The Riders Club

Love this place! Chicken w/​cheddar, bacon, house spread and pickles, the best! Try the carnitas too!

Just to get the facts straight. :D
This Is THE BEST burger joint in town!
Wonderful service; high quality, fresh ingredients, all made in house, from scratch.
The price here at Rider’s is right, if not a total deal, especially when you would pay the equivalent price for some yucky «fast-​food-​drive-​through» elsewhere these days.
A very clean and friendly environment, surpising speed for such a quality meal.
They have a constant rotation of craft beers on tap and real soda in a classic glass bottle, not to mention they also make their own freshly squeezed lemonade each day. Yummy! Oh and you can’t forget the «to die for» chocolate mousse! ! :D
Long live Rider’s Club Café! !

Much easier location with lots of seating and no long lines! Great Burgers and fries. Tons of beer choices, the place is clean and inviting. Staff is friendly, will return!

How do you feel about opening a $.39 can of tomato paste, adding some rosemary and calling it ketchup? NOT IN MY AMERICA!
Seriously, how do you not provide simple ketchup? It’s one thing if the Riders Club’s version of ketchup actually had some flavor, but it doesn’t and It’s garbage. It’s too bad, because the burgers are actually pretty good.
I know, I know. You come from some school where ketchup is frowned upon as being some plebian, unsophisticated condiment, but I assure you it is essential to the enjoyment of the burger and fries experience. You’re blowing it.
As a proud American, I’m afraid I must remove two stars for this assault on my taste buds and I hope and pray that regular all American ketchup (or catsup if you prefer) is provided on my next visit.

The atmosphere was decent for a less-​than-​ideal location. Ortega proves to be tricky when you’re looking for a solid place to set up an eating establishment. The name is well-​known, and people in this area are certainly happy about seeing a Riders Club closer to them than San Clemente. Fries are fantastic — well-​cooked and well-​seasoned. Menu seems limited, and the service at the counter was relatively standard, even though it seemed as though the employees were still learning the ins & outs of the particular establishment.

So very unhappy with this place. My first visit here was excellent a couple months ago. But I will not be returning as my last three visits have been extremely unsatisfying. First, the fact that I’m paying $ 12 for a hamburger with 3 basic adds is ridiculous. If I wanted to pay those prices I would go to the Ritz Carlton or the Saint Regis. Second, every time I have placed an order the burger comes out wrong including asking for medium rare and receiving the burger well done. Paying $ 2.25 for a bottle of Coke is also crazy. I unfortunately do not see the value in the Riders Club any longer nor can I afford their prices.

Mmmm. They have a great selection of burgers, including a portabello patty and a quinoa patty for the vegetarians (thank you!!). I got the quinoa patty and added goat cheese and sauteed mushrooms. It was awesome. We also got a basket of perfectly-​cooked french fries. And beers! They have a pretty good selection of craft beers on tap. Note: My husband got the carnitas burger and he was visibly sweating. So much jalapeño (and they do not allow alterations to this burger). Just wanted to warn you. Also, I should warn you that you won’t pay fast food prices here, even though it’s kind of fast food-​ish. Our bill for two burgers, fries, and two beers was $ 35. So, yeah.

Now that’s a burger. I saw the outstanding reviews for the San Clemente location, and though I’d try the location closer to me.
The kids meal is a good deal. A cheeseburger (or hotdog) with apple slices and fresh lemonade. The lemonade tastes fresh squeezed. Burgers come plain, and I guess if you want catsup or mustard, I guess you ask for it. For what it’s worth, because it’s important to me, is this is a relatively stress free place to bring kids.
I got the burger, which was amazing. The burgers have a really charbroiled taste. The house sauce is like thousand island. The only think I may skip next time is the pickles, which tasted vinegary to me. Not bad at all, just not my thing.
Will definitely be back!

