Big Jim's Roast Beef — Restaurant in San Diego

My second time in 9 months coming here and this situation seems vaguely familiar to me, maybe that's why I never went back until now?

If you don't pay an 18% tip or whatever obnoxious amounts are "recommended" on the CC Terminal which shows on a receipt for a wrapped sandwich placed in your hand with no bag that you need retrieve when they yell out your name like calling for a dog, one of the big sweaty country boys working in the AM on 10/23 will burn your sandwich bread a nice coal black color; that's even if you leave a cash tip in the plastic cup. The other customer eating the same sandwich next to me confirmed he paid a tip and his sandwich bread wasn't burned. No other customers, 11:15am, the boyz had 2 boxes of a meat delivery laying on top the grease mat on the floor in front of the refrigerator at the entrance way. Meanwhile, one of the boyz was prepping pickles at the cash register completely oblivious to the health code violation in front of his eyes; I suppose neither of the boyz have their food safety certificate. I was so hungry from fasting that I didn't care, I wanted another sandwich, but not on burnt bread, so I went somewhere else. At least they were nice and friendly about burning my bread, that's the 4 stars for service. PS - I cleaned up all the empty candy wrappers around the cash register, they still burned the bread....hahaha this is...

Dang. I’m shook. And it takes a lot to shake me up these days. This place is 10/10, 5 stars, 💯!! We arrived on a Saturday late afternoon around 4:15 PM. No line, friendly owner, she was very helpful describing the menu and how the food is prepared. Their roast beef slow cooks for 14 hours, making it super tender and moist. Just trust me and order the Super Beef with a half bag of crunchy onion rings (it’s huge, could feed an army). Every bit of it is mouthwatering, especially with their homemade horseradish and barbecue sauce. We also tried the sub of the month, which was the bulgogi bánh mì. It’s the best bánh mì I’ve ever had and they are not even a Vietnamese restaurant. The bread rolls they serve the sandwiches are amazing. The food here is made with love. You can taste it.

We got lucky with street parking. Keep in mind their busiest hours are lunchtime from 11-2ish. They only have outdoor seating (order at...

This sandwich is bonkers good! The beef is tender, flavorful and delicious. The sauce is tangy, but not overpowering. The bun is buttery and holds up to the mound of meat it holds.

When you first see it you think this is going to be super messy and very wet, which would be fine, but it actually isn't! Somehow the meat is moist without being wet and sloppy. The sauce is plentiful but doesn't dog out the bun.

People may be sleeping on how difficult it actually is to pull off this balancing act and the fact they seem to do it effortlessly is almost magic.

I haven't had the subs or sides yet, but I definitely will be back to try them. The only complaint, of it even is one, is there isn't a space inside to sit and eat this perfect sandwich. There are tables outside I suppose you can sit at, but not every day is perfect for that. However that's a really small complaint considering how delicious the...