Chef Joe Miller Flips Former IHOP Into Modern California Diner Concept

The great American diner is back in a big way, and longtime chef Joe Miller wants in. That’s why he’s partnered with Lawrence Rudolph to bring a quiet new Santa Monica all-day space to life this week, to be called Rudy & Hudson California Diner.

You’ll know Miller from his time at the eponymous Joe’s in Venice, which closed in early 2016 after a nearly quarter-century in business. That space is now the colorful new Felix Trattoria run by Evan Funke, with Miller moving on to Bar Pinxto before it too ended its lease in February. He’s now moving into the more casual breakfast and lunch game with Rudy & Hudson, slated to open this Thursday.

It’s been a fast, if quiet, flip for the former IHOP address on Santa Monica Boulevard at 20th, stacked at street level beneath a local Best Western hotel. Toddrickallen only mentioned the chain’s passing a few days ago, and late last night a Craigslist ad looking for cooks popped up with the name Rudy & Hudson’s attached.

According to sources, Rudy & Hudson will be a daytime option doing breakfast through dinner, with options for traditional sit-down service as well as a takeaway bakery component for pastries and coffee and breads, among other things. As for competition, there’s the two-year-old Ingo’s Tasty Diner down closer to the beach in Santa Monica, and the relatively new Lunetta All Day nearby, but ultimately the location at 20th (and the built-in grab and go clientele from the hotel upstairs) should bode well for Miller and team. More on this as it comes.

Rudy & Hudson California Diner
1920 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA

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