Yesenia's Mexican Food & Ice Cream

Service was excellent and fast! Food was authentic and delicious!! Low key one of the better Mexican spots in the area. BIG PLUS for having multiple types of salsas that you can get yourself rather then having to ask for extra salsa all the time!

Yesenia’s serves some of the most delicious and freshest Mexican food in San Diego. I’ve had the fish taco plate a few times now, and each time the quality and freshness have been outstanding, authentic and flavorful. The people are also very kind and care about their customers and the quality of the food they serve. I’m so happy this place is close to my new apartment. Thank you! ☺️

Had the birria tacos and they are really good. The meat is tasty and juicy and the consommé is a nice addition. You get that for free with your birria tacos. Fyi, these are bigger than your regular taco. I ordered two and it was a lot. I also tried the guacamole and it was not to my taste. It had a smooth and creamy consistency but not much taste, and no pico de gallo chunks in it. There is a Salsa bar and the pickled carrots and jalapeño salsa are fire. Plenty of salsas to choose from. Horchata was also tasty, though I wish they had paper cups/bowls instead of the styrofoam ones. 😢 The place was pretty empty when I was there, so I’d say the ambiance was a bit on the sad side. Toilet was closed to the public at the time as well.

While I was living in North park San Diego , this was my most favorite Mexican restaurant spot by far. Their taco birria is second to none and though I’ve tried taco birria at so many other restaurants all over the country, none of them comes close to Yesenia. Will defo come back if I ever get to San Diego.

Good food!! It is pretty crowded! A lot of to-go orders! Their portions are large! Good price!! Only a few small tables indoor! The staff is friendly!!! Recommend their tacos!!! Love their salsa! However, the order takes too long to get ready!! Recommend to call in to order first!

Big menu. This time I ordered the flautas. They were OK. I've had the quesabirria tacos before and I enjoyed those alot. Good selection of ice cream too.

This food was legit. So much flavor packed in. Friendly service. Prices are very reasonable. If you are in mission valley this should be a place you check out. I was here for 4 days and it was the best food I've had in years!!

My first time eating here was last April of 2021. I had never had birria tacos and the establishment just popped out as the place to try them. Being that I’m from Louisiana I don’t know much about them. So while on a little vacation here to Cali visiting my daughter I tried. They were so amazing. So fast forward to last Friday April 8th, 2022, I’m visiting again and this time my family tried them as well. Same great quality and taste I enjoyed a year ago. This time I had horchata to drink and a tea made with hibiscus(they were two separate drinks). Y’all please give them a try. They are sooooo worth. I will eat there every chance I get when I go to Cali. Thank you for such amazing food.

Randomly stumbled across Yesenia's because my friend and I were on the hunt were some Chamango. It was hot and we were both tired. We thought they had it here (maybe they used to sell it), but I was also hungry so I didn't want to walk out empty-handed either. I ended up getting two quesabirria tacos and a jamaica drink. Was honestly worried that the tacos were going to get soggy by the time I got home, but even after about 2 hours more of doing additional errands, the tacos were still great! The workers I met on that day are friendly as well. Definitely support your local mom and pop when you're in the area.

Bookmarked this spot for months now. It kept popping up on my Nextdoor app too so I took it as a sign to finally go. My mentee and I met her for brunch on Tuesday. So many choices but we decided to share the Birria Ramen and Chorizo, Egg and Cheese Breakfast Burrito and a Horchata. I got to practice my Spanish too. She delivered the drink as soon as we sat down. Birria Ramen came out first with a the accompaniments. She was kind enough to give us a second bowl since we were sharing. I don't typically have ramen from a box because of all the preservatives, but I am happy I made the exception because it was so good! The meat was so succulent and the flavors was on point. I like it with a lot of lime. He enjoyed his Horchata. We did a 1/4 and 3/4 burrito split. Though it was tasty, I expected a little bit more for the price. There is a self serve salsa bar. We both liked the avocado salsa best. I have to mention the place was clean. She was cleaning the ice cream display while we were there. Roughly a dozen two person tables. They we consistently busy while we were there for an hour with dine-in and to go. Good size parking lot.

