4. Restaurants

Karina’s Mexican Seafood Cuisine

986 Broadway, Chula Vista, CA, 91911
  • (619) 476-8648
  • Store is closed

Karina’s Mexican Seafood Cuisine Menu

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  • Christine T.

    I've been hearing about Karina's "legendary" and "renowned" Mexican seafood cuisine for a while, and got to try it last week. Everything was just okay. Most of the waitresses, however, were better than okay, especially in the looks department. They were quite nice to look at - shapely, and *well endowed* with form fitting attire. Our particular waitress resembled Salma Hayek! Scoreee. Wait. What am I supposed to be reviewing? Meal started with some complimentary chips and salsa. Hooray for free, but boo for stale chips and bland salsa. We got a jumbo shrimp cocktail and house special fajitas (shrimp, beef, and chicken). The shrimp cocktail wasn't particularly flavorful. Fajitas... flavor was okay. The beef and chicken were a little too dry/overcooked to my liking, and the shrimp - well, I couldn't find any shrimp! I just assumed that I didn't dish any shrimp onto my plate, but while packing up our left overs, I realized that they did forget the shrimp. Oh well, we had already paid. From a quick scan of Yelp reviews, it looks like I was ordering the wrong stuff! If I'm ever in the area, and decide to eat at Karina's again, maybe I'll try the ceviche and margarita.

    (3)

  • Morgan M.

    So first of all, the waitresses are gorgeous. If you want to go to a place with eye-candy, it's kind of part of Karina's whole theme; hot girls in sexy uniforms. The margaritas are out of this world. Best I've had in San Diego so far. This could be because of the ingredients that this particular restaurant uses makes them or because the tall, tan model of a bartender with long black hair is the best bartender ever. Probably the second one. The chips and salsa were alright. Service took a touch long, but I love that they are open late. My husband ordered enchiladas with mole sauce and it was sooooo good. I've never tasted a mole that I liked. I even ordered a side of mole to go with my rice. I had a side of rice and beans which were really good. I would have been satisfied with just that. The rice is white with peas and carrots, which kind of reminds me of Chinese-style rice. It was really yummy! I got the tortilla soup (which, if you're vegan, know that there is both cheese AND sour cream in it. I had to ask for a new one) and it was very good! Tomato-based with the very rare bit of corn, peas, and green beans. It's mainly broth that you adorn with tortilla chips and avocado as you wish, but I am a soup broth person so I really loved it!

    (4)

  • A. M.

    We ordered a Campechana and Ceviche mixto. The campechana had no flavor and the ceviche was nasty. They put ketchup all over it. They shouldn't even call it ceviche. If you want real good mariscos then this is NOT the spot.

    (1)

  • James H.

    Based on what people were saying I was hoping to rate this place higher. Here goes: Pros: -gorgeous waitresses in sexy attire -delicious margarita -outdoor seating area -cool looking murals on the walls -very diverse menu Cons: -no happy hour -overpriced margarita -no prices on the mixed drink menu -2 holes on the wall -broken tiles on the floor -the front area by the windows is dirty If you have heard that this is the Mexican version of Hooters - yea it is true. The only difference is this place more serious meal food and not snack or bar food like Hooters. I love the concept and I think this place has potential and I hope management will consider these improvements.

    (3)

  • Mike D.

    Good Place. Over priced but I guess they charge for the waitress being almost naked. lol Food is really good.

    (4)

  • Gabriela V.

    First thing you get hit with second you enter the restaurant.... BREASTS. Breasts everywhere. There's more chi chi here than at Hooters. The waitress's have a all black dress code that include a Aeropostle polo with all the buttons unbutton and (the ones the have it) revealing cleavage. Hard to concentrate and not look and I couldn't imagine being here with my dad and entire family with the obvious elephant (haha) in the room. I've heard good things about Karinas. so today (04/03/15) I brought my aunt down to national city for a treat. They were playing all my favorite reggeaton jams. I wanted to dance and shake it. Margaritas are well served and stiff. I had a Cadillac that came with a shot of grand reminer on the side. Our waitress had the free chips and salsa flowing and our water refills were on point. I've heard great things about their seafood especially their ceviche. Menu has a very big variety of choices. I ordered the "ceviche Karinas" that was $15 and it was more than enough. It came with cucumbers, cut shrimp and avocado. It came very well portioned and was not overkilled with lime. Ask for a condiment bottle of mayo and go to town on your tostadas. Big daddy splurged and got the "cielo mar y Tierra" for $20. Sounded worth it because It was a plate that came with steak, chicken and shrimp. What was served to me was not worth $20. Little slivers of meat and a skewer of shrimp. Hello? Is this thing on? You guys were cheapskates on the "cielo" and "Tierra". I'm still looking for it. It was made out to be a well portioned plate on the menu and you guys did not deliver that. A scoop of beans and guacamole on the side and he was not happy or full. I probably have to stop somewhere after this post on the way home to get him something to fill him up. Thanks. The atmosphere was great, lots of families, and a place for date night with some drinks. For 2 margaritas, three entrees and a fish taco I spent $78. It's good but nothing out of this world. Give it a shot and don't get mad at your man for looking.

    (3)

  • Jelly Anne B.

    Definitely good Mexican seafood cuisine! All of their ceviche with stuffed cucumber and avocado are delicious!! Best ceviche i've had and they fill them up! Portions are usually good for two people so prices are very affordable when sharing and totally worth it. Also love their drinks here, specially their new henchatta drink, horchata with hennessy!! All drinks go good with their food. Also love their surf & turf plate! I would recommend this place for a good get together for someone's birthday or going aways since people can share a variety of fine mexican cuisines! The workers are also very nice and love the free chips & salsa the give in the beginning which you can ask for more if you want.

    (5)

  • Joe T.

    I've eaten at this particular location two or three times already. It's close to Broadway and L St in Chula Vista. The reason for the three stars is because the food is just okay nothing special about it. It's not horrible but is not great, just okay. Every time I come the service is fairly quick. And the waitresses are usually pretty friendly. On the positive note... The last couple waitresses we've had have been very attractive. Really good eye candy here. And that's the attraction here. It's similar to Hooters but with Latin flavor. 98% of the customers were male LOL. Overall it was not a bad place to go for a quick bite to eat with the boys.

    (3)

  • Jessica V.

    Stopped in from out of town and the food was OVERPRICED and I was literally charged A la Cart for almost everything. My plate was a fancy version of Aguachiles which was Not that Great as in I could've made it better MYSELF!!! ...pretty rude at the end a Flying Roach landed on our Umbrella I wouldn't return

    (1)

  • Christina J.

    Food is decent - actually good. The service was AWFUL - so if you care about that, choose somwehere else.

    (2)

  • Lino H.

    Good service, sexi girls, good food What else is the best restaurant on chula vista Alway gooo there is very good option

    (5)

  • Sophia M.

    I gave it a 3 because I'm stuck in the middle with this one. If I were to rate solely on the waitresses then they get a 4. But the food was a sad 2. Reheated fish taco. Not so chile aguachile. The salsa for the chips and salsa tasted like ketchup. The only items we ordered that tasted like it should was the shrimp cocktail and the modelos.

    (3)

  • Erika L.

    The place is ok, the food is good but not "delicious" However, their drinks are delicious!!! I would def come back just for the drinks.

    (4)

  • Mario L.

    I love this place , if you are a SD native you know karina's is a sucesfull restaurant that brings to us the real flavor of mexican food

    (5)

  • Francine M.

    Today my company ordered a to go. It took us two trips to get the order right, and when we called back to let them know our order was wrong we were told we were wrong. Not only was the girl who took our order rude, but the manager was completely unsympathetic.

    (1)

  • Angel F.

    Good food and pretty waitresses. The customer attention is poor, but what do you expect when they hire a bunch of telenovela waitresses at this place. They serve a delicious ceviche none the less and the ambience is great fir having a few drinks with dinner here. Its best to sit outside during the day.

    (4)

  • Cynthia F.

    Just reviewing there karinas ceviche . Really really good. We get it everytime we come :)

    (4)

  • Juan F.

    Food and service is good. Staff is friendly and accommodating. True Mexican style service. I'd bring my buddy's here. . . It's like a Mexican Hooters. . . . But, my wife I would take to the East Lake venue. The new one on E Street (was La Tequila) is the mid range "Hooter wise." Like all Karina's, more expensive than you might expect.

    (5)

  • Ernesto C.

    the location is off the beaten path and in a mixed-use building with not much character but once inside, you forget boogie town outside and step into a smart place with lots of space, good buzz, ample tables and gals in very high heels and hobbling along in what seems to be a new-born calf on stilettos gait..... and, showing a good bit and then some, of DD from the tiny, tight fitting blouse tops so, how's the food: great and vs. the straight up tacos & tortilla routine, for a change some real good stuff from the sea served by these friendly mermaids there's ample ceviche to choose from & this is something very hard to come by in SD vs. back east, courtesy of those great Peruvian dining spots .... the cold apps are all sea infused - shrimp, crabmeat, fish and so on.... the hot apps too & throw in calamari, red snapper and so on.... this is serious seafood - for the mains, you've so many variations of ceviche here, be it fish, abalone, shrimp, octopus and some other types - all flavourful concoctions indeed I opted for Karina's sig Ceviche - in short, a huge portion that can easily be shared by two - lots of yummy bits and refreshing - avocado, chopped shrimp, cucumbers, cilantro and the sprinkled with a good bit of spicy chile serrano.... the little Lady had a real flavourful tortilla soup ( big serving too )... it's well worth the journey, especially if you have a urge to 'Mex it up and throw in some seafood with those cold beers' and give the taquitos, chips and salsa a break the gals were all friendly, the service good and the place is a kaleidoscope of tasty and well prepared food Karina's is a keeper......

    (4)

  • Robert S.

    Interesting place. Waitresses were dressed like hookers which i suppose could be a plus for some people. Just seemed odd and out of place. Our waitress was friendly and provided good service. Overall atmosphere was nice though. Food was very bland. Tried 7-seas soup which was a huge bowl but taste like bland tomato soup with various seafood dropped into it. The octopus and calamari were cooked to perfection within the soup. Just wish it had more flavor b/c it could have been great! Seafood enchilada was average and a little bland. Good amount of green chile saved the dish and the beans and rice were pretty good. Calimari as an appetizer was outstanding! Maybe the best I have ever had. Good sized pieces and cooked perfectly. I would go back for this dish alone. Chips and salsa were just so-so. To me... the chips and salsa are a huge part of the overall experience. So that was a let down. I'd score a 3.5 so will round up to 4 b/c of the calimari.

    (4)

  • Cindy Y.

    My sister's favorite mexican seafood restaurant and slowly turning into my favorite. I've only been here twice and only tried their ceviche so my review is solely on their ceviche dishes and service. I came here recently with my sister on 4th of July and it was pretty busy to my surprise but we didn't have to wait more than 2 minutes before we got seated. They immediately took our drink orders and gave us free chips and salsa. Their salsa is to die for! But it does get pretty spicy the more you eat it so I like to squeeze some lime juice in it. I have to say their food is a little overpriced but their portions are pretty fair. Also I have to say that their menu is pretty overwhelming because there's just so much in their. So about their ceviche... What I've tried: - Karina's ceviche - shrimp ceviche with very limey sauce/seasoning (HIGHLY RECOMMEND) - Ceviche mixto - shrimp, octopus and scallops If you don't like raw seafood, you can always ask them to have it cooked. However the scallops cannot be cooked so I just had them taken out. Karina's ceviche is definitely both mine and my sister's favorite. It is spicy because it has peppers in it but you can always ask for non-spicy. The ceviche mixto is more a tomato based. They serve the ceviche with tostadas and you can ask for ketchup and mayo on the side. Service was excellent. I was pretty annoying because I was constantly asking for more limes (I LOVE LIMES ^_^) and napkins and our server would go get it for us and come back with a smile. I can't wait to come back here next time and try other stuff on their menu.

