Happy long weekend friends! I don’t know about y’all but I’m pretty excited about getting to sleep in three days in a row.

Today I have my final restaurant review from lovely San Diego. My last night there, I wanted to try a mexican restaurant, because come on, it’s SoCal…twenty minutes from Tijuana, so the mexican HAS to be good, right? After consulting my handy dandy friends Yelp and Urbanspoon, my boss and I selected El Vitral in the Gaslamp District.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

The restaurant itself is right next to Petco Park, with views of the back of the field and the surrounding grass. The tequila menu is quite extensive and the decor fits the theme of an upscale tequila bar. As with all restaurants in San Diego, there is an indoor diningroom and an outdoor patio. We opted to sit on the patio naturally.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

The menu was upscale authentic with a few items that we didn’t recognize, but the waitress was extremely helpful in explaining and recommending drinks and dishes. For my tequila fix, I ordered the Gato Armago with blanco tequila, averna, fresh strawberries, orange fizz, and fresh lemon juice.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

I liked it but I didn’t love it. I was expecting more of the strawberry flavor to come through. I did not order a second, I simply stuck with water after this drink.

Chips and salsa are “at request” at El Vitral, so you don’t get them automatically. I read a number of reviews on Yelp where people complained about not getting their chips and salsa, but you have to specifically ask for it. The salsa is actually a salsa trio, that goes from hot to oh-my-god-i-think-my-face-is-on-fire. I loved all three. The chips were hot and fresh. Delicious. To go along with the salsa, we also ordered a side of guacamole. The restaurant has three options for guacamole. We opted for the tomatillo version.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

While the chips and salsa were amazing, the guacamole was not. The pumpkin seeds on top gave it a nice crunch, but other than that there was no flavor. It simply tasted like mashed avocado. If you make it to El Vitral and are craving guac, I would definitely go with the original rather than try to be fancy.

For my entree, I ordered the Tampiquena, which is grilled skirt steak with avocado crema served with two enchiladas.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

The steak was fantastic. Perfectly cooked and juicy. However, the enchiladas were just short of disgusting. They were rubbery and cold. I ate a few bites and then left them. So basically I paid $24 for a few pieces of skirt steak.

For my dessert, I ordered a traditional dessert that I cannot remember the name of and El Vitral does not post their dessert menu online, but basically it was a vanilla sponge cake with a layer of strawberry puree and a layer of cream, covered in dark chocolate.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Looks good doesn’t it? Well it wasn’t. It’s quite possibly the most disappointing dessert I’ve ever had. The cake was extremely dry, and the two “layers” were basically nonexistent. I actually didn’t even finish it. It had to be pretty disappointing for a dessert-lover like me not to finish it.

Overall, the food was disappointing. The location was great, and the service was excellent despite the other reviews to the contrary, but I most likely would not go back.