Carnitas Michoacan

Carnitas Done Right — Great Flavor by the Pound So here’s the move: skip the individual tacos and go straight for the carnitas by the pound. That’s exactly what we did when we stopped by Carnitas Michoacan on Monterey Road, and I’m glad we trusted the instinct. I saw the price at $5 per taco and thought, “Wait, we can stretch this way further.” So we grabbed a pound of carnitas to go, added some of their salsas, and made it a full DIY taco night at home. Totally worth it. The carnitas? Legit. Super flavorful, tender, juicy, with crispy edges—everything you want in a proper carnitas cut. Once you hit it with a squeeze of lime, it really unlocks the flavor and brings the whole thing together. Pro tip: grab both their green salsa (salsa verde) and the other mixed red salsa they have. That combo is 🔥. The verde especially has that tangy heat that balances the richness of the pork. We heated up some tortillas at home, threw together a quick spread with chopped onions, cilantro, and lime wedges. Boom—restaurant-quality tacos without the high per-taco price. I also like to grab a bag of Tostitos or some tortilla chips on the side, and dip those in the green salsa while I’m building the tacos. That little crunch plus the salsa kicks off the meal right. Overall, this place is 100% about the meat. If you’re the type who likes building your own plate and maximizing value and flavor, grab it by the pound and make a meal out of it. Only reason I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is just the price on the individual tacos—it’s steep, and unless you’re eating solo and need a quick bite, you’re better off buying in bulk and getting more for your money. Definitely a solid local carnitas spot. I’ll be back for more pounds soon.

We visited this restaurant a few days ago and had a great experience overall! **Service**: Our waitress was kind, patient, and attentive, frequently checking on us throughout the meal. **Atmosphere**: The space was elegant, spacious, and comfortable, with plenty of room between tables, so it never felt crowded. **Food**: Everything we ordered—torta, taco, and menudo—was absolutely delicious and exceeded our expectations. We even had enough to take home! The only downside was the person handling our payment, who seemed rushed and a bit rude, which is why I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5. Aside from that, it's an excellent spot with fantastic Mexican food!

Stopped by this restaurant for late lunch. It was busy when we arrived. The restaurant is famous for carnitas and chicharon. We order carnitas plate one lbs, chicaron and chimichanga. The carnitas and chicharon is by lbs. The chicharon is very fresh from the fryer. All are yummy. The carnitas is tender. It comes with fre fried tortilla and salsa. The salsa and tortilla is yummy. We feel satisfied after the meal. Service could be improved as looks like the server forgot our carnitas order and we have to remind the person.

I went solely to satisfy my craving for carnitas, but they fell short of my expectations. If you've ever had authentic Mexican carnitas, I wouldn't recommend these they resemble plain boiled meat cooked with onion, garlic, and Coca-Cola, giving them a dark brown color. However, if you've never tried genuine Mexican carnitas before, these might be passable.

Took a really long time to get two tacos. Close to 30 minutes The carnitas was good. My carne asada taco was terrible. The meat was foul. I couldn't eat it. Prices were ok. Horchata was too sweet and came in a mason jar.

I’m not going to bash this restaurant for everything that occurred on my visit. But the service wasn’t pleasant. The manager knows how rudely she treated me. I was very disappointed in the customer service even if the food was to be good. I won’t be returning here again.

Delicious food, beautiful environment, incredible staff. I felt like I walked into a fantastic traditional Mexican restaurant! The staff were incredibly nice, & the environment was perfect, clean and modern. Best of all worlds!

This place is ultra clean and full of flavor. I can’t believe it but the lady in front gave me a plate just to try (free) so good everything is fresh.

Siempre que vengo aqui, a lo menos me como 4 tacos de maciza con cueritos. Bien recomendado el lugar! Verdad de Dios que si!! Les enseñava foto pero ya desaparecieron mis tacos jeje. Gracias!

Saw this place when I took the kids to Altitude since it was in the shopping Center as well. Decided to try it and came on a Tuesday afternoon and saw it wasn't busy at all. People here were very friendly and welcoming and the restaurant set up is nice and clean. Really cool art pieces throughout the restaurant. I came with an appetite and ordered asada super taco and the Jefe taco and asada quesadilla. I wanted a asada enchilada but they only do chicken or pastor. The salsa that comes with chips and dip was delicious. The super taco was very hefty and big, but was very disappointing. The quesadilla wasn't anything special just an ordinary one. The Jefe taco was the best thing I ordered. It comes with a sad and chorizo on a taco. Very flavorful and great mixture on a taco. Overall nice place but not something I'd go out my way for if I'm craving Mexican.

