Fortunate Son Chinese — Restaurant in San Diego

It saddens me to write this review. I have been going to Fortunate Son for years now, and it WAS easily the best Chinese Food in San Diego. Likely even the best I have ever had. I was shocked to see that this place has less than a 4-star review, but after the last couple of experiences, I now understand why.

I vividly remember the first time I bit into one of their crab rangoons (I believe it was 2022), and the rush of pure ecstasy, as I tasted the incredible combination of blue crab, cream cheese, and love that went into it. I couldn't believe how loaded they were with crab and cream cheese. My girlfriend and I were splitting an order of 6, and we even ordered a second one because it was so good. After devouring both orders, I thought there was no possible way any of the other food would be anywhere near as good. I was wrong. The orange chicken and the fried rice were mind-blowing. My girlfriend and I went home that night and couldn't stop talking about it. I'm pretty sure it was the only thing on my mind for days after.

We went back a few times after this (we would have gone back a lot more, but we don't live close), and each time was just as wonderful, up until a couple of months ago. I placed my usual order of rangoons, orange chicken, and fried rice. Words cannot explain how disappointed I was in the quality of everything. The rangoons barely had any filling in them, and the outside was burnt to a crisp. No joke, I am pretty sure one of them actually had nothing in it. The fried rice was just mediocre, and the orange chicken had no crispiness at all to it. It was completely soggy, and the chicken was tough. Needless to say, quite the disappointment after what we are used to. For this particular order, we did delivery, so there is no way that I was going to let me opinion of Fortunate Son be swayed by a delivery order that took a long time to get to us, rather than eating it fresh in house.

Last night, I took a group of friends from out of town to Polite Provisions (the bar next door) and completely forgot that Fortunate Son is right next door. I immediately start telling them all how good the food is, and convince everyone to order dinner, knowing this would be a good test to see if the restaurant really has gone down hill, or if it just doesn't hold in delivery. We get 2 orders of the rangoons, and an orange chicken. While it was not nearly as bad as the delivery order, it broke my heart to see that like so many other amazing restaurants in San Diego, Fortunate Son has reduced the quality of its food (likely to reduce costs). The rangoons still had the smallest amount of filling, and the rest of the food just didn't have the same explosion of flavor that it used to. In fact, it seems like they are just adding more sauce to each item to hide the lack of flavor.

Long story short, as you can see from many of the other negative reviews on here, your crab rangoons have gone from an A+ to a D+ in terms of quality. You spoiled us with an incredible product, and then took it away from us. Charge us more if you have to, but serve something you are proud of. I guarantee you wouldn't be proud of the food that was...

You say there's no such thing as good Chinese food. Well I say relax and stop going to panda expres for a combo plate and telling everyone you ate Chinese for dinner. While I wouldn't go to fortunate son for a legit Chin food experience (I'd go somewhere that serves authentic dim sum) I absolutely love and adore this iteration. Fortunate Son is hip, it's chic, it's modern and yet it is aggressively bedazzled with all that gaudy Royal Mandarin essence you've come to expect (and LOVE) from a "Chinese restaurant" done right. It's Royal. Its Red Neon Lights. It's tacky and it feels right. Red lanters, gold chachkis and jade detail make for a true feast for the eyes. The only thing missing is an opium menu and a happy ending but hey it is Adam's Avenue so all that extra stuff is a short walk in any direction if that's what you're looking for. The food, tho not dim sum is definitely yum-yum and I'm here for it. We have gotten the Egg Foo Young multiple times and paired it with the Pork Belly and Green Bean side dishes (our last 3 orders verbatim) the egg Foo Yung is crispy yet fluffy and the gravy is made by some young guy (in the kitchen) ... its delicious. All the flavors are there, the food is prepared well and served up hot and fresh for us to go... covid is still a thing and we didn't feel like waiting for one of the few outdoor patio seats. But you can also order from the bar next door which is it's sister eatablishment. They have free match books which imo should be mandatory at any modern establishment as well as from any authentic hole in the wall Chin Food joint. Fun atmosphere, good food and delightful vibes.. ill give it a 5 star rating. All positive feedback. Even my fortune cookie was positive. Fortune cookie say: "Don't worry its...

So far the biggest miss of my year in San Diego. Where to even begin. There was no hostess, and a longer and longer line formed as people with reservations waited 10+ minutes for someone to notice them. Servers walked by and chose to ignore everyone. Unfortunately that was just the start. Service was highly lacking across the board. Our server came to our table two times: Once when we put our order in and once to check in. She and every other server spent almost the entire night working on takeout orders. Food wait was incredibly inconsistent as some tables got everything where others had a random influx of different dishes. Many servers bought the wrong food to the wrong tables multiple times over the hour we were there. When the food did come, it was pretty mediocre. Not worth the price or the wait in any capacity. I was incredibly frustrated since the Kung Pow Chicken was mostly onions and green bell peppers. The picture below is just of the excessive amount of vegetables after the minuscule amount of chicken was sorted out. I realize now I should have sent it back to the kitchen and asked them to actually add some chicken. I made reservations 3 weeks in advance to try this place and was left extremely disappointed. CH Project restaurants have been some of the best spots I’ve been to across the country, but Fortunate Son was a huge let down. Will not be going back and will actively be telling others to find somewhere better. When the entire server staff prioritizes takeout orders, they see in person dining as a burden and it’s...