Rigoberto’s Taco Shop

only two things you need to know about this place. the OG carne asada fries and the OG california burrito. Also the same OG guy that works the night shift since a decade ago. you know the food’s gotta be good if the dude’s still around.
quick tip: avoid thursday nights; too many drunk college kids. and always and i mean always ask them to deep fry the green onions for you.

Good drunk people food especially if you spent about 100 buck from downtown to get up her using über or lyft it will fill you up for sure the chimichanga is a monster size too!

Absolutely gross! Saw a roach crawling across the order line as I was looking at the menu. I just left, so glad I didn’t order first!

PROS:
— 24 HOURS! Good for those late night study or work nights.
— Affordable! Cheaper than some other taco joints.
— Most importantly, delicious huge portions of fatty goodness wrapped up into a burrito! (I’ve only ordered their burritos so far)
— Water cup available
— Easy to call in your order ahead of time for pick up
CONS:
— Messy condiment section. Not always kept clean around the sauce area. Not a fault of their own I guess but it’d be nice to wipe it up every hour or two.
— Napkins are no where to be found except when you ask for it.
Overall, my go to place since it’s right down the street from work.

If you are looking for a taco shop that boasts quantity, salsa bar, adobada… red chairs then this is it.
Ordered the carne asada fries and holy moly I tore a big hole on my wallet. A whopping $ 11 bucks. Don’t get me wrong I did add sour cream and salsa fresca ($ 1.80 total) but it still would have been just about $ 9 bucks without. The menu carne asada fries comes with a crap load of perfectly cooked fries, shredded cheddar, and guac. I was bummed it didn’t include salsa fresca and sour cream for that price but I couldn’t eat it without. Everything was pretty good. Meat was ok. It was a bit chewy and dry. If you are looking for quantity this is it. For the price I paid though, I expected a bit more quality of meat and «extras» with.
Salsa bar included about 6 different salsas. They were okay salsas, lacked a bit of that Ooohmp flavor for me.
Overall I was fully satisfied, and the inside had lots of tables and brightly lit.
This is your place if you want quantity.

Not bad. Very enjoyable. Price was fair… Tacos was amazing… I had the Abadabo Taco… Very big and tasteful… Explosion in your mouth… The more u eat it the more you will enjoy it.
My friend had the tripe. I also recommend because it was very crunchy and delicious…

Looking for a taco/​burrito joint today and came across this one on Unilocal.All I can is I feel like Unilocal let me down. Wanting to try something new I ordered the chile relleno burrito… The idea of it sounded delicious, but sadly it was not. The chile on the inside was COLD (almost frozen) and the rice was warm… Disgusting!!! I ate two bites made a comment to the cashier and threw it away. Such a waste of food. I will not be returning to this location. The restaurant smelled kind of off, like expired meat. The restroom was extremely dirty as well.

If there is only 1 thing I can eat in San Diego, it would be the carne asada fries from Rigoberto’s.
This place holds a special place in my heart as my go-​to location for 3am eats when I went to school in San Diego (back when it was simply known as «Roberto’s #2»). Yes, this is another 24-​hour taqueria that plays mariachi music, but the carne asada and pollo asado fries at this location are NUMERO UNO EN TODOS LOS SAN DIEGO!!!
What makes the carne asada fries so special, you ask? Well the individual ingredients themselves aren’t super amazing; the fries are freshly made, the guac is questionably consistent in greenness, and the carne asada isn’t out of this world either. But when you put all those ingredients (as well as a healthy handful of shredded cheese) into a Styrofoam container, close the lid, and then open it again — pure magic. The cheese melts into the fries and unifies all the ingredients into a harmonic medley of warm fries, meaty carne, gooey cheese, and a little tang from that guac. Sauce optional at this point.
I’ve also eaten a good number of California burritos here too which are also good! Something about San Diego burritos that retain their elasticity and flakiness is something San Francisco burritos will never live up to.
Vivan las papas con carne asada. Cash only.