Food is excellent but service can be slow at times. If they improve service i will definitely come more frequently. I always order the carna asada or carnitas. (Regular taco) The chips and salsa are very good as well. If manager reads this review please work on attentiveness to customers. That would help alot especially when under strict time constraints for business etc.

This place is amazing. They serve quality food ! great service and good amount of food for the price that you pay nowadays. Been coming here since the grand opening 3 years ago already ! Authentic Mexican food The restaurant is clean & modern and designed for family gatherings ! I buy food items to take home but watching the servers come out with the plates people are ordering for breakfast Linch & Dinner look great !! George

Food was decent but too many items not available despite a dinner time of 5:30 on the weekend. There was a breakdown in communication as we asked for menudo without the feet but discovered we had feet in the soup. We also had to have our carnitas order redone. They had no ice tea so we only drank water. As I don not drink soda and didn't want a beer. Our orders all came out in different times and not together so it made it weird to eat without all our meals available. Over all food was ok, service could have been better and the ambiance was ok. I'f you're in the area and willing to try a decent Mexican restaurant then I would still say give it a shot and maybe your experience will be a better one.

Solid. This passed every picky eater in my fam - particularly my Baby Bear, who is a lot more like Goldilocks. He LOVES carnitas so I consider him a connoisseur. LOL This spot might be our new spot for carnitas and tacos! We ordered takeout but I went to pick it up. I was pleasantly surprised to find a really nice, new, open restaurant so next time we are going to dine-in for sure! We got the Carnitas family meal along with a couple Quesabirria tacos for the kiddo. He loved it all and literally ate (2) Quesabirria Tacos and I think (3) carnitas tacos. We live in Eastside SJ so there is no shortage of taco spots. He said this is a good one. Portions are good, food is great, and restaurant is nice. Adding to regular rotation!

These are the best carnitas in San Jose! We always enjoy the food here! Usually do Togo orders! We haven't dine in just yet! The service is always nice and kind to us! No issues with customer service! Very friendly and helpful! Goto order is the carnitas! It comes with rice and beans and fixings with corn tortillas! Very good portions and taste so good! Very homecooked style feeling! I definitely recommend this spot! 10/10!

Tasty carnitas. Very strange super burrito?? The top 2/3rds were only meat rice and beans, and the bottom 1/3rd was only the guac and sour cream and such. it wasn't mixed together at all.

Wife and I came here not too long ago and was great. I came here before to get a burrito and was one of the best I've had. The carnitas were juicy and had tons of flavor. Because of that, had to bring the wife to show what she's missing out on. We came here and got the carnitas family meal. The meal comes with a whole kit to make tacos at your table as you can see from picture. Again, the damn carnitas were so freakin good. I've had carnitas from a lot of places but so far, this one takes the cake. I gave this place a 4 because I wish they had a little more alcoholic drinks. (Me being picky sorry). I also ordered a michelada for the wife and chavela for me. However I think we got 2 micheladas as my chavela had tomato juice in it... either way .. a drinks a drink and was still tasty. The only small downfall was the guacamole. It was around 8$, was super tiny, and really only tasted like avocados. Needed more salt, lemon and goodies in there to boost the flavor. Wouldn't get this again most likely.

Worst chicharron ever! I've been here many times and this the first time I was given this hard rock chicharron! I even asked the lady for a new one and she said no this all we have and hand it me a bag of rocks! Definitely not going back!!

Although the service is always slow, the food is always delicious. Definitely have to try the carnitas - comes with tortillas, salsas and toppings. Tried the menudo as well which was also great and quesabirria plate. Haven't had anything I didn't like.