    (4)

  • Jill H.

    Worst service ever. People just walking by you without out any help at all..... No napkins or silverware until we asked for it... or water! Not even a busy day and everyone in here standing around acting like they are busy. Im sure we all know this like the hooters of the south bay area but come on.

    (1)

  • Chris R.

    This would be what would happened if Hooters did Mexican food...holy cow, we had a sever today who looked like she was was ready to get up on stage and dance in 20 minutes. I am in no way complaining in the least bit.. the girls were very attractive, I just wouldn't be taking my kids there. As for the food it wasn't bad, not amazing. I can't tell if this place is marketing the girls or not as there thing...I'd go again.

    (4)

  • Oki C.

    One of the best seafood spots in SD. Alot of people come here because of the girls but the food is also really good. If you come here you definetly have to get the karinas ceviche. Its the best ceviche in town by far. The place is a little pricey thats why i didnt give it five stars and the service is down sometimes. Other then that you definetly have to check this place out.

    (4)

  • Amanda R.

    Walked in and they had a wait, I was in a party of 4. Two large parties received a table ahead of mine. When I mentioned something to the hostess who happened to look like the manager. She said, since they are large tables. I was in the restaurant industry for ten years, i didn't feel that was a reasonable excuse. Nevertheless, didn't receive an apology or even a smile when we were sat. In addition, they don't allow refills on their lemonade. Ay por dios Karina, loosen up; aren't we supposed to be improving from the recession? Menus were filthy. My shrimp ceviche in an avocado was decent. Won't waste my time to visit any of the other locations.

    (3)

  • Crystal K.

    Amazing food! I love seafood and all the variety of dishes at this chain. With that being said, service here is slow & lacking. To be fair there was only 2 girls serving the entire restaurant & every table was full. We noted though that once food orders were finally placed, they came out fast so bravo to the kitchen staff. Our server was nice but it just took too long for water refills & to take our order. This was my first time at this location. I've always been to the el cajon one. Service is better at that one but its also way more empty. But the food was all delicious and fresh.

    (3)

  • Magdalena V.

    This place is more like eye candy then a family restaurant I had coochie and ass and tits in my face the whole time how you going to respect the waitress when they don't respect themselves enough to dress descent never going back this place is more of a whore house then a restaurant.... nothing but men walked thru the door for obvious reasons

    (1)

  • Carlos G.

    ****Highly Recommend this place***** I have been eaten at this place for almost 15 yrs now, I tasted most items in the menu and the food has always been excellent. The management ensures the service provided is always outstanding, the restaurant provides a family atmosphere suitable for everyone. One thing that caught my attention is how the manager stops by every table and ensures we are taken care of. Also she is always visible and available for any questions or concerns. The best of this place is the service and the food! A Must GO if you are into Mexican Seafood.

    (5)

  • Ruben C.

    3 1/2 STARS??? You're HIGH!! This place is pretty close to perfection, service, food and beautiful waitresses!! I started coming here when it opened years ago and they keep getting better. Daniela is so beautiful, she alone is worth a visit!! Daniela thank you for your great service!!

    (5)

  • Dave R.

    Best shrimp burrito I've EVER had, it had a green creamy sauce (Karina sauce) that was to die for. I took my mom here, (big mistake) awkward because the waitress's attire were not making for a good "mother and son" environment. Would of gave it a five but it's not very "family friendly".

    (4)

  • Lee C.

    Ceviche is pre made correct?? Why does it take 30 minutes for us to get our food? It's not busy at all and the place is less than half full.

    (3)

  • Cijey D.

    The food was okay. Nothing great, the cocktail didn't really gave alot of flavor. Also, my sister asked for a second drink & the guy brought it like 30 min later, once she was done eating. AND as soon as we walked in, we were welcomed by some ghetto looking girls, with all they're boobs out. NOT a family friendly place. But our waiter girl was pretty, decent, & polite, her name is Mary.

    (3)

  • Susana C.

    Of all the Karina's, this one is probably my favorite. We come here often to have drinks on their outdoor patio. The music can get a little loud but it just adds to the "ambiente". The ceviche is our favorite, especially the shrimp ceviche. They make a good clamato, not a big fan of their margaritas though. We were pleasantly surprised at their grilled prawns. They are the best, I like the spicy ones over the garlic ones. The service could be quicker but the food is great so I'm willing to overlook that.

    (4)

  • Tatiana M.

    This is restaurant is infamous for it's provocatively dressed servers. So some of the reviews I read about Karina's are miss leading and drifting away from the main focus, which is the food. Just a disclaimer, I'm not disagreeing with reviewing other aspects of the restaurant, but lets not forget about the food. I've tired many different items off the Karina's menus and they only one that I can confidently recommended to others for trying is their "Ceviche Karina's" This is a shrimp ceviche made from it's basic recipe but what makes it GREAT is the TONS of avocado chucks they mix in. Its an avocado ceviche. I love it, very tasteful and a very large portion which is expected because the plate costs $16.00. Comes with a side of tostadas and a bottle of mayo so you can create your own. The customer service isn't that great when your a group of females because this place is more motived towards men based on the employees dress code (heavy make up, mini skirt, busty cleavage, etc.) so they payed us hardly any mind when we were there. Its the mexican version of Hooters, instead of hot wings its seafood.

    (3)

  • CassieLu H.

    After reading all the negative comments I decided to try this place anyways. Lets just cut to the chase. I noticed only guys were getting good service which pissed me off because I was with my kids, shit at least give my kids good service! Horchata tasted bland, My margarita was horrible,i wanted seafood really bad so i ordered a skillet fajita mix with shrimp, chicken and steak which had no season at all. It actually tasted like the grill they cook it on and had only like 3 pieces of shrimp. This place looks like the Hooters moms work there, Not Hooter Girls, at least when I was there. SHITTY SERVICE,SHITTY FOOD, You want good food? I suggest ROCKIN BAJA LOBSTER!!!

    (1)

  • Abby A.

    Went today with a friend & my bf , waited about 10 min to be seated inside , my friend & I had the karinas ceviche & my bf had the chicken fajitas plate everything was so good !!! Deffinitly will be coming back to get my ceviche fix :)

    (4)

  • Pam W.

    Just have beer and check the girls out. Food is OK. If you are looking for a nice campechana this is NOT the place. I could sit hear for hours and watch the girls. They are just wonderful. Unfortunately the food is just OK, the girls make up for this with beauty. It seems they use a bit lower grade fish and are not up with refrigeration. The are very often out of what you ordered.

    (3)

  • Sade C.

    Waitress didn't even card us for alcohol..Margaritas were okay, food wasn't all that good! My friend ordered the grilled shrimp as she was about to eat it she noticed that there was a green insect that was latched onto it. She let the manager know and the manager was rude as fuck and claimed the bug came from the outside.. She didn't apologize or anything she was acting snooty and walked away. I won't be coming here again, crappy service.

    (1)

  • Bahar K.

    OMG!!! I have no words how amazing this food is. Service could be a little better. Overall it's a place to eat at!!

    (4)

  • Mariel H.

    If you want some fresh ceviche that won't make you sick, this is the place to go. Great food as well.

    (5)

  • Aaron H.

    This is the Mexican Hooters! But serving much better food. These places have the reputation of having sexy servers and they delivered today. Amazing menu and huge patio done right. LOVE that they bring you out a bucket of beer and have bottle openers mounted at each table. Chips and salsa come out and are impressive. We take advantage of some of the lunch specials. HUGE portions. I went with a bunch of big guys and think I'm the only one that finished, but had severe breathing problems finishing. Very fresh seafood here done right. I was the only one a little disappointed. I got the marlin quesadillas. Biggest one I ever got and the tortilla and cheese was on point, but the marlin was chopped so fine with the grease it tasted more like a chorizo quesadilla. All in all, great experience. Want to check it out at night.

    (4)

  • Evelyn C.

    Had the ahi tuna ceviche, it was very fresh and delicious. Ordered several patron margaritas and the last one was weak. All in all it was a great experience and the staff was very friendly. Their oysters are very tasty too as well as guacamole and salsa.

    (4)

  • Jennifer H.

    When you sit down the waitress came with cold chips and salsa and a bunch of cut limes. The chips werent even warm. First sign of things to come.... After looking at their menu i decided to get the dish with 1 cheese enchilada, carne asada, beans, guacamole, marinated onions, and flour tortillas. I was pretty disappointed when I tried the enchilada and the beans because they were cold. Like the cheese in the enchilada was hard. The carne was slightly cold as well...the only thing that was hot was the tortillas. And the best thing on that plate was the onions! The sauce was incredible lol and it's what made everything else taste better. So service sucks. The waitress came back a few times asking us I'd we wanted anything else. She also came back to take our salt, pepper, hit sauce, and napkin container away without asking us if we were done with it. Additionally she took my used napkin away before I was done using it. The whole thing was just weird! She never asked us if we wanted more water either. She never asked how the meal was. Customer service just wasn't there. I won't be coming back. I gave it a 1 star because of those onions! And the salsa wasn't that bad either. But otherwise I've never been served cold food before.

    (1)

  • Pete G.

    I only come here for the shrimp cocktail by far the best place for it the shrimp is decent size not like other places were they give you tiny shrimp and its kinda like hooters all females serves In Skippy outfits overall and good experince but I never had anything elae but the shrimp cocktail with my michelada and I ask them not to put ice on it it water's the beer down

    (4)

  • EJ E.

    Horrible service, we sat there for 20min waiting for someone to take our order..and we had to get the manager to get someone for us. Even after that, it took forever to the point where we ended up just leaving. Complete waste of our time.

    (1)

  • Lynette A.

    I got the grilled shrimp and as I was peeling the shells off, I noticed a little green bug dead on the shrimp. I noticed the waitress and the manager came out carrying my plate. She approached my friends and I very rude claiming the bug was from the trees. If the bug was from the trees it wouldn't have been INSIDE the shell of my shrimp. She didn't even apologize, she just continued to say "it's from the trees it's from the trees" and walked away after j said I don't want it anymore. She was very rude about the whole situation. Plus, my friends and I weren't even carded for alcohol. We could have easily been underage. I would definitely not recommend this place. I wouldn't even give it one star if I had the option.

    (1)

  • Miss Garcia G.

    Yeah...Sorry but I'm going to have to rate 2 stars and that's being generous. The food is over-rated! But looking at the reviews here, I see the same thing. The girls are young and some what attractive. They're not nice by any means. They're snobby. They don't check up on you at all. What you see (her good looks in her own mind) is what you get. The food is not great. Ceviche tasted like it had a lot of ketchup. The michelada was ok at best and over priced. This place is good if you go in a group of guys to check out the girls and leave them a fat tip, even though they don't deserve it. I changed my mind. I'm only giving one star. Sorry Karina's. I think I will stroll to Hector's or El Negro Durazo for quality food and nice service.

    (1)

  • Lanya G.

