Tonita’s Mexican Food

Reviews

• Keppel A.

  star star star star star 21 June 2026

  I've eaten at almost every Mexican restaurant in town and I think Tonita's offers up the best carnitas taco in the SLO area. Carnitas is often dry and bland, but here it is prepared perfectly - moist, flavorful, and with plenty of crunch. Only making it better is a generous helping of avocado (sliced or pureed, it seems to depend on who's doing the cooking) on top. Add to this the onions, cilantro, and your choice of salsa from the condiment bar, and you won't find a better taco anywhere in the area (although Taco de Mexico on Broad comes close). I can't speak to the other items on Tonita's menu as most of them come with beans, rice, cheese, and other ingredients I avoid like the plague in Mexican food. If I ever do find another dish here as excellent as the carnitas taco, though, I'll have no problem upping my stars to 5.
  
  Update: After trying the adobada tacos, I'm bumping up my rating to 5 stars. Unbelievably, the adobada is even better than the carnitas. The meat is super flavorful and caramelized so that it has a slight sweetness to it. The carnitas and adobada tacos are not only the best I've had in SLO, they're better than anything I've tasted in LA. I'm amazed people aren't lined up to get into Tonita's, but it might be because they're not slinging dollar tacos. Yeah, you pay a little more here, but the tacos are not only way better, they're 2-3x the size of the teeny "street" tacos you get at most places. And you get to sit by the creek while you're eating! You can't get a better food experience in SLO, IMO.

• Anonymous N.

  star star star star star_border 14 June 2026

  My nachos were a 3 star meal, but I give them an extra star because of the huge portion.
  
  There was nothing really exciting going in terms of flavor and creativity. The toppings were very bland individually with no sort of spice/treatment to them before adding them to the tortilla chips--no uniqueness whatsoever. The beef was well cooked and tender and the gooey cheese was the most prominent flavor, but the dish was severely lacking in salt and didn't even have a mild spice to it.
  
  Just barely hit the spot and I'm happy that I have leftovers to heat up at home. 4 stars really is only for the generous portion and friendly service which would be the only reason I'd come back.

• M M.

  star star_border star_border star_border star_border 9 June 2026

  Dirty, dusty, bland food.  I was asked three separate times and I told them each time the food was awful, they smiled and walked on.  I think it qualifies as a place after you have drunk so much booze that you wouldn't notice the hard as a rock, dried out meat or the several days old, falling apart corn tacos.  Nice enough patio but not a place to go if you like mexican food.

• Evhan B.

  star star star star star 8 June 2026

  You know, it's just a simple Mexican grill but it has some great tastes coming out of it. It's reasonably priced and consistent. They have a great salsa bar and are quick. They are always a good stand by and I'll be going back again and again. The pics are the great veggie burrito I got!

• John Z.

  star star star star star_border 6 June 2026

  This place has really good food and a good salsa bar. Ingot the chicken fajita burrito which i thought was a little expensive until I saw how big it was.  It was 13 bucks for The burrito and a large Pepsi but the burrito was the size of the plate.  It was a little more than the normal Taco Bell that I eat out at lunchtime I won't eat here all the time because it's too expensive to eat here every day for lunch    And I only have 30 minutes for lunch and took almost that long to get my meal.  All in all  4 stars