The long line is worth the wait. Everything is finger licking good. Our waiter Miguel R. was on point and had the best choices for us to make the right decisions on the food options. A great place to eat.

Great place with large food servings and live music. This is really a good place to dine and would recommend it. We stopped for breakfast, my wife took the Minero omelette and it was oozing with flavors. I took the rolled beef tacos and that was good too.

I love the food here. The shrimp taco is ridiculously delicious. I had never had that taste before and have not had comparable taste elsewhere. I wish I could give this restaurant more than 5 stars. Highly recommended!

Taco Tuesday had really large tacos. Good value for $3.95 each. Could use guac and more seasoning for flavor. Carnitas were the best. The double shrimp and chicken fajitas were the best buy far.

It’s an alright place to eat. The staff were super friendly and helpful. A joyful wait staff during the lunch hour we visited. The food was good. The chips are not too my liking, but they were crisp. Also, they were not greasy, but they seemed factory made, which is not of the highest grade at a typical Mexican restaurant in the area. The tacos were delicious, fajitas were delicious and the chicken mole amazingly delicious. Great food. The tables were, unfortunately, on the dirty side. The floors were disgusting. If they cleaned to a higher standard and refreshed the furnishings - it would be significantly better restaurant- good to great.

Not so good this time. Food quantity seems to have dropped. Sharing a meal is more difficult and prices are high. Still excellent chops and salsa. Great service. I would still visit here when in old town.

They were making tortillas from scratch and our tacos tasted good. The kids also had a great time choosing from the kids menu. I wouldn't say it's the best mexican I have had but it was decent for the area.

2.3.24 - Saturday afternoon. Let me start by saying the parking lot is narrow and we had to drive around for 23 minutes. Other parking lots around here were also full, be careful if you park there becasue they are for different places. Finally parked and sat to eat at 12:17pm. We sat down after a moment we were given small glasses of water with little or no ice. Then had chips and salsa brought to our table. Waiter then came over and took our drink order. After some time we finally placed our food order. Our food didn't have flavor nor was it a good hot temperature as if it were freshly made. More like this food was frozen then heated or cooked ahead of time then warmed up. I ordered a Margarita and it was horrible. It was more likely blended and the ice wasn't slushed, it tasted like watered down lime mix. I also tried the Mangorita and it was terrible. Our water wasn't good at all. Took 27min to get our drink refills. 4 of our orders were sent back becasue the food was cold. Complete disappointment. Its my first time in San Diego CA. Have no plans of returning to this place at all. DO NOT RECOMMEND AT ALL

This restaurant is neat and the love the long bar just as you walk into the place. They have a great working display of the restaurant staff hand making tortillas. The menu has plenty of authentic and local items for plenty much anyone’s appetite. Conveniently located in the Old Town area of San Diego, I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone.

The food was amazing here!! To start, the chips and salsa were fantastic! The salsa was almost my favorite part of the meal. Then, we ordered two virgin strawberry daiquiris, which were delicious. They came with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry on top, as well as whipped cream. For food, we ordered a side of rolled beef tacos, and 5 street tacos. They tasted so good, and with the sour cream and guacamole from the rolled tacos, we were able to greatly improve the street tacos, which originally only had meat, onions, and cilantro on them. Overall, everything was delicious, and I would highly recommend going here!! Side note: the bathrooms are extremely clean. and nice.

After our visit, wouldn’t recommend patrons sit in the bar area of “Old Town Mexican Cafe.” Food was good, beer was cold, atmosphere pleasant. Our Sunday late morning visit came at one of the busiest times (according to our server) for “Old Town Mexican Cafe.” Line for tables was long and weather was warm, so we took the staff suggestion to sit in the bar area. We enjoyed a mariachi group performance while we waited +\- 20 minutes to speak to our server. Clearly, our server and other staff were doing their level best to serve a ‘full house’ during our visit. Our server was very responsive when we saw him. We were grateful to have a place to have lunch and revive. However, at times it felt as though no one knew we were there. Considering the numbers of guests served, the food was good, and prepared well, but not exceptional. In spite of this, I would recommend “Old Town Mexican Cafe” to visitors to Old Town.

