Carnitas Las Michoacanas

Carnitas as amazing. Best in San Diego.

Awesome customer service and delicious food always on point!

Amazing carnitas! Amazing owner! Amazing staff! Courtesy taco?! Who does that! Cash only so bring that mula, other than that it's flawless!

The best customer service I've ever had anywhere. The staff is sooooo nice, and they give you a sample while you wait if you are taking your food to go. We have gotten food from here for our family dinners and it's always been delicious.

You don't need to do much more to get me to want to eat at your restaurant than to ensure "carnitas" is somewhere in its name. Mission accomplished, Carnitas Las Michoacanas.

Carnitas, perhaps my favorite of all meaty Mexican delights, have traditionally been prepared by simmering seasoned pork in lard inside super-sized pots called "cazos" primarily manufactured in the Mexican state of Michoacan, where these special pots are developed with the multi-generational expertise of the locals. To avoid the carnitas drying out, the meat is kept mostly in large chunks until ready to be chopped and served.

Here, the delicious nose-to-tail carnitas come from all parts of the pig (we won't get into what that means exactly, but the squeamish should stay away), some parts squishy, some parts snappy, some parts crispy, and all perfectly seasoned. Carnitas Las Michoacanas' "Carnitas Surtida Taco" is the best carnitas taco I've had in San Diego and joins Los Angeles' Carnitas El Momo (#1), Los Cinco Puntos (#2), Metro Balderas (#3), and Villa Moreliana (#5) on my list of "top 5" carnitas I've eaten to-date in California.

The "Chicharrón Prensado Taco" is not as good, but it's interesting. It's mostly crispy due to the bacon-like chicharrón bits, but it has some tender and wobbly parts as well, reminding me of pork chop cut into chunks. If there's one knock I have against this mixture of meat, it's that it's too salty. When I've had chicharrón prensado ("pressed pig skin" from Spanish) dishes in the past, I've learned that saucing does wonders for it. Here was no different: once smothered in salsa, it was better.

This strip mall restaurant in Rolando should not be confused with the strip mall restaurant also named "Carnitas Las Michoacanas" in Chula Vista, or the small chain of taquerias named "Carnitas Michoacan" up in Los Angeles, as this is a completely different enterprise with different ownership.