Mario's de La Mesa

Mario's de La Mesa is a family-run Mexican restaurant on La Mesa Boulevard in La Mesa, housed in a former home and serving recipes from central Mexico.

Overview

Mario's occupies a building that was once a house, giving the dining rooms a domestic feel unusual among the region's Mexican restaurants. The San Diego Reader reported in 2015 that the owner's father started the restaurant and brought recipes from his home region in central Mexico, and that it remains a family operation.

Menu

The Reader recommended the chicken taco plate and the chile relleno, a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, coated in egg batter and fried. Chicken tacos at restaurants of this kind are typically served as a plate with rice and beans rather than as single street tacos, reflecting the sit-down Mexican-American restaurant tradition that preceded the spread of taco shops in San Diego County. The restaurant is in the older downtown village of La Mesa, an inland suburb east of San Diego.

Reviews

References

1. "Easily the best carnitas in San Diego". San Diego Reader. Retrieved 2026-10-10.