Casa de Maria Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

The ambiance is amazing. Like a lost little gem tucked away in this obscure corner of Old Town. We almost walked right by... The decor matches beautifully with the Old Town theme of traditional Mexican and is extremely inviting. Kind makes you feel like you stepped back in time.

The entrance is a little awkward as there were a couple of chairs blocking what seemed like the natural entrance. We weren't sure about walking the other way around due to a life singer parked right next to the restaurant. We managed to make around though and found a way in. Some signage would be nice or some designing that steers your clientele to where you want them.

Nice point of interest here: the singer is part of the restaurant and was really really good. A nice seranade during dinner.

Food was good for Americanized Mexican which is kind of disheartening. If you want to be authentic, be it! Spice it up, don't be afraid of bold flavor! The carnitas lacked salt and the "served with jalapenos" was one tiny little charred pepper with no cajones ni vida. The beans, however, were fantastic as was the rice. Corn tortillas were obviously store bought. I would recommend making your own; separate yourself and get that next level.

A special note:. The horchata and jamaica were absolutely fabulous! It's really hard to find good, authentic, well-done horchata. This horchata is in my top 3 here in the US!

Service sucked. At least ours did. There were two servers; one female and one male. We got the male and our neighbor table got the female. The guy took our order, brought us our drinks, brought our food, and had to be flagged down to get our check. Not once did he check on us or ask if we needed anything. Our neighbor table got Class A service. She was phenomenal!! I'm jealous actually.

All in all, yes I'd recommend it and I think it's worth trying if your walking around Old Town. I don't know that I'd make a special trip though for the reasons...

Located in the heart of Old Town, just a stones throw from the main Plaza, this unassuming restaurant is a good place for a quick and easy meal. The outdoor dining will be the main attraction for this restaurant, with the bulk of its seating located outdoors. In the times of COVID, a perfect location for those who are weary of crowds and others. The service was great with the staff being quick and friendly. However, the food itself could be described as pricey middle of the road San Diego Mexican food. Not bad but not great. While San Diego, in general, has a number of great Mexican food restaurants, this is not one of them. However, in its defense, there are no great Mexican food restaurants in Old Town. They all have satisfactory Mexican food with good tourist ambience. Something you could take the out-of-towners to and they would love it but something that a local would grow tired of fairly quickly. Personally, I think the outdoor dining here is the best you will find in any of the Mexican restaurants in Old Town, but it's food is not the best. Would I eat here again? Probably, but I would know exactly what I was getting. Would I recommend that you get in a car and drive here? No. But if you are in Old Town and you are not willing to get in the car and drive to a great Mexican food restaurant, then I would give this place a try. Bonus, there is an ice cream shop right next...

$14.99 for Nachos Supreme is a heist. Maybe two handfuls of chips, no protein. Basically, it's the amount of chips you'd normally get free as a side with your meal. This place is a rip off.

Location is nice off the square with live music. Better off just sitting I. The square and keeping your wallet in your pocket.

Response to Owner:

Response to Owner: Yes, i understand business, thanks for the education. You could double the portions for maybe $1, sacrifice a tiny margin, but wow customers with generosity on very inexpensive ingredients like beans, canned jalapeños, tortillas. Servers, tables, insurance and all that won't change with more generous portions of these cheap ingredients. If your egoing to be cheap do so where it counts. The protein would have been $5 for carne asada. Im glad I didnt order it as I expect the portions would have been equally weak. Other restaurants including Barra Barra have similar footprints, overhead, and business requirements and have portions substantially larger. I didn't mention originally but will say now that that our waiter didnt bring napkins and brought me a dirty beer glass. So all around you guys were...