Colima's Mexican Food — Restaurant in San Diego

Colima's humble exterior and interior design won't win any beauty contests, that's where the negatives about this place ends. The food is excellent.

My favorite item off of Colima's huge menu is the "Caldo de Res," a divine home-style Mexican soup containing nuggets of braised beef submerged in a thin lip-smacking broth with hearty chunks of potatoes, cabbage, zucchini, corn on the cob, green beans, tomatoes, and carrots. A side plate is presented with chopped raw onions and Serrano peppers, lime wedges, rice, and 4 homemade corn tortillas. I LOVE this dish!! It is like an Irish-American boiled corned beef dinner, but better. The beef is so soft that you can split it by pushing upon it with your spoon. The vegetables absorb the beefy broth, and dissolve in your mouth. Adding the raw onion and Serrano peppers to the broth gives it a crisp freshness that defies everything else in the bowl, yet pairs with it perfectly.

The "Chile Verde Soft Shell Taco" is also good, featuring two corn tortillas with chunks of spicy slow-cooked pork shoulder, guacamole, rice, onions, and cilantro. A ton of food is heaped into the tortillas, so it is difficult to handle without a fork. Add some hot sauce if you want, though not needed.

The burritos and their homemade flaky tortillas are bomb, whether we're talking about the "Carnitas Burrito" which oozes pig juices, or the "California Burrito," a food item that often annoys me when it is haphazardly put together but is executed perfectly here with delicious well-marinated carne asada, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, and fries.

Fresh sauces at Colima's salsa bar include salsa ranchera, salsa verde, salsa abanera (my favorite and probably the spiciest), salsa guacamole, and salsa roja.

Service is fast, they pretty much never close, and they have a drive-thru window. Combine all of that with their affordable prices and you have no reason to not give...

For starters, the tacos are pretty big. Start with two and go from there.. I’ve tried the carnitas and the carne asada tacos and they were both extremely good. Carne asada was tender with plenty of flavor. The carnitas aren’t soaked in grease and come loaded with flavor.. your mouth will definitely thank you for it. The salsas they have could be spicier but as a family oriented little restaurant it makes sense why they aren’t. I ordered four tacos my first time there.. struggled to finish all four. The second time I knew what I was getting myself into and so I only had 2 of them. If you don’t like tomatoes, onions or guacamole, ask them not to include it in your tacos as it comes with it by default. I grew up in El Paso, Texas where Mexico is literally a hop and a skip away from anywhere you find yourself. I’ve been enjoying tacos my whole life.. this restaurant deserves a 5 start rating but I cannot give them that because they don’t have barbacoa.. there is no better taco than the barbacoa taco and this restaurant doesn’t have it.. I highly recommend this restaurant for your consumption and will find myself eating here at least once a week for the next two months until I gotta head on out of here.. I might change the rating to 5 stars if I come back and the food for some reason becomes even better.. also.. the horchata is actually decent.. it doesn’t taste like your regular old powder mixture or the liquid mixture you find at 90% of Mexican restaurants.. it almost tastes homemade. I’ll update this at a later time.. last thing.. tacos are very well priced for the amount of...

Have you ever craved a burrito, ate it, then regretted your decision knowing that something better awaits you if you just would have had an alignment of location, time of day, and euphoria from a busy but fun filled day? Ok, maybe just me. Through a friend that called a nearby suburb of San Diego home, I was recommended Colima's Mexican Food. Get anything with carne asad he said. That cut my options down to 9 burritos (excluding breakfast). I chose Bandido 'wet' and sat outside on a clean picnic table.

What happened next was perhaps the equivalent of a gastronomical epiphany!

The burrito arrived plated and topped with shredded cheese over the beautiful red sauce. I had fork and knife at the ready. I cut it in half to expose the well portioned ingredients of rice, beans, cheese, and the duex tour des forces...chile rellenos and carne asada! Carne asada well seasoned, the green pepper flavorful with the melted cheese slowly making its way down the side of my dissection. My internal Morgan Freeman narration getting the best of me I realized my burrito should be devoured while hot and began the sliced cuts to enjoy the incredible flavor combinations. I was nearly speechless when a server popped outside to see how I was enjoying it.... I squeaked out excellent and continued to complete the second half my twilight culinary sonata. With the completion of the musical and darkness falling upon me, I stood up, bowed my head, and left knowing I would be back each time I visit San Diego to try another carne asada filled...