Lucha Libre Taco Shop — Restaurant in San Diego

Sharing this review with the context I’ve experienced Lucha Libre at its peak, which was arguably during the very early 2010s. After having visited in the last week, I’m sad to say it’s gone extremely downhill — with regard to flavor, food quantity, and the price point. Granted, the salsa bar is still absolutely fire, but that isn’t what carries a business.

Lucha Libre relied on the momentum it got from being featured in an episode of Man vs Food in September 2010. That propelled it to be a go-to spot for absolutely decadent, over-the-top stuffed burritos, most notably being the variety of California Burritos. I have a pretty clear memory of them being the size of a small newborn, when I’d regularly come by in the few years following that.

What I got now is an absolute shadow of its former self. I ordered a classic California Burrito, and there were a number of things wrong, all stemming from the source pain point of a collapsing economy.

Pricepoint/recipe strategy: the Classic Cali lists fries, cheese, sour cream, and pico as the ingredients. Where’s the guac? That is a STAPLE in a Cali burrito. Of course we can pay extra to add… but you shouldn’t have to “add” an ingredient that should’ve already been included. Nothing “classic” about that. Additionally, there are two prices listed— one with just the ingredients above listed, and another with the cost per protein as an add-on. Without meaning to offend any vegans/vegetarians, who orders a Classic Cali burrito without any protein? So anyway… after adding the Carne Asada, we’re up to a $17 burrito. Now, for the additional reasons why it makes the price point even more frustrating… Execution/flavor/quantity: the carne asada was overcooked and oversalted, the fries were lukewarm, lifeless, and limp, and the arrangement of the ingredients was so lop-sided, that one has to eat the burrito borderline horizontally in order to avoid eating a ratio of 3:1 tortilla:filling.

Very disappointed. I can’t help but feel like this experience isn’t just saddening in the fact that I didn’t enjoy the food, but it is opening my eyes to the apparent cost impact on small/medium businesses. With the rising minimum wage, which is of course a GOOD thing at its core— we do want people to make livable wages… it’s that we’re economically in a weird spot where businesses haven’t figured out how to scale their product down to afford to pay their overhead whilst not compromising on quality of output.

PS. Like I said, despite my grievances, they still have one of the best salsa bars. Green sauce is legit and they’re one of the only places that has a good quasi-pesto...

Pretty disappointing visit last night. We arrived at 10:30 after a concert and the staff communicated we’d need to be gone by 11 when they close, which was fine by us. We ordered carne asada fries which are something I frequently order from lots of others places around town and a porky taco. Taco came out with maybe two tablespoons of meat. Smallest amount of meat I’ve ever seen and the fries came out cold & tasted very stale. Like cold stale McDonald fries, not what I’m used to at all. Even the cheese was cold, unmelted & the carne asada was cold too!!! Completely not edible! I took them back up & the girl working asked me what she should do!!??? 🤯 I suggested making a fresh batch of fries however she took the platter back to kitchen & returned two mins later w/same stale fries, no flavor, & the entire plate had now been reheated now… sour cream & guac (which is fake guac out of a bag, no avocados used) was warm. YUCK! The entire time we were trying to eat the manger was aggressively sweeping the floor all around our table. Dust and debris flying everywhere. We originally had sat outside but were asked to move inside to they could lock up outside. Again, it was 30 mins prior to closing!!! We actually got up and left! Left the food uneaten as we were completely turned off by the nasty old food they tried to serve us and unfriendly staff. San Diego has no shortage of amazing Mexican food establishments however Lucha Libre is not one of them. Over priced, inedible fries, flavorless carne & rude staff. They should actually WAIT until they close at 11pm before tearing down the kitchen and cleaning out the restaurants. I’m sure they couldn’t make a new batch of fries because they’d broke down the kitchen!! They’re more concerned with leaving right at 11 than surviving fresh hot delicious food!! I will never go back and hope others don’t have to waste money like I did last night. If you’re looking for amazing carne asada fries I would recommend Santanas! If you scroll down there’s other reviews about quality of...

We are from out of town. I really enjoyed the atmosphere with the Luchador artwork and the festive colors and portraits. There is a large mirror ball on the ceiling and I bet there are some really good vibrations in the place late, late in the night. The service was stunningly fast. The sauces were lively, about 4 or 5 choices but that is about right. I am guessing they are house made and had very fresh ingredients.

Extremely friendly and quick service.

I had like the pineapple and seafood birria burrito and it tasted fresh. I loved the burrito tortilla. It was flour and beautifully toasted. So the burrito was good, just probably not the right choice for me. I was stretching my tastes and ordered it on kind of an impulse.

My wife ordered the birria tacos which are pictured. Not a very good photo but you can also see some of the sauces, too. The birria tacos were very delicious on my Northern MN taste buds. We tried all of the sauces and none of them were "too spicy" for me, but my wife needed to take a break for a minute once or twice. But they certainly aren't just pointlessly spicy. These are obviously carefully considered recipes that balance heat with texture and a variety of elements. I am not a foodie so I don't know how to say that better. They clearly take pride in their recipes and the work that goes into preparing them.

I would recommend it for someone who wants a unique experience with tasty food and a vibrant atmosphere. But the atmosphere is where this place really stands out. It is obvious to me that this was as much a tribute to the spirit and energy of luchador fighter entertainers as it is sort of a curated museum dedicated to preserving some of the portraits and news clippings from various generations. I am not a luchador fan, but this place made me feel like maybe I should be. And for a true fan I would say it is worth...