Food was great, fairly fast service for how busy it was. And good pricing for the portions as well.

Hot Rod is our family favorite diner! Amazing staff and amazing food. We always have a good time and always leave with a full belly!

Hidden gem in Turlock! Traveling, we Stopped for breakfast on a recommendation. We were not disappointed. We ordered Denver omelette and "Love me tender" chicken fried steak. Superb! Best cfs I've ever had! Denver was chuck full of ham and veggies, very flavorful. Service appropriate for how busy they were. Don't let the looks of the building put you off (resembles an old Pizza Hut), and it's off the beaten path. Well worth the effort... read more

For once I couldn't finish my breakfast great food loads of hash browns . I love to stop here every time I come up north .

Man....I love this place. I will eat here til I move out the Valley. This diner is the spot! Like everyone else says, try the biscuts & gravy! French toast is good too. I would give it a 5 but you have to ask for a refill for your drinks. The service is good but you have to ask unlike Waffle shop they keep your drinks refilled without asking but the food is much better here at Hot Rod. Plus they have flat screen tv's.... read more

See all

Located close to the 99freeway in Turlock, CA. Take the main street exit and you are almost there. The entrance is on Walnut just off of West Main. Look for the Taco Bell and your are almost there. Entrance to the driveway has a very small, faded sign. Go early to avoid the crowds. You can seat yourself if you get there ahead of the crowd. You have 4 choices for seating: at the counter, table, booth or outside. They have 2 TVs mounted on the walls but you cannot hear them because of the 50's music they play. Service is awesome, I was offered drinks immediately, in fact 2 different waitresses offered to get my drink for me. Servings are huge!!! You will have plenty of leftovers. Biscuits are to die for, huge and fluffy. Waitress was very attentive even though they were extremely busy. They were very good about cleaning the tables as soon as people left and getting everyone seated as quickly as possible. Everyone was very polite and friendly. Bathrooms are very clean and well stocked. I will definitely go again. Oh yes, first Sat of the month, locals bring in their "Hot Rods" and park in the parking lot. Way cool!! read more

See all

Traditional American vibe and menu, and the food is excellent! Be sure to come hungry though. Portions are quite large. Trying to stay "kinda Paleo," I had the Hot Rod omelette and only strayed off the reservation slightly Service was also absolutely stellar! Nice people. :-) read more

Hot rods .. best service best breakfast in town hands down. And does not leave your wallet empty..and the portains are great you won't leave there still hungry. read more

More than you would expect from a small dinner. The "Hot Rod" omelette is a large serving, 4 eggs spinach, onions, bell peppers, avocado slices and bacon. Coffee was hot and not bitter. Service was friendly and prompt. Gravy was a side order very good but with the omelette it was too much food. The waitresses said people do split the omelettes between them. read more

Hot Rod Diner - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Turlock, California

See all

I have only been here for breakfast, so my review is limited to that. Overall, a good experience. Service and food were both good. I enjoyed the cool diner experience and they've done well keeping the place looking up to snuff with all of the retro paraphernalia. If you are looking for breakfast, this place and Grizzly Rock Cafe are probably the best places in Turlock. read more

Let me tell you a few things about my favorite local breakfast place! First of all, always friendly always on it customer service and wait staff! The food though is a huge hit in my books! Traditional American Dinner with a twist of south west mixed in and it never disappoints. The fresh salsa and fried jalapeños are a must with every dish for me! Today I had the Ranchero special, potatoes with home made Chile verde jack cheese and eggs any way on top. Yes please and thank you! I wish they had one in Modesto but I will drive to turlock now for breakfast I guess! Food is legit! read more

