Vallarta Express Mexican Eatery — Restaurant in San Diego

I would give three and a half stars here, only because it's not as low as a 3, but 4 seems high. Depending on which day it is, how busy and what chef/staff is working makes a huge difference. I've lived around the corner from this place for 10 years, and it has had good days and bad days. Recently (i'm only speaking about the past year, for relevence) we have come and done dine-in which we never used to do. It is usually empty but still takes a while to get the order together. One time the carne asada was just sitting in a massive mound on top of the flat grill and I happened to order the carne asada fries. (I didn't feel good that night or the next morning) But usually the food is good. The prices are higher than average, and the salsas are out of the ordinary sub-par. More than once the smokey chipotle style salsa seemed so 'smokey' it may have had an actual burnt cigarette thrown in the batch. It was awful. But I avoid that one now. The salsa bar has been gone from the customer floor since covid and they make you ask for it... so if no one is behind the counter it can take 5 minutes more or less to get someone's attention. They do have bathrooms, and they are clean, but you need to ask for the key (which is fine, except when you really gotta go and the same problem, getting an employees attention, becomes an issue.) So it's a good place overall, I take one star for the lack of attention/not having someone at the front counter, and one for the unreliable quality... the portions have gotten smaller over time, but again, it kinda depends on who's working...

Gave me the wrong order wish i could give zero stars!! Called them and stated what happened...they said they "couldnt" refund me unless I drove back 25 minutes from my house to return the food or I could just accept credit in the future? What restaurant can't refund someone over the phone when it was their mistake in the first place? I feel sorry for the person who got our food in mistake because they just lost out on two additional items that they paid for...I don't eat meat and my friend order a special meal without onions because shes allergic... but everything they sent us with had meat and onions in it... i told them this and they told me to wait for a manager to call me back after telling me i had to call their manager for a refund then refused to give me the number. They went ahead to tell another person who is waiting for food in the drive through about the situation that I was complaining. Do better with your customer service after ive been going here for some time and its just steady declined over the years. Do better and once again I feel bad for the person who lost out...

I ordered the fish tacos, since I have been told that a trip to San Diego is incomplete without them. The fish tacos at Vallarta Express live up to the San Diego hype. They’re only $5, tasty, and large enough to fill up an average, non-bodybuilding adult. The chips are made in house and were good as well, and came with a variety of salsas to choose from. They have one of those fancy Coke freestyle machines that allow you to add different flavor syrups to your drinks, which I appreciated. They’re bathrooms were very clean, especially after having to use the public restrooms at Pacific Beach all day. I only gave the store 4 stars because of my experience ordering. The lady behind the counter definitely appeared to not want to be there and, while she wasn’t rude to me, definitely was eager to get my order finished. Honestly though, I’ve been there, having worked fast food shifts into the night before, and I would give 4.5 stars if it...