Some of the best vegan food I've ever had, hands down (and I have lived in NYC and SF). The drinks are great as well. A great date Nate spot with excellent service and uniquely beautiful decor. Lots of fun activities walking distance as well. read more

It was our first day visiting San Diego and we found this place and it was great! The food was delicious, service was wonderful and the ambiance was great! Can't wait to visit again and try more vegan foods here! read more

Kindred - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

I love the menu, it's so unique. The drinks are definitely my favorite part of this restaurant. Blood Trance and Spinal Tap are always my go-tos. read more

Kindred - Blood Trance - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

Wow what a great experience here! Everything is vegan. Even things that may say bacon or sausage it is still vegan. The servers and so knowledgeable as well! We'd ask how this was made or what this actually is, and they would explain it to us thoroughly. I loved the skewer battle! I forget my favorite but it's pictured in my review in that garlic like sauce. That made the dish for me! So yummy. We also got the mushroom doom and bloom which was so fun! I loved the variety of mushrooms. We also got the carbonara but I didn't like that dish as much. I think it's very hard to imitate as a vegan dish! Inside is nice and has cool vibes! You can't really get things to go, but they can get it ordered for you and you can ask for a box and put it in yourself. read more

Oh where to begin. One cannot judge a restaurant based on one experience or maybe two, but definitely by the third 3rd the true character of a restaurant reveals itself. It is rare that a restaurant so negatively performs in both service and food multiple times consecutively but kindred has found a way. I have left 15% tips at waffle houses in which I have found hairs in my food and the wait staff has insulted me. Never before have I left a $0 tip as I just did at kindred. But the restaurant necessitated it with its absolute lack of service and 2 hour-long wait for subpar food and cocktails full of ice and nothing more. They seem totally unprepared for having a relatively full restaurant and serving customers with edible food. It's a shame. I love metal and I love vegan food but I guess the two do not go together. Certainly not in this restaurant. read more

Kindred never disappoints. Insane vegan menu with both snack plates and full sized meals. The best carbonara I've ever had - and their brunch is to die for. The service here is always so positive and accommodating, and I love the options of both booth or window bar stool seating. Cocktail menu is full of creative drinks as well as a standard beer and wine menu! Put this at the top of your to do list read more

I am not Vegan nor a vegetarian, but I loved it. The drinks are excellent and very potent. This could be best place for either you are here to drink or eat, we did both, which is even better. Hard part is to get the right table booked, you have to do it well in advance. This is one of those places that a non-vegan would absolutely love and never know anything is vegan too. I felt I tasted meet, bacon and bbq beef. I'm only giving them 4/5 stars because the prices were a on the little high for smaller portion. I like the ambiance and interior décor. I enjoyed a lot the drinks and we were big party of people and got to try lot of drinks. Started with orb weaver, it is Rye Whiskey Rye Whiskey Sourr, toasted Po toasted Poppy Seed, Black Walnut, Whisper Of Mulled Wine - Perfect and pretty strong Tried the Blackened Manhattan, it was made from Rye Whiskey, and plum tincture, so its not your regular Manhattan. And other drinks I tried is Toddy and Snow Bird, this was very strong indeed and lot of ginger in it. Drinks were expensive and around $18 for a drink. Service and Staff was so nice, attentive, and gave great lot of recommendation recommendations for both Drinks and food. Overall, great experience and will go back again. read more

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Delicious food & great atmosphere. They offer a good range of drink options from beer, to wine, to cocktails, to mocktails. The restaurant seems really well run with awesome service and teamwork to run the food and check on customers. We love sitting at the bar but I bet table service would be a great experience as well. Favs: chimichurri seitan skewers & eggroll burger !! read more

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The ambiance is quite striking, it gave me a magical vibe. The staff is friendly and inviting. The drink I had is non-alcoholic called the miracle cure. The food I got was the Eggroll Burger and Baked noodles with read more

Service was not that great. As soon as we (2 people) sat down it took 25 minutes for a service to take our order. And we waited another hour and still never got our food. Had one drink and left starving. read more

