanders & Joseph Hansen
- "AS I ARRIVED TO SAN JOSE TO SEE THE BADDEST CONCERT ON THE PLANET (LOLLAPALOOZA 96') I VOWED TO EAT AT NOTHING BUT DENNY'S, TO MY SUPRISE THERE WAS A DENNY'S RIGHT DOWN THE STREET FROM THE STAGE!. 0600 ROLLS AOUND AND THERE I AM WITH WITH MY CONCERT BUDDY'S HEADING TO THE FAST BREAKFAST CAPITOL OF THE WORLD AND I ORDER WHAT I HAVE ORDERED SINCE I WAS A YOUNGIN' (FRENCH TOAST SLAM...OH YEAH....) I FINISH MY MEAL AND HEAD OFF TO THE BIG EVENT.........TWELVE-O'CLOCK ROLLS AROUND AND WERE GETTIN' TRASHED BEFORE THE CONCERT WHEN I GOT THE HUNGER FOR YET ANOTHER HELPIN' OF FRENCH TOAST!....BACK TO DENNY'S WE GO 1 HOUR BEFORE THE SHOW WE FINISH AND GET BACK TO THE CONCERT AND SEE THE RETARD BANDS HAVE BEGUN'......SO!......AFTER THE BEST LOLLA SINCE 92'(METALLICA FIT IN NICELY!!!!!) AT 12:00 WE WERE BACK IN THE COMFORTABLE SURROUNDINGS OF THE HALLOWED HOUSE OF HASHBROWNS...ENDING A GREAT CONCERT VOYAGE!....... ................TWO MONTHS LATER I WAS ON YET ANOTHER TRIP OF CONCERT BLISS, AND DENNY'S FRENCH TOAST DESTINY, ON MY WAY TO THE BRIDGE SCHOOL BENEFIT(PEARL JAM ......DUH!!!)I SAW A DENNY'S SOMWHERE ON INTERSTATE 80 AND STOPPED FOR FAMILIAR TASTES......YEAH I HAD THE SAME AS USUAL AND IT WAS OUTSTANDING.....GOT TO THE CONCERT(NEVER BEEN TO THE SHORLINE STAGE BEFORE AND REALIZED I WAS 15 FEET FROM THE VEDDER MAN HIMSELF(ROW BB SEAT 2)..ANYWAY I WATCHED ALL THE GREAT PEOPLE THERE AND HEADED BACK TO MY HOMELAND.....ON THE WAY SAW YET ANOTHER DENNY'S IN VACAVILLE AND COMMONSENCE KICKED IN....FRENCH TOAST WAS ON THE AGENDA AND A SIDE OF SAUSAGE TO PUSH IT ALL DOWN NICELY!!!!.....WELL PEOPLE I DONT KNOW WHAT THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS BUT I WILL TELL YOU THIS CONCERTS AND DENNY'S ARE A KILLER COMBO... WELL SEE YA,.............OH YEAH.....HERE AT THE HOMESTED I MAKE IT A POINT TO TAKE ALL THE PEOPLE I CAN FIT IN THE 4X4 TO THE CAPTOL OF CAKES(PAN THAT IS!)..." - written prior to September, 1999
- Dempsie
- December 23, 1999 - "I imagine that most Denny's goers know that the company stores are being upgraded to Denny's Diners, with a 50's style interior, etc. Well, several of the local ones have been redone, but one of the busiest one's has been skipped. Seems rather strange, for this store is right across the parking lot from a busy motel..Hy 101..San Jose Internationa Airport and tons of electronic places. In point of fact, if San Jose deserves to be called the heart of Silicon Valley, and it doesn't, it is due to all the firs that are on and off of North First St., north of Hy101 and the aforementioned Denny's. Now Denny's may not have e-mail, but you can bet your bottom dollar that *someone* at the hdqtrs sits down everyday and scans this site, and some others. This has to be the cheapiest way to get public reaction...So, whoever is reading this at Denny's Hq., get real and fix the store on the 1000 blk of N 1st at hy 101 in San Jose. It sould have been the first one, but some induhvidual dropped the ball...."
