San Diego Reader

• Restaurant

Letty's Bean Shack

• 4229 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92103 | Directions
• 619-295-9900

You might call this place Hillcrest’s secret. It’s an old house beside an open field in Hospital Land. All the UCSD nurses and doctors come here to avoid their own cafeterias. Plus, prices are low, subsidized-cafeteria range, so the joint is always run off its feet.

That doesn’t mean it’s not fun and the food ain’t good. It is. Letty’s has been serving coffee and more since the 1940s. It has only a small room inside but plenty of space out on the wooden decks built around the house, with tables and green umbrellas and lots of flowerpots. Interesting food specials change daily to keep those white-coats coming back.

The Bacon Breakfast Burrito is a steal. The Hawaiian Salad with mangoes, pecans, blue cheese, is really good for around $6. So’s the BBQ pork sandwich.

But mainly I come to sit, to eavesdrop on all the ER talk, look across the open field, and have a Hillcrest meal without paying Hillcrest prices.

— Ed Bedford