El Borrego Restaurant

Really authentic menu. Definitely not your typical fast food taco shop.

I had lunch here last week with two friends. We started with a couple of tacos– squash blossom and huitlacoche. I’ve never eaten either, but they were fantastic! We also had a rolled lamb taco. Then we shared the mixiote de Borrego, which was a tin-​foil covered dish of lamp in a savory sauce, served with the most flavorful corn tortillas. The lamb was falling off the bones and tender and juicy! This place is amazing, and well worth the trouble finding parking.

When walking up to the door you can just smell the tomatillos blistering on the griddle. Sold.
My husband and I split the half pound of Barbacoa that comes with eight pillowy handmade tortillas, a little rice and a little homemade frijoles with totopos, diced onion and cilantro, juicy limes, and two varieties of salsa in squeeze bottles. One was a bright tangy tomatillo and the other a smoky chile seed rustic red. Both fantastically compliment the Barbacoa.
We each also got a bowl of the bean soup. The bean soup is piping hot delicious and guess what… they do it without lard. It is topped queso fresco, cilantro, and totopos. The creamy peppery frijoles are memorable and perfect on a rainy day like today.
The owner took our order and was very pleasant and welcoming. The ladies in the kitchen smiled and brought us our food and made sure everything was just so. Pride is taken here and it is a lovely joy to partake in.
I saw a platter with the Chile Relleno delivered to a table near us and I will definitely be ordering that next time.
We left very satisfied and happy. I blew a kiss to the girls working in the kitchen. They smiled and the whole experience makes us want to come back again very soon.

Amazing food and customer service! Want REAL Mexican food? Come to this place. Delicious.

What more could you want? Good, friendly service and delicious food. Hubby ordered the lamb platter, the meat was juicy and very tasty. I ordered the pozole and enjoyed every bite! Sorry we hadn’t tried this bookmarked place sooner! Will definitely be returning soon.

After turning in a uhaul I had used to move I was super hungry and I was not going to cook. We decided to pop in here for a snack to get our energy back and I am glad we did. I was disappointed that they did not have the veggie tacos on the menu but I did get a tasty quesadilla and a cold beer. Pretty much the best thing after a long day.
The prices were a little high for how small the portions were so if you are a huge eater you might want to check out another place or order a little more than you normally would. For me it was perfect.
The restaurant is clean and bright. It is welcoming, and so are the staff who were happy to answer all my questions about many of the dishes I had never had.
If you are in the area I say go on inside and get some tacos and beer. Might as well take a break from your hard week right?

I am most embarrassed that it has been more than two months since I had the honor of dining at this fine restaurant, as part of Omar S.‘s UYE, before I am preparing this review.
However, the time delay does not take away the fantastic dining experience, and pleasant comradery that I enjoyed that evening!
My first salute is to Omar, for organizing this event, and so carefully and thoughtfully considered us fellow Unilocalers in the implementation of a well-​orchestrated evening.
Secondly, and really more importantly, my hat is off to Rodnia & her daughter Rosario, owner and co-​chef respectively of this Mexican fusion restaurant. Technically, their cuisine is Acapulco, but hey have adapted some of their recipes to modern tastes and have created an upscale dining experience, at south of the border prices.
Our feast of the evening was:
1^st Course:
Squash blossom quesadilla
Mini Rolled Lamb Taquito
Huitlacoche, a mushroom/​corn soup
Cochinita Pibil, marinated pork (this is a traditional Mexican slow-​roasted pork dish from the Yucatán Península of Mayan origin).
2^nd (Main) Course:
Green Pork Pozole, a thick, hearty soup made from pumpkin seed, mole, and hominy
Chicken Enchilada, with mole sauce
Lamb Mixiote, the house specialty (this is marinated for 24 hours, wrapped in a maguey leaf, and slow-​cooked for 5+ hours (mixiote is a traditional pit-​barbecued meat dish in central Mexico; especially in the Basin of Mexico).
Dessert was a combination of Abuela’s Arroz con Leche, another family recipe (Abuela is «one’s grandmother»), and Flan
This was a feast, and really sets the standard for traditional, authentic, classic southern Mexican cuisine.
I truly enjoyed every dish. So much so, that I intend to return and enjoy a few of these favorites, while trying other items of their culinary talent.
Again, a big THANK YOU to Omar, Rodnia & Rosario, for a most memorable evening!!! Muchas gracias!

Delicious authentic Mexican food. Specialized in lamb cooking. Search google also for lamb specialized restaurant in San Diego and you will find this. The owner is so friendly and food is also very good.

