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    El Cata

    3.8 (61 reviews)
    Open • 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

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    Quesabirria taco
    Suzanne H.

    Cecilia was our waitress and was very friendly. The food was great. The pollo asado burrito was delicious and the quesabirria taco was too! The cheese-pull on both of those was excellent!!! The table salsa was great; I saved some to put on my food and was so good that way! My mom had the surf and turf fajitas and loved them. She said it was the freshest shrimp she ever had, and the steak meat was very tender. Only suggestion would be to give the rice more flavor. I also posted this on Google.

    Shrimp al mojo de ajo

    I wanted to come by and eat some good mariscos. But the food here looks like it's from the grocery store. The quality of seafood is not good. I ordered filete al mojo de ajo and received 3pieces of either tilapia or some other sort of fish (small). I returned and asked for shrimp instead. The quality is bad! Here's a picture and size of shrimp. This plate looks more like a kids meal.

    Sushi...was awesome. Ask for the special Wasabi!
    Ronnie F.

    We need to talk about the stigma that a restaurant of one nationality can't serve good food from another. We've driven by El Cata a few times on our way to Zest, and this time we stopped in. Leery of the mixed menu, I was ready to just order safe. The surprises started as soon as we walked in the door. Bright, cheery, and Latin music wafting through the building. We were greeted immediately and sat down at the bar...which was an excellent choice. Grabbed our drinks and we asked about specials. She recommended everything we ate, including 2 sushi rolls with this amazing Wasabi sauce, and we were not disappointed. Camilo, the chef checked on us a few times and made sure we were having a great experience. Nice people, good food, and a fun, upbeat environment. Highly recommend sitting at the bar if you want to meet the man behind the machine. We'll be back..heard taco Tuesday is bonkers.

    Menu
    Erika S.

    Service was really great! We went on a Friday at 5:30pm and caught Padres happy hour (two for one draft beer during games). Beers were cold and glasses clean! We got an order of the baja shrimp tacos as well as the fuego roll and the chef's special roll. Everything tasted super fresh and flavorful! Baja shrimp tacos are fried and two to an order. This was perfect to share! The rolls were both pretty big (bigger than usual) and the fish tasted clean and fresh! SUPER spicy though! Especially the fuego roll! Everyone working was super friendly and everything seemed very clean. I'm looking forward to returning.

    Surf and Turf Burrito
    Jack M.

    I was excited about try this new Mexican seafood eatery, but sadly I was disappointed, and at the same time hopeful they will take the necessary steps to improve. The place is very nice inside and offers a lot of space. The location includes a bar and indoor and patio seating. The menu offers a plethora of seafood items, but I decided on the surf and turf burrito for $14.50 or essentially $15.65. At this price, I was excited for my large plump burrito filled with succulent shrimp and carne asada. Disappointedly, the burrito was under sized and lacked both shrimp and especially the beef. The meat, although tasty and tender, consisted of only a few strips here and there. There was not much to taste and enjoy. The shrimp were not only under seasoned, but also were lacking in numbers. A few more would of been good. I was quite sad at this point. The burrito did come with a lot of white rice and partially melted white cheese. The white rice was cooked well but under seasoned, and that cheese, never truly had the opportunity to melt through the burrito. The burrito also came with strangely enough, with large pieces of lettuce. I don't think they had any business in the burrito, unless they were to chop the lettuce up finely and add it with some pico. The large pieces had me scratching my head. They also put chopped tomatoes in the burrito. The didn't help much. In addition to needing a lot more meat and more shrimp, the burrito was dry inside: meaning it needed a sauce. A white sauce or chipotle aioli would suffice. Some avocado would of been a nice addition, too. Cecelia was my server and she was very nice. I explained my frustrations regarding the lack of meat and shrimp in the burrito, but not much came out of that conversation. I even opened it and showed it to her as my picture depicts. If they do not improve the surf and turf burrito, I would consider getting something else.

    Service is horrible. We came to watch the game and it wasn't busy and they still took a long time to get our food out. Food wasn't good and found 2 hairs in my tacos. Carne asada fries were nasty! Meat looked like they just re heated or re fried the meat. Had to constantly remind waitress for limes and silverware. Not satisfied at all. Will not return.

