Tita's Kitchenette

Wow what an amazing food place! They served mountain amount of food! I enjoyed in 2~3 different meals. Super delicious I wish I lived closer. Next door bakery looked great as well. When in National city, I'd come back!

Filipino food. Like home cooking with out cleaning up. Delicious. Big servings. High turnover fresh cooked food .

Food portions were fulfilling! Ordered a half rice and half noodle with 2 sides those were for two people and plenty of left overs. Great food flavors!

Tita’s Kitchenette is a local favorite Filipino restaurant in National City. Finding parking could be a test of patience at times. We tried to get food during off hours to avoid the lunch and dinner crowd. After getting Filipino pastries and bread from Valerio’s Bake Shop, located next to Tita’s Kitchenette, we got in the queue to order food. The line moved excruciatingly slow. More patience was needed here today (Sunday around 3pm). We ordered the two items combo with rice and BBQ chicken skewers also. They have increased the menu pricing like all restaurants. Food is tasty here at a budget friendly price point and the portion served was generous. It is very common to see Filipino families and big group of family and friends dining in at the restaurant and sharing their boxed meals together in a happy manner with lively conversations. Plenty of indoor seating available as people moved in and out of the dining area in a constant flow. This place also sells desserts such as ice cream, halo halo and sweet Filipino desserts. Even though the queue was moving slowly like molasses today, we will be back for more delicious Filipino food.

I've been coming here for over 20 years. affordable prices and really good food. I've had to complain a few times but I was there two days ago and I have not eaten there in the last six months. I was impressed with the quality and temperature of the food especially being served early in the morning. Good experience this time. Maraming salamat! :)

Like my mom's cooking but with more robust flavors...woops...sorry nanay :( VERY GENEROUS portions! Enough to fill me up and have a whole other meal so it's Adobo and eggs the next morning 😆 🤣 😋

I love this place. Really great food. Super inexpensive, authentic Filipino food. The atmosphere is okay. Loud, outdated, but they fill your TO GO boxes to the brim, therefore, I always take it to go.

Low key place, no frills. Clean, efficient service. The food is excellent and price reasonable. I had the two combo meats with pancit and a chicken BBQ stick. Pork Adobo was fork tender and excellent spice and tanginess. Beef was a little over done, fatty but taste was very good. Chicken was moist, sweet, good crust on outside. To quote my dinner companion, "we got 40 lbs of great food for under $20".

Holy portion sizes. I was amazed at the amount of food I got when I was ordering. I asked for the combo plate rice with pancit noodles in addition to adobo and sisig as well as some BBQ chicken skewers on the side. When they were scooping it into the takeout box, I thought they had forgot to put the second item in as it looked like they were putting 2 giant portions of adobo into my rice and pancit, but to my surprise they had a whole other tray to put the sisig in. They also provide you with soup (pork sinigang) to accompany your meal, free of charge. No joke, you could EASILY feed a family of 4 with this box especially with the skewers added on. The food was very tasty, albeit kind of oily. My favorite was the BBQ skewer and the sisig. I would've tried their Ube ice cream too, but I was getting take out. I appreciated how well they wrapped and packaged everything so it didn't spill everywhere given the insane portions. As for the service, it was later in the day so there was no line and the staff were very pleasant and patient with us. I've only had Filipino food a handful of times so I inquired about multiple items due to the lack of labels and they were more than happy to assist me along with recommendations from fellow locals who frequented this establishment. I can't attest to how it would be when there is a line out the door, which I was told is the norm at this place. The restaurant itself is clean, small, and has indoor tables for dine in. It's located in a complex with parking outside so it isn't too difficult to find. Definitely a place worth checking out if you are in the area, but come hungry and share!!!

The first thing to notice is a line out the door is a good sign! Parking kinda stinks but it's not just affecting them but all businesses in their complex. Surprising they don't have bistek on the menu. This place is an institution that one should not be off put by appearance as you start to walk in. It's when you walk around the corner to the main set up and watch the crew at work why you see what everyone is willing to wait for in line. You especially know it's good when half the people in line aren't even Filipino. Worth the drive to the South Bay of San Diego.

