El Paisa

**Review for El Paisa Mexican Restaurant** As a San Diego native and someone who’s definitely clocked some serious taco shop hours, I’ll be the first to tell you I don’t hand out compliments on Mexican food lightly. I like to keep it fair, but honest. So, last night, my girlfriend, her son, and I ventured over to El Paisa, and let me just say – this place is legit! First off, the food was amazing – and that’s coming from a guy who practically lives at the best taco spots in town. The tacos were *chef’s kiss*, and don't even get me started on the Michelada! I’d go back just for that alone. It's one of those “might have to show up again today” situations. Now, here's the kicker – both my girlfriend and her son (who are about as far from native taco enthusiasts as you can get) absolutely loved it. And when they say it's delicious, that means it’s not just good – it’s “so good even a couple of white folks are raving about it” good. To top it off, the staff at El Paisa were incredibly friendly, making the whole experience that much better. From the service to the prices (which are refreshingly reasonable), El Paisa hit all the right notes. This place might just be my new taco HQ. Highly recommend!

We stopped in for lunch and I’m glad we did. I missed my turn on our way to a different eatery and it was meant to be. Missing a turn doesn’t make it a bad thing. Staff was great and so was the food. I will definitely be back to try something new. Good salsas, and a good selection of beers.🍺

Fantastic tacos. Great prices on Tuesdays. Service is always excellent.

I have a house in Baja California, so am familiar with excellent Mexican food. I came here while waiting for a business to open. I saw a signature “green juice” advertised on the wall made from orange juice, cactus, etc. They did not have any orange juice, at all. And the signature drink is no longer made there. Off to a great start. Then I saw the menu. The prices were not available on ANY items. The prices are “…subject to change…,” so there are no prices listed on the menu or walls. For good reason: prices are breathtakingly high here, like in a sit-down fine restaurant. The food was subpar for the premium pricing. Pictured is a half of the Chile Relleno Burrito. $12. A medium Jamaica was $5.49. Small bowl of chips was not refilled. This is a corporation taco stand designed to separate the dining victims from their money. Do not eat here.

Excellent service and food. I came with my older son and loved everything. Muchas gracias!

I’m super white so my opinion may not matter much pero this food is muy delicioso!! The Tacos Adobada are tender and full of flavor. The atmosphere is laid-back/easy-going and the customer service is A++. The woman up front was very kind and patient with my order and the cook came out and was very respectful as well :) Highly recommend giving them a try some of the best Tacos I’ve had in SD

Great FOOD excellent service love the surf and Turf Burrito and surf and Turf Fries.

Plates look good but taste is bland. No salt, no spices. 3/4 of the steak ended up not edible in the carne asada plate. Even corn tortillas were not tasty . Expensive for the food we got. They get you also on the drinks so make sure you know the prices prior even for bottled water! The menu we were given had no prices. The employees are friendly.

I got the Steak and Eggs breakfast burrito. Now all I can say this is the best dam breakfast burrito. Hit the spot at the 10 o clock hour. I'd like to add this ain't no questionable burrito you pay for what you get and let me tell ya. It's a BURRITO !!!

Because I live in San Diego, a border town where Spanish is one of the two most frequently-spoken languages, I've made a point of learning enough español to get along when I patronize businesses where, even if there's an English-speaker on staff - in itself, a toss-up - they'll probably be as uncomfortable in our exchange as me. In fairness: I don't speak their primary language very well; why should they speak mine any better? I worry about the awkwardness, though, because I don't want to put people out who are, after all, just trying to sell me things I need, or to get me fed. This comes up a lot when I want Mexican food. I feel strange, stumbling through my order at Lomita's La Sinaloense Bar and Grill; and at my favorite birrierias; and at pretty much every taco truck, every time I approach. At Logan Heights' Tacos El Paisa, I caught a break. For the most part, the menu provided English renditions of the names and/or ingredients of each item offered, or a photo, or both, all of which made deciding what interested me a simple process. Where I had questions about how things were cooked, I was assisted by a kind and very helpful server named Manuela, whose English made me embarrassed at my childish attempts at working things out in Spanish. Manuel guided me through ordering consomme and a plate of tacos. My meal was just okay, with high- and low-points, including: - Consomme, watery and flavorless beyond any help that condiments could provide - Tortillas, probably store-bought, and not from a store that cares about the quality of its tortillas. - Carnitas, a disappointment, as it came in big, dry chunks that tasted a suspiciously "porky" - Birria, mushy strings of meat in a sour broth - Cabeza, tasty, firm and somewhat salty - Frijoles de la Olla, a nice side dish that I'd order by itself, for a rainy-day entree - Buche, my favorite of the taco fillings, arriving slightly chewy with an appetizing crispiness to its edges Though this seems like an overall negative review, I should say that other people's plates looked better than mine. The restaurant offers a nice variety of dishes, like chilaquiles, sopes, fish and grilled meats, and I'd return to try more of the menu, before writing off Tacos El Paisa entirely.