    Mariscos and their "Mexican Hooters" waitresses is what this place is known for. They have bomb seafood here, you can get just about anything, so many choices! I've tried the ahi-tuna, mixed ceviche, marlin taco, aguashimi, seafood cocktail, mocajete but my all time favorite are the king crab legs! They serve a full pound and a half pound, half a pound is enough, I always have a hard time finishing the last couple pieces towards the end, so filling! Comes with a delicious butter sauce for dipping or this spicy limey sauce, also very tasty! The ceviche isn't my favorite because its in a tomato kethcupy sauce, which I do not like that sweet taste but the fish, shrimp and octopus inside are very good and fresh. Another favorite is the aguashimi, its sashimi in a serrano lime sauce, love that juice! Also the salsa that they serve with the chips and salsa is very spicy and fresh tasting, me gusta! They have a few locations around San Diego, I've been to the one in East Lake, which is considered the "romantic one" with different decor and the waitresses wear a different outfit, and I've been to the Oceanside location. Which each location has a slightly varied menu. I was very disappointed to learn the Oceanside location does not serve my beloved king crab legs. Also while many locations also have a nice patio seating area , Oceanside does not, in fact I wish they would spruce up the Oceanside one because the building isn't very appealing to the eye. We usually always drive so far to the original, which in my opinion is the best one, in Chula Vista. If you love mariscos and you enjoy being served by a pretty waitress Karinas is definitely your spot.

    (4)

  • Rahul H.

    This is one that I'm hesitant to share with others but Karina's deserves the praise. Name of the game here is mariscos or Mexican seafood. The menu covers everything from oysters to marlin tacos. The variations on ceviche are extensive and are served thinly sliced as opposed to cubed. I also love the aguachile verde with pulpo. But my hands down favorite dish here and potentially in life are the miguelitos. The spicy and creamy sauce these shrimp are cooked in is unstoppable. You can request the shrimp without the shells to make life easier for yourself. Chips and salsa are great here too. Get a bucket of beer and help yourself. Whatever you don't drink you won't get charged for. Overall place is a little pricey for a Mexican hooters but you are getting quality seafood with amazing flavor so it is worth it.

    (5)

  • Tamarah G.

    The Karina's in National City is better (but not by much) than this one. I'm not a seafood lover, but my husband is and he seems to enjoy the ceviche, but I'm not him. I usually opt for the enchiladas when we come here - they're not special, the meat is a little dry and the sauce is bland. Last time we came here I ordered the fajitas for the first time. Never again. They were oily, greasy and bland - not even a hint of salt. The meat was alright, but the veggies were mushy and tasteless. If you like seafood, you'd probably like it more, but if you bring someone who doesn't, they're probably not going to have a good time. As an added bonus, I got super bloated to the point where I couldn't button my jeans later on.

    (2)

  • Freddy S.

    A friend recommended Karina's as the best Mexican seafood in SD. I wasn't too impressed. Like a Hooters and average food. Ive eaten better ceviche and mariscos out of a food truck! i wouldnt recommend. If this is the best in SD I'm disappointed! LA has them beat hands down.

    (3)

  • Johana T.

    So let me start off by saying, I am NOT a seafood fan BUT I went there for my friend's birthday dinner. So I immediately started looking for the chicken or steak options and I was pleased to find out they actually had 3 or 4 plates to pick from (there was fajitas, enchiladas, quesadillas, and tacos... There might be another I forgot?). So I went for the chicken quesadilla. It came plain with only cheese and chicken. No sauce or side orders with it. It was almost $9 so I think I was expecting a Bit more :( So it turned out okay... Not that good but not bad either. I definitely think this place is only good with its seafood and since ill never be eating that, then I don't see why I would go back. So now on to the service: No bueno. The waitresses are all wearing skimpy shirts showing off their ta-ta's and mini skirts with fishnet stockings underneath. I guess that's good for the customers that are actually interested in seeing that while they eat. But to me, all I wanted was to have a nice and attentive server. Our waitress came by to get our order and then to give us our food, other then that we never saw her again. Maybe she thought since we were all girls that we wouldn't tip her as much as her male customers? Well little did she know all my girlfriends and I have worked in the restaurant business so we ALWAYS give a 20%-30% gratuity depending on the quality of service. BUT since she decided to not care about us, then all she got was a few bucks. Boo yah trick!

    (2)

  • Stephanie R.

    i think hookers serve your food here......

    (1)

  • Angel F.

    to the point, the food is extremely delicious, the customer service is also delicious, I mean great and just think of it as the~ MEXICAN HOOTERS

    (4)

  • Joyce L.

    If you like to be treated like dirt while indulging in delicious food this is the place for you. Without a doubt, the food here is Delicious, and that is the only reason why they are getting 1 star. Coming from out of town with a group of 9 there is always a wait to expect but for the hostess to say "we are full inside, we have 30 people outside and they are already getting people's orders mixed up so do you want to go somewhere else" EXCUSE ME? As we left, the patio area was as empty as can be so maybe management should invest a little more time in properly training the staff. Never coming here again. The food is good, but not that good. I wish you all the best of luck with their snotty employees.

    (1)

  • Melissa R.

    First thing you see when you walk in is BOOBS ! . I had heard it was a good place so My Boyfriend, and two friends decided to go . I had all ready heard about the woman there but i dont mind it if that how they can get there tip then thats fine . They were friendly and service was all right . But am giving this place 2 stars because food was not what i expected . Me being from a Mexican family the Aguachile is supposed to be spicy but it was dull and it had no flavor whats so ever not even the taste of lime was there . Ive gone to other places where the aguachile is spicy but here is not worth it .my boyfriend decided on getting 3 Tacos de Governador he liked it and he is a picky eater . But then fuuuui my friend had the Mar Y Tierra , it was steak , chicken and shrimp in the picture it was well portioned but ones he had it there he was very disappointed. He said it was salty buttery and not good at all . And then 3.95 for extra avocado likeee daaaam ! That was the most delicious piece he had ever ate .Drinks where okay i had the Margarita with Don Julio and Grand Margnier it was good can complain but beer in a Can is not what i expected here for those who like there Modelos in a bottle they dont have it here . Bottom line is you wanna go eat and drink go for it but how we mexican say " Esta Bien Pa Ir A Echar Un Taco De Ojo " .

    (2)

  • Alexi R.

    The food is typically pretty good here but I came today and ordered fish tacos they were very cold so I returned them and all they did was dumped them back in the fryer they were loaded with oil. I asked if they could do them again fresh and they said yes but it would take 40 minutes so that was ridiculous and we left. You've lost my business forever.

    (1)

  • MarkMetro S.

    my fiancee and i was on a mini vacation and heard about this place from my brother. this has to be by far one of my top restraunts, food is amazingly delicious cook to perfection . we will difinitley be back..

    (5)

  • Tony C.

    I've been going to Karinas with the fam for about 13 years now. Always a good time! With oysters, ceviche, and buckets of pacificos. Or aguachile, a campechana cocktail and more buckets of beer. Food has had some lows but for the most part I've been happy with the food. For some reason it's always with the Karina sauce. Sometimes it's friggin amazing and others just no flavor at all. Same goes with the service.....kind of hit and miss. Its a good spot to hit if you are ever in the South Bay. Karina you have a place in my heart because of all the good times. 3.5 stars

    (3)

  • Julie N.

    I came here specifically for Ceviche based on recommendation and I was not disappointed!! We got the original ceviche and Karina's special ceviche. Both were EXCELLENT! They both were refreshing and extremely tasty. Karina's had great avocado, lime, and cilantro taste to it that really made it stand out. I am craving it so much still and I am impatiently waiting for the Downtown location to open up!!!!

    (4)

  • Thomas H.

    My buddies and I call this place Mexican Hooters, and that's pretty accurate based upon other Yelp reviews. The food is above average and it's hard to stay focused with all the scenery moving about. The carne asada burrito is good, and you can add rice and beans (the lunch special) for pretty cheap.

    (4)

  • Marianna M.

    Way overpriced for food served by girls in fishnets. The silicone must have leaked in their brain as our waitress forgot napkins and got one order wrong. The only cool part was the mariachi. Not coming back anytime soon. Oh yeah one more thing, how about a good pos system? The abacus is ancient.

    (2)

  • Summer N.

    Great food. The atmosphere can be a bit loud when the Marachi is there, but if you like that, than no worries. The lobster burrito is a favorite.

    (4)

  • Lindsey B.

    We come here for the ceviche karinas. It's so refreshing, fresh and delicious. The servers are dressed a little provocatively but whatever. It's usually busy but we've never had to wait. Overall, it's worth the trip, especially for the ceviche.

    (4)

  • Larry T.

    Awesome food!! A fantastic looking waitress's!!! The manager (also beautiful) even greeted us at the table. Had carnitas tacos and a big prawn platter. Price was very good. Very crowded, but I like this one better than Eastlake. Love it!!!

    (5)

  • Eve A.

    I use to live in Oceanside and one day drive by this place we decided to give it a try. It became our favorite spot and we use to go so often. Love the food. We try a few plates (we love seafood) and everything was delicious. The service was fast and the waitress was very friendly and nice. Highly recommend i recently move to LA and boy i miss this place.

    (5)

  • Amy S.

    The food was good but the service was terrible. The bathroom was disgusting and even after notifying the hostess there was no toilet paper it still wasn't refilled. There was trash all over, leaking toilet, dirty walls and doors. The quesadillas were good but only half filled. The salmon was great. The rice is very bland. We waited forever for the check and finally had to ask another employee to get it for us : ( disappointing!

    (3)

  • Andres A.

    For our first time eating at this establishment with party of thirteen people, we were not pleased with the service. Half of our party was seated and were treated well, given that we were all men; reading reviews before driving down to Chula Vista we were aware that the waitresses and servers treat men well and that wasn't a big deal for us. Once the rest of the party arrived the servers and waitresses ignored our table and as for the the women of our party, they were completely disrespected by our waitress. The waitress came to our table once to bring us our food and bucket of beers and after that she didn't bother to pay any attention to our table. Even though our party had a great time, being seated in the back made getting the waitress's attention to get crackers and condiments was the worst. When we did receive our condiments, the waitress gave us attitude and made us feel unwelcomed. Once we received our bill we were surprised by the grad total being over $280 and with a gratuity of $60 added to our bill for their excellent service. When going through our bill we shocked by the 11 slices of avocado that were $44 and other additional items we didn't ordered. After speaking to the manager only $40 were taken off of our bill. We gave up arguing with the manager and just paid the bill as is was. We will not return to this establishment again after the services we received. I give props to our busboy, Brian, he was the one that stepped up and took over for the waitress and made our night. Also, I wouldn't recommend sitting in the porch area. The busboy is occasionally sent to the back to scare off and wild possums roaming in the area unless you would want to be entertained watching a young man use a broom and pan to capture a possum.

    (1)

  • Gil R.

    Just had one of thee worst experience at this place...I get it lunch time is busy so we waited 30 minutes to be seated then the server took our drink and food order and we waited a half hour for our drinks...Then waited 50+ minutes for our food however not all of it came out...My along with a coworker's food was never brought out. We had to ask them to box it up as our co workers were done eating. It was not ready even at that point... All she said was sorry...I guess they want to distract you from the horrible service with all the pretty girls there...don't waist your time or money here...downtown location

    (1)

  • Gerardo G.

    yes it is good, why the loss of the star? they seem to pay more attention to the "wanna be high rollers" and seem to ignore the regular person.

    (4)

  • Cynthia C.

    Amazing food but horrible service.. had a party of 20 and they didn't want to give separate bills because it was hard for them.. manager is a fucking idiot does not know how to calculate. Charged us for shit we didn't order.. manager threw a pen at my sister.. everyone payed their bill and some how they said we still owed money.. tried charging us double for everything. Never going to this place again.. HORRIBLE SERVICE.. our waitress left and when we went looking for her she was inside gossiping and playing around with cooks.. this is a family restaurant and waitresses look like whores..

    (2)

  • Kelly C.