I did a phone in order for catering for my daughter's birthday on this busy Veterans Day weekend. The woman who took my order was super customer service oriented, and very nice. I made my order and then she told me that she would see me at pick up. When I arrived for pick up, the dining area was pretty packed and they had many customers. The line to get food was also long and I thought that was awesome because the food here is delicious. It moved quickly. The side door to the east on the left when you approach the restaurant is the pick up order area. They also have delicious scooped ice creams that are Filipino flavor inspired. My favorite is Ube (Purple Taro Root) flavored ice cream. Since there was no one at the side pick up order area after I waited about 5 to 10 minutes, I went to the cashier at the dining side (west) of the restaurant. I let her know that I was there for a pick up and she asked me for my name and food order; she said that she would get someone to help me soon. When I made it back over to the order pick up area, there were other parties there waiting to pick up their orders as well. I let them know that someone was going to be out to help us soon. Within about five minutes, someone came out with my order and I paid for it and left. The good news about this location is at the food is very good and it's very quick and easy to do phone ordering for pickup. I will say that it is a busy weekend and so whenever it's busy, sometimes the phone line is busy for the phone orders. They eventually do pick up (I called back two or three times to get through). This is a great sign that the food is delicious and everybody loves this place. My family enjoyed the food from Tita's, and we always make sure that we have it available for family parties. Filipino tradition is that we have a lot of food and a variety of food at our family gatherings. Tita's is always welcome at our family gatherings. The Traditional Filipino food here is delicious.

Bro.. I don't care if you're familiar with Filipino food or not, u need to come here when in San Diego! Tita's is a cafeteria-style establishment. Get in line, then ask the person behind you to save ur place so you can go look at what dishes are out. There are always beef, pork, chicken, and seafood available. When it's your turn, ask for a plate with rice, pancit (glass noodles), or half and half. Then choose your entrées. When ur done be sure to try the lumpia, sinagang (soup), and BBQ chicken! Their pork adobo is to die for..

I've never dined in so this review is for the hot foods to go only. This place has some seriously delicious Filipino eats. I really enjoy their bbq and the various hot dishes like caldereta, diniguan, pork adobo and sinigang. The only thing complaint I've got is the fact that their kare kare does not contain any tripe (which is my favorite part of the whole dish!) The restaurant itself has some tables and chairs but nothing fancy. For the price however, the food is worth it. I will say if you do not speak Tagalog, it is sometimes difficult to communicate with the ladies serving the food. Luckily for me, my husband's broken Tagalog suffices.

It's been 6 years since I've been here! Glad to see it's still busy as ever and providing delicious eats at reasonable prices. Excellent service and it's super clean.

Very rude servers. Just asking what certain dishes are and they start scooping it. And they act like they have better things to do. Food is over hyped and overrated! The pinakbet vegetables are undercooked and inedible. We are from Out of town and drive an hour because this place had very high reviews. Sincerely, Very disappointed, hungry and very angry pregnant woman.

I just called to get pricing and quantity of how they sell their lumpia the man that answered was very rude and disrespectful. "I said yes, how many times do I have to tell you." DISGUSTING. You lost my $100 service.

Well although the food tasted good I found flies on my food each time. Some people just pick it out but I that's a big no no for me So that's all I have to say it took me over 2 years to go back and I think it will take longer for me to return again

Great food! Amazing customer service. For the Thanksgiving holiday I ordered the pork bbq kabobs OMG! The flavor! They were juicy and I bought them a day before Thanksgiving. The guy that answered the phone and took my order was super nice. He sang my name and called me his favorite customer. He was on speaker so my son and I just laughed, he's so funny. He really made our day. I will be ordering different items to try, we are burnt out on traditional holiday food

I've been going here since I was a wee lad in the 90's and they've gone under renovation exactly once lol. I remember when a combo with 2 items used to cost $7. There's always a line here no matter what time of day. It's because they always stack your food like they're trying to get rid of it lol. One combination can last you multiple meals, so the price is so worth it (almost $15/plate now). There's always families sitting inside in the loud hustle of the hungry crowd. It's like the workers are constantly competing to see who could serve the most food to the most people and the only winners are the customers. I recommend...literally everything. Everything is the best Filipino food I've ever tasted. Nothing even compares. Not even my own parents' cooking, and I'm Filipino!

