Carnitas Las Michoacanas — Restaurant in San Diego

You don't need to do much more to get me to want to eat at your restaurant than to ensure "carnitas" is somewhere in its name. Mission accomplished, Carnitas Las Michoacanas.

Carnitas, perhaps my favorite of all meaty Mexican delights, have traditionally been prepared by simmering seasoned pork in lard inside super-sized pots called "cazos" primarily manufactured in the Mexican state of Michoacan, where these special pots are developed with the multi-generational expertise of the locals. To avoid the carnitas drying out, the meat is kept mostly in large chunks until ready to be chopped and served.

Here, the delicious nose-to-tail carnitas come from all parts of the pig (we won't get into what that means exactly, but the squeamish should stay away), some parts squishy, some parts snappy, some parts crispy, and all perfectly seasoned. Carnitas Las Michoacanas' "Carnitas Surtida Taco" is the best carnitas taco I've had in San Diego and joins Los Angeles' Carnitas El Momo (#1), Los Cinco Puntos (#2), Metro Balderas (#3), and Villa Moreliana (#5) on my list of "top 5" carnitas I've eaten to-date in California.

The "Chicharrón Prensado Taco" is not as good, but it's interesting. It's mostly crispy due to the bacon-like chicharrón bits, but it has some tender and wobbly parts as well, reminding me of pork chop cut into chunks. If there's one knock I have against this mixture of meat, it's that it's too salty. When I've had chicharrón prensado ("pressed pig skin" from Spanish) dishes in the past, I've learned that saucing does wonders for it. Here was no different: once smothered in salsa, it was better.

This strip mall restaurant in Rolando should not be confused with the strip mall restaurant also named "Carnitas Las Michoacanas" in Chula Vista, or the small chain of taquerias named "Carnitas Michoacan" up in Los Angeles, as this is a completely different enterprise with...

Update: they are finally remodeling.

Update update: just went back, nothing was remodeled, not sure why it was closed. All that was changed was the menu is now a tv. Food went up in price by quite a bit, thinking it may not be worth it now. The cantinas this time around came with a lot of bones and cartilage you cannot eat, and they're charging per pound. So it adds up at $25 per pound.

Original post: The food is top tier I would say, and I would just keep it at that. The carnitas are the best that I've had in San Diego, and their menudo is flavorful. The price is high, but I don't mind paying it if it's good. I haven't venture to many other food items but I would not recommend the chilaquiles as they have been very soggy. It's doesn't seem to be to busy during the weekdays. But the weekends it is usually packed. A side from the food everything else lacks. Drinks are a bit to high of a price, and only have canned drinks or large aguas frescas which are ok. The service is decent. But boy does the decor if so out-of-date, falling apart or looks unfinished. From the amount of money they are charging you'd think the owner would invest more info the restaurant. But it seems to be the last thing they would want to do. I understand that it's not located in the best area. But a restaurant should not reflect that. Another big downside is it's CASH ONLY. Which in these times is kind of a pain. They do have a ATM machine but looks like the sctechiest one I've seen. I would highly recommend the food but to definitely just...

Terrible experience. We went there for dinner. First, when we were about to sit down the lady saw that the table was dirty and she was trying to put the menus on top of the crumbs, I asked her for a rag and she didn't even made an effort to clean it, my husband had to clean it. We asked for a menudo and birria. We wait such a long time. When she brought the menudo it looked cloudy and smelled strong. I tried it and yeap, it was bad. Then I asked her for some fries. It took a very long time. Then she started to clean the floors right next to us with tons of bleach. Our eyes started to burn and I had my kids with us. I asked for a to go box for the birria and she brought us a soda cup. Yeap that didn't hold it for long. I spent close to 70 dollars and it was a waist of time and money. I understand that you have a schedule, but you need to either close the dinning area or only do to go orders. We were there an hour before closing. Not to mention the safety concerns because of the slippery floors. I went there few years ago and it was great, not sure what happened. One thing I know. We will not be going back and will not...