El Comal

This winter, when the weather turned cold, I sought a perfected bowl of the Mexican soup called «pozole rojo.» Not having an abuela to visit, and because my wife is más guera que yo, I made like a tourist, asked Unilocal for help, and visited seven restaurants.
Along the way, I learned that eating at El Comal, notwithstanding the place is popular among residents and fans of North Park, is problematic.
Walking in, you can see the appeal: the place is cute as hell — the sort of room you show your parents when they come to visit, if you want to impress them with how hip and mature you’ve become, and the bar offers music and strong drinks. If you’re a tourist who hasn’t traveled much, and you fall into El Comal, you’ll come away with great photos. Plus, everyone there is really nice.
However…
You’ll pay too much for food that’s pretty, but marginally authentic; plates full of colorful, bland ingredients with all the depth and substance cooked out or omitted from each dish.
Your chicken will be dry, served with tortilla that’s missing that bread’s iconic corn flavor. Your tacos will be skimpy, filled with overcooked, stringy and flavorless meats.
Your pozole will be thin red water, served with a ton of maiz mote (hominy) to make up for a lack of pork in the bowl.
I could say more mean things about the food at El Comal, but, to save time, consider this:
I recently ate pozole at seven restaurants, including at a place where they served chunks of fat in the soup and put previously used cilantro and other garnishes on the table, but El Comal is the only place where I left my food half-​eaten.
Cute bar, though.
******************************
Here are the places I visited for pozole since November, in my order of preference:
— La Sierra Café (Highly Recommended):
— El Borrego Restaurant (Highly Recommended):
— Birrieria Don Rafa (Recommended):
— Canela Mexico City Cuisine (Recommended):
— Pozoleria Doña Maria (Recommended):
— EL COMAL (Not Recommended)
— Birrieria Y Menuderia Guadalajara (Not Recommended):

The margaritas tasted great, and the tacos made with goat meat were delicious. Only problem was I had pieces of bone in my tacos.

First of all, their chips and salsa are bomb!
Second, the pozole… just as if your mom or grandma made it for you in their own kitchen. One of my aunts is Mexican and she always makes pozole for Thanksgiving and Christmas and it’s always so tasty!
They have red, white, and green pozole with your choice of chicken or pork. The red was good, but not as flavorful as the green! Green with pork is the way to go if you want something really flavorful! I haven’t had the white one yet, but I will soon! Also, you can choose either a half or full bowl of soup… the half is plenty, but the full is good too if you want to take some as leftovers. :)
Pozole comes with all the garnishes, including avocado! So awesome!
If you love pozole, please come check this place out!

Great place to eat! The green pozole is the best and the flavor are rich. This restaurant has a great Hispanic feel.

Had the lamb here and it was delicious. Huge thanks to the Bartender Said, very funny, awesome guy!

Tried the enchiladas, taco, sope and chile relleno. Even on a Tuesday night we had to wait at 7p for about 20 mins. We may have been seated sooner, but a friend of one of the servers came in and bypassed the line and got seated in front of us, a bit annoying. Food was fair, I expected better for San Diego and in California. I would pass on ordering the chile relleno, i have had better in several other places, but the taco and sope were both quite good. The meat is well seasoned (tried the chicken, beef and carnitas) and not greasy. The rice and beans were just ok. Not sure if I would go back, but if someone wanted to try it, I would go with them. There are better options in San Diego for Mexican food than this restaurant.

Had the lamb here and it was A1 and not the steak sauce, shit was on point. Will come again. Said is the best bartender in North Park! Ask around!

Stumbled upon this place here in North Park.
There were a lot of options on the menu but I decided to go with the Burrito Carne Asada and added the red enchilada sauce for $ 2!
Now my expectation for adding the enchilada sauce for $ 2! Was that there would be cheese melted on top of the burrito with the sauce or else why would it be $ 2!Nope — - burrito came out and it was just red sauce poured on top of the burrito. But really? It’s not worth the $ 2, it’s just enchilada sauce.
The whole burrito itself was not bad, the carne asada and salsa can use a little less salt. I found myself drinking a lot of water after that meal.
Service could be a lot better, but there were only one server. I’m in no rush to go back but I would give this place another go. I feel like it would be a hit or miss kind of experience every time.

I’m not quite sure LOVE is the appropriate word for this place… well yes it is. Consistently delicious! Live around the corner and cannot get enough… id wait hours to eat here. Must visit! Try the tacos and micheladas :-)

Went to this place a while back on a Sunday morning. I only came here by mistake, I had looked up a Mexican place weeks before and confused it for this place when I tried looking it up again.
The food was horrible! I ordered menudo and it was the most bland thing I have ever tasted! I added everything that came with it and it didn’t help at all. A can of menudo from the grocery store tastes better than theirs!
My friend ordered folded chicken tacos and the chicken was in so much juice/​sauce that they were soggy when they got to him and just got soggier. He had to order rice and beans on the side and to top it off the rice was white rice with carrots in it and was served in a weird triangular shape.
This was just s big disappointment! We paid for our food even though we hardly ate and left to go eat somewhere else. I wouldn’t come back even if they paid me.

