El Indio Mexican Restaurant and Catering — Restaurant in San Diego

El Indio would be considered a very casual eaterie where you can find dine-in, carry out, or have food delivered. Nestled between Old Town, Mission Hills and Hillcrest. A mile from the airport and a hop, skip and jump to Little Italy. I would consider it a maybe place to eat, although tourists can't resist. Yet, for those trying Mexican food the first time or for entry level palettes, El Indio serves the purpose.

I arrived on a Tuesday evening an hour before closing and it was busy. I only waited 7 minutes for the food which was hot not lukewarm upon receipt.

The food was actually decent tonight. I've been eating here for more than a decade. I stopped eating here 4 years ago because the food or cooks were subpar. I had a ravenous appetite and wanted a tamale. One benefit of eating here is that the tamales are available all year round and not just Christmas. On the downside, the tamales would be addicting with waaaay less masa. My goodness. Tamales are supposed to have delicate amount of masa with plentiful filling. Well,here it is the reverse. Nonetheless, I always get my tamale prepared wet with cheese. Essentially the masa becomes moistened and drowned with sauce. I ordered the combination plate with chicken enchilada and chili and chicken tamale. The combo is served with rice and beans and a few of the El Indio renowned chips. In my opinion I would rather eat at a restaurant rather than El Indio mainly because some of El Indio dish prices are more than restaurant prices minus the gratuity. I remember back in the day when El Indio was very reasonable and the quality of food matched the value of the price. Customers always take the brunt when restaurant rents increase. If you want a quick bite to eat and it's Mexican food and you are in the area I would say, yes, try it out but if you're actually looking for a Mexican restaurant to explore and sit down and have conversation and comfortability then I would say there's many other choices in San Diego.

Amenities Self serve fresh salsa Indoor and outdoor no heat patio seating. Gender neutral restrooms Wheelchair accessible Bathroom code on receipt Freshly made chips with (paprika/chili powder seasoning) my guess and very good Ample food choices which are accommodating to non-meat and meat eaters Self serve drinks-Jamaica is deliciousness, but not authentic Several forms of payment Beer and limited premixed machine margaritas may be an option

Customer service continues to be a highlight even when it is busy-which...

It had been a while, so after hitting the nearby thrift store the bf and I decided that a side trip to El Indio for dinner was a must!

This place always does a booming business, but they manage the ebb and flow with such expertise, that even a line to the door is not even a 5 min wait to order. And it is all self-service ordering. You can even swing in and get a lot of the staples like tamales, chips, salsa and guacamole already prepared to take home cold and heat.

But we wanted to eat in immediately, so we ordered a carne asada burrito, chile cheese tamale in the husk, side of guacamole and 3 taquitos with everything, along with a canned soda and a Pacifico. The total was a reasonable $33 and customer service was excellent! The lady at the counter was very helpful/informative and didn’t blink an eye when she asked if I wanted beef, chicken or potato taquitos and I responded “1 of each, pls!” The food came out quickly and was hot, delicious and ample! My bf’s carne asada burrito was literally the best and most tender carne asadaI I had tasted in years! I had boycotted carne asada for several years after finding it bland and tough 99% of the places I ordered from. This will be my return to carne asada, but only here!🤗 Jeff may have wished I had boycotted for one more day, but I shared my taquitos with him to soothe his loss and all was well! We were so full that we took the guacamole and tamale home for a welcome midnight snack. 🤓

The dining area is bustling and it can be hard to seat groups of larger than 2-4 people together,but it somehow manages to work out. I credit the amazing staff who is instantly cleaning,reorganizing and assisting people as they keep it too too. Only miss is the odd bathroom situation, two large bathrooms that you need to be cognizant are individual use, even though they look huge when you enter. There is only a single toilet in each one and by the time you round the corner and get an eyeful and realize there are no stalls? You cannot unsee what you saw, so, be forewarned and read the signs, lock the door behind you and it’s all good! Lol!

All in all an A+ experience and we plan on making it a regular...

The El Indio Mexican Restaurant always seems busy whenever we go by it. I had eaten there once before several years ago. I wasn't impressed then. And I'm not very impressed now. Overall, the food was good. I enjoyed the beef machaca plate. I like eggs, the low level of beef in meal was disguised. I dont eat rice so I skipped that part. The beans were tastie. The meal came with steamed tortillas and I selected the corn. They were okay. We ordered a bag of fresh plain chips. All of the precooked chips were seasoned. I'm not a fan of preseason chips. They cooked a small order of the plain chips. And here was the item that I didn't like from our previous visit. Only different. Last time, the chips were heavy, under done, and chewy. This time they were hard. Not crispy. Tough. Hard. Like, becareful you don't crack your crown, hard. We took the leftover chips home, but no one wants to eat them. When we eat at other Mexican restaurants and bring home the chips, they don't last two days. It's been two weeks. The service was adequate. You order at the register and you pick up your order at the register. It's all self serve. The atmosphere! Since the pandemic, El Indio created more tables outside, across India Street. And the restaurant installed loud speakers to call out the name attached to the order that can be heard from across the street. And it can rattle your ears from inside the restaurant's dining room. 2 stars for the interior dining. Will we go back? Skip the chips. The other...