Lolita's Mexican Food — Restaurant in San Diego

Taken from my Yelp on 6/2/2017. Came here on June 1st, 2017 around 13:30 (1:30pm) with 2 of my friends. This is still my favorite spot to go to for Mexican food especially carne asada fries. Now, I know $10 is a bit higher than some places (one place I went was $1 cheaper), but it is literally the best carne asada fries I had. So here are my reasons why I like it. The fries are not only fresh, but very crunchy. If you had fast food, I would say that it crunchy like McDonald's/Jack in the Box french fries over In N Out or Carls Jr. The carne asada is soft and not dry. The guacamole is fresh. Overall, it is my favorite spot to have carne asada fries. They used to have you pick up the order whether you dine in or take it on the go. This time they bring it to your table if you dine in. I thought it was good service. The salsa they have there is very good. I have not tried it this time, but I can tell you that in the past I would drink about 3-5 cups of salsa because I liked the taste of it. The inside is large, I never had any problems finding a seat and there are additional seats outside, which I rarely see people use. They have Wi-fi. Maybe it is something new to me, but this is the first Mexican restaurant that I have used the wifi. The people who work here are friendly especially the ponytail male worker (I think on the receipt his name shows as Don Julio so we will call him that). He is my favorite worker there and I always want him to take my order (this time I did not get lucky). He will always treat you like a friend. His trademark conversation goes something like this: Don: "Hello, my friend. What can I get for you?" Me: Carne asada fries please Don: "Okay, my friend. Anything else?" Me: That is it. Don: The total is $10.76. (Smiles and flips a coin off his drawer) Me: (giggles) thank you. Don: Thank you my friend. (never stops smiling) He is still there as of yesterday, but to me he's like the face of the store. I feel like he owns the store. He is very enthusiastic and enjoys his job. I never saw him getting frustrated with anyone. Anyways...the point is he is the man to go if you want to go to this store for ordering because he remembers returning customers. Also, I never had that kind of service at any other Mexican restaurants yet. The place is clean, workers are very attentive, and I feel that this stands out from all the other Mexican restaurants I visited so far. Overall, this place is great. You can see why I like it so much. This is why I give them 5 stars and it is one of my favorite spots to visit whenever I have a craving for Mexican food. NOTE: Parking is hard to find within their vicinity. You might have to park a little farther than usual. Also, people here do not know how to park and the parking space is...

After hearing really great things about this taco shop I decided to stop in for dinner. I was looking forward to trying their tsunami fríes because I read reviews that raved about the quality and taste of them. Needless to say, that was not the case. The fries were very bland and lacked any salt. They were also undercooked so they were NOT crispy on the outside or soft on the inside. I was surprised at the lackluster amount of topping that were on it as well as the size considering they charge $16 for their small order. A “large” order (which is the typical size of pretty much every other San Diego taco shop) was priced at $24! When they say small, they actually meant small! There was a small layer of guacamole and sour cream as well as a small amount of meat and a total of four shrimp. You would think for the price they would give you at least a decent amount of carne asada and/or shrimp. The lack of toppings lead to an unfortunate circumstance of having the bottom layer of fries be dry with no toppings left to help them go down a little easier. But given that the trays they put the food in are small, it’s about half of your tiny tray filled with the dry and unseasoned fries. Meaning that an already small portion is cut in half again. Compared to other taco shops where you can get a traditional-sized large tray of carne asada fries for LESS than Lolita’s small, with more topping and flavor/seasoning… this failed in comparison. So I would consider this trip to be a loss. I also ordered a chip and cheese, which is presumably a kid friendly option, but what I got was a handful of chips with a sprinkle of cold (it was supposed to be melted) shredded cheddar cheese. I kid you not, the chips presented literally looked like a tray of nachos that had already been devoured and they only left the dry straggly chips behind. Do you know what I mean? Lolita’s used to have a reputation for putting out quality food with quality ingredients but it appears that is no...

Mmmmm..... California Burrito. Lolita's northernmost bastion of its taco shop empire, and furthest away from its other installations; this location is in Kearny Mesa and defends against the invasion of taqueria's from Northern California. LOL!! Not really happening;) It does however offer those living north of I-8 less distance to travel to satisfy their Lolita's craving for several years now, myself included for a brief period of time. Or in the chance you are in the area and only Lolita's will do, it saves you that hassle too. Easy to spot off of Clairemont Mesa Blvd. and in the corner spot of a strip shopping center it offers plenty of indoor and outdoor seating. It can get busy at times, but generally seating is available. My rating is 'four and a half stars' for a visit this past July. Being furthest away from its fellow taco shops did not affect the quality and taste of my California Burrito. Nope. Not one bit. It was just as delicious as their other locations. Their 'California Burrito Ratio' needs more fine tuning. A little more carne asada. Service during my visit was superb! Lynn did a great job taking my order while being supervised and trained by Rebecca. Gabriella delivered my burrito with promptness, and checked on me while I devoured my burrito. Thank you ladies!! So if you are craving Lolita's and are north of I-8, Lolita's Kearny Mesa is not too far away and waiting 'patiently' for...