You cannot deny this place has maintained the delicious food and quality! Come for the drinks and stay for the food. Disclaimer, Saturday and Sunday morning is strictly the brunch menu but the brunch always exceeds my expectations! I recommend making reservations on Sunday. We got here at 10:04 am and there was already a line outside the door. Nonetheless we got seated. I get the mind melt. Crunchy sourdough bread with crispy cheese on the top of the warm sourdough bread and on the inside. The sauce is not overpowering and is filling enough for an adult. This place is popular on Saturdays and Sundays in general so be patient the wait is worth it.! We started with the cinnamon rolls, these are made from scratch and straight from the oven goodness. If you're in a group I recommend ordering two. We order the miracle cure drinks, tasty and refreshing! One of my top five restaurants in San Diego read more

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Such a unique dinning experience, from the moment one walks into Kindred it's such an exciting experience. There's so much gothic decor, very elegant gas lit lamps, very 5 star dining feel. I recommend making a reservation ahead of time. Also, bring your glasses if you can't see well in the dark as the lighting here is very mood driven tsars ethereal ambiance. There's metal music in the background playing throughout the restaurant and bathrooms and it's at the perfect volume. Hostesses, bartenders, chefs and waitresses are very kind and unique all artistic looking and make you ponder what they do outside of this work. The drinks were exceptional, tiki quality, very advanced ingredients. The food menu was more like tapas (the menu itself was really detailed with artwork and beautifully hand written style rune lettering. The food flavors were more on the lemon/citrus side, lots of zesty notes. It's interesting that nothing on the menu had hot sauce flavors, just one barbecue skewer which I imagine is on a sweet side too. I think the only change I'd make to the menu is maybe adding some sort of Thai or spicy flavored seitan or sauce to use with the potatoes. Also I'm sad they ran out of the mushrooms while I was there and the noodles with cheese, so maybe they should plan to order more since it was only 7:30 prime dinner hour and I'm pretty bummed I missed those two especially the mushrooms. The merch was really unique and great price points, I walked out with the leatherette coaster set and two cool swizzle stick skull shirts long sleeved. Very unique and fun restaurant, I'd definitely return. read more

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Come for the vibe, stay for the mid-food and menu shortages. Went to McDonalds drivethru afterwards. Clearly this establishment wasn't for me. Hopefully others will enjoy it. Honestly I feel like a restaurant reckoning is coming in fast. There have been a lot of restaurants that just dont meet expectation anymore. Things need to change across the industry. read more

Disclaimer: I am not a vegetarian so I am not accustomed to vegan or vegetarian flavors. This is a bar/restaurant but the bar seems to be the main focus. The bar and dining area is unique - a sort of gothic and Nordic theme, and beautifully done. I've dined at the bar and also at a booth, and the service was friendly at both I've had a couple cocktails here, a specialty drink off their menu and a Bloody Mary. Both tasted a little thin on flavor and booze. The food is interesting, and I've had their take on a burger on their late night menu and also congee for brunch. The congee dish was a bit thick for my taste - approaching a risotto, and was very underseasoned. The burger was good for an impossible patty, but everything on the burger overwhelmed any flavor that might have come from the patty. The best part of my two meals there would be the side of "Sausage" patties I got with brunch. My search for a place to take my vegetarian friends when they come to town continues! read more

Kindred - Congee, "Saussge" patty, and a Bloody Mary - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

If this ain't the cutest place ever! My vegan buddy is still in town and Kindred was on his list, so glad we had the chance to visit this lovely establishment. First of all, the ambiance is just my type. We sat down at the open air table next to a couple of regulars and they immediately engaged us in conversation to let us know we made the right choice. I was dazzled by the many creative drink choices on the menu and ordered a few of them to be sure my tequila tasting palate was happy. We ordered the herb puffs and deli battle to start. I am not a fan of milky substances like sour cream or mayonnaise unless it is straight up cheese but I rather enjoyed the faux milk based sauces. I am also not usually enthralled by the fake meat offered at vegan joints but I had the soul food entree and the seitan chicken was bomb.com! Vegan man did not like his peanut marshmallow desert but it's not something I would ever order so I didn't taste it We enjoyed quite the evening of delectable dishes and I will definitely be back. read more

