Chilangos Mexico City Grill
142 University Ave
Ste E
(between 1st Ave & 3rd Ave)
San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 294-8646
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
18 Reviews for Chilangos Mexico City Grill
I used to go here years ago and I stopped going. I have no idea why. The food is really good. The tortilla soup is some of the best I've had and the salsa is amazing. I had the vegetarian enchiladas with mole verde, rajas and mushrooms. I highly recommend the tamarindo. It's homemade and actually has chunks of tamarind in it. It's not the super sweet stuff that comes from a mix you get at most mexican restaurants.The service was great.
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Good food. I had the vegetarian enchiladas this time, but substituted the salsa verde, and they were great. The chips and guacamole were so delicious, the chips crisp and the guacamole fresh and full of beautiful looking avocado. My friend rated the salsa the best he had ever had, it is sort of chipotle/smoky style. The rice and beans were okay, nothing special. The margaritas were yummy, I didn't realize before that they were wine, but they had to be since they do not have a full bar, very good and refreshing. Service was very attentive, and we dined just after the pride parade so it was a little busy, but our waitress was very present. Definitely worth a visit.
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What happened to Chilango's? This place used to be great a couple of years ago. I hear its the same owners. But something must have happened in between when they changed from Chilango's to the Sushi/Japanese place and then back to Chilango's.
Service is now horrible and food is even worse. Yes, the food is cheaper. Good thing. Taste and feels cheaper. Bad Thing.
With so many restaurants on the same block (Ortega's, The Better Half, Hula's, etc), they better get their act together fast if they plan on staying open for business!
I had heard so many good things about this place but was always a little skeptical of how authentic a Mexican restaurant can be when it is sandwiched between an upscale dog store and the ever changing restaurant on the corner. Well, I don't like to admit it but I was wrong.
This is probably some of the most unique Mexican food, or food in general for that matter, that I have had in San Diego. There were so many items on the menu that sounded tempting that I will have to be back soon. The waitress was helpful in describing the flavor of the dishes. We tried the poblano pepper stuffed with shrimp and chicken with a pear sauce. Sounds weird but tasted good. The shrimp were large and well cooked. There was not much chicken to be found but it didn't seem to take away too much from the dish. Also had the grilled fish with shrimp in a almond cream sauce. This was not overly heavy and another nice dish. I was not crazy about the sangria--not bad, just not something I would get again.
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My girlfriend and I went there a couple of years ago, since we'd never been there before. Not only did we have to suffer the indignity of waiting 45 minutes after ordering with only our drinks to show for it, but when we informed the little waiter that we were leaving, his officious response was, "Well, if you want fast Mexican food, you should go to a taco stand."
I suppose we should have bowed our heads, mumbled something in the affirmative, and shuffled off to Buffalo. Unfortunately, my girlfriend, who has been a restaurant server for more than twenty years, had the temerity to say something like "If your business was professionally managed, we'd have eaten, paid, and be gone already!"
Therefore I'm giving them as few stars as possible. Incidentally, there were no other customers, and this was lunchtime! Go figure...
I've only eaten here once, but if I could give this restaurant six stars, I would, and I can only think of a couple other restaurants that deserve this honor.
The food here is simply otherworldly...subtle, complex, perfect. The soups here are so balanced; the broths have a wholesome quality to them...each one is very different from the others and yet they have this common element of somehow warming up your heart and soul.
The entrees were exquisite. My first comment, and this is something that is extraordinarily unusual, is the quality of the meat. Both of us ordered pork, and the meat was very rich in flavor and cooked perfectly. The pork in my dish was easily the best pork I have ever had in my life. The sauces on both of our dishes were green and looked similar, but besides that, had no other similarities.
The flavors here were also somehow emotionally charged. I found flavors and aromas emerging from our meal that I had not encountered for years, and they brought back all sorts of memories for me. Eating here turned out to be a strange emotional and spiritual experience too, sparked of course by the complexity of the food. The food, like the soups, was also very wholesome and nourishing. The portions were perfect.
We then had Flan for dessert. I have never had such good flan in my life. I hate whipped cream, and even the whipped cream around the edge was delicious. There were fresh strawberries and canned peaches, both of which had been soaked in something delicious, and there were various syrups dribbled about the plate. The flan itself was extremely rich without being overly heavy. It was darker in color than any flan I had ever eaten, and there was a large amount of variation in texture and flavor from the bottom to the middle to the top.
The service here was also absolutely flawless. Our waitress was cheerful and had an air of elegance about her, like the food. She was very attentive, always coming out at exactly the right times...and in spite of the food seeming to have had endless care put into it, it did not take unusually long to prepare.
What else can I say? I'm not quite sure how they do it, but this place is amazing. The chef here must be a genius.
