Steamy Piggy — Restaurant in San Diego

When my husband and I arrived with our little we were given the choice to sit inside or outside. We chose outside. It's a small place but very cute and stylish with the way they have decorated their restaurant. It's very gardenesque. We first ordered bulgolgi fries and chilli wontons with their galaxy lemonade to start off and spicy Ramen and red-braised pork belly bowl. The bulgolgi fries were so good! The flavors and the kimchi were a good mix of savory, spicy, and umami. The Chilli wonton were also very good, the wrap and sauce was a good mix of sour and spicy. We had finished eating those first two dishes and thoroughly enjoyed our galaxy lemonade which is such a unique flavor with lychee as the waitress explained. We waited quite awhile for the last two dishes and waited patiently for quite some time before another waitress walked by and asked if we wanted our check. I politely responded that we had ordered 2 other dishes that did not come out. She apologized and went to check for us and at this point I was a bit frustrated but we were having a good experience and patiently waited a bit more. The waitress came back to say that our order was never put in and it was being made right away. She left and a few moments later the original waitress came back to apologize and offered to put it on the house if we wanted to keep waiting. My husband and I really wanted to try the dishes so stayed. They brought out the spicy Ramen first and although I was stuffed we happily tried it and it was delicious. My husband's red-braised pork belly came out and he was also stuffed but tried it out and he was in love. Super yummy. I am pleasantly surprised by the food and service. Thank you for making it up to us. This is a very cute place to stop by to enjoy with friends, a date or family. The food does not disappoint. Not pictured is the...

Overhyped and Understaffed

I visited Steamy Piggy around 1 PM on a Saturday, and as expected in the Convoy area, parking was a hassle. I ended up paying $8 for the nearest pay parking, which is something to keep in mind when planning a visit. Upon arrival, there was no stationed staff at the reception—just an iPad for signing up on the waitlist. Unfortunately, the waitlist system was not updated in real-time, making the experience even more frustrating. Despite numerous empty tables inside, I wasn’t called until 2:30 PM, suggesting a clear staffing issue.

Once seated, the ambiance was decent, with an option to dine on the patio under the warm sun. Food arrived fairly quickly, which was a plus. I ordered the chili wonton, braised pork belly bowl with egg and rice, bulgogi beef bowl with egg and rice, one chicken bao, and one piggy bao. Out of everything, the chicken bao was the best—flavorful and well-balanced. However, the rest of the dishes were overly greasy. While pork belly is naturally fatty, the bulgogi was practically swimming in oil, making it less enjoyable.

The total came to about $60, which felt steep for the quality. The checkout process was smooth, but the long wait to be seated overshadowed the efficiency once inside. Adding to my skepticism about the restaurant’s reputation, I overheard another table mention they were given free dessert in exchange for a five-star review—possibly explaining the high ratings online.

Overall, I wouldn’t say Steamy Piggy lives up to the hype. The excessive wait, lack of service efficiency, and overly greasy dishes don’t make it worth a return visit—except maybe for the...

I really enjoyed almost every menu item ordered with our group of 4, but I would think twice before going back…the service was disorganized, inattentive, and slow; the atmosphere gives “quick-casual,” with plastic cups, paper napkins, and limited cutlery, yet the prices are that of a full-service restaurant.

After waiting about an hour from 4-5pm, we were seated in the small dining room where there were 3 empty tables around us. Either negative reviews are being strategically deleted on here, or my experience was the result of a major fluke or staffing disaster. There were 4-5 young-ish employees who didn’t seem to have a manager streamlining deployment, and the inefficiency shaped our dining experience to be confusing, slow, and lacking basic expectations. We waited 10 minutes for beverages, were served food several minutes after that, but sat with our food on the table because the table lacked place settings.

It was unclear who was a server, host, or busser. While we waited for someone to notice that we wanted to order more food, two guys took their time chatting and bussing a table.

We ordered soup dumplings, but never got spoons. I felt like a mess, slurping dumpling out of my hand.

The only reason I’m giving this 4 stars (instead of 3) is because the food was delicious, except the bok choy, which was underseasoned, and the XLB, which were overcooked and sticking to the paper, resulting in a few broken dumplings. But the bao buns were 10/10, and the chili wontons are stellar.

I don’t think I’ll ever return for a weekend meal, because the front-of-house was frustrating...