Carnitas Express

I’ve been there a handful of times. The Margaritas are good and the service most of the time is good. The reason for the 2 stars is the food. The food isn’t good. It’s alright, but for Mexican food it is terrible. Every time I order something it’s not at all authentic. If you’ve have had real Mexican food I’m sure most would no what I mean.

I like this place you get a lot for your money the burritos are big and the platters are also. Its not the best but around here it is up pretty high on the list. Theres not very many good mexican places around here so if your gonna pick one this is it. If your not sure on a meat to get i suggest carnitas. its in there name so im guessing its there best

Absolutely love this place! Best salsa I’ve ever had! I’ve been going here for years and I’ve NEVER had a bad experience! The service and food are always great!

My wife and I just ate there today and the service was good. The owner’s kid was our waiter. I ordered the #8 flautas combo plate. The chicken was a bit too dry for my taste, and I want to say it was the beans cause both my wife and I got a lot of gas and to make matters worse I got the runs. Overall, great service, manager Francis very friendly just beware of the beans!

The service here is amazing… oh and the food! Hands down one if the best chilli relleno I’ve ever had. I love this place!

Yeah I don’t know what people talk about this place is amazing! Servers are on top of it too! NOM NOM NOM

This place is actually better than many commenter’s expectations! I’m quite picky with my restaurant choices but I’d like to say I’m reasonable. so despite me not having tried to order takeout from here and time how long it took them, I’d rather comment on how FAST they served my lunch order-​4 minutes! My enchilada plate was hot off the grill. And the place was busy! The waitress was brief, but thorough and quick enough not to disregard me and yet not be overwhelming! This establishment deserves credit!

We love this place for Sunday morning breakfast!!! Service is great!!! the food is delicious!!!

UPDATE:
Ordered take out and they ruined my whole order. Not just one item. The whole thing… It’s hard when this place is right down the street not to order but I learned my lesson the 2^nd time around. I ordered carne asada burrito, carne asada fries and 2 kids meals bean burritos. My burrito I asked for no cheese, or lettuce inside. So that’s only meat, guacamole and salsa. Nope they did it their way… The two kids meals I asked for «REFRIED» beans! A real bean burrito… NOPE! I got pinto beans. Never again. I’ll next time I’ll just go to the 2 other Mexican places.
IF YOU ORDER TAKE OUT CHECK YOUR ORDER BEFORE YOU LEAVE.

Three starts because the servers were really nice. But the food is not great at all, ordered the carne Asada combo and the meat did not have a lot of flavor nor did the rice, wasn’t a fan of the salsa either. I normally LOVE Mexican food but I can honestly say this was not good at all. I was in Mexico last week and this isn’t even comparable (really sad face here)

Bummer, had high hopes but was let down. Ordered pick up and was told 20 minutes but waited at least 30 min.
Order was pretty simple:
Carnitas tacos
Supreme nachos
Chimichanga
My carnitas tacos were made as steak!?!
Supreme nachos were a supreme disappointment (where was the cheese & why were the carnitas not shredded!?)
Hubby said Chimichanga was meh
All & all we’ll be ordering elsewhere next time.

There are, at least, 4 things we consider vital when going out to eat to a restaurant: quality of the food, service, value, and cleanliness.
In Carnitas Xpress our party of 4 had a good experience. Ines, our server, was prompt, friendly, and made the time spent there very nice. The food:
Tamale Combination plate, $ 6. Pork Tamale soft and tasty, with rice and beans. 4 Stars.
Chile Verde Plate, $ 10.95. Pork chunks with green chile sauce, rice, beans, choice of flour or corn tortillas, and the typical sprinkled Mexican cheeses melted on the beans. Family member that ordered this plate, enjoyed it very much, amount and taste right on the money. Mentioned that the beans and rice were quite enjoyable, as opposed to a review condemning
Carnitas Xpress take on these popular dishes. She thought they were good enough. 4.5 Stars.
Carnitas Plate, $ 10.95. Carnitas (pork cooked for hours in traditional cooking methods) is after all the name of this eatery, so it would stand to reason that their Carnitas preparation would be above average, but the consensus from the one who order this dish, was that their Carnitas was decent, but not extra ordinary, still he ate it to the last bite, no questions asked. All the sides mentioned above included. 4 Stars.
Albondigas Soup, $ 2.95-$ 7.95. Small and Large sides, respectively were ordered. This dish is elusive in its availability, and it’s preparation. I guess what I am trying to say is that is a little hard to find a good Albondigas soup, and this version was well done. Actually a full meal on the large size. Came with decent size meatballs, perhaps not as soft and savory as the ideal ones, but serving was generous, broth thick and very tasty, carrots, potatoes al dente, and with the side of rice, and corn tortillas, it was enough to fill the tank. 4.5 Stars.
Matador Burrito, $ 8.95? A powerhouse that comes with a warning in the menu: Do not order unless xtremely hungry! (I threw in the xtremely to rhyme with their Xpress title), and this Burro is indeed a nap inducer, enough to please hearty appetites everywhere. I was thinking about the many times I have ordered the Macho Burrito at Del Taco, and this burrito, for just a couple more dollars, is such a better bargain, plus is so much better all around. I chose Carnitas as meat of choice, and it was well worth it. 4.5 Stars for size alone!
Salsa bar was handy, their red sauce with warm tortillas a hit for everyone, plus marinated vegetables adding to the value. 4 Stars.
Flan, $ 3.65? Not too shabby at all, the 4 of us shared one, and took one home for the midnight craves, not overly sweet, good stuff. 4 Stars.
Total came out $ 62+, not counting a gratuity well earned by Ines. Yes, we will be returning at a later date. 4 Shinning Stars.

