Toni’s 24 Hr Restaurant

URGENT! This place desperately needs salt in their food. Their seasonings only come from whatever the manufacturer put in the premade food they fry and serve. The onion rings looked promising but were incredibly bland and lacked any salt whatsoever. I’m sure it is the same batter they use for their chicken fried steak which I can imagine is not seasoned because it anticipates gravy. ALWAYS SALT AFTER FRYING. This is fundamental, day one cooking school stuff. The service was good and thorough. I was surprised at how lightweight the food was. The chicken burger special is just a premade foster farms chicken patty that is deep fried and smashed into a bun with lettuce, tomato, and mayo (of course, no seasoning on this). I don’t see how that is special… Maybe purée some roasted garlic and fresh parsley with olive oil and some freakin salt and mix it in with some mayonnaise to make a quick aioli. That would make it special and help your customers ignore the fact that you bought the chicken patty at the grocery store. I’m incredibly disappointed because a local told me that this was the best that arcata has to offer and that has to be the biggest overstatement on the century. Carl’s junior would be better for the money…
Maybe I’m just a snob. And a troll. And an awful person.

Travesty they only have 4 stars. Staple of Humboldt County. Everything they serve is gold

This place saved my life, lol. I was stuck in Arcata with a REALLY bad flu– in the middle of a solo road trip from Seattle back to LA for several days… When you’re sick & have no appetite, passing out w/​fever dreams, you lose track of time. This place is 24hrs, the 1^st time I tried it was at 11p.
You order at the counter, then sit to be served. The menu has something for everyone– the staff was extremely helpful as I was overwhelmed & wasn’t sure what I could keep down. They helped me figure out what to order, came by often to check on me, super warm, friendly & efficient, food was fast & very good, & menu is very fairly priced & inexpensive. I couldn’t have asked for more.
I stayed at a motel nearby & there were very few options to eat. Most places closed early & it feels like a ghost town at night. Other than fast food joints, the other options were higher priced & not as good in all the other areas. Once I found this place I ate only here for the days I stayed before I felt well enough to continue on my way! If I ever find myself stopping in this part of CA again, I will remember this place. Thanks guys!
NOTES
–I can be a very picky eater, especially when I’m sick. This place rocks.
–My food always came out fast, but based on other reviews it looks like maybe there are ‘rush hours’ here. If you’re concerned with time, maybe call ahead to find out.
–Yes it is diner food, but there are SO many options for meals & sides, I had no problem finding healthier options when I wanted to.
–Yes the bathroom is outside. I see mixed reviews on the cleanliness & service– All I can say is I probably ate here 5 days in a row & had zero issue with either, they were on top of it. I definitely deemed it my best option in town.

Da best! Try a breakfast muffin :) your welcome!
P.S bacon is the answer to your problems…

CASH only!!! And a LONG wait!
It took 40 minutes to make 3 cheeseburgers and an order of fries. Consumed in 5 minutes. The restaurant wasn’t too packed so maybe they were short staffed? The other customers didn’t seem too amused with the wait either. While waiting, I did notice a lot of phone order pick ups so maybe these locals already know to call ahead. So call ahead if you are hungry and want good food. I do have to admit that the food was pretty good.
The door to the restroom actually leads you outside to find the real door to the restroom to the left. This is coed and it was pretty dirty so go only if you really have to.

I always stop here on my trips to Humboldt. I’ve never had an issue with the food here, it’s always very good. Food was a bit slow because tonight was a little busy, but that’s not the usual thing. Please please please turn up the heat though, it was FREEZING.

Fish is good and we love the hours on weekend trips to the coast. Milkshake flavors are also a plus! But they could do better at fries.

Best chicken fried steak that I’ve ever had.
Also, the burgers, shakes, dogs, pancakes, pie, tater gems, and just about everything is awesome.
Cash only, but totally worth it.
One of my favorite places in Arcata.

Best place (only place?) to go out on a drunken night to grab some milkshakes that by the way are thee best. You can do all kinds of combinations I personally love the banana coconut. Employees are really helpful and nice. They’re food is good, but don’t expect anything too fancy!

The food was actually really good and surprisingly priced well. It was pretty busy when we went but it seemed like the staff tried really hard to accommodate everyone. One of the waitresses even brought us water while we waited for our food to go.

You really need to read the reviews & heed the warnings for this restaurant. We stayed one night at the nice RV park next door. Today we wanted breakfast before getting on the road and decided to take a chance. Bummer. The waitress didn’t hear correctly & got the order wrong. She never even came to check on us. The toast was cremated, the home potatoes were tasteless & even the coffee was bad. I would avoid this location if possible.

