The Big Kitchen: A Diner With Its Own Musical, Two Documentaries, and a Bon Appétit Top Ten

Overview

Plenty of San Diego restaurants have good press. The Big Kitchen has a musical.

Big Kitchen: A Counter Culture Musical is a real stage show about this café on Grape Street. There are also two documentaries — one from PBS, as part of Explore San Diego, and one from KPBS.

And the food credential is not a local one: Bon Appétit named it "One of The 10 Best Breakfasts in the Country." Zagat called it "True Cool." San Diego Magazine called it the "quintessential community cafe." Rachael Ray filmed there for Food Network's $40 a Day.

That is a genuinely strange amount of cultural attention for a breakfast counter, and it tells you this place is about more than eggs.

The café's own description of itself is the best summary available: "The Big Kitchen is a place where the body is nourished along with the soul."

Here's the practical thing to get right, because it's the most common way to miss it.

It's open Thursday through Monday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and closed every afternoon. This is a breakfast-and-lunch operation with a hard two o'clock finish, and the lunch specials don't start until 11:30.

So: five days a week, six hours a day. Turn up on a Tuesday and you'll find a locked door.

What's on the Menu

The Big Kitchen does not publish prices, which is worth knowing in advance. What it does publish is a menu of genuine size — and the section names tell you as much about the place as the dishes do.

Breakfast:

• World Famous Scrambles — five of them, including "Judy's Favorite" and the "Golden Hill Favorite"
• Omelets — eight, from the Chili Cheese to the Mexican Cheese, plus a "Feeling creative?" build-your-own list
• Favorites of Our Regulars — nine dishes named after the people who ordered them enough times to earn it, including "Whoopie's Breakfast" and "Dick's Diet Delight"
• Egg Combinations — eleven
• Big Kitchen Fritattas (their spelling) — three
• Pancakes & Such — seven, including one big buttermilk pancake and French toast made with challah
• À la carte — around twenty items, including house coffee cake and oatmeal with fruit

Lunch, from 11:30 a.m.:

• Daily specials — including a turkey dinner, a hot meatloaf sandwich, and chicken or tofu fajitas
• Sandwiches — around twenty, including the Big Kitchen Club and one called the LGBTQ
• Burgers — eleven, including the Big Kitchen Burger, "Jim's Favorite"
• Big Salads — eight
• Big Bowl Specialties — homemade soups, black bean chili, Big Kitchen chili, and mac and cheese variants
• Veggie Options — five
• Kids Korner — seven items at breakfast and seven at lunch

Around twenty-four beverages, including fresh-squeezed organic orange juice, Kona coffee, fruit smoothies and almond milk.

The Kitchen Does Its Own Work

This is the part that justifies the reputation, and it's in the café's own words:

• "We bake our own muffins and coffee cake."
• "We honey bake our own hams and fresh roast our own turkey breasts."
• "All of our vegetables are fresh."
• "The food is real and that is why it tastes so good."

House-baked muffins and house-roasted turkey in a six-hour-a-day diner is more effort than the format requires. That's the answer to why Bon Appétit noticed.

How to Visit

• Address: 3003 Grape Street, San Diego, CA 92102
• Phone: (619) 234-5789
• Hours: Thursday through Monday, 8:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Lunch specials start at 11:30 a.m.
• Closed Tuesday and Wednesday
• Seating: an indoor counter and booths, plus outdoor seating
• Live music outside every Saturday and Sunday — in their words, "live music jammin' out in front of the Big Kitchen"
• They take credit cards (the site announces this with some enthusiasm, so it may be a recent development)

There are also house rules, posted by Judy. Read them when you get there.

Good to Know

• Thursday to Monday only. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
• Two o'clock is the end. Not 2:30, not "last orders."
• Go at the weekend for the music. Saturday and Sunday both, out front.
• Bring cash habits anyway. They've only recently started advertising card payment.
• Order something named after somebody. The regulars' menu is the whole personality of the place.
• Prices aren't published, so budget like a diner rather than a café.

The Takeaway

Go on a Saturday morning, sit outside, order a World Famous Scramble, and listen to whoever's playing.

What makes The Big Kitchen worth knowing isn't that it serves good breakfast — it's that a breakfast counter on Grape Street has generated a musical, two documentaries, a national top-ten and a menu where nine dishes are named after customers. You don't get that from food alone.

For more spots worth knowing, browse our Local Picks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is The Big Kitchen Cafe? At 3003 Grape Street, San Diego, CA 92102.

What are the hours? Thursday through Monday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Lunch specials begin at 11:30 a.m.

Is there live music? Yes — every Saturday and Sunday, out front.

What is The Big Kitchen known for? Its World Famous Scrambles, a menu of dishes named after regulars, and an unusual amount of national attention: Bon Appétit named it one of the ten best breakfasts in the country, and it has been the subject of a stage musical and two documentaries.

Does The Big Kitchen bake its own food? Yes — the café says it bakes its own muffins and coffee cake, honey-bakes its own hams and roasts its own turkey breasts.

Does it take credit cards? Yes.

Is there outdoor seating? Yes, alongside an indoor counter and booths.