- Jim Terra
- "That place is always the same - 1/2 empty and wait staff with minimal sense of humor. We've been thrown out of there many times at 3 AM for having too darn much fun." - written prior to September, 1999
- Jennifer Rosevear
- "I have spent more than a little time in a town named San Luis Obispo, CA. I attended college there and Denny's was a very popular spot there. There were two in town. The popular one was the Madonna Denny's, named for the street it is located on. The other one was aptly named Disco Denny's, named for the extremely tacky, late 70's decor. It was a great place to study, eat, or just hangout. A group of friends would always go there and stay for hours." - written prior to September, 1999
- Paul Pieralde
- "A fabulous location for the two Denny's that grace our presence. Admittedly the Madonna Denny's is much larger. But as time went on The Beary Denny's was the place to be. Scott, the Weird Al lookalike, (Weird Al went to School here and probably graced this very Denny's with his most esteemed presence) was transferred to days, and all went to heck until Morgan (she does own three broomsticks and uses them frequently) introducted the frequent diner card. I am proud to hold my fifth full card (8th meal free) in esteemed unuse as my time in SLO has come to an end." - written prior to September, 1999
- Simon Foster
- December 8, 2000 - "One night, on our way back from an incredibly lame "underground" jungle drum-and-bass dance (picture rocks, dirt, a sad, scraggly tree, all in an industrial part of San Francisco, right next to the filthiest part of the bay) we stopped at the Denny's closest to home in San Pablo. It's right off of I-80, between El Sobrante and El Cerrito.
Anyway, that same night was an N'Sync concert in Oakland. When we showed up, the small Denny's lobby was filled with teenaged girls, waiting with their bleary-eyed mothers for a table at this fine establishment. There seemed to be no Denny's employees around. Already tired and grumpy and hungry, the six of us almost left. But one of my friends, I'll call him "B", walked to the front counter, did something, and came back. Soon, a hostess/waitress appeared, and called out "B's" name, "party of six?" I was surprised. Turned out "B" wrote our name on the top of the list. Some of the N'Sync fans made small complaints-- "we were here before them," but it was all okay since they were seated soon after us. I didn't see what they ate.
I don't remember what we ate. I had some breakfast item with lots of meat, as I always do, "S" had a sandwich, "A" had a salad, I think, "B" had some chicken strips or something. I don't remember the watier's name but he was cool. Oh, and "L" was quite irritated at "B's" little trick with the list. Heaven forbid if we don't strictly follow the rules. Instant karma might get us. Puhleeze."
- Justin Thrift
- "Very liberal!! Waiters/Waitresses have lotsa' piercings and dyejobs! Pretty good coffee, but I shouldn't have eaten the sausage.... Will I ever learn?!?!?!?" - written prior to September, 1999
- Oran Davis
- "Location: 17th Street at the 55 freeway
This is a great Denny's, an old standby when we aren't sure which one we want to go to. It's usually never too busy, and the service is quite friendly. We usually just get milk shakes, and there's never a better one than at the Santa Ana Denny's. Sometimes we actually spring for food, and when we do it's usually great here. If you're ever in Orange County and are in the mood for a Denny's, this one is probably the best, as it has the perfect mix of quality, atmosphere, and good service." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "WEST COAST, BABY!!! You guys have to get out here!! I myself frequent the Denny's off of Ocean Blvd. in Santa Cruz, "just blocks from the historic Beach Boardwalk" (the amusement park in The Lost Boys). Unfortunately, we lost a good man a few weeks back -- the Mega Memory waiter, named after the mail-order memory system. This artiste had no need for conventional paper and pencil; it was all in his head, man!! Didn't change the fact that he never remembered my damned sweet roll EVERY SINGLE TIME I WENT THERE!!" - written prior to September, 1999
- Chuck Sallinger
- "Location: Ocean Blvd at Highway 1
This was reviewed by another person, but I have an experience here that I wish to relate. One night over Spring Break 1998, we went here for some food. Just as we had been seated, the power went out. The staff brought out some candles, but quickly told us that we would have to leave since we couldn't get any food due to the lack of power. This was disappointing, for being in a darkened Denny's was a great deal of fun. The atmosphere is perfect with only a few candles and the quiet din of conversation. We knew several people who worked there, one of whom gives new meanings to the definition of "flaming homosexual", but they were unable to do anything for us." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "Dear p7a77; We just love our Denny's here in Santa Maria Ca. (#179)! This unit still has an old neon sign that is too tall for city regulations. If and when the folks at corporate decide to upgrade to the new logo and insignia, then a historical local landmark with limited cherished value will have been lost to modernization. We can all pray and hope the appropriate choice is made. If it wasn't for the fact that the damn pigeons keep breaking the neon tubes so our "towering" billboard reads, "De y's, this potentially contentious decision might not have to be made. Anyhow ol' boy, we don't have a "Weird Al" clone, but we do possess a "Pedro". We affectionately refer to ourselves as "Pedrophiliacs". Sometimes we just suffer from "Pedrophilia". Love J" - written prior to September, 1999
- Joel Stern
