King Bistro

1 star for the good lamb skewer. The rest of the menu is pretty good and the place gives you an authentic China vibe. (People smoking and getting way too drunk over dinner.)
I have been to many places in Asia (China, Singapore, Cambodia etc.) to understand the principle of Bad Service = Great Food. But here tho, but here tho. You could serve me premium filet mignon. Or gold plated testicles. I don’t care. Still doesn’t warrant them to treat people the way they do. If you want to have a bad dining experience, feel like crap after having some decent food, you got yourself a place.
Read on for what «crossed the line.»
I have been coming here for over a year. I’m a sucker for lamb. This time, like any other, we ordered our usual. Tasted satisfying as usual. The bill came, and the amount was wrong. So we disputed the amount with the server and asked him to call his boss. He replied that his boss is not going care about this few bucks. Few bucks? Few bucks are all the items on the menu worth. We loled at the server. Took our loss (few bucks). Didn’t tip (God forbid) and left.
Patronize at caution.

When does this place ever opens?!
Came here on two different Sunday at noon. The first time, the front door was open but there was no one inside and tables weren’t setup which was very creepy. The second time the door was closed with no sign of people either. It would be very helpful if there is a sign or operation hrs posted somewhere and actually follow them! (Instead of sleeping in on weekends).
I heard third times a charm but I will not waste my time here anymore!

Authentic grilled skewers and chinese dishes. Pork belly, chicken wing and lamb skewers are great. Sapporo draft 12 for a pitcher normally.

The worst dining experience in my life. It is totally a nightmare! First, they recommended their skewers to us but they were not fresh and tasty. Also, there was only 1 option available which they offered 10 choices on the menu. Isn’t that ridiculous? Most importantly, they overcharged 1 of our orders which was different from the menu price. They just told us that the price of the check should be considered as final. Does that make sense? Last, they required us to pay 18% tip which we did not think they deserved it according to the overall dining experience here.
Please do not dine here. You will regret!

— The worst BBQ skewers in San Diego!
— The worst service attitude in San Diego!
— Low food quality… Incredible…
— Missed the order
— Inconsistent price between menu and check
— Only 1 main dish is available (out of 10 lol)
— Only $ 3.99 for 4 skewers! Cheap?! Yes! But You get what you pay for!
— Misled my awareness on Chinese noodles
— WONT BE BACK!

The worst restaurant (aka黑店) I have ever tried in my life. I wish I could give them zero stars.
–TERRIBLE & RIDICULOUS ATTITUDE (they charged our order differently from the menu and the wall)
–WORSE FOOD & SEATS ARRANGEMENT (they used frozen skewer so the taste was stale)
–AUTOMATIC 18% tip (which they did not deserve it)
If you want to be treated ridiculously and eat bad food, just go here!

I’m giving them 1 star because this is the least I could give. I have had the worst dining experience here ever! First, they had nothing available (despite a 10-​page menu). Skewers were the only thing they had, and they were not fresh and had extremely weird texture! Second, they were very impolite and treated us badly! Third, they were very dishonest and charged us extra on our orders, not to mention that they charged us even thought the order did not come. Fourth, they FORCED us to pay 18% tip that they DO NOT WORTH AT ALL.
This place has the WORST SERVICE and WORST FOOD ever! DO NOT COME!!!

Super slow service. Lamb skewers were super small and over seasoned. Great concept but poor execution.
Price pretty decent.

Only because that’s as low as you can give.
–1 star for stingy land skewer
–1 star for completely ignoring us
–1 star for taking forever
–1 star for dirty everywhere

The service was really bad here. The lamb skewer is bare. We left hungry after spending more than 10 bucks each. They have two servers who didn’t pay attention at all to anything. They need some help.
In short, they’re super unprofessional and I won’t be coming back anytime soon.

Cold noodle is super good!

Rarely see a Chinese BBQ restaurant so I was pretty happy that there’s one.
Their skewers are a bit pricey.
I tried most of the skewers and they’re a bit towards the salty and greasy side.
I’d recommend plum juice, Lamp, chive, octopus, intestine, chicken heart, pork belly, and cucumber.
Some of the skewers are a bit over cook and hard but some are pretty good.
Flavors are on the heavier side.
Still can’t compare to the ones I had in China but I think it’s good enough if you’re craving some Chinese BBQ

The place keeps changing name and style of food but the service is still the same (mediocre and unattentive). I guess it’s tied with the street food replica of street food service tradition. Skewers are good, but all the items are flavored the same (red chilli powder)

There’s only a few places in SD where I’ve been more than once and this is definitely one of them. King Bistro is where you go if you want to get your skewers and beer on. You know these are so bad for you, but man they taste oh so good. You can’t help but want more.
They do various kinds such as beef, lamb, heart, liver, gizzards, shrimps and most are sprinkled heavily with cumin and each dish comes with 4 skewers. They also sell beers, wine and sake.
The menu is on the blackboard and is written in Chinese, but they also have an English one too for those who can’t read Chinese, like me.
The wait staff are attentive and the owner/​manager is super nice.