Every time I make a trip to see my family I have to visit Carnitas Michoacan. This is the best spot for carnitas in the entire Bay Area. They have the original location in Gilroy but this location in San Jose has the original cook and he brought with him that flavor. I ordered 4 lbs. of their carnitas. They will chop them for you so they are ready for your tacos but I like whole pieces because my family likes the lean pieces, I prefer a mix of cueritos (skin) and buche (not sure what that is) but it's delicious! The big pieces heat up better for me. I ask for a little cooking juice to add when I'm re-heating them at home so they don't dry up. the customer service here and the people are awesome. They always help me out. This time they gave me extra "juice" or gravy and I put it in my refried beans at home. Thank you! Tip: bring your own Tupperware container if you're a traveler like me and you're bringing carnitas from San Jose to Carson. You can order your carnitas by the pound, at around 13.00 dollars but they have whole meal packages that include beans, rice, and tortillas for a few dollars more. The ambience here is chill and homey. Families gather here and enjoy the flavorful carnitas as well as their birria tacos. They have a variety of home made dishes, you will find something you want to eat here. Thank you for continuing to make these delicious carnitas that my family has enjoyed for many years. Much love and respect to all of you hard working employees.

Stopped by this restaurant for late lunch. It was busy when we arrived. The restaurant is famous for carnitas and chicharon. We order carnitas plate one lbs, chicaron and chimichanga. The carnitas and chicharon is by lbs. The chicharon is very fresh from the fryer. All are yummy. The carnitas is tender. It comes with fre fried tortilla and salsa. The salsa and tortilla is yummy. We feel satisfied after the meal. Service could be improved as looks like the server forgot our carnitas order and we have to remind the person.

Living in the area, I've heard of this place but never tried it till now. My husband and toddler came for dinner around 5ish. It was pretty empty but after we ordered more families stopped by. I loved the carnitas and they gave me a mountain of it. I barely made a dent and enjoyed it the next day. My husband got the enchiladas and he was definitely pleased. We'll definitely be trying more items on the menu next time.

I'm not going to bash this restaurant for everything that occurred on my visit but it wasn't very pleasant. The waiter service was terrible, we waited about 20 mins to order and there was only one other customer besides myself in the entire restaurant. The manager was SUPER rude & she knows how badly she treated me as a customer. I was very disappointed in the overall experience. Even if the food was good, I will not be returning here again.

If your craving carnitas this is the spot to go to! Fresh chips and salsa, warm tortillas to companion carnitas large portions. Big facility with spacious seating nice big windows and nice decor throughout the facility. Staff was very friendly too.

Took the 40 minute drive here from Hayward and must admit I wasn't disappointed. We had the quesabirria tacos and carnitas. Salsa and chips are given when you are seated. Salsa roja was good with a taste of tomatillo. Carnitas deliciously seasoned and tender. Restaurant located in a modern shopping center with plenty of parking. Very spacious and clean inside. Great service!We also took two lbs of chicharrón to go.

We had a good feeling about this restaurant since it was packed on a Sunday evening! Carnitas Michoacán is located in a large strip mall. It has a large indoor seating area and while we chose to eat inside, it looked like they do a great take out business too! Lots of people were coming in to grab their take out orders. We were told the wait would be about 20 minutes for a table but it was more like 10. We were seated, our server took drink and food orders, and we were given chips and salsa. I was disappointed that they were out of horchata! My meal was very good! I ordered the carnitas chimichanga. At first I was worried because the first two bites off the end were just rice, but then it became full of carnitas! It had just the right ratio of meat to rice and beans. The guacamole on top was good too, it had a little spice to it. The chimichanga was extremely filling! I wouldn't hesitate to eat here again. The menu is extensive and has a lot of items I'd love to try!

Came here on a Friday night for dinner before going on a road trip. The restaurant is very spacious. There is a space for children to play as well which was interesting. It was nearly empty when our group of six came in. We were greeted immediately when we walked in. We got a plate of salsas and chips. The salsas could be spicy! The chips were fresh and crispy. I ordered a tamarindo Jarritos (the best flavor) and a dos tacos plate. I had to clarify with our server that it was a plate I wanted, not just two tacos. Prices are a bit steep for Mexican food. For my meat, I got carnitas but there was an option where it was mixed with innards. We went along with that and it was really good! The texture was a bit soft and it stood out from the other typical meat options. The burritos that my cousins ordered were massive. They were the size of their forearms! They could easily be two meals, but they decided to chug through it and finished the whole thing. That's a recipe for a food coma. We all wanted ranch style beans but unfortunately, they were out. We did not know until the food came to our table though. Overall this is a clean, spacious place to eat with good service and tasty food. I'd recommend it!

