Raul’s Shack

Best value for Mexican food for sure. All the basics on the menu and the pricing is quite a deal. Portion sizes are generous and the flavors are delicious.
This is a family favorite spot for us and will be for a long time. Making me hungry just typing about it!

First time visitor today. Had a chorizo burrito, to go, for breakfast. They forgot to include the chorizo. #burritofail

I am back with a Mexican food spot that is cheap, convenient and ON POINT! Now to the list or reasons why…
1. Perfect Carne Asada — I love Mexican food (born and raised SD) but I have not had carne Asada in a burrito as good as Raul’s. You HAVE to get the California Burrito. No question.
2. Price point — To put it simply, the food is cheap. $ 4 – 5 for a burrito that is huge. My wife loves rolled tacos and she thinks they are the best. Those are only $ 3 – 4. (Per any change)
3. Laid back feel — You are in Encinitas, SUPER So Cal beach town. There is nothing more So Cal than a walk up taco shop 3 blocks from the ocean. My picture has a beer from Lost Abbey in it, just down the road and a GREAT spot.
Improvements — Seating could be improved and ease of parking could be better (not their fault).
Anyway…go to Raul’s, get a California Burrito, go sit at Moonlight beach and plan a move to Encinitas or a great reason to «miss» your flight home.

Super good simple spot for post surfing tacos. Totally a «must stop by and grab a few» place. Good spot for street tacos. Cash is much easier. Order a nice amount of them to get full (like 6 – 8).
Parking is super easy around the corner. My favorite is the carne Asada and carnitas. They are hot, delicious and the salsa is amazing.
Not fancy at all, just a scrumptious place to savor the simplicity of street tacos.

Simple, cheap, and most importantly delicious. The nachos are fantastic and the street tacos are a tasty few bites!

I visit Carlsbad from Boston several times a year. I have tried at least 20 Mexican «shacks» but this is my favorite. I always get the fish burrito AND the carnitas burrito. I eat half of each and then if no one wants the other halves, I eat them later. With so many good places to choose from, best is subjective, but in my opinion Raul’s is the best of the best.

One of my favorite places in Encinitas! The food is so authentic and delicious, you leave craving more every time. I, personally, would recommend the fish tacos, fish burrito, carne asada fries, and their horchata! This is being extremely picky since all their food is fantastic! Their prices are better than anything you will find on Main Street in Encinitas! Never go by the 101 without stopping by Raul’s!

I love this place! Best Mexican food in north county! I have been coming here for 16yrs! The chicken soup is my favorite thing here! But all there food is amazing! They are cash only so make sure u bring cash! The 7 11 across the street has an ATM tho!

The Shack! Best crispy tacos on the planet. Worth the wait, the taco are delicious, clean, crisp taste, not oily. Very habit forming, I never tire of Raul’s, simple, delicious,

So I got the chicken taquitos, and found a rather large bone in one of them. I mean, the taquitos were tasty and the people who worked there were nice, but, I’m just sayin’, don’t forget to chew thoroughly.

Food is fine but my order is always messed up. Called in an order for nachos with sour cream and salsa fresca on the side. Woman confirmed and read the order back to be. Yet, I still receive nachos with sour cream and salsa fresca on top. Another time I ordered a chicken taquito burrito at the window. I wound up with 3 chicken tacos.

Wow. This place is sooooo… sl… oooooooooooow. Judging by how long it took all orders to come out, not just mine, it seemed like they were cooking everything to order from scratch.
The chimichanga was good, but the California burrito was lacking a lot. Basically just meat and fries. There’s cheese and sour cream in there too but they are completely lost in the flavor-​muting fries. Needs more. Guac, cilantro, onions… anything.
Not a total waste of money, but definitely not worth the wait.

Always good. Have been going here for over 10 years and always crave it when I come come to visit. Carne asada burrito, cali burrito, 3 rolled tacos and FLAUTAS are awesome. Love being by the beach too

I haven’t been to Raul’s dusty little shack in over three years, and I’m still fiending for another one of his tacos! Fast, cheap and very good. Just the way I like it!

