Yes! Pingo

OK, so not so great. The quality of food is bleh, and And before I can finish my review, I noticed they are closed. No wonder. This is below par for even San Diego asian food standards.
Medium FAIL. Thanks for closing.

I’m a big fan. I never see a lot of people here, and the people that are here are hanging out (and not buying much).
I like the food. I think the food is much better than some of the other near by Taiwanese places. All of the stuff you need for your night market cravings (including stinky tofu if you are so inclined). And the price is relatives cheap — you can get a big pile of food for 2 under $ 20 or totally go crazy and still be under $ 30.
Maybe their prosperity cat is lazy. I hope people give this place a try.

I am so happy that I found this place. I am getting so home sick and looking for Taiwanese food and I simply don’t want to drive up to LA for it. This place is insanely way better than Liang’s kitchen. They have so many authentic dishes that Liang simply doesn’t carry. Their fried crispy chicken (鹽酥雞) perfectly crispy and flavored, and I would say best in town. Not to mention they have stir fry ong chop (空心菜), which I can’t find in anywhere in town unless I want to cook it in town (Ranch 99 only carries this kind of vegetable in the summer). Did I mention they have Taiwan Beer too?
Lastly, I would disagree with the poor service part. They are extremely kind and respectful. During the one hour I was there, the gentleman constantly stopping by making sure we have what we wanted, bringing us beers and drink, explaining the menu patiently to us, and does not rush us out when we are done eating. Keep in mind, this is a Chinese establishment, this is probably as good of service you will get compare to other Chinese/​Asian restaurant such as Dumpling Inn.
Overall, 1 star given for authenticity in San Diego, 1 star given for affordability, 1 star given for taste, 1 star given for good service, and last star given for location that has tons of parking in Convoy.

Good food good vibes and awesome staff. In my opinion, this is one of the best Taiwanese restaurants in San Diego. My fellow Taiwanese friends and I always come here when we want a little taste of home. I’ve pretty much tried half of the items on the menu and nothing has disappointed me yet. In addition, the guy who is always there is so friendly my friends and I love him! I was going to give this place a four star just because the food here still doesn’t live up to the ones in Taiwan, but his awesome service earned this place a solid five star from me! Just say yes to Yes! pingo!

review for the boba only:
i’ve been here about 3 times for boba and have been disappointed every single time. first time i ordered a rose green tea with boba, half sugar and received something that tasted like liquid sugar with no boba even in it. second time was similar experience, teas tend to be very sweet. the last time i went about a week ago i ordered a milk tea with boba and the boba was chalky and dry.
i’ve heard friends/​read reviews about the food here so i guess i should only stick to the food.
TL;DR: boba is a nono.

Decent place for some Taiwanese snacks and food. I got the minced pork over rice, my favorite to order at any Taiwanese restaurant. It was pretty good, satisfied a long standing craving of mine.
Small, quiet shop off of Convoy. There was only one other table here when I went for an early dinner with my friends. An okay place to grab a quick bite.

Another Taiwanese place, another chance for me to declare how bad Mama Liang’s is. It’s really, really bad. Importantly, for this review, Yes! Pingo is much better than it.
Evidence #1: Their beef noodle soup. Pingo’s is better. It’s actually comparable to what I have experienced in Mainland China, with some actual flavor in the broth. It’s at least as good as California Beef Noodle King, for those of you out there who have had the joy of encountering that restaurant that has zero relationship with this state we call home.
Evidence #2: Their spicy wontons. Again, Pingo’s are better. Attractively served in an oddly shaped bowl, the seasoning provides a decent kick, and the wontons come with a tasty filling.
In all honesty, Yes! Pingo is the best Taiwanese place in San Diego although that bar may not be very high. Because Liang’s is awful.
Summary: Not No! Pingo.

Right next to the newish Common Theory bar, lies Yes! Pingo. The name still puzzles me, but I’m moving on to talk about the spicy wontons for $ 4.99 and the fried chicken cutlet bento for $ 8.50.
In general I’m a BIG fan of spicy wontons. Anytime I’m going to a Taiwanese restaurant, I expect these to be on the menu. I was pleasantly surprised that these were pretty darn good. The wonton wrapper was melt in your mouth and the pork ball in the middle was tasty. The chili oil was excellent!
The fried chicken cutlet bento was tasty. The chicken was light and crispy and was slightly dusted with Chinese five spice. The egg and tomato side dish was interesting and I really liked the warm cabbage/​veggie salad and bits of ground beef atop of the rice.
Here’s the downside… the service just sucked. Even though we were the only customers in the restaurant, we were never offered refills on our water and I had to flag down someone and interrupt their card game to get the check.

