Kevin Moon

Chicken mole was fresh and delicious.. can't wait to go back .. highly recommend this mom and pop shop

Karen VanHooser

It's a good place to get all the good Mexican stuff for a carne asada day and salsas

This place is tasty, genuine, and many options to choose from...the highlights include their guacamole, tortilla chips, and their breakfast burritos. yummy. it dominates jorges mexictessan down the street. adios. ;)

Authentic Mexican, delicious salsas. Fast service

One of the top Mexican food places around and I eat a lot of Mexican. Very authentic and flavorful. Parking is rough, but worth it.

Great food and good prices, they even have beer!

Delicious and authentic! Highly recommend if you’re in the area!

The food here is very good!

Best Mexican food in town. The chips and salsa are so good we get them to take on road trips into Mexico!

Good neighborhood Latin market with good house made tortillas. The meat/cheese counter has a lot of good stuff there too.

Delicious burrito. How sauce was amazing and great prices. Nice not paying 14 bux for a burrito.

We love this restaurant! The food is so delicious!

Best salsa around. We moved to Texas and every time we visit we buy at least 4, freeze them and bring them back home with us!

I haven't had there street tacos yet but there asada tacos lets just say fire!!! So. Delicious

Great tasting food. All 5 of us (3 kids) were all pretty impressed!

Breakfast burrito was. Dank. I'll be back. They give you chips too! Yummers.

High quality food for a Mexican restaurant! Me and the family love coming here for lunch.

Super basic no fril OG Encinitas stick to your ribs Mexican food and especially the soup

Definitely, one of the better Mexican food restaurants I have been to. Lots of beef in the carne asada burrito; lots of guacamole on the carne asada fries. Easily in the top five out of a hundred Mexican food spots! Patronize this place, and be rewarded.

I haven't had all of their food selections, but I can definitely attest to the fact that their house made tortilla chips are possibly the best on the planet.

It had been over 10 years since I was El Nopalito. Not sure why it has been so long. I had the carne asada plate and it was seriously somebody's the best I have ever had. You can certainly pay more at other places but you will be hard pressed to get better. The only downside is they only serve cervezas. No margaritas. Oh well you cant have it all. If you could where would you put it.

The best Mexican food in Encinitas hands down. Not just the tacos, but the breakfast menu is amazing as well. My favorites are the huevos con chorizo, chiles rellenos, homemade tortillas and homemade salsa- they are all absolutely delicious. If you stop by, visit the Nopalito grocery store as well for great authentic hispanic products!

I was pumping gas and seen a taco spot and I walked in 6 min before closing .. didn't realize the hours and said sorry and was going to leave but the cashier said to go ahead and order I said cabeza taco and she said it's the best with a smile( at that point I knew it would be good)...she was not telling a lie .. so good yall I live in IB but will stop by when ever in the area

Awesome old school mexi joint that's been there forever and also has a market across the parking lot. Just plain good food! Christmas tamales are the best

A simple place with excellent food at a better than affordable price. Especially the breakfast burrito and if you are vegetarian ask them to leave the bacon off!

Amazing food. Had bought their chips and salsa at a local store and they were so good I had to try their restaurant. Delicious.

Discovered this place through their chips. Don't sleep on their combo menu. Tight, busy parking lot but I can see why! Definitely coming back.

Very authentic Mexican food! Large portions at a reasonable price. Kudos to the very friendly cashier who greeted us with a smile.

If you have a party to host or need a quick something to bring to one, look no further than the fresh chips, roasted chipotle salsa, guac, and don't forget a bag of the spicy carrots! The roasted salsa can compete with any salsa on the planet! Also buy carne asada here to cook at home is a local fav! Always get a half pound more than you need! It's that good!

Quiet with good service great good

It's a taco shop vibe but the food is so good! And the roasted salsa is the best on the planet

Wow, great shrimp burrito! Super clean place. Everyone kept telling me how good it was and I finally tried it yesterday. Recommend!!

Authentic Mexican restaurant frequented by gringos and Latinos alike. Best tortilla chips and salsa in North County. Breakfast burrito is also the bomb.

Delicious, authentic Mexican food at very reasonable prices. Not much ambiance but I didn't go there for that.

Stopped in for some enchiladas.

Just discovered it recently because I was working close by in Carlsbad. The Mexican gardners and other laborers working in the area go to it regularly and one recommended it to me. I don't eat a full meal until after 3:30. So I go there a lot now!Outstanding food and service.

Great fast food. My guy loves the cheese enchiladas and says they are the best in San Diego. I love their market in the same shopping center. You can't beat the quality or price of the fresh daily corn tortillas. Also delicious fresh tamales in several flavors.

