Porkyland

$ 9.95 for half a family meal? Heck YEAH! Ok… so It’s my first time popping into Porkyland and I’m pretty happy with the result. ½ lb of carnitas, ½ a dozen of carnitas, rice and beans and all the fixins… Pretty darn awesome for the price and it’s pretty tasty. It’s not life changing but I love how quick and easy it is to get a full meal together without feeling like a total fast food heffer after.

I don’t get the negative reviews — but to each his own. As for MY own, I freakin’ love Porkyland. I love pulled pork… BBQ pulled-​pork, pulled-​pork sandwiches, and carnitas. I have never had an issue with service (on the contrary, one of the main cooks recognizes me and my boyfriend every time and remembers exactly how we like our carnitas). The food is consistent, quick and delicious. Portions are generous and the ingredients are fresh/​quality. I’ve had carnitas elsewhere that were greasy, fatty and grisly… thankfully, Porkyland’s carnitas are lean, tender and not oily.
I suffer from a lot of food intolerances (gluten, soy, dairy, egg, blah blah blah) and it is often hard to walk away from a quick-​food place without a stomach ache and regret. But, my meals at Porkyland have NEVER sent me running for the Pepto Bismol… or the toilet.
Seriously…LOVE it. Keep them carnitas comin’!

First off, all you bad reviewers, do me and others who love Porkyland a favor and go eat at one of a thousand different ‘ertos’ in town, spare me and my fellow Porkylovers your negative junk.
With that said and out of the way, I’m a big fan of Porkyland and believe me, Mexican food has been my staple for the better part of 25 years. Everything I’ve had here is bomb, the salsas are great and service is just fine.
Two stand out burritos are the chicken chipotle and the chicken mole and, the chilaquiles are proper.
Update… just had a veggie burro today and guess what ??? It rules.
Porkyland forever holmes !

Meh I’ve Experienced better sums it up perfectly! Unilocal took the words right out of my mouth!
Ive seen this place, Ive walked past this place, Ive dreamed of savoring their «amazing» carnitas, I tried this place, I completely forgot about this place. I will turn and walk away from this place.
I weaseled my way into making my hungry partner in crime come here for dinner one day. I promised him and made a promise to myself that we were gonna have awesome carnitas. I clearly broke both promises.
I saw the menu wasnt that exciting and more of catering style than anything else. I think thats why it is so bad. The meat is the most bland carnitas Ive ever had. It was cold. Completely room temperature (We drove home literally 2 minutes away). Big, filling tacos, but nasty. Im sorry, but it was literally the worst carnitas Ive ever had.
…And I wasnt joking about forgetting about this place. This visit was months ago!

A let down when compared to their location in La Jolla. Not much parking and bad service. I had to wait more than 20 minutes when me and a coworker were the only people in there.

I have been to this location a couple of times. The last time i went i thought the service was terrible and the food, just OK.
Bad communication between the girl taking orders and the person in the kitchen. Our food came out wrong 3 times. I paid to add guac. (95cents which is ridiculous) to my food and did not get it. I had to wait again for them to re-​make my food. It should not be that hard to make a burrito, especially when there is no one else in the store!
The place was super dirty. I think every chair and couch had crumbs on it and was gross. We sat outside.
When i finally got to eat my food i thought it was just average! i was really disappointed because the food was so overpriced, and i have had way better! :(

First of all… it’s a terrible name, but hey, If can name your restaurant (or buy someone else’s restaurant) with which ever name you want. Honestly, I was on the hunt for Chipotle, but then I switched it up (last second) to try something I have never tried before. Porkyland («PL»…because it doesn’t sound as disturbing) is a simple and quick, Mexican type/​inspired food. You walk up and order with the option to take away and eat or dine in. For this visit, we decided to enjoy the ambiance.
The GOOD: The food is good and simple. I had myself a Mexican inspired, carnitas chimichanga and then for 99 cents, made it wet by covering it with mole sauce. Now, I may hate the name, but I enjoyed the food. The deep fried burrito was well made, it stayed together and had a crispy, crunch crust. The pork within was tender and savory, and the mole sauce was delicious too, even though it was more on the sweeter side. The sauce can vary from person to person, PL definitely has a sweet tooth. I enjoyed it though, and thought it was an awesome tasting meal.
The BAD: I mean, besides the name, nothing really was terrible. I was a bit disturbed that the food came on a Styro-​foam-​like plate. It was a disposable plate, even though they knew I was dining in. I understand the need to be quick, but that threw me off — and that definitely doesn’t affect the taste, but hey, it was the ONLY bad thing that I could think of.
OVERALL: It was quick, it was about $ 7, and I was full. Sounds like a winner to me, just have to put yourself above the name, «Porkyland» and go in and try it. In all honesty, the name literally turns me off. I know it’s good enough food, but if someone asks me, «where’d you go for lunch?» I’d hate to respond with, PORKYLAND. Honestly, I wouldn’t go back, just for the name. If I were hungry, and craving Mexican inspired food, I would continue driving the half block to Chipotle and not worry about responded to where I ate my food.

