Puesto

Bomb bomb bomb a must for everyone, if you decide to come please make a reservation it can be up to an hour and a half of waiting time but well worth the wait, money, and drinks

Puesto is like that place I really want to love but it’s just «ehh».
Let me state the staff is sweet, very attractive and actually really efficient. One of the better restaurant teams I’ve seen in the city.
Been here now tyhree times. Twice about 8 – 12 months ago, and then Last weekend because I needed a drink and a taco. Playing in a football tournament earlier my body was done and here we are.
Ordered the Baja fish tacos ⁸⁄₁₀ and Mercado Margarita ⁶⁄₁₀. ¹⁴⁄₂₀ isn’t bad but nothing I’d frequent.
Overall experience it for yourself. Staff is the bomb and maybe my pallate and yours are different and you’ll love it.

The filet mignon taco is Sooooo good, but anything is great, really (especially after the bottle of margaritas you get at the bar downstairs). Make sure to ask for jalapeño added to the margarita.
Great ambiance – cool industrial feel with bright artwork!

Stopped into Puesto with my sister for dinner this past weekend and wish I could say I loved it but I was pretty underwhelmed compared to the high expectations I had. My sister really loved it so I am not sure if I am biased because I live next door to an incredible taco place and I am officially spoiled or if it was actually legitimately average.
I ordered guac to go along with the complimentary chips and salsa and even my sister agreed that it was totally flavorless. It honestly just tasted like mashed up avocados with no seasoning or any additional ingredients. For 9 bucks you definitely would expect a lot more.
For my main course I ordered 3 tacos– chicken al pastor, chicken verde and carnitas. I had no idea the chicken tacos were wrapped in burnt cheese which I really didn’t enjoy. I don’t remember reading that on the menu but I could have overlooked it. Regardless the burnt cheese really overwhelmed the taco IMHO given that there was so much of it surrounding the meat. Carnitas was good but it was veryyyyyy salty. In all honesty I didn’t have much of an appetite going in as my stomach was kind of off that day so I ended up just picking at my meal but I do feel like I would have eaten more if the tacos had been more to my liking. To me a good taco has that super fresh taste from the salsa fresca, avocado, cilantro, radish, limed onions etc. but these tacos didn’t really have that vibe given the cheese and meat filling weren’t countered with enough acidity from other toppings to balance it out making it feel very heavy and dense.
Overall I would not recommend Puesto considering there are so many incredible Mexican spots in SD but my sister had a totally different experience than me and really enjoyed it so it could just be personal taste in what type of tacos you prefer.

I love the design and energy of this place. We came here late Saturday night on business and my fiancé and had a great time sipping on margaritas and flirting with each other.
Prices were a little steep for «street tacos» but I was fine paying the premium for the good vibes and the smile on my boos face.
Food took a little bit but we were entertaining ourselves so no sweat. Two of my 3 tacos (potato soy chorizo and chicken al pastor) had this melted cheese on them that I didn’t like. It was like one big piece and texture wasn’t to my palette. I just told the bartender, Aleksandra, that I wasn’t going to eat them and not to worry about bringing new tacos. I was full at the point and didn’t want to waste food. She ended up taking them off my bill and I didn’t even ask her too. I wasn’t worried about the money but doing something like voluntarily goes along way for me which wasn’t me necessary but I certainly appreciated. I would definitely come back for drinks!

HOLY SHIZZLES — it’s a bit pricey, but i LOVE THIS PLACE!
A friend wanted to have fish tacos and our hotel staff recommended this place. It was easy to make a reservation and we appreciated the design and ambiance of this restaurant.
The menu is seemingly small, but the food is tasty and beautifully presented. If anything, it is not ideal for a hungry person, but the quality and freshness is worthwhile so just eat an extra basket of chips and salsa.
The chips are light and crisp and the house-​made salsa is fresh yet not too spicy. We ordered the house guacamole we all agreed that it was delicious, but perhaps not worth the $ 9 for the serving. [I think that San Diego prices are a bit higher than other cities.]
We ordered the grilled corn which was super tasty. The lime cilantro rice was to-​die-​for, but again a small portion. And the vegetable and fruit salad was very fresh and not spicy, but just a more expensive version than what you can get at a smaller and lower-​scale Mexican restaurant.
I found that the gringo Tortilla Soup was overly salted so I did not prefer it. I did, however enjoy the carne asada tacos and was so full from all the other food, that I couldn’t pile anything else into my belly. Everyone else at the table enjoyed their dishes so there were no leftovers.
We finished our dinner off by sharing the banana tacquitos and ice cream. The tacquitos are freshly fried so they come out piping hot. Suffice it to say that we practically licked the plate so there was nothing left.
I would go back to this restaurant and recognize that the prices match the ambiance of the establishment!

