El Agave

The food was absolutely delicious and the setting was charming. I would definitely go back!

This place is pure gold. So happy I came here. The space itself is way cool with hundreds of tequila bottles, but the food is magnificent. Honestly I can say that it’s the best Mexican food I’ve ever eaten. I had the pulpo a los tres chiles and the I’ve never eaten octopus so tender. My boyfriend and father also had meals I would love to eat. I will coming back many more times. My compliments to the chef! Also! The drinks are delicious. Keep the tequila flowing my friends.

This place is a gem and the food is unique. Don’t think of it as your typical SD style Mexican food. This is top notch and Sonoran style food. The beef they serve is some of the best I have ever had. Amazing mole sauces. The nompalitos salad is excellent. I have taken my kids here, but this is more of an upscale night out for business or date night. You don’t need to dress up. If you have your kids, go down the street many of the other family oriented Mexican restaurants. I love the knowledge they have on tequila. They have these awesome little sampler glasses. They are pricey but worth it. One of my favorite restaurants in San Diego.

I’ve heard of El Agave before, and figured since we’re down in San Diego to swing by and check it out. There are 2500 different tequilas here! ¡Fantastico! Bön, Michel and I sat at the bar me Carlos was our bartender. Bön ordered the Jamaica margarita and Michel the Tamarindo. I had a flight of mezcals. Also some chips, freshly made guacamole and some good spicy and mild salsa. That mezcal was good. Carlos put the bottles in front of each shot of mezcal so I could see the details.
Since it was a Thursday late afternoon, around 5pm, no crowds here. Small bar, only 5 high chairs. Very cozy and good for calm, interesting chat without the loud music or patrons. I’ve never had a full meal here, but for appetizers and a shot or two, perfecto.
So swing by for a pre or after dinner drink and just… relax.

Holy mother of tequilas !!!
Right when you walk in, the whole restaurant is completely decorated with bottles on bottles on bottles. If you want some quality liquor, then I recommend coming here.
We came here with a group of people on Cinco De Mayo.
Specifically because we were on the hunt of Mezcal tequila, which supposedly only they had it.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by two different people.
The first person was trying to see if we could get a table.
And the other person, a lady, which I’m assuming could possible be a manager, bluntly stated that: «We’re too busy, I would recommend going somewhere else»
We were horrified by that response, because instead of letting us know how long it would take to get a table, she was simply throwing away potential customers. It was very rude.
But the other person, a male server, got us a table and seated us almost right away which I was surprised about. So we sat down anyways, and all ordered the Mezcal Tequila shots flight.
You get three different shots and a shot of tomato juice as a chaser im assuming, for $ 22 which is not bad at all. And they were good.
As some of us were waiting outside for everyone to come out, the lady came out and apologized. I appreciate the apology, but she definitely does need to work on her customer service.
Overall, I would come back here again to try more alcohol and the food looks good.

Even though we had to move to a different table because they sat us in the wrong place if was very good. The drinks and the food was amazing

The food was decent but very expensive. Almost no options for vegetarians, and meal portions are very less. The place is very congested and when I got in there, I felt really suffocated. They should reduce the number of tables in the patio space. Also, it should be mentioned that the Unilocal coupon is only for quesadilla.

Out perusing shops in OB during the afternoon, could not find a Mexican place to top off the day with Margaritas and guacamole. On a whim, tried this Agave in Old Town. I had been here more than ten years ago but had not been here since becoming a vegan.
Was delighted to see a section of their menu for vegetarians and vegans. Plus the waiters were very considerate to our special dietary preferences.
We had an early dinner on the terrace and it was a perfect way to wind down. Food and drinks were really great.

TLDR; version: extremely slow service, and the food wasn’t good enough to make up for it.
I really wanted to like this place. The location is easy to get to, I found a parking spot in their lot, the décor was very cool looking. But there were some issues that pull be rating down for me.
The service was very, very slow. We were seated right away, but waited 5 minutes or so for our waiter to arrive. He saw we didn’t have a drink menu, so he grabbed one for us from another table, and disappeared for another 10+ minutes.
When he did return, we placed our order and went back into waiting mode. After another 10 minutes, the complimentary chips and salsa finally showed up.
The salsa containers were too small to get a chip into, so we had to break up our chips into smaller pieces to be able to reach the salsa. The salsa was good, but every 5 chips or so there was a stale one.
Our entrees finally arrived after another 15 minutes. Halfway through finishing our entrees, some fresh tortillas arrived. They were supposed to be for the mole with our meals, but, umm, too late.
We waited for the server to return. We waited to get our check after asking for it (twice), and we left as soon as we could.

