Food is really good. Been going there for years. Depends who is working on the counter, counter help could be better. So shouldn't have to ask for napkins while sitting at a table to eat, or a straw for your drink. And it would be nice that they would bring in to you. I'm am handicap person and had to go get my food? While the counter gal was laughing with the cook in back? Down spot/ counter help. read more

This is our must stop place EVERY TIME we are in our hometown! Have to get our fix of Mexican food and this is the spot. This location is the finer of the other locations. They have absolutely delicious rolled tacos, carne asada, and adobada tacos. Various combination options, a great extensive menu. The California burrito is a favorite. Popular Carne Asada; ALL burritos are huge and worth the value for the portion. The salsa bar has at least 6 different types of salsa and a fresh onion, radish relish. Few TVs to watch, that surround the inside space. Owner supports local schools, sports teams etc. Lovely locally owned restaurant. Highly recommend you stop in and try.Till next time Ponchos! read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - Combination Plate- Chicken, Shredded Beef Taco Rice & Beans - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

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I went there tonight for the very first time and was just very impressed with first of all the cleanliness of the location plus the friendliness of the staff Mariana was lovely, the highlight was seeing Psalms 34 verse 8 in neon on the wall, which I've attached. I highly recommend this location. Food was yummy, the salsa bar was a good selection of red, green and even habanero salsa + they had, which were very spicy onions but delicious. Can't wait to go again read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - Reference/connection btwn food and Jesus - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

Love this place. Always pleasant counter service.Food is amazing and presented beautifully! Large restaurant with lots of places to sit and outside patio! read more

Not tasty food, slow service, the prices are ok. The place is clean, no parking available at the time. It was a Little loud

Everything was delicious and fresh! We had potato tacos and California burrito! Great atmosphere and friendly service. We dined in and it was clean and fast service read more

First time here and I'll definitely be back again! Had a beer and 5 rolled tacos and it was delish! read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - Supreme 5 Rolled Tacos w/ Guacamole Combo - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

Hans down the BEST MENUDO in town! They serve menudo everyday!! Yum! This is the only place that' makes the way I like it! It comes with cilantro, onions, oregano and limes! You can order extra hominy or pata! Plus cant't forget the tortillas and a soda or fountain drinks for the perfect meal! The people are very friendly, engaging and the place is always clean! read more

I tell you what!!!! if you ever want a positive and exciting experience come here authentic Mexican food the picture doesn't describe how amazingly it was lol was being I eat every last bit of it. Very calming relaxing atmosphere TV on multiple walls. read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - No, that's a homemade wheel authentic - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

Food is great, service just as good but the courtesy of the staff is just amazing. I would give more stars if I could.

Clean restaurant and the food and service was great. Would recommend this place to anyone. Enjoy!

I'm on a very strict diet. Unfortunately, the cook doesn't read the order and exclusion. The worst part is not only did he not read the order. He proceeded to cover it up like a child who hid his mistakes by adding food ontop of it like i wouldn't notice. Thank God It's just a diet and not a food allergy, or I would be dead read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Ordered tj style carne asada tacos and 5 rolled tacos to go. Carne asada tacos were ok.  It comes with plenty of meat but I found the meat a little dry.   Salsa helped with that.  The five rolled tacos are pretty hefty and are loaded with all the toppings.  It is a good size snack.  They were tastier than the tacos. Friendly staff.  Decent amount of parking. read more

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Love ponchos! Best rolled tacos in town! Service is always good too. Friendly staff and always clean.

