Jennifer I.'s Profile

As a girl who is allergic to alcohol with alcoholic friends, you'd think I'd hate it here. A typical thought in a usual scenario would be, "OMG I'm the 5th wheel again at a bar with my glass of milk. I'm trying not to look uptight and prissy as everyone grows increasingly intoxicated..." Yeah you'd think I wouldn't care too much for the Jewel Box.

But that's where you'd be wrong. I've been here a few times and really enjoyed myself. The food is excellent!! I've had one of the best burgers in San Diego there...it was soooo good, I almost went blind! Everything is pretty damned good. MMM...sweet potato fries...

Yeah...if you looked up dive in the dictionary there'd be a picture of this place. But if all dive bars were like this, I will stand up for a world with more dive bars. With food that good, it will promote world peace!!!!

No, I'm not drunk. I just believe in their food. I'm totally there for the food.

Okay. I admit to absolutely adoring this place from the moment I sat down. It was like some sort of alternate universe...a time warp...it was almost unreal and I immediately called everyone I knew to have lunch (ON ME!!!--it's certainly cheap enough), but sadly I was ignored. They will never know the greatness that is the SD Chicken Pie Shop and the world will be a sadder place because they do not know the bliss which is the chicken pie shop...

Yeah yeah it's not ultra trendy and filled with douchebags like many other local eating establishments...So what? So the food isn't gourmet shishi poopoo and is reminiscent of a Banquet TV dinner...WHo cares?

This place is very comforting and unique...not to mention cheap. It's just fun and a great experience!! I remember going there on a whim with some friends and my then-husband. I brought very little cash, but I was still able to buy dinner for both me and my ex since it was so inexpensive. Whoosh...what a relief, I didn't have to bum any cash off anyone.

Anyway, I loooooooove the chicken pies. And I think they are better than a TV dinner. Now that I think about it, it was better than most other chicken pies that I've had at other restaurants, including the upscale, trendy places. Yay!! Must get t-shirt next time!!! I gotta represent for the chicken pies.

This is right across the street from where I work; one of my many options I have to choose from to gulp down my lunch in 30 minutes or less...and even though it is a sit down restaurant, it can be done at this place, as long as you order one of the lunch special options.

The lunch specials are pretty big. You get an egg drop soup, an egg roll, those crunchies, your main dish, not to mention the tea and fortune cookie. Unfortunately, I'm not particularly fond of the stuff in the lunch specials...you know the typical orange chicken and sweet and sour stuff. It's A'IGHT. But I prefer the stuff on their main menu...

Sadly, the stuff on the main menu might take a little longer to get to you than the food on the lunch special menu. Which will make me late getting back to work. So, if I MUST stick with the lunch special to get back to work on time, I choose to get the chicken with pea pods. It's pretty good! I prefer it to the other stuff. It's mellow and it at least FEELS healthy to eat. And they give you plenty!

If you do have more than 30 minutes to eat, then I would suggest ordering something from the main menu. I like the seafood noodles, and the #51--the char siu noodle soup. The fish is not bad either.

There's also the menu that's all in Chinese. I imagine that's probably the mindblowingly good stuff, but since I don't read Chinese, I guess I'll never know...It is not in my fate to know these things...I suppose I could learn. I'll post another review after I learn to order from the mysterious menu.

Beautiful art and food. How can you go wrong?

I love their buffet.  Every time I've gone, the food at the buffet was consistently hot, fresh and delicious! I loved the chicken, the lamb and the wonderful soup. My most favorite thing of all is the rosewater rice pudding. If heaven were edible, I imagine it would taste like that!

The owners are just genuinely SUPER SUPER NICE. I have no family in San Diego. I have no friends either, for that matter. But that's beside the point. I've gone to this place a few times just to be around the nice people who are there.

One time I was eating there, I was eavesdropping (as is my habit) and I heard one of the owners--the man who does all the beautiful artwork in the restaurant--talking about the possibility of writing a book about his experiences. I hope I didn't hear wrong because it sounds fascinating.