Quite an interesting place. Some cool posters on the side and the heavenly stench of stinky tofu.
Had the beef hotpot here which was okay, haven’t found a place that puts enough flavor in the hot pots. Minced pork rice was good, but I like it more fatty and with more of that delicious liquid they use to braise it.
I actually like the drinks here a lot, especially the old time milk tea. Certain workers whose English is not as good will get your drink orders completely messed up though. All the drinks with boba came with small twisty straws so you couldn’t suck the boba out. She asked me twice if I wanted boba in mine and I said twice I wanted aloe but ended up getting nothing. It’s okay though, I had fun twisting a twisty straw around the big boba straw, fond memory.
Decent portions, average prices, drinks are good. Service is iffy and beware of occasional stinky tofu smell! It’s convenient if you want Taiwanese food though.

The Taiwanese sausage rice lunch bowl was tastey and was a good portion for the price.
Parking was good at lunchtime.
I got the welcome call and was seated very quickly.
Staff service was friendly, accomodating, and fast.
Cash only for orders under $ 10
The food arrived fast. My lunchmate accidentally dropped his chopsticks and the staff immediately handed over a fresh pair with a smile. Wow, that’s cool. Separate checks, but CASH ONLY if the orders are under $ 10. So I paid for both lunches, and my lunchmate bought me a boba tea from across the street.
I like this place, it was nice and quiet at lunchtime. I’ll return for more Taiwanese dishes. Thumbs up. Yes! Pingo is good for lunch.

Compare to living in LA, SD certainly still needs more ethnic food options. Thank you 85 degrees and I’m still waiting for you ding tai fung!
We’ve been here quite a few times and always received good service and yummy home cook Taiwanese dishes. Clean modern décor, clean bathrooms, and plenty of parking spaces. We came on a Christmas Day during closing time (not intentionally btw) and still got great service! Definitely be back soon.
My husband is very sensitive to msg and notice they don’t use it in most of their dishes. Feel free to ask before hand.
Our favorites:
Spicy stinky tofu Hot pot
Fried Stinky tofu
Taiwanese sausages
Chicken cutlet rice
Squid rice bean noodle soup

Found this place via Unilocal and wasn’t quite sure what to expect given the mixed reviews, but we were pleasantly surprised. First, they were open on Christmas Day! Second, the food was very good. I ordered the stinky tofu to start, which I’d rate 3.5 out of 5. (I’d recommend smaller bite size pieces.) I also had the Chinese sausage rice bowl which included cabbage and minced pork (no marinated egg as in others’ pictures?). My husband had the pork chop rice which came in a bento box with scrambled eggs, cabbage, rice, and a marinated egg. Both entrees were very good (4.5 out of 5). My husband was a fan of the ½ priced beer as well.
Parking was easy. Décor was nice and clean. Service was pretty good.
We’ll be back to try the drinks and shaved snow next time!
Note: they don’t have the «bawan» anymore, and don’t serve snow over the winter.

This place a quite an interesting name, but I came here because they offered a variety of asian food for a lowered price.
Most items here are about $ 10 and under.
Hot pots range from $ 10-​$ 15.
They also have drinks such as smoothies and milk tea.
Decent sized restaurant. Good for small and large groups.
Does not get packed.
The waiter here does not seem to speak English very well, so do expect to show him the item you are requesting in the book menu.
The book menu does not have many pictures.
And it does not have any description of the food item what so ever.
FOOD:
Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings (with side of rice) $ 9.50
These took a really long time to come out. It took probably about an extra 10 minutes to come out after all the other items arrived. But it did come out steaming hot and fresh. The wings were very crispy. They were covered with extra garlic, onions, and peppers. The first bite tasted a bit too salty. But as you get more into the plate, it was delicious.
Taiwanese Sausage Bowl $ 8.50
My friend had ordered this dish and I tried a little bit of it. The sausages tasted like canned luncheon meat and was not very tasty. He also thought that they lacked minced pork. It seemed like less of a portion than pictured in the menu.
Fried Crispy Chicken Snack $ 5.25
The chicken pieces were lightly battered. It was more soft rather than crispy but it had good flavorings to it. Only downfall was that there was no dipping sauce. We asked for ranch and the guy almost didnt know what we were talking about. And he offered us ketchup instead which we didnt use.
Mango Snow Ice Smoothie $ 3.50
It was finely shaved ice mixed with a light flavoring of Mango. It was decent.
Overall, some dishes are good and some not. Good place for cheap asian food.

