China 1968 — Restaurant in El Cajon

"China 1968" is a small family-owned Chinese strip mall specializing in take-out. I was told that the reason for "1968" is that those are lucky Chinese numbers.

My review is about the fried chicken. There are two fried chicken varieties here: The Salt & Pepper Boneless Fried Chicken Breast, and the Salt & Pepper Fried Chicken Wings. They're made to order, so they took a little bit to come out.

Once served, the fried chicken pieces look similar to other Asian offerings with their thin, hard batter made of flour, and starch of potato or corn or both. They smell like heaven and are fried to a rich golden hue. I remember picking up my first wing and its crunchy, crackly fried coating shattering as my teeth penetrated its crust, and a mini-explosion of liquid smearing warm chicken juices mixed with frying oil on my lips and tongue. I could taste chicken, salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, and hot pepper flakes. Great moisture, great crunchiness, great soft chicken meat, great spice blend.

This unassuming strip-mall hole-in-the-wall serves some of San Diego's best fried chicken, and you should come here if you want what may be among the best Asian-style Salt & Pepper Fried Chicken you'll...

My mom and I love getting together and heading over to this particular restaurant. We love the traditional way of serving here. The lunch special is amazing 🥳. They will greet you as you walk in. You seat yourself wherever you like. Then they will know you are dining in. They promptly bring out cute paper place mats with the Chinese New Year 🧧 animals on it silverware 🍴 and menus. Take your drink orders right away then they bring your drinks and ask if your ready to order. If you get the lunch special they will quickly bring out the soup 🍲 in the cute little bowls 🍚 and cute Chinese spoon. They also bring out the crispy Chinese chips that go in the soup in a separate plate with a yummy house made I believe sweet and sour sauce to dip the chips in if you like. Then your main course comes out. It’s is a pleasant experience. It isn’t fancy but you feel like you are at your aunts house. If your aunt was Chinese and she was a great cook. 😋🙌🏽 On this day my mom ordered the Almond Chicken. I ordered the Kung Pao Chicken. They were both so flavorful, fresh and...

This place is exactly every Chinese restaurant from my childhood! Right down from the paper zodiac placemats to the very reasonable prices and classic dishes!

I stopped in for lunch on on a Saturday with a friend (after stopping by the nail salon next door) and we were greeted upon entering and the staff was quick and friendly.

We got lunch specials which was more than enough to fill us up! It included a soup of our choice (eggdrop/eggflower or hot and sour), rice of our choice (fried rice or white rice), and a decent sized entree. She got the sweet and sour chicken and I got the sesame chicken. We both enjoyed our meals and felt no pressure to hurry up. When the bill came we were pleasantly surprised that we both ate our fill and the total was about $21 for both of us! After an already great experience, that was just the cherry on top! This is decent, classic Chinese-American food for a reasonable price! I would definitely go back here when I'm craving classic...