California Diner

Been here a few times and ALWAYS a disappointment. The only reason I’ve gone back is because ethereal the closest 24 hour place. Food sucks, very over priced for what you get. And the service is horrible, was just there last night and I saw the waiter 2x. To take my order and drop the check. Someone else ran our food out. I do not recommend at all.

Prices are expected for NY, and service is good. However, the portion sizes are crazy big. Food is tasty but you’ll find yourself packing up half of it to go and enjoy at home later.

Great people. Awesome food. Always a table even though they have four dining rooms that are regularly filled. The service and the substance keep ‘em coming back ! (And late night kitchens on Sunrise Highway help:)

So as previously promised, I did mentioned that «I’ll be back». This morning was it. While at work my Co-​workers and I decided we were all hungry. The question was, what the hell is open at 4am? Just then, a light bulb went off in my head. (eureka!) Lets get California Diner. We all wrote down an order, and I called it in.
Basic run down of the order:
–2 Eggs over easy, Bacon, No toast, Homefries, Hot sauce on the side
–Turkey, American Cheese, Pepper, Onions, Mushrooms, Whole Wheat (No butter) Ketchup on the side
–Grilled Chicken Pesto Panini (Extra Pesto). w/​Curly Fries add Mozz.
Sure enough, for a semi complex order, everything was accurate upon pickup! That made us all happy.
The panini was phenomenal btw. Absolutely delicious. Its funny because usually only order breakfast from diners. But I just had this crave for grilled chicken.
Its nice to know that this Diner stays open ²⁴⁄₇ because in all honesty those «diners» that close late night aren’t diners in my eyes. they are weak restaurants. So thank you Cali Diner for trooping out overnight!
I give credit where its due. And California Diner redeemed themselves.
Bravo California Diner, Bravo

This is my favorite diner on Long Island. The staff is very friendly and the food is superb. My husband had the swordfish scampi dinner and i had the broiled salmon. Both were fantastic. We actually told the owner how much we loved our meals and he told us that all of the seafood is bought fresh and whole and they filet it themselves. Plus, we got soup, salad, coffee and dessert for under $ 40.00. (Had to get dessert to-​go as we were stuffed). Highly recommend this diner!

Whoa — based on a past history with this place and the fact that I hadn’t returned in a long time, I decided to give it one more final shot. Well ‘m glad I did — someone over there must be reading Unilocal because everything was back to the way it used to be. I had the Seafood Triple with Shrimp, Sea Scallops and Filet and everything was excellent. The food was exactly as it used to be – the size of the scallops and shrimp were as they should have been. So there you have it – if you’ve got a complaint about an eatery that you used to frequent, but stopped because of a change in their food — write a comment on Unilocal and just maybe someone is paying attention and puts things right. The California Diner is back on my family’s agenda for Friday and Saturday night Dinners.

Ok for diner food but don’t explore too much on the menu, food is not flavored and leaves much to be desired. Have been here twice once got chicken fingers that were good, second time made the mistake of getting the Italian special. Could barely tell there was pasta and it was just a ton of greasy cheese melted on top was hardly eatable.

DO NOT ORDR THE GYRO. Worst gyro I have ever had. chicken was overcooked and dry as cardboard.

I had spaghetti with meatballs at 2 AM… good food and huge servings…7 large meatballs! Giant but plain salad (1 slice each of cucumber, red onion and tomato on a mountain of iceberg lettuce) with piles of bread and crackers. I could not come close to eating it all. Great friendly service
$ 14

Great for a Diner! Does the classic fries with melted mozzarella and a cup of brown gravy!

Great Service, but the food left much to be desired.
I also encountered a scary situation in the ladies room, with a woman who seemed to be shooting up in the bathroom stall next to me. At first I thought she was just sniffling and crying, but the floor was so shiny I could see her silhouette in the floor tiles. And what I saw seemed like some serious drug use. It made me VERY uncomfortable.
Back to the food: we ordered mozzarella sticks. The marinara sauce for dipping was rather watery and a stronger basil taste than I like. The sticks were average.
I had the turkey club triple decker with cheese. My boyfriend has the french toast and his friend had an omelette.
We went here on the suggestion of the friend– he thinks the place is awesome, so I’m sure he really enjoyed his omelette. My boyfriend said his french toast was the worst he’s ever had.
As for my turkey club, it was edible, but not that great. On top of that, the food was very pricey. Definitely not worth the price, given the quality.
Again, the service was very good: our food was brought the the table very quickly and our server was quite friendly, helpful and thorough. That’s not enough to make up for the mediocre/​poor quality of the food.
I definitely won’t be going back there anytime soon!