    Two very small size fish
    Maria H.

    Went expecting a good size fried fish and got 2 extra small fish I was so disappointed after hearing the announcements of the new place that opened up I had high expectations

    Enchiladas with green sauce
    Sal F.

    First timer, showed up when they first opened, their working out the small details of putting the flatware on the tables. Getting past that, service and food is good.

    Cirwan S.

    My new favorite Mariscos in San Diego! Came here with my buddies, and wanted to share the food. It's a big space, and we got a table enough for us. I noticed they had a full bar with TVs which was a plus because we wanted to watch the games. I got their version of their cocktail, the Campechana el cata. So good ! Came with 2 kinds of shrimps, octopus, and scallops. I also got the el cata taco, which came with octopus, shrimp, and steak ! My buddy got the mango augachile and he said it's one of the best he has had. We also shared sushi rolls. We got the el cata roll & chef's special roll. Very good and fresh rolls. My other buddy got the Octups plate which came with a whole octopus ! He loved it ! The restaurant was clean and the service was great which is always a plus ! Definitely coming back here !

    The bottles of salsa many of them were as you can see them open, which seem a very safe way of storing salsa.

    The food was savage nothing exceptional. The service was horrible as we walked in. Several servers were around the cash register and they just continue to have a personal conversation. we sat down. And we were brought some filthy menus and the server walked away as she put the menus on the table and was away for a long time when she finally came back I told her that the menu was extremely dirty and her response was "I cleaned them yesterday. It must have come from the bar." I ordered a specific drink and she brought me a completely different one. I also asked her a question about an item on the menu and she didn't seem to know anything about it. The ambience appeared to be something catering more to customers. I will definitely never go back to this place. As there were very few customers a minimum of six servers and yet she was not prompt.

    Fish taco
    Martin G.

    Standard fish taco tasted good wish it had more sauce. I ordered to go. Big factor for 3 stars is the overall price. Two fish tacos were $13 that's crazy. Most items are high in price like the carne asada nachos $19 no way I will pay such a high price Service was fine food was pretty quick Ambiance not a big fan of the chairs lol

    Fish or shrimp taco.

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    3 months ago

    Delicious food, awesome ambiance and service. They have a variety of live music, depending on the night.

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    5 months ago

    Tasty shrimp cocktail and good hearted workers. Nice live music and had a lovely time with my family here.

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    7 months ago

    Food is poor and super expensive and the place is so empty and the food doesn't taste good

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    6 months ago

    Alimentos Frescos ambient familiar tiene eventos cumpleaños musica en vivo fines de semana y entre semana me parece genial

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    7 months ago

    Amazing ... Excelente servicio... Comida Deliciosa... Recommend 100%. Food portion was lovely. Great customer service.

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    Santana's Mexican Food - Fresas con crema,  granola y coco

    Santana's Mexican Food

    2.2(264 reviews)
    0.8 mi
    •$$

    Food is okay and inexpensive. I sometimes go here when I am not sure what I want. It could use a…read morelittle more flavor IMO. I definitely go here out of convenience though because it is close to where we live!

    Lol all the reviews here about the rude girl working the cashier in front is a bit relatable. Well…read moreshe wasn't rude to me but she was just short and looked like she had a stank attitude and hated her job but that could just be her face. She took my order and was straight to the point; no frills or thrills so no complaints on my part. It's convenient that they're open 24/7 but since there are in a shared plaza in the middle, there's no drive thru making you have to go inside. I like how there was an open salsa bar with different options of hot sauces ranging from mild to spicy. They even have hot carrots, jalapeños, and radishes out for free which is a winner to me! They do have a sign limiting you to 3 sauces per person and that they have cameras watching lol. The service was super quick I was still getting my hot sauces when the food was already done to my surprise. As for the food itself ehh it was okay. Their cheese quesadilla was a little on the burnt side. Their rolled tacos and asada nachos came with everything which included guac, pico, sour cream, lettuce so that was a plus for me not to order any extras since some just come with the basic cheese. They were both good.

    Photos
    Santana's Mexican Food
    Santana's Mexican Food - Fresas, crema , granola y coco.