Given the poor track record for this location, I’m hoping that King Bistro is in it for the long haul.
Although the menu isn’t extensive, King Bistro clearly wants you to order the BBQ and picnic style side dishes. My date and I ordered beef and lamb skewers, pork belly, dumplings, dan dan noodles, and garlic cucumbers.
The skewers were tasty and a tad on the spicy side. The meat itself tasted the same. I’m not sure if that was a good or bad thing. I’m thinking good, because I’m not the biggest fan of lamb.
The pork belly was a bit underwhelming. The seasoning mix was similar to the skewers, but just not as flavorful. Given that pork belly is supposed to have a lot of flavor, I was disappointed that this dish fell flat.
The dumplings were my favorite part of the meal. They came out last (when we were almost done with everything), but that’s okay. They tasted homemade and were packed with flavor!
The dandan noodles were just mediocre. I felt like they were lacking something, but that’s just me. My date seemed to enjoy them, while I finished up the dumplings.
Finally, the garlic cucumbers were an absolute delight. I was impressed with the large portion and I’m guessing they were good, because we saw another table order them. (I highly recommend an Altoid after eating this.)
All in all, I’m excited about the menu here. I am taking a star off because service wasn’t very good. (Despite being one of two parties in the restaurant, I felt like we were forgotten.) Also, I was slightly annoyed that the server dude kept on trying to speak to me in Mandarin. Just because I’m Asian, don’t assume that I know Mandarin!

My boyfriend got off work early, so I suggested having dinner here, trying to entice him with their meat skewers. Luckily my friend, who is Chinese, met up with us because the owners/​servers don’t speak very much English. When we entered, the workers were all having dinner and constantly staring at us… weird. Their chalkboard menus are written in Chinese (not sure which dialect), but there is one board to the side written in English. We sat down on their bench and were given a piece of paper to place our order with the quantities, which is similar to how you order dim sum at some places. We got the lamb, beef, wings, sausage, shrimp, and gizzard skwers, along with some pork belly, quail, jellyfish, and a hot and sour noodle dish. Everything came out pretty fast, but the service wasn’t that great. They were not attentive and continued eating the whole time we were there! It seems like they didn’t want to be bothered, but this is a restaurant LOL. My favorites were the wings and beef skewers-​! I really like the seasoning they used, but it’s the same flavor for every meat item you order, which gets old after a while. This place opens until midnight on weekdays and until 2am on the weekends and if you pay cash, you get 10 percent off your bill.

King Bistro. Formerly Cowboy Beer. Formerly Chili Max (Hunan-​style). Formerly Chili Max (Sichuan-​style). Formerly Ba Ren. (Notice a pattern?) Of all its various faces, I kind of hope King Bistro sticks around the longest because, without resorting to gimmicks like Cowboy Beer, it has the potential to offer the most unique eating experience.
Looking at the reviews, people seem to love it or hate it. I don’t really understand the hate, but for some of them, I get the feeling like they didn’t quite know what they were getting into. As I intimated above, King Bistro is unlike any other Chinese place in the city. It offers Chinese street food. No more; no less. It’s meant to be super-​casual; the presence of plates and such are just formalities. What you get are skewers of meat, whether beef, chicken, lamb, or the organs thereof. And cumin; lots of cumin. In so doing, King Bistro offers one of the most authentic Chinese experiences in San Diego. The taste is quite close to what I’ve had at 2 am on the streets of Shanghai while drinking heavily. If anything, the major difference between this place and the streets of China is that the latter probably has lower-​quality meat including meat derived from rats. (That’s actually a thing that happened.)
Summary: Much better than rat meat.

Wow… 5 Stars… I must try… «Y=) Diner «億萬富翁
Restaurant. Same as Cow Boy Bar (previous owner)… Nothing changed… Same layout with Wooden bench tables chairs.
Service… Good, self seating, lady server was very nice. Other servers just running around. Oh. Beer was very cold and fast.
Food… Such good reviews from Unilocalers… I must try…
So Sad… Not Good !!!
Grilled Oysters… Over Cooked. Full of Sands… Oh my Kidney (stones)
Lambs Skewers… Not butchered well. pieces are too small, most of are fat, ligaments, over Seasoned with cumins., salts.
Chicken… Hearts, Gizzards… Worst… Small pieces over-​cooked seasoned pieces tasted most of salts, MSG and cumins.
Return… No !!! Cheap Prices for Cheap Food… «Y=) Diner «億萬富翁

In the mood for some damn tasty skewers that you can wash down with a nice cold beer? King Bistro is the joint to hit up!
The main chalkboard in the back is entirely written in Chinese but there is another wall on the back lefthand side of the restaurant that is in English. Just hop on back there and take a snap with your phone so you don’t have to hop back and forth to see what you’d like to order.
The skewers are just simple and straight forward. You’ve got a choice between beef, lamb, chicken gizzards, chicken heart, liver, shrimp, chicken wings, etc, along with some sausages. If you’re a huge eater, I suggest ordering at least one order of the skewers to yourself (each order comes with 4 skewers for just $ 3.99). Add on another order of their pork belly and you’ll be hitting past your protein quota for the day!
If you’re a seafood lover, order their baby octopus and mussels. The seasoning blends in very well and you’re taste buds will thank you for it (you’ll salivate before it even hits your mouth).
They’ve got a handful of brews to choose from and each cup is just $ 3, along with $ 3 sake (please bring in some craft beers guys).
Order away and enjoy your meal (and don’t forget to snap some pics for the sake of your social media).

That is very good BbQ place. I usually coming with my friends at dinner time. We got good drink and nice BBQ .
I really love spicy food, we will come back soon lol