Review of Lee's Cafe in Gaslamp Quarter - Part of Downtown San Diego

This low-maintenance hole-in-the-wall diner right in the heart of bustling Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego is one of the few cheap mom & pop diners surviving in this small business-busting economy. You've got to love it... and the way it doesn't fit in with the surrounding rows of posh steak houses and authentic Italian restaurants. Lee's Café is aware of its unadorned underdog look, and it doesn't mind it one bit. In a way, it almost reminds me of the adorably frumpy Susan Boyle at the prelim of Britain's Got Talent... even though, unlike Ms. Boyle, Lee's food actually matches its look rather than transcending it.

This is an Asian-American diner serving cheap American diner fares along with Chinese dishes (varieties of fried rice and chow meins)... with price ranging from $3.75 to $13.75 (for a t-bone steak). So... expect what you pay for and you won't be disappointed. The food here is filling... tending to be greasy and dominated by either soy sauce or cheap gravy. For example, the 'veal steak' for $4.50 is like a very bland hamburger of part veal and part fat (and other stuff) swimming in a thick gravy and served with a blob of gravied steamed rice, a half of baked potato, some green beans, salad with vinegary orange-ish Chinese dressing, and two slices of bread with a big blob of butter between them. It's food you eat to live, but not the other way around.

I actually like stopping here to get a filling breakfast for $4.50. You can hardly screw up fried eggs and bacon and toasts... And there really is no other places in the area where you can get the same amount of food for the same price or less.

Service is ok... tending on the lax side. There is no table, but one long counter lined with stools and set condiments of salt & pepper and a cheap tabasco sauce. Pa does his cooking in the kitchen in the back (you can actually see it through a door window), while Ma does the order-taking and serving. You generally get your hot plate of food within 10 minutes after walking in the door. It is really a no fuss and no frill place for simple eaters (like me).

I'm afraid there is no public restroom here, but the place is usually well kept. I guess I should warn you that the diner is well frequented by downtown's many homeless folks, though. They're generally well behaved and aren't as interested in you as they are with the food... so if you are hungry and don't feel like spending more than $8 on an edible dinner, don't let the look and patrons of this place deter you from having a go.

Lee's Café : 738 5th Ave (between F St & G St), San Diego, CA 92101. Tel. (619) 239-1621.
Hours: Wed-Mon 7AM-7PM, Tue 7AM-1PM.