I’ve sent at least a dozen people to El Comal in City Heights, and not one of them has come back disappointed. That’s a pretty good track record for a spot that looks, from the outside, like it could easily be skipped — a squat building on University Avenue with a hand-painted sign and a parking lot that fills up fast on weekends.
El Comal is a family-run Mexican restaurant that has been anchoring the City Heights stretch of University for years. The neighborhood itself is one of San Diego’s most genuinely diverse — heavy on East African and Southeast Asian communities alongside longtime Mexican and Central American residents — and El Comal fits right in: no-frills, no pretense, just consistent food made by people who clearly care how it tastes.
The breakfast burrito is what I tell people to order first. It’s one of those items that sounds simple — eggs, potatoes, cheese, your choice of meat — but the execution here is tight. The tortilla is fresh and pressed, not just warmed, so it holds together even when you’re halfway through and it’s started to cool down. I usually get it with chorizo and ask for the green salsa on the side, which comes out in a little cup and has real heat to it without being all smoke and no flavor.
If you’re going for lunch or dinner, the mole enchiladas are worth the extra few minutes they take. The mole is dark and complex without being precious about it — you can tell it’s been made in quantity but not cut down to save time. The rice and beans that come alongside are exactly what they should be: seasoned properly, not an afterthought.
Prices are straightforward and reasonable. Breakfast burritos run around $9–11 depending on protein. Enchilada plates land in the $12–16 range. Nothing here is going to surprise you on the bill.
The space inside is clean and functional — booths along the walls, a few tables in the middle, a counter up front. It gets loud on Saturday mornings, which I actually like. It means people are having a good time and not just quietly fueling up before somewhere else. If you want a quieter visit, weekday mornings before 9 are usually calm.
Parking: the lot is small but there’s street parking on the side streets off University if you’re willing to walk half a block. It’s worth it.
City Heights doesn’t get much travel-page attention compared to North Park or Little Italy, and El Comal is exactly the kind of place that suffers for that. It’s not doing anything exotic or concept-driven — it’s just doing Mexican breakfast and lunch better than most places twice its size and three times its price. If you’re already heading to the area for the Saturday Swap Meet at the Coliseum or just cutting through on your way east, there’s no reason not to stop here. You’ll be glad you did.
