San Diego Mexican Food Reviews

First of all I'm admitting to myself that this is all going to be a bit subjective, and that everyone likes different things. But at the same time I'd like the choices and information here to be truly useful. So a big part of choosing what goes on the "best" list is going to be an attempt to pick what most people will be happy with when searching for San Diego's best Mexican food. In other words, if I love it, but I think most other folks wouldn't, it doesn't go on the list.

But putting aside quibbles about objectivity and personal taste, I do need some solid criteria that can be applied across all reviews. Here are the things I try to keep in mind -

1) Is it an honest attempt at authentic, rather than Tex Mex or San Diego Mexican?

I'm sure El Indio has some wonderful food, but it's just not making an attempt at being authentic Mexican food. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that. They are wildly successful, and good for them. But when I say Mexican food here on this site I mean Mexican food, or at least something close. Ditto for California burritos. They can be quite good. But they aren't even marginally Mexican food.

I'm willing to be flexible with things like flour tortillas, burritos, and even orange cheese. But only up to a point.

Problem is...... it gets complicated. Many places have authentic dishes, but also cater to local tastes. Do I take away points if a restaurant is going to give in to the fact that most people in San Diego prefer California burritos to gamey goat meat, tongue tacos, and head meat? No. I think that would be a bad idea.

So when I say Mexican food, I mean more Diana Kennedy and Rick Bayless and less California burrito.

- Is it delicious?

This is a simple baseline. If I and other don't think the food is seriously delicious, I won't put it on the "best" list. A spontaneous, "wow that's good" is pretty much required.

- Is it convenient and comfortable?

I need to accept that this site will be getting a lot of traffic from tourists. Many people from out of town may feel either uncomfortable or pissed off if I have them go to Super Cocina where they end up getting lost in City Heights and scared @#$%less. Let's just be honest. It's not the sort of neighborhood tourists from Boise are going to think of as a vacation destination. So that needs to be accounted for.

But there is no getting around it - Some of the best food in San Diego is way way off the regular tourist paths. So if I'm recommending those places they need to be really worth it, and I'll mention the neighborhood.

- Is it more that one great thing?

I am a sucker for a menu that has plenty of great choices. And since everyone has a different idea of what's really good, a place that does many things well will typically get rated higher here than a place that does one thing perfectly.

This is a close call sometimes. Taco places don't usually gave a lot of depth, but the best street tacos are worth labeling as such.

- Do *need* to come back, because it's just that damn good?

To be the best Mexican food in San Diego, a place perhaps more Latino than anything else, you need to be better than hundreds of other restaurants. And, perhaps more critically, as someone trying to review it all I have a hard time going back to the same place twice. So if I want to come back that's rather exceptional.