Decided to stop on a Sunday morning. Place was packed, only seats available were at the counter, not a problem as there were 2 of us. Got greeted and drink order taken. The servers were all very friendly and all working hard and moving fast. Food order taken, food arrived quicker than expected with how busy they were. I had the All American breakfast, biscuits and gravy, 2 eggs and bacon. The biscuits are AWESOME! Made from scratch and so very good. The gravy was good, could have used some type of meat in it but flavor wise it was good. My husband enjoyed his chili cheese dog with onion. The dog itself was all beef, good flavor and well put together. He also ordered a chocolate milk shake which was very good. We had two plates, chocolate shake and a soda for under $21. Multiple servers checked on us as they walked past the counter, great customer service. The plates leaving the kitchen looked good, the cheeseburgers were huge! Can't wait to come back to try one! read more

See all

It's ok. I visited for lunch with a friend and found the service to be good and the food to be ok - not good, not bad, but ok. I struggled to to give it three stars - probably 2 1/2 stars is a fair assessment - but it's hard to get excited about an average burger with a below average patty served with average fries. read more

For was delicious. Great and friendly service. Mouthwatering burgers and onion rings. Also had the grilled chicken patty melt with sweet potato fries. read more

Steak & eggs were the bomb!!! Owner is super cool! Great staff,great food , great prices. read more

Hot Rod Diner - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Turlock, California

Was on are way to socal saw this place off the freeway so we gave it a try Every thing was great hot food good service and fair price will be back again read more

Very large portions, I always end up with left overs. Servers treat you like friends/family. I would highly recommend trying this place out, you'll never go to any other breakfast joint in Turlock. We've been coming here for years and will continue. read more

I have gone eaten at this location since it was originally opened as Hot Rod Diner and it going to shit... I had lunch there today and the place was filthy, floors a mess, tables a mess and the young man hosting kept picking his nose. No matter how.good the food is, when a place is this dirty up front you have to wonder what is going on in the back that you can't see.... Good place fading fast hope they can get it together. read more

This place is amazing! Huge portions, good food, and great service! You can't beat Hot Rod! read more

See all

I wasn't super sure about a diner for lunch but I was extremely full with the burger I didn't even finish the fries that came with the meal it wasn't the expecting to pay really low price practically what I pay at McDonald's but not as full or satisfied. read more

Great biscuits and gravy. In Turlock and worth setting down at.

Service is not the best here. Was in here yesterday, The food was great but they need to get their shit together, we sat outside and waited FOREVER to have someone take our order. Through the window, I could see three waitresses cleaning the same damn table! Every time you need something you have to go fetch the waitresses yourself. read more

This is by far the best breakfast place I have had breakfast at. The team that works there are friendly, super fast, and they all have great customer service. I have yet to taste anything that I did not like. read more

Both my friend and I had stomach pain (and other issues) after eating here and we had completely different things to eat. My friend had a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and I had the south of the border omelette. The waitress forgot to bring part of the mean, forgot the OJ, forgot to refill the coffee, forgot to bring the bill, forgot to ask if we need ketchup, and I'm forgetting some of what she forgot. Waste of $33. Never going back here. (Updating this 2 days later abs we're still sick!) read more

I just want to thank all the people that work at "Hot Rods" for always making my mom feel so special, my mother has bone cancer and her chemo treatments are always on Wednesday, and after her treatment she goes there to eat, she always tells me, "it's the only thing I look forward to" so thank you for making a difference. Stephanie read more

Awesome staff, great menu, lively set up. I had the bacon avocado burger(I forgot to ask for medium well) but it came out that way so I was pleased. Milkshakes are so good(any flavor one waiter said). read more

The all American is what I ordered lol I think anyway it was delicious . First time here I will definitely be coming back

Awful service waited almost an hour no food awful waitress didn't even apologize waited over 20 minutes Before we were even approached. We walked out will never eat here again. read more

Best breakfast I've ever had!! The chicken fried steak was delicious. The pancakes were so soft and sweet. The service was friendly and even though they were super busy we were served promptly. read more

If you are looking for a large, spacious, restaurant for you and your family to enjoy breakfast or a lunch, Hot Rod's is a good choice. Not only is the wait staff and cooks extremely friendly you can sit at a table and roll around in a pretty awesome chair! (Okay, we can act like the kids sometimes). The vibe of the place welcomes you to have a good time, catch a game or two on one of there many TV's or just sit back and relax. The food selection is great and the portions are what diners "used" to be. Large plates with more than enough food to cover them and worth every dollar spent. It's nice to find a place that is more interested in filling you up than taking money from your wallet. I highly recommend the Hobo Scramble for breakfast and a burger of your choice for lunch! read more