We got the carnitas plate and the rolled potato rolls. The food was pretty solid but there was no hot sauce and it wasn't super flavorful. The tortillas, however, is phenomenal. Sooo fresh and delicious.

I decided to give this place another try to see if it’s improved. I was wrong, the cheese enchiladas had no flavor and were basically dry. The rice beans were just ok. The place is very dirty and I don’t think it’s been cleaned in years, the new ladies room is nice. This is more of a tourist trap for people who really don’t know good Mexican food.

Warning! Don’t stuff yourself with the free chips & salsa 😀. This place has the best Mexican food in town. We ordered the carnitas special along with the street tacos for our mains. I ordered the menudo (red) for my appetizer. The drinks were on point & the overall experience did not disappoint. If you are in San Diego, make sure you visit. There’s usually a line up as they don’t do reservations.

Someone suggested the “Sampler,” appetizer plate which consisted of mini tacos, rolled tacos, sour cream, guacamole, garnish, for about $7.50. Not that flavorful, decent, but wouldn’t pay full price ($15) for this appetizer. Bartender very friendly, attentive. I normally do not go anywhere Old Town Tourist Trap, but this couple I met raves about it. Better eats in Barrio Logan.

Amazing food! Excellent service. It's one of my favorite restaurants. I love it. ❤️ Highly recommended.

Had a lovely time as per the norm. Really loved my prickly pear marg. My combo was delicious, this place is great but very touristy. I love the tortillas and. The free chips and salsa are Lit!

Best Mexican food in a very long time. We got one of their carnitas family packs to go and it was FRESH and amazing. They walk it out to your car so super safe (wearing masks too). The carnitas were soooo yummy with fresh salsa, guacamole, and handmade flour tortillas!! The meat was lean and not greasy. Wow, we all loved it and we are picky about our Mexican food!! Super fast and friendly service....will likely go back tomorrow for taco Tuesday!!

The chops are thick but not taste the salsa is good. Good hot coffee, good servings, quick service and hand made tortillas. Good spot for breakfasts. Visit this place if your at old town San Diego

First time in, just moved to SD. First California burrito and it was banging. OTMC nachos 🔥. For as busy as it was the place didn't feel overcrowded and the service was fast and super friendly. Definitely adding to the rotation. Also great Bloody Mary.

Delicosa comida Mexicana authentic. Great place for lunch. We had guac and tacos very yummy

All is well

My favorite Mexican food in all of Southern California. I love the carnitas plate extra crispy

Great carnitas and fresh tortillas.

Great food and friendly weight staff. Unfortunately it did take a while for staff to come check on us and we waited a long time for our check. Our horchata was also watered down.

Great food for the price

The salsa and the chips are amazing! If you want a spicer salsa you just have to ask them and they will bring you one that has habanero in it! Super delicious. The food is good and reasonable for its price. The tortillas de harina are hand made and fresh! The strawberry margaritas are good as well!

Love this place. Best tortillas ever.

Yum! Our waiter was not an old traditional vieja in a colorful dress, but he was modern and on it. The molcajete and crispy carnitas are the top choices here. Fresh tortillas make it great.

Delicious food and great service. Great home made flour tortillas

We visited this place on our visit to Old Town. They have a decent options for Margaritas. The food was pretty bland, we ordered for a combination which had beef enchilada with pork taco and chile serrano, served with rice and beans and tortillas however the server forgot to get our tortillas and was really very slow with the service too. We waited for 20 mins to get our drinks. Overall an not so good experience. Definitely not coming back.

This place has been open since 1977 I think is what it had written on the wall. The ambiance here is your at Nana's house for a Mexican Fiesta and she is making you breakfast. I had the Spanish omelet with rice and beans and 2 fresh flour tortillas it was delicious, a bowl of warm red pozole was not spicy and good serving size, also the coffee was one of the best I had all weekend in California! Oh and a blood Mary to top it off was made right!