I ordered the Steak Fajita burrito, they gave me the chicken instead by accident. (No biggie… I was trying to decide between the two in the first place), However, the chicken inside it was so bland. So I returned it and got what I ordered. The steak fajita burrito was a little better, but not much. It was pretty bland too.
Nothing special, nothing horrible, wouldn’t go back unless a friend made me.
The service was pretty good though, they all seemed pretty nice. LOVED the décor, a really cute place.

Soooo we heard about this place through some friends and can’t ever pass up Mexican. Gotta say though, not really impressed. Maybe I’m jaded because hands down the best tacos, I’d say in all of Cali is at Tacos El Gordo. Not only is this place pricier than most, we found the tacos to be pretty greasy, and not in a good way. I ordered the carnitas, figured a place called Porkyland had to have great pork, but really the pork was pretty bland. Good quality, just bland. Everything kind of tasted the same on the menu. The super nachos, $ 7 btw, came with Taco Bell cheese, which my husband actually loved, but the chips were so soggy from the grease that it was just gross. And oddly, they didn’t carry any limes, only lemons, how can you have mex without limes? And i think whoever chooses the music is almost deaf as it was so loud, i was practically yelling across the table lol
Overall, just OK

My new weekly California burrito location!
I am so grateful to have sworn off Santana’s or MXN or whatever the heck they want the call that dump down the street. At first it was difficult, I had trouble finding a suitable burrito/​salsa combination for this picky eater. I had some great burritos with horrible salsa or some great salsas with nasty burritos, but Porkyland has won me over and now I will never look back.
Let me start with the staff since that was my biggest complaint before. They are always friendly and courteous. As I mentioned I am picky, my husband refuses to pick up dinner because of all of the changes, the Porkyland staff is always accommodating and makes ordering a breeze.
The California burrito is really tasty. The meat is fresh and well marinated. Although there is the occasional fatty piece, overall you can tell that the quality of meat is good as are the rest of the ingredients.
As the queen of substitutions, am often disappointed when my orders come out wrong. After probably 10 trips to this place it hasn’t been wrong yet. And I really like the salsa too. I’ve had better, but this is really good and very flavorful. Even my husband, who was growing impatient with my burrito quest (and wanted to return to the enemy… Santana’s) is more than satisfied. We have made the switch!
When I worked in La Jolla I use to frequent that location and I am more than thrilled they came to Hillcrest. Thank you Porkyland.

To be honest peeps… this is a past due review for the OG Barrio Logan location which to my disappointment is now closed.
Down here for work… heard about it from friends and walked right on in. Employees were nice and helpful.
If they could just bottle some essence of Carnita. I would wear it daily and make Hunybunee a happy man!
I had the asada tacos YEEAA BOOOYYY! And Hunybunee had the carnitas tacos combo… Im not a fan of rice (cept for my mamas) so I wont comment and bring my star average down. The beans were perfect! The tortillas Ay Dios Mio… mama start getting jealous!
Im gonna try the new place on University, and lay some flowers at the Logan site, with a wreath saying «In memory of the best Carnitas, this side of the Rio Grande! Ayyyyiii!!! Viva Porkyland!

We had a craving for tacos this weekend and came to Porkyland since I know they know their carnitas! Unfortunately, that seems to be the only thing they got right.
We ordered 2 fish tacos which were battered, topped w/​shredded cabbage, an orange creamy sauce & tomato. These were okay. I have definitely had better. The fish in the taco looked like it came from frozen.
The chipotle chicken taco was lacking the chipotle flavor but the shredded chicken was juicy. I also ordered a al pastor taco, which they forgot to bring out to our table! When we pointed it out and 15 minutes later I ate the taco, it was really disappointing. The taco consisted of chunks of meat instead of the usual spit grilled meat and the meat had large chunks of fat. :-/​
Service was less than friendly. Our waitress dropped off our tacos one by one on the table and would say, «Ummm…this is the fish/​chicken/​etc. taco», all while staring at the plate as if she wasn’t sure. And as I mentioned before, they forgot our al pastor taco.
I do like that they have puppy friendly outside seating, but I suggest you stay away from everything else outside of the carnitas if you come here.

