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    El Quetzal

    3.4 (27 reviews)
    Open 8:00 am - 9:00 pm

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    El Quetzal
    Nina C.

    Came for breakfast recently and enjoyed my plate of scrambled eggs with ham. Served with fresh cheese, creamy black beans, rice, plantains, and tortillas. A great start to the day! If you're craving coffee they only have instant. Pack some patience coming here though...during busy times there's a wait for the food. It's worth it!

    Menu 2023. Grand opening Jan 21, 2023.
    Natalie M.

    Still so good! My favorite is the ilachas de res. Shredded beef. It comes with rice and beans, sour cream, salad and tortillas. You can request a cabbage salad on the side (repollo con chile). Delish! They now accept credit cards so this is handy. But bring cash for tip!

    Ilacha de res
    Tom T.

    I don't even know how to begin writing this. The food at this little hole in the wall in Burlingame is simply delicious, especially this ilachas de res (shredded beef stew) dish I had today. It comes with a stack of fresh homemade tortillas that's piping hot. Pro tip: make sure to ask for a side of repollo con chile (spicy cabbage salad) to go with whatever main dish you order. The workers here are super sweet and humble. They have recently started accepting credit cards which makes our visits here that much more convenient. When you are in Burlingame, be sure to visit this little spot that's a few steps away from the hustle and bustle of the downtown Burlingame Ave.

    Homemade tortillas
    David K.

    4.5 stars El Quetzal is a local, cozy restaurant offering a menu of homemade Guatemalan food. We started with the pork tamal, made of masa dough, tomato sauce, and pork wrapped in a banana leaf. The masa was much softer than in other tamals I've had, and the tomato sauce added a nice sweet and savory flavor. For my main course, I had the national dish of Guatemala, Pepian de Gallina, a thick stew made with a base of tomatoes, tomatillos, and chilies, and thickened with chayote seeds. The spicy, savory stew came with a stewed hen leg quarter, chayote, potatoes, green beans, and herbs, and was served with a side of rice, slaw, and soft, homemade corn tortillas. The food here was fresh and tasty, and the service was super friendly too, though the prices seemed high for the portion sizes.

    Caldo de res
    Tina H.

    Hidden Guatemalan hole in the wall. We walked right past the restaurant because we thought it was a market/store with the toiletry items right by the window. We got there around 11:30am on Friday and there was only a couple people there. It started to get busy around 12:30 with locals and they were looking at us like we didn't belong haha. Order at the counter and they'll bring your food out. Also this place is CASH only. We loved the soup, Caldo de res and the shredded beef stew, Ilachas de res dish and the homemade corn tortillas that come with the dish was yummy. Loved that the soup comes out scorching hot. Please note it does take a little time for the food to come out but we think it's because they make everything at that moment. The place is clean, a couple tables and a tv. There were three sauces on the table and they weren't that spicy to me, the red one tasted a little like ketchup and the green one tasted a little like a cilantro tangy flavor. We'll definitely be back!

    Front door

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    3 months ago

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    10 months ago

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    10 months ago

    The food was ok. Service horrible. Ambiance disgusting there's bugs everywhere. the staff are ok.

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Authentic as can be. Love coming here for breakfast. Everything is delicious and priced reasonably.

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    3 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Awesome spot! Way under radar - had a couple things, everything was amazing. Try the tortas. :)

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    Cuban Kitchen

    Cuban Kitchen

    4.4
    (1k reviews)
    4.2 mi
    $$

    This place makes me want to visit San Mateo just to eat here!…read more I am currently on a very difficult journey to try everything on the menu, but the problem is I keep wanting to reorder the same staples, especially their famous Cubanos. Everything I've tried has been delicious, and the sauces are seriously amazing. They make their own chimichurri sauce, a super spicy habanero sauce, and a creamy white sauce that somehow makes every bite even better. The fresh juices are also worth trying. You can tell they're actually fresh. This spot is flavorful, memorable, and absolutely worth going out of your way for.

