Continental Dry Cleaners

I used to live nearby so they were close and convenient. I still come back here even though I moved out if the area.
The price is very good and the staff are great! Sure, there are a few weirdos that wander around outside, but that’s pretty much all if downtown. They have free parking along the left side of the building which is a huge plus for a spot in downtown San Diego!
I’ve never had any problems with my clothing being cleaned here. Once I needed to have the crease in a pair of pants removed that they had added — they took care if it right then.
Like most dry cleaners, there are bound to be mix ups or damaged clothes — that’s the nature of the business. But, if you look at how many thousands of articles of clothing they handle every year, I’m sure it’s a very small percentage that are damaged or miss placed, etc.
Overall, I would recommend Continental to just about anyone! Five stars!

I reluctantly gave this place a one star only because they do not allow you to give it zero stars. I have gone to them before. They did a good job. Nothing special, nothing horrible. I then tried them again and what a nightmare!!! I got 26 items dry-​cleaned and out of those 26, five of them were damaged. They didn’t hesitate giving me my $ 2.75 or $ 4.00 (dresses) back for the items damaged but they would not even think about giving me any money to compensate for the damage. The worst part was that she admitted that it was their doing but said unless I provided a receipt for all five items, she wouldn’t even compensate me a dime. Now I don’t know about most people but the minute I wear any clothing item, I throw away the receipt because it’s nonreturnable at that point. So, FIVE damaged items, ZERO dollars to compensate. Lastly, they had another dress of mine in the back and she said they had to dry-​clean it again but I told her I would rather take it elsewhere because after damaging five of my items, I didn’t want to take anymore risks. She refused to give it back to me. I had to go so far as to threaten to get the police involved for stolen property. I got my item back within two hours. I feel bad for the sweet girls that work there but the older lady in the back is awful! DON’T TRUST THIS DRY-​CLEANER!!! FYI-​they have two Unilocal accounts and this one shows 4 stars (now less since I posted and gave them one star) and the this one that’s 2.5 stars (or less again after posting). Different addresses, same business. Be careful!!! Pay the extra money and go to a place that has a great reputation.

When I first went into this place some guy followed me in and then demanded money from me. The person behind the counter just stood there, laughed and said «oh well». I called and told the manager about this. He apologized and I thought he was a nice man so I would give this place another chance. That was a mistake. They ruined one of my shirts. It did not have that spot of tar or some type of dark plastic on the collar. I work in a office. You can tell them you want your items starched, but don’t waste your breathe because that’s not going to happen. In fact, don’t waste your time or jeopardize your personal safety at this place.

5 stars for Continental Cleaners!
I had a job interview yesterday at 3;30 PM, got out at 5, and another job interview today at 11:30 AM. I only have one solid white dress shirt, which is what I think is the most appropriate color to wear with a suit for a job interview, and I suck at ironing things.
When I got home yesterday, I was frantically calling all of the nearby cleaners to see how soon my shirt could be laundered and pressed, and I kept getting «tomorrow after 5 PM» or «Friday morning.»
Finally I called Continental Cleaners, and I was told «tomorrow at noon if you pay one dollar extra for rush service.» I asked, «any way you can have it ready by 10 AM?» He said «one second» and I heard him chat with someone else, then he confirmed it was just one dress shirt and told me he can do it by 10 AM the next day. It was 5:47 when I got off the phone with him, and they close at 6.
So, I rushed down there as fast as I could and was lucky to find a parking space right across the street, and then hurried into the cleaners, walking through the door at 5:59.
Total was $ 3.15 paid in advance (with the $ 1 rush surcharge), which is definitely reasonable. There is an extra $ 1 fee if it’s not paid until pickup, but I prepaid so that wasn’t an issue for me.
Today I got there about 9:40 with my pickup ticket and they were just finishing up ironing it. It was ready at 9:55 (before 10 as promised).
A+ service, shirt is clean and pressed and price very reasonable. Definitely not the closest cleaners to me (there are four in walking distance of where I live, i had to drive here) but I’ll be back for any rush orders I have in the future.
There were some spelling errors on their window signs («suade» instead of «suede» and «comfortors» instead of «comforters») which of course doesn’t affect their service, but does say something about their proofreading skills (or lack thereof)! They don’t lose a star for that.
Pro tip; if you park on Broadway or north, the meters cost $ 1.25 per hour. If you go one block south to E street, meters are only $ 1 per hour. Not a huge difference but for those of us who count pennies or hate giving our hard-​earned coins to the City, it feels like a minor victory to park at the cheaper meters. Also if you go a block or more east and get off Broadway in either direction, you may be able to find free parking, but there’s a good chance all the free spots will be taken.

Been there a few times since I started working downtown. Great job so far. No complaints.

Shall I give them 5 stars?
I drove by this place a couple of weeks ago and was drawn in by the really low cost per item that was advertised on their storefront. I decided to give it a try and turn in my favorite vintage skirt and a shirt. The total for two items was $ 5.90 and they gave me an option to pay when I pick up. Sweet!
When I sat back in my car I was so terrified after I read some of the reviews here.
Thankfully they did a great job. My skirt had a stain from a green pen and they removed it flawlessly! Both garments look clean and pressed and generally better than when I turned them in, which may seem expected but with some dry cleaners you just don’t see the difference.
Efficient service and metered parking should be very easy to find within a block away.
I would risk to give them a try again.

