La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill

The service is hit or miss, some people are much friendlier than others. The consistency in item availability is also a bit questionable, sometimes they’ve let me order certain items a la carte but other times have said they can only be ordered as part of a meal. I guess the customer isn’t always right?
Service aside, the food is generally pretty good. Sometimes I feel a bit shortchanged as far as the amount of shrimp on the tacos, but the quality and flavor are always great. But I’d be lying if I said my favorite thing about this restaurant was anything but the salsa– it’s fresh, and pretty awesome all around. They have a really hot salsa that depending on the day (fresh ingredients mean you can’t always guarantee what you’re going to get) is actually hot. Mixed with the saltiness of the chips, it’s one addicting snack.

Who knew La Salsa was still in business in San Diego. I was sad when they closed shop in UTC and Escondido, but now I’m happy there’s one close to my new job. La Salsa has always been the premier Fast-​Fresh-​Mex chain and it’s because it just tastes better than everyone else in this category. One of their signature selling points is that they grill their meats in front of everyone.
Sonora Shrimp Tacos —
These colorful tacos were tasty. Stuffed with multi-​color cabbage and avocado, they also managed to include melted cheese on the inside of the soft taco tortilla. This two shrimp taco «Sonora» plate included a bag of salty chips, rice, and beans. A gut stuffing meal for an affordable price. I think it was under $ 8 for all of that.
Notes
— Better than El Pollo Loco and Rubios, and the shrimp tacos were better than Las Olas.
— Parking, aint it a bitch.
— Nice Chilled Salsa bar.
— Nachos are always my favorite here.

I love this place compared to Rubios just down the street. I think the Salsa bar and fresh ingredients are what do it for me.
Beware when you first enter. The door is sort of funky here and only truly opens out on one side.
The place can get pretty warm as I think the AC unit has been permanently turned off.
I’m a huge fan of the California burrito — black beans, rice, salsa fresca. Add chicken or carne of your liking if you want to go above and beyond this vegetarian gem.
My other go to is the tortilla soup and salad special for $ 6.99. You can’t go wrong with this killer deal and it is literally enough food for two meals.

My favorite lunch spot! Love sitting out on the shaded patio and having a fresh taco salad!

It’s super close to my house so it’s my go to place for carne asada nachos. Sometimes the meat is over cooked but with a beer it meets the needs of my craving!
I really should explore other shops in the area but for now this will do

I like all the salsa options, good ingredients, and nice portions. Try the avocado salsa.

Im giving this place a 3 stars because the food is ok the service sucks here with the cashier. If this will be my bissness i will talk to her because thats how you lose customers. As soon you walk in she is there doent greed anybody, she doent smile at all. She looks like she is force to be there. maybe because she is pregnant. Remember the customer makes the bissness.

This is actually a pretty good La Salsa with some fresh mex and great salsas. As you walk into this place, it’s a fairly run of the mill chain mexican food joint. Not as good as a lot of the taco shops, but pretty dang good for Carmel valley. The service is always solid, the food is always freshly prepared and the grounds are always well maintained. My go to at this place is the shrimp Veracruz burrito, it’s freaking delicious! There is ample seating inside and some decent outdoor seating as well. Parking pseudo sucks though…
Pros–
Food
Quality
Service
Outdoor seating
Salsa
Cons–
Parking
Chain establishment
Not great, but good

I’m eating the overstuffed grilled burrito. I kept it with grilled chicken but you can put steak instead. It’s a good size burrito but I don’t think It should be called «overstuffed». It’s not THAT big. It’s a little bland and needed some salt added to it. The salsa bar is fresh and several choices to pick from. The place is pretty clean and the customer service was very good. Order was made quickly. Overall it’s a good place to have lunch, but It wouldn’t be my first destination.

I haven’t been here in a couple of years… I forgot this place was even here. I opted for the taco salad. It was in a fried (but not greasy) taco bowl/​shell and in it were black beans, romaine lettuce, a scoop of avocado salsa mix, sprinkle of cheese and spanish rice (they also had sour cream but i opted to have it taken out). Food was pretty delish and very filling. They also provide a side of nachos. I thought the price of their items were reasonable. They are fresher than most Mexican food venues I’ve been to.
Ambiance is very casual and laid back. I think this is a pretty small venue to serve mainly locals — i.e. those who work in the area or folks who live close by. Parking may be challenging around lunch time since this is a small shopping/​service center.