Sometimes you ride down Ortega Highway and hit up The Riders Club for a burger and a brew or two to name a few but then there’s those times where you just want the deliciousness that is a Faygo too!
Riders Club migrated from San Clemente to San Juan for a new spot what they brought is some delicious burgers a carnitas sandwich and that’s about it!
The menu here is super simple burgers, beer, carnitas sandwich, and some food for the kiddies!
Their burgers are a good size super juicy and piled with all the wonderful things one would look for on a burger including beets which I thought was pretty unique as not many are doing that!
They offer a variety of choices for the cheese and a few extra toppings too like bacon, avocado, mushrooms to name a few i believe these come with an extra charge when added to your burger.
The carnitas sandwich they have is just delicious it has an awesome flavor to it and comes with a pile of the carrot slaw on top of it I don’t usually say this but it might be better than some of their burgers!
Their fries here though are downright terrible super salty and you can tell that they were once frozen, I’m not really sure why they would make delicious burgers and then tarnish the rest of the meal by using these gross fries! Do yourself a favor and just order your food without the fries!
What’s really a bummer about the fries is that they make a homemade ketchup to dip them in it’s got a yummy kinda flavor to it when put on top of your burger but it falls short when added to the super salty frozen fries!
They have a variety of delicious craft beers that seem to change because they were different from my last visit so pretty much the staple here is a burger a beer or a carnitas sandwich as that sums up the menu almost all the way!
One thing I did enjoy here is that they have craft sodas too like delicious Faygos, Mexican Coke, and a few other of the old style goodness that you don’t always see around!
I’m sure it won’t be too long before I’ll be back for a burger here as they actually are pretty good I’ll just stay away from the fries and fill that hole with a beer!

Yeah, I don’t get it.
A few good beers on tap but nothing exciting. No standard sodas at all.
Limited menu. And they don’t allow you to change some of the menu items — I have a mild allergy to cilantro but I wasn’t allowed to order the carnitas sandwich without it. The cashier told me to just take it off. Really? How about you just don’t put it in to begin with. Dumb.
Burger was bland. The club salad was ok. The chicken was garlicky but greasy. Fries were a little stale and barely warm.
The house sauce was super salty and the homemade ketchup was really gross. It was… slimy…I don’t know how else to describe it. Just ew.
Loud music. Uncomfortable seating. It was 98 degrees out and I’m pretty sure they had the AC off.
Oh and I had to go to Starbucks to use the restroom. Isn’t that illegal???

I’m really not sure how this place has any 5-​star reviews. I noticed a few Unilocalers are reviewing this location and talking about San Clemente.
The name and décor/​ambiance don’t match at all. Nothing to do with Riders of any kind at all which was surprising but no big deal. The loud ska/​punk music was, however, distracting. More-​so the volume than the musical choice.
Food was bland at best. Our party had 2 burgers, club salad, and carnitas sandwich. Burgers were the best of the food but nothing to write home about. Carnitas were very bland. If you’re in So Cal and serve carnitas they better be good or don’t serve them.
Like others have said, the homemade ketchup is not good and the cashier was grumpy (female blonde). The saving grace was the busses/​server (male/​blond) who was very attentive and pleasant.

I’ve been to the San Clemente location a number of times and always been content with my meals. Finding the new Riders Club on Ortega Highway was a plus, because it was on the way home from who knows where …
You go to Riders Club for an «elevated» burger and a craft beer or two (in a casual environment). Unless you’re getting a hot dog, this is grown up food, so leave the kids and the Bad News Bears little league team at home. There really isn’t room for a crowd anyways (and there’s no outdoor seating). I’d recommend paying extra for an add on component, such as a fried egg or grilled mushrooms. Or, if you’re into a touch of pickled beets on your burger like me, they’re nothing extra.

Talk about a cool place to get some grub! They specialize in custom burgers which are amazing. I had a great experience with Jenny who took our order. She gave some great suggestions and was very personable. She took our names for the burger orders and continued to call us by our names during our visit. So personable to all the guest.
I do have to say my friend warned me about the other lady who was extremely rude to him but that it was so good it was worth checking out, I’m really glad they hired Jenny because talk about a shock by how friendly and attentive she was.
There is a cool vibe in the dinning area and they have a small bar. Great place to eat and enjoy your family or a business meeting. It’s fairly small so it’s not to loud.
They do have a few other items besides burgers and fries. The basket of fries is perfect size for two people and let’s talk about the awesome homemade catchup! It is sooo good! I wish my stomach was bigger because I could eat fries with there catchup all day! The burgers are also huge so you won’t leave hungry.
If you are close by The Rider you should go check it out! You won’t be disappointed! I’m giving them my clean plate award!

