Streetcar Merchants of Fried Chicken, Doughnuts & Coffee

Have you ever felt so blase about a post that you kind of put it off and keep putting it off until you kind of don't care anymore?

That's how I felt about this post...

The pretentiously named StreetCar Merchants of Fried Chicken, Doughnuts & Coffee opened in mid-December. Complete with old timey font and baristas with vests (Wait, no Rollie Fingers mustaches?), this place serves three things that I like. Unfortunately, chicken is not fried up until after 11 am.  We got there right at 8 am when they were supposed to be open but were told to come back in half an hour, which we did by killing time  hanging out in our car...

We would have to pass up the chicken since we didn't plan to come back later (although Kirbie and Mr. K did later that same day; read her post linked at the end)...

Decor was uber hipster cool (said in sarcastic tone). Wood panels, brick, metal, whimsical art, the usage of a Craftsman tool chest for their creamers, straws, stirrers, etc., plus a penny lined bar and stools made with pipes.



Their coffee was from Intelligentsia. Bert had the house drip coffee while I had the cold brew (which was on the bitter side until I added cream and sugar). I don't know why their selection of donuts seemed sparse, but you would think they would be fully stocked. Their display cases of donuts were either empty or only had  a few out.






As you can see from the prices, they are on the high side.  The owner chatted with us about the donuts (how long it took to make the dough, how they were trying to be different by making it 'brioche' instead of regular doughnut dough, etc,).


Our coffees and our donut selection - TC's S'mores, mine was a flavor that I don't even remember anymore because it sucked so much, and Bert's Maple Bacon.  Yes, the donuts are square and made with brioche dough. They seemed heavier and a bit on the greasy side.

Look at the two donuts with the toppings. That's what you are paying for. A tiny smidgen of toppings.  There is no filling in the donuts to carry on those particular flavors. TC was so disappointed with her S'mores donut. There was only four somewhat torched marshmallow pieces, crumbled graham cracker dust and a couple of tiny chocolate squares. Nothing inside. Bert's bacon pieces were also sparse.  This was a major rip off. My donut had dark chocolate on it. I remember not liking it and not wanting to finish it. Both TC and I couldn't and didn't want to finish ours despite my feelings of "not wanting to waste it because I spent $4 each on them but they sucked so badly I didn't care".

Really?

Blah...

WTF...

When I eat a donut, I expect it to feel and taste a certain way. The doughnut dough was heavy and oily. It literally did not have a good mouthfeel. Bert, being the trooper that he was, finished his donut with his coffee. He didn't think the donut was that bad but we all agreed that the donut itself was one dimensional and that the toppings didn't justify the price. I don't give a fk about how long it takes to make the dough or how hipster this place was, the donuts weren't great at all and I don't think I'll be trying these again (no matter what the flavor).


The coffees were much better than the doughnuts.  I wish we could have tried the fried chicken but again, it was too early and they only fry 'em up after 11 am.

See the corner across the street (southeast corner of Lincoln and 30th)?  That will soon be the new location of Crazy Burger which is a few blocks north on 30th.

Who else went to Streetcar?
Here is Darlene's writeup on Zagat SD, December 17, 2014
Kirbie got to try not only their doughnuts but their chicken mid- December 2014 followed by Jinxi in early January this year.
Articles:
"North Park's Streetcar has fried chicken skins, adds Nashville-Style hot chicken". Eater SD, December 18, 2014
"StreetCar's new secret fried chicken is a killer". Eater SD, January 2, 2015
"A desire named StreetCar" SD Reader, January 10, 2015
7 Things you need to know about StreetCar, your new fried chicken and doughnut to go". Thrillist

Streetcar Merchants of Fried Chicken, Doughnuts and Coffee
4002 30th St.
San Diego, CA 92104
(619) 546-9010

FB page plus the polarizing reviews on Y***

To be fair, we didn't have the chicken, but that's because they don't start frying it until 11 am. I'm not sure if we will be back for the chicken. We definitely weren't impressed with their donuts.  Even my older nephews and their friends said that the donuts looked good but after having a few bites, thought it was heavy and not worth it. They said they only went there because the donuts "looked good on Instagram" but didn't taste as good as they looked. I'm glad I''m not the only one that drank the Haterade.