Carnitas El Botanero

It’s very sad to me how much this place has gone downhill. We have come to this building since it was Carnitas Uruapan and we keep hoping that whatever business takes over can compare favorably but my last experience here has left me with the desire to not come back again. It is mainly because of service but there’s also other factors. The chips tasted stale. The carnitas, altough they had a pretty good flavor, were not hot. The people are sweet but they are inexperienced in service.
I’m sad.

STILL the best. I always come here and get the best food and best service. Everyone there is so friendly and hospitable. I drive down from escondido for their carnitas and shrimp ceviche… soooooo damn good

Food was great and so was the service. Just wish they had free refills for drinks. With all my kids with me for this great meal, that was the only thing I felt the place needed.

Once again Worst place ever food was cold and the service was horrible they would pass by my table without asking how everything was and no they where not busy when i went. she acted mad.
bad serves the place is dirty. HORRIBLE SERVICE NEVER AGAIN
DONT GO .
l peor lugar la comida estaba fría y el servicio era horrible pasarían por mi mesa sin preguntar cómo estaba todo y no, no donde ocupado cuando me fui. ella actuó molesta. mal sirvicio.

Food made to order… known for carnitas and soups… mom pop place.
I love the 7 $ breakfast… seriously the beans are the best anywhere…
Its a great place to meet large party’s…plenty of long tables…
Music on weekends.
Try them… I guarantee that you will come back…

The worst Mexican food in the world. Horrible service, dirty utencils. I had a party of 16 people for mothers day, the food came after 45 minutes, it was cold. The pork the chicken the carne asada, cold from t like the fridge. Very dangerous, I’m going to contact the health department, my, 13 yr son and myself got very sick within hours of eating this crap. Very disappointed the waitresses had attitude and very poor service. I warn you all its dangerous.

Worst place ever food was alright but the service was horrible they would pass us by without asking how everything was and no they where not busy when i went. I asked for 5 cups and a pitcher of horchata and she brought us 4 cups i nicely asked we needed 1 more cups she acted as if i was bothering her and told me well you only asked for 4 i just wanted to tell her well cant you count their is 5 people in the table common sense but i tried to keep calm. then i asked for more tortillas since all 5 of our plated included tortillas but only brought us 1 container with tortillas, but she kept ignoring us every time she would pass, i seriously had to wait about 20 minutes to get more tortillas. HORRIBLE SERVICE NEVER AGAIN!!!
DONT GO UNLESS YOU LIKE TO GET IGNORED AND BRING YOUR OWN CUPS AND TORTILLAS FROM HOME.

This is the worst place in Lemon Grove!
UPDATE: Ask them where they store their chips.
There are times when you can look past the décor but, this is not one of those times. We waited ½ hour for nachos/​carne asada fries… AWFUL. The guacamole is full of oil — a little trick many places use to keep the color of the avacado. The carne es muy mal. OVERPRICED, NOT CLEAN!!!
AT LEAST HAVE SOME RESPECT FOR THE FOOD YOU SERVE PEOPLE.
A DEFINITE NO NO NO

Carnitas el Botanero continues to impress!
Fantastic Carnitas,
Fantastic Chips and Salsas,
Fantastic Beans…
Fantastic Everything!
No surprises, no disappointments, and veeeeery reasonably priced.
Don’t let the naysayers steer you wrong; this place ROCKS.
How could anyone NOT love this place?
It is one of my favorite spots overall, but my FAVORITE for Carnitas, hands down.
I have been a Sous Chef in a Mexican restaurant, and I’ve catered for 100s of thousands of international eaters…
trust me when I tell you Carnitas el Botanero is fantastic food, priced right, and worth the drive from ANYWHERE in San Diego.
:-) Dan

This place has far better carnitas then carnitas uruapan ever had! I had been going to carnitas uruapan since it opened in the 80s and I was so sad to see it close. But when this opened in its place we decided to give it a shot! I have never had anything else but carnitas and boy they are not stingy so moist and yummy! Plus the staff are beyond nice. Best traditional mexican food in the area. Please go to this place the previous owners are trying to bad mouth it! give it a shot if you are in the lemon grove area you won’t be sorry! make sure to order the carnitas!

