Mr. Birria — Restaurant in Santee

I came to Mr. Birria off the strength that it was highly recommended by several people on Reddit (lol) when I did a search for the best birria in SD. I live in San Diego proper, but had to run an errand in East County, so I took the opportunity to stop in on a Monday late afternoon. Let me get the basics out of the way before we talk food:

Parking - It's in a strip mall and there was ample parking. I doubt parking is ever really an issue here. Atmosphere - The restaurant is straight to the point, nothing to write home about. It's about the food, not the vibes. Seems like they are mainly a take-out business anyways. The bathroom was super clean and smelled nice, and honestly, good hygiene goes a long way in a food establishment (obviously) so that's why I didn't dock a star for the place being plain. No one cares about that if the food is good. Service - The ladies behind the counter were friendly and organizing/cleaning when not assisting customers.

I got a birria quesa taco and a traditional adobada taco. I came here for the birria, but I figured I'd try something else on the menu. I didn't realize til after I'd ordered and paid that a cup of consome was extra ($3.50) so I went back to the counter and ordered it.

My food came out of the kitchen in a standard to-go styrofoam container which the employee put into a plastic bag before calling my name. This seems to be the default way of doing things which implies they're mainly a take-out business (aligns with the plain atmosphere mentioned above). I planned to eat it there, though, so maybe I should have mentioned that to the lady at the register while ordering because the packaging is super wasteful and not environmentally friendly (just a heads up for those eating there and not doing take-out).

They included a red salsa & salsa verde, but I didn't have either because the ladies happened to offered me the chili oil hot sauce which they said was super spicy--I didn't find it to be, but I could see how others might think so. It was tasty.

All that said, I was super disappointed as soon as I opened the container. I expected at least my birria quesa taco to be made the traditional way I've had it since moving to SD; Crispy on the outside with that amazing melty cheese inside. Instead, I was faced with two incredibly soggy tacos. As soon as I picked them up, they started falling apart. (Mind you, I ate them RIGHT after they came out the kitchen so I can only imagine how sloppy these are if you DoorDash or carry-out.) I dipped both in the consome, which had good flavor without being spicy (I think they let the chili oil hot sauce do the trick for those wanting to spice it up).

Overall, this place was incredibly mid to me and I wouldn't go back. That said, I think that the meat was well seasoned and good quality, and that's why they retained 3 stars despite the presentation (from the plastic container to the soggy...

We only had the large order of birria. While it was very good, it's not the best we've had (but I'm pretty sure you have to go down to Jalisco MX for the best).

Our order was not for take-out, so we were pretty surprised when our order was brought to us in a bag.

Overall, service was good, until I asked for plates so we could eat our (bagged) food inside the eatery... the nice guy that brought us our order told us they did not have plates, which left is dumbfounded. We were about to leave so we could eat at home, on plates... but then I looked around and saw styrofoam plates at other tables... so I went up to the register to ask the nice guy how could he say they have no plates, when I could see customers eating on plates at their tables... unbelievably, he did not seem to know what I was talking about. 😳 He then asked if I wanted a box or container... wow... that's when I spotted the tower of styrofoam plates near the register, which I pointed to and asked "what's that?" Remarkably, while I was still pointing, he still said he didn't really know what I was asking for, but he finally gave me a couple of those plates. It was a moment.

While the birria was good, the general atmosphere of the small eatery was less than savory. It's a very small and modest, but clean place, however the highly violent and gruesome movie playing on the large screen tv did not exactly set the tone for a pleasant dinner... and most of the clientele actually looked like characters from that movie (no joke)... and that was our take...

I went to this place for the first time cause I've herd a few good things about it I even called my order in advance and was told by the girl on phone that it will be ready in 15 min so when I arrive to the place to pay for my order I had to order again like if the girl didn't take my order over the phone smh so I did assuming good things well long story short my friends 45 min passed and I'm still waiting so I asked for my money back. So sad to say I wasn't able to try there food so in my opinion if you have a hour to wait go for it but I wouldn't recommend this place for a lunch brake. So my review it strictly on there speed of service.

Ok this is an update after trying their food I can honestly say now I see why it's located in Santee honestly so I ordered what you would imagine would be their top sellers which is there Birria Ramen and Birria Tacos first the Ramen was over cooked and there wasn't even any Birria meat inside very disappointing. plus very oilly like If they don't skim the fat off the top while it's boiling like you're supposed to when making birria. As for the tacos they're okay definitely not the best a bit to soggy for me.So Mr. Birria with a name like that maybe you should go back on focus on just...