Before my mother passed away she would buy us dinner from this place at least once a month since I was small. Since her passing I attempted to try and visit on my own and the service made me feel like I was less than and undeserving compared to the people around me. I wasn't treated like a valued customer. I waited in line for 30 mins and 2 customers behind me were helped before I was even acknowledged and when I was finally helped I was greeted with a disgusting attitude and aggressive mannerisms. Slamming and throwing my food on the counter.. I was treated with such disrespect and I didn't do anything wrong. I patiently waited just like everyone else. Visiting today it broke my spirit, I will never go again. I paid and threw away the food. I pray no one else experienced the discrimination I did today. God bless.

Finally trying Filipino food and I think couldn't have picked a better time and place. It was a cloudy rainy Saturday evening in SD just around dinner time. We were driving around National City and were flooded with the delicious scent of warm comfort food. The line to get in was already growing outside the door, even in the rain. After it all, I understand why this place was poppin AND why the wait was worth it. I honestly had no idea what anything of the menu was. Once we got closer to where they serve the food, a sweet woman helped us out with explaining the different dishes and making suggestions. We got the bbq chicken, chicken adobo, noodles, lumpia, and tried a sample of a couple other items. I think they gave us a little bit of soup too. The portions ARE HUGE and definitely enough to share or save for later. The experience was excitingly overwhelming from the delicious flavors filling the air, generosity and kindness, and food portions. Great first impression of Filipino cuisine and we are definitely coming back again. Wish I had more pictures of the food, sorry next time.

Wonderful BBQ Chicken Sticks. We ordered 30 to go. Since it's a long drive we freeze and defrost as needed. Excellent service packing the order to go. Typical Turo Turo, point point place which often has a line out the door. Very casual ambience. Parking is sometimes a little tight.

Todd was a great food experience. If you want a lot of food to share and take home. Far service. Diner feel to it.

This is the OG spot. If you know, you know! Everything here is bussin'. My personal favorite is the menudo, but they also serve their sisig with lumpia sauce--secret menu stuff!

This is hands down the best philipino food in all of San Diego. There prices are low for the amount of food they give you! And the quality is phenomenal. I always get the chicken adobo and teriyaki chicken combo with rice and make sure u say to add the juice over the rice! They stuff the Styrofoam to the ceiling! Very friendly staff here as well.

Came back in July 2023 and had to give them another shot for the title. Really enjoyed the food and the portion sizes which didn't break the bank. Great customer service, and funny people behind the counter that I was able to poke fun and joke with. Everything was so delicious I need to go back for breakfast and get some yummy items.

Tita's is an institution. If you love Filipino food and you're in San Diego, you should not miss Tita's it feels like your Grandmother's cooking and it's very inexpensive. Please do yourself a favor and grab one of their dinners.

Tita's Kitchenette is the best Turo-Turo (point-point) I've been to in a while, great options, amazing value, great taste, and great service! Tita's Kitchenette is one of many Filipino restaurants in National City. You can usually locate it in the strip mall from its long line going out the door. It moves quickly as you point at what you want and keep the line moving. The Turo-Turo style is like a quick service of already prepared food that you pick from. You pick your sides either rice or pancit (Filipino noodles) and then choose how many dishes you want. The value here is insane. You will get a mountain of rice and noodles and a large amount of the dish you want and at the time of writing this a combo with one dish is around $10, see the photo attached for the massive portion! They will also offer you free soup so you need to say yes. The soup has usually been pork sinigang (a tamarind soup base dish) which you cannot go wrong with. I've tried various dishes here. Adobo, bistek, menudo, goat kaldareta, and the Filipino bbq/kebab. You really can't go wrong. They are all flavorful and delicious. The biggest issue is not having enough stomach to try it all. Service is friendly and helpful. Its helpful to do some googling of Filipino food beforehand if you aren't familiar with the cuisine as there aren't any labels on the food, hence a lot of pointing happens. The ambiance is solid there are indoor tables, water available to grab, and plastic wrap to bring all your leftovers back home with you. Great experience and a great time. This is my go-to Filipino spot.

