Pit Stop Diner

Stopped in after the day at the beach. Great food, good atmosphere, excellent prices.
We always stop here when we are passing through Oceanside.

Excellent pastrami. We had a pastrami burger and even pastrami chili cheese fries. Very friendly service and awesome décor. Three of us ate for under $ 20…I just wish I lived closer to it.

My second time here and I’m back for the pastrami omelette. It was soooooooo good. My partner in crime and I at here last week. We had two meals and two drinks for less than $ 20 dollars. Hard to eat a good healthy meal for those prices, but here you can.

Had brunch here with my wife and kid.
I had a standard bacon-​and-​egg-​and-​hash-​brown breakfast. Bacon was crispy as requested. Everything else was good.
She had a chicken salad, it was good but larger than she could eat.
We shared a corn dog and fries with the kid, which was really good.
I really liked the décor, signs and licence plates. Otherwise this was a fairly standard greasy spoon burger joint.

The turkey burger was delicious!!! Hard to find here, besides rubys, so this was a great find. We went right before the church crowd and that’s when it got crazy busy. I recommend everyone come here!

The atmosphere hasn’t changed bit almost everything else has. They switched from Coca-​Cola products to Pepsi. The menu has really been switched up. The prices used to ensure my family came here as their favorite spot, but the price increases are really up there. Some ofy favorites like the junkyard dog is gone. I hope they review these issues and see they are headed in a bad direction

Pretty good food for the low prices. We came in late and each had a burger. My dad ordered a salad as well that I was picking at which tasted fresh.
No complaints from me, but nothing really stood out.

This place hits the spot when I crave previously frozen, deep fried food early in the morning. Honestly, I don’t understand how to justify a 4-​star rating for a place that serves basic diner food. It used to be inexpensive, but they recently revamped the menu. My favorites went up by dollars– a BLTA wrap was around 4 bucks before, and now it’s 8. The fish and chips went up to almost 8 from 6 bucks. Time to find new favorites I guess.
Side salads eat like a meal– they have a lot going on, from red onions to finely shredded cheese, various lettuces, tomato, and cucumbers.
The menu boasts new items like biscuits and gravy, but I wouldn’t trust them from here– Allen’s Alley Café in Vista makes theirs from scratch. I suspect a lot comes in here prepackaged, judging by the assortment of breads loaded up on the counter.
I think the décor is fun– this would be a great place for team sport get-​togethers and such. It’s got a ton of seating and an old-​school vibe.
I come here a lot because it’s open early, on my way to school, and the full menu is served all-​day. However, I think my palate is changing– I’m sure a younger version of me would give an enthusiastic 3.5 star rating.
My best tip is to pay cash here to help cut the fees for this small business.
Pros:
— huge menu
— fun vibe, plenty of seating
— open early (6:30 am)
— Ranch dressing is good
— self-​serve coffee bar
— spicy carrots and various pickled peppers
Cons:
— prices went up!
— cumin in the 1000 island makes it taste funny
— greasy
— horrible fries
— their definition of a «healthy» choice is by no means very good for you lol. Flour tortillas are loaded with preservatives, and my BLTA wrap is often dripping with grease

Been coming here since they’ve opened and have always enjoyed the food and service. Extremely well priced, pretty good food, and very nice staff.
The ambiance is fun, very retro. Good for families and large groups which can’t always be said for most of the gastropubs in downtown Oceanside.

My Pit Stop go to faves are the fried mushrooms, zucchini fries and the chicken strip wrap. That was the case until the other day. I put in a phone order and the person on the other line was not exactly friendly and customer service wasn’t exactly his priority at the time. When I picked it up at the counter, the order was wrong and both the zucchini fries and fried mushrooms were soggy looking. They usually pack to go orders in a box but that time, they threw it in paper bags and plastic bags so it looked even more gross and messy.
Since my phone order did not match what was originally in the bag, the employee did not adjust the price difference and I had to pay more until he gave me the difference in change.
This whole experience was frustrating and disappointing of all the times I’ve been here. I have also decided that this will be the last time I will go here and I am willing to drive further to hit up the Vista location instead. As a suggestion for those who want to phone order, don’t do it! Going through this experience totally defeated the purpose of phone ordering as it took 4x as long and apparently more complicated.

Don’t waste your time. Once a favorite of mine, but no more. Ordered a pastrami burger. What i got was a ¼ inch thin grey frozen pattie and a weird tasting fried pastrami pile.
Check out the pic i uploaded.
Stay away til they change the GM

I needed some good breakfast food and this was just the place for that. I ordered the eggs, french toast, and bacon breakfast and the only issue I had was that it was not enough and too much french toast was served. Other than that the atmosphere was very country like and it is a very unique looking place.
It’s a great way to start the morning if one lives near here.

