Carniceria San Juan de Los Lagos — Restaurant in Carlsbad

Carneceria San Juan de los Lagos: Where Gringos Fear to Tread and Tacos Reign Supreme

So I told my wife, “I want something authentic.” And boy, did the universe say, “Bet.”

Carneceria San Juan de los Lagos in Carlsbad, NM is the real deal. No frills, no cutesy sombreros on the wall, no QR code menus with English translations. This is straight-up Mexico dropped onto a New Mexico street corner—and I, a humble gringo, was not emotionally prepared.

First off, unless your Duolingo owl has been threatening your life lately, ordering here is going to be a bit of a spicy adventure. I busted out Google Translate like I was defusing a bomb, trying to explain that nachos were an apertivo. Apparently, “apertivo” means “bring it out when we feel like it,” because those nachos showed up fashionably late—like, after the entrees late. But hey, fashionably late nachos are still nachos.

I ordered the quesabirria tacos because I saw the word “birria” and panicked, and my wife played it safe with a quesadilla. Pro move. Both were really good—juicy, cheesy, and messy in the best way—but the prices had me wondering if I accidentally ordered in pesos and got charged in euros.

Let’s be honest: for gringos like me, this is a bit of a culture shock. You don’t get the warm, fuzzy “we have mild salsa and Diet Coke” vibe. You get “you better know what you want, say it confidently, and don’t ask for ranch.” The food? Delicious. The experience? A little humbling. The tab? Unexpectedly steep for what felt like a back-of-the-butcher-shop taqueria.

So here’s my final take: Three stars for clueless tourists like me. Five glorious, cilantro-sprinkled stars for those who speak the language—literally and culinarily.

Carneceria San Juan de los Lagos isn’t here to make you feel comfortable. It’s here to feed you. And if you survive the ordering process with dignity intact? You’ve...

I’m giving two stars simply for the pan dulce, that’s it! It’s already hot outside and hot inside because they don’t have a hose going to their swamp fans. You can tell they’re trying not not be considered a hole in the wall place. I can’t even call them a hole in the wall restaurant because those are usually delicious. We got pan this morning then decided to try them for lunch. I got the pollo verde enchiladas, the sauce is white and curdie it literally starts separating in your plate and they make all the food swim in it. The enchiladas are not rolled, they are also not cooked before slapping cheese on them to hopefully melt from the sauce I’m taking it and then they chop up a thigh piece of chicken and throw it on top. It was supposed to come with lettuce and tomatoes but it didn’t and my whole plate wasn’t even like warm the restaurant was hotter/warmer than my food. I took maybe 4 bites before I told my husband I just can’t …. Then my stomach just started to turn and I haven’t felt decent since before I ate there at lunch. My husbands torts was ok thanks to the bread the meat was very fatty. My son hamburger with the hotdog was like warm and the fries were ice cold. Our daughter had the best lunch just a bean and cheese burro. I would not go to eat there besides the pan dulce. They also had nothing to drink besides Mexican sodas which is fine but they show they offer more drinks than that but none of them were...

This is the most difficult review I've ever attempted to write, mostly because it was the most thoroughly Mexican restaurant I've ever been to. That includes many restaurants in Mexico. As you walk in it first appears to just be a typical Mexican market. The walls are lined with shelves filled with various merchandise. Then to the right there are picnic tables. We sat down and we were promptly handed nice laminated trifold menus, all in Spanish, not a word of English to be seen. Not speaking Spanish I settled on one of the menu items I did understand, a beef burrito. When asked if I wanted beans and rice with it I said yes expecting the standard Tex-Mex dinner. No, I got a beef burrito with rice and beans in it not on the plate around it. It was outstanding if not what I...