Don Bravos Authentic Mexican Cusine

Love this place. I came here 3 years ago and my first night back to San Diego had to come here. Amazing fish tacos. Great little find.

Customer service consistently sucks, which is a shame because I actually like the food. Came here several times in the past. I used to call ahead because I didn’t want to wait but found out that it doesn’t matter.
I literally just went there this evening to order a chicken chimichanga for me and a surf & turf burrito for my BF. Waited 30 minutes for my to go order. Got home and while my chicken chimichanga is spot on they screwed up my surf and turf order and gave me a veggie burrito… BLEH! This place (along with the privileged clientele) always tests my patience. Le sigh…

Bs they took the mini burritos off the menu. Why would they get rid of the best thing they had?

This is a great place for a lobster burrito! I like that it does have some ocean view! If they are out of lobster I usually get the street tacos. Definitely a good Mexican food place if you are in the area. They only take cash.

The view is amazing. The customer service is terrible. They take at least 20 minutes to make 2 tacos. They are completely inconsistent, one order it comes with cheese, the next time it doesn’t. I call in orders and they won’t start them until you arrive. The worst has been lately when they leave 4 to 5 ingredients off the items we order for our office. They will give you nacos with no cheese, or missing the gauc… etc.
I come here because its close by and I’m forced to. Otherwise SKIP IT!!!

Stumbled across this place on our way back north. Great food! I had the 2 taco plate (1 potato and 1 carnitas). Potato taco was one of the best I ever had. Also, very good rice and beans. My husband had the Mahi Burrito. Very large burrito. Excellent flavor. I would come back again!

I got something new! You guys! It was so good!
Tacos. Pork adobada tacos. Oh man. How do I break this down. My Food Network years are failing me. Spiced pork on a really A+ corn tortilla topped w onions, cilantro, tomatoes, and guacamole.
Still treated so well here. I will, as always, be back again.
Still cash only.

Seriously amazing fish tacos. I suggest the traditional fried fish, add a squeeze of fresh lime and the salsa verde. SO good. They also have fun Mexican sodas.

I’ve been coming here for years, and Don Bravo is one of my favorite Mexican places in La Jolla. My go-​to choice is the Carne Asada burrito. The salsa bar is also very good — the green and chipotle are my favorites. It can take a little while to get food (15 – 20 minutes) when they’re really busy, but it’s well worth the wait.
Also, a note that they have been taking credit cards (as opposed to cash only) at the time of this review — which is a relatively new change.

Had to try this place as a few co-​workers raved about it. So let’s go…
Minus 1 star… cash only. Come on, seriously who carries cash? So my burrito ended up costing me $ 11 due to the $ 3 ATM fee. Awesome!
Star…good fountain drink choices and salsa bar is good
Star…staff are nice and accommodating
Star…parking for customers in the back
Minus 1 star…$ 8 for a California burrito which was just mediocre. The portions are big but not worth it. Nothing out of this world but I’ve had better. Haven’t tried anything else here so that’s all I have to base the food on.

Literally my favorite taco place. I love the food here. Its delicious and authentic. The location and view are also amazing. I bring all my San Diego visitors here. Just remember to bring cash!

Excellent Battered Fish Tacos $ 1.99 ($ 1.49 during Happy Hour).
The Lobster Taco was worth trying but not as memorable as the fish.
You need good luck in terms of timing with the crowd… when they get busy, the service will slow.
Plus, they are Cash Only.

This is a hard one! I had the carne asada burrito, and it was excellent! So were the chips and salsa! The downside? Customer service!!! While service was quick, the demeanor of the waitress was poor. It seemed like it was a bother to serve us-​from beginning of the meal to the end. More chips you say? Sure… but without a comment or smile. Don’t think she likes serving a packed house. Maybe take out next time??? Or, maybe I’ll give it one more try…

After a failed authentic Mexican restaurant experience in LA, I was a little pessimistic about this place. But I was pleasantly surprised.
Aesthetically this place is not going to win no awards, but the food was absolutely amazing. Some of the best Mexican food I’ve ever tasted. I order the shrimp tacos with the Mexican rice and refried beans. This only cost me about $ 11, which is rather inexpensive for the La Jolla Cove area.
If you can get past the look of the place, the self serve condiments and drinks, oh and the outside bathroom, you’ll actually enjoy the place.