This is the best street flavor Mexican food in an upscale setting in all of California! Their Octopus is the best in taste and portion size that I’ve ever had! I went to a few places in Sonoma/​Bay area that boasted about their Octopus and they did not even come close to the flavors and portions size from AGAVE! Their Margarita selection is amazing because they have great tequila and the Grilled Tender Angus/​Lamb is BOMB/​Amazing as well! Overall, I had a beautiful romantic experience with my bride and we both loved the comida! :)

Out of town friends constantly remind me that San Diego is the most beautiful city in the world. I’ve visited Old Town more often in the last year than I have since I’ve resided in San Diego. I was surprised by the quality and variety of Mexican restaurants I’ve tried on those visits. I’ve always been curious about El Agave since I see this restaurant almost every time we visit Old Town. They are located on the second floor above a liquor store and share a parking lot so it was easy finding a spot in Old Town that weekend afternoon.
There’s an enclosed balcony type section of El Agave. We chose to sit here as there are open windows with a nice breeze flowing into the restaurant. You get a basket of complimentary chips and three types of salsas.
We ordered:
TACO DE PULPO AL PASTOR:
— The citrus-​y marinade was nice in this al pastor and the octopus tasted tender. I loved the beautiful microgreens and sliced radish on top of each taco.
BURRO DE LANGOSTA:
— The bites of langosta were wrapped in a jalapeño tortilla. There wasn’t very much langosta in the burrito but what we tasted was nicely cooked. The chili sauce added a nice creaminess to this burrito that we enjoyed.
AL PASTOR:
— The al pastor is marinated in pineapple, chile guajillo, cilantro, and onions. It tasted similar to the al pastor octopus so I assume it’s the same marinade used for both dishes. The pork here tasted flavorful and nicely charred.
TAMPIQUENA DE ARRACHERA:
— We originally ordered the filet but the waiter brought this out instead. The flat iron steak is served with guacamole and black beans. We had requested the filet to be prepared a medium rare but this flat iron steak was prepared well done. There was a nice char flavor to it but some portion of the steak was difficult to eat. I cannot remember the name of this sauce but it was delicious. There was a beefiness to it that tasted so rich, so savory, and so deep in reduced stock flavor. This sauce helped the flat iron steak quite a bit.
The restaurant wasn’t busy that day but more customers started to arrive by the time we were finished with our meal. Service was fine despite the steak hiccup. Water was refilled and a fresh basket of chips was offered later on in the meal. It was a leisurely paced meal that we enjoyed that Sunday afternoon.

No happy hour. Huge fan of their Tequilas and their lobster burrito but have tried many other dishes and was not impressed. hey have gone through management like crazy. Never consistent which is somethign they are working on and needed. Just a great spot, it’s too bad that Epazote left!

Well, serves was probably the worst I have experienced in San Diego in recent memory. The server specifically was very slow initially coming to the table and getting our drink order. I first asked for some recommendations on the Steaks and his automatic recommendation was the most expensive thing on the menu. I ordered a steak chipotle dish and the dish that ended up coming out was the surf and turf which was more expensive and the waiters excuse was that someone had grabbed my plate before he was able to get it. I ordered a second margarita and he automatically brought one for my wife and myself, she didn’t order one. My wife’s dish didn’t have the Plaintain’s that were supposed to be part of the dish, and the waiter said that they ran out after the dish was brought out. The waiter brought out some very Bad caramel Flawn with a stale strawberry on top as an apology for the poor service overall. I typically would’ve asked for the general manager but simply didn’t have the energy to let him know how pour our own experience was. There are too many good Mexican restaurants in San Diego to waste our time and money at El Agave.

