British Food Centre

This store is sadly no longer there. In a way I’m not surprised, whenever my (English, can’t get a decent can of beans or tea or bag of crisps or Horlicks to save his life in this country) husband and I would go to purchase supplies, it was a ghost town. I’m sorry they’re gone, the woman who ran the store was always very friendly, and actually a dead ringer for my mother-​in-​law, even down to the regional accent. Selection and expiration dates weren’t the greatest, but it had the essentials, and it was too small of a shop to carry everything. We can’t all be 99 Ranch Market.
(I do exaggerate a bit though, I’m told Trader Joe’s ‘organic baked beans’ are almost as good as Heinz. Almost.)

Does this place still exist? The phone numbers are ‘disconnected’.

It’s pretty cool that San Diego has a good share of British stores to peruse through, but here I go again on another journey, which also doubled as an introduction to Solana Beach for me. I was a bewildered to find it because the generic signage stuck out among the chain stores in the shopping center. Also, I had to pinch myself for a second because this place looks like a thrift shop… just a bunch of shelves with British goodies on it. Anyways, a nice old lady runs the place. I’ve come to expect the import prices of these goods and it is on par with the UK Cornershoppe and All Things Bright and British, in addition to finding nearly expired or past expired goods. It was nice of the lady though to give me my Walkers Crisps for half off for being past its expiry date and throwing in some random Cadbury bar for free, but thanks to the Food Bank I’ve learned that a lot of food remains edible after its expiry date, provided the package is sealed, so I’ve been surviving so far. I still haven’t ventured out to try the frozen goods yet but I swear to eat bangers one day in my life. And despite the name of the store, you can also find a small section of teapots, clothing, and other little trinkets. I even received the newspaper mentioned by the previous reviewer with my purchase, which is a nice addition. Overall, I’d probably give this place 3.5 stars for its spartan interior, but the lady was very nice to me and I thought it was cool for throwing in the free stuff, even if it was expired.

A great place for your British food needs.
Get jams and marmalade, McIvites’ Biscuits, clotted cream, and Walkers chips. Also get great tea like PG Tips and Yorkshire Gold.
Phenomenal selection of Ginger Beers!
The lady will give you a free conservative British paper called the Union Jack if you buy around fifteen dollars worth of stuff.