Delicious traditional Mexican cuisine. Set in old Town San Diego. Handmade fresh tortillas, everything was incredible. Wonderful friendly service, your beverages are never empty.

We looked forward to trying the Cafe after reading some of the reviews. Sadly we were very disappointed. From the hiring sign out front, it is possible they are short staffed, but the server we had seemed like she would rather be anywhere but waiting on our table. Her responses were short and hurried. We ordered drinks to start off and the beer was standard size served in a pint glass. The margarita was VERY small for the $10 price they charged. I would be surprised if it is more than 10 ounces. I will say that the margarita was blended thoroughly and had good strawberry flavor, but little alcohol and not worth $10. I would not purchase again after knowing the price. The chips tasted as though they were homemade and the salsa was flavorful with just enough spice. The two cheese enchilada combination plate was a good portion size. The beans were delicious and the red sauce they used on the enchiladas was flavorful. The rice was okay, not very flavorful. Sadly that combination was the only food we liked. The chicken fajitas came out on the plate, not on cast iron like many other places. There were very little vegetables and the chicken was bland with no seasoning. It was served with guacamole and two flour tortillas. For the price, the portion size was too small and my husband walked away still hungry. The order of street tacos were also quite disappointing. We ordered the carne asada. Again, the meat was bland with no flavor and nearly overdone. The tortilla was extremely greasy. There was supposed to be cilantro and onions, but the only cilantro was a few flecks. The onions were green in color, so maybe they dice it up and mix it together. Regardless, couldn't taste the cilantro. It was served with a salsa, but did not provide enough flavor to make the tacos edible. Only one was eaten. I don't think we will come back to the Old Town Mexican Cafe, there was just too much that wasn't good. We felt that the $80 we spent for two dinners, 2 ala carte tacos and drinks could be better spent elsewhere in Old Town.

Stopped by for breakfast before flying out. Ordered pork carnitas hash breakfast dish. It came with 2 tortillas either flour or corn. The portion was big, it was enough for lunch or dinner. The pull pork was very good. I couldn't finish it. BTW, tortilla chip and salsa was included.

Had a fabulous spicy margarita while we waited for a table. Server made excellent recommendations, & even advised us when he thought we would be ordering too much food. Enjoyed the chips & salsa as well. Definitely recommend & would love to try breakfast, too.

Nice atmosphere and we were excited to try the fresh tortillas that could be seen being made through the restaurant window. We sat at the bar and were immediately greeted with a cheerful attitude. The first thing we tried was the El Dorado Margarita and it was fantastic, along with one of the best Paloma’s I’ve had. For our meal we shared a Combination Plate. On the positive side, the food and the salsa served with the nachos were quite tasty. Salsa Verde Chicken Enchilada was also very good. Nice sized portions as well. What brought the rating down were the greasy nachos and taco shell. I suspect the oil temp in the fryer wasn’t hot enough for a proper fry, and if so that’s a quality control issue they should pay attention to. Overall, based on the nice flavors, I’d give the place another visit to try other menu items with the hope it wouldn’t be overly greasy again.

Absolutely love the food here. We have here 3 times during the Covid-19 restriction protocols and Old Town Mex Cafe really did a fantastic job in accommodating their customers. All made from scratch their fresh made tortillas, frijoles, carnitas, refried beans, carne asada and their delicious roasted chicken are all devine and most tasty!!

My combo with a chicken enchilada (an “A”) & a crispy chicken taco (a B+) with nice rice & yummy whole beans worked for me, BUT my wife hated her overly dried-out & hard to chew carnitas & side of carne asada morsels. The chops were nice & super thin with yummy salsa fresca & guacamole! House tortillas hit the spot. Do ask the owners WHY their meats are soooo soooo dry & hard ! We will try another high rated full-service Mex Restaurant next time...

Fantastic Mexican food. Great flavors amazing handmade tortillas.