The food is amazing!
Kind of pricey for small portions,
But it still deserves 5 stars.
We had great food, atmosphere, service, and the drinks were also fantastic.

Nom nom nom! My first experience with Puesto was at the Unilocal Elite Event at the Headquarters. It was then that I tried my first chicken al pastor taco, and ever since I have been craving to go for a whole meal! I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Puesto was participating in the restaurant week lunch and dinner deal. I took my sister in law here for lunch when she was visiting from out of town. Making a reservation was super easy on open table, and when we arrived it only took a couple of minutes to be seated at a nice table on the outside patio. I love the décor here, and it has an upscale vibe, but with a lot of nice cultural touches.
We both ordered from the restaurant week menu, which consisted of an appetizer, three tacos, and a frozen horchata dessert. They start with chips and salsa, which were insanely and dangerously delicious. The chips were freshly cooked, salty, and were complimented well by the red salsa they serve with them. Unfortunately, we ate way too many chips and almost spoiled our lunch!
I ordered two chicken al pastor tacos and one carnitas taco, with guacamole as my appetizer. My sister in law ordered a chicken al pastor, chicken verde, and carnitas taco with the esquite corn dip appetizer. All of the tacos were so delicious, and had plentiful meat and avocado. The only thing I didn’t care for is that they were so wet that the corn tortilla pretty much fell apart if you tried to pick it up. The flavor, however, was fantastic! The guacamole was also delicious, with fresh avocado and parmesan cheese. My favorite thing had to be the frozen horchata!
Overall, its a little bit pricey, but it is high quality, delicious Mexican food with a cool vibe and good service.

Decided to give Puesto another go during SDRW. This time, the food was on point. The chicken al pastor tacos were awesome, the guac plentiful and the grilled zucchini soup — completely unexpected but super delicious.
Sure, it’s not what you’d get in the barrio, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less delicious. If they keep this up, I’d be glad to recommend the out of towners go here for a fancy mexican fiesta.

My first Puesto visit was actually in their La Jolla location, where my roommate and I each conquered 7 tacos on a Tuesday night. We both left barely able to walk back to the car, but man were those some delicious tacos.
I guess I’ve only checked in to the DT location once, but have been there multiple times with mixed reviews. The first time I was a little jaded from the first visit in La Jolla, I thought the atmosphere was too loud and the food didn’t seem as fresh. The following time the food was better, but our server wouldn’t shut up to us and all his other about these «sick parties» and his friend’s dads mansion in Mexico. The next two times there was an issue seating our large group, to the extent where they actually told us they couldn’t ask a group to move even though they had taken one of my friend’s credit cards for the reservation of that specific area… really? This isn’t my first choice when it comes to service or atmosphere, but the food and Taco Tuesday prices are good.
One thing that is always consistent is the Taco Tuesday deal and chips and salsa. Normally 3 for $ 14, on Tuesday they are $ 2.50 base, plus $ 1 – 3 for some. They also have $ 3 Dos Equis cans, good deal there as well. The taco menu does change now and then, adding new tacos to keep it interesting. There are other places DT with better Taco Tuesday specials but out of convenience Puesto will always be a contender.

