Taqueria El Cotixan

Well. I’m truly dissapointed in thise borrito. I got the carnitas. First of all this is the driest nastiest Shit ever. I damn near broke my tooth on s piece of skin. Id really like a refund it is so bad. Like I don’t know if it’s always like this but if it is you really need to drop the price I’m attaching a picture of the damn kin I almost broke a tooth on.

The breakfast burrito with Ham and no beans is really tasty, fresh and really good. Nice and easy

Not so much for goo food.
I try the asada burrito, the meat need it some flavor and it was dry.

The Taqueria El Cotixan is a place I use to frequent very much before when getting my oil changed back in the day. This place has been in this strip mall for some time and I remember getting pretty good food here before, but things to me have definitely changed. The inside of the restaurant has plenty of seating for dine in and features a pretty big menu (
) of items for your local San Diego Mexican style. There’s nothing too special on the menu but they do pride themselves on pictures of their food, because they’re all over the wall. The prices here aren’t too bad, you’ll spend about 5 bucks and change for a standard entrée of food. The salsa bar located to the right of the restaurant (
) is where they house all their sauces. Unfortunately like the rest of the restaurant, the salsa bar was pretty messy and very dirty looking. Usually most places keep their sauces and veggie sides cold with a fridge underneath but everything in the trays were room temperature, not a very good sign. While they do feature a good selection of stuff including free pico de gallo, onions, clinatro and carrots, I felt kinda weird with how warm everything was. I didn’t really put too much of the stuff on my food. The carrots were very bland tasting and they didn’t quite seem to peel the carrots at all. The best sauce to me was the milder looking red sauce, it had lots of great flavor to it.
When I got home, that their California burrito (
) was just a bit bigger than Taco Bell’s standard burrito. It was quite small and pretty much had lots of fries in it instead of meat (
). Their California came with asada, fries, cheese and pico de gallo. I asked them to add guacamole to it, but not too much made it inside. How could it, the thing was so small after all. The carne asada meat here was cooked well, but it tasted a bit dry and lacked flavor. I’m pretty sure this is because they warmed up the meat instead of cooking it fresh. The burrito was pretty lousy if you ask me. Another I tried here was their rolled taco combo plate (
) for about $ 7. The plate came with your typical rolled tacos, refried beans and rice. While the tacos came loaded up with toppings on top (they added more guac to them, than my burrito). The actual tacos themselves lacked shredded meat inside, they were extra-​corn tacos. The beans and rice were very bland and not seasoned very well. I’m sure from the picture you can see how dried out the beans were and how bland looking the white rice is. Very underwhelming combo plate here.
So sad to see that my previous experience with this place are just memories now. For some reason I remember this place being a lot better with bigger burritos, better tasting food and amazing hot sauce. Unfortunately for my visit here, none of that was present. While the service here was quite nice and the prices were pretty decent, I’d have to really push myself to ever come back to this place. The food to me was just too darn bland tasting. I consider this El Cotixan to be a skipper.

The bacon breakfast burrito is hands down the best breakfast burrito I’ve had. It comes with eggs, French fries (potatoes), cheese, sour cream, and beans for about $ 6 and some change. You can’t find that price anywhere! Normally you have to add sour cream & beans but this place has it already inside. This is definitely my new go to taco shop.

In my quest for the highest excellency of surf-​n-​turf burritos, I was pleased that this establishment’s foodstuff should grace my mouth. While I found this particular item slightly on the more punch-​my-​billfold-​in-​the-​face expensive side, I noted most of their other items reasonably non-​aggressive in their interactions with wallets and the like. I did enjoy the burrito as it’s contents seemed to be on the higher end of the quality scale and it definitely tipped the scale, weight-​wise, in my favor (though perhaps my hips would not agree).
Not being compelled by my eats to partake, I have yet to check out my office here, but I figure if the cleanliness of this hole-​in-​the-​wall Mexican restaurant is any indicator, the bathrooms are probably alright.
I would totally nom here again.

Just had the carnitas here and I can honestly say it was borderline turkey sandwich material meat… I took a picture and will try to upload… The ONLY thing I ate on my plate was the beans and tortilla…
I rarely EVER get carnitas anywhere but Taco fiesta and now imma stick to that motto…
Another person had tacos and said it was ok and another said the carne asada burrito wasn’t bad…
There are better mexican places if your hungry down the street.