- " Hi there, Since there was an updated blurb for my esteemed Colege for Santa Marai Denny's I had to chime up...... We here at the little SLO Denny's Do love our little store, and Yes Morgan does still work here and brightens the long nights of studying that occur around finals and Cal Poly. She treats the students as her children. She always has a cute little story of this one and that one. How they are almost ready to graduate and she is so proud to have been there to see it all. For all you out there looking for love you might want to stop in. We have had one wedding this year and another one planned for this summer. Love is in the Air so stop on by and have a snack while you wait for Mr. or Mrs. Right. " - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- "THE epitome of Dennys (except there's no WAY look-alike). The waitresses are all cool, especially Barb. The coffee seems stronger than other Dennys. Plenty of space for rolly-chair derbies, and the late-night staff really just doesn't give a fuck. The toy game machine thing (insert fifty cents, desperately attempt to grab a toy with a mechanical claw) has, to my knowledge, never been successfully used. None of that "we don't serve blacks/teenagers/other undesireables" goes on here, and you can often bum a smoke off one of the waitresses huddling under the awning outside (it's illegal in California to smoke inside any place but a private residence)" - written prior to September, 1999
- Tom Flamson
- "(Santa Rosa Ave.) Not as good as the Coddingtown Dennys, this one does have one bonus--plenty of secluded areas outside the building for partaking of, umm, "illicit substances"" - written prior to September, 1999
- Tom Flamson
- April 14, 2002 - "The bathrooms at the Santa Rosa, CA Denny's are like a bad acid trip. (The Santa Rosa Ave. one, never been to the other)... Is this how all Denny's bathrooms are? *shudder* I guess that's all..."
- Bestet
- "Location: Scotts Valley Rd at Highway 17
When the power went out at the Santa Cruz Denny's, we drove up here for our Denny's fix. I had come down to Santa Cruz with some friends from Berkeley, a couple of whom were becoming quite the stoners. After we had been served our food (service and food were great here), they slipped underneath the table and took several hits off a pipe. The resulting smell of pot smoke was somewhat nauseating, but amazingly, nobody else noticed. The customers there were mainly UC Santa Cruz students, and were quietly studying the night away. We had some pie here, too, and it was pretty good lemon meringue, especially seeing as it was free--we blackmailed one of the stoners to buy us all a slice of pie in return for our silence about his little habit." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "You know, you guys have to come out to the Southern California Denny's! (At least the one in Seal Beach, anyway.) Not only do they have extremely lousy service due to non-English speaking employees, but they have a fully stocked bar! (perhaps that's why the English just "ain't" up to par?)" - written prior to September, 1999
- Chris Vandekieft
- "My favorite Dennys is the one on the corner of Ventura Blvd. and Sepulveda in Sherman Oaks, CA. It is the bottom floor of a huge building (I'm not even sure if it exists anymore). My friends and I used to go there after every concert we went to. Where else can 16 year old girls go at 2am?" - written prior to September, 1999
- Jennifer Ress
- "I have 2 Denny's to add to your user list, both in the town of Simi Valley, California. Simi's a cozy conservative suburb of Los Angeles, so of course all the normal kids hang out at Denny's between 12-5AM so we can get away from our insane homes. The Denny's I am a regular at unfortunately has no Weird Al lookalike, but we used to have this really cool manager there who didn't mind when we got crazy and swung from the chandeliers in the "banquet room." Marching Band would have been terribly boring without her :)" - written prior to September, 1999
- Brendan
- "Well, the service is pretty good....but Ladona moved to day shift....she was one of the good ones.... THE CLAW MACHINE ACTUALLY WORKS!! It takes a little strategy, but you can come away with an Izzy The Olympic Mascot or a blue furry bear something for only $7 or $8! Coffee Rating - **** - Pretty good stuff. 6 or 7 cups'll do ya' for a night..." - written prior to September, 1999
- Oran Davis
- "On about June or July of 1970 I entered the Denny's where I have been a regular all those years.. In the Mtry, Salinas,Carmel and Marina area we have I think 6 different Denny's....Denny's for us older guy's in the const. trades in past years was the office and meeting place for many many jobs..Denny's was to us what the celluar phone is today..The gals & guys that worked at the Fremont Denny's have been the backbone of a wonderful enviroment..The fun & laughter at that Denny's has been a wonderful experience......" - written prior to September, 1999
- Bajabutch
- "Hello, Mr p7a77. I,m writing this note, to let you now that the Denny,s in Stockton ,Califirnia on Waterlou,Road is the best denny,s I'v eaten at the food is very good, and my daugther works there also Jennifer Rouse Ê Ê Ê ÊÊ Thank you so, very much" - written prior to September, 1999
- Trudy Rouse
- April 18, 2000 - "Way back in 1993, my husband and I decided a Friday night dinner at Denny's off of I5 and March Lane would hit the spot. It was 4 PM and not a soul in the place. Joe and I were seated and we watched an elderly couple and a family of 4 (2 small kids) get seated after us. The waitperson (can't remember) brought out water for the parties seated after us, took their orders, and brought their drinks. Joe and I looked at each other, scooped the menus from the table and took them to the front counter. The manager (not a WAY but some good old-fashioned white trash) sputtered, "Please! Come back!" I replied, "Just because we don't have children or wrinkles doesn't mean we're not a family!" and walked out. The Denny's up the road gave us great service not even 1/2 hour later."
