We came here on a Friday evening. The other 3 tables had placed their orders and were waiting for their food. So, it did take some time before we got our food. Note that everything is made to order,hence the wait There was only one waiter Thomas and he was very pleasant and welcoming. He educated us on the different moles and the Oaxaca area of Mexico. We both had mole dishes,1 red & 1 black. Portions were good size. They were ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. ICY cold beer also perfect. Tasty unique salsa & yummy chips. We will definitely be going back for more. Such a welcome to the neighborhood. This is NOT your typical Mexican food. In a league of its own Authentic Oaxaca style. The other tables had ordered the ice cream desserts. They looked good but we were full. See you soon! Gracias read more

Raw food. I had unfortunate experience. I got back from being 2 months out of town. Decided to have a family dinner at a new location. Came on here (yelp) and found great pictures of great looking food. We (my family of 6) arrived and the place was empty except for a lady taking pictures of the food for their website. We ordered 6 different plates. The owner came by and asked if my plate could get a picture taken and they will provide 15% off. I was like sure why not. 5 mins later 12 Marines arrived (I too am a Marine) after seeing they were getting the food for free from the restaurant (the ones getting a picture taken) I was happy they were doing that community service. Here is the issue: 1) there was only one waitress and she was stressing between getting the food for the pics, serving my family and serving the Marines their drinks. I overlooked it all and said I get it, no problem. Then we started getting our plates one at a time with 15 mins in between each, so my son waited until his girlfriend got her plate etc. 2) my plate was one of the ones they were going to take a Pic of but the picture lady gave it to the Marines. Now everyone at my table finally had plates and except my daughter and I still didn't. I got up and talked to the owner, she apologized and said she will not charge my plate, I said no problem get my daughter her plate please. They got her, her plate (by now my son and girlfriend were done with their tacos) but her plate had all the stuff we asked not to have on it. I simply removed the onions she doesn't eat and told her to eat her food, still trying to enjoy this dinner while my plate was getting made. My wife saids "honey look" her fried fish was raw. That's when I got up told the owner, was not charged and left. I'm at chick filet now as I write this. Quite upset that this happened. I get they might have been very busy with pictures and many other items, but a restaurant has to ensure each food is cooked. I hope my wife does not get sick. It could of been one of my kids. I wish I took a pic of it being raw but I did not. read more

El Tejate Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Carlsbad, California

I didn't get a drink menu so I'm not exactly sure what I was served. I asked for a margarita on the rocks with salt and a margarita the size of my head came out. The shear size of it was impressive but the flavor was just ok. It was just "Finest Call" brand margarita mix and low end tequila but man, it was huge. Chips and salsa come free. The chips were a bit thick but were warm and presumably homemade. The house salsa had a nice kick, really spicy. I wanted to try something Oxacan so I went with the tlayuda. Its a large partially fried tortilla covered with beans, shredded cabbage, tomatoes, and your meat of choice. I went with cecino (pork). The service was sloooow. there was one person working front of house. She gets an A++ in stress management but one person can't effectively pull off hostess, bartender, waitress, food runner and busser. Valient effort on her part but it's just not possible. excuse me while I black out from this giant margarita... read more

I found this place by chance and only after discovered that it specializes in Oaxacan food, which I had been looking for. There aren't many places that do Oaxacan food in San Diego, so it's definitely a great find. The restaurant is small, clean, and was clearly recently remodeled. I had Oaxacan food while in Guadalajara many years ago and never forgot how good it was. I ordered the Chile Relleno plate and the Mole Negro with chicken. Both were delicious. The chile relleno was prepared exactly as my paternal grandmother used to make, as was the rice with cumin and garlic. I'm pretty sure it had Oaxacan cheese, and plenty of it inside. Beef is also offered, chicken may be offered as well. The mole was served with chicken breast that had been perfectly cooked separate, then shredded in chunks and added to the sauce. It was served with a simpler rice and house made corn tortillas. Also, the house salsa was made with dried, dark chiles. Awesome, but spicy for those who not used to spice. The mole was only mildly spicy, as was the chile relleno. Enjoy this place. They offer green mole on Saturday, which I will surely return to try. read more

Muy buena comida con servicio muy atento. Un restaurante corrido por una familia que está siempre lleno de clientes.

