Santa Monica Retro Diner Breakfast Under $10: Rae's on Pico

Rae's, at 2901 Pico Blvd in Santa Monica, is a turquoise diner that has served breakfast and lunch on the same corner since 1958, and its weekday Special Stack of three pancakes and two eggs still costs $9.25 until 11 am. There is no reservation system and no dinner service: the posted schedule runs from 6:30 am to 2 pm, with a 7:30 am start on Thursdays. For a retro diner that feels lived in rather than restored, this is the stop on the Westside.

There was never a person called Rae. According to the diner history site Dinerville, the name is an acronym of the three founders, Ralph and Alphonsine Shipman and their daughter Eloise. The current menu still prints Since 1958 beneath an orange logo shaped like a looping boomerang, and the official site welcomes guests to 1958 with an invitation to take a seat at the counter of what it calls a little turquoise time capsule.

The building sits on the northeast corner of Pico Boulevard and Yorkshire Avenue, a low box trimmed in neon with a rooftop sign shaped like an artist's paint palette. Inside, Time Out described red pint-sized booths, blue counter stools, a slightly canted ceiling and clusters of globe pendant lamps over the counter. In July 2026 the magazine Air Mail recommended it again as a midcentury holdout, noting that staff treat regulars and newcomers with the same easy warmth.

Breakfast is where Rae's earns its reputation, and the prices on the current menu explain why people drive across town for it. Two eggs any style with potatoes and toast cost $9.35, or $12.75 with ham, bacon, sausage or a beef patty. The Club Breakfast, at $11.35, adds two eggs, potatoes and a choice of meat. The 2+2+2 brings two eggs, two pancakes and two sausages or bacon strips for $10.15. Breakfast specials carry a firm no substitutions note.

The plate to order is the corned beef hash with pineapple, a $12.95 farm-style breakfast with three eggs, potatoes and toast, which pairs salty hash with a grilled pineapple slice. Swap the toast for buttermilk biscuits and country gravy for $0.92 more, or order the biscuits and gravy alone for $3.95. Pancakes start at $6.35 for two, and the fried chicken and waffle is $11.85. The Hobo, $13.50, is ham, bacon, sausage, three eggs and three pancakes, best shared.

Lunch keeps the same old-school pricing. Rae's cheeseburger, a half-pound patty served with steak fries, is $12.25, and the deluxe quarter-pound version is $9.50. The patty, chicken or tuna melt on rye is $12.15. Lunch specials cost $16.19 and include a cup of soup or small salad, vegetables, garlic toast and potatoes, with fried chicken offered on Mondays and Fridays only. Skip the salads, the least diner-like part of the menu, and spend the difference on a $5.90 shake.

The room is small, so timing matters more than at most diners. Weekday mornings before 8 am are the easiest time to walk straight in, while weekend mornings draw families and groups, and those mid-morning waits are when the room feels smallest. Counter stools turn over quickest, so a solo diner or a pair should take the first open stool rather than wait for a booth.

Two house rules are printed right on the menu. Breakfast specials come with no substitutions, and the $8.50 kids meals and kids breakfasts are for dine-in only and for children 12 or younger. All menu prices exclude tax. The kitchen stops at 2 pm sharp, which means a 1:45 pm arrival is a gamble. If the weekend wait looks longer than half an hour, order a fresh-baked cinnamon roll for $4.55 and a coffee to go and come back on a weekday.

The pastry counter is easy to overlook. Homemade cookies are $1.58 each, muffins are $3.62 and the cinnamon rolls are baked fresh. A cup of coffee costs $3.90, and fresh orange juice is $4.98 for 12 ounces or $5.90 for 16. Desserts follow the same old-school script: ice cream at $2.72, a sundae at $5.44 and a banana split at $8.16. If you only have room for one thing after a hash plate, make it a cookie for the road.

Rae's also caters, with a separate catering ordering page and a phone number for larger orders, and gift cards are sold at the register and online. Those are useful if you are planning an office breakfast nearby, since a tray of diner breakfast travels better than you might expect. For the dining room, though, the experience is the point: the turquoise walls, the neon at dawn and a plate that arrives fast and hot.

Rae's sits in the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica, a mostly residential stretch away from the beach crowds. After breakfast, walk north to Bergamot Station Arts Center, a former trolley stop turned cluster of galleries that is about a mile away on foot. It makes a good counterweight to a heavy plate of hash, with free admission to most of the galleries and plenty of space to wander.

On Saturdays, Virginia Avenue Park, a few blocks west along Pico, hosts the city's Pico farmers market, a smaller and calmer alternative to the downtown Wednesday market. Combine the two for a slow morning: eggs at Rae's, a loop through the market, and a coffee in the park. If you are driving toward the beach, Ocean Park is a straight run west on Pico.

Rae's Restaurant is at 2901 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405, on the corner of Yorkshire Avenue. The official hours page lists Monday through Wednesday and Friday through Sunday from 6:30 am to 2 pm, and Thursday from 7:30 am to 2 pm. The printed menu still says 6:30 am every day, so on a Thursday aim for later than 7:30 am. There is a small lot, and street parking on the side streets is the usual backup.

A full breakfast for two, with the corned beef hash, a Special Stack and two coffees, comes in under $40 before tax and tip. Plan for a quick meal rather than a lingering brunch, because the small room is built for turnover. For the photo of the neon sign, stand across Pico on the south side before the sun climbs too high.