Vallarta Express Mexican Eatery

My son took me there for lunch. The inside was clean and inviting, and the staff was curious and professional. My son ordered the Carne Asada Super Fries, and I ordered the Grande Beef Tostada. The portions were large and so tasty. The drinks were self-serve and I was surprised that the machine had sugar-free creme soda. It has been years since I have tasted it and I was not disappointed. The price was great and not too high. I recommend this eatery to anyone who has a craving for authentic Mexican Foods.

I came by this place after a long day of running around on the beach and when I say it hit the spot, I mean it! They have a takeout-style of Mexican food including classic Mexican/Californian burritos (which is exactly what I ordered). The service is very fast, they hand you the food to the window like any drive through (or you can eat inside, we did not). The food stays good a while too, we took it to the sunset cliffs in San Diego and ate the burritos there and they were still very warm and delicious. The food here is simple, it didn't blow my mind, however: when you want a late night burrito -- THIS IS YOUR SPOT.

Open 24 hours. Very busy drive through with limited parking, but if you manage to get a parking spot (first challenge is that the drive through line does not block the parking spots), the line is short and food comes quickly but still at decent quality. I went here after a show, so around midnight on a Saturday night, and it was a little busy. We of course got their signature Christian fries which had fries, guacamole, sour cream, cheese, egg, steak, and bacon. Super hearty. A bit on the pricier side for fries (almost $21 after taxes and credit card surcharge) but the amount of food is enough for 3 people for a satisfying late night meal. The fries range from undercooked to just right, and the steak is a bit on the tougher side, but collectively, the dish as a whole is fairly solid and with the blink of an eye, you realize you already devoured a good fraction of the plate. Bonus is that they turned up the heater to 86 degrees which is a godsend because that San Diego night reached 40 degrees F.

Decided to stop by Vallarta Express since they are open 24/7! What a luxury! Coming from Norcal. Two of us ordered: -carne asada quesadilla $12.60 -carne asada taco $6.05 Portions are huge. The taco I was skeptical since $6 for a taco is a bit outrageous, but it was essentially a baby burrito. Unfortunately, if you wanted smaller portions, you might be forced to upgrade or eat a bit more.. Quesadilla was great for a late night meal...although I do wish there was sour cream. Tacos did not come with limes which was unfortunate. Ordered via drive thru. I did see some space inside that people were ordering from...not sure if there is seating inside. Again, for 24/7 Mexican food, I'm in!

Stopped at Vallarta for a quick snack. It was in fact very fast but definitely more than a snack! These tacos were very big it was almost tough to pick them up. I had one carnitas and one carne asada. They were both pretty good, I preferred the carne asada.

I can always count on Vallarta for a decent burrito. There are many different taco shops here in San Diego and we can all agree that they are all pretty standard and some are even not so great. Vallarta is one of those taco shops that isn't the best but you can always count on them for a decent burrito.

My cousin was coming to San Diego for work for a while, and we decided to get quick Mexican food for dinner. I've heard VERY good things about this chain - specifically this location, and this was the time to check it out! The location that we went to is located across of Mike's Red Tacos and Clairemont Medical Center, closer to Genesee Ave in the Genesee Plaza in Clairemont. There's a small parking lot for the shop but many more stalls in the plaza itself. I got their Surf and Turf Burrito, and it was HUGE. I unfortunately forgot to take a picture of the burrito (whoops), but it was as long as my forearm, maybe a little shorter, and about 3.5 inches wide! For the price we're paying for, what a steal! The burrito was quite good too! It was filled to the brim with steak, shrimp, Spanish rice, and guacamole which I LOVED. Definitely not skimping out on the fillings. The flavor and sauces for the food were okay; nothing too fancy and unique in my opinion. But they gave a little extra flavor to my burrito. I noticed a small discrepancy between my receipt and my credit card statement. There was an extra $0.50 charged (maybe because I used a card) but wasn't told about or shown on the receipt of the extra charge. It's very minor but something that caught me off guard. Just a future heads up for everyone that this might happen! Definitely a place for cheap, relatively good quality food as a late night food as it is a 24 hour spot. I couldn't finish my burrito and had a second meal the next day. Will be back in the future!

TL;DR a poor person's wet dream, large quantity at a super affordable price with house-made hot sauce that is to die for It's been nearly six or seven years since I last came back to this spot after moving away but this place always impresses me. The proportions here are enormous in that it was larger than my forearms and the red sauce while hotter than what I last remembered was still as great as I remembered. Purely on the quantity of food, I would come back alone but the fact that the food has largely been unchanged and prices only about $1 - 2 more than a few years ago I would highly recommend anybody pinching pennies for a meal to swing by The space itself has been upgraded a little with steel countertops and the outside area is no longer tile. It felt overall cleaner and the same attendants and chefs were in the back working non-stop which I respect the grind. Usual order here consists of their super breakfast burrito with bacon and it was just as good as I remembered. If I had to nitpick I would have liked for the bacon to be a little bit more mixed in but otherwise nothing the sauces couldn't help alleviate. It was enough for two meals and even reheating the next day it still tasted just as good. Part of this could be nostalgia but given my general higher standards of food quality abroad I would say this place shocked me with the quality, quantity of food, and overall consistency with price/sauces

I may have my new favorite menu item: The steak fajitas plate. Last weekend, I was craving my fav local taco shop and planned to get what I always get- the combo plate with two hard shell tacos (sub beef for shredded chicken) and I drove up to a line pouring into Genesee. A pretty typical evening scenario TBH. So during my long wait, I decided to look through the yelp photos and see if there was anything else I might want to try. Not a lot of photos of the fajitas but when I clicked on a menu photo I saw the red text in the combo section stating # "7 to 10 served with rice, beans, caesar pepita salad, guacamole & tortillas." and the #9 options with steak or chicken (obv steak, same price as chicken!). Ok real talk: this is one of the most expensive items on the entire menu. Vallartas leans on the pricier side for taco shops but thats because the portions are huge, and the quality is very good. I would say restaurant quality and drive-thru convenience. "Good food served quickly" as they said in the Kenny Rogers Chicken episode of Seinfeld (The Chicken Roaster, Seinfeld: Season 8, Episode 8). But here is the deal...this plate is LOADED. so loaded, I have it for dinner, then lunch servings for 2 people, and then a final dinner after that. I'm sure having this as 4 meals is leaning on the generous side but DEFINITELY is 2+ meals in one. And its so good!!! The meat was cooked and flavored to perfection. The little salad this give you is a refreshing special thing, and the guac is legit with chunks in it and doesn't taste 'prepared' or anything, its fresh. Solid choice. worth the price. I do really love the hard shell shredded chicken tacos when I'm feeling some cheat comfort food. And for those late nights... the california burrito from Vallartas is my favorite in town and what I recommend to visitors. Unlike a lot of places, it comes with guac and sour cream (I request no sour cream), so heads up for that! Its all about the quality of meat here. You can smell it across the road at HD and Target. Gets me every time.