Santana’s Mexican Food

Maybe the most expensive fast Mexican food in the area! Better bring a full wallet so that you can order salty food. Santana’s was the same food, but a better price.

Went in for the first time. Make sure you have a jacket cause they crank down that ac. People were nice. Food was ok, nothing special. Ordered carne asada fries and carnitas burrito. Fair prices.

I’ve been here a few times and have never had to big of a problem, but today my ENTIRE order was wrong! Not to mention I waited for at least 15 minutes. I called to complain and was told to bring them their food back, & they’ll refund my money. Never again will I come here! Food is not that great

Beware! Didn’t even make it inside to even try. Don’t claim you are Santana’s when you aren’t. Castaneda? We come for the name and nostalgia and cravings of what we know as Santana. Shame on you even serving in chula. Boooo. Unilocal fix this STAT!

We got 2 California burritos and 2 drinks. What the fuck did we eat?! Horrible burrito, the fries under cooked, the meat was not even good. Waste of $$$ and to top it off it was super expensive, don’t go here unless your desperate and don’t mind to pay alot for poor quality food. Never coming here again.

Been coming here for awhile. It was decent and conveniently close to home. After the name change things have gone south. I noticed the burritos tend to have a lot of fat. Fries are soggy. Customer service has also declined. I recommend going to Lolitas on Telegraph or if you prefer a salsa bar go to the one on E Palomar.

Never in my life will step foot inside this establishment again, the managers/​owners just proved to me how greedy they are. No wonder why there food is so over priced… I stop by on christmas day, almost every business is closed this day, and i wanted/​needed some limes so i stopped by & instead of being a douche bag and grabbing some limes from there salsa bar, i went up to the cashier and nicely asked if i could purchase 5 limes from them. It was an odd request and me and both the cashier thought it was kind of funny, so she asked the manager (RILEY) how much they should sell 5 limes to me for. And she said $ 3 dollars. Umm i just left ernies liqour store and they just sold me 6 for $ 1 dollar! Are you crazy? It wasn’t about the money it was about the principle. Riley even had the audacity to say «im giving you a good deal» yea sure you are & even said «or you can go to northgate» knowing that there closed! Again it had nothing to do about the money because its only 3 dollars but just how she handled that and how greedy she seemed. I wasn’t going to give a single penny to this establishment nor will I ever do so! At the end i said thank you and walked away without any limes, Luckily my family had some limes when i got to there house. Merry christmas to you guys too!

I used to go there every weekend for breakfast but it seems they got a new cook a while ago and now their food sucks. Beans are super salty, rice has a stale taste and the tortillas are not as crunchy, kind of chewy. Sucks because I loved the taste of the food. Must have been when they changed from it being Santanas.

the foods bomb! The fries could be better. The salad bars the shit! They’re open 24 hrs It never feels ghetto its pretty safe. The girl that works the front is kind of a bitch sometimes. actually. I just remember I had to cuss her out one time. Which means she is a bitch. She should be fired to be honest. LOL

I love how this place is 24 hours, I feel there’s not enough casual places open past 10 let alone midnight so its always a nice option. Potato and grilled fish tacos are fire, self serve salsa bar and drive thru. Very savy

The first thing i order was two complete separate orders and who was taking order told me she couldn’t with an attitude. i was simply take one order then the other one… she said: No, so you gonna order or not… Then i ask for the manager. She said it was her. sandra i was like with that attitude and you can simply take two seprate orders. I went to the window and some else was there i talk to both and she tells me the manager is not there… im so why you saying you are and with that attitude out nowhere still argue with me. The other person was nicer. And did infact took the other separately and told me the «manger was new» hated their service. And they gave me a free cheesecake dosent pay up for lack of service and attitude…

Went here late at night after work and the food I got was cold not fully cooked and soggy not coming back

Food is delicious but the prices are outrageous. A order of carnasada nachos is 8.50 and the fries are the same. You can get a half order for about 7 dollars.

My son complained that his carne asada fries where disgusting. They served the fries soggy and limp as if they don’t care to leave them cooking a little longer to have them come out crisp. Or maybe they didn’t have the oil hot enough. What ever the reason they tasted bad. The carne asada burrito wasn’t that great either. 2 stars is all your getting!

This place is so gross I paid too much for the most disgusting carne asada fries. The girl at the drive thru is rude to start off, the fries were soggy the meat had no flavor and the worst part was the red salsa it tasted expired !!! I would not even rate this place !!! I definitely don’t recommend this place

Went to this place a few times when it was Santana’s. Meh. But I came back mostly because it is right across the street from McDonald’s and I can get food for the kids in my family that don’t like Mexican food.
Sooooo yesterday, after a long day at the Zoo, I drove through Castanedas and ordered 2 carne asada burritos and 3 rolled tacos with only cheese. Total…
$ 19.87
That’s right. Almost twenty bucks for two burritos and three tiny rolled tacos.
I was taken aback and asked the woman at the window for some clarification on my order total.
She proudly explained that the burritos were $ 7.85.
WHAT!!!
I was very uncomfortable and almost drove away. But, I thought that maybe since they changed their name they also MUST have changed their food. Maybe I was getting the best burritos EVER.
nope.
Salty, small, lame.
The rolled tacos were given to my dog Henry.
Poor Henry.

Portions are very small. The tables were sticky and dirty. The salsa bar was not well stocked nor did the salsa look tasty – can’t tell you if it tasted good because I didn’t want to even try it. The carne asada tasted good and so did the rest of our food but it wasn’t good enough to ever make me want to come back. Such a disappointment.

