finding a good breakfast spot while on a business trip is important. we randomly picked clayton's from yelp figuring if we didn't like it, we'd pick another place the next day. after our first visit, we knew we'd be back everyday for the remainder of the week we were on coronado island.
clayton's a small diner that looks like not much has changed in many years. it's old, but well maintained. there are old jukeboxes along the counter and in the booths. two of our three days there, we sat at the counter since the booths were full and we wouldn't have all fit in a one anyway. like i said, it's a small place. however, for breakfast, this isn't bad since you're not there too long anyway so the seats turn over fast. the staff was friendly and attentive, especially when sitting at the counter.
the menu has traditional diner items with a distinct mexican twist. i'm a sucker for good machaca and the machaca scramble did not disappoint. i will say that i ordered it twice and the first time it had moreeggsthan meat and the second time there was much more meat than eggs. maybe there were two different cooks in the kitchen. however, both were delicious. we tried a variety of other dishes, mostly egg-based, and no one had any complaints. the portions are also quite generous.
clayton's is a "coffee shop" and not officially a diner, but it could hold its own against any east coast diner, which is high praise coming from a resident of new jersey, the diner capital of the world.