Ordered to-go lumpias frozen to cook later at home. They were very fresh and delicious. The service was quick and staff was very nice. Always busy inside the restaurant so make sure to go with time.

Definitely my go to for authentic filipino cuisine! Love the lumpia and pancet! The best in San Diego in my opinion! Everyone is friendly and the service is fast! Always a line out the door but it moves quickly!

My family and I have been coming to tita's for 18 years! Classic Turo - Turo filipino food. Their food always hit the spot. It's impressive that to this day, they fill up your container like they're feeding the whole family. My friends and I recently visited and us 3 shared a 3 item menu and we were stuffed and satisfied! We only wished we had room for their desserts! Will come back here again and again.

This place is our to go to for yummy Filipino food in SD. Love their cooking ! Will be back ! Thanks for very good food & reasonable pricing :).

Tita's Kitchenette is an exceptional restaurant, where the food, the service, and the ambiance is all designed to enhance the diner's experience. The Halo-Halo is amazing so much flavor, so much goodness, be it ube or mango or one of the other flavors... IT'S DELICIOUS. The grill turns out the best of the best, of the best, as they cook until the food is all sold out every day!! Freshness unparalleled, flavor unmatched, and consistency beyond reproach... After eating here for over 30 years, I can speak to this without hesitation or question.

I grew up in Paradise Hills and have been coming here since I was a baby. This place still slaps. 100% recommend to anyone in the mood for homemade Filipino food and BBQ chicken. Line is always long now, as it should be! It's definitely worth the wait. Love Tita's so much!

Visited this Filipino Restaurant located at National City. As early as 6:30 am (they are opened as early as 5am) and foods are steaming hot are ready. Hot Corned Beef with rice combo with Sinigang na Baboy, Lumpiang Shanghai (5 pieces per order). Prices are very reasonable and foods are good.

I tried the halo-halo here for the first time and it was decent. However, I found that many essential ingredients were missing, such as banana, leche flan, and ube, among others. The mix mainly consisted of jar ingredients, which didn't really excite me. Additionally, they didn't have any ube ice cream available at the time. Unfortunately, I have to say that I won't be purchasing halo-halo from Titas again.

I feel like every San Diego native I know is aware of Tita's Kitchenette. Like if they can only name one Filipino spot, it's always this place. And with good reason! Good old-school no-frills Filipino joint offering generous portions of tasty food at an affordable price. Having grown up in a Filipino household, I tend to gravitate towards those comforting Filipino foods that hit me like a much needed hug. To me, that means chicken adobo, pork sinigang, pork sisig, goat caldareta, and lumpia. Tita's Kitchenette makes excellent versions of each. Their adobo certainly checks all the right boxes as it is flavorful without being runny or dry. Their goat kaldareta is flavorful without being to gamey. Their kaldareta does contain a bunch of bones, but there is also a sufficient amount of meat considering that Tita's isn't stingy with the portions. Their sisig is good. It's tasty and has a good amount of meat. I wish there were more crispy bits, but I understand that would be tough to do considering their sisig is stored in a warming table rather than made to order and served on a sizzling platter. The lumpia tastes homemade, which is great because I know some businesses use the store-bought frozen lumpias. The sinigang was everything you expect it to be. Sour. Salty. Slightly sweet. Very much comforting. Honestly, this place is great. The worst part is the parking. Though there are plenty of spots in the back lot, but traffic bottlenecks there. The lot is busy. Its a bit frustrating. Still, that's not enough to keep me away from Tita's Kitchenette, Island Pacific, and Valerios.