Great

I love this place !!! Excellent customer service!!! Food delicious!!! Flour tortillas yummy!! Price is really good!

Ehhhh 5/10 stars. Food and experience could have been easily improved in every aspect

Always great service and great food! Currently during covid, they are doing take out only, no dine in. I still got a really good amount of food for my family of 6 (baby which would make 7 doesn't count). We got the special for family, we still had leftovers the next day. Support your local restaurants that you want to have around for generations!!!

Nice spot for delicious mexican food. This place has an awesome feel to it. Wish it was closer to my house, I would come every week.

mexican food and the feeling at this spot is very good. It has a cool interior. Feels similar to a restaurant in New York I liked.

Food was excellent and wait time not bad, house margaritas were on point. Molcajete was good and tortillas, wow!

We love this place! Best Mexican food in San Diego! Happy they were open! A staple in Old Town. <3

Authentic Mexican food. Had their old town steak and eggs. Steak was a well seasoned flank steak and done medium rare, just as we requested.

I had the California burrito. It was great! A little on the smaller side, but whatever. Their flour tortillas are homemade and are the bomb! We bought some tortillas to take back home. They're excellent with beans or to eat with plain butter. The service was excellent and the server was very personable. I would definitely recommend this place.

Foid was good. The order was not 100% correct but it didn't ruin our meal. Love the handmade flour tortillas.

This place is wonderful. Love the food and the atmosphere. The service is excellent. I have been going there for many years and it is always good.

The food is delicious! I love their tacos! And their homemade tortillas with butter...yum! The waiter was very nice but it took him a long time to take our order, refill drinks, and bring our check. Maybe he had a lot of tables? Definitely give them a chance though.

Awesome food and fresh made tortillas. Been going here for over 30 years. Tried their pancakes for breakfast today for the first time and I was blown away how good they were. Never imagined a mexican restaurant would have excellent pancakes. I'm craving them just talking about it.

I had the California Burrito and was blown away by the first bite! I couldn't believe how much (great) flavor it had. I wanted to ask what their secret was but I respect that it's their livelihood and didn't want to pry. I will be returning with more friends and maybe even a date.

It's been a while but still have good, wonderful service. And as always food is delicious. I ordered menudo & queso fundido wit hand made tortillas. It hit the spot. They have patio & dine-in service. Very clean & all employees have protected gear on. Thanks again for a good meal and awesome service.

Great food nice portions love it

Great food and service combined with 100% covid compliance.

.The food was lovely, the best Mexican food we have ever had, great atmosphere I would recommend trying their flaming margeritas, would love the recipe so we can make them at home.

Amazing customer service from our mesera and delicious mole

(Translated by Google) Very good food (Original) Muy biena comida

I’ve been going here for years and they never disappoint. The chips and salsa is really good and their flaming margaritas are my favorite in town!

This restaurant has been in Los Angeles for many, many years. When I was a San Diego resident I went there and on a recent trip I went there again recently.

Definitely my favorite restaurant in San Diego for a long time been coming here they have the best carnitas and homemade tortillas! If you're into drinks they have great drink specials!

Excellent to go service!

The shrimp tacos 🌮 were great 👍

Love this place.

i got a smokin' watermelon that supposed to have mezcal and watermelon of course (just sweet and sour with grenadine and no mezcal), i went to change my drink for a margarita which is absolutely the same (sweet and sour, no alchohol and no tajin)...for food i had a shrimp taco and a fish taco,absolutely the worst tacoes i have ever had. no flavor as well, so went to trash, just like the drink. what was good was the street tacoes and the shrimp cevice tostada. i dont understand where are all those good reviews coming from, honestly. plus super slow and not welcoming stuff...very disappointed and definitely dont recommend it!!! just waste of money....

Food its nothing special, drinks where really bad maybe its because the time what we r passing right now so when everything go back to normal ill give another try.

The app says it’s not busy, however it’s total Chaos. They can’t seem to manage this fake Covid pandemic and are taking this thing way too far. Order from postmates or call it in.

Wasnt impressed at all...point blank..