Happy Diner

What iMpressEd mE the mOst is hOw attEntIve and Courtesy the sErviCe pEoplE aRe and mAde mE hAppy jusT lIke thE HaPpy naMe.
BeEn heRe seveRaL tiMes and evErY diSh haS bEen gOod and deLiCiOus FroM thE ouTSiDe this plAcE doEsN’t lOok LikE mUcH so dOn’T judgE iT. PArkiNg is dIffiCulT, sTrEet pArkiNg OnLy.

Food was good and waitress was really nice. Didn’t have to wait too long to be seated. Don’t let the outside or area fool you. It was a nice atmosphere and food was decent

Had the Chicken Country Benedict. Only thing good was the eggs! Over cooked chicken… almost burnt, lumpy brown gravy. A total mess! Country gravy should be mostly white. Soggy English muffin and bland overall. Won’t go back. Not worth the nearly $ 10 price tag.

Happy is what we are. Great food, fast, and large all day menu. I had SOS. Came with eggs and home fries
Perfect. Unilocal got it right.

We were in the area to watch a show and planned to have dinner prior. My boyfriend found this place on Unilocal.I’d like to say this rating and review is based on only my experience. I really like the variety of dishes on the menu it was really hard to decide. I love Mexican breakfast so I chose chilaquiles with carne asada. The chilaquiles tortillas looked like they were made from chips possibly made there. They were crispy which I liked. The chile was okay didn’t look like it was made fresh. It was all topped with carne asada, eggs, and cheese. I also got a side of beans which was good. I don’t know that I would order that again it was just not as authentic as I would like.
Their service is was great we were attended quickly and received our food quickly. Thumbs up for that.

My kids love this spot! They make Mickey Mouse pancakes with eyes and mouth made with fruit. The food is pretty good /​hot and is delivered to the tables in no time.

Just had the pleasure of having Happy diner cater my wedding, we could not have been happier. Our guests raved about the food, it was very reasonable priced, the staff is incredible and very professional. This is a diamond in the rough, small neighborhood diner. Love this place, go visit them if you are in San Pedro!!!

Ramon and his crew did an amazing job catering our wedding! We have had multiple compliments from our guests about how great the food was. I know it seems unorthodox for a diner to cater a wedding, but they completely knocked it out of the park. Everything was homemade and my new husband and I could not be happier.
Background on our wedding:
250 guests at 440 Seaton in downtown LA

Despite its humble outside appearance, Happy Dinner has comfortable and spacious interior, has an extensive menu with heaping portions, and an impeccably polite and hospitable waitstaff.
It’s a minute detail, but with sandwiches and burgers you have your choice of fries, onion rings, or both — at no additional charge! Amazing!
Would recommend, would go back.

Love this place. I haven’t been inside but I’ve ordered from DoorDash several times and this is one of only two restaurants in San Pedro that’s never screwed up my order. It’s always been fantastic.
I’m a fan of the breakfast food here. The waffles are great (I usually crisp them under the broiler after having them delivered but I’m sure they’re perfectly crispy in the restaurant). Their breakfast sausage is something special — not the normal Farmer John’s type that you get at most diners.
Tonight I tried the french toast and it was epic. It’s hard to get French Toast right, but they definitely did it — they have a ton of other breakfast options too from different omelettes to hot cereals and everything you could possibly want. They have dinner entrees that come with huge salads. If you want fine dining, then go to a 4* restaurant. but if you want comfort food that’s filling and hearty, with plenty of choices to suit anybody’s tastes, then come here. I’m pretty picky about food, but this place deserves 5 stars and then some.

Best diner in San Pedro by far, good portions, everything is fresh and good tasting, the staff are polite and caring. This place is the best.

We have a family of 5. So we’re always searching Groupon for decent deals to save wherever we can. I came across this Groupon from happy diner and decided to give it a try. I believe the Groupon was 20 for $ 40 worth of food which for my size of family that’s an awesome deal.
Immediately when we enter the door we were greeted. There were several items that look delicious so we couldn’t decide so we ask for a recommendation. We went with the owners recommendation an none of us were dissatisfied. Everything was fresh homemade and delicious. It was one of our sons birthday and the owner had the restaurant sing happy birthday which was awesome.
We will definitely visit happy diner again. By the way there are two happy diner the one we visited is in San Pedro.