This is a good place to get authentic Taiwanese food and drinks. It is located on Convoy for easy access. My friends and I wanted to taste many different dishes by doing a family style dinner.
Three cup chicken — This is definitely one of my favorite Taiwanese dishes when I was growing up. The flavor was pretty authentic; however, there were a lot of garlic cubes in the dish with little chicken. The basil that was used in the dish wasn’t the Chinese basil which has much more flavor for this dish.
Chinese Sauerkraut and intestine — this was the best of the evening! The Chinese Sauerkraut provided sour and sweet flavor to the dish with excellently done intestine. Many people may not able to eat intestine due to past bad experiences. However, this place did a great done processing and cleaning the intestine, which was a great dish.
Chinese stir fried noodles — slightly too greasy but the flavor was great. I wish there were less green onions.
Overall, this is a good place to get some authentic Taiwanese dishes; however, I believe there are some room for them to improve on the flavors.

Checked out Yes! Pingo yesterday based on the recommendation by some friends. The quality of the milk tea was excellent, similar to Tea Station. Worth the $ 3.40 + 50cent for boba for San Diego’s standards. I had the Honey Milk Green Tea and it was a good not-​too-​sweet kinda drink if that’s what you’re looking for. Really refreshing and tasty — you can really taste the tea :9 Boba was a little tough so I can’t say I was blown away by this place. It was the end of the day on a low key Saturday, so maybe that’s why? My friends say that it’s usually better. The regular Green Milk Tea is pretty sweet so if you’re looking for a sweeter drink, get this one!
Venue is nice and purple! Lots of tables and space for studying. Good for groups (: You can order your drinks to-​go if you don’t want to stay.

I’ve been craving Taiwanese food for awhile and the only other Taiwanese place I’ve been to in SD is Liang’s Kitchen. However, they don’t serve some of my favorite Taiwanese dishes such as oyster pancake and ton zi mi gao (sticky rice from a barrel). I found this place on Unilocal and even though there aren’t that many reviews, the pictures of the food looked alright.
My boyfriend and I came here on a Monday around lunch time and there were only 2 other parties in the entire restaurant. The server seated us immediately and brought us water.
We were so hungry, from barely eating from our past weekend at Coachella. This was actually our first real meal since last Thursday! We literally ordered almost everything on the menu! Okay maybe not everything… but definitely way too much!
This is what we ordered:
Oyster Pancake — Very flavorful and chewy. A little too oily, and not that many oysters… but it was still really good!
Taiwanese Rice Tube Pudding — This is probably one of my favorite Taiwanese dishes ever. It was pretty good here actually! The rice was nice and soft and very flavorful.
Fried Stinky Tofu — Presentation of the stinky tofu was wonderful. There were actually taiwanese sausages in between every tofu! First time i’ve seen this before. The sauces that came with the tofu was great too. This wasn’t the stinkiest tofu I’ve ever had, but it was still delicious.
Spicy Fish Tofu –Just basically fish tofu covered in spicy powder. Nothing very special. Probably shouldn’t have ordered this,
Cold Noodle w/​Shredded chicken — This was probably the worst dish out of everything. There was just too much sauce and was too heavy. There was barely any chicken at all. Like I literally couldn’t see any chicken. We even had to ask for more plain noodles because there was just too much sauce!
Minced Pork Over Rice — Typical minced pork over rice. The pork to rice ratio probably could have been better since there was a lot of plain rice left over at the end. But it was still pretty good!
My boyfriend also ordered a yogurt green tea that was $ 4. It was good, but probably not worth the price.
Overall, this is a pretty legit Taiwanese restaurant in SD. I mean of course there are better ones in LA or in NorCal, but for SD, it’s not bad! I’d probably come back again!

