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Lemon Grove, CA

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El Cata

3.8 (61 reviews)
Open • 10:00 am - 11:00 pm

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Recommended Reviews - El Cata

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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.

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.

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

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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Photo of Lex N.
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2 years ago

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1 year ago

Best shrimp & fish tacos I've had in San Diego in a long time. Service was also amazing and vibe was on point. I'll be back for sure.

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1 year ago

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1 year ago

It just wasn't very good. Service was good and prices were fair but the food just wasn't that good

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2 years ago

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1 year ago

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2 years ago

Fresh and delicious tasting mariscos. Been a loyal customer with Cata from TJ to San Diego. Highly recommend

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

Pulpo tacos were amazing! My friends had shrimp cocktail, sushi and fish tacos. All were very good. It's nice to have music in LG.

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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9 months ago

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2 years ago

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1 year ago

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

Bomb octopus and ceviche everything was great good prices.Finally something great other than lidos in lemon grove.

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

I came late at night with a group because they said they are open 24/7. But they aren't

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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2 years ago

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JJ’s Island Grindz

4.4(802 reviews)
5.9 mi
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Discovered this place while looking for a good dinner. We enjoy the chicken, Kalbi ribs here…read more Especially after a long week, sitti bf down to cooked hot food is one of life's most gratifying moments. . Mac salad is delicious. Service is courteous. They are usually very busy & glad they are near work. Casual eats but you can also come here for a date. They have music certain nights.

Tried JJ's Island Grindz for the first time after church after hearing great things on Yelp! It's a…read moresmall spot tucked into an older strip mall on Bonita Road, right next to Franco's Flapjacks, which I frequent. It has a fun Hawaiian island vibe and a big menu with lots to choose from. The portions are huge, and they definitely don't skimp on protein! My parents split the chicken yakisoba and still had almost half left to take home. They loved the flavor and how much chicken was packed into it. My son and I shared the Spam musubi and pizza roll and also took half home. The pizza roll was very flavorful, although slightly salty. The salmon almost tasted like cold-smoked salmon, which I really enjoyed, and the musubi had a generous portion of Spam. I also ordered chicken katsu to go for my boyfriend. He said the chicken was extremely good with great flavor, but he really disliked the macaroni side. Overall, great flavor, generous portions, and good prices! The macaroni was the only miss for us.

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JJ’s Island Grindz
JJ’s Island Grindz - Kahealani's Wave for 4 ppl Instagram mel_foodie_ventures

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Kahealani's Wave for 4 ppl Instagram mel_foodie_ventures

El Cata - seafood - Updated October 2026

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