I am still so full from eating here… (and I ate here yesterday at 1PM). Portions are ridiculous but the food is good.
We shared an order of their pollo/​carne asada fries and I got my own adobada taco. OMG… these carne asada/​pollo fries were insane! You get a huge pile of crunchy and thin fries, topped with both pollo and carne asada, ooey and gooey melted cheese, and a dollop of their delicious guacamole. This would probably taste better after a night of drinking, but I was in the mood for some gluttonous fries and meat. The meat was seasoned nicely but I have to say their carne asada was a bit dry. Normally, I wouldn’t eat pollo but it was really good here. The meat was cut in small pieces, which made it easier for you to get both fries and meat in each bite. The fries were fried to make it perfectly crispy so it didn’t get too soggy. This whole thing was only $ 9.00 which was a steal because you got SO much food!
I don’t know how I even had room for their taco… But their adobada was so good. Tiny pieces of meat that was extremely flavorful. This was one of the biggest tacos I have ever seen though. It was topped off with guacamole and dices of fresh white onion. Yum!
One disappointment — their salsas. They did have an array of them but I didn’t have one that I absolutely loved. None of them were too spicy. And sadly, none of them really left an impression on me.

I came for the carne asada fries and left disappointed. Cam and I decided to visit Rigoberto’s after reading some of the stellar Unilocal reviews. Now I’m starting to think people are missing out on real carne asada fries.
The shop is located in a small strip mall off of Miramar Road. Parking was plentiful at 5:30 p.m. but that might also have to do with the fact that it’s Thanksgiving week. One of the neon signs indicated that it is ²⁴⁄₇ taco shop meaning if you’re really drunk in the area you have somewhere to get greasy Mexican food whenever you want.
On to the carne asada fries ($ 8.50 for a whole serving). While the fries were perfectly cooked and stayed crispy throughout the entire meal the overall taste was lacking. The carne asada looks juicy, but that’s only because of the amount of grease in the dish. It also had a weird texture, as if the cut of meat used was not very good.
I decided to pay $ 0.90 extra for Mexican salsa which is salsa fresca. This was a good decision since it help cut down on the grease however the salsa itself was not very flavorful, it just tasted like tomatoes and onions.
The guacamole that came with the carne asada fries was mediocre and there was a lot of cheese, so cheese lovers will like this dish. The carne asada fries don’t come with sour cream so you have to pay an extra $ 0.90 for that as well however I’m not a fan of sour cream, so that was just fine with me.
I think another person said it best, this place is good for quantity but not quality. I’ll have to visit other taco shops for my carne asada fries in the future. As a side note, I wasn’t a big fan of their salsa bar either. All of their red salsas were lacking in spiciness, which I usually love to douse my carne asada fries in. If you’re in the area and need some Mexican food to line your stomach for a night of alcohol, then this is the place to go. Otherwise, there are other choices in San Diego.

hello my yummy taco! I mean, what else can I say that hasn’t been said??? Your order comes out fast once you order! LOVEDDD the carne asada burrito… it’s huge. If you think you’ll need a carne asada taco too then I’ll tell you to pass because that taco alone will fill you up! It’s a decent size taco too!
BEWARE of their hot salsas!!! I can eat extremelyyyyyyy spicy (so spicy that one time a chef came out and asked me how I’m eating their food when i got the spiciest option and still asked for more peppers on the side to bite into) but one of their salsas kicked my ass! I still loved it though!

I would have to agree with some of the other reviewers that this place is definitely better when drunk or at least buzzed. I tried the pollo asado fries after a night visiting Ballast Point and Green Flash breweries. While the fries are bomb no question, having a few beers before downing it definitely makes a difference. You also can’t complain with the hours — ²⁴⁄₇! Always available to satisfy an early morning, afternoon or late night craving. Service is attentive. This place seems to get some serious business from the local college crowd.
Their California burrito looks pretty amazing, and so that’ll probably be what I order next visit.

