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    El Jefe

    3.6 (30 reviews)
    Open Open 24 hours
    Updated 2 months ago

    El Jefe Photos

    EL JEFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Dogs allowed
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - El Jefe

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    What a view.

    Ashley greeted me with an awesome smile and a clean environment, the service was quick and the seating outside is the view that I look for when cruising the boardwalk. Lifegurad tower 14 is the place for a cold IPA.

    Carne Asada tacos with a view!
    James C.

    Great tacos, great view, fairly fast service. Can't ask for better on the beachfront. Walk up and get some for yourself.

    Carne, fish, and el pastor taco

    Tried all three types of the tacos and they were very good! The fish taco did have a slight fishy taste towards the end but still good. The worker at the window helped us choose items based off of popularity, very helpful. We got to sit right in their little table area which is right in front of the beach, perfect for people watching!

    Carne and chicken tacos
    Sophia M.

    Went on a Friday afternoon and there wasn't a long line. Food came out quick. They were very generous with the meat!

    Carne Asada Fries (without the guacamole)
    Jazmyn V.

    On a Friday afternoon, place was poppin! Right on the beach next to Belmont Park, no seating but we were able to find a table around the corner to eat! Took a minute to get the food but the fries were really good and the toppings and carne were so fresh it was like I was back in Arizona!! (These were able to feed 2 people)

    Carne Asada fries. Shareable with 2 or 3 people. Its salty.
    Zack D.

    Probably one of the worst places to get a taco or carne asada fries. For a city called San Diego why are they putting out tacos so far from their origin flavor. I ordered both trying to cut my losses and the fries were a 5/10 and the tacos a 2/10. The fries were salty and so was the steak. The only cheese was cotija and that is naturally salty. The portion was too large for the environment and should be a portion about half its size. Who needs an entire order of these fries in a beach setting? At least offer a half order because they are too much and too salty for one person. I order one of each taco and at one bite into the carnita i put it down. It was the driest carnitas ive ever had. I travel to Mexico a lot and make my own as well and these were pretty bad. All 3 tacos were just horrible. Period! To add they were too big. I doesnt usually complain about a serving size too large but if they shrunk the serving size to a normal street taco while making the food taste better w these prices. The fries were $11 and the 3 tacos were $8. Most any Mexican restaurant will serve you a fantastic meal at these prices. This place just isn't it.

    Suns out waiting for it to open at noon.
    Laura N.

    I have to start with the positives. The fish tacos were amazing and for the price the size of the filets and the quality it was top notch. Throw in a soda and some salsa it was a perfect 5 star lunch for about $9. I'm deducting 2 stars because the carne asada taco I got on the side to try was the worst I've ever had. Zero stars. The meat was cold, tasted a day old and was fat and gristle. I couldn't even finish one bite. I wish I'd stuck with just the fish tacos and when I go back that's what I'll do.

    Carne Asada Tacos with lime crema and pico de gallo
    Amanda S.

    These were some of the best tacos I've ever had, minus what I ate in Mexico of course. I got the pollo tacos, my husband got carne asada. We both added different add-ons and shared. This is located on the beach side of the boardwalk, we had to ask for directions to get here because we came in the Belmont park side. There aren't any convenient tables to eat at, we walked back around to the Belmont park side and sat at some tables over there. We would definitely come back for more tacos!

    The picture shows: "Hours: 12PM-Sunset"

    I love this place, but as pictured below it says "12Pm-Sunset." I walked up 15 minutes before sunset & they were closed. I walked up to ask when they close since they clearly don't close at sunset and the lady wouldn't open the window to answer my question.

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    10 months ago

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    10 months ago

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    5 months ago

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    2 months ago

    Terrible. They mixed all the tacos together and they all fall apart. Horrible. Bad service and bad food.

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    7 months ago

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    2 years ago

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    11 months ago

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    11 months ago

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    8 months ago

    Not clear about what time they close. We came here twice before closing and they shut the place down. This place sucks ass

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    2 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    11 months ago

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    6 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    4 years ago

    Great food amazing service you are missing out if you don't visit this spot. You must ket tacos

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    6 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Business owner information

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    Customer Service Manager B.

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    6 years ago

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    5 years ago

    These tacos hit the spot! Had two Carne Asade tacos and they went great with watching the sunset at Mission Beach.

