Rock & Roll Diner in Oceano, CA

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Telephone:	+1 805-473-2040
Website:	www.rockandrolldiner.com
Address:	1300 Railroad St, Oceano, CA, 93445
Categories:	Diners American (Traditional)

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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations	Yes
Delivery	Yes
Take-out	Yes
Accepts Credit Cards	Yes
Accepts Apple Pay	No
Good For	Lunch
Parking	Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking	Yes
Wheelchair Accessible	Yes
Good for Kids	Yes

Good for Groups	Yes
Attire	Casual
Ambience	Casual
Noise Level	Average
Alcohol	Full Bar
Outdoor Seating	Yes
Wi-Fi	Free
Has TV	No
Waiter Service	Yes
Caters	Yes

Today

Today	8:00 am – 8:30 pm Open now
Local time (Oceano)	3:00 PM Thursday, June 26, 2025

Business hours

Monday	8:00 am – 8:30 pm
Tuesday	8:00 am – 8:30 pm
Wednesday	8:00 am – 8:30 pm
Thursday	8:00 am – 8:30 pm
Friday	8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Saturday	8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sunday	8:00 am – 8:30 pm

Description

Specialties

Your classic American diner in a classic train car atmosphere. Voted «Best diner» by the local Five cities newspaper. Come and experience the most unique 50’s diner on the Central Coast. Listen to your favorite 50’s and 60’s songs while indulging to the best shake you ever had. Enjoy the train ride with flavors from our Oak pit BBQ, Burgers, Pasta, Seafood, Salads, clam chowder and even Greek and Mexican specialties. Patio and private car seating available. Senior Special Menu available 3−6pm Daily AND Kids eat free on Monday nights. Join us for Mexican night every Tuesday with $ 2.00 Margaritas and $ 2.00 Mexican beers. American, Greek and Mexican cuisine ALL in one location.

Just 2 miles south of Pismo Beach right off HWY 1.

History

Established in 1998.

An American diner in a classic train car atmosphere. The train cars originally run on two different routes w/Union Pacific First and Amtrak last and were brought at their current location in 1978 by the then property owner Chic Sales. He operated them as a fine dining restaurant called «The Oceano Railroad Co». After about a year in business he closed the doors. It was opened and closed numerous times until Marios decided that what better thing to do with a train but a 50’s diner. So in January of 1998 after a two year renovation the «Rock & Roll Diner» was born. «Don’t miss this train ride back to the 50’s» is our company’s trademark because we are not just a diner with good food but also one nostalgic ” 50’s train ride”… All aboard!

Meet the Business Owner

Marios P.

Business Owner

Marios is from Cyprus and came to the U.S.A in 1991 to study at U.N.L.V. Hotel Administration and Culinary Arts. After receiving his bachelors degree in 1995 and with already 10 years of restaurant experience he was more than excited to finally be able to live his dream of opening his own restaurant. Marios has been the owner and Manager of the Rock & Roll diner since the first day it was opened in January of 1998. For more information on Marios just feel free to stop by at the diner and say hi…

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20 reviews of Rock & Roll Diner

No registration required

Steven H.

Place rating: 1
Las Vegas, NV

Very poor service. Took forever to be attended to. Food came out cold and wrong on 3 of 4 orders. First time, will never return. Also, was not busy.

Christine G.

Place rating: 4
Los Angeles, CA

Super cool looking place. The prices are great and everyone is super friendly. Maybe not food to write home about but a fun and tasty place to go.

William D.

Place rating: 1
San Luis Obispo, CA

Was there for breakfast. Watery hash browns, bad coffee, incredibly bland chorizo and eggs. Loud, tinny music was way too much. First and last time here.

David P.

Place rating: 4
Lompoc, CA

A little pricey, but fun. About what you’d expect, and a Greek menu too. Wine and beer, and for the wife, a full bar too. Oh, and a Mexican menu section too! I had Pozole and chips/guacamole, and the wife had Gyros. It was all good.

Robert T.

Place rating: 5
Killeen, TX

I use to go to this restaurant all the time as a kid. The food ended up not being good so we stopped going. I decided to try it out again because I’ve been hearing the commercial for them on radio. I was very satisfied. The Elvis Burger was really good. My mother got the tri tip salad and said its the best salad she has had in a long time. The service was good. Never had to ask for a refill. The prices are good. I love the 50’s style look they have going on. I will start going back a lot!

Jamie B.

