Johnny Mañana's — Restaurant in Oceanside

I HAVE LOVED THIS PLACE SINCE I ARRIVED IN SAN DIEGO FROM NYC IN 2009!

FIRST, I was so happy to "find" a Costa Rican spot reminiscent of establishments in the Caribbean. The food was just what I expected--excellent. And, you cannot beat the prices! What?!? Yes, check the photos.

SECOND, lounging on the main patio in the back listening to live music on a Sunday is EVERYTHING. I went for St. Patrick's Day 2019 and was pleasantly surprised to discover this added pleasantry. Raynaldo Martine of West Coast Talent House was there and he did a FANTASTIC job of performing and interacting with the crowd.

THIRD, if you are in a hurry to place and receive your order I highly recommend you order to-go by phone (and perhaps take it down to the Oceanside pier to enjoy); otherwise, take in the vibes and wait in line. I never mind the wait (I expect it) -- I do mind some of the expletive-laced conversations of younger patrons that somehow believe they're sound resistant (eeesh - such is life - I guess). Anyhoo, be warned that even if you call in your order you will be placed on hold if it is super busy BUT you will be attended to.

LASTLY, I love the owner! He always smiles and converses with all of his patrons making sure everyone is content. For those standing in line, he will even offer to get your drink order. Yes, I enjoyed a POTENT margarita while I waited ;-) Made for a mellow wait and eventually the annoying convo behind me faded into the bottom of the salt-rimmed margie jar. Ahhhhh, the service is impeccable.

Well, that's all folks. I hope you get the opportunity to pop in and enjoy this delightful COSTA RICAN (and Mexican) food...

TLDR: If you are looking for good fish tacos I'd recommend to look elsewhere.

This is where it begins, it took an hour to get 3 fish tacos after placing the order. I will not fault them for customer being indecisive and causing me to wait longer. Although, I waited 30 minutes then grabbed drinks, finished the drinks and had to ask when my food was coming. Once I finished asking they put up a sign saying 30 to 45 minute wait.

Now for what I ordered, I got 3 of the world famous fish tacos. For the wait time you'd expect expect good tacos. Unfortunately, they dropped the ball, I asked for the Chipotle salsa on the side to see the quality of fish and batter and sad to say the fish was just dry. The batter used was seasoned well, but was not saved due to the fish being fried in old oil from the taste it gave off. Aside from that the cabbage and fresh salsa were actually fresh and had great flavor. Although, for the star of the show to be poorly executed is very disappointing. Portion size was good for 3 tacos, but the corn tortillas they used were also not good as they were stale.

More good things to say the the salsa bar salsas are good as well. The Habanero and Verde were both very good although did not save the taco.

I hope this helps the business improve, because I had high hopes only to be let down. The main reason for the 1-star is despite the good things the taco was not good enough for the wait.

To sum this up the 2-key ingredients, the tortilla and fish, were a let down and everything...

I’m only rating it 2 stars because the food (carne asada fries) quality and taste was good as it typically is. But I took 3 stars away because it arrived much smaller in comparison to other times I’ve ordered the exact same dish. I didn’t think about saying anything I assumed it was because portions changed. A few minutes later the table next to me received the typical large sized dish, looked like a mountain because that’s how they serve it. Mine was flat and that has never happened here before. I went to talk to the kitchen and they made excuses, they said they would only make me more fries but not the other ingredients that clearly were underserved as well. I asked again for them to just serve the regular portion and the cook was displaying frustration. They remade the plate and offered to warm up the previous plate that became cold, giving me the option to keep both I said okay that’s fine. They never brought it out like they said they would. The person I was with went and asked for an horchata refill because the girl at the register told me horchata had one refill, and they gave him an attitude about it and said the horchata has no refills. So who’s lying? This was a very weird experience. I lost my appetite completely and we walked out without even finishing the rest of the food. Their negative attitude and vibe was really off putting and I couldn’t enjoy my food anymore. Thanks to the staff on the night of 12/26/24 for killing the vibe so...