Ok I’ll make this one simple…
Came in after reviewing other Unilocaler comments. Sat at the counter and everyone was friendly.
I’m new to the area so I’m a bit skeptical of where I go so I don’t get into any troubles.
I LOVEEEE breakfast food so I ordered a meat lovers omelette with potatoes and toast, I cleaned my plate!
Establishment looks very clean, small place but I like it versus a big place like IHOP or Denny’s. I will DEFINITELY be a regular here.
Only thing I would suggest is having the TVs turned to ESPN or the news not TruTV lol, but I won’t take away stars for that

I’ll start with the positive… the service is really good! The place is clean and homey.
Ya, that’s kinda where it stops! My son ordered a breakfast plate and the bacon was OLD! When my kid won’t eat the bacon… something is wrong. I tasted it and I wouldn’t eat it either! His pancakes were chewy and not tasty at all and even his eggs were over cooked. So, if you can screw up scrambled eggs and bacon I’m guessing you can’t cook anything else correctly either. My wife ordered prime rib and it was NOT COOKED in the middle! she was shy to send it back but meat should be pink… not raw! Plus you can tell they reheated it because instead of that nice pink color it was kinda a gray/​brown color that prime rib turns when you microwave or reheat prime rib. Gross!
I ordered a breakfast dish «carnitas rancheros» and it was ok. I would rate the carnitas dish as a 3 – 4 star dish, but, not worth driving back out here for it. I’ve had better carnitas dishes from my local Mexican restaurants.
Overall I’d say skip this place… not worth the time or the money. The food is not cooked properly and that is a HUGE negative in my book. They need to hire a new executive chef that can revive this neat little mom and pop diner. This place has a lot of potential. Maybe call Restaurant Impossible and see if they can fix it?

The Happy Diner lives up to its name.
Happy employees, the food is excellent.
My BF and I have eaten there many times in the past 3 weeks. Every time the food has been fresh, and the ingredients show that the owners and chef’s have pride in what they do.
Presentation on the plate is great, and the quality is awesome. You always leave feeling welcomed and full.
Our favourite place to eat and be comfortable when we dine.
It will take a lot to top this eating place.

In eight days, my girlfriend and I have eaten dinner here five or six times — I lost count.
FYI — Never On Sunday. They close at 4PM on Sunday. We arrived around 3:35PM and were served as well as anyone else. Now that we know about Sunday hours, we won’t do that again. I had their newly listed Chicken — Cranberry — Almond Salad. During one of our visits my girlfriend had a well prepared hamburger — note the pretty fruit cup.
8000+ restaurants in Long Beach, and we eat here.
Oh yes they do have wonderful desserts as well. I had their carrot cake — but was anxious to eat it — as a result the only photo available was already hidden in my stomach.
They have a second location in the area — but why mess with success?

*Review #70/​365 for 2015
If you’re from «Pedro,» you know these folks don’t like to drive too far to go anywhere. I mean, there’s a Target, an In n Out, a movie theatre, a few gyms, and a Home Depot in town… why would they have to venture off to Torrance, Long Beach or for goodness sakes the OC? That’s basically another time zone!
Anyway, with that in mind, this place is pretty good for Pedro. It’s a sit down diner with a wide variety of things to suit every palate. The pricing is pretty good too. Similar to that of Denny’s where the quality of food may not be the best. But then again, some people like places with several locations and uniformed flavors, so to each his own I guess.
Food consumption:
Carne asada fries: it’s like a meal by itself! Very filling and seasoned pretty good. (4 stars)
Chorizo enchilada HB: I forget the exact flavors, but I remember I liked it. Seasoned pretty well also. (3.75 stars)
Banana nut French toast: My friend ordered this and she didn’t like it much. I had a taste and I liked it. Hence, my earlier remark of «to each his own.»
Coconut Pineapple pancake: yummy. I like coconut and I like pineapple. (4 stars)
Tuna Melt: It’s kinda sweet. I’m not sure if I liked the flavor. (3 stars)

Every time I come here for breakfast I always have a delicious experience!!! Pancakes are the bomb, the homemade sausage gravy is exceptional, and today I tried the green chilaquiles… wow!!! It’s a MUST have!!! Everything is made with such love and perfect ingredients… even the fruit cup is serious… no filler melons!!!
I can’t wait to come and try the lunch menu!
Don’t forget to try the horchata… it’s the best in town!
The friendly service with a smile doesn’t hurt either!

Wonderful location excellent service and quality food! Exemplary.
Got to come down to the San P more often

Came here on a Sunday morning after church. The location does not have a lot in the way of tables if your group is 4 people or more. They can assuredly slide tables together, but the functionality feels odd. My family of 4 was seated at the table next to the front door, which is not my favorite spot at any food joint. We were greeted by the cold air every time the door opened. On a positive note, we were directly below the television, so we got to watch some baseball.
The food itself was good. My youngest LOVED her chocolate chip pancakes, and I quite liked my machaca scramble, which was plenty big. I was able to make 3 mini machaca tacos. I left with a full belly, but breakfast was not cheap, around $ 50. Bring change because the street parking requires that you feed the meters.
Overall marks:
Food: B+
Service: C
Ambiance: C+