I’ve been here a handful of times and have never been disappointed.
The restaurant has a fun, urban, and sort of hipstery vibe to it. Perfect for lunch, Taco Tuesday, and for groups. The food is delicious — the best way for me to describe it is ‘new’ Mexican or even an American/​Mexican fusion.
My favorite guacamole is the guacamole nogada — it has pomegranate and mango in it. Sounds crazy, but it is AMAZING. I definitely never had anything like that before. I’ve also tried the crab guacamole, and that’s pretty good too.
As for tacos — I’ve tried all of them except the lamb. Hands down, my favorite is Chicken Al Pastor. There’s so much flavor and the the taco is very juicy. I think it has mango in it which gives it such a unique taste. Now that I think of it, the food fruits in it are my favorite here.
They have a filet mignon, seared tuna, and lobster tacos which was originally the reason why I ever wanted to try out Puesto, but they come with additional costs. Sounds super yummy, but for the cost and the size, I just wasn’t impressed. The only one I actually really liked of the three was the lobster taco. But for about $ 8 for JUST the lobster tj sized taco… not really worth it to me. All the other tacos are great too, but Chicken Al Pastor is the way to go!
The esquite, or their version of elotes, is a MUST. Just order it, you can thank me later.
On Taco Tuesday the regular tacos are only $ 2.50! And SD Restaurant week has great deals for Puesto too!

Start with the bad part. We came on a taco Tuesday and arrived around 5:15pm. We were told we need to wait for about an hour and text message will be sent to us when it’s close to our turn. We gave them the name and phone number and started to wait while walking around the plaza. After an hour of waiting, we came back to check, was told there were still several parties before us. We continue to walk around and waiting for the text message. But the message never came. When we came back to check again, we were told our turned was passed and they couldn’t find us near the door. I asked why no text message to remind us, as we were told. This time the person said they wouldn’t send message. We were not happy about this at all! Before we got really pissed, they finally find us a table for us. If the service is better, I’d give a 5 stars review.
Now talk about the food. Four of us ordered different tacos and all together covered all their varieties. All the tacos are super good! I had the lobster, tuna and one of the pork tacos (I forgot the name for the pork one). I usually don’t like tuna that much, but their tuna taco is fabulous! One of us tried all the vegetarian options, she said these were very good too, especially the zucchini and cactus one. The taco is relatively small, I need 3 to get full.
Unilocal said the Taco Tuesday will be $ 2/​standard taco, but the waiter said it should be $ 2.75. They manager said the info on Unilocal was outdated but we got $ 10 off on the bill. We appreciate this.
To wrap up, I think it’s a great place for taco, and taco Tuesday is a super good deal. But plan accordingly to skip the ridiculous line, and be very patient!

I was expecting so much more from this place, the fish tacos were disappointing, fish tacos are one of my favorites :(
Anyways this place is super cool and so open, I love it, we sat upstairs which was nice and overlooking the restaurant and everyone outside!
Our waiter was super nice as well and recommend dishes to us.
Drinks:
Puesto Perfect Margarita (5 stars) — Added the fresh strawberries. So good, the strawberries were nice and sweet, perfect balance.
For your chips:
Puesto Perfect Guacamole (5 stars) — I love unique guac, we were a little hesitant with this with the parmigiano but it was oh so good. All the flavor combinations were on point!
Tacos:
So far it was a great start, but the main meal was a disappointment for me.
Tamarindo Shrimp Tacos (2.5 stars) — Crispy shrimp, tamarindo-​chile sauce, avocado, cilantro, fresh herb tortillas. Less than ok, shrimp was super spicy and the taco just needed something else, it was too overwhelming.
Baja Fish Tacos (2 star) — Beer battered wild cod, shredded cabbage, avocado, chile crema, tomatillo roja. Fish tacos I’ll def forget, was not seasoned or something, so bland. Usually I got crazy for fish tacos and the perfect crema. Nothing really worked in this dish for me it was so bland and lacking in flavor.
Mix three for a certain price, you couldn’t do that with the above unfortunately so I split it with my cousin, would have been really disappointed had I ordered one of those to myself.
Zucchini & Cactus Veg (4 stars) — Crispy melted cheese, calabasitas of zucchini, corn & tomato, cactus, avocado, cilantro-​tomatillo. I tried a bite of my cousins and this I actually enjoyed.
Overall the start was better than the ending. I wish the tacos were better, but unfortunately little tacos stands I’ve had for fish tacos were even better than this. Little taco nazo hut for fish tacos is 10 times better.

