Fairmount Diner

Place had potential. I liked the retro design inside. Food was ok. Better places in the area to eat. Location was good for all the businesses in the area but no easy parking unless you walked over.

Does not exist, apparently. Called the number when we couldn’t locate it and got the ominous disconnected line message. Skeezy neighborhood besides. We ended up going to Troy Greek up on Mission Gorge.

Love this place! I come here for lunch regularly, and it is always perfect. All the good comments about the BBQ are correct, but my absolute favorite are their burgers. Get it with jalapenos!

What a fabulous place. Ive been here a few times before as my family lives in San Diego and I visit them frequently. Came here recently and there’s a new owner, (I think her name is Jacqueline). She’s introduced herself and during our short conversation, she told me that she was new to the food business. Luckily for her, you can tell she is a natural cause this place has a decent size menu and you’d think it would be tough for someone without experience to handle it all…
Anyhow, she seemed really sweet and serves a delicious meal as well. I had the BBQ ribs, baked beans, corn bread and a soda. WOW is all I have to say. The BBQ sauce is phenomenal to say the least and the Food was fresh, juicy and hot.
Everything was right about this place, everything.

Stay away from anything involving «cooking» because I believe, even with a new owner they still don’t have a stove (Unless its the BBQ, because they actually have a pit). I ordered a tuna melt and was asked if I wanted it toasted… I should have know right then to change my order, but I really wanted a tuna melt, so I guess I got what was coming to me.
While she was prepping my sandwich I heard the microwave being used, never a good sign. Got back to my office, opened the wrapper, bread was white, not even put in a toaster… I may be mistaken but a tuna melt is usually grilled like a grilled cheese sandwich (I’m not mistaken).
The menu should read hot tuna sandwich, fresh from the microwave.

I work around the corner from the Fairmount Diner and had never eaten there due to it’s random location. A client suggested we meet for lunch there otherwise I probably would not have tried it out. The customer service is GREAT! A very friendly and welcoming establishment. Now for the food…
I am not a huge fan of BBQ, but since it was suggested, I ordered the pulled port sandwich. I didn’t like it at all. The spicy BBQ sauce was really good but the pork had way too much fat and gristle and I ended up just picking at it instead of eating the entire sandwich. You have an option of side dishes and I mistakenly ordered the corn bread, which was hard, cold and had no taste. It appeared from the plates of the two gentlemen I ate with that they didn’t care for it much either… although that was never stated.
I would give them 5 starts for their service but unfortunately only two for the food.

Apparently they have good BBQ? Idk. Came for breakfast and I am scared. *maybe* I will return for the BBQ if someone I know has been there and swears by it. The lady was super nice though! Very nice and friendly. Just not very good breakfast. I make way better breakfast. The hash browns were waaaaaay over peppered. This place could definitely benefit from «Restaurant Impossible» and if they were on it, I would definitely go back.

Good place ignore old reviews much better with new owners.

Amazing Food! Amazing Service! Everything you expect in a neighborhood diner and more, best in San Diego. They take pride in their restaurant and it shows. Great sandwiches, great burgers, excellent BBQ (best brisket I have ever had), incredible soups. I could go on and on but I strongly encourage you to experience this place yourself… You won’t be disappointed.

This Diner was purchased in September by some really nice people. The food is not just good, it’s great!!! Very fresh, made from scratch, good quality food! Recently they brought in a BBQ from texas and now serve the real deal, as far as BBQ goes! Best BBQ I’ve ever had! Three choices of their homemade sauces, sweet, spicey & regular. (Better than Phil’s)
The soups are made from scratch and everyone of them I’ve had is soooo good!
I can’t say enough about this hidden treasure… Sincere friendly service, nice clean atmosphere and consistant awesome food!!!

Great food and the service was better than mom’s house!!!

A friend of mine told me about this place. It is tucked in to an industrial area, across the street from Home Depot. I have only been there once and the owners recommended the BBQ. I have always said San Diego does not have any good BBQ. I ordered the Pulled Pork Sandwich with Slaw and a side of beans. It was really really good. Extremely tender and tasty meat and the right amount of sauce. The beans were also excellent. They smoke their own meat and all the sides are made from scratch.
I saw one of their deli sandwiches and it looked good as well. Definitely a lot of bang for the buck.
The biggest compliment I can give any place; I will be going back!