Excellent pozole –BUT they do not serve radish (rabano) with their pozole. To me, pozole without radish is like eating tacos without the salsa!
Flavor was good, but the waitress told me they haven’t served radishes with their pozole for a very long time. Weird — but an advanced warning for those who like radishes with their pozole.
Also, service was so-​so. Waitress never once checked on my drink, or to see how the food tasted. I had to flag her down just to ask if they had radishes. The restaurant is small and not very busy, and their are two waitresses. She seemed more interested in watching the TV.
But once the check came, she was very attentive to see if I was ready to pay.
Might come back, but won’t order the pozole.

La comida está buena pero nomas tedan 3 tortillas con tu orden de comida y si quieres más te las cobran alo q y majinate si tú Mamá te diera 3 tortillas y las de más te las cobrará yo pienso q sibas a comer a un restauran te tienen tratar como En tu casa y no cobrar por extra tortillas

So, I was browsing local spots and craving something hot like soup since I’ve had a cold and I came across this spot on Unilocal.I saw all of the hype on their Pozole, so I had to try it out and see if it was better than the Old Town Mexican Café.
I ordered the green pozole with chicken and when I picked up my order, I was told I should have ordered the pork. I did read reviews about the pork being better, but I was more in a chicken mood and I had read that the chicken was white meat, which I’m a fan of. The employees were really friendly and it looked like a mom and pop restaurant hidden inside what looked like a house.
The pozole lacked flavor at first sip. I added several limes, salsa verde, hot sauce and tons of salt and pepper. The second thing was that the chicken was dark meat off a leg is what I’m guessing and that turned me off. I also felt like it was overpriced compared to the Old Town Mexican Café, which serves delicious warm fresh tortillas with their pozole. This place included three small tostadas, which I just ended up throwing away.
Overall, I was pretty disappointed. I’ve decided if I’m not making my own pozole, The Old Town Mexican Café is second best.

For my customary yearly Unilocal!review I will share with you all my delightful experience during my first visit to El Comal last Sunday. It all began with me and a fellow buddy being in the market for some good drinks, great food, and a place to enjoy some Sunday Night Football. He suggested that we go to this place before because he had been here countless times before and he assured me that the drink selection was abundant and that the food was textbook authentic Mexican food. Being an authentic textbook Mexican myself, I doubted him momentarily but decided to tag along with him, nonetheless.
Upon arriving to the familiar North Park scenery, we parked seamlessly and walked through the doors. We were greeting warmly by the friendly staff upon walking through the doors and we made our way to the bar section. Once there, the bartender (Said) greeted my friend (whom he recognized from previous visits) and I. I asked what his beer selection was and without hesitation he answered. I settled for a Negra Modelo and next I ordered some rolled tacos alongside a potato taco. My friend ordered a chicken quesadilla with mushrooms (which was huge!) and we ended up sharing both of our plates for a nice little feast. The food was definitely authentic and savory. It helps that the condiments servings (guac, cheese, lettuce, sour cream) were of generous nature. After feeling a little void left in my stomach, I decide to order the Platano Macho desert and WOW! A true delight and words can’t describe the amazing taste. My mother has always made this dish at home and let me just say that they tasted just as great if not BETTER here at El Comal. I do recommend this dessert to anyone who has yet to have it.
After a couple of rounds of beer and good conversation, I decide to switch it up a little and order a strawberry mojito. I watch Said proceed to grab a fresh batch of strawberries and pulverize them into big chunks which gracefully made their way into my mojito and boy was the final product mesmerizing! In an almost seamless transition, the moment I take the first sip and think to myself: «Heaven must be like this!» I watch a group of Mariachi walk into the place. The night seems endless as I continue to enjoy delicious drinks as I listen to beautiful renditions of Vicente Fernandez’ «Volver, Volver» followed by Luis Miguel’s «La Bikina». The night only seemed to get better as the undefeated Patriots fell to the Denver Broncos and everyone in the venue began clapping. To say the least, I fell in love with the attentiveness of the staff, the delicious food, the breathtaking drinks, and the amazing live Mariachi. The experience was fulfilling and rewarding and definitely worth every single dollar spent. Needless to say, I will be back for more Mariachi Sundays in the future and El Comal now has a new regular in their hands. Thank you Said and staff for the wonderful evening spent at El Comal. I will not have it any other way from now on!

