spicy city — Restaurant in San Diego

A Sichuan Chinese establishment that is popular for good reason, Spicy City is one of my favorite restaurants on Convoy. Be assured that the food here is indeed spicy as claimed and be prepared to enjoy the mouth-searing bliss that awaits you. Regardless of whether you order conventional meats, seafood, vegetables, offal, or organ meats drenched in chili oil, it will all be good, though perhaps a bit much to handle if you're averse to spicy, oily food.

The "Twice-Cooked Pork" is soft and silky - not quite bacon, but close. The pork is mixed with bell peppers, onions, and scallions. What results is a bit slick with oil and moderately spicy. Nonetheless, it has big flavor and is a well put-together dish that you will not want to stop eating. This is probably the dish to order here, both for first-timers and vets.

The "Shredded Pork with Szechuan Sauce" is Spicy City's version of Yu Xiang Rou Si, a Sichuan classic also known as "fish-flavored" shredded pork. There is no actual fish products in the dish, so the fish flavor is simulated through a combination of spicy chilies, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, green onions, bell peppers, and lots of ginger. The heat level is much tamer in this dish than the other dishes I've had at Spicy City, but I wouldn't consider it mild by any means. Not the best version of this dish that I've had, but decent.

The non-spicy but heavily garlicked "Snow Pea Leaves" is a tasty "tough and bitter" greens dish, similar to American southern-style braised greens like collards or turnip greens. The snow pea leaves have stems that are a little bit tougher to chew than some of the greens associated with southern cooking, but are nonetheless worth one's while as a nice side that contrasts with much of the other food here.

Spicy City's "Dry Pot [insert meat]" is a mouth-numbing dish filled with Sichuan peppers that will make you stupid. Accompanied by sprouts, onions, and chilies, the "Chicken" variant is a bit difficult to eat due to what seems like whimsical, random butchering (to my western sensibilities) that has left every piece of chicken with small bones and/or bone chips in them. This is why "Pork Intestine" makes the most sense for me as the meat choice for this dish. Regardless, the flavor is on-point. Warning that this dish packs a prodigious Sichuan peppercorn wallop even though it is described as merely "2/3" on the menu.

Service is impolite. Don't expect "you're welcome" or anything at all when you thank your waitress. Expect having to flag your wait staff down when you're ready to order or pay your bill. I'm thinking this is cultural, or they're misanthropes. Either way, this isn't an issue with all of their servers, just some. "Mixed bag" would be the best way to describe the courtesy of the wait staff here. That said, they're not screw-ups -- they're not bringing out the wrong stuff, forgetting things, or dropping stuff all over the place.

Given the excellent food and great dollar value here, I'm willing to overlook the occasionally cold service, as Spicy City remains an important restaurant in my...

Our family ate at Spicy City for many years so this review was overdue. We came for lunch today and restaurant wasn’t too busy but a steady flow of customers came in after us. This is not a big restaurant and has been serving authentic Sichuan cuisine for many years in San Diego. So, during peak hours, you might have to wait outside for them to call you in. Restaurant does provide outdoor folding chairs for customers to sit and wait for their turn to go in. Waitstaff were friendly, efficient and straight forward in their manners. They even tried to offer us some good suggestions. Their menu is quite extensive and offers both spicy and non-spicy options for people with low tolerance of hot spices. We ordered the appetizer cold dish (we picked these three mixes: spicy cucumbers, spicy cured beef shank slices and marinated seaweed); chicken fried rice, wontons in chili oil, braised beef rice noodles soup and steamed fish with tofu soup bowl. We ordered more of the non-spicy dishes today. Food came out really fast, piping hot and with the right amount of spiciness and packed with full flavors. The wontons in chili oil were tasty and we even added more chili sauce to bring it to another level and our mouths were numbed after that but so, so good. We did notice that the restaurant has adjusted and reduced the spiciness of some of their dishes, perhaps to please some of their customers who cannot tolerate the sight of their food covered with tons of red hot chili peppers. Before the Pandemic, 90% of their food was extremely spicy with numbing intensity of the authentic Sichuan food. All dishes we ate today were delicious, very generous portions and at a budget friendly price point. Spicy City is a no-frills restaurant. Parking can be a challenge as it is located in a busy strip mall with many popular restaurants on Convoy Street. Good thing is that parking here is still free (for now). We will definitely be back and support this authentic and...

When you come in, the waitress greets you from across the room with a smile and a loud "Hi". The smells invite your stomach to make hungry noises. And the tea they give you, offers a warm feeling and almost challenges your appetite to grow.

Love the vibe of this restaurant. It is family run and looks it. Mostly oriental crowd but occasionally will see others. The server is very friendly and makes no qualms about asking questions (she was surprised, we as Indians ate pork, and we were happy to explain how it works). I liked that about her.

We ordered the fish hot pot and the mao pork. It was my first time here so I let my boyfriend lead the way (this is one of his favorite eat-outs). The pork was fantastic!! Really well cooked, juicy and tasty. I don't usually chose pork, but I loved this one.

The hot pot was good. In fact, even great, until I felt the numbing taste of the Schezwan pepper in my mouth and things went the other way. I do NOT like a numb mouth and tongue. My boyfriend cautioned me against taking too much of the sauce on my rice, but I love my rice drenched in curry, so I used the same logic with the sauce. Oh, kinda a disaster. The fish was good as were the veggies in it. Just that, the pepper taste remained and I couldn't enjoy it after that. My boyfriend LOVES that taste, so it is up to each person to taste and decide.

My tip: listen to the person who's been here before and eat the hot pot the way it's supposed to. The food is fantastic, and the servers are friendly, albeit a little sharp. We will be back here next time, but I shall stay away from the...