We recently asked El Nopalito to cater a party we had, ordering the taco bar. I can't say enough good things about them. First, the food was delicious and quantities huge. Delivery was a bit early and hot foods were hot. I had to make a late change to the order and they were very accommodating (thank you Victoria). We will definitely be ordering from them again. 5 stars!

Love this spot! The salsa is some of the best. Every order comes with the house made chips. It's super busy when the school up the street gets out so come before after it you don't want a long wait.

Carnitas are awesome..salsas perfect taste 👌

the house made chips and salsa alone merit 5 stars! Every selection here is authentic and incredibly tasty. The associated market across the street has a great selection of meats for a barbeque, its where we always buy from when hosting a party. cant reccomend enough!

The epitome of San Diego taco shops. The food and the vibes are both amazing. I recommend the carne asada (can't go wrong with the Cali burrito here), the pico, and the chips. Keep in mind the chips they sell in the bag and the chips you actually get in the restaurant are different. Both amazing, but the chips at the restaurant are my favorite of all time.

They have wonderful homemade guacamole, fire roasted salsa, carnitas, marinated chicken, and other imported foods from Mexico. They're homemade tamales are delicious, especially the sweet corn tamales. Their tortilla chips are crispy and fresh as you watch the gentlemen making tortillas in what looks like a small tank.

I come here after hitting the skatepark from time to time. The food is always great, the service is fast, the place looks a little worn but that's part of the appeal. Salsa bar!

Great place, the food here is amazing. I usually order the bean and cheese burrito add rice. Everything I have had here has been great. The prices are very reasonable and the service is fast.

Great, authentic Mexican food with dishes you find in most Mexican restaurants. Be sure to check k out the market across the parking lot. You can get real Mexican ingredients, homemade salsas, fresh made tortillas, and many food items from Mexico.

We took our friends from out of town for Breakfast. They had a breakfast dish. papas with Chorizo and eggs with rice and beans. I had the chile verde with nopales rice and bean which was out of this world if you like cactus. Price of food is very affordable which makes this alittle gem.

Best carne asada EVER! You can also go into their store and get it raw from the butcher to cook yourself!

Great food, service is good. I love the buffet styled the green pork was great the steak Ranchero what's excellent, and the carne asada played is so delicious

Good burrito with all meat and lots of guacamole with salsa. Very tasty with slight spicy kick

Thank you for your quick response to our catering crisis. The tacos, enchiladas, chips and salsas were amazing and a big hit at brunch

Been coming here since the late 90's and it's still the only place I like in the area!

Great food. Reasonably priced. Great service

The place has very good food. Wether you get some of their prepared dishes or order something fresh the guisados they have are very well seasoned & portions pretty decent.

Love this spot. Great menu and ready to serve hot food. birria fe chivo on Monday and Saturday. Salsa bar. Good value. Big portions.

Jonathan Becerra

Been coming here since the late 90's and it's still the only place I like in the area!

Scott King

Thank you for your quick response to our catering crisis. The tacos, enchiladas, chips and salsas were amazing and a big hit at brunch

Esau Cuevas

The place has very good food. Wether you get some of their prepared dishes or order something fresh the guisados they have are very well seasoned & portions pretty decent.

sean maschue

Love this spot. Great menu and ready to serve hot food. birria fe chivo on Monday and Saturday. Salsa bar. Good value. Big portions.

David Goodman

Great food. Reasonably priced. Great service

TK Mason

Best carne asada EVER! You can also go into their store and get it raw from the butcher to cook yourself!

Rebecca Meza

We took our friends from out of town for Breakfast. They had a breakfast dish. papas with Chorizo and eggs with rice and beans. I had the chile verde with nopales rice and bean which was out of this world if you like cactus. Price of food is very affordable which makes this alittle gem.

Francisco Martínez

Great food, service is good. I love the buffet styled the green pork was great the steak Ranchero what's excellent, and the carne asada played is so delicious

Cecil Treadwell

Just discovered it recently because I was working close by in Carlsbad. The Mexican gardners and other laborers working in the area go to it regularly and one recommended it to me. I don't eat a full meal until after 3:30. So I go there a lot now!Outstanding food and service.

Great food, great service, low price, vasual laid back atmosphere. The clientel is very simple and casual. Very friendly place.

Food is good and very fair priced. I enjoyed there salsa bar and chips

I don't know why people are complaining about the price. They must think the rent is like National City's rent. This is Encinitas. Anyway, the food is good and the pricing "is" a little higher than most other taco shops, but again, this is Encinitas, not Nasty City (National City is where I grew up). This is not a restaurant. It's more of a taco shop. I will go back again. Oh, they also own a small super market adjacent to the taco shop.

I had lunch here. Don’t get me wrong, the food is fabulous but, as we were paying. We crossed out the tip area and we were told that that was “not allowed?!?” Nothing happened but I would be cautious to not have a little scam going on.