I should have read more reviews (not the Yelp sorted reviews). We stood at the "wait here to be seated" sign until the other lone table told us to just take a seat. The menu is online, no problem, but your QR code needs to take you to the menu and not a close all your pop up's asking for email/subscribe here stuff. If the food was spectacular I could have gotten over the decor and sticky floors. Maybe clean up the bar area. The mole, rice, tortillas all great, the chicken was dry and terrible. Asked for some menu explanations and it seemed painful for our waiter to explain (maybe write a description in the menu). I think with a couple updates this place could be good. For the price I expected a lot more. read more

We visited from Las Vegas service was great and food was good we had the tlayuda and tacos the horchata was delicious read more

El Tejate Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Carlsbad, California

Authentic food, everything made to order. I ordered an mushroom empanada, it was huge! The Tortilla was handmade, Cheese was delicious. My boyfriend ordered a chorizo burrito, he loved it. Best Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. Only complaint would be the entrance, a little awkward, but other than that excellent place to eat, a must !!! read more

There are pros and cons to dining here. First impressions: we almost turned around and left because it is very sterile and not warm and welcoming (white walls and recessed flood lights on super bright). But our party of 4 stayed and it was an adventure. Chips and salsa and water were brought and while the salsa is great, the chips were stale. Chips might have been house made but they weren't warm and there was no salt so they were bland to boot. Not a good first taste when you're served old chips. Waitress was very helpful with all of our questions about the menu. The food takes awhile but I don't mind when it's made fresh. One order was brought incorrectly and another order was completely forgotten and arrived 15 minutes after the others. Reviews amongst the 5 items we ordered were mixed. The tiayuda which is like a big corn tostada was also stale and took lots of hacking with butter knives to eat. The 7 seas soup had a good flavorful broth. The tamale was okay as was the carne burrito (but too much rice not enough carne). The make your own taco meat platter seemed to be the winner. At one point I had to walk over to the kitchen where entire staff was talking and get waitresses attention. Reviews of Escondido location imply service is an issue, so perhaps better processes in place so orders aren't missed/messed up and tables are attended to. Oh yeah, and taste the chips at every shift. Old chips no bueno! read more

I ordered my daughter some kids nuggets and on her first bite she said they were nasty. I split them all opened and all of them were raw. completely raw. I showed the waitress and she said ohh yeah they don't look good. yeah no shit. they are raw. Them my son takes a bite of his bean and cheese burrito and bites into a title rock that comes in the beans. they obviously don't clean them. she didn't care when I let her know. Last my food was also not good. if I could give this place a 0 stars I would. horrible food. eating raw chicken hopefully my daughter doesn't get sick. I will never eat there again. read more

Really good customer service loved there food. We only stopped by and really like this place would definitely recommend to anyone.

Amazing new restaurant. Authentic homemade Oaxacan cuisine. It takes a little longer because they make it from scratch, but well worth it! Family owned and great service. I highly recommend trying it out. read more

El Tejate Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Carlsbad, California

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Holy taco, so big, so delicious! I really enjoyed the cecina taco, and the tamale with pork and dark mole was pretty good. I would return here. Definitely a different food experience and I really enjoyed it despite the wait. read more

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Stopped by for breakfast with the family , ordered the huevos rancheros and asked for the eggs runny got the food fairly quick the eggs were overcooked but regardless I rate this a 5 star the taste of the food was by far one of the best Mexican food restaurants we have ever been to, employees were very friendly and attentive to us , other items ordered were memelas , and enfrijoladas both of which were delicious with a glass bottled coke and jarritos. Definitely will make time to stop by next time we're in the area!! read more

El Tejate Restaurant - Huevos rancheros - Mexican Near Me - Carlsbad, California

Chicken Chile relleno was best I've had! My wife really enjoyed the tasajo con hongos. Pleasant surprise that each meal came with freshly made corn tortillas. They were delicious! Please support this local gem to ensure they stay around. read more

Awesome Oaxacan restaurant! The food is excellent with large portions. The owner is a super nice guy who runs his business without a lot of passion and love for the food. This place is one of our favorite spots!!! read more

This place reminds of an actual restaurant in Mexico. Me being 100% Mexican and growing up in a Mexican household with authentic Mexican food, can say this "if you want authentic Mexican food, come here!" It has been very difficult to find a restaurant that gets close to my grandmas cooking, until I came here. read more

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i had mole negro, rice, tortillas, and black beans. all the dishes were amazing! i had been wanting to try el tejate for a while and i'm glad i got around to it. i'll definitely be back soon read more