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Food is great, drinks are great, ambiance is great, the shoestring staff you have is great. But after coming here for years, the last couple months it's taken over an hour to get food. NOT the fault of the staff (Trinity you were wonderful) but you aren't staffed up. You have an enormous amount of seats and only 2 waiters, no food runners. It's taking forever to get food and drinks. You could have turned over my table twice in the time we were there and paid for another waiter. PLEASE STAFF UP. read more

Cue the death metal, demon cat's decor and some of the absolute best vegan food in San Diego and you got yourself an experience your twisted soul will not forget. This place never disappoints! How can vegan food taste so damn good?! I highly recommend making a reservation and schedule your time the earlier the better as many food items do sell out towards the end of the night. This place is always busy, so be prepared to wait if you don't have reservations. If you don't get to try the food, stick around and enjoy a delicious cocktail at the bar. The entire restaurant is aesthetically pleasing (check out the bathrooms also, lol). Service is impeccable. Now the menu does change from time to time, as well as the drink selection, but honestly everything is pretty darn tasty that it makes it hard just to recommend one specific dish. Parking is off street in the surrounding neighborhoods, so if you can find a spot snag it! Now go carve SLAYER into your arm and enjoy! read more

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As a chef I've had a lot of crappy vegan , Not This Place ! 10/10 I'm bringing my wife next time . Unreal flavor profile. Corey the owner was awesome . The Knotts will live rent free in my mind . Thank you again read more

Everything was amazing! The attention to detail, decor, staff, drinks & food...phenomenal! This should be on everyone's list when in San Diego! We can't wait to return! read more

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Where to start..? The location, ambiance is great! I love & appreciate the gothic theme decor & menu. And perfectly matched with cat pictures! The food was good. Warlock salad was supreme. Mini cinnamon rolls were excellent for sharing. Biscuits & gravy were way too small for an entree. Best vegan butter milk pancakes I've ever had. I don't like coconut so didn't need that. The crème brûlée bananas are fun, creative but meh, rather have raw fresh banana. Now, Too bad they took 45 minutes to arrive at our table.. The thing that was unacceptable was the service. We were able to get seated right away at a bar table with no server, go to the bar to order. First, the biscuits and gravy, and then a little bit later the cinnamon rolls. And then a few more minutes later the warlock bowl and then 30 + minutes later, pancake. Obviously, we were ready to leave before the pancake arrived. After inquiring with several servers, we were able to get it complementary. However, it all took way too long breakfast! read more

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This was by far the worst restaurant experience of my entire life. We were seated relatively quickly but the first red flags came when we weren't able to get a single person to take our order for around 40 minutes. We actually approached wait staff twice and then still waited around 20 minutes for them to come over. We placed an order after about an hour of waiting and had hopes that we'd at least get drinks quickly. Well another hour later and we never received food nor drinks. It got to the point where we tracked down a manager and made them check the system and unfortunately our food was never even inputted into the system. Completely unacceptable. I'm especially upset that wait staff passed our table multiple times and didn't inquire about how we were doing, etc,. We ultimately ended up leaving and heading across the street to Buona Forchertta where we've had nothing but positive experiences. I highly recommend you avoid this establishment at all costs. read more

ALL Vegan menu! Cute spacey spot. A bit dark but I suppose it's for the theme setting of the restaurant. We got to seat under the "beast" and it was really cool, but not for group talking so much. The head design is hanging fairly low.. The dishes we shared and had individually were pretty tasty and flavor as far as the "steak" and Chimichurri skewers. Favorite app was the fried mushrooms, perfectly fried and the green sauce that comes with it was delicious. Kinda had a fruity pebble taste lol. I am not vegan but I do recommend this spot if you are or just simply like to try new things.. But all in all, it was a bit pricey for its type of food and portions.. so I give it a 3 overrall read more

