El Sueno Reviews

Disappointment disclaimer: Our trip to San Diego with my extended family was so wonderful, I might be judging El Sueño too harshly as it was the only low spot measured against many great dinning experiences. The night I visited with a party of six, the restaurant was packed, so they must be doing something right. Just not this night. Inattentive service, either by an understaffed kitchen or overwhelmed front of house or both. An hour waiting for good, not great food, was off-putting and frustrating. Looking around, the same was happening at numerous other tables. Management seemed to keep pouring in new guests while ignoring the fact that the current guest were being underserved and the employees were over-stressed. Terrible situation in a very attractive location.

Our family used to come here all the time when it was La piñata. But I was thoroughly impressed with the welcoming staff, the beautiful decorations and the fresh and delicious food. My favorite was the corn tortillas with baked cheese and grilled Seabass taco. Love the black beans and the rice with a little bit of vegetables in it. we had a very welcoming and friendly waiter too. Next time plan to try the margaritas. I highly recommend sitting outside on the patio on the sunny day. We certainly miss La piñata, but this restaurant is a welcoming addition to old town San Diego.

They offer a few different salsas and they all taste amazing! I'd be happy to come here just for the chips/salsa! Love the decor and atmosphere. I look forward to bringing my family next time. Every dish they serve looks delicious.

Totally totally totally blown away by the quality of the food. Literally the best Mexican food I have ever had. Creative, inventive, contemporary, and TASTY. The queso fundido with lobster and shrimp was to die for. Had Mexican earlier in the week up in Newport Beach and there was no comparison. We always compare a restaurant by how they cook their shrimp. The shrimp in the shrimp tacos were on point. Not overdone nor rubbery, not raw, no iodine and tasted of the sea. The decor and courtyard are gorgeous and not the typical Old Town chips and salsa sort of place. Excellent service as well. What a find!!

We enjoyed a meal with three. We came rather late. But nevertheless we were welcomed very friendly. We enjoyed a drink and a main dish, Quesadillas with shrimps and a burrito. We had nacho’s up front and enjoyed them very much. They came with three sauces instead of the regular one or two. The ambiance is nice, pricing is decent. Good place to dine in old town.

Long story short: the only good part of being there was having a very competent and nice waitress. OK, it was a Saturday night-“ and very crowded. But despite having a reservation, the hostess first tried to put us in no man’s land which I refused. She then put us more inside but at the end where it was cold and without a heater although many patrons had one. The enchiladas suizas were so so and the tacos were horrible, I think the guacamole was decent. Luckily I can’t remember the rest. Lousy food too.

We looked for a place for lunch while exploring Old Town San Diego and found El Sueno based on reviews. We were looking for ceviche but were told it wasn’t available for lunch. That was a bit disappointing but we enjoyed the rest of the food especially the elote.

We wanted to go to casa Guadalajara but after a long day at the zoo and around the city we couldn’t wait for a table. So we went next door to El sueno just to quickly feed our kids. The service was super sub par. The waitress acted like our requests for the kids were foreign and then never planned on coming back to take the adults order. Every time we needed something we had to wait quite a long time as she never came to check on us once. We were waiting for her to come back to order dessert but gave up on that and just wanted the check and it took forever. Food was fine but wouldn’t ever come here on purpose.

El Sueno in San Diego’s old town delivers a fantastic Happy Hour value on foods and drinks. The food was for the most part good but the grilled fish turned out to be battered and severly overcooked. Nice staff and nice atmosphere.