Saw them on Fox 5 news, went in specifically for the pozole. I also signed up for one of those Fox 5 deals so I paid $ 25 for a $ 50 certificate. At the end of the night the bill was $ 54 so the final bill he gave me was $ 4…pretty good deal.
Pozole was right on point, I asked for recommendation and he said pork. It was a winner. He made me a couple cucumber margaritas and they were also tasty. I would definitely return again.

Tucked away behind University Ave in N. Park sits El Comal, a sit-​down Mexican restaurant worth your time.
The main entrance to the building is by ramp and stairs. As you walk towards the front door you’ll notice the patio area. This area is split between the front of the building and the side, so you can either be right on the street chatting with your friends or off in a slightly more secluded area. Directly to your left as you enter is the front counter. The employees who are in this area seated us quickly at a round table. The seating area is mixed between square and round tables. They will accommodate larger parties by dragging a few square tables together. We were quickly greeted by our server and asked for our drink order.
They have a full bar, offer select bottled beer, and other mixed drinks, as well as pop (what the hell is soda?), fresh lemonaid, etc. As we waited for our drinks we looked over the extensive menu. It offers breakfast dishes, dinners, chef specials, salads, tacos, tortas, burittos, and more. I haven’t been in SD since last year and was really craving a fish taco. So I went with a grilled fish taco (w/​rice and beans) and a carne asada torta.
Our food was delivered in about 20 minutes. It was presented neatly on the plates. Beans were in their own small side bowl and the rice was a single scoop. The rice and beans were delicious but the portion size was an artisan helping, which looked pretty but didn’t offer a lot in the way of a filler. The grilled fish taco was stuffed into a fresh tortilla, covered by cabbage and pico de gallo. It was one of the best grilled fish tacos I’ve had since Senior Sol in North Ridge (LA). The torta bread was grilled, which I thought was an excellent touch. This allowed the sandwich to have a nice crunch throughout. I loved that they did this. The carne asada was delicious, and covered in fresh thick slices of avacado. I also really appreciated that they served a jalapeño on the side, instead of sliced over the meat. I love spicy food but have never been a fan of spicy chunks of peppers. Most every place I’ve experienced torta’s have just shuffled slices of Jalapeños into the experience. I was pleased that this place did not.
The food was amazing. Actually the best possible dinner I could have hoped for after traveling all day. The experience was calming and fun. The staff was welcoming and friendly. While my pet peeve for water refills did kick in (because they didn’t offer until I asked), I really have nothing to complain about for this visit.
For «out of towners», this area is mostly limited to street parking. There is a ramp behind university that you can use but you might be better off looking for street parking in or around the area. I say this because there is so much to do in this one area. Some great shops, bars, and experiences can be had. I encourage you to check out the surrounding neighborhood after your meal. Walking back to the car you parked a few blocks away is a wonderful motivational tool to get this done.

Amazed and pleased. Everything I was looking for. I tried the green potato enchilada and red Pozole. Dream come true!!! An amazing Mexican restaurant. The flavors of the Pozole fit my exact mood and all that I was craving! I love the touch of jalapeños. Of course I drenched it with limes… super addicted and obsessed! Kudos

I’ve come here plenty of times and the foods always good. It has a bar and some really delicious micheladas ! once in a while the food will come out cold which really doesn’t surprise me bc it takes forever to get the food and the servers only come and check on you every 30 mins are so !
Just left and we were finished with our food and had the plates sitting In front of us for 15 mins while the server passed us plenty of times. After the 15 mins and being irritated we went up to the counter .
Not a great place for in and out service they do offer takeout .
Always come here when I know I have the time
Again service isn’t great but food makes up for it.

After my first visit to El Comal nearly three years ago, I raved about their delicious margaritas on many occasions to my friends. After my most recent visit, I came to the realization that I like my El Comal margaritas on the rocks, not blended. Unfortunately, it took ordering the blended margarita to remember this detail. It’s not that the blended margarita is bad, it’s just not as good as the on the rocks, which I remember being off the charts amazing.
I purchased a Groupon for four people a few months ago and we finally had our double date a couple weeks ago. We received four margaritas, two appetizers and four tacos. Since I bought the deal during one of Groupon’s sales, we got it for about $ 8 a person. Not a bad deal for that much food!
We ordered two gorditas, a potato and a chicken. I’m pretty sure that the potato gordita was the item that I was served on my previous visit that I absolutely loved so I was excited to try the gorditas again. Again, they were perfectly fine but not as amazing as I remembered. I think they would have been better if the sour cream had been more abundant as they needed a bit of moisture, maybe if it was served on the side instead of on the gordita.
We then each got to choose two tacos and I picked the chicken and carne asada. In both cases, the meat was very flavorful and the chicken was especially juicy. My only wish was that the taco toppings were listed as they were topped with diced onions and I can’t stand onions so I had to slowly pick them off my tacos. My friend asked for some sour cream to put on the tacos and it was the runniest bowl of sour cream that I have ever seen. Not sure what was going on there.
We ate on a Friday night and the restaurant had live music. While the music was nice, I could have done with a lower volume as it got hard to talk at the table on occasion.
I’ve really loved my past visits to El Comal and am basing their rating off a combination of the experiences. I’m hopeful that they can return to their former glory.

