Mr. D's Diner

Breakfast is Mr. D's principal business and emphasizes the standard American diner breakfast canon prepared with consistent quality and generous portions. The egg dishes cover the full range — scrambled, fried, poached, omelets in multiple variations — with bacon, sausage, ham, and chorizo as the standard proteins. The pancake and waffle stacks are substantial; the French toast is made with thick-sliced bread; the breakfast burritos wrap eggs, potatoes, cheese, and choice of protein in flour tortillas with house salsa.

The diner's specialties include the substantial breakfast skillets that combine eggs with hash browns, vegetables, and protein in a hot iron skillet preparation — the chorizo skillet, the country skillet (with sausage gravy), and the vegetarian skillet are the most-ordered variations. The chicken-fried steak and eggs is the heaviest breakfast plate on the menu. The pancake stacks with various toppings (chocolate chips, blueberries, banana, the works) are favored by families with children.

Coffee is the standard American diner preparation — bottomless cups with regular refills, nothing fancy but consistently fresh. Fresh juices and the standard breakfast drinks are available. The diner does not have espresso-machine infrastructure or contemporary coffee-shop drinks; the focus is on the classic American diner format that serves the breakfast core efficiently and well. The bottomless coffee combined with the substantial breakfast portions makes Mr. D's appropriate for travelers planning a long Route 66 driving day.

Lunch service begins approximately 11am and runs through the 3pm closing, emphasizing burgers, sandwiches, soups and salads, and the daily specials. The burgers are the lunch menu's principal strength — hand-formed patties grilled to order, served on soft buns with the standard accompaniments and substantial portions of fries. The cheeseburger is the principal version; the bacon cheeseburger adds the obvious enhancement; the chiliburger adds the diner's house-made chili; the patty melt on rye with grilled onions is a popular variation that has its regular following.

The sandwich menu covers the standard American diner sandwiches — club sandwiches with the layered ham/turkey/bacon construction, BLTs, tuna salad and chicken salad, hot turkey or beef with gravy, the philly cheesesteak, and the various grilled-cheese and melt variations. The soups vary daily — typically chicken noodle, beef vegetable, or a daily-special variation — and the soup-and-half-sandwich combination is the standard lunch order for diners not wanting a full burger. The daily blue-plate specials cover meatloaf, pot roast, fried chicken, and the classical American comfort-food rotation.

Prices are reasonable for the portion sizes and the quality — lunch plates run $10-17 — and represent the kind of value that has built the diner's local loyalty. The diner's combination of consistently good cooking, friendly service, and reasonable prices is the formula that defines the surviving great American diners; Mr. D's executes the formula reliably. The diner accepts cash and standard credit cards; tipping in cash is appreciated.

The diner is open daily 6am to 3pm; closed for dinner. The morning hours are the busiest period and are the most authentic American-diner experience — the working clientele eating breakfast before shifts, the retired regulars taking their daily coffee, the families starting weekend mornings, and the Route 66 travelers settling in for the morning meal that fuels the day's exploration. Lunch hours from 11am through closing are steadier and somewhat less crowded; weekend mornings are the busiest single period.

The 9255 Foothill Boulevard location places Mr. D's directly on the original Route 66 alignment and within easy walking or short driving distance of the principal Rancho Cucamonga Mother Road landmarks. The Cucamonga Service Station (9670 Foothill Boulevard, the restored 1915 gas station) is about 1/4 mile east; the Magic Lamp Inn (8189 Foothill Boulevard, the iconic 1955 restaurant) is about a mile west; the Sycamore Inn (8318 Foothill Boulevard, the 1848 stagecoach stop) is about 3/4 mile west. The diner's position makes it the appropriate breakfast stop before exploring the corridor.

A natural one-day Rancho Cucamonga Route 66 itinerary: breakfast at Mr. D's, morning visit to the Cucamonga Service Station, lunch at one of the other Route 66 restaurants or back at Mr. D's, afternoon exploration of the Victoria Gardens shopping district or the surrounding Inland Empire, and dinner at either the Magic Lamp Inn or the Sycamore Inn. The combination uses Mr. D's appropriately as the breakfast and casual-lunch option complementing the more historically prominent restaurants of the corridor. Free parking adjacent to the diner.