This place amazing!!! I had the huitlacoche quesadilla and bean soup my boyfriend ordered the lamb special and said it was very tasty

Amazing the food the service inside very nice… I had the potato and chorizo sopes and the green Chile pozole.great. My hubby had the chilaquilles and fresh guacamole the bomb out of this world better than mine…

This is for my visit in July.
Bomb food, bomb location bomb ambience.
I tried their competitors and no one comes close.
This little colorful restaurant is charming and quaint, feels like you are in a Mexican grandmas house.
I really love it, portions could be bigger but for the price and ambience it’s worth it.

I came here with my girlfriend for a UYE, and we both had a fantastic time! It seemed like the owners were willing to bend over backwards to help out everyone as much as possible. It was also obvious how proud they were of their heritage and their joy in providing authentic Southern Mexican cuisine to customers. I like how they said they believe in making simple and flavorful cuisine, and that «Mexican food shouldn’t force you to drink Pepto Bismol or Maalox afterwards.» Hehehe.
We all started out with an appetizer plate that had tasty squash mini quesadillas, mini cheese quesadillas, and mini lamb taquitos. There was also some delicious shredded pork to put inside the cheese quesadillas. Add in some fresh guacamole and a few tortilla chips with salsa, and the result is a generous appetizer with a wide variety of wonderful flavors.
Next up was a fantastic Green Pork Pozole soup served with a variety of condiments to add flavor. This was really good, and I liked adding different items like onions, cilantro, and even oregano to change up the flavor. I also really liked the Chicken Enchilada with mole sauce topped with a drizzle of sour crème. I love mole, and this one has a good combination of rich flavors, a hint of chocolate, and just the right amount of spice.
The hit of the night was the slow-​cooked Lamb Mixiote served with hand-​made corn tortillas, onions, cilantro, pickled onions, and limes. This lamb was so tender that it decided to slide off the bone by itself, so it was easy to place chunks into the tortillas to make lamb tacos. The lamb was delicious and just the right consistency, but I was really full so I got to take some home. Yay!
Dessert came in two flavors, Flan and Rice pudding. Both were good, but I preferred the Flan. All in all, this was a really great event, and I also got to make some new Unilocal friends. I also plan on returning to El Borrego some time soon!

I love their food. I always enjoy everytime I come but i want to explain why I give 2 stars only and i’m not sure If I will come back. First the older/​bigger lady is rude, never accomodate and greet you nicely. Second, is too small inside and it’s a little bit pricey too. But I can suggest this place for adventurers out there, just don’t expect to be treated polite. :)

I was in the area after an exam and I decided to see what good places were in the area. I found this little hole in the wall place on Unilocal and was glad I found it! The service was great and the people working here seemed so happy and sweet. They recommended the lamb so I decided to order the Lamb Plate Special. It was phenomenal and the flavor was great!!! I will definitely come here again when I’m in the area.

Wanted to try some authentic Mexican food & didnt wanna just try any taco shop.
Stopped by here with my family. Turns out they only serve lamb meat. Not bad I wanted shrimp cocktail but lamb wasn’t bad. Wish they had more on the menu.

Excellent. I can’t get my family to go to Aqui es Texcoco because they only have things that I like, but here is a place we can all agree on. The borrego barbacoa is very good in a taco, and the chicken enchiladas with mole were also delicious.
Our order of the Lamb combo (taco, taquito, small quesadilla, rice, and nopal salad), mole enchiladas, 2 sopes, and 1 bean burrito came to $ 30 including tax.
Afterwards we splurged on a flan and carrot cake for dessert, along with a café a la olla. They were all really good. The flan, which was more like a mousse and less gelatinous than most I have had.
Still lots of things yet to try, notably the mixote lamb and the soup in that photo. They also sell family-​style items e.g. barbacoa by the kilo.

Omar’s review lured us to El Borrego. As soon as I saw the cute little restaurant lovingly painted in warm colors, I was charmed. Inside, we both ordered the Lamb Especial combo for $ 7.99 with a lamb taco, a rolled taco, a quesadilla, rice, and nopal salad (fresh cactus, cilantro, tomato & onion). I also had the Homemade Tamarindo drink, which was sweet, with a nice tart edge to it. My hubs had a beer. Homemade tortillas are wonderful here! Red and green salsas on the table taste homemade and better than most salsas.
What was in the yummy quesadilla? Cheese or sauce and peppers? It was scrumptious, with a homemade tortilla. The tasty rolled taco had cream and cotija cheese. My rice was moist. The lamb taco was an unusual find, as most Mexican restaurants don’t have lamb. There was a modest amount of lamb in the taco, but since the Lamb Especial combo is only $ 7.99, it’s a good value, and allows new customers to try several different items.
Bean soup with cilantro and queso fresco and some fried tortilla for $ 3.99 was good, and we shared it.
The 2 friendly ladies who helped us with our selection, and graciously served our food, were probably the owners, but I’ll find out for sure on my next visit.
We both loved El Borrego, and this is one of those gems that has earned 5 stars on my first visit. I look forward to trying the whole menu, and writing an updated review with more information. This is a warm family-​run place with heart, homemade food, and that little something extra that we’re always searching for.