    I honestly don't know what took me so long to go here. I pass it every day to and from work and…read morekept telling myself I wanted to try it. I finally did and it was delicious. My first visit I had the Best Cuban sandwich. The meat was so tender and the flavor was so tasty. About a week later, I find myself back trying the Lechon Fiesta bowl with Cha-cha-churri sauce, packed with rice, black beans, lettuce and tender pulled pork. I also tried a mini chicken empanada. Everything is so flavorful. And the portions are big enough to share!! The restaurant itself is small but has seating inside and outside, with the patio secluded from the street for more privacy. There's also a small parking lot for convenience. I'm glad I finally decided to give this place a try.

    Photos
    Delicious food
    Delicious food
    Lechon burrito inside (pico de gallo, ghbbq and cienfuegos sauce, no beans)
    Lechon burrito inside (pico de gallo, ghbbq and cienfuegos sauce, no beans)
    Mint mojito lemonade

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    Mint mojito lemonade
    Emelina's Peruvian Restaurant

    Emelina's Peruvian Restaurant

    4.1
    (524 reviews)
    6.7 mi
    $$

    Wow!! Very impressed with this restaurant. My partner and I hosted his mom and grandma for…read moreChristmas, they flew here from Florida but originally they're from Peru. We stopped at this restaurant on our way to show them around San Francisco and we were all blown away!! We ordered anticuchos and papa rellena for appetizer. Both delicious! For mains, we ordered seco de res, tallarín verde con bistec, and pescado a la chorillana. Everything was absolutely perfect. The food was presented very nicely with traditional flavors. No notes. I'll be back specifically for the tallarín verde!! So good. The restaurant is clean with simple but elegant decor, nice ambiance with salsa music playing. My partner's mom said "it feels like we're in Peru right now." The prices here are also great compared to other Peruvian restaurants around the Bay Area. If you want traditional Peruvian food and vibes, this is your spot!!

    Food below par. The "Chaufa con mariscos" or "Seafood fried…read morerice", the seafood had a leathery texture, Overcooked. The rice itself no "chaufa" taste. The "Tallarines verdes con bistec" or "Spaghetti with creamy pesto and NY steak", we send the NY steak back as it was very wiry and hard to cut. Subbed with meat from their "Lomo saltado", ir was OK. The creamy pesto sauce missed the flavor profile, too garlicky. The "Papa rellena", The potato was OK, the filling overcooked.

    Photos
    Kitchen at work
    Kitchen at work
    Cheesecake.
    Cheesecake.
    Cuzqueña bien fría

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    Cuzqueña bien fría
    Suavecito Birria & Tacos

    Suavecito Birria & Tacos

    4.5
    (619 reviews)
    2.3 mi
    $$

    24k burrito was gas... It def wasn't a typical burrito! rice was replaced w tater tots but so yum…read more Loved the garlic prawn! Quesabirria was yummy! loved all the fillings. Not the absolute best one l've had but still good taquitos were delicious!!! Chicken inside was so tender Guac was yummy! Wish it was a bit chunkier but that's just personal preference. The chips were rly good. Horchata was def my fav drink! Sooo good and I feel like alot of places make it so grainy Service was fantastic and great open space.

    Summary: Flavorful, but HEAVY…read more Details: They just opened up a new branch in SF, but we wanted an excuse to hit up San Mateo, and Latin American is always a good enough excuse. While photos of their SF location suggest some seeing, this OG location is pretty much pickup/delivery only: a fairly literal hole in the wall, located along a random quiet street. Most folks would probably opt to take home or eat at one of the "nearby" parks, but we've gotten in the habit of just eating in the car, which... not so great for something as messy as birria lol. I'll say that for most folks, this would probably easily be more a 4 star spot, while for us, it's more a 2 star since we're unlikely to come back. That's not to say the food was bad: on the contrary, the flavors were quite good, and the consomme was less salty than some of the others we've tried. But their food is HEAVY. Not just the birria itself, but also the burrito we got, and heavier than other places we've been for some reason, with the birria sitting in a pool of oil soon after we picked it up. This probably isn't a deterrent for most people though, so take this as you will. Accessibility: Not too relevant since this is really just a pickup spot, with the pickup window being at the usual height you'd find elsewhere.