Toni’s is a cash only American Diner with a wide selection good options. Sometimes the wait is long (20 min, especially breakfast food; somedays they get packed and it’s even longer) with a line out the door; so I call in advanced most of the time. They have great burgers (Country Burger is my favorite), hot dogs, shakes, deserts, and a tasty variety of lunch sandwiches. Many great sides like tater-​tots, onion rings and some in vast amounts (especially the chili cheese fries; they hook it up). Their breakfast food is massive and good enough to try. Their chicken is usually fried which is good but the baked option is so-​so. I always say when in doubt goto Toni’s.

Good late night drunk food, seeing as they’re open ²⁴⁄₇ and serve that delicious greasy stuff. They have a lot of fun flavors of milkshakes, my personal favorite being lavender. Disgusting, dirty bathroom that you have to go outside to use. Lots of cow-​themed art, which is pretty cute. Overall a very old-​timey feel to it.
The ATM thing is a rip-​off though. They only take cash or check, but have an ATM with a two dollar charge… that’s owned by the owner of Toni’s. I found this out when I tried to pay with my card, and walked out instead of paying $ 2 just to order my food, and know many who have done the same thing. Not smart, Toni’s.

Pretty surprised by the 4 stars average.
First the pros: very convenient place. Everything else closes at 9pm so ²⁴⁄₇ wins.
Burger was pretty good too.
The cons:
The place is old. But not the charming type, the not maintained type.
Everything looks kind of dirty, special mention to the bathroom: you have to go outside in some kind of shady Backdoor.
They screwed up our order. And it wasn’t even fast.
The food didn’t look home made. Most of the stuff looked like it was coming out of the freezer.
The prices are weird. We paid $ 7 for some unfrozen mozzarella sticks with no taste.
Oh, and it’s cash only.
Basically stick with the burger and go somewhere else if you have other options.

Notice all the reviews are for burgers and shakes. We came for breakfast and it wasn’t very good. The food took awhile and was just warm. After all the stellar reviews I was hoping for a better meal.
I probably would be given them 3 stars if the bathrooms we’re clean and I hadn’t watched the cook reach into a bucket of raw hash browns with her bare hands. This place just feels dirty.

This place always has a line. I’ve been there at 4 am and 3 pm and always a line out the door.
All burgers are good. Just the right size. The French fries are better than the onion rings.
Go for it, order the large milkshake. So good. Made with real ingredients.
Video games for the kiddos. Easy parking and turn around for big vehicles with trailers. This is a local favorite worth your time in line.
Super friendly and helpful staff.

In my opinion, best burgers in Arcata. And the shakes! So many flavors and so thick!
The one time I ate there for breakfast, I wasn’t wildly impressed — definitely solid breakfast food, but with the burgers being so out of this world, I was hoping for an equally stunning breakfast.
I took off a star because 1) they only take cash 2) the wait time is always obnoxiously long and 3) call-​in orders aren’t their strong suit — every time I’ve called in an order, they either haven’t started it when I arrive (at the time they quoted) or they’ll tell me something like 30 minutes, I’ll be there in 25 and the food will have been already made and cold. Make it easier for yourself and just go in and order.

Would give zero stars since we didn’t get our food. We waited a half hour after placing our breakfast order before I asked the cashier where our food was. She replied that it would be at least another 20 minutes. I just told her to give me my money back, which — to her credit — she did. One of the line cooks gave me some attitude but she seemed overwhelmed with the scrambled eggs. Dirty establishment for even a «local diner.» I would rather go without a meal than to ever step foot in there again. Thanks!

Wanted to go for breakfast before heading back north. Local place. Good reviews. The vomit in the parking lot was a nice local touch. Order at counter and very good at to go. No credit cards. Cash or local check only. Shouldn’t do that to a guy before coffee. At least there is an ATM. Breakfast was good. Linguica omelette was very good as was breakfast burrito. Fresh. And a ton of food. We should have shared.
So once we settled in things were good and we’d come back. Despite the parking lot.

Great place to go after you’ve been drinking!
After a few drinks in my system suddenly I was hungry. With little else open but Denny’s I chose Toni’s. I’m sure glad I did!
I had crinkle cut fries, peppercorn gravy (really good) and a chili cheese dog (I’ve had better).
My wife (and DD) had the grill cheese. Our food came fast and was acceptable for late night food. Would I come here sober? Probably not… It’s truck stop food and not anything special.
Also this place is cash only.