Dudley’s Oldtown

We gave this place a few tries recently. They have great burgers. For a place that is only open 8 hours you would expect them to serve breakfast the entire time. Their lunch menu needs improvement at least add a nice corned beef sandwich. There tuna was dry and who puts pepper in tuna. The fries are battered and they don’t offer plain fries. I recommend a hot hot turkey and beef sandwich onions ring and plain fries. And serve breakfast all day.

This is a great locals spot with affordable, decent food and very casual, comfortable service. The type of place that gets to know their regulars, speeds orders through for business diners and accomodates special requests (like substitutions). We asked for dressing on the side and they brought two huge soup-​sized bowls of it.
They have free wi-​fi and a bar for single diners.
Just a cute mom and pop place with comfort food (think tuna melts, club sandwiches) and always feature a quiche of the day (usually ranging from A-​ok to delicious) and a soup of the day. Chili burgers are recommended (not by me, by mi madre).
Drawbacks are a limited menu and breakfast ends at 11 a.m. (I always forget).
But it’s a great stop for a quick bite and the staff knows the regulars…

This place has great service and amazing food! My friend from salinas told me about it so we came from San Francisco to check it out and I was not disappointed. I highly recommend the tuna melt!!! Also get a side of fries because they are good too. I’ll definitely be coming back here anytime I’m in the area!

I love this place, we have been coming here for years. We always get the chicken fried steak because it is the best in town. The staff is super friendly and attentive. There is usually never a wait.

I went here almost every Wednesday two semesters back with my bro. It was that good. I always (for the most part), got the Cheese burger with fries on the side. Occasionally, my bro would get either the special for the day or an omelet, or a sandwich, but he also usually got the burger + fries. It is good. Simple, and yet the fries always bring me back. They also have their «secret» homemade spicy sauce that goes well with the fries. I’ve been trying to recreate the sauce and it’s close to perfection.
The owner is a nice Korean lady, and whenever my brother and I went, she would come out and speak to us. She is so genuine and so kind! Whenever it’s busy, she just drops by to say hi and later we would get soup (that we didn’t order) as service. Anything and everything on the menu is delicious.
BUT, I recommend getting the FRIES. I don’t know what they do differently here, but it’s ‘to-​come-​back-​once-​in-​a-​while-​or-​every-​day’ type of place.
It’s also a little treasured gem in the south of Salinas.
If I have time between my school and work, I would love to drop by again. To say hi and then chow down on their burger and delicious, crispy fries.

Great place for a quick lunch! Great quiche and the orange chicken salad is amazing! Eat here about 2 times a week! Highly recommended

An old school style diner where they know you by name if you’re a regular. Saturday brunch, I ordered one of their specialties and my favorite breakfast Chicken Fried Steak with country potatoes and toast. I think their CFS is one of the better ones I’ve had locally. Portions were adequate not huge but I think that’s better than a gigantic portion. My daughter had a BLAT bacon lettuce avocado and tomato, and enjoyed it. The best part were the french fries! Wow! Their fries are so crispy and seasoned well! We kept eating her fries in between my meal!
The service was prompt, fast and friendly, too! 3 stars just because it kinda looked old inside. But some people like that charm

My father and I stopped in for lunch and had some decent sandwiches. I was even entertained by a small puzzle. My club sandwich was served with 2 segments stuck together with toothpicks. When I reached for a section of sandwich I realized that the cook had forgotten a piece of bread making 2 quarters of a sandwich into 1 half of one. The waitress was nice and apologetic about it. She got me a slice of bread pronto.
The food was good. The fries were actually noticeably good. The price was comparable to Denny’s… maybe a little more. I’d go again.

Having an interesting beginning of the day starting to walk all up and down main street looking for some good food: deli, Mexican, or diner-​American. So Walk in Dudley’s half hour before it closed and all I can smell was fresh bacon and hamburgers, so I sat at the end of the front of the counter near the kitchen. I’d ordered a cheeseburger with bacon with everything on it (no mustard or ketchup) and small bowl of chili. Perfect hamburger nice size Patty with just a little bit of fat on it and the burger didn’t even fall apart to the last bite (A light toast on the buns). With bright chili some carrots inside now I know why, It has a very light kick to it so here my suggestion go don’t ask for any hot sauce; It will ruin your taste buds and your stomach. It’s a excellent burger compare to fast food place probably the best burger place in Salinas. Heck they have sigh painted on there window that says that too. But just to give peoples a heads up: this a old diner, dive-​place with the beautiful Mariol on the wall of Salinas, A place that I’ll go back too.

Old school style diner. We saw Dudley’s a while ago but it was late and they were not open for dinner. But on 11÷27÷13 we were able to go for breakfast and it was really good.
We had the eggs and sausage (links) and pancakes. The hash browns had a nice crunchy brown side. The sausage «snapped» as you bite them. Really good pancakes.
The price was very reasonable and the hostess was super friendly. We’ll be back for sure!