Much better experience than last time. Brought a friend. .his first time. Was helped by Jenny. So glad Kelly wasn’t working. Thank you for that! Jenny gave us great service and as always we had great food.
We’ll be back. #ridersclubregular

I loved the San Clemente location and so I was excited to try the new location. The fries were a huge disappointment — basic frozen fries. For the price of a small fry I was expecting something more. They need fresh cut fries… or they need to get some Heinz ketchup to cover up the mediocrity. The house ketchup is way too overpowered by horseradish flavor.
The blonde girl at the register was less than welcoming. I am not sure if she is just cranky because she is pregnant or she is just cranky in general.
Overall I was disappointed in the new location.

The older blonde lady (Kelly) working the register is very rude!!! She totally put me off before my food even arrived…
The A/​C is very bad in This place. It was 100 outside and not much cooler.
The young server was very nice and friendly
The food was pricey but very good

Finally! We’ve been waiting awhile for it to open, so we were anxious to to try it out. When we drove past this week and saw the Now Open banner, we couldn’t wait to go. We’ve tried out the San Clemente location and loved it, but to have one within walking distance was exciting ultimately didn’t disappoint.
The spot:
It’s right off Ortega Highway near the 5 interstate. It’s located near the Starbucks, Publuc 74 and Bank of America. Parking isn’t the best but there is parking in the back as well. I wouldn’t mind parking across the street if it meant being able to go to this new San Juan Capistrano gem.
The vibe:
It’s not a big place but looking around, I saw people from different walks of life that I wasn’t accustomed to seeing around these parts. People looked like they were enjoying their food and beer, and the staff were definitely making great strides to ensure this. You order from the counter and the girl behind it asks everyone’s name when they order. What surprised me was when I went up for a second drink, she asked «how’s it going, Richard?» Had to throw in an extra buck in the tip jar just for that.
The grub:
The cool thing here, as with the San Clemente location, is the burger is made to order. I ordered a burger with Havarte cheese, grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms, pickles, their sauce and an overeasy egg. It was perfect! My wife and son did their thing and were equally happy with their burger. My son went so far as to say it was better than his other favorite burger joint.
We also ordered a basket of fries and with their homemade ketchup was delicious. The homemade chips at the other location was good, but these fries went better with the burgers IMHO.
The BEER:
Let me just say up front that I’m a Belgian beer lover. To find a place (a burger joint at that), that seemed to focus on this type of beer is amazing. Folks, if you don’t know scoot about beers, come here and be educated. They sell St. Berbardus ABT 12 on draft, and this IS one of the best Belgian beers you will ever have. I didn’t know they had it, so I drank a whole bottle myself just last night (ha ha). If I hadn’t, I would have had it for sure. Instead, I ordered the Rare Vos and tried a red ale from The Bruery, both good beers as well.
In conclusion, my wife and I plan to make more frequent visits here. Don’t be surprised to see us in here during their happy hour. I may even have to sneak over when I can… i’ll do anything to support our local businesses. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the ticket.

Jesus was not pleased with his dining experience.
Mediocre, overprice burger (Cheeseburger, side of fries, pint of beer: $ 22.00). I found myself wishing I had gone to Five Guys. Better French fries could have been found at a fast food restaurant. Again, found myself wishing I had gone to Five Guys.
Ambience was just lame. Small space in a crummy strip mall, no outdoor seating, no internal restroom. At least they had boutique beers.
I won’t be returning.

Finally! San Juan has been in need of a restaurant like Riders Club! Great Burgers (many patty choices– All Natural Beef, Chicken, Portobello, Quinoa…), affordable kids meals, great Beer Selection, solid music playlist, and friendly staff.
I had a beef burger with cheddar and a Red from The Bruery. Nice casual setting for the whole family too.
Welcome to SJC Riders Club!

What the San Clemente location lacks in size, the new San Juan location makes up for in FRIES!
Big, juicy, old fashioned hand-​formed patties with an array or cheeses and toppings is the headliner. A tasty hot dog, Carnitas sandwich or big salad round out the minimalist menu. Nothing minimalist about the flavors, however.
The beer great selection was to be expected from our experience at the more southerly location, and it doesn’t disappoint.
Congrats on the opening– best wishes for success plus my promise to be a frequent contributor thereto!