As San Diego is the home of such amazing Mexican food, we thought we’d give this a try. 3 street tacos were $ 13.50 any sides were extra. The chips were fine. But when I asked for a spicier salsa, all they did was add Chalula to there regular salsa! The service was lackluster. My bill was almost 40.00 & all we drank was water. A member of our group took her receipt literally crumpled it up and said,’ that was very ordinary and I will never come back.’ I would definitely eat at any of the local taco shops in San Diego over this place, or even Miguel’s for better food, excellent service and superior value.
Tried Puesto again with my daughter today for lunch. It was super crowded and hoppin! Food quality was very good. It was still pricey — but overall pretty happy. My daughter from Baltimre enjoyed her carnitas tacos and left very satisfied. We will save this place for special occasions :)

I was visiting my brother in San Diego and when I mentioned wanting Mexican food he immediately said we had to go to Puesto. I’d never been here before this visit, but I’m so glad I got to try it while in town!
We made a reservation beforehand as my brother says it can get quite crowded.
From checking out Unilocal before we went I knew I had to try the different tacos. They looked so insanely good from other people’s photos!
We got complimentary chips & salsa put on our table and I can’t help but judge a place by how good their salsa is. I always find its a pretty good indicator on if the place will be good or not. Puesto had super delicious salsa & chips (definitely couldn’t stop eating them!). We also ordered their house made guacamole, which was also phenomenal!
I ordered the 3 mix and match tacos, which were the chicken verde, filet mignon & cochinita pibil. The filet mignon was by far my favorite! Perfectly cooked meat and the crispy melted cheese is SO delicious. I’ve never had a taco like this before but it was one of the best tacos I’ve had!
Definitely wish I lived by Puesto! But I’ll just have to daydream about it until I come back to the area! :)

Why 3 stars? Because I think it just missed the mark for us.
— — —
Full disclosure, maybe this review isn’t very fair to pen. Both my fiancé and I are from Houston, and grew up with a certain type of Mexican food that gives us a sense of comfort like a baby and his blanket. Over time, as we’ve died at classify more as «Cali-​Mex,» we’ve generally been let down. Maybe we need to change our expectations, or maybe we just need to find the reset button on our tongues.
We ordered 6 different tacos, and none really stood out as something that would be worth ordering on a repeat visit. I try not to hold the wait against them, because, you can’t blame them for being popular! But it was definitely a very, very long one. And our server tended to forget about us for extended periods of time.
I’ll say this — the interior design of Puesto is out of this world. Probably top 5 I’ve ever witnessed. Huge kudos to you, design guy/​girl!

My 400^th review goes to Puesto! And why not? I love their tacos, margaritas and gorgeous outdoor and indoor spaces! It has both great ambiance and food. It’s the kind of place where one can sit for hours, watch people, and have a fun time with friends as you nosh on delicious tacos and sip margaritas.
I was in San Diego for a conference and met up with Isabella B here for Saturday night dinner. She suggested this place as it is walking distance from the Marriott Marquis Marina (5 minutes tops!) and it is her favorite taco place to go with her boyfriend. I’m so glad she brought me here! I’m still dreaming of the Octopus Taco that I ordered! The octopus was perfectly cooked, tender, and flavorful. Had a little char which added some smokiness to every bite, along with the sweet and spicy. The portion per taco was quite generous too. They didn’t mess that taco up with too much slaw or other fillers. Three tacos and I was totally full. I probably could have done with two, but they were too good to waste!
We had the Puesto Guacamole as our starter and I must say that their guacamole is probably the best I’ve ever had in a restaurant. I make a fabulous Guacamole at home and Puesto’s a little different than mine but just as good. Again, the portion was nice, and we could not finish it. I was loathed to waste such good guacamole but we had to save room for our tacos and dessert.
Isabella had the Tamarind Shrimp taco that evening and she really enjoyed it. I wanted to taste this too, so when I went back to Puesto the next day for lunch with my colleagues, I ordered the Tamarind Shrimp. I liked it a lot, but I do prefer the Octopus Taco over this one.
How we managed to eat dessert I don’t know. But we did. We couldn’t resist the Coffee Tres Leches on the menu. Perfect ending? Yes indeed! Coffee, whipped cream, cake, chocolate and a bit of strawberries – everything I love in one dessert.
Puesto was very busy both times that I went, but the wait times were very reasonable (30 – 45 minutes on Sat night and 20 minutes on Sunday lunch time). Service was good and though they were busy, we did not feel rushed at all. We sat by the lounge area and sipped our margaritas as we were waiting for a table.
If you’re hanging out by Seaport Village, do yourself a favor and eat here. Puesto may not have a view of the water, but the food is fantastic. After your meal, walk to Seaport Village (2 minutes) and enjoy the view then!