Food, is always good. Plenty to choose from and very generous portions! The customer service is pretty good considering this business is non stop!! They have a long liine of hungry people out the door most of the day so you know the food is good!!!! The ambiance is just ok but heck we aren't going there for the ambiance. We want that good, good authentic Filipino food and they absolutely give us what we want!!

Been to this place since I was a little girl in the 90s and this place still feels like home. All the comforts of Filipino food, complete with the elders serving you. Don't be fooled that it's in this little plaza in national city. People from everywhere know to come here for the fresh home cooking of Titas & it's generous portions. If you plan to get food here, remember to share. The portions are epic sized and super delicious. Recommend: Sinigang soup (Filipino sour soup) Fresh bbq either pork or the chicken And my fave the Filipino menudo.

Tita's is the definition of that local to-go place that you only know about if you are a local. When we arrived, there was a decent amount of people in line which added to my anticipation. You pick your food cafeteria-style and can pick a variety of combo plates. They also have a large catering menu. There is no tag/label for the food so you have to ask the staff what each one is which for some may be a plus or an inconvenience. We pretty much picked whatever looked good vs. knowing exactly what it was outside of a few dishes and went from there. We got a huge haul of food and some of the standouts were the fried catfish, chicken bbq skewer (super juicy/tender/thick), and the pancit. The lumpia were good as well but a little on the small/thin side. We also got a beef dish that came with peas almost like a beef gravy-type of dish. The flavor was something fairly familiar to western dishes so I'd skip for next time. We also got a vegetable dish that had a very strong shrimp flavor to it which came with bitter melon, some pieces of meat, as well as other veggies. If you are not a fan of shrimp, then I would avoid. Tita's is a cool stop if you're in the area and considering how much food you get, this is a great value for your money!

The line out the building speaks for itself. The food here is authentic Filipino food that hits the spot every time! What I love the most about this place is the portion. They PACK the food way beyond the containers can hold which I love!! I've been coming here for years and the quality and portions have remained the same. They make a variety of different foods daily and it's fresh and hot. You can never go wrong with the staples - pancit, chicken adobo, etc. I tried their chicken skewers that they grill right in front of you and it was mouthwatering good. Highly recommend!

My go-to spot when I'm craving Filipino food. I typically always get the pork adobo & sinigang. They are not stingy with portion sizes & give a hefty amount of rice. Food is always fresh because so many ppl come through here everyday. I tried the sisig once, not a huge fan. It was sour. But the pork adobo & sinigang never miss! Price point is good for the amount you're getting. I haven't really tried other places so I can't really compare. But I feel this is as authentic as it will get. Down to the employees. Lol. The fried banana they sell by register is always good & fresh as well. I always order them for my mom. They are 2 for $1.50. Love their halo halo w/ ube ice cream. My last visit they ran out of ube so I opted in for mango. Still good but I prefer mango. Lines are always long here so be prepared to wait. Private lot with shared parking with other businesses. Sometimes parking can be annoying. But I usually always find a spot in front. Will continue to come here & recommend to others. Also, they saran wrap the heck out of your food. So you are in good hands if you're ordering to-go! Lol.

I love Tita's! I live in La Jolla and I drive down whenever I want some authentic Filipino food or when my grandma isn't home lol! Their pork sisig is one of my favorites along with the adobos and skewers. They have lots of options and they are not stingy about filling up that plate, so be prepared to take it to-go and save some food for home! Line can be long sometimes but I think it is worth it. The only reason I'm giving 4 stars is because they do run out of the sisig quite frequently and pretty early too. There are times where I've driven there for that specifically and they didn't have any left :( Hopefully one day they can prepare sisig to be sold all day ~ I'm sure that would bring in some great business. Other than that, great food, fast service, and I will recommend to anyone looking for some affordable, yet filling, yummy filipino food! (Plate below was around $14)!