Food was really pretty good. I had the asada agave which was excellent. It had the goat cheese stuffed inside and that gravy… excellent! My husband had the pollo mole which was by his favorite. I really enjoyed the Guac to start and the margarita was good. I love the presentation of the shots… So fun. Only downside was the service… It was very slow. Overall, cool place and would recommend

Came in with a quick reservation for 10 people. Even though it was last minute, they set us up very quickly and the food and drinks were delicious.

Wall to wall tequilas. Do I have your attention? This place is great to eat at when you’re in old town. I love mole. And this place is where to go for it. Unless you have an abuela that makes it, and to that I say kudos. I ordered the ceviche and the mojito margarita to start. The table recieves free chips and house made salsas which were a great way to start the evening. The ceviche was absolutely wonderful. I actually sighed in relief at its authenticity only because you go places that serve «ceviche» and you get defrosted shrimp in lime juice. I ordered mole rojo as my entrée. I had a choice between chicken and pork and went for pork because I was feeling crazy… and pork is better… don’t argue. There’s no such thing as chicken bacon… and chicken belly… Anyways, it was served with rice and was absolutely splendid. The vast flavor profiles melded together in one sauce is mind bending. Sweet, savory all mixed together over tender pieces of pork. I couldn’t get enough. Oh and shout out to Javier, our server, very helpful and great with questions. and didn’t even flinch at my terrible Spanish pronunciations when ordering.
Thanks for the read!

I’ve been coming to this place for years and it never disappoints. Charming setting. Great food. I was just in Oaxaca 6 months ago and the moles here are the equals of those you’ll have in Mexico.

Love the quaint little Tequila bar. Closes early on Saturday night but definitely a sexy place

They have the more exotic food. Don’t come here for the standard tacos and burritos. The corn fungus appetizer is amazing. And the fried pasta pillows stuffed with duck with prune mole.

This place was pretty good. Not lots of parking, but we got there right when they opened so that wasn’t an issue this time. Food is pretty expensive, but also pretty good. Kid friendly despite seeming fairly upscale. I probably wouldn’t go back, but it was a fun outing with friends.

My husband came here years ago when he attended a conference in San Diego.
Authentic mole sauces and attentive services! We came here for dinner. Our baby was sleeping in car seat and he did not wake up during our dinner. The restaurant was busy but the noise level was manageable. Our 4 year old loved the chicken tenders and hand cut fries the chef made just for him. The drinks were great with good amount of alcohol.

This cozy, upscale restaurant a few blocks from Old Town is about as far from Tex-​Mex as you can get. Margaritas and Mole are the specialties here, so don’t be disappointed when you can’t find a burrito or chimichanga on the menu. I personally found the dinner selections a bit too exotic for my taste, including an order of calamari that looked like it crawled right out of the Pacific. But if you’re looking for a authentic Mexican meal in San Diego (along with fantastic margaritas and every Tequila known to man), you owe it to yourself to give El Agave a try.

This Mexican restaurant is situated in old town San Diego that carry’s a huge assortment of tequila & bottles for wall decoration. The interior décor has seating inside, belcony and bar with an older world theme. Its also an upscale mexican establishment that is recognized for its mole’, probably 10 different types. Service is good but not great and the food I would say is 3.5 stars. The pulpo was very good and the shrimp dish was ‘meh’. The mole dishes from the feedback of my friends were of the same opinion. I like the establishment, but with all the other options in the area, not sure if this place would rise back to the top of the list again. More for drinks and atmosphere.

