All Things Bright and British

«P’raps it should be called All Things Bright & Idaho. Right, let’s have a look around.!»

I have been here several times. The first time I came here it was a great lil shop. I bought some of my fav drinks and candy and a place to think about when I had visited England. This time around I walked out with nothing. I spoke to the owner and he said they are under renovation. I hope they get the shop back up and back to the way it was. I think its a great lil place as long as they stick to what the original concept of the store really is and hopefully bring back fresh products and goods…

We used to go here to get our British foods, but then Fresh and Easy started selling the baked beans, Robinsons, and Cadburys that we used to buy. We were in the La Mesa village area, so we stopped by to see if there was anything new. However when we were there, everything and I mean everything was expired! They were even selling stuff as «dated» at a discount. This stuff expired last year! The stuff at a regular price was expensive and expired too but just a few months out of date. Is that even legal or approved by code? Not only they have a $ 5 min card limit and they don’t accept Bank of America cards. So I paid in cash, but she didn’t even have enough dollars to give me change. Just gonna order online or go to F&E for my English stuff.

I was so happy when I knew there was an English shop close to my new home in San Diego. Sad to say I was quite disappointed and can’t really understand the 4 and 5 star ratings. This shop is a disaster. There was a freezer in one of the aisles blocking access to most of the merchandise, the back of the shop is blocked off and full of junk, many of the food items had expired. This store needs an overhaul badly!!! Certainly won’t return.

This is an excellent little store and the own is super nice.

This quaint shop has a great assortment of hard to find items. No wonder this place bustles with customers running in for a quick bite, treat, collectible or bag full of European products. Recently I needed some mint jelly and hunted through markets and retailers looking for a jar. I finally found a 4 oz jar at a supermarket priced at a ridiculous $ 7, and it looked as though it would glow in the dark! Then I remembered ATB&B and behold! Not only did they carry a naturally colored and flavored jelly, they also had classic mint sauce that was as inexpensive as it was delicious. Prices and selection here are great, and Bill is friendly and fun to converse with. This kind of unique business is what’s right with La Mesa Village.

I came here again because hell, there aren’t many places to get the candy of my people. I had hoped that the whole expiration date thing had gone away and everything would have fresh dates.
NOPE
I picked up two candies. One expired this March (2013) and the other in April 2013. I didn’t even bother checking the others. Last time this happened my candy had lost most of it’s flavor and had a chalky coating on it. This place used to be a great quaint little spot. Not sure what happened
Sad indeed. Needless to say I walked out with nothing

they currently don’t have outside movies, but they have special, hard-​to-​find Coffee Crisp candy bars. always interesting mechandise

This place is a really nice little piece of europe! It has all types of european foods, teas, and snacks! Not to mention some tea sets and small gifts that English-​loving person would adore! The owner and shop worker are incredibly nice. Some of the sweetest people, and in the summer they host showings of Doctor Who out on the mini parking lot! They also have a freezer that holds pasties, which are SO good, and meats and things like that. There is also a separate freezer for frozen desserts like flavored ice, and there is a good sized tea and candy section near the front. They also get in fresh shipments of licorice. The back has all the souvenirs and different Europe-​style sodas and drinks. All in all, I go between here and World Market for just about everything.

I was very disappointed at the lack of selection in this store. The side room was closed off and the frozen items were out in a case in front of the store. I picked up a few things, but found the tea selection extremely limited. I just don’t see how people like this place. Two of the items I purchased were expired, so check labels. The frozen meat pies were okay, but not great. Their new tea brand expired several months ago. Found a better tea selection at World Market instead. I also found some of the items I was looking for on
much cheaper. I’m sorry but the food items just didn’t look very fresh to me in the store. I should not have placed those coins in the street parking meter– didn’t stay very long.

I like this store. Fantastic service, impressive selection, reasonable prices. Good access in the heart of the village of La Mesa.

This is a small shop packed with goodies from England and the British Isles. I went here after spending a weekend at the LA renaissance faire in Irwindale, jonesing for Shepard pie. To my delight, I not only found frozen Shepard’s pie, but frozen Cornish pasties, Banger rolls, bangers, scones, Steak & Kidney pies, Meat pies, and Worcestershire cashews!
I also spotted haggis, and Vegemite!
I made the Banger rolls for breakfast and they were delicious! Flaky crust, and very savory sausage, I AM HOOKED.

