Casa 1915

This was the perfect place to go to after the train museum with my big family. There were 6 adults and 2 kids, everyone found something they liked to eat- rice bowls, salad bowls, and burritos galore, there was enough seating, and it was casual enough for the kids to run around and steam off the excitement from the museum without getting looked at funny.
I wouldn't go out of my way to come to Balboa to eat here but if I was at a museum I wouldn't mind coming back to get a bite.

Would you eat at a Mexican style fast food restaurant in a tourist area? I would if there was a table of Mexican looking workers talking in Spanish.

I was on my way to the Model Railroad Museum at Balboa Park, having skipped the San Diego History Museum, when I came upon Casa 1915, honoring the Mexican revolution ending in 1915.

Friendly smiling staff beckoning me to try out the food.

This place is a Chipotle wanna be, with you going along a lunch counter and selecting from the individual trays of ingredients right in front of you.

1) pick your style: burrito, bowl, or salad;
2) pick your protein: grilled carne, carnitas, pollo al pastor, or vegetarian
3) pick your toppings: rice, beans, lettuce, salsa, grilled onions and peppers, sour cream

I always get the bowl, as it holds more than a burrito, and you get more money's worth than a salad. I get the carnitas, as the pork has more flavor than the beef or chicken. Never the vegetarian. Meat always cost more, but not here. Add lettuce, grilled onions and peppers, corn, and rice, instead of beans. All true Chinese eat rice with their meal, even Mexican food!

Minimal ambiance with plastic chairs and tables, everything indoors with no windows, just a few tables facing museum posters on the wall.

I sat next to one table of Mexican workers in their dirt stained work clothes speaking Spanish -if the Mexican food is good enough for them, then it has to be good. On the other side a table of senior Asians -always looking for good value. No screaming kids around, as school is in session -the right time to come to Balboa Park!

The meal doesn't have a lot of flavor until I taste the spicy roasted tomato salsa. No sour cream for me. Holy smoke, it's so hot, I'm almost breathing out flames like the Tolkien Dragon.

I gulp down one plastic cup of tap water, and then another, mopping my forehead and neck of sweat from the spicy sauce. $7.95 for a decent portion of lunch isn't bad, especially with hot salsa to bring me to my senses!

Closed Mondays.

Saturday 8/27/2016@12:28p
Casa 1915 in MOPA
Stay away!!!
Expensive and flavorless.
Meats were all dried and old looking.
Ordered 2 cheese roll ups, chips & guacamole and vegetarian bowl.
How about $23.54 of tasteless wanna be
Chipotle style food.
Ordered 3 hotdogs at a cart for $12.
It was waaay better.
Next time, eat before or after visiting Balboa Park.
No pics, threw away food.
Wait for my dinner pics.
It'll be better.

Friendly service, but not the freshest food. Although it tasted fine, everything on the burrito bar was nearing empty, and the meats looked dried up.

This is a small fast food restaurant similar to Chipotle. A tiny quesadilla with a Capri-Sun drink is $5. Complete rip off. My kid likes the quesadilla and $2 chips & guac. I can't stomach the prices though.

Solid super stuffed burrito which seems kind of healthy. Tasted really fresh. Staff was very friendly. Great option for lunch if you're hanging out in balboa park for the day.

Lies....

We went to this place for lunch on valentines day after going to the train museum hence they are in the same building. Walking by people eating the food, it smells great, and everyone food looks good as well...

Then the menu, It says Grilled Carne, as a main ingredient for burritos and bowls... which are 2 of the 3 things they serve. It also says about $7 per meal... Getting into line they lied about the Carne, as they did not have any, nor ever did says the employee I ask... They had Something that looked like beef covered in sauce to cover up the fact that it was all overcooked. Then they had under cooked chicken. My ladie got a bowl, which they filled with the disgusting beef, and then covered with salad ingredients to make it look edible and attractive, Then they charged us $4 for a can of soda, which brough our 2 person meal to $23...

As we walked outside my girlfriend showed me her bowl which when mixed up looked like a grease bowl, the meat was unchewable and coated extensively with a bitter sauce. My burrito immediately fell apart and was destroyed, It turned into a mess on a plate, in no way a burrito.

In all. The Food was horrible, we were deceivingly led there and over payed for food that was just really bad. Don't eat here ever.

This place gets an E for effort. Don't come here thinking you'll get chipotle. Same concept, different taste.
I had a chicken bowl. Flavoring was bland.
Salsa wasn't spicy at all and their portions are quite small.
The kids meal isn't worth it. My niece had a "cheese roll up". It's a quesadilla, nothing "rolled" about it. Tiny little tortilla, water or apple juice and that's it. Not worth $4.95.
Cleanliness was okay. Customer service was okay. Everything about this visit was "okay". Not necessarily bad, but also not great. Main reason why I wouldn't visit again is because of the food.

Think Chipotle, but with really slow service and probably not the same commitment to non-GMO foods.

It was okay. There were only two guys serving and there was quite a line at lunch time. That said, I enjoyed my salad and the location was convenient for exploring Balboa park.

I don't eat at Chipotle's, so I can't compare as the other reviewers did, but I love this place for a quick lunch that's not fast food at Balboa Park. It's a bit out-of-the way, inside where the SD History and the SD Photography Museums are, but worth the search. Then go eat slowly in the park.

There is a fresh bar where you can see all the choices for salad, burrito or "bowls". Yum! Whole wheat or "flour" tortillas, brown or white rice, pinto or black beans, etc., lots of choices, everything fresh and delicious. I love the corn salad.

The people serving are really nice and pleasant even when the line gets long. It's a good sign that the line is long at lunchtime! The place is spotless and organized.

I almost gave Casa 1915 4 stars because I wish they had corn tortillas for street tacos, but they don't advertise that. I'm just happy to have healthy fresh toppings for a fat burrito.