Asked about the Taco special posted on the door and was told it didn’t start until 3pm. Placed an order for two chicken tacos, a plain cheese quesadilla and two drinks. The bill came to $ 16.00. After ordering I glanced at my phone and it was 2:55. Indeed, our receipt read «2:56 pm.»
I think this is very bad customer service and I may have been appeased if the food was good.
The guacamole was fresh but totally tasteless. My $ 3.00 each chicken soft tacos were all iceberg lettuce with three or four tiny squares of what looks like reconstituted chicken. The quesadilla was almost 6 bucks for cheese on a flour tortilla and the drinks were two dollars each. Everything was tasteless and over priced. I’ll go to Rubios around the corner next time.
Definitely should have given us the special. Won’t be coming back. Especially since you wait on line and pick up your food.
This place really does nothing for you and offers nothing except blasé «Mexican» food at high prices.

Ordered the chicken lime salad. The salad was romaine, tomatoes, fresco cheese, generous grilled chicken, and salsas were delicious.

10:51am open the door walk in and I am told we are closed till 11am in a very rude manner. Cheers To you too

These guys are always on the money and the salsa awesome! There’s been a couple of times with the pico de gallo seems a lil old, but if you ask nicely, they’ll bring out a fresh batch for you!!!

I’d love to give this place a better review. Maybe next time. The service was slow and not very friendly. The food was good, but damn, it could have taken less than 30 minutes for 2 burritos to go!

La Salsa is usually our favorite place and we have been to this particular location couple of times with no issues.
But couple of days ago, we went around closing time and had a horrible experience. Our burrito were made very thin, the chicken inside was onside overcooked to black burn and other side undercooked that the meat was raw. They started cleaning the place at 8:30 and the whole restaurant started smelling so horrible like drainage. To make it even worse, the guy who took our order and handed over water cups just came out from cleaning the rest room and I have no idea whether he cleaned his hands or not… The next morning my son had terrible stomach flu and vomiting, what a coincidence… MORONS!
Moreover when we asked for kids chicken/​rice only burrito, the person charged as 6:99 $ for no reason… off the menu so they just tricked us.

Kind of expensive for what they offer, and serve. For the type of place this was I expected there to be a little bit more variety, and a little bit more quality. There wasn’t anything too special about this place, and they had your usual run of the mill American-​Mexican menu. I had a giant quesadilla, and it was just ok. It’s pretty much on the same level as Baja Fresh, except Baja Fresh is better.
I only came here because I had a coupon, and will probably return again with a coupon. I wouldn’t pay full price.

For a place named La Salsa I was expecting a creative, plentiful salsa bar. I was let down. There were five salsas on tap, of which only the roasted tomato was notable. Their only spicy option was a habanero salsa that was more sauce than salsa. Unfortunately, this wasn’t my only let down as the food was okay but not worth the its price. Think paying sit-​down restaurant prices for a slightly nicer Taco Bell. I can’t definitively say that I’ll never eat here again, but it’s highly unlikely.

you know… the only disadvantage of living in north county is the lack of good mexican restaurants… really …i’ve given up and accepted the fact that i can’t go to the corner and grab a taco plate… fortunately i work in national city, so i have access to delicious grub during work hours.
i have accepted that when at home i need to settle for an americanized version of «mexican» food… and La salsa is what helped me with this! While La Salsa does not taste anything like the restaurants in the South Bay, it has manged to be delicious and even somewhat healthy! absolutely amazing!!! the salsa bar is finger lickin’ …anytime i get a coupon for la salsa… i clip and actually use it!
basically everything i have ever gotten is good hear… i have never had a bad meal… start exploring the yumminess of pseudo mexican food here.

Barbacoa burrito was not quite as good as it looked…
Salsas are good though, they push out coupons, and their street tacos (Mexico city tacos) are usually pretty good. I typically don’t rate fast food restaurants, but I’m making an exception because La Salsa is pretty decent.
It’s not gourmet, and the fish tacos lose to Rubios, 3 stars.