Place rating: 1
San Luis Obispo, CA

The service was great. until you give the waitress your voucher from Oceano inn.
My mom and I stayed at the Oceano inn for 2 nights where they gave us 4 vouchers– 2 per person per night. We were told that each voucher was $ 3 and that we can use them all at once, so $ 12 will be taken off the bill. Well we decided to go to this diner for breakfast. Our waitress was an older lady with dark hair. She gave good service until we got our bill and I gave her our vouchers. It was crazy how fast she flipped her switch and attitude. I’ve never seen anyone do that before. Instantly she said «each voucher is $ 2 and you can only use 2 at a time for 2 people.» I told her what we were told by the front desk at the Oceano inn and she replied back with «they tell people whatever they want and people think they can come here and eat for free! You can talk to my manager. Omg!» And then just walked away. The diner is a tight space so everyone was looking at us and I was just in shock that she was causing this scene. I gave her two of my vouchers instead of the four and she gave us the bill back and replied further more with, «and by the way– you are suppose to tell me you have vouchers right when you get here before you get seated.» I was still in shock. Why would that matter? Would the service have been different?
Our total was $ 24 so $ 12 off is not free. We were actually going to tip well over 20% too. We still gave her a $ 4 tip because… I guess some people really need to fight for every single dollar and I was actually scared that she was going to yell at us out of the diner and cause an even bigger scene.
It was so awkward and uncomfortable. We walked out feeling like we did something wrong. She just stood there as we walked away and did not say bye or thank you. She really did not need to take it out on us like that and I hope that $ 4 was worth it to you.
We went back to Oceano inn and told the front desk our experience and she was stunned they did that. Of course she’s never had this problem before, she told us we were able to use all of our vouchers at once, and that the inn cuts the diner a deal every month and pays them in order to have this discount.

Kelly L.

Place rating: 4
Sacramento, CA

I had always wanted to eat here and it was a perfect day to do so! We got the sampler appetizers which were smoking hot, and tried the salad and clam chowder. My friend got a Greek appetizer and I got the Route 66 chicken sandwich. Everything was great. Hey even have specialty sodas like cherry or chocolate Coke. I had a cherry Coke, very good. Would definitely go back, great atmosphere.

Kimberly S.

Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA

Delicious food, good service, a little dirty but it is old. I would say try it… its delicious

Vanessa R.

Place rating: 5
Arroyo Grande, CA

I’ve eaten here plenty of times and never have I ever been disappointed. The food is delicious. They have everything from Mediterranean, Spanish, American, and Italian– all of them being absolutely amaaaaaazing!!! Whether it’s take out or you’re dining in, the quality never changes.

Lori R.

Place rating: 3
Bakersfield, CA

This is the quaint little railroad car that sits on the side of Hwy. 1 in Oceano and you can’t help but want to eat here. It is decorated as a 50’s diner and all the memorabilia with business cards stapled to the walls and ceiling.
Ok now that I have been here so many times when we visit the area and it isn’t my choice to come here I will write my review since I can do it with a full spectrum of meals.
On my first visit it was breakfast and it was ok, really how hard is it to mess up breakfast except for the fact that their country potatoes are small cubed potatoes that are just deep fried potatoes, ah no. So the second time I ordered the regular hash browns and that was much better so the breakfast is mediocre to say the least.
On my third trip it was a lunch trip and I ordered a patty melt and it was so greasy it was almost inedible but flavorful because of that fact. Fries were ok. Hubby said his burger was very good and it looked very tasty.
Our forth trip was dinner (we were with folks who prefer this spot) I ordered the falafel since they have a full greek menu since the owners are greek and are proud of their greek food so I thought I’d give it a whirl. Not so good. Hard and tasteless. Actually they were burnt.
Ok so this is the last trip and we went with my folks since our go to Mexican food place was closed and we were in a hurry to get back on the road. So I ordered the bowl of clam chowder, hubby got the seafood sampler, dad got the ruben sandwich and mom the chicken fajita salad. My chowder was good, hubby said it was the best he’s tasted, I wasn’t that impressed but the crackers were stale, hubby’s fish and clam strips on his platter were almost burnt, and dad’s sandwich was like my patty melt from before, greasy. Mom’s salad was huge and she said it was really good. So it’s a mixed bag of tricks here. Some good, some not so good.
We will probably come back the service is good since it is usually the owners who wait on you and they are very nice but I guess you just have to know what to order.

Casey S.

Place rating: 4
Alameda, CA

You know, for a regular ol’ diner on the side of the road, Rock & Roll makes a pretty mean steak.
The surf and turf came with enough food for two people, and came out real fresh. Nothing terribly fancy, but they know exactly what they are doing. And as a bonus, they operate out of a train car!

Frank F.

Place rating: 5
Nipomo, CA

Color me surprised by the negative reviews.. I’ve been coming here for more than eight years.
The food and service has been great.
We eat out almost every night and we have about 30 restaurants that we frequent. To me this has been one of the better restaurants we go to.
I generally like basic American food, but here I’ve expanded my pallet. I eat even Greek food now.
Out of all of my visits I’ve only observed one negative interaction between a server and a customer. I think the customer was rude, but she maybe could have been handled differently. The server wasn’t bad, but could have been a little more diplomatic.
I won’t go to a dirty restaurant, this place is old and somewhat worn, but not dirty.
I would reorder almost every thing I’ve had here, so I think it’s a great place.

Marsha V.

