Lucky’s Breakfast is open when you think it’s not. (By Frank Sabatini Jr.)
Breakfast, North Park

Review: Offbeat Breakfast in North Park

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

We can’t help but love the non-glamorous atmosphere and low-priced meals at Lucky’s Breakfast. Equally enjoyable is the owner, who single-handedly runs the entire show right before your eyes.

Known only as “Lucky,” the Hong Kong native combines short, witty answers with an impish smile whenever he is asked anything. He rarely makes eye contact, yet he is warm and welcoming while doing everything from order-taking and cooking, to bussing and dish-washing during sporadic lulls.

Located at the corner of North Park Way and Grim Avenue, the facade has seen better days compared to a few decades ago when Lucky operated a Chinese restaurant in this very spot. Asian bric-a-brac cluttering the shelves behind two U-shaped lunch counters are the remaining vestiges of those earlier times.

Today the cash-only joint looks dull and dated, both inside and outside. But it generates a devoted following of customers who don’t mind sitting on an occasional wobbly stool.

In a recent visit we found that Lucky has scaled down his menu to only four different plate combinations involving eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, hash browns and pancakes. (We hadn’t visited since before the pandemic.) Prices have naturally gone up a notch. They now range from $7 to $9.99 and include fresh-brewed Folgers Coffee, which sings to the powdered creamer sitting on the counters in tall containers.

Eggs requested over medium were flawless. We liked how they were served atop a disc of semi-crispy hash browns. Three accompanying sausage links of the Brown ‘N Serve ilk were satisfyingly salty. Our white-bread toast was perfectly tanned. And an order of hotcakes seemed as though they flew off of my own kitchen stove with their semi-circular shapes and well-done edges. They were comforting nonetheless.

When we told Lucky on the way out that we enjoyed our breakfast, he wryly responded: “Well when you’re hungry, everything tastes good.”

In an ever-evolving city like San Diego, restaurants don’t get any homier and cheaper than this. Oh, and once you polish off your meal, you will likely enjoy the bonus of a few fortune cookies mischievously tossed at you by the one and only.

Lucky’s is open from 7:00a to noon, Monday through Saturday.