Passing through, stopped to eat here because reviews were good. I cannot understand how. This place is probably the most disgusting Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. I dont even know where to start... Salsa was nasty that you get with the chips. Ordered chilaquiles, and they told me after 12pm they charge an extra $2. Um..ok, whatever ordered it anyway. Saice was salty, chips were stale, beans were like plastic. Water they brought had maybe 2 comes of ice and pretty sure they put it in the cup after pouring the water so water wasn't even cold. My son got enchiladas Verdes, had almost no cheese inside, same sauce as my chilaquiles, salty and werent even hot like it was just made. Had ordered a mango margarita...it tasted like it was made with like a powdered mango flavor and tajin sprinkled on top. My daughter ordered a bean and cheese burrito, lady asked us 3x about how/what we wanted. Didn't realize I have to explain what we wanted in a plain bean and cheese burrito. Husband got a torta that was salty. I can honestly say, the only thing that wasn't gross was the orange jarritos soda and I think thats because it comes in a bottle. I even saw the people next to us looking at their tacos and smelling it and questioning what they had. Oh, and all of that came to $70! Dont trust the reviews left here... This place is terrible. read more

Went here for the first time. It was great. Everything is authentic and has flavor. It's not chain restaurant. Support local

Recent take out experience as good as the first time. Solid drinks. Food is delicious! Authentic Oaxacan with tlayudas and chapulinas if you're so inclined. Vegetarian options also amazing. Will return! read more

This place is awesome. Such good food. Family recipes according to our awesome waitress who was part of the family that runs it. We tried a lot and all of it was good. Highly recommended! read more

Encontré una pequeña piedra en mi tlayuda de frijol , y el muchacho que me atendió en vez de disculparse se puso a pelear que no era eso , pésimo servicio era mi restaurante favorito pero con eso no vuelvo a ir y no no lo recomiendo !!! read more

I don't write reviews that often but this place is totally worth it. First, I'm a foodie and I'm Mexican, so I'm very very picky when it comes to Mexican food. Also, my favorite Mexican food is Oaxacan so you can imagine my standards coming to this place. I have to say I felt like I was back in Oaxaca. The tlayuda is just like in the market and the mole was delicious too. I ordered the horchata water because that's my favorite water and it's really hard to find a good one (even in Mexico). Theirs is perfect! I started having childhood memories. On top of that our server was super nice. Also, they're really following all the rules when it comes to covid. It's the most I've seen any restaurant do. This is now my favorite Mexican restaurant in San Diego. read more

Service was amazing and the food was super authentic. Really enjoyed their signature dishes! The location is super convenient right of the 5 exit. Stop in and enjoy! read more

This place is amazing, definitely one of my favorite places, 100% authentic, the tacos are very tasty, tlayudas, empanadas, tamales, well everything, the hand made tortillas and salsas. If you want to eat Mexican this is the place read more

The salsa was terrible. It was a great salsa for a carne asada taco but not for chips. I asked for a different salsa and they had none. We left $5 and left. It was that bad. He chased us out and said we had to pay for the 2 chips we ate and I said I left a $5. We should have known when it was empty at 12:30 read more

As a California native I'm accustomed to good Mexican food. So the bar is high and I judge accordingly, from street taco venues to high priced city plates, you better bring it. And Tejate is quite honestly one of the best, if not the best Mexican restaurant I have ever eaten at. And here's why: *Original Oaxacan flavors, style and food. The crickets are amazing. *Reasonable prices, they are here to share their food with you, not to rip you off. *Extremely discerning quality control, all tortillas are 100% corn and handmade in-house, the Oaxacan queso is authentic and so are all of the recipes. *The food is unique and each plate brings specificity in its flavor. This is not your run of the mill street taco place where the ingredients are the same and they just change out your protein. Serious thought and consideration was put into what flavors mix and balance out your tacos, dish or whatever you order. *The owner puts his heart and soul into his food; you can feel it. By all means, you will feel as though you have been transported to Oaxaca while dining at this establishment. Thank you, Tomás for the authenticity and seriously outstanding eats. read more

This food is delicious and the customer service is 5 stars. I love walking into a place where they make eye contact and ask me how my day is. Did I mention that this place is right off the freeway and easy to drive into? The bathrooms are a little tricky in that I had trouble finding my way back to the restaurant; the reason why is because the hallways are like mazes since the restaurant shares a wall with Bistro Thai restaurant. read more

El Tejate Restaurant - Great customer service by leylani - Mexican Near Me - Carlsbad, California

Not sure my first review posted...! This place was amazing! So authentic....great staff, AMAZING FOOD and amazing staff! Thank you for the hospitality, the food, wine and beer! We will be back every time we visit Cali! People.....ask for the green salsa! read more

El Tejate Restaurant - Picture of our smiling faces after we ate your amazing food! - Mexican Near Me - Carlsbad, California

