Fresh Convoy Street Hangout Will Focus on Fried Chicken and Beer

The Kearny Mesa food scene continues to diversify with the addition of Cross Street Chicken and Beer, a new restaurant specializing in fried chicken that’s due this August. Owner Tommy Nguyen, who will run the eatery along with wife Grace Chi and close friend Wilson To, a longtime manager at Crab Hut’s Convoy Street location, spent two years traveling around Asia sampling the fried chicken specialities of each culture’s cuisine. Chi was raised in the Convoy restaurant scene; in fact her relatives operate Grandma Tofu & Korean BBQ, Dduriba and Bing Haus, which are all housed in the same complex as Cross Street.

Cross Street replaces Your Story, the short-lived Asian fusion restaurant that was opened in March by the owners of the Up2You Cafes. Nguyen and Chi have also taken over the dessert cafes, and tell Eater that they will be revamping its existing outposts, starting with the Vickers Street location in Kearny Mesa, as well as expanding the brand. By the end of the year, they should complete a remodel of the space that will double its footprint and give it modern makeover. The dessert menu will also expand with the addition of rainbow crepes, Cookie Monster ice cream and other trendy sweet treats.

Citing a lack of Korean fried chicken in San Diego (the one and only dedicated restaurant, BBQ Chicken, closed on Convoy in 2013), the team says that it will cook its chicken in the traditional Korean style, twice-fried with a thin but super crunchy batter. There will be five to six varieties, with different sauces and coatings ranging from authentic Korean flavors to Thai chili, garlic-parmesan and Vietnamese fish sauce. Shareable sides, including Korean corn cheese and kimchi fried rice, will round out a menu that’s designed to pair with drinks. Offering happy hour and late night hours, Cross Street will have four to six beer taps, a large bottled beer list, champagne and soju cocktails.