- Wendie
- "ya gott go to the denny's in sylmar (gross, ick, bring a gun!)!!!! it's next to the chevron where rosemary labianca's wallet was hidden by the manson clan after the murders." - written prior to September, 1999
- Anonymous
- April 21, 2000 - "Four of us (two adults, two children) ate at Denny's, Sylmar California on Monday 27 July 1998. It was late in the evening and our only real meal of the day, having spent the day in Sequoia looking at the big trees. We were staying at Motel 6 just down the road and were looking forward to something substantial to eat.
As British tourists we'd always considered Denny's a safe bet. not on this occasion!! Three of us ate Chicken Melt and enjoyed it, whilst our 13 year old son chose a burger - big mistake!! Later that evening he began to feel sick and eventually succumbed to a three day bout of vomiting and diahorrea!! We can only assume he caught food poisoning from the burger!!
We found the portions skimpy and frankly the atmosphere in the place was a bit intimidating, perhaps this was because of the time of night we were in there, but we certainly will not be going back."
- Colin Lunn
- "Every friday night my companions and I travel to Ventura and Winnetka to eat at Denny's. It is our "regular" hangout after seeing the Rocky Horror Picture Show at midnight. I know what your thinking, its those annoying wierdo's who you always encounter at the hours of 3am to 6am in the morning, who won't leave, and won't quit throwing sugar packets at you (now we're equal!). Well guess what!? Your right dammit! And we love it. One of the best things about our Denny's is that our waitress' name is Da. You know, Da da da (the Trio song!). She's a little slow sometimes, and always forgets our water, and never brings us silverware or napkins, but for the most part she's great. She puts up with us, which is an amazing feat. She's only threatend to throw us out once, because we hit her with a few sugar packets. Okay, okay so we even did it after she told us to stop, but aren't sugar packets MADE for throwing? She also puts our bills on one sheet, but with seperate totals for each person (maybe this is common in some places, but here its hard to convince any waiter or waitress to split the bill up in any way). Either way, we always end up walking out of Denny's with Da chasin us down asking who didn't pay. It never fails. The fun part is trying to find the culprit. Another nice thing about this Denny's is the booths. They are mostly facing each other and are somewhat big, and when you have at least 10 to 20 people there, sometimes more, thats a blessing. Of course, we still shove at least 7 people into a 4 person booth. Da never minds. As far as the food, well, since most of us drink water because we're flat broke, I can only tell you the apple pie a la mode is great. As far as the WAY factor, well, we've never noticed one and if he does exist, I doubt he works at 3am. So if your ever in town, come to Denny's at 3am on friday night and find us. We always welcome anyone willing to have fun. Long live the WARriors!! (Weird-Al Rocky fans)" - written prior to September, 1999
- Josie Lea
- "Oh, hail the great Temecula Dennys. I have spent many a night drinking their tasty coffee and munchin on their tasty hashbrowns. Dennys, in the shining metropolis of Temecula (also known as Rednecula) is home of many a degenerate teenager, cowboy and St. Al Yankovich waiters. My friends and I used to go there nightly as teenagers. We knew we could always find a familiar face and a good cup of joe. The cook (St. Al look alike) thought my friends and I were babes and would always fix us an extra burger or fries, and if we ordered pancakes, they would hang over the sides of the plate. Once he invited us all over to his place to have a barbeque with some of the prime rib he had stolen. After they fired the cook for giving us all the free food, we used to start food fights and piss off our always so friendly waitresses. Unfortunatly, I moved away from the small town which I once called my home. But every time I go back, I always make a stop at Dennys where Donovan (the guy with the beaver on his chin), Matt (has lots of acne and sort of looks like a giant troll), or Dave Mathews (has long stringy hair and is usually hanging out with his 12 year old fiancee of the week) can still be found drinking coffee in one of the front booths at anytime of the day.