This one of the most popular Filipino restaurants in San Diego. Its a fantastic Filipino fast-food restaurant that brings the delightful flavors of the Philippines to your plate. There is always a line throughout the day. They do sell out, so if you want a lot more choices be there for lunch. There are options for 1 or 2 item combos. They pack the plates which can be your left overs for the next couple of days.

After living in the san diego area for 2 years now, im revising this. It should be 4 instead of 3. They are consistent in their taste and portions are always plentiful!

Food was okay this time. The mongo was super thick and wasn't the same as the one I bought two days ago. The service was fast, even with a line and a person jumping the entire line. They need to expand.

I'm not from San Diego myself, so when I spent a weekend down there for my anniversary, I had to look up the best places to eat Filipino food at. Seeing the reviews here, I was a little bit skeptical because I had thought to myself that there was no way people could be coming here for ten, twenty, or even thirty years. After eating my first meal here, I see that I was wrong. Tita's Kitchen has a small, yet reliable host of homemade Filipino dishes. It appears to me that everyday, the menu stays the same. We got one portion of the pork sinigang and chicken sewers for around 13-15 dollars, and it easily fed two people. The servers stack their plates and bowls with rice and food filled to the brim. They did not skimp out on here AT ALL. My boyfriend and I came here for a total of three times during our stay here in San Diego because feeding two people at Tita's Kitchen is cheaper nowadays than at McDonald's or Wendy's. Plus, the food here transports you back to home, filling you up with that warm, cozy feeling inside. If there was one place that could ever convince me to move to San Diego, it's Tita's Kitchen!

Tita's Kitchenette transports you to your Filipino family parties growing up. Classic Filipino dishes that warm the soul. Absolutely amazing seeing such a diverse crowd waiting in line to get their favorite food! Love the sisig and bbq chicken skewers! Thanks for the wonderful food!

The food is the best. The service is classic what you expect. You always feel like they're giving you more than they should and your special. Ambience is so so, we like to take ours home and then have leftovers for days to come

The line can get long and out the door but its worth the wait and it moves fast. They have so many options to choose from and they pile it high with your choice of entrees. Worth the price since the plate was stacked high with food, and it lasted me another meal!

The food is authentic Phillipino food, they have hit food ready for pickup or you can order ahead. Very generous portions reasonably price. But be prepared, usually the line is out the door as you wait to place your order.

Make sure to check that your chicken BBQ or pork BBQ is fully cooked. While I was eating, I noticed the chicken was bit raw later on, and I got sick overnight. The last time I got the pork, I noticed that it also wasn't fully cooked and microwaved it. I don't think I will return anytime soon now.

The food is delicious and tasty and worth the wait at times. They are not greedy. They don't measure the food. Which I like. I think the restaurant needs a little of a makeover. It looks a little dull.

Good food and plentiful! Shanghai lumpia, pancit, adobo, sisig and pinakbet was delicious! And they gave a free sinigang to go! Very friendly service with a smile! Dessert was mochi rice with sweet dipping caramel sauce (Biko) - suman with coconut was delicious!

My yusband and I stopped in for a quick bute today. Thus has now been added to our regular rotationAmazing food, great prices, and just wonderful people. What more could we ask for!

Always a busy place with new food and trays constantly coming out. The smells will increase your appetite and your eyes will certainly see many authentic and delicious Filipino dishes for you to enjoy. The bbq chicken is always a good base as well as the pancit noodles and lumpia. Don't forget they make halo-halo for dessert!!! Usually, if you're not sure of a particular dish, there will be either in front or in back of you someone who can give you tips and explanations. Filipinos are friendly and love to share their love for food with others.

Authentic Filipino - YES! Quantity of servings - OVER THE TOP! A two item combo can easily feed 3 people! Quality of food - average. Pancit is bland. Entrees are somewhat greasy, but this is common for average Filipino food.