I had a carne asada burrito from here and it was delicious. Good size. Flavor was delicious. It had carne asada and guacamole inside. Said I was going to eat half of it but it was really good and ate the whole thing. Meat was very flavorful and juicy.

My brother brought me to this place when I was visiting from Phoenix and it's a hit every single time! I keep coming back whenever I'm in town. I recommend getting carne asada, quesa birria, al pastor, AND the carnitas! It's absolutely appalling seeing these petty one star reviews, people complaining of things that are common at every food establishment, like simply waiting! Great food takes time, and this food is VERY well worth the wait. Antonio is the hardest working person I've ever met, you'll see him any time you go in there. Good food, good vibes. What's not to love?

My significant other and I cannot get enough of this place! It's our go to end of the work week spot! Each time we go, the food is fresh and delicious. The salsa bar is always well stocked and they are all very flavorful! The service is great and Antonio remembers each time we come in we get coconut ice cream for dessert! Love this place!

Really, really good stuff. Fantastic shrimp taco and the birria was excellent. Both were very generous in size. Super helpful, friendly service. He threw in free warm chips, so we got to try the salsa bar offerings. The hot carrots were SO good. I only wish I lived closer so I could go back often. HIGHLY recommend.

yep, the Cabeza taco as well as the Carnitas and Carne Asada are the main go to. They have a casual atmosphere that is welcoming and service is prompt. Wanted to try the other items but already too full. Do not sleep on the salsa bar. They have the best salsa.

Came in for a California burrito and it didn't disappoint. Their CA burrito includes carne asada, fries, cheese and sour cream. Good size burrito for $11.99. I also tried my friends chicken enchilada and fish rolled tacos (first time trying this) and both were also good. Service was friendly and they didn't mind my friends and I hanging out for a while chit chatting.

I love Yesenia's. It's a no frill Mexican comfort food serving all the typical Mexican dishes. My enchiladas were delicious and their portions are big. I love how they offer free salsa and chips so you can munch on them while waiting for food. There's always plenty to seat and parking is easy.

Food here is great everytime. They have the best salsa bar in the area. The service is always super friendly and welcoming. Sometimes the food takes a minute because they're making it fresh, so its totally worth it. The last time I was in I saw the person working remind the delivery driver to get salsa's for the order which I view as a huge positive. As someone who absolutely hates getting no salsa/hot sauce with my mexican food order (via app), I loved this! Awesome place. I hope the neighborhood appreciates it.

Chilaquiles verdes were delicious! and the potatoes were also so good we will definitely be coming back , we also order the caldo de res AND OMGGG it was one of the best caldos de res I've ever had we attacked it and forgot to take a picture but we DEFINITELY RECOMMEND both dishes! We will definitely become regulars

I'm sorry but I gave this place a chance BIG MISTAKE. They got my order wrong the fries were extremely over cooked and i found a black burnt French fry all in all I honestly couldn't even finish the food fml and f this place

I called this place to put in a pick up order for some carne asada fresh specifically without pico de Gallo and when I got there they didn't even make the order but they still charged me as if they did and just made the fries right there I had to wait about 10mins and when I opened the tray it had pico de Gallo and not to mention the tray was upside down I used to come here all the time with no issue but first time I'm back in a while they mess up my order maybe new management oh well it is what it is can't do anything about it

Yesenia's hits every time! I will add that you will have to wait a bit for your food to be freshly made but it is so worth the wait. I absolutely love their salsa selection and would recommend (if you're into spicey salsa) the jalapeño salsa. I've tried several dishes here and can confirm they've got a good handle on most everything. If you do not want to wait in the restaurant, call it in and enjoy some of their delicious food. The interior is somewhat small but you have access to all of their salsas which is a big plus!

I ordered the food to be delivered. I got the carne assada plate and it was very tasty. I also ordered churros. It was warm and fresh but to be honest I did not quite like the filling. Other than that pretty decent Mexican food.

