June Wong sat on a tiny bench outside an empty storefront at the corner of Grim Avenue and North Park Way. “Oh yes, I grew up here,” she said. “My parents made me work here.” In 1975, her dad opened a little Chinese restaurant, which eventually became known as a place where you could get an affordable breakfast. “Eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and toast” cost maybe five dollars, or seven. For nearly a half-century, her dad, Mr. Lucky Wong, never charged more than $9.99. It would be unthinkable.
“Lucky” got his name, according to the story, because of his frequent good fortune at the racetrack. “He was lucky,” June says. Maybe. But at his diner, the customers were the winners. Sure, Lucky was the cook. He was the server. He took your breakfast order, went in the back and prepared it, brought it to you and eventually brought you the bill. But talk with hundreds of people in North Park and they will tell you the best thing about Lucky’s place was not on the menu. Whether you came in one time or a hundred and Lucky cared about you. Matthew Lyons was a regular customer who saw people who did not know it was “cash only” and were simply trusted on the honor system. “There were people who knew it was a place where you could come get a bite to eat, even though they never intended to pay the bill and that was OK and they were still welcome back.”
Over the decades, he was known and so beloved by so many people that networking through him was common. He was a tireless advocate for North Park, and a friend and confidant to Matthew, who ended up opening Tribute Pizza in the old Post Office across the street. In time, Lucky’s little corner café became familiar to San Diego’s political movers and shakers, who would meet, dine, converse, and be photographed over his no-frills breakfast.
When 89-year-old Lucky Wong died in 2024, Matthew began thinking about some kind of lasting memorial. “And so we started a petition,” and in short order got more than 4,000 signatures, and on a fine summer day in 2025, outside where Lucky’s restaurant used to be, a grateful crowd gathered. Matthew was amazed. “It was unbelievable. Kinda like, I don’t know, a thousand people showed up.” There were cheers and memories shared. There was traditional Chinese dancing, and then, to the city street sign above that North Park corner, an addition was unveiled. The entire block now and forever will carry the honorary name of “Lucky Lane.”
June Wong summed it up. “It’s not about this diner,” she said. “It’s the impact he made on people.” So many of those people made donations, that in the end there was more than enough to pay, not only for the honorary signage, but to create a scholarship for students studying the culinary arts. It was like one more gift from Lucky to the North Park community he loved, and now a permanent part of history About San Diego.