Chris Nielsen: What some folks call impossible, is just stuff they haven’t seen before. Richard Matheson
Came here originally to use coupons received at a previous Unilocal event just to try out the food. Ended up really liking it, ordering more and stayed longer than planned. Woo hoo!
Tasted the Chicken Al Pastor, chips, salsa and a Negro Modello beer. The chicken was moist, nicely spiced with a killer combination of cheese, hibiscus, chipotle, and avocado. Can’t wait to come back and try more.
Sat at the bar area since there was a wait time for tables. It’s a nice view with great service but the seats are not very comfortable for me anyway. I prefer seats with a back to them. I like how the kitchen is surrounded by clear glass/​plexiglass so you can watch the chefs at work. Plus I noticed a few small windows the chefs can view the main courtyard seating area.

I forgot to take pics of the actual food but I really enjoyed my first Puesto downtown experience. Let’s get a few important things out of the way. It’s technically in Seaport Village so they DO validate for that lot. However keep in mind if you don’t validate a 3 – 4 hour dinner get together is gonna run you north of $ 40 to park to be sure to validate. It ended up only costing us $ 10. They do offer valet but I didn’t try that out so I can’t rate that.
We were sat on their second floor since we were a group of 12 and as I’ve been told downstairs doesn’t have that many large tables. They have a variety of guacamoles available ranging from traditional to super weird with pomegranate seeds. I didn’t really care for the funky guacs honestly. The traditional was all that I wanted. I didn’t personally try any of the alcoholic beverages but I will give them 5 stars on behalf of the group and everyone was raving about them.
Onto the tacos. I had the potato soy chorizo, rajas, and the zucchini and cactus tacos. All three were very delicious however, the potato soy chorizo was so good that I actually ordered another one. They each have unique flavor of deliciousness but the potato chorizo was so amazing with its smoky, salty flavor.
Service was prompt and friendly. There were a few delays that bugged me a bit but honestly I give them credit that we were such a large group. I felt like it was just a little overpriced for what we received but I do recognize that I was paying for the ambience and location as well. Overall a real legit spot to enjoy some tacos in a social setting.

Known for their street tacos, which runs about $ 4 each! (up charges on filet mignon, lobster, tuna, and lamb meats). We were here on a Monday so we took advantage of happy hour which was 3 – 5 pm ($ 3.50 Tacos /​$ 6 Puesto Perfect Margaritas). Taco Tuesdays are 3 pm-​close ($ 2.50 Tacos and $ 3.50 Dos Equis Lager Cans all night & $ 6 Margaritas from 3 — 5 pm) I ordered:
Filet Mignon– Crispy melted cheese, avocado, spicy pistachio jalapeño
Cochinita Pibil — Crispy melted cheese, slow roasted ancho chile marinated pork, papaya pico
Both were good. Meat was tender. I think what made it was their fried cheese that came with their tacos.
These are some pretty expensive street tacos (and I like Tacos El Gordo a little better), but I wouldn’t mind coming back to try the other tacos and their happy hour drinks. Their margaritas were pretty strong!
Located across the street from Seaport Village. Valet parking only. Love the décor here. Service was ridiculously slow (even when not busy).

Riquisimo y un ambiente super. Muchas gracias