I love this place! Fish tacos and chicken soup was delicious.
Reasonable price and nice and fast food service.
I like their red and green sauce. They are busy but I get good food all the time ~

Probably 3.5 stars. The Adobada was tasty but had a real slow burnnnnnn to it. I had a carne asada burrito and the meat was a little dry and bland. My wife had the adobada burrito and I also split an adobada quesadilla with a buddy. Son had some chicken tacos which were surprisingly flavorful. Biggest knocks would be the guy taking the orders, he could not of been any slower and the kitchen was also pretty slow on their end. Don’t come here if in a rush.

I thought I already wrote a review for this place?
I got the chicken Fajita brrito and added some pinto beans and cheeeeeeeeeese and my god was it gooooooood!!! The burrito was so freaking good. The peppers\onions and whatever comes in a fajita was very well made. The chicken was good albet with a few burnt pieces. It was super cheap!!! I wish they had tamales though. I went again a week after and got the ‘Taquitos’ or as some call. ‘rolled tacos’. I’d really like to know when the ‘rolled tacos’ saying began cuz growing up I always knew them to be taquitos. so wtf… are tostadas ‘flat tacos’ ??? haha… ;)
They have seats\tables right in front of the place and another sitting area inside to the right but its always good to grab and go and just roam the street checking out the area.
This place is great, quick, chill and good for cheap eats. Def cruise by when you have a chance.

I love when people who don’t really live here tell me where the best fish taco is. Jorge’s is my go to but a close second is this place. The slaw is so fresh and the salsa is delish. We always call this place «Mama Raul’s» cause if they are closed they put out a sign saying it had something to do with mama.

Dr. Ian Malcolm: John, the kind of control you’re attempting simply is… it’s not possible. If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but, uh… well, there it is.
Jurassic Park
I had a good feeling about this place seeing the bag of chips with grease weakening the paper so the chips could burst out and be free like Kate Upton can barely be restrained by her bikini. :-) The chips were as good as they appeared. Freshly fried with a hint of grease there was the crunchy goodness and exploding with flavor. :-) I don’t know if I can go back to eating old supermarket chips…
The carnitas taco had carnitas spilling out of the tortilla. So much carnitas all for me! :-) Best carnitas to tortilla ratio I’ve had. :-) Love the flavor of the carnitas too. :-) I’m gonna alternate between this place and Carnitas Snack Shack!
The carne asada taco was very good. Good flavor from the beef and a good amount of beef.
This is an awesome hole in the wall taco shop to relax and watch the world walk by. :-) Note they only take cash and there is no restroom here.
More food I tried here:
Adobada taco — very similiar to the carnitas taco but the addition of spices which were too spicy for me
Crispy carnitas taco — Delicious crunchy tortilla shell and very good flavor from the carnitas, not as much carnitas as the soft taco

This review is mainly in the context of my search for a great fish burrito.
AND WHAT A SEARCH IT HAS BEEN!
Kind of realized recently that I should share my thoughts on this search here on Unilocal.But, I got it in my head recently that I wanted to find a place where I could find a delicious fish burrito, the best I could find, actually. My girlfriend has typically had the carne asada burrito when I go with her to these places, so that gets the review as well. So, Raul’s Shack…
The cod was well battered, fresh and not fishy tasting, but the white sauce they use is overly tangy; it’s suspiciously like a watery Miracle Whip, actually. It should be a bit sweeter, maybe a bit thicker, but definitely be there to help cool a hot piece of fish and not overwhelm it with a mayonnaise bite.
My love got the California burrito, basically carne asada stuffed to the brim with old french fries. Her meat was under seasoned and those fries had no salt. There’s no shame in putting no salt on the fries, but the whole point of that would be to over salt the meat and have the fries soak all the extra. As it was here at Raul’s, her burrito was just a bland log of chewy beef and mushy potato.
So, all in all, not the best of dinners. Price wasn’t horrible, but the wait was crazy long and the taste not really what it should be. Their beans might save them, but we didn’t have any of those, just the disappointment of the fish and carne asada.