Until the other day I had not been to this location in many years, but after running errands my mom and I were hungry, so I quipped, «Should we try Carnitas and see if it has improved at all?»
Shoulda gone with my first instinct and stayed away because for the high price we paid for a simple lunch was not worth it!
Their salsa and pico de gallo are very very spicy (which they claim the red one is «mild»). Although the red and green salsa were tasty and the right consistency, just too spicy for my mother and I. The chips were marginal, nothing special at all. The guacamole I ordered, same thing; only marginal (get better from a package in the supermarket).
Based on my previous experiences at this and another of their locations, I knew better than to order anything Mexican because I am vegetarian and they still use animal fat and chicken flavoring in some of their items.
So I went with the safe thing, the veggie burger and it was good (as it was years ago at their Murrieta location). I added some blue cheese dressing to it and that was a nice touch. The fries were crispy as I had requested and the service was fine. The red beverage with hibiscus was very good too.
The server forgot to bring lemon for my mother, but did do so after the second request.
My mom ordered the fish taco and later told me it was simply disgusting but she didn’t want to complain because someone she knew was a regular customer sitting close to us. When we got into the car, my mom said the piece of fish was mostly battered (like a huge fish stick) and tasteless and that the flour tortillas that came with it were terrible. She did like the hibiscus beverage, however.
For the price we paid just for my veggie burger, we would have been better off at somewhere like Coco’s and for Mexican food it is either Don Jose OR Los Primos in the future; live and learn!

This place went downhill!!! My wife and I used to love coming here to enjoy a drink. We used to live down the street and this was our go-​to taco Tuesday establishment. They used to have a heavy pour and their tacos were CHEAP and GOOD. Since we moved back to the area, we have been here twice and have noticed how they have changed. Their margaritas and mixed drinks taste watered down and their tacos are full of grease and barley have any meat. What happened?! We went again to see if they were just having an off night but encountered the same thing.
Do yourself a favor if you visit the establishment; stick to the beer and enjoy the salsa. Tbh their salsa has always been on point and is now the only redeeming thing about the place :(

How did this place go from a 5 star to a 1 star. Well you go for Taco Tuesday and your waitress does not know prices to drinks and tells my group the house coronarita is $ 7 and its really $ 10. $ 3 is a big difference. We did not complain as we love this place, but its going to be a while before we return.
Food, service and atmosphere is why we eat out at times. You have to get all 3 right!

I have been here a few times and it is always good. Nice servers. Great chips and salsa and good portions for a hoops price. Taco plate was under $ 6.

Food is always awesome and so is the customer service. I accidentally left my phone w there and they secured it for me until a friend wasable to pick it up as I was already out of the area. They went beyond the call of duty. Thank you carnitas express for your loyalty to your customers.
Michelle

Love hat I can come in with my family sit a together and have some chips and salsa and a drink while I wait for my food. Staff is nice and the food isn’t horrible either. It’s not what I’m use to, but then again moving out of San Diego what are you going to find.
But did I mention that you get to get your own chips and salsa?! The kids love doing that for me!

I love carnitas in general. I went in there for that then I seen all of there cooks handling food without proper sanitary gloves. I wanted to run quickly out of there but I was hungry so I order the Gordo platter. Awful, bland with no taste. It seemed like they don’t change there oil often cause the taquitos were horrible.

I gave this establishment a 3 stars because the service is always quick, the food is always good, the drinks are always yummy but they can be a little pricey with small food portions and new bartender left alone is, no bueno…
I also only gave them 3 stars because I had the same server both times I went there and experience with her wasn’t good. I think she’s an Asian young girl with a very unusual name and she just doesn’t know how to communicate with her customers without getting defensive. When customers ask for a hot basket of chips there is no need for a server to have an attitude or when you asked her how to pronounce her name she gave us a horrible attitude as well. Maybe they should get servers that are little more friendly and open to conversation with their patrons.
Hope you have a good experience!