La Especial Norte

We had last eaten here about the time (early 80's) after they had first opened. Back then we had noticed their name was the same as one of our favorite places (La Especial) in the downtown touristy part of Tijuana, BC. Back then we didn't care much for 'Norte' since comparing it to their down south ancestry namesake. If you can tell from the stars, we kinda enjoyed our whimsical visit this trip after seeing it in the same location ever since. By the looks of things, yes, they have been here a while.

We were in the mood for soup . . . any kind of soup. La Especial Norte showed up on Yelp and Google when searching for "soup", and we noticed they had a large soup menu (lots of caldo). What is funny is that neither of us ordered soup. Instead, we went with the ol' standbys of tostada, beef taco and chili relleno. We also noticed they had a full bar menu and remembered they had their own parking lot since we were/are in need of a handicapped spot, with minimal distance to walk/scoot; something rather rare along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in the beach areas of Sothern California.

We ate a lot of their great chips and enjoyed their very flavorful salsa. Problem is (not really a problem), their portions were very large, but their prices were super affordable. Maybe that's why the popularity among the quantity of seniors patronizing this day. We had a two-item combo and a 1/2 beef Tostada Especial (still huge), a bottled Tecate and a mixed well drink. We only spent ~$38 excluding tip. Pretty good no matter how you look at it when considering the two alcoholic beverages on the bill.

The food here today even tasted really good. I remember saying to the wife that the beans and rice were really good; something not normally associated with other Mexican restaurants. Yes, the other items on the plates were also delicious. We had plenty of leftovers, and even took the remaining salsa with us as well.

La Especial Norte may now be on our positive experience list of recommendations for good food. So give it a try.

Dicks

This is your go to Mexican restaurant if you like to wait to be greeted by your server, wait for 20 mins to get your drinks, wait 50 mins to an hour for your food and not have refills on a timely manner.

If you like to spend 2 hours at a restaurant then you found the right place.

I do give the food 4 Stars but maybe I was just so hungry that anything would of tasted good.

Too many places to choose for Mexican food so we will not be going back.

Hadn't been for a number of years and I'm afraid this place isn't very Especial any more.

Our party of six arrived at an empty restaurant a little before 5:30 and we didn't get our dinners until almost 6:45.  One of the party had been waiting for years to have the Black Bean Soup again and was very disappointed at the lack of flavor.  Another ordered a breaded fish taco and wound up with grilled.  The Swiss Enchilada was smothered in crema, and that's all you tasted, and the Carnitas Sope had large inedible hunks of meat/fat/tendon that totally ruined the dish.  

I guess there's a Expiration Date for everything and La Especial Norte has reached theirs.  And, BTW the Margarits were sweet enough to constitue a dessert, not the tart concoction to stimulate appetite.

This spot is an absolute hidden gem. I've been going here since I was young and have always appreciated the fun decor, wide selection of food, and great prices for what you get. This is my go to sit down Mexican restaurant. I love getting different combos, their black bean soup, and their cabbage salad is seriously the best. I most recently ordered the (cheese) enchilada and (cabbage) burrito combo and it was excellent, per usual. I appreciate that they also have a few vegetarian entre options like potato tacos, Chile relleno, veggie fajitas, and the cabbage burro (veggie burrito with their cabbage salad in).

I ordered the shrimp feast and it came with ONLY 8 SHRIMP! 2 were bacon wrapped and tasted dry like it was old and the oil was burned when it was cooked it. The rest were divided into 2 in different tasteless canned sauces. This is definitely NOT authentic. Even the refried beans were dry with oily cheese puddled on top. Don't go here if you want authentic. Other plates were the fried fish mojarra and it was like the fish was beaten because every bone was broken. You could not eat it without being very careful with every pinch of meat. Looking around at other customers none appeared to be locals or seem to know what authentic food should taste like. One star because zero was not an option.

Food was NOT good. I got the combo with chicken steak and shrimp. It was SOO overcooked.... Chicken was inedible and steak was tough and cooked well done although the small portion of shrimp was good. Wife got a fish burrito and said it was like someone wrapped a tortilla around some coleslaw and under seasoned fish. Service was bad waiting 15 minutes for the waiter to stop by the table to check out was ridiculous. I think he went on a break and left the tables alone without coverage. The chips were good though

Best soups around North County.  They have an entire menu page of 12+ delicious soups. Chicken tortilla soup,Matildas chicken soup and regular chicken soups are savory and satisfying. Pozole with chicken has a kick of red chili with a side of fresh cabbage, lime, radishes, onions and cilantro- very good!  Hearty soups of Tarasca, black bean and pinto bean soups; I love the Tarasca with hearty smooth  pinto beans, avocado, toasted chile, cheese! Other notable soup favorites include Caldos de mariscos various seafood soups, Eggplant soup,  Albondiga meatball soup, Tlapeno soup and beef caldo with plenty of vegetables and rice.  Best soups ever, great service and restaurant.

I've been to many Mexican Restaurants that serve Pisole. This is the best anywhere. Especially the pork. My wife had the Chicken Soup which was equally great. I accompanied my Pisole with a very good shrimp taco. Nice sized shrimp too. The portions are big, the service is right on, and the prices are very reasonable.

I love La Especial Norte for their soup (Caldos).  I believe they originally opened in 1977 and it's like eating with family.  The service was very friendly and efficient.  The ambiance, if that's how you want to refer to it, is simple...it reflects a family run restaurant opened in the late seventies in the small beach community of Leucadia.  My server today was very friendly and helpful.  I ordered the tortilla soup which is a chicken tortilla soup with fresh avocado, chopped tomato, chicken, and tortilla strips hidden under melted cheese.  So good!

Stopped in to place an order to go.  I had eaten in person a while back but this time I needed tortilla soup for relative nursing the flu.  He wanted his favorite soup in all of N. County and requested La Especial Norte tortilla soup.  We decided to pick up a second tortilla soup to enjoy ourselves later.  After delivering the soup, later that night I rewarmed the tortilla soup to find it full of chicken and seasoned just right.  I would definitely recommend the tortilla soup.