I’m going to admit this review might be a little bias since I know the owner of this place but hear me out, they have change few things around and it’s getting better. Being a Taiwan born girl, I know this place wasn’t very authentic when they first open, and I wasn’t a fan at all.
Now they have revised their menu and hired a Taiwanese chief as their main chief, everything has just start catching up as they advertised on newspaper and every where else.
Walking in last night craving for a stir fired rice noodle (炒米粉), and the waiter introduce us their new item, personal hot pot, you can choose from beef, chicken, or seafood. We ended up ordering the rice noodle, seafood hot pot, and steam veggie. I have to say, from the previous experience I wasn’t expecting much, but they have out do themselves last night. Everything taste like as if I were ordering them from Taiwan, and the hot pot was delicious. I was surprised that their steam veggie comes with ground pork on the top and it is just exactly what I always wanted but never find such dish in SoCal.
I feel like the items on the menu aren’t very clear, since they are updating their dishes constantly, so just ask the waiter for recommendation. They are nice friendly people.
Overall, I am now recommending this place to friends and on Unilocal!4 stars for the food, and 1 for friendship :) Keep rolling!

It was nice to see a new Taiwanese place to start on Convoy. I have been to this place for 4 times already. They have always been improving every time I come here!
Actually like their Beef Noodle Soup better than Liang’s. The soup base has a lot more flavor! The rice bowl is also above average considering the amount of sausages and sides they give you. However, the Oyster Pancake was a fail.do.not.get.that.
Also gave their drinks a try that night, I ordered the green tea with crème on top (?) forgot the name. But it was delicious! I have had that kind of drink back in LA, and this one is definitely better! They put a thick layer of rich crème with some matcha powder on top. For sure will get this again the next time I come!
The waitresses are also very attentive, although I could see some of my other friend’s complains of them being too shy. It looks like they are not sure whether to speak to you in Mandarin or in English. After I spoke to them in Mandarin, they seemed a lot more relaxed and talkative haha.
Parking lot is huge, but kinda dark at night. The restaurant is also very clean and specious.
Will come back to try more food & drinks!

I am sorry but this restaurant is probably one of the worst Taiwanese restaurants I have ever tried. I wrestled with whether or not I should post this review but decided that my words would not prevent market forces of supply and demand to take over.
I’m not Taiwanese but both of my parents grew up in Taiwan and I’ve visited the island a few times. I know how the dishes should taste but my 12+ years in San Diego have caused me to take a step back and chill out on authenticity. Nevertheless, all of the dishes made me sad because they reminded me, faintly, of how the food could have tasted. Mind you, I gave Liang’s five stars. Regardless of authentic-​or-​not, these dishes, standing alone, just don’t taste good.
The dumplings didn’t taste good and the texture was terrible. The meat was very loose in the dumpling skin (ha, that’s what she said). The minced pork rice was very, very dry. The beef noodle soup was salty and we could tell the beef had been previously frozen. The sausage encased in sticky rice was a very small portion and not made correctly, according to my tablemates. The bawan tasted bland and overwhelmed by starch. The oyster pancake did not taste fresh.

I was introduced to this place by my roommates. My roommates are very specific with Asian drinks and food. There really is no décor other than the purple colored booths that sit alongside one wall. Very clean though and you could probably spend a chill time here with friends.
I usually go for a the standard Rose Milk tea with pudding to test it out. My one roommate thought it was pretty sweet but good for what it was. I usually always have to order half sugar at Tea Station but I didn’t specify on sugar amount here. This seemed just about right and the egg pudding was done where it wasn’t gritty tasting. They’re really big on green tea and denoted you taste the ‘leaves’ They were not kidding because my rose milk tea had pieces of rose petals in them. I didn’t mind. Really added to the rose flavor for sure. I wasn’t expecting that. You don’t have that powdery taste/​gritty taste in your mouth like those badly mixed drinks from Tapioca Express. I tried my roommate’s milk green tea with boba. The boba tasted fresh, chewy and definitely warm.
I didn’t try the food but my roommate denoted there was cheap lunch special during the weekday. Yeah, I’ll come back to try the other drinks.