Ethnic Deli & Cafe

Dis place be gone gone. New location is going to be next to the National City Police Dept. Just a heads up. I enjoyed the chicken Greek salad. Fresh items, seasoned grilled chicken, and plenty of it. Not much more you can ask of a salad. It’s hard to find healthy choices near the mile of cars.

I started coming here since it first re-​opened, food is fresh satisfying and not overpriced. The best part for me is that fries are not made from a frozen bag, they peal and chop a fresh one.

Their customer service could do a little better. It was in the morning, so I guess I do understand, but I just didn’t feel so welcome there. I stayed anyway. Ordered the egg sandwich & it was HUGE for a good price. It was delicious. I can’t wait to go back & try more.

This is where I go if I’m feeling like a sandwich or salad. Love the chicken greek salad with the House Dressing and the #47 sando ;)

The Shish Taouk was fabulous. I am excited to find delicious garlic sauce too. The staff was helpful and very friendly. I cannot wait for my next visit to national city so that I can stop by here again.

I wish I knew we about this place sooner, they really live up to their well known customer experience. I instantly felt the authenticity because the family that owns this place is so friendly and make great suggestions.
Good food takes time but it’s made as fresh as it can get. With plenty of vegetarian options, I knew instantly that I would be coming back.

I really like this place! Good food, friendly atmosphere, no nonsense… I had the Philly cheese steak sandwich, that was yummie! And my friend ordered something else, I forget what it was, but it was also very good. definitely coming back for more!

Family owned and operated, awesome fresh sandwiches! I love all the sandwiches, down the street from the office and decent prices, you pay for what you get.

Best frickin grilled cheese sandwich ever. Its a little pricy but worth it man its delicious as heck

Call in ahead. Real, good food takes time! They have the best tabouleh. And their Greek Chicken salad with house dressing never fails me!

We called in our order for pick up. We ordered spaghetti and meatballs and a turkey bacon avocado on sourdough. When we got there and paid we received our food, we noticed that there was no spaghetti, so when I asked where it was she said «we no longer do that so I made you an Italian sub» well its very simple to tell someone that on the phone. When I got back to work and opened the sandwich it was on wheat bread, I can live with that its just frustrating that we order here a lot because its a block from work and they always find a way to mess it up.

Be advised: when you enter this dining establishment, you are walking into a business that 1) is owned and operated by a beautiful and amazing family, and 2) Ethnic Deli won the Best Small Business of 2014 in National City. (Many congratulations, you guys!)
With that being said, their food is fresh and prepared with love and thoughtfulness: they don’t use crazy toxic ingredients, their recipes are simple, FLAVORFUL, and healthy! (Doesn’t that already sound refreshing?)
You can order in and pick up your food to evade the lunch hour traffic or you can sit down at one of their outdoor tables and soak up some Vitamin D while you get your eat on.
Tip: My staple is the Greek chicken salad with their HOUSE dressing. My favorite is their Reuben — best Reuben in San Diego, as far as I’m concerned.
If you’re in the National City area, or even if you’re not and looking for a bite to eat, check this place out — you won’t be disappointed!

They have a really good pastrami sandwich and even have delivered since i work less than two blocks away before.

Horrible over cooked falafel! Hard as a rock & way over priced! The hummus is decent but that’s about it. Service is pretty quick.

they have the best vegetable soup in town! One time I was so hungry and had the soup as appetizer and I couldnt forget how good it is so i came back the next day. This has become my must-​go place in national city.

Great food, and friendly service. The staff really went out of their way to accommodate my coffee preferences. Their pita chips & tzaziki appetizer was excellent, and it was obvious that they were freshly made. If you’re in the area, I definitely recommend!

Nor me or any of my friends were satisfied with the food. They didn’t even give us everything we ordered. We were missing all of our potato salads and were instead given french fries, but not for every meal. We ordered 5 combos and only received 2 fries.
The Gyro sandwich’s were very dry and fell apart as if the pita bread was old. It tasted somewhat stale. The chili cheese fries were made from CANNED CHILI and not even a good brand at that. They were topped off with generic American sliced cheese over soggy fries. I can’t say anything about the potato salad as we didn’t get our orders correctly.
The only good thing from this place was the hummus, but were not given pita bread to eat the hummus with. I WILL NOT BE GOING BACK!

Delicious delicious delicious … I saw the place on Unilocal and wanted to spot to hang out near a local business park. Its a café… a deli. that is exactly what it is. Ordering is a breeze, they take the food to your table if you ask them nicely. It is obviously old school and probably hasn’t changed much since the first day its opened… I would say at least 20 years, but i don’t know for sure.
If you need cheap eats in San Diego and you are kind of fed up with Mexican food, Ethnic is certainly a nice oasis for a decent lunch.

I don’t know if I’m suffering from a case of my expectations being incredibly high, or if the food really was that generic.
I phoned in an order for a gyro sandwich special and a greek salad with french fries and a side of macaroni salad.
The greek salad was OK by all standards but, this being an ethnic place, I expected better. It was iceberg lettuce, and even though I’m no expert, I’ve always had my greek salads with romaine, not iceberg, and it didn’t really taste quite right.
The Macaroni salad was store bought, so it wasn’t made by them and again, it didn’t taste as good as I expected from reading the other reviews.
The Gyro sandwich was Ok, but it had no humus or tzatziki sauce. The meat also tasted like it wasn’t from a solid roll of gyro meat that they cook and cut off, but rather a precut, toss into nuke and serve slice of meat.
Fries pretty decent.
The service was incredibly polite and quick and I was in and out in a few minutes.
I will be going back to check it out again and order a completely different set of things if just because of the reviews, and their great service.
We all have bad days and this couldve been one, or I just happened to order the three things that they don’t shine at.
Their tabuhle salad is calling to me to return and try it. Who am I to argue with talking food right?

Great food, with a broad menu selection. I am now a vegan, and they have tons of stuff that taste great, are healthy, and unique. When I was a meat eater the Philly Cheese steak sandwich was my favorite.
Prices are great for the freshness and quality of food you are getting. Parking is easy, and the neighborhood is very safe. Location is easy to get to just off the 5, and not far from the 54 and 805 junction.
I agree with Merrily C., I am on the frequent flyer card, and reaping the free sandwiches and coffees. I eat there regularly for lunch and still have managed to loose weight without feeling like I am eating cardboard or the same stuff every day.