Put A Little SOUL In It: Bonnie Jean's Soul Food Cafe (San Diego)

1964 54th St
San Diego, CA 92105
Neighborhoods: Rolando, Oak Park
(619) 262-8854
bonniejeanssoulfood.com

I looooovelovelovelove soul food. And after a friend recommended this place after seeing its ratings on Yelp, we all decided to trek all the way there to enjoy some good food with good company.

Upon setting food inside the restaurant, I notice that it is very homey. Nothing like what you would expect a restaurant to look like. in the front, there is a shop with cards and other miscellaneous merchandise, and random tables scattered here and there. They sat us down and handed us all menus; the servers were all pleasant and friendly.

We ordered our respective meals, and our server tells us there would be a 20 minute wait for them to cook the chicken. This is understandable, since we did have a big group, the majority of which who ordered chicken.

I am the type of person who gets rather unpleasant on an empty stomach. I have three phases: 1) the beginning pangs of hunger, where I whine about how empty my stomach is starting to feel, 2) apathy, where I can no longer summon the energy to maintain a conversation, and 3) anger. Anger is where I snap at every mistake the waiter makes, and complain loudly where my food is -- well, let's just say it's not a pretty sight and I am not proud of it.

The clock slowly ticked 20 minutes, 30 minutes, then eventually 40 minutes. I was on the verge of Apathy and Anger. Anger almost busted out, but fortunately, they brought out our food and Anger buried itself back inside.

I ordered the Chicken with Waffle, smothered. Note to any other yelpers: I had assumed smothered meant gravy on top of fried chicken, but nope, it is just chicken covered with gravy. The waffle was light, fluffy, and crispy on the outside -- very delightful! The chicken itself was succulent and extremely tasty. I also got to try my companion's foods: the deep fried pickles were REALLY good, and while I am averse to Mac-and-Cheese (yes, I know, I know, appalling), the deep fried Mac-and-Cheese were something to swoon about. The mashed potatoes were among the best I have tasted, as was the coleslaw. I also tried the fried chicken, and have to agree it far surpasses my smothered chicken. Reminder to self: if I should ever return, I will get the FRIED chicken.

Overall, not a bad experience.