Went here for dinner tonight with my husband for the first time. Very clean, staff & owners very nice & Food was great !!! & they give you ALOT of food… We Will definitely be going back again

Best fresh fries!!! I love everything here. Staff is terrific and place is clean. My go to diner always! Great dinner specials and they make an excellent Reuben sandwich!

Just know this: for people that live in a fifteen-​minute radius, this is the place to go after a night out. Especially if you’re from the area, «let’s go to Cali» is immediately recognized as a colloquial statement. The food isn’t that much better than any other diner, but the fact that it is open 24 hours and the service is always good sure sets the bar high.

When I live in Patchogue we went on most religiously on a weekly basis. We had to have Felipe wait on us he is the nicest waiter around very friendly soft spoken. However everybody who works there is nice polite friendly. they have the best matzo ball soup which they have on a daily basis many diners on the island didn’t have it on a daily basis even my other favorite diner which I will be writing about. Now I’m in Connecticut and nobody ever has it. I don’t understand why I am in Connecticut and I cannot find decent Greek food or matzo ball soup anywhere!
You get so much food especially when you order a special or Dinner or Meal. U get Soup –AND– Salad… You are entrée with 2 sides plus dessert along w/​coffee tea beverage.
When going for a large meal and I always brought home soup, dessert, & ½ of meal… I always order the steak on the bone it came w/​2 Stuffed Shrimp. Steak is always juicy hot fresh off the grill. Stuffed shrimp yes it has a lot of crab meat probably imitation but its good its never tasted OLD or FISHY!. If the other meal that’s fabulous is 2 grilled chicken breast served on top of spinach w/​melted mozz. on top. Always juicy chicken, bubbly cheese. Get Soup 2 Nuts @ a GREAT $$ & bring home ½.
So much food there’s no way I could ever eat it all! When not going for a meal I get the chicken Slovakia /​CKN gyro. I don’t eat white raw onions (hardly cooked ones either indigestion) BUT LOVE red ones ALL KINDS! i substitute & not a problem. No extra charges or BS. They make phenomenal OMLETS humongous & stuffed w/​cheese/​meat & veggies! Delicious home fries toast!

Probably one of the best, if not the top diner in Long Island. I’m not kidding! Where else can you have a five course meal (appetizer, soup & salad, main course, desert and coffee) for $ 13 to $ 15. And we are not talking skimpy servings here people. These are filled to the heap plates and the food is amazing!!! I’ve been going to this diner for the past 6 – 7 years and they never disappoint. I hate social sites and as much as despise reviews, sometimes I think they serve a purpose, and in this case California deserves the praise. Great service, from the minute you seat down till you’re served your bill. These guys are professionals and it shows.
P.s The best Moussaka you’ve had at a diner — just ask for the red sauce on the side (for those that don’t know what moussaka is, google it)!!

The food was way too expensive for what they were serving, the services was quick but the server barely knew english…
Most importantly the food wasn’t good it wasn’t more anything we payed for, the cheese burger was Eh but it has this weird choowe shit tht came up very often, the fries we’re mediocre, my friends had the grilled cheese and french toast and they said they weren’t pleased… Sadly it was a let down.

Not familiar with Patchogue, I came here with my friends (in a touring band) that were playing a show nearby. Everything on the main strip had a long wait and was crazy to park so we decided to drive a little to this diner (thanks to Unilocal)
The guys were super impressed, they hadn’t been to a NY diner in a while and were amazed by all the choices on the menu. I was pretty amazed by the cheap prices. We each got a main dish and it came out to like $ 40+ not bad.
Glen was craving spaghetti (I thought he was crazy for ordering it from a diner) and Vic surprised us with his choice of Liver and onions. My husband had the cornbeef hash with eggs (the best he ever had) and I had chicken souvlaki. Everyone enjoyed everything, not one complaint. They even give you a cold pasta salad and pickles to start. The portions were huge, Vic and I packed half of ours to go. We were pleasantly surprised with the meal. Service was a little slow, but we didn’t mind since it gave us a chance to catch up.

Traditional diner with a huge menu and pleasant staff. I’m not going to rave about the diner since it is very typical of diners on Long Island, but I also cannot find any faults. The food is consistently good and the wait staff is attentive and pleasant.
We usually stop in for breakfast but on a recent visit, we had dinner here. The food was tasty and presented well.
It will remain our go-​to diner!

The first time I ate here was with my new friend Al. I liked it then and I like it now. The staff is friendly and the food is good. Especially the coffee!
I recommend this diner highly.