Is there parking near Old Townhouse Restaurant in Ocean Beach?

Street parking is available on Newport Ave and surrounding blocks—typical for Ocean Beach. During peak breakfast and lunch hours, spots fill up quickly, so arrive early or be prepared to circle. It's a local spot, so people know the neighborhood rhythms.

Do I need a reservation or can I just walk in?

Walk-ins are the way to go here—it's counter-service energy with a packed room most days. Come early for breakfast (before 9am) or hit lunch around 11am to avoid the waits. Dinner is quieter if you're flexible.

What should I order first?

The biscuits and gravy are the thing people keep coming back for, but the steak and eggs with peppers and hash browns also gets solid praise. If you want to play it safe, stick to the basic breakfast hits—this place nails the fundamentals when the kitchen's dialed in.

Is Old Townhouse good for kids?

Yeah, it's definitely kid-friendly. It's a casual neighborhood spot with a diner vibe, and the staff is used to families. Just know it gets loud during peak hours—the music cranks and the place fills up fast, so manage expectations on quiet time.

Do you have vegetarian options?

They offer vegetarian options on the menu, though the spot leans hard into breakfast meats and classic diner fare. If you're vegan or strictly vegetarian, ask your server what's flexible—they're usually accommodating with modifications.

What's the vibe like—dress code or anything stuffy?

No dress code whatsoever. This is old-school diner territory in Ocean Beach—come as you are. Locals, solo diners at the counter, families, groups—everyone fits. It's the kind of place where comfort matters more than appearances.

Yeah, this spot has a cash-friendly reputation and keeps prices inexpensive. Cards work too, but having cash on hand is solid if you're tipping the kitchen staff or catching them when the system's slow.

When's the best time to visit to avoid a crazy wait?

Early breakfast (before 8:30am on weekdays) or mid-afternoon lunch around 2pm are your quietest windows. Weekends breakfast is always packed, and the lunch rush hits around noon. Dinner is the least crowded if you're flexible.

Old Townhouse Restaurant — Restaurants in Ocean Beach, San…

“Old Townhouse Restaurant on Newport Avenue is the counter-stool breakfast institution that OB has been eating at since before brunch was a concept.”

Where Margarita's leans into Mexican home cooking and Johnny Mañanas is built around the post-beach patio crowd, Old Townhouse stays in its lane with a focused Americana-diner menu that also swings south of the border — and it's been doing exactly that, without apology or renovation, long enough to have outlasted several waves of OB reinvention. The differentiator isn't a signature dish or a themed cocktail; it's the pace and the physical space itself. Counter seats facing an open kitchen, a dining room that fills fast, and a crew visibly working hard to keep up when it's slammed — which, on a Saturday after the farmers market, it will be.

The biscuits and gravy are what most people come in talking about, and they're the honest move for a first visit. But the steak and eggs with bell pepper hash browns is the order that tells you whether a diner actually knows what it's doing with a flat-top — here, it does. The south-of-the-border options give regulars who've already eaten their way through the Americana column something to rotate into. Vegetarians have options; kids are welcome and won't be treated like an inconvenience.

Cash-friendly in a neighborhood that still runs on it. Service gets stretched thin during peak hours — the 3-star reviews aren't wrong that a solo server on a packed floor means uneven attention. The fix: come early, grab a counter stool, and you'll get eyes on you faster. The waffle plate has drawn some skepticism from reviewers, so if you're torn, the biscuits and gravy or the steak and eggs are safer bets.

For anyone who's been walking the OB Pier on a Sunday morning and wants somewhere to land with a full pot of coffee and a plate of actual food — not a grain bowl, not cold brew in a mason jar — Old Townhouse is still holding that post without drama.