Carnitas Michoacán in San José! I Use to bring carnitas for may family when I did work on jobs in Gilroy, then one day a freind said they opened one in San Jose, I went to try it, it was the same excellent service , good carnitas, I ordered pork belly( chicharrón con carne) very thick pieces for my Filipino neighbors, cuernitos, brevitas? , carnitas and all the dressing beans chile salsa, arroz, jalapeños ,, it was all delicious,

Wow this was the king of carnitas. Like others, I stumbled upon this place while waiting for my at Altitude. Quiet lunch hour so the service was great, food arrived hot and fast and server had checked in multiple times to make sure things were going well. But it's about the namesake carnitas that was so succulent mixed in with the right amount of skin. It has a higher dose of sodium than normal but offset by the generous wedges of lemon. This isn't the normal crisped up on a hot plate style you get elsewhere, but more like a pork confit. We will be back to try the other offerings including the variety of soups.

This location saves me to going to the one in downtown Gilroy. I just go for the carnitas. It's an easy breakfast/lunch to take home for the family. We pick up 2lb for a group of seven. The green salsa is not to spicy but great flavor. The red salsa is spicier. You can sit down and have other foods that they offer too. I just prefer to take it to go. The servers are quick on preparing the to go orders too!

Food was delicious! Carnitas were flavorful and service was nice and timely and I will be back again

I went early on a weekday at about 11am for carnitas to go and was immediately greeted by a very pleasant young lady. I asked her if their restaurant was owned by the same family in Gilroy and she confirmed. I then asked her if they were as good as the Gilroy location and not only did she assure me they were and then handed me a sample of rib carnitas and I was sold! Literally purchases 4lbs to go of the delicious, juicy, and flavorful carnitas along with chicharrones and salsa and even got an added bonus courtesy of the lovely young lady, assuming is management. All of my items were as good as their Gilroy location. I'm so pleased that they are closer to me and now saves me from a drive to Gilroy, just for carnitas. This location is in a nice and newer strip mall and the restaurant is new, spacious and extremely clean. I would highly recommend this location!

I'm getting food Togo everyone's friendly, the have a really cool patio. With a second chef grilling. Most likely preparing for the dinner crowd.

I ordered 2lb of carnitas but got mostly fat. Very disappointed after driving a good 30min out of my way.

DO NOT EAT HERE ! If I could give them zero stars I would . Went to go eat with my family and one of the managers (the older one ) was verbally harassing the workers. Please don't eat here !!! The food wasn't good either.

I really enjoyed my dinner here this week. It was delicious. The chile verde was cooked perfectly. It was definitely a 180 from the salty burrito I had a year ago. The restaurant is very clean and the service is good. I'd recommend it.

The carnitas were great! Picked some up to go. Being from Gilroy, they brought back memories. The rice is slightly dry and could use a little more flavor. Prices aren't outrageous so will definitely revisit. Service was fast and courteous.

I had checked their website before heading over and was excited to see a deal for 10 soft tacos at $10.99. As soon as I got there, I was told the actual price was $20.99. Definitely disappointing, as the website information was misleading. I hope they update their online pricing to avoid confusing other customers. The food looked good, but the inaccurate pricing left a bad impression.

Came here a week ago after visiting the pumpking patch in Morgan Hill. Looked up Carnitas Michoacan and I ended up here instead of Gilroy Lol (my usual spot) the place was very clean, the employees very attentive. After looking at their logo and menu, I asked the waiter if it was the same company as the ones in Gilroy and to my surprise it is!! Did not know they had a spot in this location, making it less of a drive for me, the carnitas taste the same, soo juicy and flavorful. The prices are reasonable. I rather go to this spot than the Gilroy one for sure. Come and give them a try!!!

