Cilantro’s Taco Shop

Arrived in La Mesa after 9 pm. Family was hungry after being on the road for 5 hours. Choices nearby were pizza, wings, & tacos. Since Lent had begun the family chose seafood tacos…
This place hit the spot for our taco fix. Friendly staff, and good food.

The carne asada taco is bomb here! First time here and I’ll definitely come back. Staff is friendly and food is great!

It was just alright for a taco plate & side order of rolled tacos.
Not much flavor to either and with so many taco shops around I probably will not go back to try anything else.
It’s been said that a «first impression is a lasting impression» and basically, I wasn’t impressed.
The place was clean and the staff was pleasant for a plus.

Under new ownership now and this place fucking sucks. It used to be way better. Stay away now, it’s a waste of money and freaking time. I found sausage casing in my chorizo burrito.

Great food great price flavor is fantastic have to try there 7seas soup this was great will come back again

El cilantro was good when I first moved here but since tasting other taqueria, I like the other places more. I like the sauce section except for the guacamole. They have a ghetto burrito that I want to try buy it weighs 7 lbs and I can’t finish all that by myself…

I just ate here on Thanksgiving. They have the nerve to call this crap food? The worst Mexican I ever had. The carne asada tasted like burnt roadkill. It was awful. I got a taco too which I took a taste of the meat. It was tough and burnt too. I threw it away without taking a single bite. I’ve eaten here a few times with mixed results. Well today’s result is that I’ll never come back again. Avoid this place it’s terrible. Apparently another diner thought so too. He slinged his slop all over the front of the trash can on his way out. Looked pissed.

I just left from here and I’m very disappointed. I always go to the El
Cilantro in IB. (I guess these aren’t connected businesses anymore) My boyfriend and I walked in and ordered Carne Asada Fries, full portion, we also asked them to put extra fries and extra Carne Asada. $ 14+ and we got a normal sized order in a to go container. Even though we specifically told her it was to eat in. I’m so upset, but I figure I’ll just never come back to this place again. At the place in IB they actually give you extra fries and extra carne. They don’t rip you off and charge you for it. Don’t eat here.

The employees are very friendly. Caldo de Res is my new favorite soup and meal at El Cilantro. Perfect for a hangover. My only complaint is the AC was not working on a hot day and we wanted to dine in.

They have pretty good food and are reasonably priced. I must say they have really really great hot sauces. The problem with this place is that they can’t get your order right, especially if you call over the phone. My advice is don’t call an order in to this place, walk in so you can thoroughly explain what you want and be prepared to explain more than once and hope they get it right. We use this place as a quick diner option because they are close. There’s much better mexican food in the area than here.

Poor and not good! Old owner use to cook really good but since there are new management I don’t like it at all!

Ordered the salsa verde carnitas special plate that was on the sign for $ 6.99. The carnitas were great. Rice and beans were mediocre which is normal at most taco shops. The flour tortillas were delicious and about the only thing my 2 year old wanted to eat.
BF got two fish tacos. I would stick to the taco trucks just for the flavor of the fish itself. But if you like your fish tacos with chipotle sauce that burns your mouth then go for it. Too spicy for this PR girl.
I was a little displeased when the girl charged full price for the carnitas plate. I pointed out to her on the sign it said it was the special and should be $ 3 less. If I hadn’t said anything my Bf would not have caught it. But she fixed it quickly and even threw in a free juice for my daughter. She also was kind enough to separate the beans and rice from the carnitas because she didn’t want the spicy sauce to get on the rice she thought my daughter would eat. Very considerate.
Overall, tasty little neighborhood taco shop. Would definitely visit again.

These burritos are large and flavorful. The atmosphere inside is always relaxed. Good little place for the neighborhood.

I will start by saying a bean and cheese burrito $ 5! I think a bit much. I know how a lot of ppl at taco shop are a little shy on the cheese well not this place. I love cheese but in this case there was just waaayyy too much cheese. I couldn’t eat it, it was getting to the point that it was making my nauseous. It was my 1^st and prob my last time coming here. I can’t say this was the worse experience, I just didn’t like it.