Tried these guys for breakfast on Sunday. Varied menu and clean. Decent salsa bar and zanahorias (hot carrots). Beans were good but a little cold. Chula quilmes were great. Good taco shop. I’ll be back.

the surfin california burrito is fireee (excellent) the sauce they put in it is so good

I had a pair of great shredded beef tacos with rice and beans and a handful of tortilla chips for $ 6.85.
I was impress right of the bat with the amount of food I received. (
) The beef tacos were very good. The corn tortilla shell was perfectly cooked and the beef was very flavorful and juicy. (
) The tacos had very fresh lettuce, tomatoes, and grated cheese. The tacos were very good. Got to have more…
The rice and beans were also great. The rice was not your typical orange Mexican rice. It was more on the lighter side and just as tasty. (
) The rice was well cooked and seasoned. The beans had that nice robust flavor or slightly charred flavor. I liked that and they went well with my chips. The beans came in a little conch shell made of a corn tortilla.
The place was clean for the most part, except for a couple of tables that needed to be wiped. The salsa bar was clean and well stocked. The service was good and welcoming.
Got to have my beef taco kick…

I love this place. I’m a San Diego native, and used to come to this place pretty frequently. I’ve since moved out of the area, but we still go back to visit a few times a year. We usually stop here! The food is always excellent, but the staff is what really makes this place stand out. Everyone is super nice and professional, and one of the guys at the counter not only remembers us, but remembers our «usual» orders, even though its been over 5 years since we lived in the area. Who else does that? This place is one of a kind, and they really make you feel like you’re a part of their family.

Thank you El Toxican for curing my hangovers with consistently delicious sausage and bacon breakfast burritos.
WHEN YOU GO– super friendly guys behind the counter will make whatever you want, however you want it. Great salsas, all dishes are cheap. Sarita’s is still the East Cty go to for lunch or dinner but for a tasty breakfast burrito, El T is the spot!

The only thing that I have had from this taco shop are the breakfast burritos which will do their share to become lunch and partial dinner burritos. They do not skimp on the portions. The one that I had was egg, cheese and bacon… I am pretty sure I have not burned it off yet!

Great flavor in their food!!! Their burritos are huge and priced cheap for the amount of food that you’re actually getting. If you’re craving something spicy, I recommend the Shrimp A La Diabla burrito, it’s delicious!!!

Nice taco shop! Fast service and a delicious burrito that rated well for me. The rolled tacos were just so-​so. I will come back for the burrito and perhaps try something else down the line.

Love this place. Only thing I ever order is Cal burrito and 5 rolled tacos with gauc. There both excellent and they have a salsa bar, the basic red salsa is great, I always get way to many to use later. The funny part about this place whenever I go here the same guy is always at the counter, real nice guy. Go here and solve your burrito cravings

I would give this Restaurant a solid four stars and it deserves it. The food is good and resonably priced. I ordered a Carne Asada burrito for $ 4.50 and it had plenty of meat and good stuff inside. The people are very friendly inside and they greet you with a warm hello when you enter the place. They also say goodby when you leave.
So why not give it a five star rating instead of a four? Well for some reason their salsa bar only has med, and hot sauces no mild. I guess the customers in El Cajon don’t request it enough or something. So for this one reason alone I take off one star and give El Cotxan for stars.

Okay, in reality I think El Cotixan deserves four stars, but given the truly abysmal reviews some of my fellow Unilocalers have given; I’ll give it five stars to try and equalize. Seriously people, if you went to El Cotixan, or any taco shop looking for Lobster Thermidor, you are suffering from delusions. They make pills for that.
However, if you wanted good old-​fashioned greasy Mexican food; you’ve come to the right place. Their rolled tacos and their carne asada super nachos are great! The equation boils down thusly: if it’s fried, eat it; if it’s not, beat it.
Oh, and my friends and I have conducted a taste test between the Mexican and American guacamoles. Survey says: the American has it. Yes, I know it looks like a death tonic (one that causes, rather than alleviates said condition) of sour cream and radioactive ectoplasm. It may very well be. However, it beats the frozen/​browning Mexican guac. every time.
Also, they have a salsa bar. Make mine the chipotle; you know, the red one with the black dots. Mmmm…

I’ve been going to this taco shop
Since I was a young boy and let me tell you something if you live in the neighborhood and have never tried it shame on you. It’s a solid inexpensive taco shop where all there food is good. Believe me if you like rolled tacos or burritos you’ll love this place and there not shiesty with there salsa.

Where’s the love, people?! I have been going to El Cotixan as my number one, favorite Mexican food place for almost 15 years now, and now that I’ve just joined Unilocal,I check out the reviews and WHAT?!
This place is always busy, so where are all of the reviewers? Oh, yeah… mostly working manual labor jobs and, thus, not sitting around writing reviews on the internet.
No, this isn’t high-​falutin’ fancy food, but it’s plentiful and tasty, so don’t avoid your next new favorite Mexican food eatery.
El Cotixan is a hole-​in-​the-​wall Mexican eatery (not a one-​note taqueria) and has some of the best salsa bars around town (very important).
I recommend the breakfast burritos, carne asade plate, taquitos (you need to tell them if you want Mexican or American guacamole… seriously, Matthew H., what hole did you crawl out of?), nachos and anything and everything that qualifies as good ol’ fashioned greasy deliciousness.
Low-​cost food with large, tasty portions. What’s not to like?
And what are you waiting for? Go eat!