Village Kitchen家湘味

Craving some authentic Chinese food during my SD trip yesterday and stumbled upon this place. So glad we did! The food is the real deal, Hunan cuisine. We got the spicy grilled fish, century egg eggplant, and the bullfrog. Every dish hit the spot and tastes just like home. Also shoutout to our server who was sweet and helped us figure out the spice levels and portions since it was our first time. Great service, amazing flavors. Highly recommend!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Lovely gorgeous Chinese cuisine.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I had a really disappointing experience here. When we asked for something, we were told to go get it ourselves from the front counter near the kitchen. At that point I honestly wondered — are customers expected to serve themselves everything now? If that’s the case, should we also walk into the kitchen and scoop our own food? I left a 15% tip, which I believe is completely reasonable, especially considering the level of service we received.
After we paid, the server came back and asked why we “only” tipped that much, she said her boss ask her to do this, which was honestly shocking and extremely unprofessional.

Tipping is supposed to reflect the service. A server confronting customers about tips is inappropriate and made the whole experience uncomfortable.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 4

Service: 1

The food itself was good, and that’s why I chose to dine here.

However, today’s experience was extremely uncomfortable. The service was already lacking — for example, when we needed to pack leftovers, we were asked to go to the counter and get the to-go boxes ourselves.

Despite this, after already leaving a 15% tip, I was questioned during checkout about why the tip was “low,” and was told this was coming from the owner.

This felt like clear emotional pressure and guilt-tripping toward a customer. Tipping should be a voluntary reflection of service quality, not something customers are questioned or pressured about.

Even with decent food, this kind of service and behavior seriously detracts from the overall experience and makes me reconsider returning.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 1

Don’t believe 小红书. This place is terrible. Overpriced and close to inedible.

Eggs Benedict the best!!
Next time I go to San Diego I will stop by👍

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

At first, I thought the waitress was dumb because she practically just threw the Coke, dishes, and everything else onto our table without saying a word, even though we kept saying “thank you” for everything she brought.

Later, I realized she could actually speak. The bullfrog (牛蛙) we ordered cost around $49, but in my opinion, it wasn’t worth it. We don’t really care about spending money, but the service was among the worst I’ve experienced in the United States—if not the worst. The service she provided simply didn’t live up to the price.

That said, the food itself wasn’t too bad. You can still give it a try, but be prepared to leave a bad review if you end up with the same awful service I did.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 1

Rude service, I dare you challenge the red lip waitress.

Service: 1

Food was absolutely trashy here. The meat was too fatty and the taste is salty. I regretted eating at this place. And it’s overpriced. I would not recommend this place at all!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Very good. Love that food so much.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I never want to leave a bad review for a restaurant because maybe it just a one time bad experience. I went to this place twice all on Thursday, the service was terrible. We ordered a lots of dishes because we’re 7 people. In the end we pay the bill and ask the Togo boxes for leftovers, the waitress said, you guys asking too many, if you want more we will charge! We spent a lot of money to order a lot extra dishes that’s why we have so many leftovers, I can’t believe she can so rude to say so. That’s ridiculous. If I can, I wish I didn’t leave any tips for her. I’ll never come back to this place again. If you want to try the rude service, you can come to feel it by yourself.

Food: 5

Service: 1

Plenty of parking
Friendly staff with quick service
QR code to view and order online
Food was delicious and large portion sizes
The buns were were soft and fluffy, paired great with the braised pork belly
Beef noodles were delicious!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

The food is truly excellent, but the tap water is so unappetizing that you can identify it as tap water purely by its smell.

Update: visited again recently, the water quality improves a lot, I feel it's either bottled water or good filtered water, no more tap water!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Nice variety but the food was too salty you can eat it 😐

Food: 1

They never serve the dishes in order. Just because you arrived early doesn’t mean you’ll get your food first—those who came later might be eating much sooner.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 2