A generous 4 stars. It is a typical mexican restaurant with a few oaxacan dishes. *The dishes had a good flavor to them. The guys in the kitchen know what's up. The issue however is cost. I had one appetizer and one entree water no desert and I was at $25 already ! The death of eating out in SD in one price hike away. I will eat in TJ next time. read more

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I love this place. Anything with mole was amazing. For example, the chicken enchiladas with mole we're so good! The tacos were delicious. And the service was awesome. We sat at the bar while our food was prepared. We had a blast in the 15 minutes we spent there, chatting with the owner. We'll be back soon! read more

The food quality is okay but I prefer the location in Escondido . I ordered "cafe de la olla " and they charged me $4 for it and it was instant coffee . Been there 3 times and will be the last time . Next time I will go the one in Escondido even is 30 minutes drive. read more

If you are looking for authentic Oaxaqueña food this is the place to go. Amazing food, amazing service, amazing drinks. The food took me back to my grandma and mother cooking. I will definitely continue coming to this place as long as I can. read more

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After wanting to come here for weeks, we finally got to go here now that they have outdoor seating available. The server was friendly and the salsas are good. The food is Oaxaca style Mexican, which being from LA we are very familiar with. We ate the Tlayuda, Cecina taco, Enchiladas verde, and Chapulines (grasshopper). Unfortunately, they were out of Tamales and Botana gusanos (worm), which we were originally trying to order instead of crickets. We explained to our server that we really wanted to try the tamale for the mole negro so we then asked if we could have 1 out of our 3 enchiladas con mole since they were out of tamales. We were disappointed to hear that there are no salsa substitutions for the enchiladas but our server offered us a side of mole instead. The mole was the best part, although we had nothing to eat it with but a spoon. After receiving our bill we were surprised to see we got charged for the side of mole. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for paying for anything on the table, but considering 3 of our requests were unavailable by the kitchen and we had to eat the mole with a spoon by itself.... I was kind of sort of maybe thinking it would be on house??? Either way, the food we had was good and authentic. Overall, authenticity gets a 5/5 and food 4/5. I would return. read more

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Shame on you if you visit Carlsbad and don't eat at El Tejate. The food is all fresh and imported from Mexico. This is truly the most authentic Mexican food I've ever had this side of the border. Also, the owner Tomas took time to explain the menu and specials to us and tell us about his creations. Amazing food, cozy and clean atmosphere...you cannot ask for more. Do yourself a favor and stop in! read more

Overpriced. Dried chicken enchilada . They don't know how to roll a proper burrito. Asked if it's spicy since it was for my child and turns out it's too spicy. Everything we ordered was too sweet , too spicy or lacked flavor . read more

My husband and I went to the flower fields and found this restaurant on Yelp. Tomas was our server and he was amazing . My husband watches a lot of cooking shows and he said he felt like we were on the show with how authentic the food was. We ordered about 5 different dishes. Everything was our favorite. We will be back! read more

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I am making this review based on the food! I Love that it's a small little gem that I found yesterday, but I wished I would've found it when I first moved here about a year ago! It really took me back to the time I was in Mexico having all that authentic Mexican food! First of all I got the chilaquilles and it was fabulous. We also got enchiladas, chips and salsa and guacamole. They also have a desser called burnt mill. It like an ice cream, but a little icy! My boyfriend loves it and ate mine too! ;/ Anyways they have lovely service and this is the time that we are in a crisis and I'm so happy they were still open and the girls were friendly friendly and greeted us at the door! It is my new favorite and I will definitely be back, especially, because it's only a 9 minute drive from home! This is a fabulous authentic Mexican restaurant and my boyfriend and I were incredibly satisfied and all smiles after we ate! Thank you el tejate! You guys are wonderful! Cya again next time! ;) p.s. I ate too fast to take pics! AUTHENTIC DELICIOUS MEXICAN FOOD! read more

My food was decent. Nothing that great. But what really soured the experience was the attitude of who I think may be the owner. My picky kids ordered bean and cheese burritos. When they arrived, it was black beans. We asked the owner if they had pinto refried beans and he said no. I pointed out that the menu did not specify black beans and asked if they could order something else. The guy said "well it should say it on the menu". I looked again and said it didn't and he kept arguing that it should have been on the menu. Ok...well I didn't write the menu up, they did. How were we supposed to know if it wasn't on the menu and it wasn't pointed out when we ordered it? When we asked to reorder something else, he replied it would take a while because they were backed up. We decided not to reorder anything because we had already been there for a while. When the check came, the burritos were on the bill even tho one had simply been cut into and not eaten when discovered it was black beans. The other hadn't even been touched at all. They refused to take it off the bill. Horrible customer service, ok food and creepy environment. Never again. read more