Love this place. Where else can you get fresh warm tortillas. They also have some amazing tortilla chips. They make tortillas everyday in the store. Pretty awesome.

There food is pretty good. I mostly go there for breakfast burrito or California burrito. Some Sundays I am unable to get thru via phone for a pick up order.... frustrating. But I also get frustrated when I am waiting on line somewhere and an incoming phone call gets priority over people/me waiting on line haha

Went here many times when we lived in Encinitas. I now work right down the street and enjoyed a great breakfast burrito. Love the carnitas there. The Mgr wrote down their phone number for me so I can call in my future orders. Give them a try!

I've been going to this place since I was a kid it used to be in my neighborhood. Lately I ask for a little bit more. I don't care for excess fat skin, bone, cartilage, Gristle which all too often is in the meat in Mexican food. So I often ask which is the leanest I looked at their steam tray table in a few things looked really good I ended up ordering a Carnitas burrito it was very good nice and lean fresh and tasty I would recommend this place it has a nice atmosphere to it as opposed to that one on the west side of the freeway in the Vons Shopping Plaza (yeah I do know their name, but I don't want to slam them). My only gripe is half the time I come by there it's too late and they're already closed and don't know what time they close but it's a little bit early.

Coworker said this place has the best California burrito he's ever had, we went there and I agree wholeheartedly. Soft, spicy carne asada meat, hole-in-the-wall decor and service. Can't wait to go back.

Can't see the digital menu on the wall. No paper menu. The server talked so fast I couldn't understand what kind of tacos they have. Spanish speaking only and I speak it. They don't do delivery at all.

The service was friendly, and the place was run down but clean. The guacamole and fries in the California Burrito I ordered was very good. The tortilla was good as well. The carne asada however was very burned and extremely chewy/fatty. I ended up having to remove all the meat. Maybe I caught them on a bad meat day, but I’ll probably pass on this place in the future.

Good food but if you come at lunch time the ENTIRE SDA HIGH SCHOOL comes for lunch. It's ridiculous.

Lily frazer

The service was friendly, and the place was run down but clean. The guacamole and fries in the California Burrito I ordered was very good. The tortilla was good as well. The carne asada however was very burned and extremely chewy/fatty. I ended up having to remove all the meat. Maybe I caught them on a bad meat day, but I’ll probably pass on this place in the future.

Good food. Order got messed up. Good prices. Thick homemade chips, good guacamole, tacos and tostadas. Clean restrooms.

Average food, but the chips and salsa are 6 stars! We get their chips and salsa elsewhere and figured we'd try the restaurant. It was okay.

Quick and friendly service like you would expect from a taco shop. The place needs some upkeep, most of the seat cushions are torn, seating area seems messy with chairs piled up on a corner. Food was just ok. I was expecting better food considering I had just watched them making fresh tortillas at the store a few doors down that has the same name ( I assume it's owned by the same owners)

Food is pretty good. Salsa one of the best. The restaurant is a complete dump and filthy. I will be contacting San Diego County health, and reporting them.

I order bean rice and cheese burritos everywhere I go. They are $4.50 here compared to $8-12 everywhere else. Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is the beans are bland.

Joe Gold

Quick and friendly service like you would expect from a taco shop. The place needs some upkeep, most of the seat cushions are torn, seating area seems messy with chairs piled up on a corner. Food was just ok. I was expecting better food considering I had just watched them making fresh tortillas at the store a few doors down that has the same name ( I assume it's owned by the same owners)

Canned refried beans, almost all bones in the pork and green chile, flavorless sauce on the chilequiles....not the cleanest.

Since the "remodel" , food was not the same.So disappointing. They have always been slow on service, but it used to be worth it. Not this time.

The California burrito is not carne asada it’s a sort of ground beef, disgusting

Just got there. Lady, real nice. But doesn't take your order right. You tell her one thing ,and you get something else. And I knew there closings, but they didn't have to give us old beans. The bottom of the pan.

I had food to go, that I ordered on the phone. Stood behind 4 guys that ordered from the showcase that took about 10 minutes then the guy that was buying acted like he was Hollywood, and took out his phone, rifled through his wallet, ordered and re ordered Fanta, No Coke, No Sprite and finally i said, vamonos. Not going back...get a 2nd register or get rid of these idiots. Food is great, people behind counter, really friendly, people that hang out there....less than desirable.

Not very good. The Mexican food was not hot, quality old, and tasteless. The only good thing was the cashier.

Employees obviously have no customer service and obviously the food is not fresh. The tomatoes and onions are soggy the tortillas. You would think they would be fresh. Food is WAY over priced compared to the service I payed 7.50 for two terrible tacos. Poor excuse of traditional food. Please do not even consider this place for you or kids...

