Woody’s Diner

This is my husband and I’s favorite breakfast spot!
I’ve noticed that the owner is extremely active here and is usually making his rounds checking on everybody. That is extremely nice to see!
I usually don’t stray from my comfort zone (hash browns, eggs, bacon, toast) This morning I got the chicken fried steak with super spuds. This will probably now be my usual!
The chicken fried steak alone was amazing, it was so picture worthy but my husband and I left our phones at home. It wasn’t a sloppy plate that you would usually get from other diners. You know the kind where it’s soggy and basically drenched in gravy! Well that was NOT the case here! It was the perfect amount. I really wish I would have been able to snap a photo.
You have got to opt in for the Super Spuds, just do it.
Jared was our server and we have had him more than once. He is extremely accommodating! He always greets us with a smile on his face, and looks genuinely happy in his workplace! We always leave happy customers when he takes care of us! Thanks Jared!

Woodys is good if you’re looking for some comfort food from a diner. It’s not easy to find because there aren’t any huge signs but it is easy to get to from the freeway off El Toro Rd located in the mall area next door to Trader Joes.
Let me start by saying, the service here is great. It wasn’t that busy when we came but the girls were quick and very friendly and catered to our every need. The food is average. I ordered a cheeseburger medium well (seems like many reviews recommend the burgers here) and I wasn’t too impressed. It was pretty pink on the inside and the sauce, I think thousand island, was wayyy to sweet for my likings. The side salad came first and that was great. My grandmother and I shared the half and half (fries/​onion rings) and that right there I could have done fine with. They are amazing. I recommend ordering the beer battered fries because they are crispier.
Parking is fine, if you park around the side where they put in an extra lot. It wasn’t a busy night but with trader joes and el Torito next door, the lot gets full.
I’d probably come back because my Grandmother likes this place, but I’ll order something else next time.

Horrible. Disorganized staff — and the manager is the worst. Doesn’t have the slightest clue what’s going on. Dirty.
They have a banner sign out front, which is broken and just hanging — so you can’t even read what it says. We drove around the parking lot twice looking for the place. Finally we figured this must be it. And the waitress told us it’s been that way for a long time. WOW! Shows you how interested the management is in the restaurant.
Food was barely edible. They don’t come over to check on you until they’re ready to bring the bill. You need to ask them to stop as they walk by if you want a refill or anything else.
I don’t have a clue how this place will be able to stay in business.

Worst pastrami and club sandwiches EVER! OMG! Pastrami sandwich came out with almost no pastrami on it at all. Had to ask for more pastrami and told them to just charge for more pastrami. Nobody ever came to check on our meal — we had to wave them over to us. Nobody refilled our iced teas. My wife said, «Taste this pastrami.» I tasted it and if my eyes had been closed I would have had no clue it was pastrami.
Oh, something else very strange. When my wife opened up her menu, a small box of crayons fell out of the menu. They were used and the box was dirty. Somehow the crayons were just left in there by mistake. When the waitress first walked up to us my wife handed her the crayons and said «these were inside my menu». The waitress simply laid them back down our table in front of where she was standing. They were still there when we left the restaurant. Incredible disorganization.

We were shopping at traders joes and we hadnt had dinner yet. I recommended to my wife that we try woodys. It ended being taco Tuesday. Very reasonable at 1 dollar a taco. The tacos were not the greatest creation ever but a solid B. The salsa wasnt to bad either! The bartender matt made our meal though. My wife loved the french toast. Matt engaged with us, treated us with kindness and good conversation. 5 star for the bartender and 5 star for being a whole in the wall. Look if you want authentic top notch mexican food go to javiers and spend 30 – 60 bucks on a plate. But if you want filling home made food for decent price with a quiet quaint feeling. Then come to woodys.

So been coming here for some time, usually for breakfast. Their $ 5.99 breakfast special M-​F is a great deal.
Went on Thursday morning and got an omelet for a change. Server I’ve had before (Gerod?) said I could have a pancake instead of toast. But I really wanted French Toast (w/​the special.) He didn’t think that was possible and another server brought out my breakfast w/​a pancake.
Two minutes later my server came out with a full plate of French Toast. So nice!
They always keep your coffee/​tea/​water refilled with no pressure to leave.
I’m glad they’re doing well even with the construction nearby.
Good comfort food with the nicest staff.
We’ll keep coming!

I’ve gone to this place many times and it’s exactly what I expected. Great food (way better than Rubys) Amazing service (fast and friendly even down to the busboy!) And fun décor (even with the construction the staff is constantly cleaning and decorating for the holidays!) I reccomend coming for their many deals and specials during the week! The staff puts up with a lot of difficult customers, what with being next to leisure world, but still manages to serve with a smile!

Very mediocre food and decent service but décor is very tired and dirty.
Bathrooms smell. Prices are way too high for what this place is and unbelievably they STILL DONT HAVE FRIGGIN WI-​Fi ???
Happy hour is the only time to really get a modestly acceptable value for the money but the lack of wifi in today’s age is completely inexcusable.

I decided to give it 2 stars just because I do realize my last review was based on my order I placed around closing time.

It has a very casual beach theme. The food is good and fairly inexpensive. They also have a wide variety of menu items.

