Adalberto's Mexican Food
(between Oliphant St & Poe St)
San Diego, CA 92106 (619) 224-4440
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Alcohol: None
14 Reviews for Adalberto's Mexican Food
Stopped here for breakfast one morning because I was fiending for a breakfast burrito. Hands down my favorite burrito anywhere is the Cali burrito...but for breakfast? Nah. Cali burrito with EGG! Cali breakfast burritos are sure to hit the spot. This location does a good job of stuffing the burrito and mixing the ingredients. There is potatoes, egg, cheese, and carne asada in every bite. MMmmMMm.
"Damn!"
Those were the first words uttered by me during my last visit to this place. Not in a bad way but in the very BEST possible way ever.
Reason being? This place is the bomb, that's why.
I first started coming to this place in '95 when I was going to school down the street. I was on a mission to find what I thought was the best carne asada burrito---and I know Santana's is just down the road. However in my mind it is miles apart when it comes down to service and food.
You know how things can be lofted in your memories? How you had great memories of a place and therefore vaulted it up on high, remembering how wonderful it was...and then you go back and find it so-so?? Well not here at Adalberto's!! I have been back nearly everytime I've been in San Diego and this place never disappoints. NEVER! The quality has remained top-notch and the quantity has, too. I do not believe I have ever had anything bad off of the menu.
This place is fantastic! Go out, try other places. You'll come back here, I promise. Hell, you may even find yourself craving the food!
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I've been to my fair share of taco shops since moving to San Diego, and coming from LA. I basically base my entire opinion of a taco shop based on the quality of their rolled tacos and salsa verde.
I discovered Adalberto's since I got a job around the navy base there. The best part of Adalberto's was their free chips (which I snacked on while I waited for my order), their selection of salsas was somewhat lacking (salsa verde, and another red salsa), not really important for me though, seeing as I only use salsa verde.
The quality of the salsa was good, it was nice and spicy.
The meat inside the rolled tacos was fairly high quality (pulled beef, as opposed to a more ground or scrappy beef), but the rolled tacos I got were a bit over cooked (extra crunchy, if you like that), and the overall presentation was so-so. The guacamole was of higher quality than I expected though (it had a nice chunky quality to it, as opposed to the liquefied variety that is typical). In addition to the cheddar cheese, there was also some white/red cheese (pepper jack? something else?), it was a somewhat strange experience. Overall, a moderate amount for about a dollar per rolled taco, but far from the best plate of rolled taco's I've had.
I probably would've liked this place more if the staff didn't argue with me when they messed up my order and I asked them to fix it. Why would I, a vegetarian, order meat rolled tacos instead of potato ones? Anyway...
Other than that, the food was good. I just got a bean & cheese burrito and shared the potato rolled tacos. The rolled tacos were better than the burrito. Decent portions for great prices, I can't really complain.
Alright, so I'll be completely honest here, this should be about 4.5, but I edged them up because of the recency effect. For those of you who are not familiar with the recency effect, it basically means that I just ate their food and it was very good, thus, because of their recent success with me, I rate them a bit higher.
I picked up some food from here on sunday night after going to church two blocks away (guess which one). I got a carne asada burrito and a friend got the carne asada chips. My wife ordered a pollo asado burrito, knowing that she was not going to eat it right away. Before I go into the food, allow me to comment on the restaurant. small, no-frills taco shop with a mini-salsa bar that includes free chips, salsas roja y verde, zanahorias y chiles (hot carrots and jalapenos). I didn't try the salsa verde because it is not generally spicy enough for me, but the roja was decent. I won't rave about it as much as others have, but it was pretty good. The carrots actually weren't very hot, but the jalapeno's complimented them well.
Now for the food. by burrito was pretty large. Still not quite as big as the ones at Poncho's in El Cajon, but I'd say a little larger than average SD taco shop. It had salsa fresca, guacamole, cheese and sour cream in addition to the carne asada, prefect ingredients. The carne asada was pretty good, not the best I've had, but it was very flavorful, tender is not quite the word, but it definitely wasn't chewy. The tortilla was very good, which I always appreciate. All in all, the ingredients really came together well and for $5, not too shabby.
I did get to try some of my friends carne asada chips as well, which, surprise, surprise, tasted like my burrito, but over chips. It came with guac, cheese and he added sour cream. It was the regular size for $5, which was more than he was able to eat. These were very good, but a little on the greasy side, which is good in my book, but not in some. The sour cream was a nice touch, even though they charged like .50 for it and we had some at home, where we ate. But honestly, that's about a tenth of a gallon of gas these days, so whatever.
The reason I waited until today to write this one up though is because of the pollo asado burrito. Well, my wife did not eat it for lunch the following day, so I took it for lunch today. Remember, this is 2 days after it was purchased and it was reheated in the microwave. This burrito was by far the best thing I've had from here and bumped them up from a 4 to a 4.5, which resulted in the 5 with the recency effect. The chicken was dark meat and very tender. It was seasoned very well, probably using sabor latino or some other chicken buillion-like flavoring, as well as some other very good spices. There was cheese, salsa, and sour cream inside, which was the perfect combo for this burrito. Reheated, it tasted amazing, but I suspect that it would have been even better there. The tortilla was good and they didn't use too much like they do at some places. this burrito was perfect! A+ and it only cost $4.50!
Now for a few logistics. They are pretty conveniently located, small shop with free bonuses mentioned above. They are cash only, but have some strange "ATM" machine thing going on that lets you swipe your card and "take out money" in the form a receipt that you give to the guy at the register and he gives you cash back. I don't know why they do this, but it works, but charges you 1.50 for the transaction. They have a lot on their menu and I have been told that the breakfast burritos are better than Nicos because they are not as greasy. I will definitely be back in the VERY near future.