Love me some Mexican food. I tend to get the same few items in rotation. I've tried Tacaliente, La Fuente, El Cuervo, Bahia, Roberto's and Los Panchos (in my hood) I just tried Yesenia's for the first time tonight. Everything was delicious. I had the 2 beef enchilada combo. Beans were cooked through well not too much lard, just enough salt. perfectly seasoned rice, very tender shredded beef and fresh amazing tasting red enchilada sauce! I will definitely go back, next time....my bean, cheese and rice burrito w some of their good salsas!

One of the best taco shop hidden gems in San Diego. You wouldn't know it by the outside exterior with its pink faded posters but this casual sit down Mexican restaurant is when it comes to its food. Super delicious and very portion heavy. Food is delivered to your table by a grandma and even asking for water cups is given in a medium size which is super appreciated. It being a cozy size of a shop, it feels family run. Highly recommend you check this place out if you end up thinking bout going to Denny's and this is open. Give it a shot

I love this place. Best Mexican in San Diego especially for Birria tacos. The owner is great, the service is friendly and genuine. I love the pink paint, makes the place really stand out. I love the ice cream too! You get everything all in one go!

The chile verde was stellar. I didn't have too much of an appetite, but I cleared the entire plate and plan to do that again soon because the food was that amazing. The owner works hard and gave us a great customer experience. I am happy to have great Mexican food that I can walk to.

This review is strictly about the ice cream served at this eatery. The place was right across the street from the Denny's on El Cajon Blvd in North Park. It looks like they took over from another Mexican dessert establishment, La Michoacana, which had relocated to an address in National City. The photos of the chamango dessert were what brought me to visit here while I was in the neighborhood. The menu was focused on Mexican fare with little emphasis on sweets despite the 'Ice Cream' in the business name. There were two separate sets of menu screens, but neither of them listed anything about desserts. A freezer displaying the flavors of ice cream was right next to the register. Sample sizes showing the price for each cup were on display and that was it. I got one scoop of mango ice cream which was then covered with chamoy toppings. It looked great and tasted good, but the problem was the serving size was tiny for the price. Overall, I gave my experience Yesenia's Mexican Food & Ice Cream a three star rating.

I have ordered delivery from this location twice now and absolutely loved the food. My favorite item so far was the abondigas soup - so moist, flavorful, and comforting. We recently tried the cabeza burrito and were pleasantly surprised at how moist and well cooked the protein was. The delux burrito is huge! Definitely took us 2 days to finish the food but it's a great bang for your buck.

Best salsa bar in San Diego! Really love the food here, the owner is a great friend of the community and the care shows in his food.

The customer service is amazing very friendly and efficient the food is also really good my new spot in the city the quesabirrias so good and full of flavor

First of all Antonio yes I spoke to you and listened to your explanation/excuses. Should not be able to pay for something you do NOT HAVE. . The item chamango shouldn't be available to order. Apparently something per your conversation have not had in awhile But customers can still order and pay for it expecting and not receiving. Getting a refund from grubhud was not that simple. I did receive finally I just checked still there perhaps other customers don't care about ordering a chamango and not receiving as well yeah its only 7.99 but it my money. Never had an issue with your business b4 however I will go elsewhere Be Blessed and enjoy your day.

My favorite spot for a burrito! The El Grande Burrito is an insane value and one of my favorite burritos in San Diego. The salsa bar is also fire (I have a tendency to drown my burritos in the jalapeño salsa because it's so good)! Tony is the man - super friendly and he's gotta be one of the hardest working guys in the game.

ordered a steak burrito and it only had steak pico de gallo and guac but the guac was fake. It literally did not taste like avocado, and the meat had no flavor. I don't recommend this spot

Was specifically looking for a place that had birria ramen because I was randomly craving it and this is one of the places that showed up on Yelp. Super glad that this came up because the birria ramen was on the money. So they use tapatio ramen which is something I haven't tried before but it was really good topped with their soft and flavorful chunks of birria. Such a good comfort food especially when you add squeezes of lime to give it a nice acidity! I love that they packaged the cilantro/onion on the side because I don't like either and sometimes I forget to request it off. It's a little steep at $14 an order but I can see myself coming back when the craving hits. I also ordered a quesabirria taco (w/consommé) just to try it and it was really good but paled in comparison to the ramen. I don't know if it was because I ate it after it wasn't as hot but it was kind of hard/tough to eat, even after dipping it in the delicious consommé The space itself is kind of small on the inside and homemade signs are all around for newer products they've added to the menu. It would have been helpful if these signs did show the price of the items. There's a little bit of outdoor seating that's dog friendly and it was amusing to watch the low-riders drive up El Cajon blvd at night. Also wanted to note - we were expecting a drive thru because it says so on Yelp but there is no drive-thru

