El Culichi - Birriería y Cenaduría — Restaurant in El Cajon

Here's a review for El Culichi Restaurant based on your experience:

Disappointing Experience at El Culichi

I discovered El Culichi through social media, enticed by reviews claiming it to be an authentic culinary reflection of Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico. Unfortunately, my visit painted a different picture.

Arriving on a quiet Sunday morning, the restaurant wasn't busy at all, with tables available inside and outside—a surprise for a newly opened place. I expected the service to be attentive, but that expectation quickly vanished. Upon being seated by a young waitress, we were left without menus for 24 minutes. After finally placing an order—two cups of Café de la Olla, a Coke, a water, three birria tacos, and a half order of birria de chivo—we faced another wait, this time for 15 minutes, just for our drinks. When they arrived, the order was incomplete.

The birria was served lukewarm and excessively greasy, dominated by a greasy taste. The tacos followed about 10 minutes later with tortillas that fell apart—far from ideal. This was not the Sinaloan authenticity I had hoped for.

False advertising is the theme here: The experience doesn't align with Sinaloan authenticity. Ingredients seem inauthentic. Overall quality is lacking. Even the Café de la Olla didn’t taste genuine.

While I hoped to find a gem in El Culichi, the reality left much to be desired. Their popularity on social media doesn’t match the on-ground truth, and I doubt their staying power. Sadly, I recommend staying away...

We drove out and tried this new place after seeing it on someone’s FB reel. Great parking, easy to find, very clean, welcoming, tables inside and out, and friendlier than we could’ve imagined!!!

The food is a 9 out of ten for the freshness and quality. The place has an easy warmth and the staff is like visiting friends!! We were very impressed and very satisfied - it’s like better to order something you a know or what they are known for…and don’t skip the deserts!

We don’t feel rushed, we met the family, we felt like true guests, and we loved that!

We’d say GO! Go hungry and fill up. They do have to go options, and a big enough selection of menu item, without being too broad in options.

We will be back in a week! We’re tell folks about this place cu it’s an authentic home cooked style Mexican restaurant that doesn’t depend on gimmick or drink specials or anything except clearly a love of cooking and delivering excellent quality, very fresh, delicious Mexican food from the heart❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

We wish this newer restaurant, owned by a woman, a tremendous amount of success and happiness. We think they deserve it and we truly believe if you go here, you will probably add it to your list of regular spots to go for great...

This is a great family owned small business that finds its roots in Sinaloa, Mexico. The eatery is a cozy spot with traditional Mexican eats and some not so well known regional items as well.

I went with the chicken enchiladas with re-fried beans with pork and a wedge of queso fresco. The enchiladas came topped with a variety of tasty ingredients, including shredded lettuce and carrots, cucumbers, radishes, avocado, cotija cheese, and onions. They did forget to place the avocado on the meal however.

The enchiladas were very good. They came with a good amount of tender chicken inside. A little more would of been good. The enchilada sauce was very tasty. All the ingredients on top were very fresh and flavorful.

The side of beans were great. They call them frijoles puercos or pork beans. They were creamy with tender pieces of pinto beans, and most of all, very tasty. These would be great in a burrito. I was a huge fan of the wedge of queso fresco. It was of very good quality.

The service was very friendly. It's a sit down eatery so they offer table service. You can also order at the counter to go. There's small parking lot adjacent to...