San Diego Mexican Food Reviews

After the question is asked enough times, "Where is the real good Mexican food in San Diego", one gets tired of giving the honest and true answer (being - it's impossible to answer such a question) and just decides to settle the damn issue. So here is where we settle it.

The honest and true answer is that there is no answer. It's too broad and needs to be narrowed down. As "American food" can be just about anything, SD Mexican food is too big a topic. Adding to the confusion, some "real" Mexican food you can find in San Diego, and some you can't. Continuing the analogy with American food - If you go to Boise and ask for great southern chicken fried steak, you may not get it.

And tacos can lead to a translation problem. Most "tacos" in San Diego are two tiny tortillas with a scoop of meat, diced onion, and cilantro. If you want a crunchy taco with cheese that's not real Mexican, although there are several mom and pop Mexican places that serve them.

So....... When people (and by "people" I mean white people who don't need to experience some of the more questionable parts of a pig) ask about good Mexican places in San Diego, I assume they want something authentic but not rustic, and they don't want the style of Mexican most people in San Diego actually eat (i.e. the various -bertos shops, fish tacos, burritos, and carne asada fries).

If we get rid of the above mentioned SD style Mexican food we toss out roughly 65% of the choices. Good, we've narrowed it down. And I think we can all agree to toss out Old Town Cafe and other touristy stuff, as good as it might be. That's another 10% fewer options. So we're left with around 250 of the Mexican restaurants between Del Mar and the U.S. border to sift through. That's a lot.

Again, that's a lot. If you dive down University avenue from Hillcrest to the 15 you'll notice there is a taco shop or mariscos or Mexican something or other on every corner. Even if you assume only 1 in 30 of those is really good you still have plenty of great places to eat just on that one street. Considering that San Diego metro area is about 20 miles across, and seeing as you'll have no trouble listing 3-4 truly great places on just one street........

That's my point - Asking where the great Mexican food is becomes frustrating when there are so many great choices. Especially when many of the choices are things white suburban Americans won't like. Tacos de Buche are 100% authentic. But they are only really good if you like extra fatty pork jowl.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that most shops will do things much better than others, and many will have specialties. Las Cuatro Milpas has unremarkable tacos, but the beans and rice is incredible. Other places will be just the opposite. What I'm getting at is that "best Mexican" is just too big a question.

Okay. Enough already. People just want a freakin' answer. You want the Best Mexican in San Diego? You really want me to narrow it down for you? Try these.

Tacos El Gordo
The real deal. You can get basically the same thing in the original shop in Tijuana. The menu is small, but it doesn't matter. You want great tacos, and you absolutely get great tacos. There's a woman making your corn tortillas right in front of you, a guy standing in front of a vat of communally stewing meats, and a guy slicing meat off a rotisserie. That's about it. Not being a fan of odd meats I just get the tacos de adobada, and tacos de asada.

Being right off the 5 freeway, this is easy to get to.

Mama Testa
The upscale location in Hillcrest may give you the wrong impression.

The choices here are extensive and authentic. The menu is creative and familiar all at the same time. They have a huge salsa selection, which is a bonus. However, with food this good one doesn't need much salsa. Parking is a nightmare, just deal with it.