I need to try more on the menu but we always get the surf n turf fries here because just look at them. The shrimp is great, meat tender and they got all the right toppings. We usually eat there on their cute outdoor patio, and their house salsas on the table are so good on top! Staff is nice and quick as well. The bar area is usually pretty quick with drinks too and the micheladas are huge with a perfect rim!

Great service, vibe, and tacos! We had the asada, birria, and pastor tacos. They did not disappoint. Pastor was definitely the best.

Tried a variety of tacos along with the California burrito. I personally wasn't a fan of the tacos because the meat was soooooo dry like it was over cooked and old. Which was odd because of the great reviews about the tacos so maybe it was an off day? I have no idea. My husband enjoyed his California burrito though.

Menu has no prices. This place was cute but the food was a disappointment, maybe from what we ordered. I got pozole, I felt like it was over priced and the pork tasted old and dry. The soup tasted good. The portion was like a medium cereal bowl size, I was shocked that it was $15.99 more than my friend's plate that was $12.99 and it was an actual meal. The bottle of water had a CC fee that was $1. Service was blah. Wouldn't come back again.

I knew there was a reason why I stopped going to this place, I decided to stop in after 6 years according to Yelp. Well I had the place to myself pretty much look at the photos. I order 2 breakfast burritos and a side of fries to the tune of 33.00. The person gives me my order and I drive home. I got zero breakfast burritos I got some lame Burrito filled with lettuce. and uneatable meat WTH. This place has Issues and is super sticky gross. Hard Pass.

Just found these pix on my phone and decided to to the review... short and sweet like the cashiers. Two ladies working the counter, not friendly not unfriendly, like just another day at work (blah). Ordered street tacos, she asked if I wanted Guac on them, of course I said YES! How could you NOT have Guac on tacos right? Well, they charge EXTRA for it, that's why! They charge @$1.50 per taco for a little bit of it. Based on THIS, I don't think I'll come back here even tho it's really close. I'll drive down the street to another place where the tacos cost the same and they DONT charge EXTRA for Guac. That's it.

I rarely give poor reviews and hate to do this , but I ordered a carne asada burrito today from tacos el paisa with some fries through GH and tbh this was one of the worst carne asada burritos I've had. Although there was plenty of meat in there, it was just super oily and did not have much flavor in it. It kind of reminds me of when you brown ground beef with taco seasoning and you know the oil that comes up with it? Well that's how I could explain the taste and consistency of the oil that came from this burrito. I could barely eat 25% of it before I had to stop. Fries were plain and was not salted or seasoned and kind of soggy, but that's kinda expected when ordering through delivery. Bummed cause I was excited to try a new place for Mexican food but don't think I will be ordering from here again.

Food is delicioso! Yay for potato taco! Service is great. Ambiance was real friendly.

Stopped here for quick breakfast bite. Never tried mexicali style hotdog until now. Similar to the ones you find in LA. Came bacon wrapped and garnished with onion and silantro. It had a really delicious sauce and mustard spread on the bun. Came with peppers on the side as well as caramelized onion. Once the hotdog was gone, the sauce coated the caramel onion. So good

Great food and great customer service. Parking is a little tight but well worth it. We dined in and had the aguachiles verde, paisa fries, surf n turf burrito, tacos de cabeza, tripas and pastor, and drank a michelada. Everything was a 10/10. My husband can eat A LOT when the food is tasty and we left wanting more. Will definitely come back.

Recientemente visité este lugar de tacos y quedé encantada. Ordené una mulita con tacos de carne asada y consomé, haciendo un combo con arroz y frijoles. ¡Todo estuvo increíble! La carne asada estaba perfectamente sazonada y el consomé era tan delicioso que quería ponerlo en todo. El personal fue super amable y rápido, y los precios son muy razonables. Además, el lugar está decorado de manera muy linda, especialmente los hermosos muebles exteriores. Sin duda, regresaré pronto.

Ir this restaurant is giving a discount to military they should stick with it! Just went in and lady told me she is not authorized to give a discount. I was very hungry and hurt that military is not honored! It took all my energy to walk away! Again if you honored a discount then be consistent with honoring that discount I have steered so many military folks to this restaurant. , I am embarrassed to lead them here if the discount is not consistent!

Worse customer service When you ask for Taco Tuesday and you are told that that meat is not included when you can clearly see it posted on the advertisement also was told that guacamole is extra even after paying 3$ each mini taco False advertisement and never again eating at any of the Paisa locations.

