Convoy Street: San Diego's Asian food district, explained
It's San Diego's pan-Asian food corridor in Kearny Mesa — Korean barbecue, ramen, dim sum, pho and boba in strip malls along Convoy Street. The city made it an official cultural district in 2020.
- Official district
- 2020
- Where
- Kearny Mesa
- Started
- 1979
City Council vote, Oct. 20
Between I-805 and SR-163
Woo Chee Chong market
The short version
- The food scene traces to 1979, when the Woo Chee Chong market opened at 4625 Convoy Street.
- On October 20, 2020, the San Diego City Council designated the Convoy Pan Asian Cultural and Business Innovation District.
- The district sits east of I-805, west of SR-163 and south of SR-52, with six freeway signs on I-805 pointing to it.
- Some strip malls are almost entirely food: one counted 14 of 15 storefronts as restaurants or specialty food shops.
- Expect strip-mall parking lots, not a walkable main street — plan to drive or rideshare.
Convoy is not pretty. It is a wide suburban boulevard of strip malls in Kearny Mesa, and that is exactly why it works: decades of low rents let Asian-owned groceries and restaurants open here and cluster, until the street became the densest concentration of Asian food in San Diego.
How Convoy became Convoy
San Diego Magazine; UCSD Guardian; Convoy District association.
What you'll find
Convoy by craving
| Korean | Japanese | Chinese & Taiwanese | Vietnamese | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signature | Korean barbecue | Ramen, izakaya | Dim sum, xiao long bao, boba | Pho, banh mi |
| Best for | Groups, late dinners | A quick solo bowl | Weekend brunch, dessert | Cheap, fast lunches |
| Plan for | Waits on weekend nights | Lines at popular ramen spots | Dim sum is busiest late morning | Little wait |
Why it ended up in an office park
San Diego Magazine traces the street's start to 1979, when Jennings Hom opened a Woo Chee Chong grocery at 4625 Convoy in partnership with developer Frank Wong. Churches, including the Korean United Methodist Church in 1978, gave families a reason to settle nearby, and restaurants followed the groceries. One strip mall now has 14 of its 15 storefronts selling food.
- Weeknight dinners are the easiest time to go.
- Many places are cash-friendly but almost all take cards now.
- Combine stops: eat in one plaza, then walk to dessert or boba in the same lot.
Convoy is in Kearny Mesa, about 15 minutes north of downtown.
KEEP READING
SOURCES
Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.
UCSD Guardian · November 1, 2020
City Council vote on October 20, 2020 and the district's official name
San Diego Magazine · Checked October 3, 2026
Woo Chee Chong in 1979, Jasmine in 1992, the strip-mall density
- PrimaryConvoy District history
Convoy District · Checked October 3, 2026
District boundaries and the six I-805 freeway signs