Traditional food at reasonable prices.
Breakfast Special during the week is good at $ 5. Coffee needs improvement. I remember last year Woody’s Manager was yelling at his staff for not placing enough grounds in the machine.
Lunch salads and burgers are good.
Service needs improvement. I think a good Manager would greatly help Woody’s.
Three stars is a reasonable rating for Woody’s; although, two stars better (in my opinion) than Break of Dawn across the parking lot for breakfast.

Love this place. Never would have come here if Peppino’s didn’t have such bad service the day we went.
I had the Woody’s Benedict. OMG. Yummy deliciousness on a plate.
Service was pretty fast, although the bartender seemed to be having a bad day.
Best bet, because it’s always busy, just walk in and sit at the bar or in the bar area, then you won’t have to wait to be seated.
Looking forward to my next visit to try something different.

Long wait for initial contact in the bar (we were there for breakfast on a Saturday morning and hostess told us they were very busy, and recommended the bar) but once we were given menus and drinks, the service was flawless. Bartender was very personable, made good recommendations and got our order exactly right.
I had the cottage scramble and it was hot, tasty and not overly huge, as I’ve experienced at other diners. The sourdough toast had that sour taste to it which I loved. They offer tomatoes as a side instead of hashed browns, and I appreciated this.
My husband had the diced ham scramble with hashed browns. He liked that, but had chosen biscuits and gravy in place of toast and regretted that decision. He had about two bites of this and made a bad face. He pushed it aside and explained that it had a really funky flavor to it, sort of like smoked band-​aids.
The price is reasonable and there are many specials in the bar throughout the week. Breakfast for two, with coffee for one was $ 21. We may try back for an evening meal.
I almost walked out after waiting for 6 or 8 minutes before a menu was brought to me, but I am glad I decided to be patient and wait because my breakfast and the experience from that point was pretty good.

We had our first experience today for brunch (time). Although we had no utensils by the time our food was served, and my sandwich defaulted with American cheese, but I was given cheddar, the service was great. Food was delicious. Their breakfast loaded spuds were so good.
Bacon m, extra crispy, was on point. Croissants perfectly toasted.
Kids OJ was bomb too. Tasted real.
Overall — great experience! Look forward to more visits.

I’m a fan of this place. I usually come here for breakfast and the stuff that I have ordered, I love. They have amazing Fried Zucchini and Onion Rings. It’s all about the batter and the batter is perfect here. I usually get the Farmers Benedict (Sausage and Eggs over a biscuit covered in country gravy) with their Super Spuds (Hasbrowns with bacon, mushrooms, cheese, green onions, avocado and sour cream). It is soooo good, but so bad for you, thus me not getting that item often. lol
I love how their never is a line and I get seated right away, when compared to the other breakfast joints in Laguna Hills. Try the breakfast here, it’s pretty bomb!

I went there for breakfast and had a scramble entrée with a side of sausage (not shown). I thought the whole thing to be very mediocre. Additionally, while we interacted with no less than three waiters, we were left awkwardly waiting at the end for the check. Go across the parking lot to Break of Dawn instead.

First time at this restaurant. We actually wanted to go to another restaurant, but they were closed. The entire shopping center has shared parking lot, but it’s not that bad of a walk.
This restaurant serves breakfast all day! I ordered their breakfast special, Hawaiian Omelette. It was delicious! Their Passion ice tea was pretty good, and the flavor reminded me of the Tropical ice tea from Cheesecake Factory.
Great service, clean restroom, great food! Glad we had a chance to visit this place although it was unplanned.

This is really the best place to come have a beer relax and just enjoy the day watch your sports and get delicious food

So far so good sitting in bar eating nice breakfast tender is very nice funny personable likin it here 1^st timer

Woody’s is what’d you expect of a local diner. It’s familiar (not to us, this was our first time), has ok food and ok service.
We planted ourselves at the bar to watch the baseball game on and noted the scattering of a few regulars doing the same. We were served by the bartender who was actually friendlier than his demeanor lets on though he was not chatty with us.
Food was ok — I got the corned beef hash with eggs over medium and their super spuds. Hubby got their sausage and eggs with side of tomatoes. We also shared a short stack of their multi-​grain pancakes.
Not sure if it’s just a characteristic of multi-​grain pancakes but these were mushy, gummy and dense. I know to expect grainy but the mushy was a surprising disappointment.
Corned beef hash was the type you find in a can… and what I actually prefer over those fancy homemade versions. What I didn’t quite appreciate was their highly touted super spuds. I understand why they charge $ 2.99 extra to get that — because they are putting a bunch of stuff on top — but the hash browns underneath were bone dry. It just felt like I was eating a pile of potato sticks covered in cheese, etc.
Hubby devoured his breakfast and they actually cooked his eggs the way he wanted them to.
Bartender was too busy chatting with the regulars to really pay that much attention to us. And I don’t know why but I felt bad interrupting his dialogue. I really wanted ice water but he was always running around cleaning up tables or getting beers for others. Eventually, we just decided to call it a day and flag him down for a check.
With breakfast options like Snooty Fox and Break of Dawn so close by, I don’t see another reason for a repeat visit unless you are… well, a regular.