Dennys in Temecula is located off the 15 freeway at the Rancho California Road exit, you can't miss the big yellow Dennys sign welcoming you home.
If you are ever in Temecula, make your way to Dennys." - written prior to September, 1999
- Margot Nahay & Dana Easterling
- "There is a Denny's in Thousand Oaks off the 101 freeway on Moorpark Road, the crossstreet is Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The resturant is located right next to the freeway and is somtimes viable depending on traffic. Anyways, the majority of the time i go there the service is good and the food tastes like what you come to expect from Denny's. If you go there on Friday or Saturday nights after 10pm, the intresting crowd shows up or as I like to call them, "my people". One time when i was there with a couple of my friends and this two female teenagers walked by wearing all black vinyl clothing and had white make-up on their faces and both of them had hair dyed black. One of them was wearing a collar and a chain and was being led around by the other one to the bathroom. Now normally that wouldn't have fazed me , but the two of them were in the bathroom for at 30 minutes before they went back outside. Now keeping in mind that it was 2 in the morning when this took place and it was Denny's, one could only imagine what was going on that was able to keep them occupied for that long in the bathroom of a denny's. At the time that did seem odd, but after going to Denny's after going to Rocky on Saturday morning anything that happens there i consider normal." - written prior to September, 1999
- Sean Kushner
- January 12, 2001 - "This is the city where I lived for many years. This was before the So. Cal ban on smoking, so just about every night person in the city would head over to Denny's to sit, smoke and drink coffee. We were the "Denny's Locals". My friends and I were there so often, that the manager (who is no longer there) would give up his own table he kept for himself in the back. Every night the place was packed. The crew that worked there was excellent. Unfortunately, the evil smoking ban was put into place and this Denny's lost alot of business. It seems that over the years that they have gotten back more business, but I don't think that it will ever be what it used to be. This Denny's is not too far from the Agoura Denny's and you'd probably be more likely to get something free. (101 freeway @ Moorpark Rd.) If you get there, say hello to Dave Grave (he'll probably be the one at the end of the bar), he always has something interesting to say."
- Laura Horgan
- July 29, 2001 - "Hello...let me tell you about my neighborhood Denny's, which I've been to quite a bit lately. Located by Del Amo Mall, in lovely Torrance, CA. First off, the manager looks NOTHING like "Weird Al," sorry, he looks more like Dennis Hopper, & behaves with about all the personality of ...well, I best be tactful. Anyhoo, I love the spaciousness, & the bustling vista of the boulevard, as cars jockey for position, horns a'blarin. The coffee is hit & miss, but the shakes are KILLER with a capital k. A meal in themselves. A special quirk of this particular Denny's, is that they're always playing the latest hip-hop hits. It sounds as though the music is emanating from a speaker in the ceiling from the kitchen area, so the music, to the patron, sounds muddy, and thumpy. Many days, they'll crank the tuneage up to 11, & I find myself shouting to my friends. Placing my hand on the table, I can feel the bass, THUD, THUD. As I often eat alone, (ahhhhh...) and like to read, I've taken to bringing earplugs, & I can STILL here the music! Now I like music, don't get me wrong. In fact, I've been a professional musician for 20 years! But thuddy bass doesn't go well with greasy eggs. Once, I was so ticked off, I wrote on my check, "the music is too loud!" thus endearing myself to management forever, & subsequently sealing my fate as "trouble." On my next visit, the manager acted, well, let's just say, he ain't Al! Yet, I continue to go. Why? Hell if I know. There are plenty of eating establishments in my area. Now that I think about it, I think the booths have something to do with it. You just don't find too many places, for the economically inclined, with really comfy booths. Yeah, that's it. It's the booths!!! Wow! This post to you has been a journey of self-discovery for me! Thanks!"
- Angel LaCanfora
- "Dennys is Located at Interstate 205 and Tracy Blvd. I have not eaten there, but just wanted to let the world know that when you are traveling from the San Francisco Bay Area and are going to Highway 5 North, a Dennys does exist." - written prior to September, 1999
- David Menke
- "Location: El Camino Real at Redhill, just off the 5 Freeway.