    First trip here a few weeks ago, outstanding. Latest visit on Mother's Day to treat my wife and kids, complete disappointment. We will definitely never return to this place. I knew it would be packed on Mother's Day, so the wait was no issue. Once we were seated in an outside table, it took more than 15 min. before a waitress came by. A long while later our food arrived...cold, like it had been sitting out for about 20 min. which was about right since it took about 30 min. to get our food. After another 10 min. or so, I was able to flag down our waitress to ask her to send all the food back because it was all cold. She gave me a look like I murdered a kitten. After another 15 min. she brought back all the plates with the SAME food, just thrown into a microwave to reheat it. It was disgusting. Of course there was no one anywhere to be found to complain about the food. The service from this waitress was the worst and the food was complete garbage. What started out to be a nice dinner for Mother's Day was completely ruined thanks to these brain-dead idiots at this place. To top it all off, it still cost $150 for a family of 4. When I got home, I sent an email to them to complain, thinking someone who cares will contact me. Been over 10 days and no response. Don't waste your time at this place if you want decent Mexican food. I can deal with slow or bad service, but this place goes beyond bad. This place just flat out SUCKS.

    (1)

  • Cecilia P.

    The food is great (the ceviche mouth watering) and very affordable. The ambience is casual and fun and the service always outstanding. I can't wait for Karina's to open their downtown location!

    (5)

  • Dan D.

    Stopped by for dinner with another couple the other night. Was intrigued to see "the Mexican Hooters" but I wasn't impressed. While the waitresses were pleasant and attentive, the food just wasn't there. But more about the gals: They were dressed in sexy little outfits -- black and tight-- nothing too risque, but definitely eye-catching. The black hair and heavy eye make-up was very chola-like. It was OK, similar to Hooters...mas o menos. The food: I had the Siete Mares, a traditional soup with 7 types of seafood. It was a bit skimpy on everything. Tasty but skimpy, The other diners in our group had the salmon and the the crab enchiladas with salsa verde. The green sauce was thick like guacamole and not as tasty. We had a few Mexican beers and some tequila. $110 for the 4 of us. Reasonable, I guess, but I wish it would have been better food. Sexy black outfits can only do so much. There are so many better places for mariscos. No lo recomiendo.

    (3)

  • Rebecca A.

    The service at this place is simply HORRIBLE!! This is from numerous visits with different groups, not one single visit. I don't know why we keep coming back. The food is good, but not to the point of putting up with the really bad service. There are plenty of Mexican seafood restaurants in Chula Vista that serves food just as tasty but with way better service. I would avoid this place. It will only take you one visit to experience the worst service ever.

    (2)

  • Dung N.

    I went here last night because I was in the mood for seafood and was in the area. I heard good things about this place, but it was a little disappointing. Maybe they had an off night...We were given complimentary chips and salsa with slices of lime. The salsa was really good. I think I ate too many chips lol. Our waitress recommended the stuffed avocados with shrimp. You get two of those and they were very filling. The menu is so big (literally) that it was hard to decide what to get...We ended up getting the zarandeado, which I didn't see on the menu, but was in one of the pictures here on Yelp. It came with tortillas, rice and beans, and salad. My guy was choking on some fish scales, so we returned this dish. Our waitress apologized and was very nice and friendly throughout the night. Not sure if I would come back again, but I think you should just order the ceviche if you want to check it out. Oh, and the horchata is really good here. :)

    (3)

  • Justine R.

    The salsa here is delicious with the chips! If you can get the half dozened mussels, they are the best! Also had fish tacos and combination plate, the karina sauce is great! Good place!

    (4)

  • Favi M.

    The waitresses might be good looking but the service was terrible. We stood there waiting to be seated and nobody greeted us or led us to our table, even though a waitress saw us but did not even acknowledged us. The food was so, so... I was expecting it to be a little tastier. We had to return the ceviche because it was not cooked right. The waitress did not check up on us to see if we needed anything.

    (1)

  • Jenny H.

    I love their seafood! The campechanas are so good. It's a Mexican seafood cocktail that contains shrimp, octopus, 1 oyster and scallops. It's super good! I also love their green chili shrimp enchiladas. They're a must try and melt in ur mouth. The green sauce is super good u can't go wrong. The also have the best salsa and chips. Cons- they always have mariachi and they're super loud that u can't have a conversation because u won't be able to hear them talk. Prices are outrageous. The campechana mentioned above I think it runs about $13 or $18

    (3)

  • Daniel K.

    Was just ok. Would be really good for AZ but for San Diego the excellence level of Karina's was middling compared with the plethora of great Mexican seafood joints nearby. (And the price ouch~ Though I took full advantage of the tacos and tostadas) The other items looked just ok. I guess people enjoy the hooters aspect of it. (Peeps bring families to both locations) Fetch

    (3)

  • Claudia T.

    Its good but food took too long and it took about 20 mins until they got us chips nd salsa. Would i go back... Mayb...

    (3)

  • George C.

    Girls are so rude they make me wait 35 minutes to get a drinks for my kids hello what a service,thanks I'll think about it next time.

    (1)

  • Caroline G.

    Where do I start! Overly priced, tasteless food! Servers were nice but slow. I only tried Karina's because I had a UT daily deal coupon. Not worth it at all. I will never go back.

    (1)

  • Steve B.

    What a great spot. Been here several times for biz lunches and it's always good, fast, and well priced.

    (4)

  • Johnny K.

    Delicious seafood and good portions! Spectacular waitresses! This will be a regular stop for some great seafood.

    (5)

  • Johnny R.

    Food's outstanding. Had molcajete, oysters and aguachile. Service in the other hand TERRIBLE!!!! Every single person that works here looks miserable and treats you like shit. I'm just trying to enjoy my food lol wth

    (2)

  • Chris L.

    Well went here and waited 30 minutes to be seated, we saw people leaving but no one was seated for literally 30 minutes. We were all seated at the same time like whoops we forgot that customers wanted to come eat. The chips and salsa were ok. The food was ok. The girls were ok. Seems a lot different then I remembered. All in all I won't be going back again. Used to be my favorite spot for Mexican seafood looks like I need another.

    (2)

  • Tony A.

    My brother and I decided to bring my mom here for Mother's Day 5/11/2014, this place is usually packed so I was pleasantly surprised to pull up and see there wasn't much of a crowd. We were seated promptly and given a menu, which was not their normal menu. Our waitress explained that in observance of Mother's Day the normal menu would not be available and we had to order off the very short list of items they had on this promo menu. For the most part we usually know what we want to have and my mom was craving their shrimp burrito which was not on the Mother's Day menu....so she explained we could not order that. She then told us she would give us a few minutes to look over their promo menu and decide whether we would like to stay or not. Well that explains the lack of a crowd at this otherwise usually packed establishment, I called their other location in national city and they have the full menu available so we are headed there. Pretty stupid Mother's Day promo Broadway location, hope you enjoy your slow day.

    (1)

  • Lani G.

    Came down here to visit and several people told us about this place. It's so good!!!! Everything is good! Karina's special and stuff avocado are a must!!!

    (4)

  • Daniel M.

    I'm at the Karina's on Highland and it's not crowded at all but the service is horrible, not to mention they are too cheap to turn on the AC so it's like an oven in here. We are still waiting for our food, and I'm gonna pray that it's better than the service here. I'll let you know as soon as it comes. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

    (1)

  • Charlie L.

    i would normally just give a 4 (4.5 quality) stars review here, but i couldn't believe that a place with such delicious shrimp burritos and carnitas taco got just a 3:5 star review. Yeah, the service can be a bit slow... but if you ask me, i think most of the bad reviews came from catty women who don't like how "trashy" the waitresses are. Seriously, if the food's good, who cares??? They definitely need more than 3 waitresses at lunch time (for 50+ patrons) but when they do come around, they're really nice. Highly recommended.

    (5)

  • Obed C.

    Great pace to eat Ceviche. Service is good and food is delicious. I usually stick with the Karinas ceviche....its like a Lime and green salsa-ish type of plate. its amazing. Also recommend the Stuffed avocados (with shrimp) Great place to grab some food and a couple of beers (if youre a drinker) and also the waitresses are pretty good looking!

    (4)

  • Sawed Off F.

    This place is between OK and good. Not great, as I was hoping for. I had stuffed avocados, two tostadas de ceviche (shrimp), and a fish taco. Each of them were just ok. Didn't finish anything.. The best part of my experience was the cold beer and the fine lady servers, but still just 3 stars.

    (3)

  • William S.

    Felt sick at table while eating. Sent back plate and still got charged. Don't eat the combination with Karinas sauce. Manager said to send her hospital bill. This place sucks! What bad service.

    (1)

  • Martin C.

    Went to their new Eastlake location. Had the Mar, Cielo y Tierra plate (shrimp, chicken and carne asada. The chicken was dry and the beef tough. The worst was the salsa. It was extremely salty. Had to send it back three times and it came coming back just as salty. I finally gave up on it. Won't be going back again soon.

    (3)

  • Ruby R.

    "Crappy. Just super crappy" Not everyone that looks Latino speaks Spanish---FYI!!! If u can get past the disgusting exploitation of women and the very, very loud environment...we waited 15mins w several staff passing by & not even getting water or chips...When we finally got our food, another 20mins later, it was cold...But, wait! There's more!...We were billed for 3 drinks we didn't even have!!! No one even bothered to apologize for the wait. 2 stars because the food was decent in terms of taste, portion size, and price. Nonetheless, I will NOT b back.

    (2)

  • Junlee L.

    Food was great, but the service was extremely poor! Waiter didn't bother to come to our table at all, only when we asked her to bring tortillas. She seem very serious, didn't smile, didn't carry a conversation, didn't say excuse me or you welcome. Very cold. I loved the food, but I like places where I feel like home, so I'll never bring my family to this restaurant ever again. That said, I wouldn't encourage people to come to this place.

    (1)

  • Dominique M.

    Worst service ever.! Yeah you got female waitress showing cleavage, but they don't check your table. Took 10 minutes to get a coke refill. Then forget about the tortillas for my fajitas. Never again. The food is good, but the service will irritate you especially if you don't speak Spanish to them.

    (2)

  • Mayra R.

    I went with a party of 12+ the service was not what expected. We had a very snobbish waiter who couldn't take jokes and didn't laugh. I expect waiters to be outgoing and friendly. The waiter thought she was the shit. It was disappointing. She forgot to bring us our tortillas after all the dishes had been served. We declined the tortillas after everyone had been done eating. So much for being a waiter and knowing the necessary condiments for a Mexican Dish.

    (2)

  • Nancy B.

    Like others have described this place this is the Mexican Hooters but at least at Hooters the girls are nice to their female customers. Food is good but service in my opinion is meh. Nothing to get overly offended by and nothing to rave about. I did notice guys get a little nicer treatment. All in all guys will love this place. Will I go back? Probably, the food is good after all.

    (3)

  • Annmarie L.

    Food is amazing Karinas ceviche is delicious and there pomegranate margarita is too die for only thing that sucks is the service takes forever to get to you hardly checks up on you and walks by you s million times without looking your way

    (2)

  • Emily S.

    I went with my boyfriend and his family (total 5 of us) here for mother's day dinner. We usually come here for special occasions for things like birthdays and always enjoy it. Yesterday, was kind of disappointing... They quoted us 20 minutes for outside, it ended up being about a 35 minute wait. That alone would be forgivable, unfortunately however, things went progressively worse from there. The restrooms were filthy with trash all over the floor. Service was VERY slow... I kind of think we were forgotten at times, because we sat outside. Our food and drinks took forever to come out. A lot of our entrees were cold as well which was extremely frustrating. The only redeeming qualities were that the shrimp cocktail and shrimp de agua chile were soo delicious. Other than that, this visit would have been a bust. Be careful in the parking lot... We saw someone back into someone's truck and then take off.