The decor is clean and bright and modern. Beautiful accent wall on the left when you enter. Honestly, not what you typically expect from a Mexican restaurant. Breath of fresh air to see. Ordered the family option for carnitas. It's rare to find places that gives you sides when you order carnitas by the pound. To be safe, I got the upgrade for the rice and beans sizes, and really, it was A LOT more than my family needed. I really enjoyed the two salsas that came with the order, and the rice. The price is also very reasonable for what you get. I enjoyed this place and the service. And to be completely fair with my review, here are three recommendations that could really elevate my next experience: 1) When I walked in, there was no one at the kiosk to be seated, but I saw the lanes where you can order walk-up. From someone who orders at carnitas places often, I knew to naturally just go there and they would take my order, but maybe a sign when you enter would be more effective; 2) The cueritos and carnitas came off a little too salty for my liking; 3) The vegetarian section can be spruced up a bit.

Chicken smells like it was cooked with old pig grease. Don't want to know how their pork is!

How did I not know this place opened in south SJ? I have driven to their Gilroy location multiple times to get tray of carnitas and all the fixings and now this location is within 10 minutes. Located in a big strip mall and there is tons of parking. The place is super cute, clean, and bright inside. Very different from the dungeon vibe at the Gilroy location. Service was good although this place isn't super quick - so be prepared to wait a bit. Food was delicious! We got the carnitas plate (very generous portion) and the pollo flautas.... Delicious and tasted really fresh. You can also order meat by the pound and get sides of rice, beans, quac, salsa, etc.

Carnitas Michoacan as good as the original in Gilroy. If you are looking for some of the best carnitas in the South Bay make your way to this location. It's located in South San Jose in a large shopping complex. Parking is never an issue at this location. Everything was clean inside and the server was polite. El Jefe taco is worth the price and has enough meat to make two tacos out of the one. The order of carnitas with rice, beans, tortillas, and salsa is worth is money if you are feeding 4-6 people. Definitely upgrade to large rice and beans for 2$ the container is huge. If you are a fan of real carnitas go with the mixed for all the delicious added pork bits including the skin. I don't have any complaints and will be back the next time I'm craving carnitas.

Good food at reasonable prices! This place used to be a Japanese restaurant I loved going to. I'm glad to see another restaurant taking its place, and a good one at that. Chips and salsa are complementary. Salsa is spicy for me but addictive!! If you like spicy food, this is the place for you. Everything had some kind of heat in it. I always get the enchiladas when I try a new Mexican restaurant cuz it's my favorite. I got the enchilada plate. Comes with 3 enchiladas with your choice of chicken, carnitas and cheese. I got one of each. I think the carnitas is the best. Great flavor and nice and tender. The chicken is a bit bland. The cheese is...cheesy. :) The red enchilada sauce is spicy! I picked the ranch style beans over refried, which is like upscale pork and beans. It has pieces of bacon in it, and it's a bit sweet. I liked it! Rice is good as well. I had a taste of their carne asada, which my party ordered. I thought that was pretty good too. You get a large serving of meat! Comes with Serrano peppers, which were spicy. You can ask them to serve without too. I ordered a large horchata to wash it all down. Wow that was a large cup! They're easy on the ice too. Good deal!! They also have chicharon you can buy separately. Looks so good!!! Definitely coming back. Lots of other stuff to try, like their breakfast burritos and quesabirria. Oh! It's cool that birria is on their soup menu too!

This place just opened up and we were looking forward to trying it. We really were hoping to find a new go to restaurant in the area but that doesn't seem to be the case. The restaurant is spacious and very clean. The tables are spaced far apart and it has a pleasant feel. The wait staff was very nice but the service was less than outstanding. We were seated quite quickly since there weren't a whole lot of diners there that night. They also have a to go section at the front as well. I ordered the combo plate with 2 quesadillas. I chose carne asada for the meat. My wife went for the carnitas plate thinking that since the restaurant is named after this dish it's got to be good. They brought out chips and salsa. This was the first indication that things might not go well. The salsa was good but the Costco chips were a real turn off. These were the chips that you get really cheap at Costco in the 3 foot high bags but you end up throwing away most of them because they don't taste very good. Yea, those. I know they go to Costco because I saw a bag of Kirkland napkins on the counter. So yea, the chips were a fail. I was hoping for some restaurant made fresh chips but oh well. Our dishes were disappointing as well. The size of the quesadillas was laughable. They were small, but cute. I think they were made from the smallest tortillas available. The carne asada really didn't have any flavor. The plates came with runny refried beans and Spanish rice. I do have to say both the beans and the rice were tasty. Overall, the flavor and portion size was underwhelming. As for my wife's plate, well, it ranked a little lower on the flavor scale than my dish. Carnitas can be a pile of juicy goodness or a mound of dried sawdust. My wife's dish was more towards the sawdust end of the scale. Juicy, they were not. Salty, oh yea, they were salty. She didn't really eat that much of them. We had a lot of leftovers but didn't bring them home to the dog because they were so salty. Soft drinks come in cans which I don't prefer. I'd rather get some free refills to choke down the food than to have to pay for can after can of soda. That's just me though. It all comes down to the food at any restaurant and I'm so sorry to say that this was a fail at Carnitas. Especially when you're a new restaurant, you have to come out swinging for the fence. You never get a second first impression from new customers. You certainly don't want to fail to give it your best coming out the gate because you may never see that underwhelmed customer again. That's the boat we are in. I really doubt that we will go back.