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These stars are mainly for Adalberto's hot sauce. You could tell from the nearly flourescent red color that it was going to be s-p-i-c-y, and yes it was! Just how I like it.
The burrito I got, bean and cheese, was literally just beans and cheese. I guess they are honest, but I'm used to San Francisco-style burritos that are loaded with rice, lettuce, salsa, etc.
San Diego taquerias have the best tortillas, though, and Adalberto's delivered on that front. I think it was the overload of beans that made me not love the total package.
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Having completed two tours in San Diego, and eaten at most every taco shop imaginable, I can authoritatively declare that Adalberto's is tops. Almost weeky, I would fax in orders that topped $150.00 for our staff, and if you've looked at the menu, you can see that is a TON of food. Carne Asada Burritos con todo; Carne Asada Chips; three rolled with guac are all top notch fare, and probably the best in the county. The Machaca burrito started out many a Pt. Loma Sailor's day. If you want good, honest Mexican style food while in San Diego, this is the place.
San Diego - home to the Padres, the Chargers, Old Town, Sea World...and Carne Asada Fries. On my latest trip down to the Dago, we drove for eight hours and arrived famished. The first thing we did when the bellman brought our luggage up to our room? Asked him where the nearest taco shop was. (Taco shop is not the same thing as Taqueria, mmmkay?)
Our friendly bellman (Uncle Steve) gave us simple directions to Adalberto's (and anyone who knows San Diego knows that some of the best Mexican food is available from places ending with "-erto's"). Looking over the glossy bright yellow menu on the wall, it was decided that we would share an order of carne asada fries....and of course, we had to add some rolled tacos in there too (you cannot resist)....topping it off with a nice glass (styrofoam to go cup) of Jamaica agua fresca (not Jah-may-kuh, like where Bob Marley is from, but Huh-my-kuh, like hibiscus flower). I don't think I've ever scarfed Mexican food so fast. It was delicioso y sabroso.
We didn't even break the $10 mark.
I LOVE YOU SAN DIEGO!!
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A double fist sized fish taco for $2??? Oh hellz yeah.
'Medium' carne asada french fries that filled the 9x9 take-out container to the rim with fries, guac, sour cream, then COVERED in carne asada steak?
And rolled tacos - not your cheapy taquitos from Trader Joe's - GOOD strips of carnitas in a real fried flour tortilla, rolled, then once more COVERED w/lettuce, guac, sour cream and salsa?
Aldaberto's - it's a small corner of heaven.
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Adalberto's holds a special place in my heart. My friend and I frequented this place (when we hung out with submariners.) We made special trips in college to Point Loma just for this. It's cheap Mexican food at its finest.
We loved the chicken and cheese burritos and the rolled tacos with cheese and guacamole (I still call em taquitos.) They have a chip and salsa "bar" set up by the door and we usually finished out the hot sauce. :o) If you're lucky you'll run into an old drunk at the bar next door or some weirdo staring at you from his table by the window. It's all in the charm of this place. I love it.
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There is a fallacy, a myth - if you will - on what women do when they are together partaking in "Girl Time".
FANTASY: A group of women lounging around in their see-thru nighties, taking turns applying makeup on one another, filing and painting their nails as they talk and giggle about cosmetics, marriage, babies, ideal hubbies, diamond rings, and clothing designers. Then - making out with each other before falling asleep in one another's laps.
Sorry, men. Not the case. You know what REALLY goes down...?
REALITY: To start off the evening, we gorge ourselves on 2 HUGE orders of some kind of fatty, greasy, calorie-laden, oh-so-good junk like the Carne Asada Nachos from Adalberto's (OMG - THE BOMB though). Then when we get home, we lounge about in our stretchy pants/sweats/oversized t-shirts, bellies all hanging out, hair tied up in buns, make-up off, going to town on a whole chocolate cake that we share (eating it directly from the box), drinking bottle after bottle of wine and champagne until we get drunk-obnoxious-loud and laughing big guffaw laughter, analyzing endlessly our men issues and quandries, and sharing celebrity gossip as a movie we're not watching is playing in the background.
Sorry to burst your bubble boys. Ya had to learn some time.
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Another day of lunch at work meant a new place to eat at in Point Loma. Today, I chose Adalberto's after passing on a sandwich at Brown Bag Deli a block away. Boy, did I make an excellent decision.
I'm surprised this joint wasn't streaming with folks. Yes, it's another -Berto's, but this one is different. The menu options were huge (along with the servings).
Of course, when I go to any taco place, I instantly go for the California/carne asada burrito with refreshing horchata. As I waited for my order, I filled up at the salsa bar with the red and green salsas, carrots, jalapenos, and chips (how many places offer chips for free these days?). Well, I could give this place 5 stars alone for having the cajones to actually provide a hot, spicy red salsa that wasn't watered down. On to the burrito.
The carne asada is some of the most flavorful I've had in SD. Oil-soaked French fries, salsa fresca, and cheese round out this version. Overall, the burrito is a step below Santana's (a few blocks down the road) California burrito. The horchata was the standard rush of sugar.
Will update as I intend to return on a weekend morning to try their touted menudo for $5 a bowl.
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Easily the best carne asada burrito in greater San Diego.
In 1993 it cost $2.60 (tax included). In 2001, it was $3.20.
Not bad.
I used to get one of these for breakfast 3 or 4 times a week when I worked across the street in glorious Pt. Loma.
Video games inside and very hot hot sauce. And you can do your laundry next door.
When my Mexican grandmother visited me in SD in 92 or so, she ordered extras to take home.
Go. Eat.
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When we were a bunch of hungry 20-year old's, Adalberto was our "go-to-guy" for getting a late night burrito.
open 24/7
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