    (3)

  • Emad A.

    good food and great service i went to the el cajon location and it was bad then we all decided to go to this location i love it but its a little too far from my house, 5 stars guys

    (5)

  • Andrea C.

    Great place to eat, delicious food. It's usually full of people but it only adds to the atmosphere. Don't hesitate to eat there, they're very friendly and professional. Provecho!

    (4)

  • Veronica M.

    Karina's use to be really, really good. Lately it has lost its touch. We use to go every other weekend for the ceviche, salsa and chips, and cockteles . I went back about two weeks ago and I immediately regretted it!! It was too late to leave though the food was in front of me and I had already consumed a few beers. I hate the new cook ceviche was too salty the salsa was too runny and their cockteles literally only had 5 shrimps, ridicules! The service is not as friendly anymore either and the manager I'm guessing spends her time on the phone not even aware of how rude the waitresses are, unacceptable! I will never return here again such a disappointment ... their food is not even that good..

    (1)

  • Tony J.

    I've been to the Eastlake & Broadway locations and I can say that both are pretty consistent. I have had the campechana & ceviche Karina's along with the lobster. The only thing that left a little to be desired was the lobster - that won't keep me from coming back here though!!

    (4)

  • Abraham F.

    I love this place good food , good looking waitresses , good weather and a nice beer to go with all of that. The service is up to par and the menu has a variety of mexican seafood . Honestly don't hesitate to come to this place its a taste of Mexico .

    (5)

  • Danny W.

    A "Mexican Hooters" that plays soccer games is probably the best opportunity I'll ever have to correlate the following original joke to a review so I'm gonna go for it... What do you call breasts that are banned from World Cup games? Boob-a-zelas! Guys, if you're disappointed in that intro I promise your jeers will turn to cheers if you make your way into Karina's. Besides the obvious scenery all the waitresses have super sexy accents and are as flirtatious as can be. Ladies understandably you're probably not big on a giant rack in your face as you eat. Clearly this place is aimed at a male audience, but don't worry the food is forgiving enough to withstand whatever shape or size brings grub to your table whether you're into cleavage or not. I recommend the Seven Seas Soup. It's a huge bowl of tomato broth loaded with mussels, clams, fish, shrimp, octopus, crab, and scallops that's more of a meal that most main dishes. Preview it with some of their homemade chips and salsa and you'll leave one happy camper. Between the tight outfits and their seafood tradition, I can't really find anything I dislike other than the fact that it's kind of far away from my house. Keep up the great work Karina's!

    (5)

  • Lorenzo D.

    Mexican Hooters-Not! What a find. I love seafood. I love hot chicks. I love this place! Had heard it described as kind of a "Mexican Hooters". So far from reality. This is actually a good restaurant, that happens to have some smokin' hot waitresses. I'm sure that the waitresses in fishnets, undersized blue shirts with buttons popping off and short little black skirts did not influence my opinion of this fine establishment. I mean, everyone comes here for the food, right??? ;-) Actually, the food is really good. Went with a group of guys. Shared shrimp ceviche (awesome), calamari (fair). I had grilled prawns with garlic which were really good. Simply whole prawns cut lengthwise and grilled. Very satisfying. Another friend had a whole grilled fish that was delicious. Chips, guacamole, salsa, lemonade (would like to come back when I can drink at night for a margarita) were all very good. I'm a fan! Cin cin!

    (4)

  • Denise R.

    Horrible Service!!!!..... They say they close at 10 pm but if you walk in at 9:20 pm, they give you their worst attitude and pretty much they don't want to do a thing. The food that they served us ( if you call that food) was super bad. I order a Mixed Tostada that supposed to have pulpo, shrimp, and callo well I was lucky to find a shrimp in all the tomato and onion. Horrible!!! I used to go very often a couple of years ago and I stopped going becuase lets face it is not the cheapest Seafood Place out there, but I recall the food and service was better back then. I will never come back again.

    (1)

  • Del R.

    The chicks are hot! The decor is authentic. The music selection is great. The drinks are strong and mouthwatering. The servers are very nice and attentive. And the food? Well, it must be made with magic because every single thing is freaking delicious. I went there for the first time yesterday and they have a fan for life now. I seriously can't stop raving about it. I'm a Mexican food snob. They got it right.

    (5)

  • Jesse B.

    I love ceviche, bit after eating at this restaurant, probably I will think twice before eating seafood, I had cama rom ceviche and it taste weird, I told our hostess and she said that was good, that was just done. Then I told her that it didn't taste good that I was going to order something different, she got upset by her looks on her face and she took my order, well she brought me my tacos 25 minutes later, everyone else had finish eating. By the way she throw my plate on the table looked like she was pissed off. So I haven't event put the taco in my mouth when she comes back and said, do you guys want something else? Do long story short I ended up in emergency by food poison, Im glad I only ate a 1/4 of the ceviche, because if I had eaten all of it I will probably wouldn't be writing this review. Nasty Customer service and waitresses looks like they go there to hook up or something. Probably dressing like sluts customers provide them more tips. Never again here!!!!

    (1)

  • Jennifer A.

    Karina's always has 5 star service every time I go. The food is fresh and delicious forcing me to become gluttonous each time. The prices are on par with most seafood establishments I have eaten at but you don't have to worry about breaking the bank just to have a nice meal. For example on my last visit to celebrate a friend's college graduation we dropped just $89 for five adults with non alcoholic drinks for everyone except me. I was a little peeved they didn't carry Tecate but Pacifico will do. My love for Karina's really stems from their ability to make seafood that tastes just the other dishes I have tried in Cancun and Ensenada at La Bufadora, places that I no longer travel to out of fear for my life. But enough sadness, drive down to Chulajuana, grab a table and enjoy pretty waitress in their skin tight uniforms bringing you a bit of Baja California on a plate. PS- Gotta give a shot out to the manager for hooking my friend, J, up with a free Karina's calender. Apparently you can bring it in each time you visit and try to collect all the ladies's autographs. An excellent reason besides the food to keep returning.

    (5)

  • Alvaro A.

    A mexican chain restaurant with overpriced food. Average service. Dessert is the only good thing.

    (1)

  • Sandra F.

    Started off with a mango margarita and a beer, cold and delicious. I had the lobster taco it was very satisfying the lobster was chopped and plenty with peppers and onion and cheese. The fish taco was delicious, we then had a ceviche tostada and shrimp ceviche tostada the shrimp cocktail was plenty lots of shrimp. Definitely returning.

    (4)

  • Devin A.

    This place has amazing ceviche. Try the jumbo lump crab ceviche and add shrimp, you won't be disappointed. Sitting outside is also a great experience, especially on a nice day. And when you order a beer, be ready to receive a bucket of ice with a few extra bottles in it. Perfect idea to eliminate waiting to order that next cold one!

    (4)

  • Faith P.

    The food looks good. The place looks clean. Lots of menu choices. The problem we found with the restaurant is that ever since my Husband ate there on Saturday he's been sicker than a dog. He's usually not one to get sick. It wasn't the service to get the bad review it was the results after eating there. Just wanted to let people know in case something is going around.

    (1)

  • Abe N.

    Parking during the lunchtime crowd on Friday-packed. Both sides of the dirt lot, from curbside to the end of the restaurant. Packed inside and outside patio. Server was friendly, but busy. Food was pretty good. Big guacamole again, but this time with friends. The marlin tacos were okay, but the ahi tuna tostada was fresh and flavorful. Stuffed and satisfied. This place is ok.

    (3)

  • John G.

    I've been to the Chula Vista Karina's about four times now. I come back for the Aguachili, and the shrimp in garlic. The first two times I visited there were problems with other patrons. There were groups of loud, drunk, obnoxious idiots causing problems with other tables. It ended up that one table that was near us got up and left. I've sat inside and outside, but prefer sitting outside because it seems to be quieter and more relaxed. Prices are a little on the high side for what you get and there can be a long wait for your food to arrive. People I've brought to the restaurant all comment on how cute the waitresses are, which is true, for the most part.

    (3)

  • Jess S.

    ceviche karinas is bomb!

    (3)

  • Jorge G.

    Excellent mexican - style seafood. There are a few drawbacks. While other yelpers are right in that everyone is very nice, service is lacking. It takes over 25 minutes to get your food delivered. They give you chips and salsa but the salsa is no better than Pace Picante Sauce. Once you get your food, things drastically improve. Might be the best in town. The last complaint is that management requires servers to write their bra size in the bill. My server wrote 36B..she was at least a D. I find it demeaning to the server. There's no need for that. They are already required to wear a trashy outfit, let them have have a bit of dignity. I would recommend takeout.

    (3)

  • Jen L.

    I'm satisfied 8/10 times. Sometimes the different cooks cook things a little different so my meal is not what I expect. I always have left overs and I can say that my left overs always get eaten. The chip and salsa are the best.

    (4)

  • Francis P.

    The salsa is delicious. The service is not really great but the food makes up for that

    (4)

  • Karen M.

    THe food is good, margaritas sick (they use wine instead of tequila) I'm thinking they probably can't afford the liquor license lol Our waitress was a bitch I'm guessing she felt threatened that me & my friend were better looking than her lol The other girls seemed nice, just not ours. I left her a good tip so hopefully when we come back she'll be a little nicer. Shrimp ceviche is bomb and the margarita is not as bad if you hold your breath hahaha P.S. I found an avocado sticker in my food lol but I was like whatever, at least it wasn't a hair or a bug :P

    (3)

  • Ed M.

    Tried out the other location for lunch. This is definitely a busy place when you have to park in the side lot in the back where the dirt is. It was bustling for lunch but we still got good service. I had the shrimp burrito and it was good and tasty. Of course the servers here are efficient, always smiling, and gorgeous.

    (4)

  • Mel C.

    If you're in the mood food authentic Mexican seafood and in the area, you have to try Karina's. Gone here about 5 times in the day and only once at night. Let's start with the ambience..loud, loud, and like most people commented already, the waitresses. They seem to steal the reviews. Before I ever went here, I was told that this was this place was considered the "Mexican Hooters". Yes...a lot of beautiful waitresses, tight clothing, tig bitties, and every once in awhile flirtatious. What I've noticed first is that the waitresses are very respectful. Yes, they can be flirtatious, but they are just doing their job serving and working their tips. What I like is the fact that they have only been flirtatious when I come here with other dudes. Took a woman here twice and the flirting was non-existent. I've seen a couple of these waitresses at my gym working their butts off. Much respect, they earned their bodies. Now for the food. I usually get the Sky, Sea, and Land Plate. Plate consist of chicken, steak, and shrimp. Really cant go wrong with this plate. But you do have to have a taste for authentic Mexican food. The chips and salsa about par with everyone else. I guess in actuality the food is average, but the service is great. Never had to wait and the waitresses always check up on me. Price is a little high for what you get and the parking is usually in the dirt. I do recommend this place, but it's not for everyone. Based on the reviews, some like the food, some don't. Some had long waits, some didn't. Some dislike the hot waitresses, others loved them. I had good experiences every time, I can't complain. I will be back and this time will try something different. Btw, never fond of a loud mariachi band. If you're the same, eat outside.

    (4)

  • Zoe L.

