Leslie B.
Yelp
I used to frequent Lefty's about 20 years ago. At that time, I had recently moved to San Diego from the Chicago area and I was really missing my Italian Beef sandwiches and Chicago style pizza. Back then, there was only one Lefty's location, and you had to stalk parties leaving their tables in order to get a seat. Anyway, flash forward to last weekend, a group of friends and I met for dinner at Lefty's to wish farewell to a friend who was moving away. The days of the crowded, popular Lefty's are apparently over, but unfortunately, the days of the amazing Chicago-style food were also over.
Anyway, when I arrived, my friend was saving a picnic table in the back garden area. I actually really liked the garden area. It is full of murals, great music on the speakers, and some family friendly lawn games. This is something that the Lefty's 20 years ago did not have that is a great improvement.
Our other friends arrived a bit later and came with a cake to share. Lefty's is very open to parties, larger groups, and special events, as I noted that there were two other parties on the patio. They even brought us extra plates and forks to share the cake.
It is not really a wine place, but they actually had several wines to choose from. I heard that the wines change regularly, so the staff member took them all out for me so I could choose. I chose a lovely glass of Pinot Noir. I also ordered the Italian Beef sandwich with hot peppers, and an order of mozzarella sticks to share with my friends.
Unfortunately, the mozzarella sticks were just not cooked enough... no golden brown exterior, and they were not gooey and cheesy.. and not flavorful. The Italian Beef sandwich was a huge disappointment. When I think of Italian Beef, it is oozing with flavor and spices. This was a super boring sandwich that had no flavor until I added the juice. Even with that, the flavor was minimal.
I did not try the Chicago pizza this time. A few of my friends ordered slices of deep dish, but it just was not very deep and did not look like Chicago deep dish at all to me.
All in all, Lefty's had a lovely atmosphere in the heart of Mission Hills, but the food was a disappointment. With the growing number of Chicago food establishments in San Diego, I probably won't return.