I got the chicken chipotle taco. It was extremely juicy and good but I didn’t get any chipotle taste at all. The chips were good, average.
The chicken quesadilla was really good, cheesy and heavenly. I think the chicken was the same as from the taco.
I love the salsa bar. The picked carrots were killer. The hot sauce was yummy and really spicy.
I wouldn’t seek this place out but wouldn’t hesitate to go back.

Very Sad… Worst «Mexican «food in San Diego.
The salsas: yuck, not spicy at all, I think ketchup is spicier than any salsa here.
The burrito: dry, no special taste, just boring pork carnitas.
The drinks: too sweet! And they have NO HORCHATA? What’s a Mexican meal without HORCHATA?
My experience was a bummer, very disappointed.

Blah. Boring.
Got the chicken fajita burrito (wet) and it was totally boring. I asked the cashier if it was white-​meat chicken (I don’t dig on the dark) and she said yes.
Get home, cut into the burrito and –BAM– a buncha nasty, fatty, stringy dark chicken meat. UGH. Total disappointment. The burrito was just the nasty dark chicken meat, onion, peppers, and rice.
I won’t be going back.
2 stars for the salsa.

Loved the homestyle refried beans [fart], the rice [belch], the fajita burrito [hiccup] and the margarita [:P]. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Porkyland holds a special place in my heart. It’s different from the –bertos (taco shops that cater to the drunk, which I’m not knocking) and it’s not up to La Fachada standard, but it’s in a trendy little part of Hillcrest and has good offerings.
When I first became enamored of Porkyland, the chicharron tacos used to make me swoon. Nothing says love like crispy pork skin. Porkland offers a wet and a dry version, but stick with the dry. My friend S and I have made a mad dash for chicharron tacos during a Laker playoffs halftime, which says something (S being a huge Lakers fan, me being somewhat ambivalent). Carnitas is hit or miss — I’ve had a really moist rendition but also a very dry one that reminded me of Chinese dehydrated pork. I’ve had buche once and it was really excellent: meaty tasting and moist. Salsa is not worth trying, as it is garden variety Rubio’s.
The service is excellent. Also, each receipt offers 10% off for a future order, which might just be the small push to keep you coming back for more.

If you want to feed 3 people for under 10 dollars I will tell you what to order…
Carnitas jumbo burrito wet
I tried to eat the thing by myself,
ME: 200 lb athletic male with great fondness of mexican food.
BURRITO: take hulk hogan’s arm from the elbow to his fist lay it on a plate and cover it with red sauce.
WINNER: BURRITO
After eating half the burrito, I felt as if I was on an episode of man vs food. And I could not let humanity down. I struggled past the half way point eating just the inside of the burrito using my fork but the pound of cheese/​tortilla just laughed at me. I finally lowered my head in shame and spent the rest of the day in a food coma useless to the rest of the office.

I have been a fan of Porkyland for years but I have a few problems with the Hillcrest location:
1) Inconsistent: For example, the tortillas are sometimes dry, they shouldn’t be, especially when they make them there.
2) They close too early, 8PM is too early for Hillcrest
3) Chips are extra (and expensive) they should be free, or at least come with combo meals
4) Waste: way too much styrofoam, plates, and paper, I always feel wasteful throwing away so much trash, especially when I order a few different things, they should go with plates like Mama Testa’s does
5) Explain on the menu what some of the items are, some people aren’t as knowledgeable what some of the more obscure items are.
On a positive note, the staff is great, and the food is great… I only mention these complaints because I want them to succeed!

Porkyland (
) is another stop in the «Where This White Boy Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead At Night Tour 2009.» I was hoping to see a Porky Pig-​themed shop but that wasn’t the case as Porky just turned out to be a suede or felt covered pig with cigarette burns on him (
). L-​A-​M-​E.
I noticed the guy in the kitchen wearing gloves so you won’t have to worry about him contaminating your food with any fecal germs on his fingers. The guy behind the counter was nice as he told me that they could make anything that I wanted. The only catch is that it had to food-​related so my idea for a reclining chair quickly went out the window. Lots of spacious seating (
) can be found at Porkyland. Now, on to the food.
Their chicken tostada (
) was good though the person I went with said it was pretty damn spicy. The carne asada burrito with beans and cheese only #57 — (
) was DAMN good. Great carne asada and though the beans were not perfect, they were still good. Their breakfast burrito #75 — (
) was really good as the bacon and eggs were cooked to my liking and it also had a perfect balance of ingredients.
If you come here after the sun goes down, don’t worry about bringing a sweater or a jacket. Instead, bring that bulletproof vest that your Grandmother gave you for Christmas last year.
*Update Nov 1, 2009: Pollo asado burrito (with beans and cheese only) # 5 —
Competely average chicken burrito. Nothing to go out of your way for.*