As a native San Diegan I can confidently say this is one of the best taco shops around. You can't go wrong with anything on the menu, but the quesabirria tacos are to DIE for. The owner is also the sweetest guy and he's always working in there so it feels very familiar. Support your local small business and get your tacos here!!

I enjoyed my meal at this restaurant and had the carne asada, which was delicious! The salsa added a nice kick to the flavors. Overall I would recommend this a good place to stop by and get your fix of Mexican food.

Really good food but their customer service sucks. Take way too long to prepare the food, even when you call ahead. Sorry but true. And the quality of food is quite different depending on who is cooking. When the owner is there the quality and flavor is much better. The backup cook is not good. Good luck when you go.

Have been going here since I moved to San Diego. Absolutely one of the best Mexican places in the city, and that says a lot for San Diego!! Countless options, reasonable prices, customer service is always amazing, and the food is always spot on. My go to local spot for sure!

Meh. All 5 salsas were quite bland. Refried beans were solid. Chips, carnitas taco, and pastor taco were okay. Not horrible place but wouldn't return here.

Ordered a carne asado taco and a pollo asada taco today. Requested guac, lettuce and cheese on each, and ordered a small side of rice. Pretty simple order. Both tacos came with nothing on them, just meat. I was stuck with it back at work and took a couple of bites of each. I don't think the cooks understand the idea of seasoning. They were as bland as meat can be. No flavor, whatsoever. I ended up throwing the tacos out. They didn't include the side of rice, but they charged me for it. They threw in chips for free but maybe they could find a decent package for them instead of just rolling them up in a piece of wrapping paper that pops open up in the bag. I should have taken a picture of the hot sauce station. It was a mess, but I think customers are partly to blame for that. Apparently, this place got new ownership so maybe that's the problem. Won't be back.

Tony makes the best veggie burritos, hands-down. Go to spot for your biggest burrito cravings.

I got the chicken burrito and it was delicious and so juicy. So beware of the drip! My date got tacos and the carne asada was delicious as well. Will be back! The ocean room was so fun, great atmosphere!

I left a 5 star review a year ago but apparently they went down hill because the food I had delivered was horrible. The fries seemed like they were from last night or older. Not sure why someone would serve food like that. I ordered another time about 6 months ago and that also sucked but wanted to try again. Bummer

10/10 experience here. Tony is the best and was super welcoming as it was my first time here. I got the quesabirria tacos and they were the ! Definitely get the mango ice cream too! Such a perfect meal- definitely will be going again.

Mi primera visita y pedí chilaquiles, deliciosos, hay poco espacio para comer y está un poco descuidado el lugar, pero vale la pena en mi opinión, sabores definidos Mexicanos, si extrańas tu tierra ve a este lugar y prueba algo del vasto menú. Recomendado

Solid spot for Taco Tuesday! $1.99. Good selection of meat options, good quality, and flavorful. Complete with a salsa bar!

Disappointed that my first meal moving into San Diego from the east coast, they completely messed my order. They do not read notes correctly for online/food app orders . My burrito only had chicken, fries and sour cream. In my chicken burrito, I asked for no guacamole or tomatoes- but to make sure it had consisted beans rice cheese and salsa. Also asked for silverware since I have nothing in my apt from the move, they did not include anything. Basically after dissecting my burrito, it was inedible. Very disappointed- especially after a long move across the county, I wanted my first meal to be memorable. It sure did, and not in a good way.

I was really craving an horchata, and this did not satisfy that whatsoever. It's pretty bland and more watery than I'd like. I prefer the ones that are rich and a teensy thick, but I can stop drinking after the third sip. Even after mixing, hoping to get a good balance, it's not better. Waste of $3something D: look elsewhere for a good horchata.