This was the Denny's we frequented most during high school, as it's located a block away from Tustin HS. The food there is average but not spectacular. The service is also OK, not great--but rather interesting. One waiter, upon taking our drink orders, called to the Mexican busboy, Segundo, with our orders. The waiter, a white male, thought he would be cool and show that he knew Spanish, calling out "Segundo! Una Coka!". This was almost certainly quite demeaning to poor Segundo, who brought us our drinks with a scowl on his face. There was also a waiter there named Rudy, who was our age and went to another high school in the area. He worked the night shift, when we usually showed up, and made conversation with us. He was somewhat annyoing, but nice, so we played along. One time he graciously brought us a new bottle of ketchup after the one he originally gave us was found to have fermented (it made that hiss noise that one hears when you open a coke or a beer). We no longer go to this Denny's, though, after an incident that occurred early New Year's Day, 1998. We had just come from a New Year's dance at my friend's church, and looked forward to some good Denny's food. However, we were not alone--before long, about a dozen of our friends had shown up and gathered at the same, crowded table. Rudy was our waiter, and couldn't handle the demands of 12 people. Thus, our service was not good, and the food was even worse. We were rather annoyed with this, and for a tip left a nickel, smeared in ketchup. So we won't be going there anytime soon." - written prior to September, 1999
- Robert Cruickshank
- "Whenever we head North from Santa Rosa this is one of only 2 Denny's on the trip. (The other one was is the Fort Bragg Denny's on Highway 1 (PCH)). The Ukaih Denny's is on the 101, halfway between San Francisco and Eureka (where there is another Denny's if you are going further North). The Ukaih Denny's is a good Denny's because there is not another one anywhere close to it. Everything is as you would expect to find it. It is also one of the older style Denny's, so it is a comfortable place to eat." - written prior to September, 1999
- Rod Cook
- "You know you want to come out here and see the ones in California. They're different. No, really. I mean it. Okay, I'm full of it. But in the local one (Vacaville, CA) I've never seen a worker who looks like Weird Al. Seen several who look like Stanley Spidowsky (a la UHF) and quite a few who look like the love child of Dave What's-his-face (the founder of Wendy's) and that girl from the "Oh Mickey" video back in the 80's...kind of original. And the recent discovery that the pancakes in this place will soak up ANYTHING, including half a glass of water. We're seriously thinking they could have been the key turning point in the Exxon spill. Only need one... "And hey! It's still dry!"" - written prior to September, 1999
- Takhisis
- February 24, 2003 - "I dont know which shift the above guy went to the vacaville denny's, but if you go there late night, the servers are gorgeous, we'd go just for the eye candy, but the service is good too. The new nighttime manager is pretty foxy also, if you ever get a peep at her, shes usually in the kitchen. The new cook is pretty cool, he dances around the kitchen flipping eggs, his nametag says "Emett, AKA Big Daddy". Definetly the hippest Dennys around."
- Bob
- "Incidentally, the Denny's on Lyons Ave. in Valencia, California is quite possibly the finest in the country, and I've spent many a night there playing sugar packet frisbee with no managerial hassle! No Weird Als.... But the manager looks so much like Jim Carrey that it's frightening." - written prior to September, 1999
- Chris
- April 14, 2001 - "We stopped at the Denny's in Vallejo last night after watching "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (great movie, btw). This one is just off of I-80 off the Redwood Parkway exit. It was midnight and we were starving for some late chow. Had we been an hour later, however, the restaurant would have been *closed*!! Apparently this one locks its doors from 1AM till 6AM on Friday and Saturday nights. I'm deeply offended.
I ate the Original Grand Slam, my girlfriend ate some Texas scramble thing, and my best friend had some ice cream with whipped cream & nuts. Our waitress was excellent. I don't recall her name but she was quite friendly and helpful, especially in regards to my friend's specific ice cream desires. Overall an enjoyable experience in a slightly run-down Denny's.
I'm mostly writing to warn you and your fans that this particular Denny's is NOT 24 hours on the weekend. Thoroughly Un-American, if you ask me."
- Justin Thrift
- March 11, 2000 - "Back in about 1984 I lived for a while in lovely Ventura, Ca. A beautiful little Japenese style house on the beach with my psycho sister and her roomate, a giant Polynesian gay man with lots of visitors. The surf was incredible and I was totally flat broke but thanks to Denny's I never starved. If you got to Denny's by 8:00 a.m. you could get a grand slam for 99cents. Every day we made it too. Everyday I ate a grand slamhehehehehehehehehe! It may not be that exciting to you but it was the only thing we ate for the whole day,everyday so....."