This place sucks....we placed an order for pickup she never gave us a time to come and when my parents went in 21 minutes later to pick it up our order (time is literally based on the time we called them and when my mom called me: see picture) and they "gave away our order" I 1.) don't understand how you would give away such a huge order and 2.) how would you give food away?! On top of it all I tried calling them back multiple times and never got an answer, from both my phone and my husbands. Shame, this was our first time supporting this local business read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - Proof showing the time stamps of when we called the restaurant, when my mom called to say they gave away our food. - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

My review is solely for my dine in experience for their taco Tuesday special where it's $2/street taco. Great taste, plenty of meat, and a self serve salsa and sauce bar. What more could you want. You could want a clean place. This place is CLEAN. My wife likes the Baja fish tacos. Batter is just right. I love the cabeza. Soft and flavorful. Been here twice, and will be back for as many more Tuesdays as I can! read more

Great food friendly service. Huge menu, nice tables & chairs Great spot but the neighborhood is still El Cajon. read more

I had a pretty nice breakfast here. I ordered the Huevos Mexicanos which consisted of scrambled eggs with tomatoes, green peppers, and a side of rice and re-fried beans. (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/LFdR42DD_L07fpU5wbED0A?select=YWZcoezTfsHHlrLAQPN4Bg) It also came with four corn tortillas. Yes, I said four, not your usual three. This was an added bonus for me. The scrambled eggs were perfectly cooked, not runny or burnt. I used the corn tortillas to make some breakfast tacos with their hot sauce. (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/LFdR42DD_L07fpU5wbED0A?select=LNG2hrosiDGN1O7AQNFrmQ) Yum! I was able to make and eat four tacos with the amount of food I had. The rice was also cooked very well. The rice had great flavor and was and fluffy. The re-fried beans were very good as well. They were not greasy and had great flavor. The place was clean and service was good. The Huevos Mexicano combo was only $5.85! Great deal. Note: On Tuesday's they have $1.00 street tacos specials. read more

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3.5 stars . I've eaten here many times over the years and only a couple times was It amazing . First they just aren't friendly at all . It's almost uncomfortable ordering because there's no smile , no thank you , not real helpful with menu questions. Basically they make you feel like they're put out for having to help you . Second the prices are at least a dollar more for each item than other taco shops . You do get hungry man portions , so that's nice . But the flavor is just ok . You aren't wow'd let's just say . Also something that irked me is they charge 1.75 to add guacamole to a burrito . That's really high to me . So with the not so good customer service , higher prices and average taste I'd rather be a regular at a different taco shop in El Cajon . I will say this taco shop is a 10000 better than any taco shop in Anaheim. But there's just a lot of great competition in Sd. Positives: it's a large restaurant and they have a lovely salsa bar with great salsa , limes and onions . read more

Great Surf an turf Rolled tacos as well Was clean an safe Heydi helped me was sweet and kind that took care of our order! Will be back read more

Not bad. A little more pricey than what I'm comfortable with I had the shredded beef quesadilla because it costed about what I pay for carne asada elsewhere. One thing I didn't care for was the cheese they used I like the quesadillas with cheddar or Mexican blend mine had only a white cheese I believed to be mozzarella. My fault I should have asked how they made theirs. AND too it was a matter of personal taste. While it wasn't huge there were leftovers for breakfast. If I remember right they gave me a senior discount which offset the taxes. For the price I felt complimentary chips would have been nice. read more

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Yummmm!!! I have now tried both carne asada fries AND micheladas (yes, you read that right) from here!! They were both stupendous! The carne asada fries come with beans, guac, sour cream, cheese, and the main ingredients fries and carne asada. They taste really good, and not too greasy. The micheladas are a bit pricey since you pay the price of the beer plus the michelada as an additive to it, but eeeeh, what the heck just go for it! Ooooh, and you can add chips to your order for $0.50!!! Wooooo! read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - Carne asada fries and potato roll tacos with rice and beans - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

This just barely makes the cut for 3 stars, making it a very average taco shop. The atmosphere is pretty quiet, staff is just ok, nothing to mention. The menu is not that extensive, but there is seafood and some caldos. No drive-thru. I got the chilaquiles rojos...it was just alright...the sauce was a little bit spicy. The beans were not that flavored, and the rice was just okay but had some spiciness to it. read more

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It's lent season and my biggest craving during the season is shrimp ceviche! I stopped by ponchos before heading home to satisfy my craving. I ordered 3 tostadas and had them place all the ceviche on one plate. It was delicious! It needed some Tapatio and a little more lemon, which I added. It was perfect after the additions. Very fresh and lots of yummy shrimp. I was really happy that they added some avocado in there as well. Big plate of ceviche for about $15, I was very satisfied! read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - Fish taco plate - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

