Beginners Diner at 2223 El Cajon Blvd occupies a chrome-and-neon dining car built inside the lobby of the 1946-constructed Lafayette Hotel, with interiors designed using consultation from a nationally recognized diner historian to replicate a mid-century Worcester lunch-car format. The same Lafayette property houses Quixote, an Oaxacan-inspired mezcal bar and restaurant that shares the hotel's multi-venue dining campus with the diner. The menu reimagines mid-century East Coast diner staples through a California lens, featuring Wagyu patty melts, Greek and Jewish influences like corned beef hash, and house-baked lemon meringue pie served from a rotating dessert case. Red leather booths and full counter service evoke the 1940s dining-car format while the kitchen bakes breads and pastries in-house, sourcing additional items from neighborhood bakeries like Panchita's Kitchen & Bakery. The highest-value order is the full Wagyu French Dip — house-caramelized onions, melted Gruyère, and au jus on a baked baguette — served alongside Disco Fries topped with veal gravy.