As we all know, many different restaurants come from different cultures and areas. When I originally moved here from San Diego California, I was not expecting an equal spread of diversity in this quaint town. Especially a fair share of Mexican food with different items and specialties.
Mexican food was the go-to in Baja California and about 90% of the friends I made in middle school spoke fluent Spanish. We’d always go to the local taqueria down the main road after school and talk about old memes and sports teams. With that being said, I’d like to give a short review of some of the Mexican restaurants around the Crofton area.
La Tolteca is the closest one to my home and most readily available. First and foremost, the environment of the restaurant inside is full of color and gives off a homey vibe. When you’re sat down, you are given an extensive list of different menu items and of course, chips and salsa. Menus are shown with many different traditional Mexican foods from Enchiladas, Tacos Callejeros, and Arroz Mexicano.
The items are so wide-ranging in variety, it took me several minutes just to choose what I wanted to eat. I decided to get Carne Asada tacos and Carnitas which is my go-to for trying any Mexican food and I have to say, the tacos were very filling and comforting. There was a richness of flavor and a homey vibe was hitting very hard. My friend also decided to get beef burros which were braised and those were even better than the tacos. They had Jarritos for drinks and the waiters spoke Spanish and were very patient and understanding. All in all, La Tolteca gets the award for the most comforting of the bunch.
El Cabrito is up next. Near the high school, and the main Crofton area, it is also readily accessible to everyone. El Cabrito’s size isn’t nearly as impressive as La Tolteca’s, however they also hit the nail on the head for the homey vibe. It is easy to tell that the employees are passionate about their job and are always laughing in the back of the kitchen.
The items at El Cabrito are about as extensive as La Tolteca’s, but they do not have as much variety. This however doesn’t matter as each and every one of their food items is loaded with various side dishes and toppings. For example, their Tacos de Birria is one of my favorites purely because of how much there is to actually eat and add to the taco. From the caldo and the many vegetables and peppers, it is the perfect amount of food. El Cabrito definitely gives the most bang for your buck and that’s why it gets the most cost-effective award.
Finally, in the Crofton area surrounding the high school, Mi Casita. As if the name wasn’t already enough to tell you a lot about this place, the inside looked like an actual house. Everything from the furnishings, the music playing. It made me feel like I was in Old Town San Diego once again. Besides the nostalgia, the food was pretty good. There was a lot of variety in main dishes, but in my firm opinion, I believe their side dishes (Frijoles, Rice, Chips,) and their dessert (Sopapillas, Flan, Churros) were their strong suit and the most memorable. Purely due to the “American Flair” they added to them. Typically, Sopapillas don’t have chocolate on them, but it added a lot to the dessert and made it 100% more enjoyable and that goes for all of their desserts. Mi Casita gets the award for most homey.
To conclude this short list, I believe that every one of these restaurants brought me back to San Diego and exceeded my expectations at every turn. Each and every one of the locations had its own unique appeal and feel. I highly encourage you to try each one of them.