You walk in and immediately your mouth is salivating from all the heavenly food aromas! It took be back to being a kid and being in my mother’s kitchen or my Tia’s!
The restaurant is clean with a friendly staff. They greeted me as soon as I walked in.
The menu is awesome with many wonderful choices.
I tried the carne asada torta and it was unbelievably deliciously amazing! Everything on it was fresh and flavorful.
I just happened on this restaurant and I’m so sad that I live so far away. But it’s probably a good thing, otherwise I’d be gaining a lot of lbs!
I will e coming back for sure!

Came here the other day to try out this place. Ordered the rolled tacos and some el pastor tacos. Specifically said to put the guacamole on the side so it doesn’t get all hot on the rolled tacos. Unfortunately when I got home I noticed the guacamole on top of the rolled tacos. Eh. Can’t stand that. So first off they didn’t listen. The rolled tacos was mainly tortilla and not a ton of meat. Second strike. The Al pastor or tacos were decent but didn’t blow me away. The best thing was the green sauce from the taco bar. I am going to come back and try a breakfast burrito, but as for the other items. I’ll try my luck somewhere else.

I was looking for a taco shop a little more local to the SDSU area than Lolita’s which takes us downtown or to Clairmont.
We ordered the carne asada fries. The actual carne deserves about a 3.5 the fries however were a zero. The fries were soft and soggy and almost seemed undercooked. I called ahead and was told it would be ready by the time I got there, I was in no hurry and when I got there it was not busy so why could the fries not be cooked correctly? It was so bad I did not eat it and instead had a sandwich and put the carne asada fries in the frige. The next day I tried to reheat them in the oven hoping to crisp the fries a little bit as this has worked in the past on left over carne asada fries from other places. No such luck here. I ended up throwing it out. It was a wast of time and money.

The best selection of Mexican Breakfast plates and burritos in all of San Diego County! (and I love my Mexican breakfasts!) Two minutes off Fwy 8 from either 70^th Street or Parkway Plaza make this place very convenient to get to no matter what direction I’m heading. Good food, friendly staff, nice salsa bar, clean throughout and easy parking make this my new #1 East County upscale fast food Mexican restaurant!!!

The cook in the back apparently doesn’t know the phrase «Light on the cheese» There’s more cheese on my burritos than the main contents.
Believe it or not but it actually drowned out the taste of ham that comes with a breakfast burrito order.
The El Cilantro in Imperial Beach is great but the one on El Cajon Boulevard not so much.

According to Google, this place is a counterpart to its Imperial beach location which seems to be more popular. This place serves quite the vast array of different San Diegan Mexican dishes. It also serves a lot of breakfast items (
), including pancakes and crepes.
I came here late night, around 9pm and the place was really dead. Woman behind the counter wasn’t very talkative but she was friendly none the less. She gave me a bag to take some hot carrots and peppers home with me. I ordered a California burrito and Delux quesadilla to go. They have three different red sauces and one green sauce at their salsa bar (
). I gave them all a try, I only cared for the lighter red sauce with the onions and cilantro in it. The other red sauces to me, were too salty tasting and the green sauce was way too mild. The hot carrots weren’t very spectacular really, they more of a vinegar carrot stick rather than actual hot carrots.
The California burrito (
) was huge. A very bulky burrito packed with carne asada, cheese, fries and salsa (
). The meat was marinaded well and cut up in to perfect little chunks, really good carne asada. The fries weren’t really soggy and the cheese was great. I finished that whole burrito it was so good, a definite winner in the California burrito department.
Also on the side I decided to try a veggie (Delux they call it) quesadilla (
) which turned out to be the best part of my meal. I’ve never had a better quesadilla anywhere else. It was the perfect mixture of lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guac and sour cream. I’m not even a fan of sour cream, but this stuff tasted great. Most taco shops struggle with the ratio of cheese to filling, but this thing was perfect. Also, the size of the thing was massive.
For me this was a winner of a taco shop. They had fresh tasting food, quality meat, tortillas and a big salsa bar. They also have a unusually large selection of menu items, including breakfast. I would really love to come back here and try some of their breakfast items.