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The ambiance, atmosphere is great & very unique. This review is only for their gluten free options. It's all very fried/unhealthy and not filling. Everyone else at the table who didn't need to eat gluten free had a delicious meal with so many options. I held off on eating here for over 8 years hoping to come when they had a better GF menu. I'd been in here for drinks and mocktails before and it was great. I waited until now bc they do have a couple more GF options than before. I love vegan food. I was sad that I left hungry and didn't enjoy the food like everyone else did. I did pay a good amount for this food too. read more

Live for a great cocktail! The bar is open seating but on a Saturday night, it fills up quickly! We were able to snag the last two seats and received great service from the bartender. Super friendly even though he was slammed making a ton of drinks. I enjoy their creative cocktails with complex flavor palettes. They are well crafted and a fun adventure to try all sorts of different drinks. It was fun to have a front seat to all his concoctions. The summer heat is driving in the flies right now so if that bothers you, you may want to try somewhere else. But if not, you can grab a drink and some bites and enjoy! read more

Kindred - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

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Came once recently when it was late night menu only. With the server's attitude, we felt like we were at Dick's Last Resort, but at least there: it's a schtick. Here it was just plain rude and uncomfortable. Asked about a drink, was told "I don't know the menu". Asked what I could eat GF off the late night only menu, that also wasn't the impossible burger. Was referred to a couple items and the impossible burger. We ended up getting the charred remains and hot potatoes and a couple of drinks. Maybe Gregg was having a bad night, we've had plenty of other positive experiences here, so I won't hold it against Kindred. read more

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My favorite vegan restaurant in all of San Diego! The chimi skewers and jackfruit SANDWICH are amazing! I also love the Caesar salad with chicken protein option. Staff is great, ambience is super rad! read more

The food and atmosphere at Kindred is always good. I had the double cheeseburger with crispy potatoes, and the were excellent. The table ordered the the crispy mushrooms and the torched carrots - both of which were excellent-" - especially the carrots. Unfortunately, the Sunday brunch time service was beyond slow. I am not sure what happened, but several customers who came in after us were served before us. So, that was disappointing. The server gave us a nice discount because of the wait time. I recommend Kindred, despite the the slow service today. read more

We went there Sunday afternoon and was sort of disappointed because this place has very good reviews We have to wait incredibly long for the food to come not sure if they're shorts have that or what? When the food came it was sort of mediocre at best. I don't dig the music they play in the background some kind of dark music read more

I mean I've been here for brunch and dinner and I still think it's kickass, so maybe I genuinely really do like it! First off, SD kicks LA's butt now post pandemic with its food and beverage scene. This place is such a welcome vegan change but it's so different from a first glance with its emo and heavy metal exterior. The decor/vibe is so charming, servers also dressed to the t's. Then we have the eclectic menu with vegan versions of some classic dishes w their own influences (asian/italian/etc..) and really good drinks, I mean really good. Strong, bold, statement making, delicious kind. There's always room for walk-ins, reservations can also be made. It's easy access. There's indoor outdoor spaces, restrooms, quick service, kind faces, delicious food, street parking. I think I've exhausted everything I wanted to say. read more

Kindred - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

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I wanted to try Kindred for my birthday last year so I asked my son to join me in celebrating. We were both surprised at how good the non alcoholic cocktails were, Stopping by for brunch, I ordered The Warlock, a yummy grain bowl that filled me up. My son ordered the Mind Melt which he said was quite good. We both enjoyed the rock vibes that included top notch customer service. We will absolutely return for another celebration! Highly recommend! read more

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It was my mom's birthday and she was excited to go to her favorite restaurant Kindred. I made a reservation. We arrived and were seated. When we sat down, I started getting a headache from the type of candles they had lit. When the server came over, I asked her if she could move it. She rolled her eyes, grabbed the candle in silenced and walked it away. She came back took our drinks and appetizers. We received our appetizers after 15/20 minutes and I drinks came 5-10 minutes after, which was fine we didn't mind. When the drinks did finally come, my sister in law tasted the drink and couldn't handle how strong it was and didn't want to send it back because it took so long to receive/didn't want to cause trouble. She was able to get it switched out but not without the server sighing, rolling her eyes and leaving in silence again. Later were close to finishing and the server took my plate out of the way when I wasn't finished with it. She paused rolled her eyes for a third time and set my plate back down. It all made sense when she dropped the check because she was receiving the auto 25% gratuity, so it didn't matter how $h!t her service was. I was uncomfortable because this was for my moms birthday and the server put a damper in the experience. Blonde heavier set with tattoos up neck server on August 17th Sunday @8pm. read more