    I has heard this place was awesome, so made an hour drive to go Saturday night. We arrived about 9:30pm. Inside was busy so we elected to sit outside BIG MISTAKE! We were the only ones sitting outside and I think the server just wanted to go home! Ordered an appetizer to start, with my husband ordering a beer and I just a water for me since they offer no beer on draft. The server was busy sweeping the floors, actually swept UNDER my feet! She proceeded to fill the napkin holders on all the tables, including ours while we were trying to enjoy our chips and salsa. The order came, it wasn't what we ordered so I couldn't even eat it. We ran out of chips, had to ask the busser for more since she was too busy with her side work to assist. My water never got refilled and I was soo thirtsy. My husband ordered a Sangria and she brought us the soda rather than the prepared. She was pissed off that we told her it was the wrong one! Didn't want to bother her any more, so we left without ordering our dinner. We ended up going to the taco stand across the street. The tacos were amazing and the service at the taco stand was better than what we received by our server at Karinas.. Don't know the servers name but the receipt shows Server ID 1. This is the first time ever that we didn't leave a tip! My husband and I both work in restaurants and if we provided this type of service we would be unemployed! My husband was soo disappointed as we stayed in a hotel walking distance to Karina's as he was so excited to take me........what a waste!

    (1)

  • Lili C.

    Worst place in San Diego!! The service is awful!!!!

    (1)

  • D. L.

    When you're in town for business driving around randomly wondering "What's for dinner?", Karina's is a decent place to stop. I very nearly turned my back and walked away, however, when the first thing to set my eye on at the entrance consisted of a prominent banner advertising a "revealing" restaurant calendar. What is this place? Hooters? Comparing the women in the photos to the waitstaff behind the glass, my spouse says "They look dressed to me". Going into the place those long-sleeve shirts are paired to short, shorts and black hosiery. It's not my scene but I was too hungry to complain. I ordered the house special, "Sea, Earth & Sky" consisting of chicken, steak and shrimp with beans and guacamole. My spouse ordered the shrimp kabob platter, which cost five dollars less. The seasoning on the food is very good. The steak appeared to be flank, not my favorite cut and a bit tough. The refried beans were top notch --- great flavor, not greasy, bland or runny. The guacamole portion was huge, and my SO tells me it was very good (I wouldn't know, I'm allergic to avocados). I do wish, however, that I had ordered what my spouse had. His shrimp were at least twice the size of mine, the house sauce was very good and there was bacon, green peppers, roasted tomatoes and onions sandwiched between each one (two skewers to a plate). The decor is a combination of sea --- etchings on the windowpanes depict seahorses and other such creatures --- and portraits. The interior is covered with wall murals, most of which are good but for one image of a women seated at a table surrounded by Mariachi players. She appears inscrutably pissed --- maybe the music isn't to her liking? --- and her stern gaze seems fixed on you at all times. The waitress was nice, not at all the "airhead" type I anticipated after seeing the banner at the entryway. Our server did forget to bring my spouse a refill at one point shortly before we were about to leave but other than that we had no issue with the food or the service. I'd rate this place better but for the aforementioned banner --- it's not a selling point for female patrons. This is a Mexican Seafood restaurant --- it should stand on its own for the FOOD, not the bods. Regardless, a risque calendar that apparently depicts the female waitstaff won't sit right with every guest (given that this restaurant is right near the major hotels in Chula Vista). Worse, this might land management with a lawsuit for sexual harassment (things being what they are nowadays).

    (3)

  • Anna M.

    This place has the best ceviche in Chula Vista. Love coming here!!! The food is always super fresh and service is great.

    (4)

  • Jeremy T.

    Myself and some co-workers went there Friday afternoon for lunch and it was pretty solid. The place on the outside patio area totally reminded me of being in Cancun so that was kind of cool. The food was pretty good. Alot of authentic seafood mexican dishes. The chips and salsa were absolutely addicting. The service was very good and very pretty. They are very pciky on who serves you your food if ya know what I mean. ;) WOW!!! Very good. Food-4 Service-4 Location-4

    (4)

  • Lorne S.

    Was disappointed. Waiters were awesome! Food quality bounced around. My food quality was great, but not hot. Jen's steak fajitas were terrible. Extremely noisy with some over zealous singers. We had to resort to sign language to communicate. Not a place to visit (as in talk)!

    (3)

  • Tati R.

    Back in San Diego. It is Cinco de Mayo and mom keeps insisting on eating at a Mexican food restaurant. I cannot think of anything worse than a bunch of drunks drinking Corona. We called ahead, they said there was no wait and we drove off to Karina's. Environment- Plenty of parking. While it looks like there is limited in front, a large dirt lot stretches the side of the building, no problem. We first were seated inside but next to us was a guy who was so freakishly loud on the telephone we had to shout at one another. We moved outside. The outside is large with some 4 tops and some long communal tables. IF you keep going towards the back there are a lot of booth seats. There was also a bar, which was closed. My guess is this place gets poppin' but it was not poppin'. Good I dislike poppin' . Waitresses--The waitresses get a lot of attention in the other reviews and since I am a follower, I will do the same. They are dressed in leggings and small tight t-shirts. These girls are pretty typical. Heavy make-up, heavy acne, big boobs, crunchy hair, you know they type. Some are pretty, come are ugly. All are super slow. Beer--ask four times. Limes--ask four different people. Your waitress--dream on, you might see her two or three times in the 2 hours it takes her to serve your meal. Food--The food is good. Not super amazing in that way that it is worth willing to deal with the really poor service. But for sure good enough to give the place one more try. My mom and I both had the shrimp-mmmm...shrimp. Grandma had the fish tacos, she finished both which is shocking for her since she eats nothing. Dad had the lobster burrito which, according to him, was heavy on the cheese, the lobster lost its flavor. Ask for the salad without dressing, it is creamy nastiness which my dad wouldnt even eat and he eats rotten bananas and pigs feet. Overall-- A good time with my family, good food for the most part. The outside is lovely. The waitresses are slow and inattentive and dressed like they are going out to dance to some banda and then put out. Food good. Balance all of that together and you have an okay place.

    (3)

  • Bert D.

    The food was decent nothing great, but the experience with the waitresses were horrible, took forever to get our food once I got my fish tacos, the tortilla was COLD and so was my fish, because our waitress was too busy chit chatting with her friends at another table that she rarely bothered to take care of us, another customer had to get up from their table and go ask her for their card back because she was taking so long, I think that was very rude and unprofessional...I will NEVER go there again, they need to speak to the waitresses about how to treat customers and not just talk the night away with friends about going out clubbing it!

    (1)

  • sheree C.

    I'd heard great things about this place so when a daily deal came up I purchased it. We had shrimp ceviche which was pretty decent. The service on the other hand was horrible. The deal I purchased automatically added an 18% tip so the waitress didn't bother making any effort. The waitress was more interested in hanging out with her friends at the next table instead of seeing if we needed anything. This was my first experience here and I'm not sure if I would ever try it again.

    (2)

  • Manny L.

    Don't waste your time eating here, unless you're there to see the chicks in skimpy shorts. The guacamole is store bought, it tasted like Costco guacamole, The salsa tasted more like ketchup and the chips were stale. My wife and daughter ordered a carne asada, chicken and shrimp platter and I ordered a simple shrimp cocktail. They were done with their food (even though the chicken was dry and shrimp was cold) and I still hadn't gotten my cocktail. I am NEVER going back there. Not only is their food over priced, service is bad as well as the food. Hector's is 1million times better!!

    (1)

  • Rob C.

    A co-worker buddy took me here for lunch. Decor was quite old world and the menu was quite ambitious in it's endless offerings. Then there were the waitresses. As I type the rest of this review and think back at these ladies, I must admit I have a bit of a stupid grin on my face. I really don't remember how good or bad the food was now; some lunch special that was under 8 bucks, I think. Good value and it was laid back when we were there.

    (3)

  • Smitcha B.

    This place is one hell of a drive from LA. I thought I was going to have to drive across the border to get to this joint. My friend who brought me here told me that this place is like the Mexican Hooters. She sure was right. But we're talking about food here so I won't sway from the main topic at hand. I took a look at the menu online prior to my arrival just to get a feel of what I'm getting into. I had a few choices picked out in my mind then when I got to the place, I just stared blankly at the menu. There were so many selections to choose from and they all looked good. I was happy that everyone on my table ordered something different. When it came to ordered, I went with the marlin fish tacos. It wasn't too bad, I guess I thought it was going to come out like all the other fish tacos where the fish is battered and fried. Nonetheless, it wasn't bad. I also ordered the jumbo clam with stuffings for appetizers. Those were really good, it reminded me of clam chowder. If you're not into that seafood type taste/smell, maybe this one isn't for you. My friend ordered the fish ceviche in the large portion. It was huge, like enough for a single meal. I would highly recommend the ceviche. If this place wasn't so far from LA, I would definitely come back and hang out. The food is good and they give you pretty nice portions. Even though they have a lot of variety seafood dishes, they also have normal meat dishes as well. I hear the 7 Seas Soup is supposed to be awesome but I did not get the chance to sample it. If you ever eat here, enjoy the food, grab a beer, and enjoy the scenery. They have numerous locations but this one is supposedly the original one. BTW, with all that swine flu deal, the bathroom has been drenched with bleach so hold your breath when you enter or you might pass out. They really want to kill everything living organism in there.

    (4)

  • Sami A.

    Bomb mex seafood

    (5)

  • Dolly G.

    Coctel de Camaron is always good.

    (4)

  • Robert B.

    Hot Appetizer : Shrimp, steak and melted cheese molcajete. ( 5 stars ) - Cooked to perfection. It's basically a steak and shrimp fondu: Our waitress even offered to reheat the cheese. Tacos a la carte : 3 Carnitas. ( 5 stars ) - Pork meat served with rice, beans, guacamole and some type of salsa that was extremely tasty. Bucket of 4 Negra Modelo's to down all the food. Great food, gorgeous women and a decor which made me feel as if I was in Mexico. The women are better looking than hooters waitresses. I have no idea why Hugo M. compared them to Hooters.

    (5)

  • Alfredo R.

    If you love seafood this is the place to eat at. Their fish ceviche is really delicious. If you are having a craving of fish or shrimp tacos I would give them a try before going somewhere else. They offer great service and they are very fast.

    (5)

  • Scott G.

    Ok, so lets put it this way. ANYTIME YOUR IN SAN DIEGO AND WANT MEXICAN STYLE SEAFOOD COME TO KARINAS. No other place in san diego will defeat this place. I have eaten mariscos and mexican dishes all up and down the west coast (Yes, Washington to San Diego) my whole life. I have never had food like this. First Off lets start with the Ambiance. This place is great if you want a loud spot to just let loose, its not the biggest mexican restaurant ive ever been to, but then again mexican restaurants usually arent huge and spread out anyways. Unless your going to more of an upscale mexican cuisine with chandeleirs and folded napkins. But if the noise and hot ass waitresses bother you or the wife, then they have an outdoor area to seclude you from everything. I would reccomend sitting outside on a first date, because you might get caught looking at a few things. THE FOOD. im going to list a few things that we have eaten. Chips and Salsa. The bomb. Ceviche stuffed Avocados. Probably the best appetizer ive ever had. Huge piles of shrimp ceviche mounded on top of 2 huge ass avocados. For roughly 8 bucks its a steal. Shrimp and carne asada Molcajete. This is great appetizer for 2 people. (Order some tortillas so you can make tacos with this) Even if you just had this and the ceviche stuffed avocados with 4 or 5 beers chips and salsa youd be out of there around 40 bucks and be full as hell between 2 people. Fried fish. This plate has a couple different sizes. we ordered the small fish and it looked like a marlin was on the table. Huge chunks to break off the fish and make tacos. Karinas Style Ceviche. This ceviche is different because its RAW shrimp. Its hard to explain. The shrimp cooks in lime juice and they put a green avocado sauce in there. Its definitely something different if you eat regular ceviche all the time. Has alot of lime juice. Marlin Tacos, I wasnt really too impressed with the marlin honestly, but then again its not really my type of fish to eat. You have to have an aquired taste for marlin. CUSTOMER SERVICE... We were sitting at a table and decided to leave. When a famous singer walked in from Banda Recodo named Memo. My wife loves his music, and we asked the manager if he can save us a seat, as we needed to drop some other people off at the hotel we were staying at. We came back 2 hours later and he put us right next to the guy in a PACKED RESTAURANT. We got photos and everything. We stayed there for hours as the guy sang his heart out to everybody with the mariachis and ate again lol. Everytime we come down from Sacramento we eat at Karinas seafood. We stayed in San diego for 3 nights and ate there every night. YOU WONT GO WRONG.

