Super Cocina — Restaurant in San Diego

Super Cocina's specialty is "comida casera Mexicana" (homemade Mexican food), with hundreds of rotating family recipes prepared daily and whimsically by the restaurant's venerable cooks, all Mexican grandmas. My lucky visitors from out-of-town almost always end up at Super Cocina with me. It would be impossible for me to name just one restaurant as my favorite Mexican hole-in-the-wall in San Diego, but Super Cocina is on my short-list -- and it is indisputably one of the city's most authentic and legit spots.

In their gentle, broken English, Super Cocina's abuelas happily encourage you to try free samples of their guisados (steam table stews) before you order, so you can taste the love that has been imparted into them while feeling the warmth of the smiles of the women serving them to you -- the same women who do their own chopping, butchering, and laboring over pots so that you can enjoy perfectly-braised meats immersed in magnificent broths and gravies featuring phenomenal flavor combinations.

One of my favorites has been the "Pork in Mole Verde," essentially succulent pork shoulder stewed in a peppery green sauce heavy in jalapeño and tomatillo, rounded out by cilantro for balance. Super Cocina's spicy "Chicken in Mole Poblano" is another favorite and features a smoky, nutty, garlicky, and sweet mole sauce that is every bit as complex as one would expect, with discernible chocolate and sesame notes (for example), but also more accessible than many of the moles served in upper-scale Mexican restaurants in Southern California, which I swear often leave me feeling like I've been a judge in a contest for how many ingredients the kitchen can overload the sauce with. Essentially, the driving question behind every dish served at Super Cocina is "how would this be prepared by the cook in her kitchen for her own family?" and diners at Super Cocina will taste a purity of purpose that is derived from this question.

Common Mexican fare such as "Carnitas" and "Chile Relleno" are offered as well -- and these dishes also benefit from the expert touch of Super Cocina's tremendous cooks. One of my Sunday traditions is to grab a quart of Super Cocina's dark and meaty "Birria de Chivo" (Goat stew) in the morning to take home to eat while watching the NFL football games.

For as much as I love Super Cocina, there are a number of aspects of their operation one could complain about: their tortillas are not fresh or homemade, the restaurant décor is arguably downright ugly in addition to being aged, the chairs and banquet tables would be too uncomfortable for a longer meal, and parking can be tough on certain days -- but all of these issues are offset by their sensational dishes being made available at very affordable prices: you can get a filling meal of two guisados with rice, beans, and tortillas for about $8 with tax.

When you visit Super Cocina after reading my review, please be aware that not every dish I reviewed may be available. Since the menu is different day-to-day, you should be prepared to taste the samples provided and make a call based on that. I have never been disappointed, and you won't be either. Everything you will eat at Super Cocina will be...

First time coming here and hopefully it's not the last. We only got to eat the menudo and flour tortillas so far. I'm used to getting menudo with the hominy already added. So having to ask for the hominy to be added was different. No biggie though. The picture I will share has some cilantro/onions and lime in case anyone wonders what I added. As others have mentioned they really want you to try the food before deciding. Really nice touch. I didn't try much since I already knew what I wanted. But the food looked really good. They also mentioned that they change the food selection every so often. I didn't get a firm date or timeframe on how long exactly. Or what food selections change or change to.

Update A couple times I came I wasn’t as happy about the quality of the food. The soup I have a picture of above was kinda cool. Not hot like it should be. The other time I took my mom here for the first time and she didn’t even want to eat any food. The rice looked too old and dry to her. I guess the other items didn’t look good enough either. Maybe it’s just hit or miss.

Small details PARKING It may sound silly but just having a place to park is a plus. Really hate wanting to try some place out only to find they don't even have a place to park. You have to try and find some place along the road or something. RESTROOM Used what seemed to be the only restroom (male and female) and it was clean. Nothing special, but again, clean. STAFF From the beginning they were friendly and kept telling us to try...

These type of family-owned restaurants and locally owned businesses are the life and blood of San Diego. With their exquisite Mexican specialty menus and traditional ways of cooking, in my opinion they have almost perfected Mexican Cuisine in a very practical sense. The food is delicious, the place is clean and and the service is some of the best I have experience in the food industry. Speedy service, very polite waitresses and Cooks, excellent food options and and the self-serve take out method that is very practical and very easy. It really does show The Innovation and practicality of the modern-day Mexican American. I've overheard several conversations and seems to me that Mexicans have a better social understanding of the greater San Diego area than most people. It'll behoove anyone to be in the ra best behavior and pay close attention in the respect of their elders and hopes to learn something about diet and lifestyles. Our Heritage and culture extends more than just one country but so me of us are children of 5 to 10 countries. America has been the Melting Pot and will continue to be so in the coming years. My advice to people that are new to the area is that they should be polite and courteous and remember to love one another. "El pueblo unido jamás...