The chimichurri seitan skewer and the egg roll burger were some of my favorite bites of food in San Diego. Probably a new fav restaurant. Edgy chic ambience-- had the classic Consortium Holdings fun cool vibes. read more

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COCKTAILS OVER FOOD (3 stars) This carnivore likes to eat vegan. BUT... - FOOD/DRINKS: cocktails -gt food - PRICE: little pricy - SERVICE: wonderful - AMBIANCE: nice I must be the antonym of (or outside) the Kindred to feel indifferent about this restaurant. I wanted to like this place ... BUT felt in short of expectation and left craving a steak. RAINBOW WARRIOR ($15) - this is a gin drink! Gin, Campari, yuzu, guava, pineapple, lime, orange blossom bitters. Refreshing with a lower tone of fruit flavor! The bar tender crafted this cocktail well as it was very easy to drink. Although my tall glass was filled with ice, I still got a quick buzz (I didn't eat all day except a piece of watermelon). HIGHLY RECOMMEND CHIMICHURRI SKEWER ($9) - house made sietan with harissa & horsey sauce. This seems to be the popular of the three choices of skewers. One thing I noticed about vegan food, it always has to be hookered out in sauce to really pop. With the amount of sauce it was covered in, it didn't not in always scream chimichurri to me. The lack of herb flavor was indeed missing. The seitan looked like and had similar texture as tofu. It had crispy edges with a thin crunchy outer layer and inside was spongy. A lot of sauce that did not remind me of chimichurri coated the skewers which had a little bit of heat - flavorful but not chimichurri. First bite was an exploration of flavors - has some smokiness and not calorically dense/heavy. However I did feel the sauce covered up the cardboard flavor of the seitan. These two skewers also made me feel a little bloated afterwards. This was the gateway and deciding favor of wanting to order more off the menu or not. There were other items on the menu that I was interested in but wasn't wow'ed into. All the vegans/vegtarians might be upset with me but the carnivore in me left craving a steak. Until the next review... read more

Kindred - Chimichurri Skewer - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

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Their food is so good!! It is usually pretty loud inside unfortunately, but I love their food so much! Also, they're open late so I've gone for a little snack after a concert before and it was so nice to have as an option read more

Vegan Goth Bar with equally unique, delicious menus for Brunch and Dinner. When you step into Kindred, you're instantly welcomed into a beautiful restaurant that's both eerie and romantic. Their attention to detail is so impressive, whether it be the tiling on the floor, the tables, lamps, etc. You're bound to take a million photos of the decor and food. But don't be fooled, it's not just a gimmick - the vegan food and drinks are absolutely delicious. We loved our late night dining experience SO MUCH that we actually came back for brunch the next day. We ordered: LATE NIGHT BBQ Yuba skewers - Yuba grilled to a crisp with a tangy, sweet BBQ sauce 5/5 Impossible Shawarma skewers - you could barely tell that the shawarma was made from impossible meat! 4/5 Rainbow Warrior cocktail - tiki rescue drink with a strong pineapple flavor and a hint of yuzu. 4/5 BRUNCH Congee - medley of flavors: soyrizo, curry tofu, chili oil, and garlic. The dish is slightly spicy! 5/5 Norm-core plate - the tofu scrambled eggs were a miss for me, but the potatoes and spam were great! 3/5 Synonym Rolls - flaky on the outside, chewy on the inside. The hint of orange flavor was *chef's kiss* 5/5 I absolutely adore this spot. Please consider adding a location in LA! I'm begging you! read more

