Natural Style Chicken

Reviews

• George P.

  star star star star star 12 June 2026

  This is my favorite stop when in Balboa Park/Hillcrest.
  The food is very fresh homemade style.
  Authentic Korean food at it's finest!
  The staff are fantastic quick with requests for water.
  The teriyaki sauce is better than anywhere, chili paste, dressings for the side salads Natural Chicken is flavor for your tastbuds!
  
  You won't regret stoping in!
  Personally I always get
  Half Chicken half beef with teriyaki sauce on top and  a little on the side.
  Ordered with Macaroni Salad white rice.
  
  Also, if your looking for a side to share Korean Wings on Wednesday there only a dollar per wing #2 spice level since there really spicy.

• Brittany R.

  star star star star_border star_border 30 May 2026

  If I could give half stars I would, definitely NOT a solid 3, but not a solid 4 either. I've passed by this spot countless of times...the restaurants usually on this corner change throughout the years. For the longest time it was a sushi restaurant called "Nami". Anyway, since I was in the area my gf & I decided to come in for lunch :-)
  
  PARKING
  Hillcrest just like downtown the parking is horrendous. Meters/street parking is your best bet. They also have paid ticket lots throughout the area (closest are the ace parking by Jamba Juice/Sbux & an additional privately owned lot next to it)
  
  DECOR/ATMOSPHERE/CLEANLINESS
  It's so cute in here! Sports bar vibes & Tvs playing Kpop mvs. Absolutely adorable alcohol decals explaining Somek & "cheers" next to the bathrooms. They definitely make good use of their space with bar seating, table/booth(ish) seats and outdoor patio tables. It was nice & clean in here!
  
  FOOD
  Thanks to yelp/pics I was able to minimize it down to what I truly wanted to test out here.
  
  Shrimp toast (ordered x1)
  Comes w/ 4 pieces for $8
  A little on the expensive side for 4 pieces! In the original picture the owners used they come with 5. Lol.
  These were super interesting looking on yelp! Finally trying it out for myself they were on the firmer side..idk for some reason I was expecting them to be soft & crunchy. Taste wise I thought they were good, next time I'll ask to fry it for less time. Also comes with a cocktail sauce.
  
  Chicken pops (ordered x1)
  Comes with 7-8 mini pieces $9 per order
  We got the Spicy Korean flavor w/ level 3
  Not at all spicy imo. But the sauce was very nice, not over powering with sweetness & flavorful. The chicken was a combo of white + dark meat. Quite tender but still tasty. Wish these were a little crunchier, but I'm assuming because the sauce was hot and runny it became soft. Nts, ask for sauce on the side :)
  
  Corn cheese (ordered x1)
  Comes on a mini skillet for $9
  Out of everything my gf & I liked this the least. Maybe because we've had better. The corn cheese was hot in the middle but warm on the outsides. The cheese mixture  was melted on top but only formed together and didn't melt whatsoever with the corn (never seen that before lol) a little heavy handed on the mayo & it had small red peppers too. Probably won't order this again.
  
  SERVICE
  Our server (I'm so sorry I forgot your name) was so good to us! He refilled our waters and had a mini conversation with my gf about Pokémon. He was super sweet & because of him we had a very pleasant experience.
  
  Natural style chicken is overall a solid 3.5 stars. I've had better Korean food, but for the location (not in Convoy/Kearny Mesa) it's decent! I'll def have to come in again during Happy Hour and order the Korean Style wings, Teriyaki chicken, and Bulgogi fries. Who knows! Maybe I'll have an even better experience :)

• Owen K.

  star star star star star 29 May 2026

  Just wanted something light before my wife's dr's appt. here in the Hillcrest area.
  Very good chicken wings.
  Made to order and seasoned perfectly.
  The chicken taquitos lacked flavor but was made fresh so it was very crispy.
  It came with a salsa but it didn't match the way a scoop of guacamole would've matched.
  Anyway, a little bowl of ranch dressing came with the chicken wings so I dipped the taquitos and all was well.
  Service was very personal and friendly.
  Parking will be a challenge so be patient.

• Joseph Y.

  star star star star star 24 May 2026

  Until I looked it up, I never realized that this place was a second location to their spot in Point Loma, which has been open since 1979. This location which my friend and I decided  to try out is located on the busy corner of 5th and University, perhaps the busiest area of Hillcrest. I saw no signs saying they had any arrangements with parking lots around here, so it's pretty much just street parking and expensive private paid lots, but it's worth it, trust me.
  
  Although it's not a very large place inside, they do have comfortable tables that allow seating for groups. The staff here is very friendly, we were greeted upon entry and our waiter came over to our table right away and got our drinks. They have a very small concise menu that uses their amazing chicken with homemade sauces in a variety of ways while also having a nice selection of Korean inspired dishes. I really love the fusion of BBQ and Korean that their menu offers, I wanted to try so many things. The ¼ chicken plate I ordered came with chicken, one side, potatoes, corn and two tortillas. The chicken was freakin amazing and very well seasoned. The rotisserie chicken I had was very tender, juicy and flavorful, they absolutely nailed it. My side choice of macaroni salad was fantastic as well, not too oily and mayo-ey like a lot of them that you get. My friend ordered some of their bulgogi tacos for both of us which were both our favorites on the table. Those tacos were damn near perfect, the bulgogi was spot on and just amazing. The fresh veggies, soft corn tortillas and sauce were excellent as well. But the star of those tacos was the hot sauce, that was the best hot sauce I've ever tasted, I had them bring more of it because it was so good. It had really great flavorful and at the same time was super spicy and you didn't feel the burn until the food went down, it's really hard to balance the burn and flavor sometimes, but this hot sauce pulls it off. My friend also tried their Kimchi fried rice, which he also raved about.
  
  I must say I wasn't expecting this place to be this good, but it surprised me out of nowhere. Like I said before the service was exceptional, our waiter was very talkative and told us how the place prepares everything and gave us a run down of the food. The food here is fresh, made in house and you can taste the care that goes into prepping everything they use to make it. Natural Style Chicken is easily a five star place in my book, everything was perfect and the prices aren't too bad either.

• Christopher F.

  star star star star star 20 May 2026

  Have you had the salt and pepper chicken here?  If not, you should!  The flavors are good too but the simple is sometimes the best. Come try their half or whole salt and pepper chicken!!! Worth it!