I stopped going to Tacos El Paisa because of their customer service and the food quality, however after 3-4 years I decided to give them a go again and just to be disappointed once again. Never again will I waiste my money or time,no wonder their locations are empty most of the time now days. Also who serves their street tacos without guacamole? every other taco shop gives you the food with guacamole, without an extra charge. When you post a sign of Taco Tuesday and a list of all the meats included DONT tell the customer that Carne Asada is not included when you clearly have it on your posting..... FALSE ADVERTISING Do better Tacos El Paisa.

Corn tortillas are still good when ordering the smaller tacos. However, the tortilla texture tasted drier on the seafood tacos. The shrimp taco actually contains grilled (not battered and fried) shrimp and I thought they were cooked well. The fish taco likely uses tilapia, which is a fish that I generally dislike. It tasted muddy and a little mushy. The hot sauce helped to cover the tilapia flavor. I prefer a firmer white fish in fish taco (perhaps cod). The creamy agua Fresca is delicious. Don't be lame like me; order the large.

Stumbled into this taco shop. Super authentic. The staff was so nice and the tacos were so good! The meat was tender. The Al pastor was some of the best I've had. The horchata was great.

The best taco shop in San Diego, when it comes to food and customer service!! I come here weekly.

It's a very good place good food would recommend and it' very comfortable place to hang out and eat

Great tacos the service fantastic its been.a while but still good will come again tripartite and camera great and the tortilla nice

I finally found an authentic flavor street taco place!! Hands out, the best tacos I've tried outside Mexico street stands You need to make the trip

Came here at 9:57 pm when they are said to close at 11pm on google, yelp, and Apple Maps. We drove for a while to get here and had plans set perfectly so our. Food would be warm when we got to the destination, but unfortunately the time messed everything up and we missed our movie since we had to drive to another location. Very upsetting when restaurants do this. It is not hard to update your hours and prevent your customers from wasting time.

Not sure how this place gets good reviews. I got the sopes and they were so bland. Jamaica was allllll sugar no flavor. The tacos are huge but the meat all needs flavor. Would never come back here.

We were in the area and craving tacos. This came up in yelp with good reviews and we decided to try it out. The restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. The service was quick and polite. The food good. I had the Huarache Azteca which included a charred nopal which gave it a unique taste on top of the two types of meat it included. My husband had a Paisa Taco and shared half of the Huarache with me because I also had a carnitas street taco which was delicious! Our daughter has an asada door and finished it all. Our son had three asada street tacos and also finished them all. Over all we enjoyed the food and for a fair price. We noticed the made micheladas that looked good but didn't get to try them. Only thing bathroom is separate from building.

OH, YES! Service was even better than my abuelitas house!!!!!!!! And the foood-- THE FOOD!!!! OH MY GAWD... AUTHENTIC AF. I need to come back when I'm not on keto. Their service was amazing, oh I already said that. I LOVE THEM.

This place is not it. Got the carne asada/Chile relleno. The card asada tasted like blood and dry. The chille relleno was 6 out 10, it was more saucy than anything. Great customer service however and cool outdoor seating. Would not come again.

I been coming here for years and this time the cali burrito was just straight up nasty , full of cream!! Like full of cream, little potatoes and meat , and to top it off the meat was kinda burnt, worst experience ever in this location,

Prices are ridiculous. One taco 8.50! Food was decent. Not worth the price though we ordered total of 7 tacos and two waters and total was 60$!

The street tacos and tortillas they come with are sooooo good! I tried the tripas ( best I've ever had anywhere in California)! The adobada was delicious too! The fish taco was ok, just stick to the meat!

Very good tacos al pastor closer to what they should be :) wish they had piña Place was a bit loud but the food was worth it

Honestly this place sucks! The carne asada fries have no flavor and about 15 pieces of meat. It's more fries than anything else. The guacamole is flavorless . If you want good Taco shop , go to Humberto's Taco shop, they never disappoint . This place is expensive for shitty food.

Very good service, great food, nice environment in the location, prices may have went up since the pandemic but what's new. The flavor makes up for it. The horchata was great

Food & service was great! I was on vacation from NYC and was recommended to try this place. We wanted some real authentic Mexican food and spot catered just that. The ambiance is chill, cute decor as well. I will totally recommend this place to anyone visiting San Diego.