Found multiple hairs inside a fish burrito. When I called to tell them the said in order to get our money back they need ALL the food back....and claimed the cooks had no hair so it couldn't be in the burrito. We were frequent customers almost every week......we are now officially going elsewhere read more

My husband and I have gone to this restaurant about a half dozen times over the last month..... The restaurant is clean and nice, but the service leaves something to be desired, to say the least. We went in to eat lunch today and before we even set our bags down the lady approached us saying, "This table is for customers only".... I was a little taken aback as I had not even taken my coat off..... Bottom line, DON'T EAT THERE!!!!! They are the rudest people I have every meet!!!! read more

Delicious and simple!!! My mom and I both ordered the rolled tacos with Mexican guacamole (real guacamole!) and my grandfather had the chicken tostada. All of it was soooo good. I was impressed with the chicken tostada as it took up the whole take out container and was delish. The three rolled tacos was a good size and loaded up with toppings too. The pickled and spicy carrots are yummy too. The medium salsa is bomb!!! Make sure you ask for a sheet of foil to take along some carrots if you're getting it to go! Even if you don't like carrots, try them! read more

I already knew the food was not good but gave it a chance today... unfortunately it's worse. Serving size is small, meat and shrimp are flavorless. read more

I can't say enough good things about Ponchos! My colleagues and I frequent this location. I eat here once a week at least. Everything on the menu is outstanding. This place uses high quality fresh ingredients and all of the food tastes amazing. Usually, I order a Carne asada burrito or a California burrito. Today, I had a serious craving for some fish tacos with rice and beans. The pieces of fish they used were BIG crispy breaded cod. The cabbage and Pico complement the meat and tortillas perfectly. I recommend to try them with the red or the green salsa. Both are flavorful and fresh! My colleague ordered a California burrito. He was very pleased with his lunch. Another one of my colleagues ordered a Carne asada plate. It was amazing and he dusted off the whole thing effortlessly. Take a look at the photos from today's lunch! They do give you a lot of food. The portion sizes are generous. The staff is friendly. I highly recommend this place for lunch or dinner! Give it a try sometime! Trust me, you will not be disappointed. read more

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Being a fan of dang near everything on the menu at any Mexican restaurant I stopped here as it was closest to my friends house. Tryin to keep this to a short review as the more I think or talk about it. It actually angers me that a business with this name still continues to stay in business. Long story short. I ordered 2 already overpriced burritos (not so much the issue) but having to pay an extra 2.50 each for sour cream and 2.50 for cheese (not extra cheese just cheese period) on a Carne asada burrito. It's supposed to come with guac and salsa. What I rcvd a burrito with cold Carne asada and sour cream. That's it. For this I paid $16.00 + tax. The other was a basic bean and cheese burrito with extra cheese 2.50 charge. What I got was a bean burrito with regular amt of cheese glopped in the center for a whopping 9.25. I did try to call that night they were closed. The following night I called giving them the opportunity to fix it. The woman on the phone not so friendly mind u I described all the above. I had to ask for each of them to be replaced. She reluctantly said to bring the rcpt. She would only replace the bean and cheese and said this was all I called for. She kept the rcpt. If this is how patrons are to be treated with their hard earned money to come to your establishment it looks like SOMBREROS OR ANYWHERE ELSE WILL GET MY FAMILIES BUSINESS AS WELL AS ANYONE ELSE I CAN REACH. I tried to allow yall to fix it, i was kind not rude and just stated what i rcvd as to what i ordered. The way I was treated yall should be ashamed of yourselves. read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - a close up of a pita sandwich - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

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Food Is good, but $19.57 for menudo?? Too expensive!! Not responsible, so if you want Pata it's $4.62 more?? Really where everywhere else it's included. read more

