El Catrin

Fresh and delicious! We stopped with the whole family and everyone was extremely satisfied with their meals.

Just had a fantastic authentic lunch! You know a Mexican place is going to be good when most customers speak Spanish as first language! Super chile verde and carnitas. Salsa is flavorful, tortillas homemade.

Disappointing! Beans and rice were stale, as were the chips. The mole in the enchilada ranchera was bland, not complex at all, with a prominent tomato flavor. Didn’t even taste like mole negro. The cheese was also stale and low-​quality. Chili relleno was similarly very bad.
Interior was more of the same — walls were bare with a few sad token pieces scattered about. The heater was broken in 50-​degree weather — and they don’t have AC during the summer, either.
Prices are cheap, but I still felt overcharged.
Only redeeming factor were the flour tortillas — delicious.
Glad we don’t live in the area, so there’s no chance that we’ll ever have to return.

Awesome. That’s all I can say. Home made corn tortillas and fantastic rellenos. I will definitely be back. Gave it 5 stars because they wouldn’t let me give it 6. Great chili verde too.

Very tasty! They had a great menu and hard to decide on what to get.
Everything was prepared to order. They even agreed to our request to swap proteins in one of our dishes.
I recommend and I would be back.

Best Mexican food ever!!! and great prices too!!!

Amazing food and really friendly staff! They let us sample the guacamole (which was delicious). He made sure that we were taken care off. We had the burrito, tacos, and the crispy tacos. Everything was delicious and the portions were huge!

OMG! I have no complaints!!!
I am a Mexican woman who is extremely picky about eating Mexican food outside of my house!
Homemade is it here! The flour tortillas have a little corn masa mixed in! Never thought of it but it makes the best of both corn and flour tortillas!!!
The hubby order chicken enchiladas with the green sauce! He licked the plate clean! Keep in mind my hubby is just as a critic as I am about Mexican food.
He really enjoyed his meal
As for me I ordered the Carnitas plate which had enough for 2 servings! I usually am apprehensive about ordering this plate bc restaurants usually have a pork after taste. But that wasn’t the case here! They were juicy and delicious!!!
The décor was simple but definitely a clean environment!!!
If we’re passing theu here again this will definitely be our stop!

I’m hoping I just ordered the wrong thing but how can you go wrong with a carne asada burrito? It wasn’t horrible, it just wasn’t good. It was actually bland, and the salsa didn’t help. The rice and beans were both lacking in salt. The girls at the front counter didn’t greet us when we walked up. We waited a few minutes while we looked over the menu and they still didn’t acknowledge us. Definitely not the vibe you want to give off when you’re in the hospitality business.

Really good Mexican food. We got ours to-​go, the service was good, the wait was not very long at all, and the food was oh so tasty.

Living in slo it’s hard to get good Mexican food around so this place was an amazing find.
Food is great portions for price, and the taquitos were bomb! Friendly service (Elena is the best!) and a good atmosphere, would definitely come here again!

If you looking for the best Mexican food in Cambria and San Simeon, El Catrin is the place. Period. You will not find better Mexican food in this area. There are several Mexican food restaurants but honestly, they all lack good authentic food. Some of my favorites are carne asada, fish tacos and shrimp cocktail. The tortillas are homemade fresh to order. They are working on getting more ambiance to the décor but honestly it doesn’t matter as long as the food is good. Its a family owned and operated business and they are doing a great job!

Tried this for breakfast for the first time today. The customers were 100% hispanic which is always a great sign for authenticity. The set-​up inside is initially confusing since there are tables in the main room with menus but then there is a counter in an adjacent room with posted menus and boards around it so one doesn’t know whether to sit down and wait for service or to order at the counter in the other room. We ordered two bowls of menudo at the counter. The prices are high for menudo: a large bowl of menudo is $ 9.75 (tortillas are extra at $.50). We then sat down at a table. Chips were brought out with salsa but the salsa is watery and extremely bland. Then we waited and waited for our order. Service was veeeeerrrrryyyyy slow. When the menudo finally arrived, we were delighted to see that the bowls had no hominy and held purely tripe. We were also happy to see the bowls had some bones, a good sign of authentic menudo. The downside to the menudo were the puddles of grease floating on the top. The menudo itself was excellent but I had to float some napkins on the top to remove the puddles. A single order of flour tortillas arrived and they were wonderful: thick and clearly handmade. So, it’s a draw for me with high prices, slow service, greasy menudo, flavorless salsa vs. great menudo flavor and hispanic clientele that clearly patronize the establishment. I’ll give it another try in the future with a different sampling but for now there’s room for improvement.

Very friendly staff and good Mexican food. The portions were very large for the price. Excellent!

Best and most authentic Mexican food in Cambria. I would almost say all of San Luis Obispo county. The food makes up for ambience and you can also order to go. Hand made tortillas, great breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We ordered carne asada soft tacos and lengua soft tacos. Really good and good size servings. We came back twice while in Cambria

Incredible and authentic! The flavors are amazing, best mole I have tasted. El Catrin is the Mexican restaurant I have been waiting for. The best in Cambria and SLO county. The décor is very basic. Clean, but needing upgrades. Doesn’t matter. Come for the food and friendly service. This is where the local Mexicans come.

If you are a Gringo, and you want authencity… don’t miss coming to this no frills Mexican Eatery in Cambria, California. We are locals that have been looking for years for a meal that has exceptional flavors of the Mexican kind. I love coming into this place and seeing almost only Mexican and Latino people in here. They are so nice, very helpful, and the food is DELICIOUS!

Found this place on Easter Sunday. It was the only thing open so we took a chance. Omg the mole burrito was delicious! And no one makes better mole than my mama. And the home made tortilla tacos was the bomb! The bathroom was a little funcky but the food was great. Will be back soon.

Authentic Mexican food. Traditional dishes.
Counter service with indoor seating or take out.
Good value for the price.
Facility lacks «ambiance «so not a date
night place to go. Basic tables and chairs. There may not be air conditioning, it could have been off.