Never experienced racism until having lunch at this establishment. Our server made it very clear she did not want to serve us. Took forever to take our order and brought the food out cold. Never came back to ask how we were doing. The cook kept starring at our table with a mean look on his face. Horrible service. read more

The food and service were good. The reason for the low rating is due to the amount of flies in the restaurant. There were 5 around our table alone and that is something that is not very appetizing. We will not be back unless this problem is resolved. read more

Had the worst service ever...its actually a ZERO STAR from me!!!! Thought we would try something new so we go to hot rod. Walk in had the cashier starring at the register and said u can sit anywhere. We sat down 3 other ppl working as well just pacing back n forth as if they were workibg. The cashier walks over and sits her fat ass down in the booth and drinks her soda. 20 minutes later we still dont even have a menu to look at nor did anyone have the decency and to say we will be with u shortyly. They would not even look at us cuz we were looking right at them. And mind u they were not busy. We finally just got up and left!!!! Maybe we just werent WHITE enough for them!!! Will never ever go to that place ever again read more

I would normally give this place about 4 1/2 stars but what happened this morning pissed me off. My wife and I decided to drop in for a late breakfast and after quickly letting the waitress know we needed a table for two we went and waited to be seated. After about 15 minutes they had seated everyone that was ahead of us. A few others had come in while we waited and were quickly seated while we still stood there. The waitress then came back and immediately seated a couple that had just walked in! Needless to say we were no longer interested in being looked over for the fourth time and left. I could understand a making a mistake once but three times after she had seen us standing their before all of the other people is ridiculous. read more

Terrible service. Food is ok. They don't have enough staff and they are not very friendly and not attentive to basic needs like water and utensils. It is a popular place, but they can not handle the amount of patrons that come in. Better places to eat and be treated better like 10 east or crust and crumb. read more

The food is great! the atmosphere is great! the waitresses.. NOT AT ALL!! very rude and unprofessional. and the busboy is like 14. During these hard times, i would think they would be a bit friendlier if they want to keep their job and get a tip. They are not worth my money. Maybe if the staff changes i'll return. Of course, i'm referring to one waitress in particular that i've gotten both times i've eaten there. The second time i was invited so thank goodness it was not on my dime. it's sad, because i like the food and restaurant itself but customer service is HUGE! read more

No frills, large quantity of food, Prices are affordable. If your on a budget and want to stuff yourself this is the place to be.

I work right across the street from Hot Rod's and everyone raves about their breakfast. I was in the mood for a burger, so I ordered the bacon cheeseburger. The wife thought forever that I didn't like ketchup, but I like to taste the food that I'm eating. That being said, this burger needed ketchup in a bad way. The burger was bland, it seemed like they didn't use any seasoning including salt or pepper. Even the bacon had no flavor to it, how do you manage to remove the flavor from bacon?????? I've had breakfast there before as well and it was ok, I'd rather hit up Grizzly Rock or Latif's down the street. read more

I understand that you are busy, but geeze, at least put your waiting customers on the wait list. Don't make eye contact, smile, then walk away. My husband has come here often with his work. Unfortunately it looks like we will never be returning as a family. Bad bad bad customer service today. read more

Nasty. Place is gross. Dead bugs along window. Bailey (blonde waitress) seemed nice at first, but when my husband finally got a hold of her to say his hash browns were undercooked, she turned Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde on us, and refused to correct the tab while passive aggressively telling me to shut up about it. RUDE. Then the employees argued about the tab in front of us. Two waitresses (Bailey and other blonde with short hair) said they would not adjust the price and told the guy at the register no when he said to discount the meal. Not sure who the guy was. Will not return. Ever. I predict this place will be shut down in no time. read more