Jyoti Bihanga

Ahhhh… Perhaps my favorite restaurant in San Diego. Though I’ve been to fancier, ritzier (and more expensive) restaurants, none can replace the role of Jyoti Bihanga in my dining life.

I’m not sure what exactly it is about Jyoti Bihanga that I love so much. It is located in Normal Heights, one of the best neighborhoods in San Diego for wandering around and exploring the shops. Everywhere you go is filled with personality. There are bookstores with huge selections of used poetry, coffee shops filled with teen angst, and magic shops selling oils and potions.


Jyoti Bihanga, or JB as I affectionately call it, is housed in a beautiful corner building, built nearly a century ago, directly underneath the neon “Normal Heights” sign. The ceilings are high, painted light blue with clouds, and the windows are two-story arches that fill the space with natural light.

This vegetarian restaurant serves a variety of American and Indian dishes, including a curry of the day, a special of the day that usually features mock meat, soups and dessert of the day, and their regular menu.

The infinite blue salad is a good option for a filling salad with steamed vegetables in addition to fresh leafy greens. The sandwich menu includes the Buddha Burger, a homemade grain patty of above average quality on a wheat bun with fresh lettuces and tomato. They have a variety of wraps, my favorite being the Shiva wrap which is a wrap with the curry of the day rolled into one with a full on salad, served with their homemade chutney. But my all time favorite is their best-selling Neatloaf. Available in vegetarian and vegan versions (vegetarian is more full in flavor), it is a grain and cheese (if you have it) loaf topped with a homemade barbeque sauce and served with the most delicious mashed potatoes this side of the Mississippi.

Now I must warn the un-expecting: this restaurant is staffed entirely with followers of a guru of a somewhat obscure Hindi-based religion. The servers are friendly, but odd. Many speak English as a second language, and most seem a little spacey. Be sure to check out the picture of the guru hanging on the wall by the bathroom; he is lifting 300,000 pounds with one arm while he levitates. No, I’m kidding. But he is supposedly lifting some absurd amount of weight. If you’re lucky, they are sometimes showing videos of the same unbelievable feat.

There are sister restaurants across the country and even in Paris. I have been to a few and in the United States they seem to offer a similar fare, somewhere in between American and Indian, all with the infamous Neatloaf. However in Paris the food was as Parisian vegetarian is: bland. That aside, though, the San Diego branch offers a delicious, home-cooked, affordable meal with a beautiful atmosphere, in a funky neighborhood. Bon appetite!