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    5 years ago

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    5 years ago

    I really love coming here with friends! Food is great and our server Ramon is awesome! We will definitely be back soon

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    4 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    Ask the Community - El Jefe

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    Tacos El Gordo

    4.1(1.6k reviews)
    6.7 miGaslamp
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    Tacos El Gordo is a whole thing. I don't want to say it's "a vibe," because I would never say that!…read moreBut you need to visit knowing that you will be waiting in a long line, and then you'll be waiting in a medium line depending on what kind of food you want, and then in a shorter line to pay. You'll be waiting in lines. And then, hopefully, you will find a table at which to enjoy your food. If you're smart like me, you will bring your children and make them sit at a table while you wait in all of these lines. You will bribe them with promises of great Mexican food. And if you're like me, your children will be sleeping in the booth when you finally arrive with tacos and quesadillas, and they will be feeling cross at you for bringing them to a place that's so crowded and requires them to wait so long to eat. The food is worth the wait, though. My tacos were amazing. I got the specialty, which is the taco de adobada -- spicy pork. You can see the pork on spits in the kitchen, and the people who work here shave it off little by little. I can see why it's the specialty, because it's delicious. The tacos are prepared simply: on corn tortillas with diced white onion and cilantro, and that's it. They have a few other things at the condiment bar, like sliced and whole radishes and lime wedges. I also got an asada taco and asada fries, but you need to get in a different line to get those. Seating is extremely limited. There are some tables in a dining room upstairs, and there are a few tables outside on the sidewalk, but that's it. Depending on how busy they are, you might just have to take your food to go.

    Quick service , the cashiers aren't enthusiastic at all kinda left us there waiting for a bit with…read moreno Greeting or I'll be with you shortly hotter than hell Upstairs taco's were fire got the Al pastor food good Ambiance is whatever busy spot packed people like this place

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    Taqueria Los Chuchys - Taco Carne Asada

    Taqueria Los Chuchys

    4.3(631 reviews)
    6.7 miGaslamp
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    Been here multiple times, but came in honor of Cinco de Mayo and love that it actually landed on a…read moretaco Tuesday ! They had the buy 2 get 1 free deal which pushed me to try new meats since I always stick to adobada. ADOBADA HANDS DOWN FIREEE! I love me a good al pastor taco and they make it just right. Super flavorful, juicy and packed w/ meat. I'm always hesitant to try asada because I haven't found a good spot here in SD, but this one was bomb! The meat had great flavor, a smokey taste and was loaded with guac. I'd order one again. The lengua was perfect too, super tender and fell apart just right. They don't skimp on the meats either. Most of the salsas were tasty and had great flavor and the habanero had the perfect kick ! I heard of this spot because my friend had them cater her baby shower and I had to come try the actual spot. Def brought the same energy. Inside is nice and has a good vibe, love all the decor. Service was super sweet! Horchata was bomb too, not to sweet and they said it's homemade! Parking.. good luck, but def worth trying. 10000/10

    Little taco spot that I decided to try, and it a no frills type of place. I decided to get a…read moreburrito instead of the tacos. The ordering process was simple enough, quick and friendly service. However I took mine to go, and it was a mess. It was literally dripping oil from the burrito and made such a mess that I didn't even want to eat the 2nd half after eating the first. To be honest it wasn't very tasty either. I didn't even take a pic of the burrito because I was so focused on it not ruining the counter space in the hotel. It served it's purpose of fueling me, but definitely wouldn't recommend it or go back.

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    Chula Tacos - Asada vampiro

    Chula Tacos

    3.9(257 reviews)
    15.8 miNestor
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    Some of the best tacos in San Diego! I loved everything about it. The tortillas are so yummy! The…read moremeat is perfect! I absolutely love the avocado and the different types of tacos they have. It was way more food than I expected! I expected to be small little tacos but they were actually big and delicious! The agua de Jamaica was so delicious and refreshing. Service was welcoming and fast! They have a parking lot. Definitely coming back!!!

    "Adobada looks very disappointing"…read more People on TikTok have been really hyping this spot up lately, so I went in expecting it to be one of those "best in San Diego" type places, but honestly that's exactly why you can't always trust food influencers who base everything off one bite and a good angle. First thing I noticed was the parking situation is rough there's basically none, and you can't even risk street parking because it's marked red, so right away it already starts off inconvenient. When we got there, the tables weren't clean, which kind of kills the vibe before you even order, but I will say the carne asada mulita actually surprised me in a good way, it was solid, flavorful, and probably the best thing we tried. They also have a bigger version called the keka that I didn't get, but I could see that being more filling if the mulita is any indication. Customer service was decent, nothing special but not bad either, just kind of there doing their job. Overall though, even with a good item on the menu, it's not enough for me to say this place lives up to the hype TikTok is pushing. In my opinion, in San Diego it's still hard to beat Tacos El Gordo, and I've seen people online try to downplay it saying places like Chula Taco are better, and I just don't think that's accurate from a real first-hand experience standpoint. At the end of the day, TikTok food reviews can be entertaining, but a lot of times it feels like people are just chasing views instead of consistency or credibility, and you really have to try places yourself before believing the hype.The adobada was a negative 5 stars just look at it adobada is not supposed to look like :( #Tacos #SanDiegoFood #TacoReview #FoodReview #StreetTacos #CarneAsada #TacoLovers #FoodTok #EatLocal #TacoLife

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    Outdoor seating

    El Jefe - tacos - Updated May 2026

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