- Anonymous
- "It used to be a weekly event to go hang out at the Denny's in Walnut Creek, CA and play cards, but unfortunately the buttercups' evil presence took over and replaced Denny's with some crappy restaurant called the Buttercup Grille. So basically we worship Denny's and shun the buttercups
" - written prior to September, 1999
- Victor Andersen
- "The first Denny's in my life was the Walnut Creek CA Denny's. This was definitely the most influential Denny's in my life. I started hanging out there my freshman year in high school... back in the good old days when you could smoke in restaraunts in California. My friends and I would waste our after school hours there drinking coffee. I spent my 15th birthday there eating a free shrimp dinner surrounded by my friends. And my first real boyfriend and I had our first kiss there... I hung out there off and on for the next couple of years, even after CA passed the militant anti-smoking law and we had to go outside every 15 minutes.
Then one day during my senior year, a little before Christmas Vacation started, my friends and I found ourselves at Dennys' waiting to be seated, when the hostess utterred those 3 magic words: "Smoking, or non?" Evidently, there was a small lounge room in the back which had previously been unused, which they turned into a bar/smoking area/lounge type place. Needless to say, we were ecstatic. So, having nothing constructive to do during Christmas break, my best friend Rick and I would hang out there every night playing Magic: The Affliction, watching tv, and drinking coffee. We had become good friends with the majority of the servers, and they would often hang out with us after their shift's ended. Then one night, we were at our usual table (T-11) playing cards when a strange guy carrying Magic cards walks in, looks at us, says something like, "Oh cool, more people playing... I'm waiting for someone" and sits down at our table. My first thought was, "Who the hell is this jackass and what the hell does he think he's doing at *OUR* table?!?!?" But I didn't say anything, and we just ignored him. A few minutes later, this guy Joe, who Rick and I both sort of knew, walks in. Rick and the strange man both simultaneously said "Hey Joe!" and I decided that if this weird guy knew Joe, it was okay for him to sit with us. So, to make an already long story not too much longer, we all ended up playing cards together that night, and every night for the next week and a half. For some odd reason, I found myself falling madly in love with the strange guy (found out his name was Clark... also found out he was in the Navy and that he was 10 years older than me). Then on New Year's Eve Clark breaks the news that his ship would be moving to Washington in a couple of days. So I figured I'd probably never see him again and spent the next six months of my life totally miserable, pining away for my lost love.
Then one evening in late June, I found myself hanging around the Denny's parking lot with a bunch of my BBSer friends, when I heard a car drive up blaring Rush. I turned around, and who should be in the car but Clark and Joe. I immediately ran to the car, and tackled Clark as he emerged. We talked for a bit, and the next night we ended up in the parking lot of Denny's again kissing until 3am. Our relationship blossomed over the next 4 or 5 months, most of our time being spent at Denny's playing RPG's or attending BBS socials. Then, one day in October, he proposed to me (sadly enough, it wasn't at Denny's, but that's *his* fault), and I accepted.
Shortly thereafter, the evil wicked Buttercups took over our Denny's, so we moved on to the Pleasant Hill Denny's... which just wasn't quite the same. Occasionally we'd visit the Concord Denny's as well, which was cool because it had a lounge where you could smoke and a Ms. Pac-Man game.
A few days before our wedding, we were in San Francisco by Fisherman's Wharf and found a Denny's in a hotel near there. It was a strange, rather upscale Denny's, and the prices were a little higher than normal. But they had a few specials that I've never seen at a Denny's before. My husband ordered Chicken Cordon Bleu and said it was quite good.
During our honeymoon in Hawaii, we visited 2 Denny's, one kind of near Pearl Harbor (I forget exactly where) which had to be the largest Denny's I'd ever seen. But the one in Lahaina on Maui was the coolest... it was an open-air Denny's on the second story of a building.
Other Denny's I've visited include the Rock N' Roll Denny's in Hollywood, and one in Van Nuys, Ca, when we went to visit my husband's cousin, Kevin, in LA. The Van Nuys one was good because it had a lounge, but the server tried to card me and Kevin's girlfriend. Since both of us were under 21 we had to get creative, but we finally convinced him we were old enough to be in the lounge and I enjoyed a fine club sandwich (with no tomatoes).
Then there was the time a bunch of our friends and us decided to "drive until we found snow and have a snowball fight." So we drove several hours until we found snow (stopping once along the way at a Denny's to use the restrooms), had our snowball fight, and headed home. Of course we stopped on the way back to eat at Denny's (different one than the one we peed at). I have no idea where the heck we were, but it was somewhere between Walnut Creek and Auburn (that's where we found the snow).