Place rating: 5
Torrance, CA

Loved it!!! This place is Awesome. The Food was Great! The Service Personable. The atmosphere/Décor… Was exceptional and impressive.
We found it in our PCH drive home to Torrance.

Flozilla B.

Place rating: 3
Arroyo Grande, CA

While dancing at the Greek fest in downtown SLO this past summer… the Rock & Roll Diner grabbed my attention… at some point one of the festival chefs busted out some fabulous Greek dancing moves! It was a crowd pleasing dance, he happened to be wearing a logo shirt from the diner… I was intrigued. I figured if they can dance… they can cook!
Well, after my first visit I think 3*** is still a little bit of a reach.
Honestly, if I owned the diner, I would be concerned about the mixed reviews coming out of this place, lots of «meh» and «bad service» being typed in the review boxes. They stand out so much that the «best greek salad» and «cool location» shoutouts are getting lost. I know that everyone is entitled to their opinions and experiences. There does seem to be a little bit of a theme here on Unilocal… reading thru some of the more recent reviews.
The diner WAS really cool, a unique space that is worth a try regardless of your dining experience. You can decided how to enjoy the meal or not. It is small inside (remember, its a converted train!) and the décor is fun, it was kinda dirty and sticky… perhaps a deep cleaning day could freshen up the two cars.
As for my meal, I ordered a chicken souvlaki sandwich with rice instead of fries, it was sort of bland, thankfully I also ordered a side greek salad… it was (as many other Unilocalers pointed out) VERY good! Lots of feta, a unique yummy dressing, olives and pepperoncini… very tasty! It turned my sad sandwich into a better meal… I dumped the chicken on top of the salad, added salt and was pleased with the result. The rice tasted a little old… still kind of fluffy… but maybe been on the steamtable too long? My dining companions (2 and 5 year olds) ordered cheezeburgerz with no complaints. They have limited palates and haven’t learned how to hack my Unilocal account yet.
And the service… meh…sort of hands off. Got the job done though, but was not terrible (5:30pm on a Sunday). I might go back to try some more of the greek menu, give it another go. It feels like the food may be a little more successful if the menu was pared down a bit. Keep the mixed theme of Greek, Mexican and American… but maybe limit it a little? But on the other hand, thats one of the ingredients for a successful proper diner… something for everyone, every taste. Either way, I encourage you to check it out… come on… its a diner in a train!

Hope Q.

Place rating: 1
Atascadero, CA

Stay away! Cockroaches!!! Portions small. Food poor quality!!!
Not kid friendly
Dirty!!! Rude waitress!

Josh E.

Place rating: 4
Lompoc, CA

A funky little diner in a train car. Steps from the pismo dunes and Oceano airport.
BBQ and Tri tip on weekends, daily specials and some Greek selections. If your in the area check it out, or make a road trip of it with your friends, girl or the family.

Bruce P.

Place rating: 5
La Habra, CA

Two words. Lamb Shanks.
Big, tender, moist, rich, and flavorful. If you don’t try it you have no idea what you are missing.

Yenni O.

Place rating: 5
Vallejo, CA

This place is great. As soon as we walked down we were seated. Very cool themes with a bunch of cool stuff to look at. Waitress was super nice and efficient. I ordered the rib eye steak with fries and salad and some veggies, my lady had the bbq bacon burger. We ordered our sodas and they came right away. I stepped out to the car to grab my phone and by the time I came back my salad was ready. Got our food really fast. My steak was perfect. Veggies were a little bland but their veggies so that’s okay! Fries were hot and crispy and my girls burger was crispy and fresh, juicy thick bacon and the curly fries were great too. We will definitely come back. Great atmosphere and staff was great to. Our waitress brought us napkins without us asking and offered us desert but we were stuffed!
Fast friendly service !

Jessica O.

Place rating: 2
Arroyo Grande, CA

I used to love coming here for Greek food. (Way back when there was even a Greek night with dancing!)
The Rock and Roll diner has a huge menu with a wide variety of foods, but the Greek portion kept me coming.
The service has gone extremely down hill. After my last visit I think I’ll need to find another place for my beloved falafel and hummus fix. Our server was flat out rude to my entire family! She never once checked on us for refills and when we stopped her (while she was rushing past our table) to ask for a bottle of ketchup she literally rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. We tried asking another server for extra napkins to avoid bothering our server and she was also rude.
I don’t know if ownership changed or what in the world happened? I would love to say this was just my most recent experience, but I live locally and this used to be a regular stop for us. I would say my last 5 visits here have just gotten worse and worse. There is a great Greek place in the Arroyo Grande Village if that’s what you’re looking for. :)

Craig P.

Place rating: 2
Denver, CO

Well unfortunately the smiles stopped as soon as the food came. The only thing that keeps this place from being a 1 is that you get to eat in a train. The food is horrible. Everything is dirty and you can tell that no one cares about the food they serve. This place was almost empty on a Saturday morning and now we know why. Drive by, take a picture and then go somewhere else to eat.

Rock & Roll Diner

Oceano, United States