This place is a horrible excuse for Mexican food. Please explain how you don't know when you surround the tacos in a combo with lettuce that the shells will get soggy. The rolled tacos were barely cooked and they put paper under them so when the cheese melted, it all stuck to the paper. Completely tasteless. This place has and always had a reputation for horrible Mexican food read more

Disappointed !!!!!! Got the shrimp in hot sauce it was expensive for only getting 4 shrimp in the meal plate which came with rice and beans. Not worth the 18.00 bucks. The cashier also acted like she didn't want to help me. I was asking her which shrimp dish she would recommended, all she did was shrug her shoulders and walked away. Not going back ! I should've just went and bought me some fresh shrimp and made it myself. Jus sayin! read more

16 dollars for the caldo de res. But it was sparse... few pieces of meat a couple potatoes and carrots.

This place used to be really good... Like the best around hands down. Over the past year and a half it's fallen so far in both quality and pricing. I can't imagine what could have happened to ruin a place so badly. Here are a couple things to note about this place. 1) IF YOU CALL IN AN ORDER, THEY WILL NOT MAKE IT TILL YOU GET THERE. I'm dead serious that this is a thing... This is honestly the dumbest things I've ever witnessed in my life. What do they think you're calling it in for? I stopped coming her about 8 months ago cause or that and decided I would try again yesterday... And they're still doing it. 2) The food used to be amazing!... It's trash now, I don't know if the owners are trying to squeeze all the profit they can out of the joint before they go out of business or the kitchen staff just hate their jobs. Either way, it's bad. 3) Most of the time if you do call in they won't pickup or they'll pickup and put the phone down while they do other things. It's crazy unprofessional. Anyhow... It's a shame, I really used to like this place and I've recommended it to ally friends. I can honestly say I will never step foot back in this place again. read more

If you want a good taco shop I highly recommend you go somewhere else I tried this place 6 months ago same terrible service from the same register lady she's rude as can be and not helpful when it comes to ordering I asked do you have any specials,she said no I looked on the counter there were specials so I said oh I will try the specials on your counter with the rolled tacos not knowing it said in Spanish potato rolled tacos, so when I received my order I told the guy that was working her with her at the register that I didn't want potato I would like beef he said well you'll have to order and pay for that I said okay never mind but maybe you should change your special instead of having it in Spanish having an English so we understand what it's saying he laughed. Didn't give two shits of what I said. The same register lady on December 2nd at 2:45 that was working at the register was of course still rude as can be kept glaring at me her in the register guy kept talking in Spanish and looking my way and nodding their head my way very uncalled for very rude I will not return. read more

My family and I really enjoy coming her to eat during the week after a long day at work. The chips and salsa is great! I mostly ALWAYS order the Birria de Chivo (goat meat).It tastes better than what it sounds! It's always warm..you would enjoy it more on a rainy day with a cold beer but any day works too! Just perfect. The tortillas always look soggy dont quite now why but I just roll it and take a sip of caldo with a bit of the tortilla service is good..not too friendly but nice people.i usually relax after im done eating and go on with my day. We go once a week at least. I also order Tacos the Cabeza (Head) and those are really bomb..the flavor with the green sauce is just perfect. Head usually come too hot and makes the tortilla all soggy and the tortilla falls apart..but great tacos ! read more

Poncho's Authentic Mexican & Seafood - Birria de chivo! - Mexican Near Me - El Cajon, California

Easter Sunday with menudo the breakfast of champions! We've been coming here for years,particularly for menudo and we like trying different dishes. The menudo is always well cooked, not greasy, with a very generous ratio of meat to corn. The chili packs provided are perfectly toasted and ground " chile de arbol". Apply with caution, lol! We also had the " huevos rancheros" which were delicious. Generous portions and fresh ingredients make it energy boost! read more

customer for years here today the worst visit ever. First the parking lot looks like a battle zone with pot holes everywhere. A total mess and a car getting tire damage every where. It is hot outside it is fly season and the have two doors open, No window curtains above the doors ( AC type blowers blow down and keep fly's out) no screen door one or the other required by the Health dept to have the doors open. A girl using a Broom around customers, and tables to sweep with dust flying in the air The condiments are not in the cooler area they are all open on the counter another health department violation, If they were read more