First time here and got food poisoning from the carne asada. Never going back to this place.

Best California burrito I've had in San Diego. I have been looking for a Mexican spot that is not only tasty, BUT FRESH. It's so hard to find a consistently good spot like this. Highly recommend this place!

I've been wanting to try birria tacos from this place for a while now, but it was only served on certain days. I called on Sunday before heading over to to make sure it was available and the person that answered said that it was available everyday now! I had to try the birria ramen since it looked so good. I also got a couple of quesabirrias and a cucumber agua fresca as well. The ramen came with chunks of meat and the broth was super flavorful. I don't know who came up with this invention, but I'm officially a fan. The quesabirria tacos were so thick and juicy. Both items paired so well together! I can't wait to return and try their paletas next time!

My fiancée and I came here after procrastinating for months! I've been wanting to try it since the pandemic started and finally just set a date for it and followed through! Maaaan did it not disappoint. Reasonable prices, large portions, great quality and flavor. They now serve birria everyday instead of select days so come get your fix. Obviously, you have to try a quesabirria taco. It's a must! On of the few spots I've found that have birria on this side of town. And they do birria everything! Tacos, ramen, burritos...you can't go wrong! Tacos come with free, huge cups of consomé. They also have ice cream which they are well known for as well. I'll be back to try that next time ;) We order a birria burrito, quesabirria tacos, horchata, and pepino aguas frescas. Thanks to Natalie for fantastic customer service and patience with us ordering haha. Yesenias, I will be back to try your ice cream and ramen!!

Best birria tacos in San Diego, just truly mouth watering my delicious! They used to only do it one day a week and I am so happy they changed that to all day e'ry day! Super friendly staff, clean establishment, super fast takeout pickups, delicious ice cream, the whole nine yards, this place slaps.

MINI TACOS One thing I can appreciate, serving size and how well organize the to-go food was. Easy to eat without a hot mess. Yah, although outdoor dining is now open I still had it to go. This place has a big menu and I'm not sure why of all things I ordered the mini tacos. I love things in smaller servings, less to eat and more to take in. But the mini tacos (basically street tacos) just fell short from what I had expected. They were simply just average tasting as in nothing wow'ed me. I usually have a 3 taco limit because that's all my stomach has room for but I needed up ordering the mini taco plate which is 5 tacos. 6 choices of protein to choose from with only two to pick for the meal I went safe and went with (3) Asada Pollo and (2) Carnitas. ASADA POLLO MINI TACOS - grilled chicken breast with light seasoning. It wasn't bad, better than most chicken tacos I've had but there was no excitement in each bite. The corn tortilla was filled with chicken meat, a lot of avocado, chopped cilantro and onion. Choice of 5 different sauces to choose from - skip over the avocado sauce, the taco has a generous amount of avocado already. CARNITAS MINI TACOS - good ratio of carnitas, cilantro, and onions but the carnitas meat was too bland. Lacked smokiness and saltiness and can really taste the bay leaf. I had to squeeze a lot of lime to get some flavor to make more food a little more inviting to eat. I also thought the generous amount of avocado was a little overkill with the carnitas tacos. I'm okay with avocado in the chicken tacos but I prefer way less in a carnitas tacos. My meal was almost $13 with a soda included. Not sure if that meal was worth that mount. I'd like to come back and try their Birria, Birria Ramen, or their steak ranchero plate. Until the next review...

Love this place, wide variety of great food options. The staff is really nice too. I love their tortas, specifically polo asada! ()

I feel like this was a hole-in-the-wall kind of find, but it really isn't! Yesenia's is conveniently located with some parking spots (else, street parking), and clean interiors. A friend brought me here and we certainly feasted: queso birria tacos (yum!), carne asada tortas sandwich (great for sharing), and tried their aqua chiles with raw shrimp. I hesitated with the raw shrimp, but I was pleasantly surprised how refreshing this dish is! It was my first time trying queso birria tacos, and I thought it was absolutely delicious; I'm getting hungry thinking about this! It tastes great with or without the dipping "soup". They do take-out orders and have a couple of tables/bar-like seating outside on their patio.