I’m docking them a star… Nothing major just been craving their mole and went and got one of their mole based dishes. They really only have two that I saw the enchiladas you can get with mole or the entrée the Chicken in a traditional sweet, spicy chocolate sauce.
I opted for the chicken dish while my boyfriend got the enchiladas with mole. His dish was beautiful and delish. His enchiladas had a nice sour cream drizzle and toppings. While mine left something to be desired…
The Chicken entrees plating was sooo boring. Just a flattened pieces of chicken breast swimming in mole sauce, no garnishes, with a side of rice and beans.
Lets just talk about the plating. The beans and rice that are on the side need a little work… The rice is most likely crammed into a little ramekin or cylinder so it stands like a little tower next to the side of beans that are served in a tiny bowl. This leaves alot of negative space on the plate! Which aesthetically makes the portion size seem so much smaller. Its as if they are scared of the rice touching the beans.
Now lets talk garnishes… this chicken swimming in mole and is in dire need of garnishes! It needs avocado, some pico de gayo, and maybe a dash of sour cream for flavor and contrast in color! Its like they got half way through plating then walked away and forgot to finish it.
Oh and their cheapest margarita is $ 10… be wary
On the postive side the home made corn tortillas that come with this dish are AMAZING… thick and steaming hot! The chicken dish is good… but it has all the potential to be amazing it just need that last little something something!

Much better experience my second time around. The manager read my review, asked how they could better their service, and put it into action! Now that’s running a business!

fui por primera vez y pedí una combinación (traía diferentes antojitos flautas, sopes… etc) pero se me hizo muy seco todo, le faltaba mucho sabor, la atención fue buena y el lugar esta bien.

5-​Star worthiness without a doubt.
Everyone knows that some of the best Mexican food in the U.S. comes out of Southern California. Not my opinion, pure fact. But what a whole lot of people don’t know is that each region, city, or neighborhood has a sub community that has it’s own «spot» for the best Mexican food. Now this is totally subjective, but my favorite spot in San Diego is in the neighborhood of North Park, it’s called El Comal.
This house turned family owned and operated restaurant boast some of the tastiest Pozole, Adobada, Mulitas, Tacos, and Gorditas in San Diego. Yes, Gorditas, this is an actual Mexican dish, not just a bastardized Taco Bell version that so many of us have grown to know. Just for your frame of reference, when I say family owned and operated, I mean «mom» can be found behind the register, her sons are usually manning the bar, and their signatures soups and dishes usually begin at their home and get finished at the restaurant. Literal home cooking on your plate.
My last visit here was just more of the same, great service and great food. I ordered a Michelada, a Gordita, and the Machaca plate. Machaca is basically shredded, slow cooked beef mixed with eggs and peppers. Perfect meal for a wicked hangover.
My Gordita, a half dome of crispy fried happiness, was corn tortilla based and filled with whatever meat or veggies you want, oh yeah, and cheese… lots and lots of cheese! Mine was stuffed with, cheese, peppers, and shredded chicken. Pure goodness on a plate. The crunch of the tortilla, mixed with the creamy cheese, and the spice of the seasoned chicken was good enough to make any bandwagon vegetarian jump ship. This is normally served as an appetizer, but I was feeling gluttonous so I ordered this all to myself.
Next up, Machaca. This comes with house made salsa and tortillas. Side note, their tortillas are so soft and pillowy that even your tongue might want to take a quick siesta when you put these homemade delicacies in your mouth. Thier eggs are good solo, but when mixed with slow cooked meat and peppers, it’s an orgy of food porn to the max. This plate also comes with rice and beans, which is pretty basic for most places with this culinary theme, but the rice here is different. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but from what I’ve been told it’s more like Spanish style rice than Mexican rice. No tomato base, with peas mixed in and almost a sweet flavor on the backend. Nevertheless a very good pairing.
Like I said in the beginning this was a house first, then it was turned into a restaurant. It’s pretty much the only dining spot on this street with apartments on one side and houses on the other and at night you’ll drive right past it and not even know it’s there. I think that helps to keep the cozy and warm vibe you get when you walk-​in.
Heading to San Diego soon? Good! Ditch the well traveled trail and head over to El Comal for a delicious meal and afterwards explore my old barrio, North Park.

Je suggère les margaritas et les fish tacos. Les serveurs sont gentilles aussi. Je retournerai.