Tierra Santa Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in San Diego

My fiancée and I are new in the Tierrasanta area, and Tierrasanta Mexican was recommended to us by several different people in the neighborhood. Being they are less than 3 minutes up the road, we excitedly decided to try them out for Cinco de Mayo!

Unfortunately- the excitement dwindled fast, as the rest of our experience was hardly recommend worthy.

First let me say that I understand that for 'events' such as Cinco de Mayo, restaurants are inundated- and while great service is appreciated, I am empathetic with not receiving atypical top notch service when these places get slammed with customers all looking for the same thing on the same night. With this being our first time there- I had no idea what their "usual" service is like.

There seemed to be absolutely no organization whatsoever from both the front and back of house. This became evident as we waited on a line (with only 1 person ahead of us) for 15-20 minutes just to put our name in (even though there were several empty tables outside waiting to be sat). When a hostess did come to take our name, she handed us her pen and paper to write down our information for her because "she's bad at that"... ...... with all due respect, I am not a crazy germ-o-phobe- but I then watched the same hostess instantly go down the remainder of the line handing the same pen to every customer to write their name on said waitlist- (AKA- 0 COVID PROTOCOLS BEING ADDRESSED) ....I'm all for their "PEACEFUL PROTEST" (as stated on their front door)- and it may seem really petty, but why is everyone sharing the same pen when everywhere is taking precautions to sanitize things being touched by other individuals? If you are going to stay open during these times, peaceful or not, PLEASE at least adhere to the sanitizing rules to keep YOUR BUSINESS and YOUR CUSTOMERS safe.

Luckily, we only waited approx 10 min from that point to get a table, so I felt hopeful. There were chips and salsa already on the table, which was appreciated, and we got our drink orders within a reasonable time. The margarita was really yummy, as was the salsa. However- that was the last time we got a drink refill the entire night- because we were hardly seen again by a waitress, and when we did ask for a refill, it was forgotten.

When we told the waitress we were READY to order, she told us no rush- because the kitchen was backed up.... so I guess our hunger had to wait. lol

After we placed our order- it was a small eternity before we received our food. After an hour of waiting, we had 3 ppl check up on us to reconfigure our order, but every time they went back into the kitchen, they would disappear, never to be seen again. I can understand why the kitchen would have been backed up when we first got there as there was a steady flow of people ordering take out as well as being seated, but at this point it was after 8 pm (they close at 8), and the restaurant had a ton of empty tables- so at this point we were just confused and hungry.

Finally our food made it to our table (impressively piping hot). The beans and quesadilla were great- but my fiancée's experience was quite different. He ordered 2 burritos- 1 shredded beef (which he ate with 0 complaints) and 1 shredded chicken (which did not go as well). As fast as he took a bite of that burrito, he spit it out right back out into his plate just as fast (which I've never witnessed him do in 5+ years). The look on his face spoke volumes- and in that moment he said he would never return it was so bad.

At that point it was almost 9 pm, we had already gotten the check, and just wanted to be done and home, so we did not bring the dissatisfaction of the burrito to the restaurants attention.

As previously stated, I know cinco de mayo can be really crazy for restaurants, so I am willing to give Tierrasanta Mexican another shot in hopes that this evening was simply a "one-off". But---this IS San Diego after all, and finding a good Mexican restaurant elsewhere will definitely not be...

Tierrasanta is a decent place to eat Mexican fare. The place is well decorated, the tables are sturdy wood, as so are the chairs. We were returning from Mexico at around 5:30 PM, and the traffic was, to say the least, claustrophobic on our way back to the Inland Empire in the 15 North. Vehicles moving at a snail pace, easy to tell that the 50 miles or so we needed to travel to our home base, was going to last at least 2 hours. So bright idea 💡 hit, check for a local Mexican restaurant with 4 Stars, or more. Tierrasanta was it, just a few miles away. Upon arrival we were greeted cordially, and seated without further delay. The place was about 60% full, and our table looked very nice. Sergio? and his artistic uncle David, who sang us a few songs, made our time more festive. What he made have lacked on raw talent, was widely compensated in wonderful personality. Looked like we landed in a warm, caring place, and our combined appetites (2 lovely ladies, and two average looking gents) took over from there. Food ordered: 1 Tamal Combination Plate, $10.95. Served with the traditional refried beans and rice, the tamal was there one moment in a healthy amount plate, and in no time our senior made it disappear. No complaints at all. 4 Stars. 1 Tamal, 1 Chile Verde, 1 Chicken Enchilada Combination Plate, $13.95. Good looking plate for our second female companion who did not seem fazed at all by the hefty plate. Ate part there, part home. Both times seriously pleased with what she ordered, specially the chile verde which she claimed was very pleasing to her voracious appetite, not a piece of food left. With beans and rice that were also very edible. 4 Stars. Pollo Tierrasanta, $14.95. Not one, two, three, four, but five pieces of chicken specially seasoned, with the above mentioned sides, and steaming hot corn tortillas. Young man eating it, and lucky me which obtained a small piece, after much pleading, agreed that it had its own Tierrasanta personality, crispy and adequately seasoned. 4 Stars. El Comal, $19.95. Grilled chicken, steak and shrimp in a bed of grilled onions, avocados and fresh salsa, beans and rice, and flour and corn tortillas. Only 3 large shrimp, but tasty all around. Took home half and enjoyed it twice. 4 Stars. Chips were fresh and warm, and salsas green and red, never ending. Big mistake, because by the time we came down to our senses, and refills stopped, we were kind of full. That is how good they were. David kept appearing and serenading us, and we kind of loved it! Needless to say, service was specially brilliant. Water, our main drink, unusually tasty. Bathrooms clean enough, and we thanked our lucky stars, or should I say Google maps? for introducing Tierrasanta to these weary travelers. Big hearted atmosphere, decent fare, I was invited so I only...

This is kind of tough to write because I do not like leaving less than 3 start reviews but I am having a hard time forgetting this experience. So, we have coming here for 25+ years. Since my kids were little.

I came in recently and found that our favorite bartender was fired for being too friendly. Let me repeat that - too friendly. The voice in my head was like “Uh oh, I wonder what other changes they have made.” Trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, I called an order in for a Shrimp Salad and a Chicken Caesar Salad. Anyone can look at the menu from their website and see the prices are $10.95 for either of these salads. When I went to pick them up the bill was $15.95 for each. I asked the girl at the cash register why the price difference and she shrugged her shoulders like “I don’t know”. I told her what the website says and showed her and asked her to adjust the price. She replied that she couldn’t. I asked her what she means that she couldn’t and asked to speak to a manager. She replied that she is the manager. So, I asked her to correct the bill because it is clearly right there on their website. She said “Oh, that’s just Google and they are wrong”. Huh? I replied that it is not Google. It is Google showing your own proprietary website. Not Google. Would you like me to show you your website on a different browser? She said “Sorry, but it is Google’s fault they are wrong. There is nothing I can do. I asked her if she is kidding. Maybe I can demonstrate the internet to you. Have you heard of Bing, Yahoo or even Duck Duck Go. It she just had a blank look on her face like she had no idea what I was talking about. Unfortunately, she not only did not understand where I got the menu and asked if Google got the phone number wrong too because I called the order in but does understand customer service. I did not get my order because I was not going to pay the inflated price plus had a bad taste in my mouth. It is very sad because I was friends with so many of the family and team members there who have come and gone but, with the abundance of Mexican restaurants in San Diego I doubt I will ever, ever go back. Not even for a cocktail. Let that part about firing a bartender because she was too friendly sink in. Like the old saying goes -...