    Fresas, crema , granola y coco.

    Santana's Mexican Food

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    Casa Gabriela - Como Una Flor Cocktail

    Casa Gabriela

    4.2(869 reviews)
    1.6 mi
    •$$

    This was our second time here, this time for brunch! We got the burrito and the queso fundido…read more OMG!! The queso fundido was sooooo amazing! I definitely want to get it again in the future. The burrito was so good as well. I was not too fond of the agave syrup drizzle as I don't like mixing sweet and savory, but if that's your thing, go for it! Eventually I only had room for the filling, so that was nice and savory. The cafe de olla was delicious as well. I REALLY commend this restaurant for not using AI graphics. The signs and menu looked like they were designed by a real designer. Great job! My only complaint was that the table next to us had an iPad kid with loud volume. I feel that restaurants should impose policies of not letting personal devices be so loud as to not bother other patrons.

    We had a 6pm restaurant but still wound up having to wait until 6:15 for our table to be ready…read more Which was no big deal, because they were very busy that night and they had a nice little waiting area. The host was very nice and personable so we didn't mind waiting at all. The decor/ambiance was nice throughout. Sadly we got seated at one of the bar height tables on the patio that had EXTREMELY uncomfortable tall metal chairs that had an unusual tilt to the seats leaning down towards the back (all 3 people in our party were super uncomfortable and left with horrible back back and numb legs). So just a tip, make sure you request to sit at a normal height table, they seemed fine in comparison as far as we observed. On a positive note, our waitress was very friendly and attentive, unfortunately we were not able to change tables when we asked but we understood because they were so busy. We were determined to make the best of it though because we were all really looking forward to the food and drinks after reading so many good reviews. We all ordered different specialty drinks which were fine, a little to syrupy and overly sweet for our taste but I could see how some might like that, the presentation was seriously lacking compared to the photos on their website though, again we just chalked this up to them being busy so no big deal, just a bummer because we wanted to cute tasty drinks for our ladies night out. The biggest bummer though was the food... We ordered everything our waitress recommended, so perhaps the kitchen was just having an off night because they were so busy.. It did take well over an hour to get served after ordering, but we are troopers and wouldn't have minded waiting so long if the chairs hadn't been so uncomfortable. But we were seriously disappointed with every dish, everything was "fine and edible" but lacked any real flavor. These are the dishes we had: Appetizer - Tabla de Antojitos (presentation was okay) platter included: Chicken barbacoa empanadas (very bland) Sweet potato, caramelized onion & chipotle taquitos (flavorless and used regular potato not sweet potato) Mini queso fundido (was literally just cheese and beans with no chorizo or seasoning at all) Bacon wrapped jalapenos (these were okay, just nothing special) Entrees - Enchiladas Marisco Suiza - Presentation was good, it was a pretty dish thanks to the sauce and looked promising, but unfortunately the food was very bland, seriously lacking in the flavor department. Birria de la Abuela - Presentation was lacking it looked like someone just threw the food on the plate, and it was edible but not good. Crispy Carnitas - This we all agreed was the most edible thing we got. Presentation was lacking, but the beans and carnitas had good flavor and was cooked just right. It still wasn't "great", but it was better than everything else we had ordered. Overall we were pleased with the staff we encountered during our visit all very friendly, but very disappointed in the food. We left in agreement that we could've spent a fraction of the cost at just about any of our local friendly taco shops for the same or similar dishes and had much better tasting food.

    Photos
    Casa Gabriela - Chicken Tinga Empanadas

    Chicken Tinga Empanadas

    Casa Gabriela - Main dining room

    Main dining room

    Casa Gabriela - Lobster & Black bean Chipotle Flautas

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    Lobster & Black bean Chipotle Flautas