    Photos
    Grand Dining Hall
    Grand Dining Hall
    Birria out of this world
    Birria out of this world
    Birria Tacos

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    Birria Tacos
    Chico Marx

    Chico Marx

    4.5
    (59 reviews)
    6.7 mi

    The Filipino male server was so nice and hospitable. I'm so sorry for forgetting your name but he…read moredeserves a raise. I ordered the tacos and they were the type of tacos when you see the price, you're like GYADAMN. But then when you take that first bite, you're like oh these are actually fire. Inside, with the white floor and black interior made this place feel hella fancy and we came in like super casual clothes lol. They got good food, drinks, and vibe. Just come through at least once and decide for yourself

    We came here about a month ago and what a wonderful surprise this place was…read more Pretty empty on a Friday night and I'm not sure why. Great ambiance for a group party or date night. The happy hour menu was pretty awesome as well. If you aren't interested in food but looking for a place to get drinks, the cocktails here are also on point. South San Francisco is a stones throw from where we live and even though there are some solid casual spots, we don't find too many places in this area where you can get amazing food, craft cocktails, and this kind of ambiance. With that being said we were ecstatic to discover this hidden gem. It checks all the boxes!! We ordered the Caesar salad, pozole, burger & Fries, and beef tacos from the happy hour menu. Everything was so good and I am not just saying that! The Caesar salad came served with slices of avocado. Not traditional, but absolutely delicious and nicely dressed. The burger was beautiful and juicy and cooked to perfection. It came served with those french fries that have that extra layer of crispiness.on them. I call them 'next level fries' because that's what they are. My favorite thing, hands down, were the tacos. Oh my God... the tacos!! There are a lot of great Taquerias in the Bay Area but this place can contend. I'm serious. Perfect crispy tacos that came served with this beautiful salsa verde. Truthfully we ordered so much food but the tacos were so good we got another order of them. I ordered a Paloma and it was the perfect drink to go with my tacos. This was our first and only time eating here, but this will definitely be a regular spot for us. I hope moving forward this place stays as wonderful as our experience was tonight. It's such a joy to have an experience like this that doesn't require us driving to San Mateo or San Francisco. It's about time we had places like this in this area. The staff that helped us was also wonderful. The young lady who served us was friendly and helpful with the menu, the bussers were great and there was another lady who checked in on us and helped us throughout the meal. Great service, great staff, terrific food. Please keep up the good work.

    Photos
    Contemporary decor
    Contemporary decor
    Tuna ceviche
    Tuna ceviche
    Churros

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    Churros
    Iberia Restaurant

    Iberia Restaurant

    4.0
    (408 reviews)
    5.3 mi
    $$$

    This place is ridiculous. There is no reason this place should exist. $6 for gambas? 3 prawns,…read morecooked and deliciously served for SIX dollars?1? Croquettes for less than $5.50? Pinxtos for less than $6 (all of these are from the bar menu, which is a steal btw)?!? Homemade cake for dessert for under $10?!? Does this owner own the building? Is this a money laundering front? How is this possible? How are these prices POSSIBLE?!? These are Spain prices, like, if you went to Spain and ate at a perfectly acceptable, delicious, local restaurant... at heavily subsidized EU prices. WHY is this place not out of business already? They should be. Anything eaten here is an absolute steal.

    Had this place saved for a while (suggested by a friend who loves it), but unfortunately left…read moreunderwhelmed. We came for a family celebration dinner, parking was'nt bad along El camino. Service was fine. The decor felt vintage, with cute booths and seating along the wall, but unfortunately where we were seated in the middle of the room felt less cozy, with a very strange bathroom/sewer smell that the server never acknowledged (but we could all smell it!). The food varied. Some hits were: - paella (solid, good for sharing but not too large) - sardine toasts (delicious!) - pulpo (very soft, one of the better I've had) Some misses were: - pork shoulder on toast (just felt like ham) - patatas bravas (fried okay but sauce wasn't great) Overall, the flavors had hits and misses, but the portions felt a bit small for the price. We left feeling unimpressed, it might have been an off day, so I might give it another chance!

    Photos
    Interior
    Interior
    Pulpo a la Gallega
    Pulpo a la Gallega
    Albondiguitas

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    Albondiguitas

    El Quetzal - latin - Updated June 2026

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