Food here is average nothing to give the wow factor. Our table was ignored for some time. Our waitresses brought us our food and half way to the table stopped to lick the sauce off her thumb then put it back into my plate. I watched the same waitress stealing fries from plates while they were sitting waiting to go out. Then while walking out to tables eating off the plate. Went as far as to take meals to a small counter where they kept condiments and utensils and eating off the plates there as well. Very mom & pop like, food dosen’t cover the plate, so if it looks like foods missing it most likely was eaten by your server!

My review is based on the food and the service because I’ve never sat down inside, I always get my food to-​go on my way into or out of work. The service is amazing, it’s like a classic dinner place from the movies. A career waitress that calls you «hun» as you walk in and never forgets a face, a buncha old people that have probably been going there since the place opened, and a bar to sit at with the built in chairs that swivel a bit.
The place is a tad on the smokey side but not from cigarettes or anything of that nature but from the grill.
I say give it a shot if you are looking for a great place to have a greasy spoon kinda meal!

I liked it. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the burgers are the «best in town», but they are good. The fries are excellent.

Our favorite family place for breakfast and lunch! Great service… Delicious fresh food! My FAV’s. Fiesta Salad with House Dressing! Beggar’s Banquette… And their French fries are out of this world! Scrumptious Cheeseburgers… Great food!

We went into this Diner just before 11 am and had no problem ordering breakfast. The problem was we had to wait over 35 minutes for two simple breakfasts and while we waited we watched others being served who came in after us. When the plates eventually came the food was cold and tasteless and one plate had the wrong order. The hash browns, scrambled eggs, potatoes were utterly tasteless, no seasoning. The sausage was the cheapest sausage you could buy. Simply put, the food and service was terrible.
The two saving graces of this place, the décor is nice and they were constantly refilling the coffee. We did complain about the time taken for the food but we were simply ignored. We won’t be back

Went here for brunch prior to a wedding just over a year ago. Decent diner food, though I cannot recall if I specifically ordered a dish for breakfast or lunch, and there seems to be no online menu to assist my memory banks. Friendly enough staff, though, who never left us hanging.

Following our visit to the Steinbeck Center, we were in the mood for a good bite to eat. Dudley’s was a great, no frills diner spot with your usual burgers and sandwiches. The service was pleasant and quick and the food wasn’t anything to brag about, but most diner places aren’t. It’s just solid food and a good experience. And that’s what we got.

Love this place! Very friendly & great service! Will recommend the California Turkey its delicious!

This was the first time I’d been to Dudley’s in… ohhh… 8 years?
The food was ok… We walked in at like prolly a little close to 11… But not PAST 11 and they wouldn’t let us order breakfast… Like really? You’re telling me that in the minute I stood waiting to be seated (then told «wherever you want» to the 2 – 3 minutes it took the waitress to bring a menu that everything for breakfast had been put away and/​or gone bad?
…ok whatever then… So I got a turkey sandwich… Fries… And a water… My brother got a cheeseburger fries and a water…
…I don’t know what it is about old broads working at restaurants… But they see «young kids» (I’m 29 my brothers 24) and they assume either a: we’re gonna be dicks, or B: we’re not gonna tip shit so why bother?
…food came… she asked if we needed mustard/​mayo… Brought said accouterments… Left… Dropped the check 2 mins later… Picked up my brothers plate when we were sitting and talking just because I guess he hadn’t shoveled it all into his mouth… Like seriously we were talking enjoying our conversation and all that jazz… So to not be rude to each other (our mom taught us very well) we do not talk with our mouths full… And this chick TOOK HIS PLATE… Yea he only had like a few bites of fries left and I think a bite of burger… But um… He WASN’T FINISHED!!!
…I’m a very slow eater so I had like a full portion of fries left and a few bites of the last half of my Sammy left… And she came back and tried to take my plate a few mins later… To which I stopped that operation… And a look passed of «what the bloody f*ck?» between my brother and I that I think she caught… Because she NEVER CAME BACK… Never offered to refill our waters… Never came back for my empty plate (once I’d finally finished with it) nothing… I mean come ON… Hellooooo McFllllyyyyyy… You gave us water (with like three slivers of ice in it) and then don’t refill it???
…and the Thing with me… I find that people ignore you when you drink water… Maybe a «oh they must be cheap if they can’t „splurge“ for a soda»… I don’t drink sugary drinks… I don’t like them… I drink water… Get over it…
So no… I will not be going back…

Absolute fantastic place to go for breakfast and lunch. Way better than any competition in the Oldtown area.
Key things to try: the Kelly melt, fries and shake.