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Stopped in for breakfast one Saturday morning. Expecting a wait, thankfully we were seated immediately. The good: -Ambiance and décor get a 5/5 from me. Love the cat-themed photos in the restroom. -Menu had a good variety of items to choose from. The bad: -Portion-size is very small. QPD (that's quantity per dollar) index is very poor, even for vegan restaurant standards. -Service is painstakingly slow. As a party of three, two of the items came out at the same time while the third 20min later after we had finished eating. What was more offensive is that the server said items come out whenever they're ready. The food tastes great, but they have to either cut their prices or bump up the portion size. Vegan restaurants are generally costlier than their non-vegan counterparts, but this is another level considering it's not fine-dining. read more

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This review is solely for the drinks and bar service - both were amazing! We came on a busy Friday night and sat at the bar. Despite the crowd, our bartender made sure we were well taken care of. The cocktails were delicious and very reasonably priced. I got the Hidden Wheel (multiple times because it was that good!). The atmosphere is super cool and unique. It is such a fun and different vibe but full of a lot of character. Overall, we had a great experience. Can't wait to come back! read more

Kindred - Interior & bar area - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

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Up until today, Kindred was my go-to recommendation for vegan food in San Diego. But today's Sunday brunch experience made me significantly rethink that. Upon sitting down we were told by the hostess "just a heads up we're out of quite a lot of things" but it was not offered up exactly what. So we browsed the menu not knowing what was not actually available. Once the server came over she listed off literally half the entire menu (not exaggerating), most of which we were planning to order. So after deciding on alternatives, we ordered. I used to love the BBQ Jackfruit sandwich and was happy it has returned to the menu, but quite disappointed to find out it no longer comes with the delicious potato chips that it used to. And while they were out of 2 of the 3 flavors of skewers, we had very fond memories of the large and satisfying ones from our previous visits, so we ordered the one they still had. And, despite having a reservation for opening time (1130am) and for only 3 people, being sat right away, and ordering just 3 dishes, it took 1 hour and 7 minutes to get our food. All the while the restaurant filled up and nearly everyone else got their food. Some even finished and left as we still sat there with just our drinks. The server who took our order eventually became the bartender and someone else did a drive-by after about a half hour just to say " shouldn't be much longer" and didn't even ask us if we needed anything else. At the 1 hour mark I flagged down whoever I could and told her we've been waiting over an hour and she just said "oh ok I'll check" and walked away. No apology or explanation at that point, and still no food shortly after that. A few minutes later a different woman did another drive by and said "your order's up next". It arrived a few minutes later with still no apology or explanation. I wish I took a picture of the skewers, because they were no joke not even 1/3 of the size of the skewers we have ordered many times in the past. These were maybe 4 inches long and not much bigger than a link of sausage. We couldn't believe it. And the Jackfruit sandwich didn't have nearly as much inside it as it used to. Shrinkflation is very real! As a loyal neighborhood local it pains me to say that I had such a poor experience here, but I doubt I'll go back on a Sunday. And it was made worse by the fact that we brought a vegan friend who recently moved to San Diego and to whom we swore this was the best in town. He was not impressed. I don't like having to apologize on behalf of a restaurant...especially since nobody at the restaurant was gonna do it. Because I have such fond memories I'll consider coming back for dinner on a different night to reassess, but we probably won't bring any more friends here, else our reputations for knowing good restaurants be further tarnished. read more

loved kindred, delicious food, strong cocktails! . we brought a family member here for brunch on a Saturday - quiet, not very busy streets in south park - thats probably what I enjoyed the most the easy check-in process with hardly a line unlike other brunch places around town. our hostess and our waitress, were friendly and gave us a run down of the menu. for me a go to by default item is always. . biscuits and gravy so I had the Start and Today, delicious overflowing gravy! yummy! ... we also ordered a congee, it was decorated rather colorful, which made it taste even better! with a group of 5 [ 3 adults, 2 infants ] they sat us by on the long patio table which made it easier when having to soothe our girls. thank you Kindred! looking forward to visiting in the near future! read more

Kindred - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

Loved the vibe with the skulls and the metal music. Cocktails were awesome and the skewers were so good. Cant wait to come back and try more drinks! read more

Kindred - Skewer HEAVEN - Cocktail Bars Near Me - San Diego, California

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