A few months ago my husband and I moved down from Walnut Creek (which is kinda near San Francisco, if you're wondering) to San Diego. Somewhere along I-5 (probably about halfway to LA) we stopped at a good ol' truckers Denny's, and feasted on Italian Melts.
Once we arrived in San Diego and moved in, we knew it wouldn't be home until we staked out our new local Denny's. The closest Denny's to our apartment is in La Mesa on Spring Street. It has excellent service... it's almost as if the servers take their jobs seriously or something :)
There's a zillion Denny's around here, but we've only been priveleged enough to dine at a few of them so far. We visited the Mira Mesa Denny's last night - excellent patty melt, and fine service from a young woman with no hair.
The Denny's in Reno, NV is a nice one too. It seems to be the only one in the area, and I've been there twice. Both times it was pretty crowded, and it even has slot machines by the door. Of course, so did the 7-11 we stopped at... I guess everything in Reno has a slot machine.
I know I've been to more Denny's than I've listed here, but I just can't think of them right now. Anyways, I hope this will help out your Denny's Shrine web page." - written prior to September, 1999
- Sarah Kranz
- "I recently visited your Project:Denny's page, and was flabergasted that someone might have the same enthusiasm as (actually more) than myself and many of my friends about Denny's. My friends and I used to spend countless hours at Walnut Creek Denny's in California every night. I was there every night for about 4 years until they shut it down in November of '95. Early in 1994, I actually started what you might call a cult of Denny's followers who were like me, and hated Lyon's (what we dubbed the Anti-Denny). After the closure of the Walnut Creek restaurant, many of the people I know who had worked there had transferred to the Pleasant Hill location, so I started going there all the time. I went there for probably a little over a year, and then made my mistake. I started to work there. I worked there for about two weeks, and decided it wasn't for me (for various personal reasons, not because I didn't like it). Since then, I've been going to the Concord location just about every night (particularly Sunday through Tuesday) to visit my friends who work there. If you are ever in the area, I would enjoy meeting you. I'm sure all of this is run of the mill for you, but it is something for which I am enthused. Anyway, thank you for your time in reading this, and I wish you the best." - written prior to September, 1999
- David Nakama
- "If you visit the Denny's in Woodland Hills, California (I'd better clarify that...there's three) on Ventura Blvd. between DeSoto and Winnetka (I'm sure you know exactly where these streets are) beware of Werid Al disguising as a security guard (yes...all of our Denny's have night security guards). If you make fun of this similarity, chances are you'll receive a good dose of pepper spray right in your face. (This actually happened...mind you my friend that was dared to do it was quite drunk and belligerent at the time and had some other fine things to say about the guard's relation to some of our friends in the animal kingdom.)" - written prior to September, 1999
- Seth Sharon
- "When I was a senior in High School, at about 2am on Friday or Saturday nights, my friends and I would head over to the Denny's here in Woodland Hills, specifically, the one across the street from Taft High. (Restaurant #1986) Basically, after a hard night of underage drinking, there was nothing better tasting than that Dennys' food..." - written prior to September, 1999
- Jake Tenenbaum
- January 12, 2001 - "I went to the Denny's on Ventura between Winnetka and DeSoto at the end of a long day of moving into my new apartment. We were all extremely worn out and just wanted to get something good and greasy to eat before bed. We were greeted by what we assumed must have been "The Original Denny's Waitress"- she was as old as dirt. We were trying to be nice, but it took her 20 minutes just to punch our order into the computer. Needless to say, we were there for over an hour before the food got to our table. The good news is that there is another Denny's not too far from there, just off the freeway at Topanga Canyon Blvd. and when I want good and greasy food, I go to that one now (it's one of those Denny's Diner ones- which to me, is no different, but maybe to someone not so familiar with Denny's, it might be more exciting)."
- Laura Horgan
- "Denny's - Yreka, CA (not to be confused with Eureka, CA). It's the last Denny's before the Oregon border. I was driving from San Francisco to Seattle, and this was where I stayed. Washington state only allows liquor sales in very expensive state-run stores. I asked a local at the counter, who was on a first-name basis with his waitress, where I could buy whiskey cheap in Yreka at 9am on Saturday. Not only did he know, but I got a 5-minute monologue on his favorite brands, which as I recall had no corellation with MY favorite brands. On a more Denny-fied note, this location refused to substitute hash browns for meat on the Grand Slam. I had to order everything as a side order, roughly doubling the usual cost of a Grand Slam. Patent pending on the word "Denny-fied"" - written prior to September, 1999
- Shawn Roberts
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