NOPALITO GET WITH I ORDER FLAUTS WITH lettuce cheese and sour cream this is ROLLS TACOS I LIVE CLOSE TO US GUY BEEN COMING HERE FOR 40 YEARS IT JUST SUCKS

KDM ROD

Employees obviously have no customer service and obviously the food is not fresh. The tomatoes and onions are soggy the tortillas. You would think they would be fresh. Food is WAY over priced compared to the service I payed 7.50 for two terrible tacos. Poor excuse of traditional food. Please do not even consider this place for you or kids...

Chris Rodriguez

NOPALITO GET WITH I ORDER FLAUTS WITH lettuce cheese and sour cream this is ROLLS TACOS I LIVE CLOSE TO US GUY BEEN COMING HERE FOR 40 YEARS IT JUST SUCKS

If you are looking for great "menudo", DO NOT eat there. It is flavorless, without red chile and does not taste like authentic menudo. Save your money!

The California burrito was horrible!! and the wait was bad. People received their order before us and we ordered before them.

Keep coming back expecting something but no.

Worse place ever! The customer services as well never going back again ! Waste of $50 dollars 😡😠 this is no Mexican restaurant. I'm so disgusted

After a super busy day, didn't get a chance to make dinner at home so i told the hubby we should get take out. He was craving a fried Mojarra and that's the nearest place that makes them so we thought why not? We ordered a Mojarra dinner and a Shrimp a la Diabla dinner. I am extremely disappointed in the food. My rice was spoiled!! I could smell it as soon as I opened my plate. I can't believe they would sell that to people to eat! I didn't even enjoy nor finish my dinner. Ended up making chicken nuggets at the end. Will try a different place next time.

I put one star cause it doesn't give you a choice but this place is a sorry excuse for Mexican food! It's the worst Mexican food I've had in my life! -0 recommendations for this place maybe cause people that live in the area don't know what actual good Mexican food is im guessing that's why they buy it.

Very bad service, cashier so rude. The don’t respect hours of operation

1 of the worst taco shops ever. This place should be shut down for how dirty and unsanitary there food is. Found a bone in my carne asada burrito and they acted like it was nothing. Stay away..

Who is cooking in the kitchen? Chicken taco combo plate was thrown away. Chicken had hot peppers in the meat, instead of the favorite taste. Taco shells were so old and ladened with grease, not editable. Beans were watery and bland. Chips were old ! Rice was dry! Go back to the pure menu of old...and fire the chef...horrible! After 10 yrs of being a customer..I won’t return

Called in a large order for a party in the morning and was told it would be ready at 4:00 PM. I arrived at that time but they hadn’t even started and did not leave until 5:00 PM. Was given no explanation. The food is average at best and based on my experience as well as the myriad of other options within Encinitas I will never be coming back.

The prices are high. Rolled tacos are $4.50 for 3 and their regular tacos are $2.50 each. I've been to similar places where the food cost half as much. Secondly, my food sat at the window for ages while the guy at the register listened to his ipod. By the time I got it, my food was cold and tasted horrible. The salsa bins were all empty so I couldn't even go to douse my disgusting food with something spicy. I will never come back to this place.

When I post something is because I love or don't ! This is the worst food I ever try in my entire life, Mexican food is flavor seasoning not freaking plane or grease I order couple dishes for my friends and I and was very poor flavor no seasoning, so much grease I don't recomen that place at all. I'm very surprised because Mexico from this place is very close should be a good food but is not. Sorry guys but around the are there is no Mexican food so what you can do. Hopefully they fixed !

I Just waited 20 minutes for a burrito in an empty restaurant. Best part is I had to ask for a refund because they still still hadn't made it when I asked if they forgot! Terrible service with average food means I won't be back. There are many other choices locally.

Got a Cali burrito first bite it had a huge hard fat tendunt showed it to the employee. She offered to give me a new one. A few minutes later she gave me a new burrito. I was about to open up the paper to eat it. I saw my husbands face...he showed me half an inch bone that was in his mouth that came from his Carne Asada Burrito. We both got disgusted my husband stoped eating his burrito . We got up and we left everything on the table. She gave us the money back but NEVER NEVER coming back! This place is dirty, low quality meat and cooks dont care what they serve.

Looks like the only thing good is the salsa. I believed the hype...dont believe it! Luke warm carne asada burrito, meat tasted day old, tacos seems like canned roast beef, rice was hard and overcooked, beans were just plain gross. I see there salsa for sale everywhere and was hoping the restaurant was gonna be good, dont waste your money..nothing is fresh here.

It’s says that they close at 7pm, but the cashier doesn’t let you in inside… ant even 6:27 pm. We had to eat out Pozole in the car, what a challenge

Miguel Torres

It’s says that they close at 7pm, but the cashier doesn’t let you in inside… ant even 6:27 pm. We had to eat out Pozole in the car, what a challenge