Whenever I find myself in San Diego, some indescribable magical force that can only be describes as something between lust and nostalgia brings me here like a dog on a mailman. Long past my college nights where my half-​inebriated self found my way here, the food is still some of the best Mexican food to date.
For all the n00bs — get the pollo asada fries. It’s huge, its moist, and delicious. If you appreciate spice or want to play a horrible prank on a friend, smother your fries with the green sauce and tell your friend its guacamole. Amazing taste on the sauce, and some REAL heat.
I must have been naïve to given this place an average rating before. What does that say about me if I keep ending up here time and time again?!

Stopped by here for some quick Tacos and immediately knew I would like this place. I ordered the Crispy Chicken Tacos. Honestly some of the best tacos I’ve had in a long time. The place is clean and a great salsa bar as well. Highly recommend.

I come here from time to time on my lunch, and it always hits the spot. I usually call in my order by phone, and more than most of the time it’s ready when I arrive or minutes after I get there I’m already out the door.
Price wish you can’t beat it for the amount you get, the quality of the food, and the customer service is good too. I recommend the roll tacos, burritos, the carne asada quesadilla is sooooooo good, and the amount you get is more than enough to leave you with left overs.

I use to attend UCSD and now work off of Miramar on a night shift near this joint. In between those years, this place is still my go-​to because, not only is it open all the time, but it is consistently the best fast-​food Mexican I’ve had to fill that greasy niche. I love bringing co-​workers or out of town friends here to show them this initially unassuming hole in the wall that ends up blowing them away.
So down to business. If you hear about this place through word of mouth, you may have heard about the carne asada or polla asada fries. The portions are huge, and can be shared between 2 – 4 people, even amongst heavy eaters (example, me during my freshmen 15). However, you can also ask for other proteins on top of fries, such as shrimp or even chorizo. However, my favorite is cabeza, as the meat is moist and fattier which offsets the drier fries. The only time too where leftover fries weren’t too bad because of this.
Another tip, grilled green onions (actually put in the frier for a bit)!!! I cannot emphasize this point enough. They are on the house, and a MUST!

Pollos asada fries. Thumbs up.
Tacos are big and $$. Eh eh. I hate doing reviews for Mexican food places because they all kind of blur together~ interior all looks the same. Service is the same. Tacos are tacos. I don’t love burritos so I don’t even care.
But this place gets 4 stars bc the pollos asada fries definitely stand out.

I know, everyone adores this place… but I just can’t find it in myself to come back more than once every few years!
I first tried Rigoberto’s years ago… I’m talking almost a decade ago. I wasn’t a fan of their carne asada then, and the same thing went for their pollo asada. Nothing extraordinary. I recently came back again, wanting to give it another chance with their adobada fries, but again, disappointment ensued.
The meat was dry and flavorless, and it wasn’t any different with the fries. Their salsa bar boasts a good variety of salsa, but that doesn’t make up for much.
It’s just your run of the mill mexican food joint.

I specifically asked before ordering the shrimp burrito if it was fried and she said yes. I got my burrito and it was for sure not fried. so freaking lame. Killed my food craving I didn’t even want to eat anymore.
Oh my lord I had to update this: when I asked her why the shrimp wasn’t fried she argued that it was fried. She said it was deep fried on the grill. Call me crazy but when I hear something is deep fried I imagine like it’s fried in a fryer with batter on it. Idk obviously we were not understanding eachother.

If you’re looking for good olé SD Mexican food this place is for you.
May not look the cleanest looking of the taco shops in the area, but the food is what you’re here for. They been here forever… you’ll notice they have old menus up without prices, chairs might not all match, they plan Mexican music pretty loudly, the kitchen is within eyesight. Tons of menu items… you’ll see them above the cashier, on the windows, below the counter… so make sure you look around before making your order.
Good meats, salsas, good food. A little on the heavier side compared to some, but still hits the spot when you’re in that type of mood.