El Chentin

I live near this place and I don’t see how they are giving 4 stars?
I tried them twice, and I wanted the place to go often, but the Mexican cafeteria meals are bland.
We also spent over $ 30 bucks for myself and two kids? I expected more.

Authentic. Pride taken with every dish and service. Proud owner and rightfully so. LOVE!

This place has the best Barbacoa I’ve found so far in SD. The Barbacao is beef and not goat. Their rice & beans suck though. about $ 10 to eat here for lunch.

I’m in Heaven!!! Salsa’s…handmade tortillas, homemade style beans and rice… tasty…tasty…no gas-​lamp weirdos here, because they are all at La Puerta… thinking their eating Mexican, well to be fair to them, it is.
Can you say REAL SMOKEY Chipotle CHILLIS? Can you say hard-​core TJ style here? I enjoy the lard factor here… yes it makes the beans so goooooood. So many things to look at, that I get a little bit crazy when I get here, I must train myself to take my time and slow-​down, maybe I get the T. J-​time-​limit-​stress? Like the… I must hurry… to make it to border-​line, even though I’m not in TJ? there’s nothing like this iall of SD.
As I write this review… I honestly wish I could be in that rusty old building right now… the only way this place could be any more authentic is if you could go 24hrs a day. As I sit and sip a Sindral Mundent… I ask myself can you eat another?

Oh, El Chentin, how I adore you!!!
Once located in a stall at the Farmer’s Market building on Imperial Ave, they now have a stand-​alone location just up the street! I have to admit, I was heartbroken to learn that the Farmer’s Market building was getting rid of the food stalls! It was the most beautiful experience for this native San Diegan güera; it was the thing of fantasies and dreams for the Tony Bourdains of this world! Stall after stall of puerco y mariscos y comida mexicano auténtico, with long benches running down the aisles dressed in chiles y salsas y especias y condimentos, sides of pork and skin and buche and… well, you get the picture. So the Farmer’s Market building apparently ended the leases for these food vendors, and many of them have or are opening stand-​alone locations…
CUT TO — El Chentin
It’s a simple little place, again, with tables dressed in the chiles and salsas, and everything else you might want to heap on your tortillas! As you walk in you’ll be greeted by a hot counter — think Chinese take out/​Cafeteria style. You simply look, point and a gorgeous plate of food is presented to you! The bistec ranchero in it’s lavish sauce, with it’s chipotle smokiness and hearty goodness, is beyond memorable! The chile rellenos are HUGE and delicious! You may even wanna watch as your carnitas are cut up right in front of you! Oh!!! Let me tell you! Nothing NOTHING is as hard as looking at all the mouthwatering offerings and picking! Your meal is served with some pretty darned tasty beans and rice, and… the pièce de résistance — homemade tortillas that literally melt in your mouth when she brings them fresh and hot to your table, wrapped in paper! TRY, TRY I DARE YOU to NOT fall in love with their tortillas! I’m dreaming about them right now!!!
OK, wiping the drool from my chin, I’ll finish with this — they serve breakfast starting at 8AM — 7 days a week, they do a pescado frito that I haven’t had yet, but that is next on my list, and aside from the amazing array of delectables, they offer a special — 1 pound of meat, 8 oz of their homemade salsa & ½ dozen of those tortillas for $ 5.99!!! Food so good my normally introverted 17-​year old son asked if he could hug the cook!!! NO KIDDING!
Get in there and enjoy!!!