    (5)

  • John C.

    Great place for real Mexican seafood !! I been coming here since 2001!

    (5)

  • Robert B.

    Excellent food, excellent service. Try the shrimp burrito with Chipotle sauce. Looking forward to the new Eastlake location opening this weekend!!

    (5)

  • Boris B.

    I have found the Seafood version of Hooters, the waitresses are lovely and make your experience a memorable one. The variate offered on the menu will suite anyone that you are with, so long as they enjoy a Mexican palate. You will not be disappointed with either the service or food. I highly recommend.

    (5)

  • Shawnte B.

    Good Drinks. Food was not good at all. I had the fajitas. The steak and chicken were desert dry but the four shrimp that where there were delicious.

    (2)

  • Yusef T.

    I liked this place and will return for a seafood fix. The restaurant was clean, portions were large, ingredients were fresh and tasted great. The girls who work here are all pretty and nice, which adds to the experience. The ceviche bowl we ordered was so huge it could have fed a whole party, we had a very hard time finishing what we did. Especially once we received our entrees. Maybe we ordered the wrong one? There were so many to choose from! We drank a couple buckets of beer, had a fun time. Only reason Im taking away one star is because of the band that played. Not sure if its a daily/nightly occurrence but imagine the acoustics in a small glass restaurant, then imagine a trumpet player 3 feet away from your table blowing into the instrument with everything he's got. Im not judging the music, nothing sounds great when its heard that loud. It would have been ok if they took a few breaks but it was relentless. I found myself trying to eat and cover my ears at the same time (without coming across rude). If there is a time in the day/week where the band is replaced by perhaps a solo guitar player...that would be very inviting.

    (4)

  • Anastasia B.

    Ordered to go and specifically said COOKED shrimp ceviche about 3 times and I come home to find it wasn't cooked and the chips were also stale and soggy. Also got my friends order wrong. Waitresses need to be more professional.

    (2)

  • Sarah C.

    Karina's Mexican Seafood is amazing! I have been going here with my fiance and taken family members here for as long as I been living in SoCal, about 3 years. The prices are beyond reasonable, the food is by far some of the best I have had in California! Our favorite dish is the Karina's Ceviche, so delicious!! Also I love the grilled stuffed fish plate, it's great and fills you up. This place gets busy on Friday and Saturday nights the most, during the week is more low-key if you like to avoid crowds, even when it's busy the service is still good. Also I heard the Tamarindo Margaritas are amazing, I still need to try one! Also the salsa served with chips is off the hook, so addicting!!! You gotta try this place! You wont regret it!

    (5)

  • Robert M.

    They are trying to be like a place in Cabo San Lucas, NOT! Sorry, the sleezy waitresses and the patchwork nuvo mextrash decor didn't help much. I had a overpriced seafood cocktail , a whole fish plate and a margarita . I don't know what exactly did it but I was getting sick and then the mariachis started to play. That just finished me off. I threw up. Twenty five dollars in food and drink on the floor!! If you want good Mexican food, go to north county.

    (1)

  • Spartevan V.

    Who cares what the waitresses wear?!? Are there even waitresses here? Let's talk about how amazingly delicious and fresh the ceviche is. It'll cost ya a lot less than a night with a waitress, and probably taste much better! (Boo . . . hiss. . . sorry, had to go there!) Seriously though - in a nutshell: the waitresses are not the tastiest item on the menu. (ladies, you're hot, make no mistake - but the ceviche is hotter in a cool way.) Best.ceviche.ever!

    (5)

  • Deanna S.

    Had lunch here, we were in the neighborhood visiting some of our clients. We found this place and the entree was delicious. We got the oysters that were cooked and had some special sause on them, was not too big of a fan. They were baked and chesse on them. Very different. We also had the Campechana - which was a mix of seafood coaktail. It was good, but it needed more flavor. The music was good and the decor was very authentic. My male boss thought the waitresses were dressed very sexy. Its almost like a sports bar attire. The price was a little high for lunch. The waitresses were very nice and attentive.

    (4)

  • JD H.

    My first Karina's experience was up in east lake... Hated it.. You can track down that review if you want to re-live it, I don't... My friends told me to give Karina's on Broadway a shot... Well, we finally got around to it tonight... Totally worth it!!! It was a great dinner, good service, random large mariachi band.. We enjoyed it, and will be coming back!

    (5)

  • Karan M.

    I absoloutely loved the Salsa and the drinks. Food was excellent with a superb taste. Good service too but the nuggets we were recommended by the server were okay.

    (4)

  • Veronika O.

    Foods delicious! But what kind of shady shit (business) goes on behind the scenes? Exotic cars parked outside, some patrons are greeted with so much royalty. Money laundering, raketeering, what ever it is, damn good front!

    (4)

  • Vu T.

    I'm rounding up as I would give them 3.5 stars if I could. This place is pretty cool. Sure the eye candy is nice, but let's talk about the food. The large raw clams are just like what they serve in TJ. The seafood soup is awesome. Super flavorful. The shrimp cocktail and campanchana were good, great size too. We had the mixed grill with the Karina's sauce. You HAVE TO choose the Karina sauce, not sure what's in it, but it's super good! Great place for drinks, and a great place to watch the game.

    (4)

  • alex v.

    Nice lil restaurant indeed. Friendly and BEAUTIFUL staff. These ladies, with all due respect, are hot! Our waitress was attentive, professional and quick. The food was great. Served hot and in a timely manner. -1 star for the location and parking.

    (4)

  • Alan B.

    This place rocks! Shrimp ceviche is always ordered and sometimes phone ordered just because it's so damn good. Order anything in "karina" sauce, it is the bomb...I'm hungry.

    (4)

  • Cyn T.

    I give 4.5 to this location Food- Awesome! To everyone complaining about the food maybe you should be aware of what you are ordering! There's several types of Ceviche so make sure you order the correct one before bashing on a dish you know nothing about! My personal favorites are the stuffed avocados, molcajete and Karinas ceviche! The horchata is so good! Try the hennychata! Staff- Our waitress was super nice and very attentive. The host on the other hand needs to take her cara de wtf home! Very unpleasant, no smile no greeting jst ugly mean mugging face. Smile a lil geez ( there's where my - .5 came from ) Location - overall nice. Dining area inside is on the smaller side . I prefer the Dt decor and environment but the staff here was nicer and more on top of things! Plenty of parking and also patio seating . Great place to take your date for sea food and mariachi!

    (4)

  • Alyssa C.

    Maybe I shouldn't have gotten meat at a seafood restaurant, but everything seemed really salty. I don't remember the name, but I got a plate with chicken, steak, and shrimp. I had to douse everything with lime in order to make it bearable -- not to mention however much water I drank. To top it off, the service was super slow. Which was surprising as we came after the lunch crowd and there weren't too many customers there. I'd probably give the place another try if somebody else was paying and they really wanted to go there, but otherwise, not really. I can get better bang for my buck (seafood or not) elsewhere.

    (2)

  • Danie B.

    Food was five star plus! Service was three stars. The positives first: The food was extraordinary! For eight bucks I got two grilled shrimp tacos, beans, and rice. The flavors were perfect! My husband got the 7 Seas Soup and he said it was just as good or if not better than anything he has had in Mexico. Also, the house salad has the best creamy dressing. Yummo! We can't wait to go back and explore the rest of the menu. The negatives: I think I saw our waitress's vajajay. Her skirt was so short! My husband's first reaction was, "Are they hookers, or what?" The waitress also seemed oblivious to the menu. We commented to her the the salad dressing was really good and asked her what it was. Her response, "house dressing." Duh. I knew that. I was looking for something a little more specific than that. Also, when I asked for description of menu items, she was a little off and couldn't explain it correctly. Lastly, we waited awhile for our check so we ended up going up front to pay. That being said, the staff was nice and the food came out super fast. Those are pluses with the service. We will so come back here! The food was that good.

    (4)

  • Lindsey W.

    Was a regular. Once a week with the husband to get our mexican food fix. That was until I got food poisoning from my favorite menu item. It definitely wasn't as good coming up as going down. Thanks Karinas... Now I will never eat shrimp again. The only reason i gave two stars is because the servers were always very nice to us and the micheladas were good. But we will not be back.

    (2)

  • Irina S.

    The best Mexican food I've ever had! Especially michelada and octopus are so delicious. I also enjoy the atmosphere and friendly service!

    (5)

  • Alex R.

    Really good food

    (5)

  • Manny R.

    I've been to this restaurant several times. Usually the service is good and the food is excellent. Today was the total opposite. I went in for lunch with a couple of friends and we sat for a few minutes waiting for someone to take our drink orders and bring us menus. After about 10 minutes the busboy noticed we hadn't ordered and sent a server over. When my friend started to order and asked several questions about the menu, rather than offering her assistance, she tried to walk away. We asked her not to, since it was fairly busy and we put in our order. This was the last we saw of the waitress. My soft drink was filled once by the busboy and even that was a stretch. Haven't gone back since. Lots of other mariscos places in the area that are way better and less pricey.

    (1)

  • Elliot C.

    The food is alright. The waitresses are hot so maybe that's why its so popular?

    (3)

  • Ed C.

    Great experience overall and food was fantastic! Awesome place with an awesome staff!

    (5)

  • Jessika P.

    My fiance loves seafood cocktails and I was told that this place had really good ones. I was not told that the waitresses dress like hookers. After I got over the shock of the waitresses outfits I ordered a shrimp taco and when it came out it had some weird stuff in it. So I asked the waitress what it was and she said it was shrimp. One thing that I am not..... is retarded. I informed her that it was not shrimp, so she took my plate to the cook, then came back and informed me it was marlin. How does marlin end up in a shrimp taco? She didn't apologize, didn't offer to fix it, just put my plate that had been across the restaurant twice now down in front of me to eat. This place is just weird.

    (1)

  • Mark W.

    I used to go here once a week when I lived in SD. Now it's a must when I visit. They have a unique dish called Shrimp in Karina's sauce that I cant get anywhere else. It's jumbo shrimp in a pablano cream sauce that I would bathe in. So good in a homemade flour tortilla and their rice. Grab that and a bucket of beers and your all set! Did I mention that all of the waitresses are smoking hot??

    (5)

  • Rick R.

    Karina's Unofficial name is "The MEXICAN HOOTERS" I'm serious.. that's what people call this place. The waitresses here are HOTTT!! The food is better than the real Hooters. This place is packed on the weekends and special occassions.. Valentines, etc. The Michelada's are the best in SD.. the food is kind of pricey though but it is good. You can just order drinks though.. buckets of beer.. apps. They have a regular Mariachi band which makes this place that much better. Great place for happy hour or a date just don't let her catch you checking out those hot waitresses! Outdoor seating available too.. with heat lamps. Watch out for cops on Broadway though. One time I saw them continually pull people over that had left Karina's.

    (4)

  • Hugo M.