How do you give a half star!!! I feel like a half star is adequate for a restaurant that can on a base level provide you with a place to sit. That is pretty much all I was satisfied with here at this restaurant.
We came with a party of eleven, and yes, they did have our table ready on time. They struggled and struggled to get chips and salsa to the table. Our waiter would not make eye contact with us. I believe his name was Alberto. It also took awhile to get them to take our order.
My food came out (my plate, out of eleven, took probably an additional 10 minutes to come out by itself so that everyone else could eat their meal while I watched) and I had the Camaron Guanjillo. It was disgusting. The four of us at my end of the table tried it and it was not palatable. I tried some of the rice on the bottom, which was fine, but the shrimp was disgusting. Someone then came and started taking away my plate without me saying that I was done with it, but at that point I didn’t feel like I wanted to even try to eat any more. Best $ 33 I ever spent on that meal. THE PORTIONS WERE ALL TINY TONIGHT. This food is extremely overpriced.
SPLIT THE DAMN CHECKS. This is the most annoying thing that restaurants can do at the end of the day. Alberto wouldn’t do this, so we spent fifteen minutes as a table collectively trying to figure out how to calculate everyone’s total. This is absolutely absurd. Take some time to rake your grimy fingers across your computer screen to split the check. You’re lucky, Alberto, that you charged a TWENTY-​PERCENT GRATUITY FOR YOUR CRAPPY SERVICE or I would’ve given you a measly 10%, maximum.
No, none of our party will be returning. I recommend that nobody else does either.

Every time we come in business we have to come and have dinner here. The first time we came it was a bit slow and we almost walked out, good thing we didn’t.
My plate of choice is always the Filete Chipotle. It adds a kick to the traditional Filet Mignon, a must try.

It’s gone downhill since we were there last. They sequestered us away in the upstairs enclosed hot room. It really was hot. They said we couldn’t sit in the dining room because they were reserving it. Okay. We were the only ones in the place besides what seemed like about 20 staff hanging around the place.
My margarita was terrible. My husband’s was also awful. We opted NOT to eat there, it was just too hot and since the drink was indicative of what was still to come, we paid for the drinks and left.

This is one of my fav restaurants in San Diego. I have come here repeatedly over the years. It’s serves up classy, authentic Mexican dishes in a casual, yet upscale and romantic atmosphere. It’s never crowded. Parking is fairly easy. Service is always attentive, quick, and wonderful. And the food is unlike anywhere else I’ve ever eaten. If you want Mexican food that is authentic and unique, and more upscale than a taco stand, this is one of the best places to go.
They have over 2,000 tequilas and the entire restaurant is decorated with tequila bottles. You can do flights of tequila or you can opt for a margarita. They have several unique margarita choice. It’s impossible to have just one. Hands down the best margaritas I’ve ever had.
They also have a bunch of different mole sauce options. I love the enchiladas with the mole sauce. The quesadillas are also wonderful (and you can even get them free with a Unilocal check-​in). Forget the quesadillas you’re used to — these are nothing like that. And there’s seafood and beef options too. I love their various shrimp dishes. This last time, we opted to share the filet with tiger shrimp. It could’ve used a bit more flavor, but the filet was perfectly cooked, as was the shrimp. And the potatoes were totally unique by being fried (?) in this crusty goodness stuff. It was like a potato crab cake. Very yummy. And great presentation. Even the complimentary chips and dips are fab.
This will probably forever remain my go-​to SD place. It’s just so good. Plenty of options — and all of them very different and unique. It’s unlike any standard Mexican place I’ve dined.

I’m pretty disappointed in El Agave. I was expecting a lot more from the majority of the reviews I saw on Unilocal,but overall, it was pretty «eh».
To start, the restaurant is so ridiculously cramped. I was constantly bumping elbows with the patrons at the table behind me. We probably apologized to each other for it about a dozen times through the course of our dinners. The waitstaff looked like they could barely squeeze through the aisle. There’s also no air conditioning in there. There’s a fan or two on the ceiling, and the windows open, but on a hot weekend like it was, we felt pretty stifled. I will say that the décor is really lovely.
My menu was quite literally falling apart when I got it. As much as they charge for food, you’d think they’d invest in some better menu-​holders.
Onto the food. The tequila Palomar drinks my boyfriend and I had were really very good. I had the steak with goat cheese for my main, and it honestly was nothing to shout home about. If you’re going to charge that much for filet, it had better be really amazing. It was just okay. The temperature was perfect, but other than the goat cheese, it wasn’t particularly flavorful. There was a potato cake on the side, as well as some grilled asparagus, that were also okay.
The tres leche dessert was actually really nice. Definitely the highlight of the meal. Reminds me of a strawberry shortcake.
I would return to drink, but the food was a huge disappointment.

