Zarlitos Family Restaurant — Restaurant in National City

In my beloved Filipino centric National City sits a changing view on traditional Filipino cuisine, giving established traditionalists like Conchings a run for their money. Though not as old ,they aren't new, but they've adapted to a true local flair and modern flavor vehicles.

For those who know of the mythical beast called Carne Asada Fries, but you grew up like me and wanted to throw our islander style meats on their (long before the words Asian Fusion or the Korean Taco truck) westernized palate. This isn't as crazy as it sounds.

Tonico, longonisa, adobo, sisig mixed with fries, thrown in taco's or wrapped in burrito's are any Filipino foodies childhood dream. To me the menu is very clear, many add on's. if they have it then they can do it. To those in the know GFR is Garlic Fried Rice, a staple for any islander diet. The next level was the garlic French fries. So instead of the classic plate they offer garlic style French fries with all the fixings you would have on a plate item . Very Carne Asada Fries-esque from an Erto's.

I usually come here in the day time, unlike most of my food escapes for Mexican in the area, this is my peoples cooking. It's really more of the family spot, order up and share, fast food though. The hours also don't quite appeal to the nocturnal foodie bachelor as I often need the fix well after midnight, except on weekends. They open pretty early.

Call ahead and it will be ready for a swoop, especially when I do sneak attack stealthmode trips from Oceanside. Parking sucks carabao hooves. Do not go here on Sunday's it's fam bam central for pre-post church eats. They need a freaking drive thru for my pickups.

They have longanisa fried rice, loco moco chorizo fried rice, bistek torta, all excellent mixes of traditional and modern gluttony.

It's a must visit for anyone who is adventurous enough to try a taco food truck, but traditional enough to...

The food is good depending on what you order, every restaurant has its own style so I cannot complain. But just the customer service itself is terrible, busy day or not. On busy days, expect at least a 15min wait just to have them take your order. When the owner or server gets annoyed of a customer- they REALLY like to show it. & you can definitely hear their voices when they complain behind the counter. After you pay & leave- no smile, eye contact- they just want you to sign your receipt & leave. There was only a 1 time "bug" incident at this restaurant on a to-go order, but the place is a little well-kept. Depending on what you like, you can really find something that you'd like to eat. At least there's 1 kind server there. For the service in general though, it's not worth leaving a tip, to be honest. And on an important note- try not to come 1hr before they close because they already start cleaning up & if you want to order- they won't make it unless you order it to go. If you show up 15min before closing time, they'll only accept small orders. They should really change the closing time from 11pm to 10:45pm so customers have a heads up because it's not fair having to see customers turned down when the restaurant is technically...

No clue as to why this place isn't a perfect 5 Star! Food is very good and the service is top notch! Took the family there after a full day at Sea World. Was hungry for Filipino Cuisine so I searched for the nearest Filipino restaurant. Mind you a bunch came up on Google Maps but all but one was open late, Zarlito's Filipino Restaurant. Although they were rated at 4 Stars I didn't care. I was missing Filipino Food! So we drive a few minutes into Downtown San Diego. Long story short, we immediately felt welcome. Food was made fast and hot. The Lechon Kawali was hot and crispy! The Bangus was great, Pork Adobe on point! The waitress was very attentive, quick, and very friendly! She even sang for us to some Filipino music playing. Ilocano and Tagalog spoken here, felt like back home in Hawaii, we were on vacation. Left feeling very satisfied and full. We even ordered extra rice to balun back to the hotel. Left a generous well deserved tip! Will definitely return for another visit! Mahalo to the staff at Zarlito's. Hoping this review brings big business! You...