    Chuy's Taco Shop - Surf n turf fries

    Chuy's Taco Shop

    4.4(1.2k reviews)
    2.5 mi•Rolando
    •$$

    Chuy's Taco Shop has been on my Yelp Want To Go list for some time because it was featured on Guy…read moreFieri's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives (DDD), it has a high Yelp rating, and there are thousands of customer reviews on their Yelp page. I've also heard rave reviews from family and friends. Since we were suit shopping at Fashion Valley and were hanging out with my son and his girlfriend, I recommended that we eat at Chuy's for lunch. If you're a fan of value for your money and tasty Mexican food, I definitely recommend dining here. 4.5 stars for sure, but I'm glad our go to Mexican food spot, Yesenia's, is closer to us and we can visit there for amazing Mexican food as well. Chuy's Taco Shop is located in Rolando, which is close to El Cajon Blvd. and the San Diego State University area. The easiest way to get here would be the 8 freeway east or west, exiting off of 70th Street, and heading south. The taco shop is located within a small strip mall where you can find Ben & Esther's Vegan Jewish Deli, San Diego Blenders Smoothies, and Moxie Theatre. It's across the street from a tire shop. From the outside, it looks like a typical local San Diego Mexican fast food joint, but you can immediately tell that the owners are proud of their accolades displaying Guy Fieri's DDD mug and Yelp's 2025 Top 100 Places To Eat distinction on its front glass window. As you step inside, you'll see several homages to Guy Fieri of DDD fame with a framed signed picture, another framed signed pic with Guy's caricature, and one of their televisions showing the DDD episode featuring Chuy's. There's a good amount of tables and chairs to dine in, several televisions, distressed laminate wood flooring, and accolades hanging on their walls that the restaurant has garnered. Friendly and professional customer service from the lady behind the register, who also doubled as our server. Not sure anything can be done about this, but flies also liked Chuy's food as we had to keep fanning our food. I've been blessed to eat at several DDD restaurants throughout California, Nevada, and Arizona and I have enjoyed every single one I dined at. Having eaten at Chuy's Taco Shop for the first time, I understand why Guy Fieri did a segment here. What I really appreciated about Chuy's was their value for your money. When you dine here, be prepared for large portions, so definitely come hungry. Whenever I eat at any Mexican fast food spot, I order the same go to items that my family and I order at our favorite restaurant Yesenia's. Since I was breaking bread with my wife, son, and his girlfriend, we ordered the following: two carne asada burritos; five rolled tacos with cheese, guacamole, and lettuce; full order carne asada chips; half order of carne asada fries; and a pineapple agua fresca. I wanted to compare what we typically order from Yesenia's. When you eat at Chuy's, the amount of food you get will feed an army. I didn't expect the carne asada burritos to be the length of my forearm. I got to eat some of my son's and it was delicious and satisfying. The star of our meal were the rolled tacos. It was stuffed full with tasty beef, crunchy, and its components were memorable. We barely touched the carne asada chips because we ordered too much, but they aren't stingy with their carne asada both for the chips and their fries. The half order of carne asada fries were plenty and I enjoyed that dish. The pineapple drink was refreshing and helped beat the toasty weather. I still feel Yesenia's is better quality, but for the amount of food at Chuy's, it's a must visit Mexican restaurant. I'm glad I got to finally experience Chuy's Taco Shop and check off another Guy Fieri featured DDD restaurant. If I'm in the area, I will definitely stop by to try their other menu items, but I'm glad our fave Mexican fast food spot is closer to us to satisfy our Mexican food cravings.

    Came here on Tuesday and to my surprise they had a taco Tuesday deal. You can get 3 mini tacos for…read more$10.99 along with a canned drink. The con is that all three tacos have to be the same meat, you cannot mix and match. The tacos are filled with a lot of meat and each taco is has a double tortilla and I felt that you could essentially turn one taco into two with the portion. My boyfriend got a burrito and it was massive - as big as my fore arm! He really enjoyed it and it had a lot of meat inside. We also got a horchata which was refreshing for the heat but pretty sweet. The place was great for a quick lunch. You order at the counter before self seating and then they bring the food out when it's ready. They have a huge menu with a lot to choose from. They also have a salsa bar with about 4 different salsas, but my complaint is that none of them are spicy enough.

    Photos
    Chuy's Taco Shop - Inside seating

    Inside seating

    Chuy's Taco Shop - Breakfast burritos

    Breakfast burritos

    Chuy's Taco Shop - Inside

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    Inside

    El Cata - seafood - Updated September 2026

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