Got an awesome salad for lunch from this place today!!! YUMMY! Will be back for sure!

Negative 5 stars… DISGUSTING! Not a real restaurant, never mind a diner. Save yourself and never eat here! I never write reviews, but this place MADE me have to warn people. Waited over 30 minutes and we were the only customers. The food was cold. Nothing was fresh. Not an adequate kitchen to even cook food with. Then I was told by a neighboring business that they turn it into a hooka lounge at night. That might explain the deplorable food… too bad.

Zero stars may be appropriate for this one! My brother and I wanted to find some breakfast while his truck was at the Toyota dealership and this place is in walking distance, really wish hadn’t. My stomach still hurts 5 hours later.
A griddle and a microwave was all that I saw that made up the kitchen. The food was nasty, well the potatoes were edible. Toast was so cold the butter wouldn’t melt. Veggies in the veggie omelet were canned. Really disappointing for a place that has 4 stars average on Unilocal,fraud here?
Maybe they should just stick to the hookah at night and remove the Diner from the name, not recommended.
For what it’s worth, the place has great potential. Good vibe with the deco and decent layout. Get a real cook in there or don’t sell food.

Cute little neighborhood diner and under new ownership. I had a yummy turkey sandwich. This place is definitely on the up and up!

Ripoff. I ordered two bacon & cheese omelettes, substituting additional bacon on the side for the potatoes & today. After a 12 minute wait, during which no other orders came in, I received a small (two egg) omelette with old bacon and NO bacon on the side. Also, the cheddar cheese was absent from the bacon. One of the most blatant diner SNAFUS I’ve experienced. Completely inexcusable.

Wow! What a nicely kept secret. You’ll miss this one a couple of times as I did. It’s right off Mission Gorge on the little part of Fairmount Avenue. As Grace mentioned, the employees were quite friendly, although the owner did not seem to understand much English when I came in and showed him the Unilocal special ($ 4.50 burger, chips and drink). The woman came and took my order and asked me if I wanted Jalapenos on the burger. It seemed like an odd request for a standard burger, but I’m SO glad I said yes.
I opted for the homemade potato chips (no fries, chips… like at Chicago’s Billy Goat Tavern — spoofed years ago on SNL with John Belushi) and they were delicious!
Please, San Diego, find and frequent this place so I can keep coming back!

The good news:
The Fairmount Diner (breakfast spot # 35) has a lot cool photos covering the walls. Most of them are not the usual ones that I’ve seen at other 1950’s-themed diners. Lots of good 50’s music, as well. The woman behind the counter was nice as can be.
The bad news:
This is a diner that does NOT serve pancakes or waffles. In fact, they don’t have a whole hell of a lot when it comes to breakfast. They do have omelette’s so I ordered a bacon and cheddar one with a side of hash browns. They best way to describe what I was given is this: slop.

My «food» was so inedible (I wouldn’t even feed it to a dog or a politician) that I got about a fourth of the way in before I tossed it in the trash. The potatoes were mushy and the omellete looked like it had been poured into a mold and placed in a microwave. The texture of it looked rather strange. I can see this being served at some truck stop out in the middle of nowhere that no one actually visits.
Maybe their sandwiches are really good — I’ll never know because I won’t be returning. I’m not sure if the hershey squirts that I experienced when I returned home were related to the food or not.

LOVE Fairmont Diner!!!
After many years of being a «Deli by the Bay» fan, I’m happy to see they’ve moved closer to the area I frequent when in town. I love the huge sandwiches loaded with anything you can think of… but they also offer many other yummy lunch options.
You can’t beat the food, prices, and friendly atmosphere. I love to hang out and check out all their cool wall decorations/​art while I’m waiting, but sometimes when I’m in a hurry I call ahead and everything’s ready for me.
Definitely the gem of the neighborhood. No trip to San Diego would ever be complete without a stop at the Fairmont Diner!