Bonnie Jeans Soul Food Cafe -- San Diego

I've been debating whether or not to try this place for a while. I always see it on Yelp, and then there was the Groupon, which I narrowly avoided buying, mostly because I hoped that if I didn't give myself a reason to go there I could somehow pretend that I've never even heard of the place and avoid shortening my life a few years. Silly me. The moment of weakness came at 11:30am on Friday, after the office had been intermittently buzzing about this place for a good 30 minutes, and I chose fried madness over the measly sandwich I had forgotten to even put in the refrigerator.

I had been looking at their fancy website: http://bonniejeansoulfood.com/ and set my heart on the fried mac n cheese. I don't know if it was the flashy site or all the warm-fuzzy-inducing pictures, but for some reason I was expecting something totally different. It turned out to be this super inconspicuous place, kind of in the middle of nowhere, really run-down looking, and easily dismissible.

We walked inside, and I was pretty unsure for a second whether or not it was the right place. The first thing that caught my eye was the souvenir t-shirts and greeting card rack, then my eyes meandered over to my co-workers playing with giant chess pieces, and then over to the stacks of board games, and then over to a random picnic table, where another coworker was sitting, and then to the decorated corner that led me to believe the place was really charming.

I got the fried mac and cheese, since I already had my heart set, while everyone else got either a chicken basket or a hot link basket. The food took almost an hour, I think, which was a little disappointing, but when it actually came, it was definitely.. not. disappointing. Contrary to what McDonald's might believe, fried mac n cheese balls, and not stupid frappes, are the final destination on the train "bliss-ville". These things are crazy. Mac n cheese, with chopped up jalapeno, balled and breaded, with more cheese sprinkled on top, and some good ole ranch dressing on the side. These things are no joke.

The fried chicken baskets and hot link baskets looked prettty fantastic also, and I do regret a bit that I didn't try some of the fried chicken, but there's always tomorrow, or like... next month (my arteries need a break). I was told that it was fantastic, and there was quite a lot of fuss about that coleslaw.

(hot link basket)

Not the cheapest of places, but definitely worth visiting. I'll be back, Bonnie Jean, and next time, I will be ready, and I will have fried chicken... & waffles.

--fatty monkey