Average price for platters but the potions were very small. And tables were quite sticky. Lunch time and we are the only ones in here which I suppose is a sign. The wailing of the food is pretty good.

2 things the pricing here is extremely ridiculous, my best friend lives in the area and the only reason why we continue to come here is because its the only taco shop in the area that is open late at night and accepts debit. The other complaint would be the quilty of the fries? Seem kind of soggy i dunno if its the oil there frying it in or just the fries itself, other then that the food is decent and good size portions. Just pleaase lower the pricing down just a tad bit!

My wife and I had a craving for Mexican food and she told me about this place that she used to go to years ago called Santana’s (which we later discovered became Castaneda’s). We drove up to the window, were greeted promptly, placed our order, and drove home. When we got home, I was confused because the box said Santana’s but the receipt and sign on the building said Castaneda’s but then I remembered what my wife told me.
The food was very good. Her carne asada tacos were awesome and my taco and quesadilla were awesome as well. The tamarindo and jamaica drinks were sweet but lacked the flavor that we are used to.
All in all, we had a great experience and will be back. So glad we live close by!

Best Burrito I ever had, The California Burrito is A1
I definitely recommend this place, and everything here is made fresh.

The chicken enchiladas were great. I loved the flavor! My husbands meal, he said, «was just ok.»
If the guacamole was better I would of given it a 4 star. I’m a a guacamole gal! It pays to give us the best guac. Was way to creamy like they were cutting on cost? It was only ok. My husband wasn’t crazed about their salsas? I like them.

Joana, I just wanted you to know that Riley and johnathon are great! Both of them took care of us. Your system went down and together, they took care of us

Absolutely HORRIBLE! If you want to enjoy good quality, delicious food, DON’T go to Santana’s.
When I came here, at first I thought the place was closed. The place was empty. I ordered the pork adobada fries and they were disgusting. At first my order looked good, but then as I took bites, I noticed the fries were soggy, undercooked, and drenched in oil. The «pork» was mostly just chunks of fat. All of it was swimming in oil. It was so fucking gross that I couldn’t finish eating; I had to throw it away.
My family had eaten here as well, and they got their orders wrong. They said the food was terrible and they threw away most of it.
I’m surprised this place is still in business. I’m never coming here again.

The location for this place did not seem to be the best choice. To me, it was one of those places where you would pass by, look at it, and then store it in the back of your memory as one of your general options.
Today, I dined at Santana’s for the very first time. The place seemed quite dead as in their was almost no customers there upon my arrival. That’s very likely with having to do that I came around 10 a.m. on my way back from a morning class and having a drive-​thru option. I don’t have any recollection how long they’ve been open, however additionally, if part of an other reason is that if they are an individually-​owned business and they just started, I would say that they’re off to a really tremendous start.
This is the only Mexican Food restaurant that I know by far that has FREE WI-​FI as usual to how almost every local McDonald’s, Starbucks, Carls Jr. and other very popular places has one. As the only Mexican Food restaurant that I now know that has free wi-​fi in Chula Vista, I’m impressed. And on top of that, it’s fast.
The food that I ordered was really well done. It’s a little bit pricey, but the quality of the food, in my experience, was priceless. For all California burrito fans in Chula Vista, this place, as far as I know, has the most expensive California burrito compared to any Los Panchos, Don Pedros, and Roberto’s. However, the quality of the burrito is definitely there, even at their price.
The place was nice and quiet, which I did really appreciate the silence. The staff were friendly, in my experience.
As merely a side-​note, the menu is a little bit high. So when I look up to see the menu, it feels like a similar experience where you would sit in the front row seat of your local AMC theater. It doesn’t bother me at all, but it’s just like «Ugghh…»
Overall and in my current usual routine, I would definitely come back to dine.

This was my attempt to give this place a second chance. They failed me again. My first attempt I ordered through drive through which I was happy about at first until the wait was like 15 – 20 minutes. Then why have a dive through? Anyways my pollo asado fries smelled and looked amazing until I got home. The fries weren’t fully cooked. The chicken wasn’t even seasoned correctly and it left lack of flavor. Was very disappointed. That experience was over 2 weeks ago.
Today after not eating at work all day, I thought I’d give them another chance and orderred something completely opposite then last time. I orders the chille rellenos plate with a cheese enchilada and rice and beans. That order came out fast. The beans were good but my cheese enchilada wasn’t melted! The chille Relleno was good but hidden under cheese and lettuce and tomatoes so it wasn’t much.
Overall I most likely will not eat here again. Not flavorful and overpriced. Oh and they can’t cook fries or melt cheese. What? Sorry, I’m good. There are too many taco shops in Chula vista that know how to cook.

This place sucks. Been there about 4 times and its always something with them. If its not the food its the lethargic service. Food is decent when sober and can barely pass as Mexican Food. With NorthGate being in the same plaza, I’m baffled they lack authenticity.
Ordered a beef enchilada plate when it was empty and still messed my order up by making cheese enchiladas. Really? Shits weak!
Won’t be here again.

I’ve been coming here for years, so I figured it’s about time I post a review. This place is 24 hours, and is my ONLY taco shop! Their food is a tad bit pricey, but now-​a-​days, prices are going up everywhere for everything. The quality of their food is great, and their salsa bar is the best. I highly recommend the green salsa with chunks of avocado! I also recommend the Carne Asada Super Nachos with extra Pico de gallo, and the breakfast ranchero burrito.