Stopped in for a late breakfast/​early lunch after running the Carlsbad 5000 on Sunday. The line was, literally, out the door (about 25 groups in line). We contemplated going to another restaurant, but ended up deciding to stay.
The line went quickly and we received our food in about 15 minutes after ordering.
I ordered a breakfast burrito with egg whites and asked to add beans. When the cashier said my total would be over $ 10, I was supremely confused. They wanted to charge me $ 3 to add a half-​scoop of beans. Crazy ridiculous! I understand a side cup of beans and cheese being that much, but to add in a burrito? Ended up canceling the extra beans and my total came to about $ 7. It was a decent burrito with spicy salsa, but I would opt for something else if I had a chance to decide again. Other items at the table included a kid’s cheeseburger meal (more than enough food for a full-​size adult), bacon cheeseburger, omelette with hash browns, and fried zucchini. Again, the food was decent, but not really exceptional.
It really reminded me of Legends in Upland. Same Route 66esque ambiance, same Mex-​American food, etc.

Pit Stop is a good old fashion burger place.
I love old school burger places. They usually come with a strong measure of local flavor and Pit Stop fits the mold. The restaurant is decked out in kitschy 1950s auto shop style. The center piece is a classic Chrysler from the era.
The counter service menu is extensive with many unique burger combinations and sides. The menu sets them apart from more corporate fast food establishments. The food comes skillfully assembled from tasty fresh ingredients. My favorite Pit Stop Burger includes fresh avocado and bacon which makes for a first class experience. Paired with properly cooked onion rings, it makes for a tough to beat meal.

extensive menu with lots of choices most of which are ones your cardiologist would discourage you from making. retro, eating-​in-​a-​barn ambience — acoustics make it difficult to have a conversation or not to hear the folks at every other table in the dining area. bit scruffy around the edges.
i was craving a burger and indulged myself in an OUTLAW (basically a cheeseburger with rings and BBQ sauce). portions were generous (good value for the price) but the beef was overcooked and a bit dry. ONION RINGS tasted pre-​breaded, freezer to fryer.
the wife unit’s BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato), nine-​year old WYATT’s CHEESEBURGER and eleven-​year old JULIANA’s CORNDOG were more like just OK than A-​OK but rounded up from 2.5 stars.
not overly impressed with the food. if i feel like a lube job and an oil change for lunch, i would rather spend the calories at ANGELO’s or HABIT or KNOCKOUT BURGERS.

Overall solid American food. Excellent prices could feed a family of 4 for under 20 dollars. The food isn’t extravagant, just very solid affordable food, it gets the job done. Although I will say the fried zucchini suburb and is a must get while here.

This is a really cute place. Your typical diner like setting with traditional all American food with burgers, sandwiches, and hot dogs. It’s a fun place to eat and the prices are super cheap. I always find it a little questionable when prices are low but the food was good. You get a large portion for such a small price. Why the three stars though?
The food was average at best. The type of stuff I could probably make myself. I ordered the chicken strip wrap. I had never been here before but was told their wraps are the best. I think I should have gotten the Greek one because I found the chicken strip wrap to be pretty plain tasting and a bit dry. My wrap was just underwhelming. With just pieces o chicken strips, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and ranch. Meh.
For the entire table we ordered the sampler which came with their famous zucchini fries, onion rings, French fries, and fried mushrooms. This was definitely a hit. Their zucchini fries are amazing and one of the reasons I would recommend coming here. Their onion rings were also really tasty, light and flaky. This sampler was bomb, along with their ranch. I’m not sure if they make their own ranch or if it comes from a generic tub but this ranch was delicious. It reminded me of Wingstop ranch. Soooo good!
Overall, this place was really nice and I think it’s a fun place for families and friends to get together and eat inexpensive food. Next time I’ll try a different wrap or maybe their burger. But definitely get the zucchini fries!!!

I had take out this time even though I love going in. This is my first time eating the bacon avocado lettuce wrap and it’s very delicious. When I called it in the cashier even asked me if I wanted my fries made on the spot or at the moment. It’s always pleasurable and tasteful when dealing with pitstop!

The diner is right on the corner or El Camino Real and Mission and shares a parking lot with the Oceanside Police department.
When you walk into the front door it feels like you’ve stepped into a hugh garage or airplane hangar. The place was wide open with cement floors. The walls were covered in diner décor of vintage coca cola signs, Elvis Presley and tons of old license plates. The restaurant center piece was a 1960’s Chysler New Yorker. It was a beauty. Not too often you get to dine next to such a cool car.
They had a good selection of shakes, melts, burgers and fried sides.
The food was meh. I got the chicken strips wrap. The chicken strips inside weren’t fried well so the breading was pretty mushy. The wrap had the chicken, ranch, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Was a good combo of ingredients and would have been pretty decent if the checking was all mushy.
The friend mushrooms were superb and the ranch was on point.
My date ordered the ruben and the pastrami was a little dry but still decent. Another member of my part ordered the avocado burger. It looked pretty good but the patty was pretty thin. Like a ¼ lb or so. This made the meat to bun ratio look a little off.

This place is so cute inside! It’s like a retro throw back when you walk in, with an old school car sitting in the dining area! Love all the old license plates and signs hanging everywhere!
Food wise, was good, but nothing overly amazing. We ordered:
— chicken breast sandwich with fried mushrooms
— mushroom cheeseburger with zucchini fries
— $ 17 bill
Prices are cheap! I liked the zucchini fries over the mushrooms. You order at the counter and they bring your food to you, and they clean up afterwards. I wanna try their breakfast!