Went for lunch. Good sized carnitas super burrito. Heat in the salsa was just right. Service was fast and friendly. Dining area is clean and spacious.

Review for Take Out... The Family Meals here have become a favorite on NFL Sundays! We usually do the carne asada meal and it comes with tortillas, beans + rice, peppers, onions, taco garnish, and salsas...make sure you upgrade to the large size of beans and rice for an extra $2! It's plenty of food for 4-6 people.

So glad our family saw this place. Came here for breakfast on a Saturday morning. Was seated promptly. They look like they have two systems, dine in and get seated with a server and a menu, or you go straight into the to-go ordering line. Today we got chilaquiles and my husband added carnitas. I got the eggs with nopales and chorizo. Because I was curious I also got a cueritos tacos. The food was all very delicious. My husband really liked the carnitas. I especially liked the cueritos/ pork skin. The retried beans were also very delicious. Portions were very generous. Service was prompt and courteous. All around, really dug it and would return.

So I stopped by for a meal and was actually pretty impressed overall, nothing over the top but just solid all the way through, the food was warm and flavorful and didnt feel overly processed or artificial, everything tasted fresh and cooked right, especially liked that nothing was overdone or drenched in sauce which can ruin otherwise good dishes, the people working there were super friendly and kind and made me feel welcome without making it awkward, had a genuine vibe and were easy to talk to if you had a question about the menu or whatever, it seemed like they really wanted folks to have a good time without making a big show of it, the food itself was simple but satisfying, not huge portions but enough to be full and happy, liked that they kept things moving without rushing you out, atmosphere was calm and pleasant and not too loud which I really liked, nothing really negative stood out to me, just an overall decent experience that made me feel good by the time I left.

This place is amazing! We've only had takeout but the carnitas is on point. The family sized meals are great value and absolutely delicious. We just moved south and I think we just found our new local spot. Highly recommended

Best carnitas! Order them crispy. All the meat, salsas, rice and beans are great. Service can be little slow so enjoy so enjoy the ambiance, restaurant is very cute.

Wish I had know along time ago it was more than just Canitas I tried Chile Verde plate Torta Asada and enchiladas rojas all pass

Chips were good but tiny baskets. I got the flautas de pollo and the flavor was okay. The refried beans are pretty watery if that's something you like then you'll love it. I personally don't feel like it was worth the price since it was just okay and I spent $17 on just my flautas de pollo.

Best authentic Mexican food in South Side San Jose! The food is amazing especially the carnitas! Prices are very affordable for the amount of food you get! The staff is always so friendly and the restaurant is always nice and clean!

Maybe they shouldn't have carnitas in the name...carnitas were soggy, yet dry, like they were boiled for 3 days. Nothing crispy, melty, buttery about these carnitas. Carne asada was ok. Kinda grisly. Will not be going back...

In San Jose the Monterrey location has an old lady manager that is very rude a verbally abusing her emplourdes. It is so sad and uncomfortable to be there to enjoy your food and hear this kind of behavior.

This restaurant was very nice. The food was great but there was a 15 min wait for the food but I think it was worth it. As soon as we got in the restaurant we were met with an enthusiastic welcome and were immediately sat down at a table. Our waitress was very polite and helped us out with the meanings of the menu because it was our first time there and then we were given tortilla chips as a snack before the food came. I Loved this restaurant so much. 5 stars