I’ve been coming here for over a year because of their prices and the fact I can get my clothes the next day. I typically have over 20 pieces or more to clean about twice a month and they have never lost anything. All dry cleaners are gonna have a problem now and then that’s why you’ll hear complaints. As much money as I have saved by going here, I could buy 20 new shirts. You can even pay more for faster service!
Edit 8÷31÷2015 — Unfortunately they went out of business. Must have been their cheap prices. Went to the dry cleaner that took their place and didn’t really care for them or their prices. Sorry to see Continental go. Take my dry cleaning all the way to La Mesa now to get the low prices.

This dry cleaner is literally across the street. Too bad I will NEVER EVER go back.
So I’ll start out by saying, I had a pretty big order (17 pieces) that they promised me by 5pm the next day. Fantastic, right?! 24 hour turn around? and so close! Can’t beat that…
5:05 pm the next day, I show up to get my order. The guy disappears for 5 – 10 minutes and returns without any of my clothes. Apparently one of the shirts isn’t finished yet. He tells me he can either give me all my clothes and refund my money for the one shirt, or I can wait a few days for them to finish. I decide to take the clothes that were ready and come back for the one shirt.
I guess they weren’t expecting me to take that option, because they had to wrangle up all the pieces and get them ready to go. Another 5 – 10 minute wait.
Then I’m walking out to my car and notice that all the pants are missing. Had to go back.
Finally, I tell him to just give me the shirt back and to refund my money. So off he goes…
Well I guess the shirt was in the middle of being cleaned and still had chemicals on it, so I had to wait another 10 minutes for them to wash it off. Then the owner/​manager comes out and tells me that it’s still wet, so I need to take the plastic off and hang it up immediately.
Ok, cool. Now time for the refund I was offered, right? Wrong. She looked puzzled as to why I would even ask for such a thing. Well you’ve wasted a half hour of my time, your guy offered it to me, and if the shirt is still wet it clearly isn’t finished. But no… she would not be moved. Fine lady, you keep my $ 3 and I’ll take my bimonthly dry cleaning business elsewhere.

I was so happy to find a place close to my new home and was thrilled about the inexpensive prices… but yikes, my suits and silk blouses came back faded and dull. I am very disappointed.

THIS PLACE IS BEYOND HORRIBLE!!!
First of all if you see 1 stars and 5 stars only for the same business, think twice, because obviously some of these reviews are rigged.
I walked to this place when I first moved to get to know my neighborhood cleaners. I dropped off an expensive custom made chinese silk outfit to be dry cleaned. These people WASHED it, then NEVER called for pick up as they said they would. When I called, they said it wasn’t ready. A month went by and I called again. We went to pick up and all of the colors of the silk mixed together. We complained of the damage and they said they never gauranteed that it would come out right… we asked to talk to the manager, because we asked for dry cleaning, not for washing.
Living across the street we kept coming back but there was some mysterious ducking of someone in the back whenever we visited. It was strange the way we couldn’t get a manager to talk to us. They said he wasn’t there each time. They said they would «investigate.» They sent us a letter saying that the damage was not their fault. I would give it negative stars if I could!!! DON’T GO! There are a million other places in this area. Just pick one. You are better off!

Long story short, stopped using this place months ago b/​c problems with losing clothes and not actually cleaning clothes at times. My present dry cleaners went on vaca for july so i went back here b/​c it’s on my way home from work– first time back they lose yet another article of clothing. wah-​wah.

Great value and good service!
I had my down comforter dry cleaned here — it is too large for my washer.
It was neatly folded on a large, heavy-​duty hanger and smelled WONDERFUL when I got it back.
I also had my uniforms cleaned here for cheap 3.00÷3.25 per piece.
Mak Cleaners (on Market Street between 9^th and 10^th — see my review) charged me more than $ 5.00.
If you drop off your items before 11 AM, you can get same day service.
Best place to go if you are downtown or East Village.

There are dry cleaners closer to my apartment in downtown, and my apartment even offers a pick-​up, dry cleaning service, but I would still rather come here. I have always been happy with the cleaning jobs they’ve done, and they are among the most reasonably priced dry cleaners in all of downtown. They are quick too; most of the time my order was handled by the next day.

It’s not good… Destroyed an expensive shirt, tried to fix it by tailoring it but during the process of dry cleaning it was stretched out and shrunk up… I had been going to this place for a while and was offered no other alternative I specifically told them not to take the shirt in. I won’t be going back, the prices are cheap but you get what you pay for…

They haven’t destroyed or lost anything of mine yet, but they can’t lift a stain to save their life. These are wine stains or anything, but dirt from my weekly business trips to Mexico. I’m not a laundry expert, but I’d think paying for a dry clean would mean your shit comes back clean! I continue to go because apparently I’m one of the few residents of Golden Hill who need to show up to work in a pressed shirt, so no entrepreneur has bothered to open one here. Dry clean for me is more of an afterthought, more of a «crap all my shit’s wrinkled» realization than a planned activity to ensure I maintain a decent image for the sake of the shareholders at UPS. So unless someone opens a dry cleaner closer to me, I’ll continue to go to this place that can’t lift a stain on the underside of my sleeve, because I hate ironing.

i am VERY particular about my dry cleaner — these guys are competent, timely/​fast, courteous, know my name, and the location cannot be beat. I like this dry cleaner. they are honest and just really cool people.

This place used to be decent when they were further near the ballpark, but since they re-​opened, possibly with new management, I was really displeased with my experience. I went back to them thinking, oh great, a nice reasonably priced cleaner is back, but I was SOOO wrong.
They didn’t get stains removed, would not reclean without saying they would likely damage the item, would not refund me the amount, and ALL of the items I brought were wrinkled and creased– and I don’t mean just a little.
Terrible and I will never go back. I guess I’m back to my cleaners in Hillcrest.