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The sauce was good, but the portions were small and the server was VERY hard to understand. As a matter of fact EVERYTHING seemed to be small about this place. The chips dish was small and so were the water cups. Gonna pass next time.
Within Chilango's menu is something special...uh, the specials. Everything appears to be an average mexican restaurant until you get to the specials and look under sauces (and do look under sauces!). THIS is what makes Chilango's special. Specialty moles, a variety of pepper sauces and incredible tomato sauces really set this place apart. Likewise, ask to try some of their salsas and you will not be disappointed!
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Went here for some lunch had the chicken nachos, they were so fresh and really good "wow". My lover had some shrimp plate that was so so so delicious. I think this place would probably be best for dinner. We sat outside on the patio, that was nice and quiet. I will write more, after a few more visits.
Thank you, Chilangos
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We really enjoyed the lunch specials; the prices were right, the portions ample, and flavors unique. We began the meal with the ceviche, which was fresh, delicious, and enough for two people. The menu overall was limited, if not special, and in keeping with the authenticity of the restaurant. We think it is a good overall effort and worth stopping by for...and yes we have eaten at the Mexican Bistro across the street!
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YES THEY ARE OPEN!
Wanted to get that out there. Chilango's is open.
Reopened? I guess so. I never heard of the place. I live down the street and saw a night-after-night empty sushi place fizzle. Then a group, what looked like a family, came in and overnight "Chilango's" was there.
And it makes me smile.
Chilango's is D.F. cuisine. It pulls classic dishes and ingredients from many regions of Mexico and makes em classy. Classy and yet tasty and filling(y) and good(y).
The menu is in the $10-16 range for well-portioned protein and rice/bean combos. But its not a plate slathered with reheated re-fried beans, rather an appropriate-sized serving or the starches. My wife Sarah's Chicken and Shrimp Chile Relleno (not the name on the menu) came with rice and steamed spinach, which she quite liked, probably due to its hint of garlic (she doesn't like my steamed spinach though). My chicken in the jalapeno-cream sauce was fantastic. That subtle spiciness that creeps up on the back of the throat. Rich yet satisfying.
All the dishes looked great. But the best part seems to be the dinner specials. 2 enchiladas, rice and beans for $7.99. Your choice of protein and sauce. Want shrimp with the light pink jalapeno-cream sauce or pork with mole verde or chicken with whatever... have at it.
And their soups sounds good too. We had their appetizer "de la casa" which was a fancified 7 layer bean dip. Well worth it. Fresh avocado and the salsa of your choice, cool sour cream, warm beans... good stuff. I don't think chips and salsa are complementary... the dip looked too good on all the other tables.
There was one waitress who was very attentive and knowledgeable of the menu. And there actually were people there! A good, steady stream for an early Tuesday evening. My guess is their drink list isn't fully in place, as they only had two beer choices. And it doesn't seem likely that they have a full liquor license, but this isn't the place to get a margarita and tacos. This is a place to enjoy great food. Oh, and did I mention great food that comes with handmade tortillas? Tortillas that our waitress kept forcing more and more upon us? Sarah said I was acting like a kid when more appeared... I was excited to not have to ask or to pay more for extra tortillas!
Anyway, we now have a fancy place to explore more gourmet Mexican food and not pay out the nose. After you've exhausted the out of town relatives with taquerias, take them to Chilango's!
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The food was really good. We had the lunch specials. I had the chicken tacos, which had chicken breast meat. They were tasty, and my wife had the pork quesadilla....it was a little greasy but overall.....good. We had started off with a ceviche. Served in a bowl, and a little oily. Besides being a departure of how I am usually served ceviche (Tall skinny cocktail glass, where it is like impossible to get the little bit from the very bottom.), and a little more oily than I was used to. With all that being said, the food was really good. The place itself was a little wierd. Dance music was BLARING, like Rosarito style or something. We were the only ones there. Totally annoying. The food was good though. I would consider going back, I would like to try some of their dinner entrees.
+Good food
+Left full
+Not just a taco shop
-Wierd ambiance
-Loud music
I thought they closed. I drove by the other day, because it caught my eye last year, but never made it back 'till recently.
Wonder why they closed so soon.
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I went there Wednesday night for a birthday dinner and of the 13 people attending, 11 got food poisoning (myself included). Enough said.
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A great place! Don't go if you're wanting the typical, as they don't serve tacos, burritos, enchiladas, etc. Rather, the food is based on recipes from Mexico City. The place is small and there are only one or two waiters, but they are very nice and the food is very good!
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Nice ambiance, interesting and healthy mexican food, excellent margaritas. Not your basic mexican fare.
The last time I went they had only one waiter and several tables full. As soon as we sat down the waiter brought us little bowls of soup and some water which kept us occupied until he had a moment to take our orders. It was a nice way to handle a busy situation that could have drug on for a while and tested our patience.
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i am sorry they are gone. adios
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