Los Jilberto's Taco Shop Temecula Parkway — Restaurant in Temecula

I fell in love with this place because of how great the food quality is. I thought I'd finally found the perfect Mexican food spot to fill the void after moving to the area from San Diego. While the food is amazing, the business ethics leave much to be desired.

My go-to breakfast burrito includes ham, eggs, beans, and cheese. Simple, right? On the menu, they do not have this specific burrito. However they do have the following.

Eggs, beans, and cheese = $8.25 Eggs, potatoes, and cheese = $8.25 Eggs, ham, potatoes, and cheese = $8.99

If you do the math, the difference between items 2 & 3 is 74 cents, so one might logically come to the conclusion that adding ham to a burrito would cost the same. So using this math, it should cost $8.99 for a burrito that includes eggs, beans, cheese, and ham. Here's where the restaurant gets weird.

When I tried to order this burrito the first time, the cashier never told me it would be extra for the beans to be added to the eggs, ham, potatoes and cheese burrito, but that might be seen as reasonable except for the fact that I asked for the eggs, ham, potatoes and cheese burrito to NOT have potatoes. When I asked for the potatoes to be given to me on the side, I was told "we don't really do potatoes on the side." So now I'm paying for the potatoes, but you're not giving me the potatoes, AND you're charging me extra to swap in beans for days potatoes. Not very ethical in my opinion.

I wouldn't mind a modest price increase to swap potatoes for beans, but charging me $1.30 extra for them seems a bit predatory. That's the price you pay for a side order of beans, not to add them to a burrito. Or at least it should be...

This questionable pricing, and the unwillingness of the staff to explain why they're charging me so much for something that should be a modest price increase, is the reason I'm now done with this place. The pictures I took of the menu were from the morning of September 29th - about 2 months ago. When I tried to plead my case using the exact language above, the lady on the phone basically hung up on me, even after I kindly explained I was just trying to talk to her. All she wanted to know was "Do you still want the burrito?" My response was something to the effect of "well yeah if it's a fair price". Which in her mind was basically a "no" so she hung up. So much for quality customer service.

Even after being disrespected like that I still went in and placed my order in person for an egg, beans, and cheese burrito (I had deli ham at home, which I added to the burrito myself to save $3). When I told her I was the one who called asking about the pricing, her response was "ohhhhh." No apology for the treatment, no explanation, no discussion of any kind. I wanted to give her a chance to make things right in person before deciding to avoid giving them my business, but she did nothing.

I haven't been back since but have been to several other Mexican food spots between here and San Diego. Maybe I'll give them another chance in the future....

This is for the one in Temecula Pkwy, in Temecula CA. Los Jilbertos is plain and simple, one more of many, part of a franchise with no particular advantage over hundreds of others across California. After a while one realizes that to eat on each mexican eatery would take a lifetime, plus in many cases many bottles of acid reducers, for not all are at the top of the ladder, and I am sure someone out there must know what I mean. Bought a Carnitas burrito at Los Jilbertos for just a little under $6. Carnitas was tasty but also dried up. Place was deserted around 2PM on a weekday. The attendant was a she, very nice and pleasant. The cook in the background doing what he does best, did not bother to engage anyone, and that is okey. I found the burrito expensive, and only average. To beat the competition you have to have something special, better than the rest, and Los Jilbertos does not differentiate from countless of average taco places. As to the reviews you might find for this location, I would be a little weary to pay too much attention, for this area in Temecula has a lot of reviewers showering praises to otherwise just average eateries. When I first arrived to the area I follow the stars trail in Yelp, thinking that this way I would be able to try the finest Temecula had to offer. Turns out that most of the places highly rated were not that great. I am not being disrespectful to other people's opinions, but I know now that as far as quality is concerned, I am a lot more strict and demanding than the Temecula reviewers. Places that I visited, and truly was repelled by how mediocre their cuisine was, that had been highly praised and lavished with 5 Stars, when in reality they barely qualified for 3. Yes, I get it, each one has their own opinion, but one thing is certain: good food is good food, does not promote acid indigestion, satisfies and pleases to no end, and it stays in the back of the mind, plus generally speaking the really good places are always crowded (that is the dilemma of living in a crowded world), and the standards of service and culinary creations far surpasses the mundane, which is about 99% of every other place. Only the best need apply, and I have spent a large amount of cash to arrive to this conclusion: most places to eat, be that independent outfits or franchises, and specially fast foods are average, with rare exceptions. Sometimes one has to travel long and far to find a place where the food is so delicious one never forgets the outing. Just one item so well done, that all agree something truly extra ordinary has been served on a plate. Lucky for those who have access to that type of food on a daily basis. Los Jilbertos is one more of many that serve average Mexican food. No more, no...

What happened today was really a shame. My wife ordered tacos for the family and she specifically ordered mine plain with lettuce and cheese only. Well, my tacos arrived home chock full of onion and cilantro. Unfortunately, I just can’t eat them this way. I took a picture of the meal and I called the taco shop to let them know that they made a mistake on my order and because their terminal was down I Zelled them the money when we paid. I suggested that they just Zelle me the portion back as a refund for their error since I explained I cannot eat the food this way. I offered to send them the picture as proof that they made a mistake on my order, but they insisted that I bring the food back in order to receive a refund (Despite my receipt and despite the picture I had taken with onions and cilantro all over my tacos).

Needless to say this ruined my entire lunch with my family (as I only had 30 minutes to eat before an important meeting). I had to drive back to the taco shop to give them their food back. They messed up my order and made me pay for it by my missing out on lunch with my family and requiring me to drive back to the taco shop. This is more a matter of principle. I’m very disappointed that they required me to drive the food back before issuing a refund. I finally received the refund...