San Diego Mexican Food Reviews

11835 Carmel Mountain Rd
San Diego, CA 92128
(858) 673-5204 (map)
Official Website

Bottomline - A good taco shop with some better than average seafood options.

Great Mexican food options in North county (assuming you don't want to go too far North) are pretty sparce. There are lots of hole-in-the-wall taco shops, but few of them do very good food. For me Jalapenos is an exception. Since I live just down the 15 from here, I've eaten here several times and always enjoyed it more than the other places near by. It's not the best in San Diego, but certainly worth calling out.

The typical taco shop options are here - tacos, burritos, plates, combos. But there is also a seperate menu for seafood plates. I've always gotten quality fish. Be sure the person taking your order knows you want a seafood plate rather than a burrito if that's what you're ordering though.

The tacos here are of the larger gringo size rather than the small street taco size. So even though the prices are a wee bit higher, you're getting plenty of food for your money. And the salsa bar is pretty basic, but all of the options are done well. I don't think the tortillas are made fresh, but you can't have everything.

One interesting thing here is all the disclaimers - No shoping carts, no pets, customers only, don't waste sala, etc. I doubt it's suppose to be funny, but I found rather ammusing.

Plenty of parking in the strip mall where it's located. Easy to get to off the 15. Good local vibe. Sometimes there is a short line, but things move quickly.