Carne asada heaven! Loved the tacos here. The tortillas are airy and fluffy. Glorious and delicious. One of the many other things I love about El Paisa -- with its bright, yellow building -- is that you are provided a serving platter of accoutrements for your meal, along with chips. This can be refilled at any time. The platter includes pickled carrots, several types of salsa, limes, onions and radishes. How perfect is that?! You can also ask for a side of beans to go with the platter, though the beans were somewhat greasy. Tacos generally run about $2 and you have the option of cabeza, adobada, birria, tripa, shrimp, carnitas and carne asada, among other options. Same with burritos, which max out at about $9 -- the shrimp burrito is the most expensive. They also sell combination plates with milanesa, carnitas, pastor and asada. Other offerings include chimis, carne asada fries, tostadas, mulitas, sopes, gorditas, chorizo, huevos con nopales and aguas frescoas. The fish taco is a bit too heavily battered, but is quite large. The surf and turf fries are not, and I repeat, not an appetizer. It is a full meal that should be shared among two people. Good lawd! It's heavy and hefty -- a massive heap of fries along with chunks of shrimps and finely chopped carne. This is topped with a chioptle sauce that is just...decadent, people. Full flavor cues on this one. Outdoor patio is quite nice. Loved sitting out there. And parking can be a challenge. There is a very small lot adjacent, and shared with other businesses. So you will likely be parking on the street and walking over.

Went to this place and let's just say it really sucked! The girls at the counter were rude to start off with.. rushing us to order. Then my tacos were cold and dry.. they totally forgot my other 5 tacos and that took a total of 45 minutes more... Please consider yourselves to do better! Don't recommend

Great Service amazing Mexican Food very friendly and family restaurant n San Diego CA

Great to eat Mexican food, especially roll tacos meal, enchiladas realauthentic Mexican food not ish

Nicest people ever, awesome corner location and just a great vibe. The food is authentic, Mexican music playing over the speakers and ice cold beverages. It's like a trip south of the border without the drive and entrance delays. Bathrooms are in a separate building and the parking is tight and limited so plan for parking on the street as a possibility. But I promise you won't regret stopping here!

A couple weeks ago we decided to do a taco crawl all over San Diego and honestly this place was the best! The staff was super friendly, the ladies there so sweet. You order at the counter, find a seat inside or on the patios. The first thing to show up at your table is the tray of salsas and garnishes. Everything on that tray is bomb! The salsas are all spicy including the green one! We only tried tacos and you can tell the tortillas are made in house. The meats we tried were pastor -so crispy and birria -so juicy. I cannot wait to go back down south and try more food at this place!!

Food is good. But I asked twice for water and did not get it. I had ti get up to the bar to get water. Love the bar atmosphere.

Best Mexican food I've had in a long while. The chili Reno was amazing the tacos fantastic the service great! I will definitely go here again!

Stopped here after visiting Chicano Park, they're conscious and safe with COVID as they only allowed 2 people in the restaurant at a time. Our order was taken quickly, and our food came out even quicker. The al pastor tacos were incredible, and I'm pretty sure their corn tortillas are homemade. Give this place a try if you're in the area, next time I'm in SD I'll definitely be back again.

One of my favorite mexican spots!! I've eaten here many times, they do T.J. style mexican.. The tacos, quesadillas, burritos, chile relleno amazing!! I love their chips and salsa, which is free, comes with 3 kinds of salsa 2 of which are hot hot! I love them, love them! Sometimes when i go to this place they have live Mariachis! The place is nice, spacious, authentic, fast, and inexpensive, pretty sweet!! Its located in Logan Heights and does good business you may not be able to park in their parking lot, but street parking is always available If your in the neighborhood or a taco/Mexican food enthusiast, i highly recommend you check into this place!! It's worth checking out 100% Happy eating!!

I went to go buy a beer and some food. The beer was half foam and half beer. I told them what is this and they told me that's the way it served and if you want you can serve it yourself and they were really disrespectful and obnoxious. I've been a client for many years there. It's the same people that were there and I would not go back and buy anything there anymore.

Got the horchata and California burrito... bomb everything was fresh..only thing was they only had one server who was too busy to be attentive. Other than that cool vibe and good food

Taco Tuesday was a great deal! I had the birria dinner plate and it was delicious and I am super picky about my birria. Careful with the salsa it was extra spicy! Nice selection of salsas and guacamole brought out in a tray. The handmade car tortillas were fantastic! The service was really good. We will go back again. Really cute outdoor patio for large parties. Only 4 stars since restroom was outside but the food was a 5 star.

The hot sauce is worth the trip. No bs. All over San Diego I have found water down hit sauce. This one on the first try my mouth is numb. Shrimp tostada fresh. I did not take a picture because I was busy eating it. Machaca burrito to go.

Went for an early dinner yesterday, and found this hole in the wall place near base so I checked it out and it was pretty good. I got fish tacos, not the most flavorful but their tortilla was great it looked handmade or at least for sure it wasnt a packaged tortilla which is always great. Their beans and rice was really good too, they have a wide selection of salsas that they bring to the table and chips. I will swing by again for sure and try something new.