I’m glad this place is here in my neighborhood. So cute and quaint! I have had fun surprising VIP guests from England and Scotland with treats from this store. My VIPs have exclaimed «I haven’t had these since I was a kid!» when seeing the assortment of treats. (Hostess Mission accomplished.) I love the assortment of strong ginger beverages too! Great for mixers. Yum!

I live right up the street and have been wanting to check this place out. maybe i missed something but when you call a place ‘all things bright and british’ i assume theres going to be more than a dingy market with food that most likely went bad back in ’84. honestly, its a market. all they have is food. Im not against british food but name it something like the ‘all things bright and british in the supermarket’. They often have a bagpiper out front which im a fan of, and they did prodcast the royal wedding outside on a large projector, and they have a good stand for oktoberfest (food wise, obviously).

I went to England my first time back in 1980 and I fell in love with some basics, like scones and clotted cream. It has been very hard over the years to find delicacies like this in the US, but not any longer. Hidden in the village like setting of La Mesa you will find this British shop. They say great things come in small packages and it is definitely true for All Things Bright and British. This is a small shop packed with goodies from England and the British Isles. Whether you want tea or frozen goods you will find it here.
Things not to miss, the Pasties! Delicious little packets of wonderful flavors, things like steak and kidney pie. They have dessert ones too! The pasties are frozen and you can make them at home. There are amazing ginger beers, malteezers and even shepherds pie. So if you aren’t going to be traveling to the Britain anytime soon, this shop can fulfill that English craving you are having.

My mom is from Sydney and loves Vegemite but it is so hard to find. We were told about this place and rushed there and were so pleased! What a hidden gem! It’s a little pricey for me but I guess when you can’t really get this stuff just anywhere, you’re willing to pay a pretty penny for it. Lots of cool stuff in there; drinks, snacks, cookies, crackers, collectibles.
The parking was a little confusing on their lot, so FYI.

I live a 10 minute walk from Shakespeares but was in the area so popped in here.
They have a great selection of pasties & pies in their freezer plus all the normal stuff.
Shakespeares has a LOT more choice but I’m not sure about the frozen stuff. Its probably because I am really really f*cking lazy & ATB&B has a glass fronted freezer.
Anyway, we got a load of stuff, plonked it on the counter & the lady charged us. She then noticed that she had missed a couple of chocolate bars & sweets & started to nag us for putting them behind the bigger things (we just put everything ion the counter!). Anyway, she then didn’t charge us for them (we tried) but she said (something like) ‘just pay next time. Consider that a gift!‘
So she gets 5 stars!!!

Pros
+ Holy crap British stuff
+ That you may not find elsewhere
+ Lady who runs the store is really nice
+ Snazzy teapot section
+ Frozen and refrigerated products
+ Nice alternative to Cost Plus
Cons
— Main lot has about 3 spaces and then there are timed parking spaces. Don’t really think this is a problem unless you’re going to browse this rather small shop for more than 20 minutes
— Might suffer from import price shock
Random comment: Go Arsenal!

Reading the reviews for this cute little shop made me remember to review it – and to get back over there. I sometimes stop by when I go to the Oktoberfest but I should get there more often as close as I live to it. If you come back from a trip «across the pond» with a craving for the foods you ate there, this is the place to come and buy them. They even have a freezer with bangers, steak and kidney pies (yum), shepherd’s pies, etc, as well as cans of custard and boxes of powder to make it from scratch, Devonshire cream, jams, «biscuits» (cookies)and you name it! Tell them Unilocal sent you!

I love this little chunk of Great Britain in La Mesa of all places. When I get a hankering for a lion bar or pack of flakes and a Lilt I head here.
Good selection of English products packed into this relatively small store. Tons of canned goods and of course a plethora of English teas. I hear they have haggis in the frozen section, but have yet to try it.
The owners are very sweet and always love to chat it up. An interesting little local novelty store that I highly recommend supporting in the community.