El Portal Fresh Mexican Grill

I've been coming to El Portal for years. It's just solid San Diego Mexican food. No rice in the burritos. Massive nachos plate. The caldo de res (soup) is great and unique. Not amazing, but it does the job.

Food was OK. Service was nonexistent and ambience was terrible. Nothing really stood out and the only employee we interacted with didn't seem to care whether we were there at all. Moreover, there was a couple in the table behind us who had finished their food and still sat there for a half an hour, blasting some horrible movie out of their phone. My mother is handicapped and we were not allowed to move a second table closer to the table we were sitting at so we actually had to sit at separate tables while we were eating. Not recommended

The food was ok! Nothing out of this world!Hot sauce was actually spicy which I'm a fan of.Idk if the dude in the front was having a bad day. But the guy definitely needs some customer service training.

DANGER! Health issue. DO NOT EAT HERE! We just ordered food. The cheese was moldy. When I went back to have them remake it with fresh cheese, they wanted me to pull the food out of the trash at home and bring it back to them as proof. Then he brought out a cup of the cheese they use, which smelled moldy! He insisted it didn't. Refused to offer refund or remake the food with fresh cheese. Shop doesn't have a lot of traffic, so it's likely they're keeping food past expiration. I've filed a complaint with the health department as these guys are going to get someone very sick.

Rude kid taking my order was the first thing I noticed. He couldn't take his eyes off the soccer game on his phone. But that is not the real issue here. It was the 4 beef rolled tacos I ordered. The whole thing just tasted weird. Not sure if it was bad meat or the lettuce or something. I don't want to gross anyone out with what I was thinking about but I was thinking I was that lucky customer that became a victim of angry cook food. Who knows how he made it.. I got the worst stomach ache when I got home after about 6 hrs of shopping. Worse feeling I ever had. I don't think I'll be coming back.

The whole point of my visit to El Portal was trying their SALMON BURRITO with GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE. My parents and my family have been going there for years and getting exactly that burrito. I brought a pescetarian friend because I wanted her to enjoy what USED to be a wonderful meal.2 things - the burrito is supposed to come with guac, but BOTH of our burritos didn't have it. Secondly, they were WILDLY lost and confused about the GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE. The chef came to the register to say he has NEVER heard of that sauce and if it isn't on the menu then he doesn't have a solution for us. I was angry... Not just because he was VERY rude. It was because 2 DAYS earlier I had ordered via DOORDASH and not only did my salmon burrito HAVE guac they also let me put a note for extras, and I mentioned the GARLIC BUTTER SAUCE, and lo & behold I received it! The experience was excellent and I ordered through DoorDash!! Also, the place smells VERY odd, and industrial kitchen-like, and I wasn't a huge fan of the service. I hope they possibly improve, I am annoyed.

This used to be a good restaurant that we've been patronizing for years. Now the food is so inconsistent that we will not go any longer. Ordering a Machaca burrito will get you either all egg and no meat or mostly meat but not a blend of both or much in the way of cheese, peppers or anything else. Huevos Rancheros is a scant resemblance of what it used to be. The eggs are hard instead of over easy and the smallest eggs you've ever seen. They no longer have a salsa bar even though Covid has been a past memory for quite some time. If you want more than two salsa containers, they begrudgingly provide it making you feel as though you're not entitled. Prices are much higher and I don't mind paying a higher price but the quality needs to be equal to the price. If this restaurant wants to survive the post Covid era they need to get back to the value and service that they once had.

Been coming here for grilled chicken caesar salads for quite a while. The salads are consistently good but they got rid of the self serve salsa bar after Covid which was half the reason for going TBH. Oh well

Whatever happened to El Portal? Used to be our favorite place for fish tacos. Then COVID came and they shut down the salsa bar and cleared out half the seating. It's been a while since we've been back as we found other options for good fish tacos (El Pueblo for an excellent and surprisingly CHEAP fish taco and Oceanas in Bonita for excellent $2 fish tacos), but we found ourselves in the area and stopped by El Portal for lunch. It looks like they are stuck in a time warp. Still empty. No salsa bar. The counters are empty like they are closing down. Very unappealing place to go eat. Even worse, the food. We ordered fish tacos. I couldn't eat them. The "fish" was these thin, battered strips with some sort of very old, rubbery hard white stuff inside (and very little at that). It was inedible. $15 down the drain. Not sure what the deal is with their management that they feel they should still be COVID mode. Every other restaurant is back in full operation, offering salsa bars and normal seating, music, etc. You know...inviting to customers?Won't be going back.

I just spent $18.26 at El Portal fresh Mexican grill. The food tasted horrible. The meat tasted bad we had to throw our food away. Me and my coworker had to go somewhere else to eat. the worst Mexican food ever. warning please don't go. I hope I do not end up with food poisoning. This is a zero I had to put a one because it was no option for zero when it comes to the review.