I tried this place out, I thought I was going to carnitas uruapan, they moved to a new smaller location down the road. I wanted to order food for myself and 3 friends, my order was to go, I decided to try this place out since I was already here. I looked the menu over, I decided to just order the carnitas (carnitas specialty restaurant) I decided to order carnitas for 6 people, you never know portion sizes at a restaurant. I will tell you this, never order more than the number of persons dining here, the food was good, we still had half of the food left over after stuffing ourselves. The meal came with the meat, beans, rice, salsa, carrots and about 40 tortillas
I recommend this place to anyone who is hungry for carnitas

Where do I start.
Unilocal I love you and you are usually right about places with high ratings. But this place kind of took a turn for the worst.
I went here one day and ordered a Carnitas Burrito with Red Sauce on top. When I got home I was pretty amazed of how fresh the Carnitas were. The rice and beans were not the greatest, but the main portion was pretty good.
I went here the next day to try some of the other food.
I ordered the following:
–Carnitas Burrito: This time the Burrito’s tortilla wasn’t cooked and was really hard to cut into, even with the red sauce on top. The actual carnitas were a little dry and made this burrito really hard to eat.
–Caldo De Pollo (Chicken soup): When I ordered it I thought it was just going to be a «consume,» for you non-​mexicans, that would be chicken broth. When I brought it home it was the whole shibang. Chicken, Potatoes, zucchini, carrots, and Garbanzo beans? I’ve never had Garbanzo beans in my Mexican soups before. The actual soup had no taste, so I had to put in some lemon and salsa that I had here at home. Was not the greatest soup I had.
–Carnitas plate for 1: My mom said the Carnitas were average and has had better. Again the rice and beans were not that great. And her meal only came with 2 COLD tortillas.
–4 Rolled tacos: These were cold and small. I did like the fact they had a lot of meat but for the size it was average. They were really expensive. 4 Mini-​tacos for $ 9? Way over priced!
I wanted to also mention that the place did not have guacamole or avocados because they said they were not «ripe» yet. Really??? Can you guys go down the street to Albertsons or Food 4 Less and buy some?
Also when I got my soup they stated that they did not have anymore soup containers. They ended up serving my soup in a large sour cream container. My partner was like «WTF??! We are not in TJ!»
I wish the customer service was also a bit nicer. Oh and they were playing Mexican Novelas on the «main» tv in the dining room. I am mexican, so I can say this: Have some respect for your customers and play something in english! This aint down downtown revolucion nana!
Try it once, and see if you like it. But don’t go out of your way if you aren’t in Lemon Grove.

I am in love with the Camarones a La Diabla. Big, juicy, perfectly cooked shrimp, with an amazingly spicy red sauce, it is heavenly. Although they send you home with several little servings of salsa and lime, the plate does not need any additional heat or seasonings. The portion size is great, as it comes with beans, rice and tortillas and pickled veggies. I always intend to order something else (aka carnitas) but can not seem to pass up those tasty camarones! We always order to go, the restaurant itself is very lack luster. The second time I phoned in my order I had to wait 15 minutes longer than advised. However, the food is so good, I don’t mind.

GREAT SERVICE!!! Been here a few times now and everything we have tried on the menu has been great.
They are known for their carnitas but I’m really a fan of the red menudo, it’s by far the best and meatiest menudo I’ve ever had.
Check these guys out.

The readers digest version
Just opened… It was good… Would I eat here again? Yes.
Not the same as Carnitas Uruapan (the one that was located here, not the new spot in La Mesa)
I think the beans n rice should be a little bigger — for the carnitas for two (see pic) but like I said, it was good and I’ll be back.
(NOTE: They are in the process of obtaining their alcohol license)