Lugar caro especialmente por las porciones tan pequeñas y si pides una tortilla te la cobran really???
Hoy llego un muchacho con buena apariencia y respetuoso pidiendo usar el baño y se lo negaron. Es como negar un vaso de agua. Todos hemos estado en una situación parecida y es muy desagradable.
KARMA IS A BITCH!!!

La barbacoa estaba riquísima, tiene mucho que no probaba algo tan bueno. Muy recomendable, el consomé muy sabroso y nada grasoso. El servicio y limpieza del lugar de primera. Great place to eat real Barbacoa, unique taste and flavor. Also the lamb broath was delicious. Awesome service!

The hubby and I love this little spot for breakfast/​lunch/​dinner, and we’re seriously on our way to becoming regulars. For breakfast, they serve my favorite chilaquiles in town! I prefer mine with red sauce (but you can’t go wrong with green sauce either), generously topped with crema and queso fresco. I strongly recommend you get it with a fried egg, and you’ll be full and happy for the (almost) the rest of the day. If you’re not feeling carb-​heavy, then there’s also the green pozole soup, which comes with all the right fix-in’s (available only on the weekends). The broth is light, studded with pork and hominy, and you can dress it to your liking with lime juice, cilantro, onion, shredded cabbage, and chicharrones.
For lunch/​dinner, the barbacoa is the star. Super tender, braised lamb, served with rice and beans, fresh tortillas, cilantro and onion. Don’t forget to get the flavor-​bomb lamb broth, too! Muy delicioso! Oh, their tamarindo is so good – refreshing, tangy, and perfect.
Rosario and her daughter are so sweet and welcoming – you feel as if they’ve welcomed you into their home. The restaurant is colorful and casual. You order at the counter, and they bring the food to you. Note: parking is tough (street parking only), they close early (6pm), and there is a $ 10 minimum for credit cards. All in all, if you are looking for a Mexican restaurant that serves delicious, no-​frills food without all the typical taco-​joint nonsense (there’s no carne asada fries or California burritos, people), El Borrego is the real deal.

Peor servicio obtenido en mi vida. La comida. Llegue y me iva a sentar y la seno rita de enfrente me regreso por que el menú estaba en la pared y primero tenía que ordenar. Traiga con migo un n porta bebé y una nina de 4 anos. Ya se m imaginarán éramos 5 en total mi esposa y mi hermana. Nos tomaron la orden en la entrada de después que tuve que regresar 3 veces a ver la pared de menú que según está ahy. En fin ordenamos y ami se me olvido ordenar bebida y pues tampoco nunca me ofrecieron algo de bebé oro por lo mejor agua de la llave.
Es decepcionante que alguien de servicio al cliente y no esté calificado para hacerlo. El sonreir como idiota cuando llegas a la mesa no se ignifica que todo este bien.
Por último la comida se salva pues tiene buen sabor pero pues uno paga por lo que come pero por 4 sopesar un burrito de borrego y una ensalada de nopal y un jugo de naranja por $ 37 dólares en donde papa.
Bueno ahora explicó por que solo tenia 5 clientes cuando fui a d desayunar ayer por primer y última vez…
Una vez mas mal servicio y precios abrumados en su restaurante es el peor que ehh ido en mi vida para pagar tanto por un taco shop…