No clue to why I picked this place to try out, but it seemed to be one of the less popular taco shops in El Cajon. I do remember visiting this place quite frequently when working across the street at Dixieline. Even though those days are quite long behind me at about 13 years or so, I do have good memories of the food here. Before clocking out for lunch, I recall calling up Ponchos to have my order ready so I could come and grab it quickly. My lunch breaks were super short here and every minute counted. The place overall has changed its look and seems a lot less dumpy to me than I remember it. When visiting Ponchos on a late Sunday, there were lots of families inside eating in their large dining room. Although they serve slop shop food, it had more of a sit down restaurant type of vibe to it. Their green menu overhead was quite large and they served quite the variety of Mexican food here. With all your typical items, they also had a decent list of soups and seafood which they served every day. Their salsa bar (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ponchos-taco-shop-el-cajon?select=bbZnINFCLE54OTCS0EHAGg) was to the right of the register with two red sauces and one green. The chunky red sauce was quite spicy and the darker red had a smoky oily taste to it. Chips are free here for dining in but cost extra for takeout orders. One thing I did notice about the menu here, is their food is slightly on the more expensive side, with a typical carne asada burrito costing about $7 with tax. Their California burritos here come standard with meat, cheese, fries, and guacamole. However if you don't want "American" guacamole, you better let them know beforehand because by default they use that stuff instead of the good guac. The burrito (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ponchos-taco-shop-el-cajon?select=rmB7jqOEVAMUx-qgsHcuGA) came in a foiled up tray and was massively huge. The tortilla was heated up a bunch before wrapping which was nice. Overall they have pretty solid tortillas here, great texture and taste. The carne asada meat its self was bit on the fatter side and they cut them into big flat chunks. Even though they properly seasoned them, the meat was on a bit of the salty side. I would have preferred smaller chunks of meat inside of a burrito personally. The French fries were crispy and not greasy at all. The burrito wasn't overly greasy at all, even though the meat had quite a bit of fat on it. They added plenty of Mexican guacamole to the inside throughout as well. Even though the burrito may cost a bit much, it was good. Rolled tacos here come in sizes of three or five. They add American guac by default again, make sure to ask for the real stuff. I also had them add sour cream because they only come with guac, cheese, lettuce and tomato here standard. The cheese on top of the tacos (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ponchos-taco-shop-el-cajon?select=Hp5v1RMlYuwdOmT6ruMpuw) wasn't melted at all. I personally enjoy fresh cheese like this instead of it being melted all over in grease like some places. I really hate greasy rolled tacos, these weren't greasy in the slightest. The tacos themselves were pretty decently sized. They look hand rolled at least, and had tons of shredded beef inside. At about $1 per taco, they're not too bad of a deal really. Their mini tacos come in orders of three and I was able to try some of their pollo asado ones. As you can tell (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/ponchos-taco-shop-el-cajon?select=DKmzESDpKYGau6oFZ29vRQ) their pollo asado doesn't appear to be too decently seasoned. The chicken was rather bland and luckily the hot sauce gave it some flavor. Even though the chicken was bland, they cooked it pretty good because they were able to get some crisp on the outside of them. For three of these tacos, they'll run you the steep price of $5.50. Ponchos overall seems to be a decent taco shop. The staff there wasn't overly friendly but did a good job at getting the orders out efficiently. They were quite knowledgeable about what was in their food though, and were able to answer all my questions. They charged me one of those credit card fees that everyone hates, so be warned. The restaurant seemed a bit dirty to me with a mess around the salsa bar on the table and ground. The chairs and tables weren't too cleaned off as well. For some reason I remember food here being a bit better when I use to work across the street and definitely a lot cheaper. Ponchos makes decent food, but not exceptional in my opinion. The prices are steep yet the portions are of good size, so it seems to be a three star to me. Don't let this place be confused with the chain "Los Ponchos" either, they are quite different places. read more

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