EMBARRASSMENT TO SAN DIEGO
I came to El Agave last night with family.
We had reservations so we were seated promptly. Things were looking good. We got water and a round of margaritas.
15 – 20 minutes later drinks were finished, but where was the waiter? A little background, there were only two parties in the restaurant, me and my family and this other group of people sitting DIRECTLY behind us in a COMPLETELY EMPTY RESTAURANT.
Still no bus boy. Still no waiter.
We didn’t get any service until 1 hour after our initial encounter. We ordered more margaritas (which were terrible. Can you say sweet and sour mix from Costco? Not to mention the lack of Cointreau or Triple sec.) The margaritas tasted more like sour lemonade with a teaspoon of tequila.
We even ordered separate shots to mix with the margaritas *none of us our big drinkers… It was sad and embarrassing*
We finally ordered one hour in…
We ordered ceviche for an appetizer which was appalling. Little to no seafood flavor. I’ve had better ceviche in Vermont… So sad.
The menu is… Embarrassing…
For a place that claims, and I quote, «The best place in San Diego to enjoy authentic Mexican Cuisine is El Agave Restaurant» (from their website)
Although some food is authentic, others are just a complete embarrassment to Mexican cuisine.
The mole was terrible. I tried the poblano and the rosa. Seriously God awful. So tasteless. The meat was over cooked. The rice… If you can all that rice… Was over cooked and flavorless. Not to mention they give u about a tablespoon of rice.
All in all… No.
Just no.
Overpriced. Less than mediocre food. Terrible service.
For San Diego this is an embarrassment.

Buen buen lugar para bailar buenos grupos y sobre todo buenos tragos ya la mejor compañia

Meh. Not sure what all the hype is about, but the food here is overpriced and the portions are small, and the food is just mediocre. The mole came with a small scoop of rice and was very mild and a bit bland, which, come on San Diego, I would expect better from you. I’ve had better mole in Salt Lake City! When you think of San Diego, you have some higher expectations for Mexican food, and I really expect better than that. I guess I should have known better as this place looks to be mostly frequented by out-​of-​towners. Locals know better. Dangit!
This is a casual restaurant and the décor is interesting: they have lots of tequila bottles lining up the walls, and the drinks were good. The drinks outshone the food, actually. In fact, if it weren’t for the drinks, I would give this place two stars.
Other than that, I really don’t have much to say about El Agave. I might return for a drink, but I probably wont be eating here again, not when there are literally, hundreds of attractive Mexican options available elsewhere.

Único el Carpaccio de Venado!!! Y las mejores margaritas de Sandia! Excelente lugar

This place was perfect.
Server was totally chill, didn’t rush us, gave GREAT recommendations for tequila.
Food was spot on, Al Pastor tacos were delicious and well presented. Chicken mole enchiladas were perfect. Mole sauce was rich and full flavor.
I don’t give 5 stars very often, but this place was warm, inviting and delicious.
It is a tad expensive, but not enough to take off a star.

Well deserving of a cocktail dress and can also serve up a mean shot of tequila… Yes El Agave is a rarity that combines charm, elegance and Latin flavors without being too ritzy nor causal.
Reservations aren’t required but it always makes things a lot easier. Parking is plenty. Also if you are wearing heels or a short dress watch out because this place is located on the second floor and those below can take a peek at your knickers…
The service here was amazing; our waiter was knowledgeable and very enthused about the menu. All of the menu items seemed exotic (not your typical burrito joint) but our waiter broke it down for us to make it sound even more appealing than the menu description. KUDOS. Plus service was prompt!
Appetizers we got the quesadilla that were served 4 different ways. I had one that appeared to be potatoes and cheese and another that was filled with a spicy green sauce. All were crispy and scrumptious. Great way to start the meal.
As for food I got the Camaron al Tequilana (Jumbo Tiger Shrimp sautéed with extra virgin olive oil, julienne Serrano peppers, fresh lime, and lemon juice, flambé with tequila and reduced with a touch of cream. Served with Antigua black beans and Agave rice) –this was heaven. The touch of cream resonated throughout the entire dish creating a cohesive texture. It was both sweet and savory and perfect and every way. I even appreciated the «homemade» corn tortilla that came out with it. It was superb and filling!
Overall great restaurant with a great ambiance and lovely food.