Dad’s passion was our Virginia farm. Though a restaurateur, he preferred raising livestock, including poultry, goats and sheep. For us kids, the farm was fun — the goats, especially, were a hoot — but ours was no petting zoo; the family used these animals for eggs, milk, cheese, yoghurt and of course, meat.
Dad’s mother, my «Teta», was an old-​country, kitchen-​centric matriarch who lived with us and cooked our meals. Vegetables came from her large garden; grape leaves from her vines; eggs from the hen house; and meat, mostly lamb, was produced behind our barn.
I hope you’ll forgive my nostalgic affection for meals prepared in traditional ways from fresh and rustic ingredients, by people who cook to make others happy, but these are things I think about when I visit El Borrego.
The restaurant is owned by Rosaria, a lively, clever mother hen, and her daughter, Rodnia, a gracious woman who warms the place with caring, helpful service and gentle humor. These ladies and their assistant produce Hidalgo-​style lamb dishes, the State of Hidalgo being renowned throughout Mexico for its treatment of «borrego.» For comparison, think «Neapolitan Pizza» or «Memphis BBQ.»
Their City Heights dining room is set sidewalk-​close to El Cajon Boulevard, wedged between a pawn shop and «Wholesale Joe the Vacuum King.» Renovated after a car crashed through its front window, El Borrego’s striking façade of paprika and cerulean wakes the senses, and inside, the small tables and hard-​backed chairs aren’t cushy, but luxury here would be inauthentic. Diners take comfort from smells and tastes provided by the kitchen.
The breakfast board includes eggs, and chilaquiles made with chicken, lamb or pancita, but the widest variety of delicious foods are offered at lunch and dinner (closing time is 6 pm), Friday through Sunday, when «special» dishes are available.
What should you choose? Ah, see, there’s the problem. I’ve never had a bad bite at El Borrego, and when everything’s good, there are no best choices. I pick a meat, like mixiote, then add to my order ’til Rodnia looks concerned. Or I share several plates with friends, which is less gratifying but more civilized than eating all the food myself.
Some favorites:
— Mixiote. The day’s cut of meat, anything from costilla to cabeza, is rested overnight in a family-​secret marinade that at least includes garlic, thyme, bay leaf, pepper, cilantro and guajillo chiles. The next day, it’s wrapped in a maguey leaf and steamed for hours, until it falls off the bone into a puddle of luxurious juices that beg to be eaten over rice, while you form tacos with the meat.
— Barbacoa. El Borrego’s barbacoa isn’t as spicy or flavorful as mixiote. It resembles really good pot roast, and it’s not a star, but it’s a good extra dish if you’re eating other things.
— Pancita. Don’t wig out. Pancita is chopped offal or lamb «parts,» mixed with spice and chiles and packed into a lamb’s stomach, then baked and steamed. It’s haggis, but more toothsome and flavorful. And if I hadn’t told you what was in it, you’d have never known, so forget I said anything, and enjoy some pancita.
— Green Pork Pozole. I’m fond of both red and green pozole (or «posole,» depending where you are), and I love the Green Pork Pozole at El Borrego. When your order arrives, take a moment to peer into the bowl, to be delighted by the fragrance touching your face, to be drawn in by fluffy hominy, creamy avocado, succulent pork. I dare you not to smile.
— Consome (Consommé). This rich, sultry lamb broth is a fortunate by-​product of the cooking processes used at El Borrego. It’s served with tender garbanzos, pieces of barbacoa and a touch of rice.
— Nopal Salad. Made from strips of prickly pear cactus «paddles,» this salad is at once light and hearty, a perfect accompaniment to the heavier textures and flavors on Rosaria’s menu.
— Aguas Frescas. El Borrego’s homemade agua de Jamaica and horchata have fresher and more subtle flavors than do their commercial counterparts. Drink them, and you may forever be ruined for the average. You’re warned.
Besides these favorite items, the ladies offer a large, interesting and variable menu of Hidalgo-​style and other delights. El Borrego isn’t the only place in the County serving Mexican-​style lamb, but head-​to-​head comparisons are difficult, as its two best competitors — Vamos a Texcoco in Vista and Aqui es Texcoco in Chula Vista — don’t cook in the Hidalgo style.
These other restaurants serve decent food, but I prefer El Borrego. Not just because the ladies use such fresh ingredients and high-​quality meat, and not just because their dishes have such great texture and deep-​roasted flavor. I like El Borrego because if I watch the kitchen and squint just right, my Teta smiles across the counter, saying, «Eat, boy… eat.»
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Aqui es Texcoco:
Vamos a Texcoco:

I like places like this, that take recipes that been in the family for years, and then offer them to the public. So, that being said, I ordered a bowl of family recipe of green pork pozole with corn tortillas and all the fixings. To try them, I ordered a side of their re-​fried beans (
).
I love it when they give a plate with all the fixing to prep your soup just the way you like it (
). However, missing from the the plate, was the pork rinds, because they ran out, and dried oregano leaves, because they forgot, but after adding all the fixings to my soup, including a squeeze of lime juice, I was a happy camper (
). The soup was very good and had great chile verde flavor, tender hominy, and a decent amount of tender pork (
). The pork was very good, but it would of benefited for more of it, however the hominy was generous. A great hearty soup and a great way to start the day.
The re-​fried beans reminded me of my mother’s beans. I liked them, and after adding some Cotija cheese that I ask for I dug in and ate them with the corn tortillas with a little bit of red hot sauce (
). The plate of fixings, also came with a couple of corn tostadas, which used also to eat the re-​fried beans with a little bit of their terrific green hot sauce (
). The beans were good with good seasoning and a robust flavor. I liked that they intermixed whole beans with the re-​fried.
The people who run and serve you here are very welcoming. You order at the counter, but they bring your food to you.