Por Favor Mexican Restaurant & Cantina

Holy burritos! These are the biggest burritos I’ve ever seen! Beautiful outdoor patio & great, friendly service! Definitely make a stop here.

Salsa is homemade but mostly tomatoes, lacks flavor. Refried beans and rice were good. Taco and cheese enchilada not very good.

My bf and I randomly found this place waiting for the El Cajon Halloween fest and it so happened to be happy hour! I got a yummy strawberry margarita for $ 4. And my bf got several drinks for $ 3-​$ 4 each. What a killer deal! We just shared a carnitas quesadilla and snacked on their complimentary chips and salsa; which both taste amazing.
Definitely worth stopping by for a drink or two especially during happy hour.

Terrible. We ordered drinks, twice, then waited 15 minutes to get them. Our food order was correct and the food was okay. We ordered another drink, but had to order it again because they forgot… again. We ordered a side of guacamole when the food came, waited 10 minutes, ordered it again, waited another 10 minutes, got up to find someone to ask about it, they came back 5 minutes later and said they’re working on it, then got the guacamole 5 minutes later when we were pretty much done eating. Then 3 minutes later a different staff member brought us another order of guacamole. This place is slow and the staff seem terribly disconnected and disorganized. And the food is mediocre. Never again.

I would give this place ZERO stars if I could. I honestly don’t even know where to start. Let’s start with entering– seated right away which was nice. Once seated it went down hill from there and I mean waaaay down. The service was the WORST I have ever experienced in my life. Our waitress said «no I’m not busy it’s pretty slow tonight». After that we didn’t see her for 30 mins before she decided to show her face again. Once we ordered the food came out (almost an hour later) and it was the most embarrassing Mexican food display I have seen (Costco rice and means literally). I could’ve done better with my eyes closed. The bathroom had a clogged toilet with fecal matter over flowing what do you think the kitchen looks like?. Do not come here even if you are desperate and hungry like we were. Waste of money and time. Disgusting god awful food. Close your doors por favor– you should be ashamed. STAY AWAY STAY AWAY.

Great service & food!!!
Our waitress, Leticia, was very friendly & attentive.
The outside courtyard area has an authentic ambience

We have eaten here before and their sister restaurant the Downtown Café is one of my favorite restaurants in El Cajon. Unfortunately, the service at Por Favor is not as good as it could be. Our appetizer was completely forgotten and we had to ask for it to be removed from our bill after the fact. They offered to give us a free desert but we were there for lunch and desert is too heavy on a hot San Diego afternoon. The gorditas were just so-​so but the cheese enchilada was delicious. We like their salsa — it’s fresh and chunky. You’ll get a small bowl of chips with your meal but no refills on chips or salsa :(

I like their verde enchiladas. Probably my favorite mexican sit-​down in San Diego so far.

Great local spot. Out door patio is dog friendly and they will bring you water for the pups and you can order rice and beans! Server name michele was awesome. Very alert and attentive. Food came out fast and hot. We will definitely be going again

I would give five stars however our bartender wasn’t very observant, nor was he knowledgeable of what the drink specials included. However that being said he did make some good drinks. My friend had the Cadillac margarita and I had the sangria we both loved our drinks. The food is not what I would call authentic Mexican food but that foes not take away from the quality and good taste. Again my friend and I both highly enjoyed our meals. He got a beef wet burrito and I had a carne asada plate. All in all its a great relaxing place to go eat good size portions and have some good drinks.

Thanks for Unilocal on reminding me to finish this review, the original interaction with Por Favor was a few months prior. While dining I was keeping notes as my first interaction with the server gave me a feeling I was going to have an interesting time. Went for lunch during the week. Not many people there so things were looking great for quick service.
Waitress sat myself and Grandmother. She took our drink orders and brought out our chips and salsa. The salsa was splashed onto the waitress’s finger, she then began to clean the salsa off her finger with her mouth. Yes, her mouth. The waitress later came back to take our order. The waitress took note of my Grandmother’s ring and took my Grandmother’s hand in her own to see the ring closer. She didn’t ask, she just grabbed with the same hand I just saw in her mouth.
Outside of that experience with the waitress, the food was great and the price was right. I am not going to super ding this place because of one waitress. I’ll give it one more try.

Horrible service. We sat for 20 mins before getting menus. Then another 15 to place a drink order and she ran away so quick we couldn’t order food. She dropped our drinks off and ran again even ignoring me as I said we were ready to order. We asked for a manager. She took our order and still they messed up our orders. The food wasn’t even worth the trouble. I’m usually fine with crappy service as long as the food is worth it. I won’t be going back again.

Had a last minute here and we were happy with our choices!
Tried the carne quesadillas and it was a HUGE plate! Plenty for 5 people!
The shrimp Mexicans was tasty as well with the rice
The music and the atmosphere is very authentic
Our server who was also the manger was very pleasant and know the menu inside and out and helped us make our selections. We ll be back

Not sure why the reviews are okay because we’ve been coming here for years and years and every time is great.
My hubby LOVES the Carnitas and have tried some at multiple other restaurants through out the years and we always come back to this restaurant!
I love the Machaca Sonora (breakfast) plate always so good! They cook my eggs perfectly.
We love the chips and salsa and you can even request the more spicy one and its delish.
We love Por Favor!!!

Ehhhh… not great, not horrible. Service kind of sucked. Two of my kids ordered enchilada plates and both said they were horrible. I got grilled fish tacos amd my husband got grilled shrimp tacos. The fish and shrimp themselves were very good, however the tortillas were cold and not pliable and the cabbage was chopped so thick it was impossible to eat.

Excellent food! Excellent service! Excellent Cinco de Mayo priced specials $ 5 margaritas, $ 3 carnitas tacos delicious. Try the Fundido sauce too… one of best in San Diego County!

My only issues are:
– «mushy» salsa (it’s just awful… but good for people who don’t like spicy food)
– they always put salt on my maragarita glass in spite of me specifying «no salt» (except Eric– he’s the best waiter here)

One of my favorite restaraunts period
I reccomend the beef fajitas, carne asada quesadilla or the bean burrito (which comes with enchilada sauce) topped off with a good ol margarita

I came by Por Favor for happy hour after work for acouple of draft beers, some happy hours carnitas tacos, and some complimentary tortilla chips and salsa. Oddly enough, they do not have a bar inside, only in the outside patio and that’s where I sat.
The draft beers was at a very good cold temperature, and the house made corn tortilla chips were great. The chips had a good amount of salt and were crispy. The salsa that came along with the chips was not hot, but had a good fresh tomato and garlic flavor with a hint of green pepper. The salsa that came later with the carnitas tacos was much better via heat and flavor which I ate with the chips and tacos.
The carnitas tacos came filled with tender pork meat and at $ 2.75 each they were a pretty good deal given they were the full size tacos. However, they were a little non traditional the was they were serve. They came with chopped lettuce, instead of the traditional chopped onions and cilantro. Also, they had no guacamole which is a must for carnitas tacos, and I found a single black olive in each taco rather strange. I the good side, the pork meat was juicy and tasted quite good. The two tacos were quite filling with all the pork meat they had.
Service was good at the bar and everyone I spoke to was friendly enough.

I eat here on a regular basis after going for a hike because they allow dogs and the food is GOOD! The only reason I give 4 stars instead of 5 is that the service is a little slow. It could be because I’m out on the patio, but I’ve never worked as a server so what do I know? I’m a big fan of the chimichanga on the lunch menu and the margaritas pack a punch! The servers always bring my dog water, which scores huge points for me and ensures a 25% tip.