I think I underestimated this place when I lived in San Diego. Obviously in a city famous for fried fish tacos it is hard to stand out, but consider the argument for the superiority of Don Bravos:
– The tacos are offered in a snack size, allowing you to eat more of them, and also giving you an excuse to eat fish tacos even when you are only a little hungry.
– The snack-​sized tacos are a dollar.
– The portions of fish are very well fried, crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside, and quite generous even in snack size.
– Excellent creamy green salsa.
– View of the waves out the back porch of the restaurant.
I like Rubio’s and South Beach Bar & Grille a lot too, but might Don Bravos actually be the best fish taco in San Diego?

I hadn’t been to San Diego in over two years, but upon my return, you know where I headed right from the airport? Don Bravos, previously known as Bahia don Bravo. The name may have changed, but nothin’ else has.
Be is a Baja fish taco or a Cali Burrito, I have never (not once) been disappointed in the food these peeps churn out time and time again. Paired with a cold Pacifico and a stool on the back porch, lunch doesn’t get much better, guys.
So Birdrock has grown up around this spot and made it look more like a little shack, but the food is amazing and the service efficient and unfussy, if at times a bit cold. But this isn’t the type of place you come to be pampered and served — you come here for awesome tacos, scrumptious burritos and amazing enchiladas. The horchata is pretty great, too.
I love you, Don Bravos — my distance from you is the hardest thing about living on the east coast!

A friend of mine introduced Don Bravos into my deprived fish-​taco-​life a week ago and I am now enslaved to their fish tacos. At $ 1.49 ($ 1.99 regular price) for fish tacos during happy hour, I couldn’t ask for a better deal for a gigantic, deliciously seasoned, breaded piece of fish.
This place is located in Bird Rock amongst many other boutiques, coffee shops and exercise studios. Prior to a fitness class, my friend and I headed over to Don Bravos to order our tacos for pickup after our class. The beauty of it? No wait. I think the low ratings really do attribute to their long wait times.
My two gigantic fish tacos were so tender that I couldn’t wait to eat it until I got home — I started eating as I was walking to the car. It’s got the right amount of sauce, seasoning and the huge piece of fish makes their price such a deal. I’ll definitely be coming back here soon!

Came here a few days ago on a run by work lunch and was so impressed I had to come back a few days later!
Man this is good food!!! I got a fish taco and a chicken tostada and my girlfriend had mini carne asada street tacos and ceviche.
I’m not too sure on the fish taco schedule cause it seems to change but when I went on Monday it said $.99 10 – 4 and today (Sunday) it was $ 1.99… Either way, damn that is a good fish taco!
Looking forward to this becoming the new La Jallo Mexican food spot!!!

I’ve been hearing a lot about this place so I decided to check it out and see if the hype was real. Came here on a Tuesday (past happy hr), it was pretty empty when we came but once we got seated and right before placing our orders, it got pretty packed. IDK where these people came but it definitely got me excited knowing that a lot of people come here.
We ordered the deep fried fish tacos (regular sized not street tacos) for 1.99 each which was awesome! Tacos were great portions and was really delicious. It was perfectly cooked, nice crispy batter on the outside with the inside being perfectly cooked and not dry or overcooked. We also wanted to try out their mini burritos so we ordered the surf and turf mini which we took home bc the tacos got us full along with some ice cold Pacificos. The burrito was surprisingly delicious even it being take out. The service was just good, nothing to brag about other than us getting our beers pretty quick.
Overall, I loved the food, place is small so I recommend getting there early bc it gets packed. I definitely wanna come back to try more on their menu and their happy hour! So yes, HYPE was REAL haha.

I ate a fish taco almost daily while I was in California. Don Bravos probably had the best one. We were driving to Children’s Pool Beach to see the seals but saw a neon sign in the window that said 99 cent fish tacos. Of course we had to stop.
There were accolades and articles on the wall that say these won awards for the best fish tacos in the area. I’d see about that. Fish tacos were only 99 cents at certain times in the day, but they were only $ 1.50 when I came in, which is still cheap. The batter on these tacos were good! It was crispy, but not so heavy that it completely hid the fish. The salsa bar made everything so much better. Sister wanted some ceviche. That was a bit disappointing since it was sweet. But I’d definitely get some more fish tacos.