    "Mexican Seafood Hooters" is a good description of this place lol. All the waitresses wear high heels and even have their calendar...you can imagine how they look. Needless to say, i don't think I'll bring a female here again for fear of getting hit for looking at the waitresses lol. Me and my female acquaintance were going to each get a ceviche tostada ($5) but decided to get the Karinia's Ceviche plate ($15). It was well worth it because the plate had enough ceviche for four tostadas and then some...had to use the chips from the chips and salsa to finish the plate lol. The plate was good enough to make me consider slurping the remaining ceviche juice in front of my lady friend and making a mess. I also had to hold off on buying the Karina's swimsuit calendar...oh boy!

    (5)

  • Kristen S.

    This place is Mexican seafood heaven!!! They have anything you could ever want, including molcajetes! I ordered the lobster taco and shrimp taco with beans and rice. I will be back many times in the future to try out the seafood molcajetes, enchiladas, burritos, ceviches, etc. They also have these huge platters you can order to share with larger parties. They have a little bit of everything on them.

    (5)

  • Ryohei K.

    I came here a while ago (like 3 months ago?). I was not very familiar with Mexican seafood dishes (I make Ceviche, but that's more of entire South American dish), so I let my friends order. Before I get into the foods and services, allow me to say that this place has HOT waitresses. Holy crap, I had hard time NOT keeping my eyes go where it'll be considered inappropriate to look in the public. I kept thinking, "look them in the eye, look them in the eye, look them in the eye... Don't look down, or you'll look obvious..." -- [look down and thinking: HOLY SH*T, those are big!] Just for the reason above, I recommend all the dudes go to this place. Anyways, the food was good. Ceviche was awesome. I didn't know how to eat it with Tostada and I didn't want to be a rude by pouring all the ceviche on the Tostada, so I put barely enough to maybe cover the entire surface. Well, I didn't know that my friends were greedy bastards, so they just took what's left of it and piled it on the top of their tostadas. I didn't get a slice of avocado... damn you, my friends... Never playing the "let's be the nice dude" again. Another dish was like "surf and turf" kind of deal with tons of cheese. It was good sh*t, I tell you. I like how they serve the beer too; they just pile it on a bucket and if you want more, just grab it and open it. How come TGIF doesn't do this? Anyway, I think it's a great place to eat and if you want to deviate from "California Burrito" or Casa De Pico / Casa de Guadalajara type of food.

    (5)

  • Bryan B.

    Well...i guess you can refer this place as the "Mexican Hooters" which I find way better lol I mean the waitresses here actually have "nice" bodies :D But anyways, back to the food and service. I love their ceviche and their massive burritos. The service was awesome coz not only they were nice and very flirty lol...but they always walked to our table every few mins if we needed anything. The atmosphere is amazing and they sometimes play loud mexican music. Not the type of music you hear from your mexican neighbor who's having a mexican bday party for little Juanito...but more of a upbeat modern salsa music. In my opinion, it was relaxing and kept my mind off work. Almost made me salsa with one of the waitresses :p

    (4)

  • Melissa M.

    This place sucks! Having actually eaten REAL mariscos all my life and traveling to Mazatlan several times for Mariscos. This places doesn't even compare! They have some kinda fasination with putting Carrots on EVERYTHING! Gimme a good Caldo de Camaron w/o carrots and please could you just please PEEL THE SHRIMP!!!

    (1)

  • Alex S.

    I will never cheat on Karina's! I love this place. You definitly wanna come here if you are in the mood for seafood. I call it the Mexican version of Hooters. lol! The service is always good and the food is always fresh! I always order the aquachile(green), fresh oysters, shrimp ceviche, or a shrimp cocktail, along with a few buckets of corona's. And to the ladies who come here, please keep the comments to yourself, have some fun. Yes the women wear short skirts, and fishnets, but if you compliment the waitresses instead of looking at them as if a street walker just approached you, you get better service. :)

    (5)

  • Jeremy C.

    Seaside Mexican food. That's the best way to describe the food served here. Unlike 90% of the Mexican/Spanish restaurants that you'll encounter, the various dishes are flavorful and delicious. While we stayed with all seafood items I'm sure the meat items are equally as good. I recommend that you go with the seafood though, as that's what they're known for. The menu is quite large, so be prepared to paruse for awhile. The waitstaff is efficient and knowledgeable, although they didn't know what plantains were. Odd. Obviously they weren't on the menu. Moderate prices. Beer and wine. Micheladas-Beer mug with tamarind(?) on the rim and lime juice. Good. Peel and Eat Shrimp-Excellent spicy sauce accompanies these peel and eat beauties. Be careful though as you may have to "clean" a few. Shrimp Tacos-Breaded shrimp. Unique breading enhances these flavorful tacos Lobster Tacos-Heavily shredded lobster meat. If you're looking for that intense lobster flavor, try another dish. Prawns-Wow! Huge prawns split down the middle. Mmm mmm. Good Latino seafood in the heart of Chula Vista.

    (4)

  • Marc R.

    This place is amazing. Awesome Food, service and atmosphere. Beautiful looking servers with a great attitude. Try the Shrimp cocktail and the fish tacos.

    (5)

  • Michael Y.

    "Come for the food, stay for the ladies!" One of my favorite girl cousins took me to Karina's as I was visiting OB [Ocean Beach]. She told me we were in for some good-ass Mexican seafood after we had just left a fish taco truck. So I got my mind(set) right in preparation for my first experience with cerviche. We do the 20 min. drive from Normal Heights [I-805, CA-15 S, I-5 S], pass National City and into Chula Vista [L St Exit]. Out the car, into the lobby and what do I see? The beautiful ladies of Karina's all around in girl-cut black polo shirts, short shorts, and stockings. I play it cool on the outside, but inside... "Oh my god!" Their undeniable jaw-dropping gorgeous looks only enhanced my dining experience. If I didn't speak on this, I would be doing a disservice to all men reading this review. We had the half-shell oysters to start and shared a Cerviche Mixto. Amazing. The combination of shrimp, octopus, and bay scallops were truly enhanced by the flavors of fresh onions, tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, and serrano peppers. The blend of those peppers in a mix of mildly sweet tomato sauce was perfect. Karina's topped the cerviche off with plenty of fresh avocado slices, chips and lime. And trust me, there is enough to serve 3-4 people. Enjoy the dining experience Karina's has to offer and take in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes.

    (5)

  • Michelle L.

    Today was my second time here and it's hands down the best ceviche I have ever eaten! I give 5 stars for the food. The atmosphere is lively, but a little noisy inside. And it's a bit dirty. I sat by a window that had dried salsa splatter all over it and the table next to me had salsa all over the floor underneath it. The service was good the first time I came in. This time I think the waitress forgot about me and I waited for 30 minutes for my ceviche. But once I got her attention again, she was on point. Overall, epic food, and a decent place.

    (4)

  • Roger M.

    Def a spot to hit up for Mexican seafood! Like everyone else stated, the anything with shrimp is bomb and I totally agree! I haven't been here for quite a while but I am sure everything here is still good! The ambiance here is ok. Hospitality is great and the cute waitresses are a plus for the dudes ;) haha

    (4)

  • Margarita B.

    Horrible service and Aguachiles were not spicy. We waited over 30 minutes for our food to be served and we were stuffed with chips and salsa and two bucket of beers. Our food was not ready. I order Aguachiles and they were not spicy and not very good. I also order a shrimp quesadilla and it was watery. My friends order king krabs and those were good but that it and the beers and chips and salsa . 7 Mares soup was flat and our waiter Lily was not the best, This place is over rated and prices are too high. For four we spent 300.00 and i will never come back to this establishment.

    (1)

  • Wilmar D.

    They rim their michelada beer glasses with Baby Lucas. Good quality Mexican surf cuisine and well-prepared michelada beers. You can't go wrong with that.

    (4)

  • Diana D.

    Loved the atmosphere and the fish tacos were awesome!! Parking was limited, but the service was good.

    (4)

  • Sophia M.

    I have eaten here a handful times and can honestly say I have never been disappointed! The ceviche is always so fresh and made to perfection it is impossible to not clean off your plate! I will definitely be back time and time again!

    (5)

  • Ricardo A.

    This place... Oh man, where to start, it is either a good time or a good story... As soon as I walk in I think that I "get it" but in the end I really don't. Pretty much all of the waitresses are wearing out of control boobie shirts replete with push up bras, fishnets, hot pants, big shoes, and the hair and make up to round out the icing and cherry. Normally the entertainment, so I am told, is loud mariachi. The night that I went it was a guy who fancied himself a latino crooner... He was just below "okay", he was no Luis Miguel. The music was way too LOUD. It made it impossible to have a conversation. Essentially my friend and I sat across from one another and ate dinner alone. After a while one grows weary of having to shout "WHAT???!!???" across the table every other word. Enough about that. The restaurant is clean. The service is slow and spotty. We ate different kinds of ceviche and one cooked dish. In my opinion, this is the best Mexican ceviche that I have eaten in San Diego. The mariscos were fresh, they were prepared well, and perfectly spicy. The portions were excellent. I am looking forward to eating there again...except, I will sit as far from the live entertainment as possible.

    (4)

  • D V.

    Food is reaaaaally good.. i was going to give them 3 stars because on average their service is just average, but this last time I went their service was phenomenal. Very attentive (and pretty) waitress who made sure we were taken care of. So, if that is their new way of taking care of customers then they deserve the 4 stars. Hopefully it wasnt a fluke. Still a bit pricey for the type of restaurant, location, and considering what other similar places charge. Thank god the Mariachi was not playing last night because when they do it is impossible to hold a conversation. I will go back when I am craving some shrimp or ceviche.

    (4)

  • Cesar G.

    My wife and I went to this place based on the reviews that we read on Yelp. Unfortunately I feel most of the reviews are bias or written by friends or relatives of the staff or owners. This place was a total disappointment....to start off I order a Michelada...which is beer mixed with clamato juice and lemon...well what they served me was a glass filled with lime juice and chili powder on the rim of the glass...I can't believe they are selling Micheladas and they don't know how to make them. We ordered a cielo, mar, y tierra and the meat was horrendously dry. The chicken tasted reheated while the shrimp and the calamari was not fresh...I think Long John Silvers fried shrimp is better quality (that is how bad Karina's shrimp tasted). The guacamole had no taste and it was not fresh either...I know white folks who make better guacamole than Karina's...the only thing Karina's is selling you is the "eye" candy...waitresses wearing tight leggings and 9 inch platform hills...in hope that you won't notice the food sucks....my advice? Don't go...save your money and go somewhere that will serve you fresh food...

    (1)

  • Adam B.

    After a coworker raved about this place and reading good reviews, I decided to try it out. BAD IDEA! 1st, was the high prices, over $10 a plate. Small skimpy plates that were not even the same as the description on the menu. There was only one ouster when there should have been three. The food was okay but to pay the same price as a restaurant and get half the plate... ridicules. 2nd, the crappy service by the waitress. Never came by to check on us ofter the food came. She finally came to ask if we wanted the check, after that she was coming by every minute to check if we needed anything else. By then it was too late to try and earn a tip. 3rd, No the waitresses are not hot, there's hotter waitresses at Olive garden. I should have just stuck with my original plan and gone to Los Pancho's across from chula vista mall. Good food, same quality, but half the price. I'm never coming here again!

    (2)

  • jorge p.

    The place is less than half decent. They are too pretentious, inattentive, and there are way too many roaches coaches around with better and fresher seafood. Did I mention over-priced? They must think they are in a prime Del Mar or La Jolla and the dirt parking lot must be powdered gold.

    (1)

  • Virginia K.

    Great food! I first tried Camarones Aqua Chile here and to be honest I haven't found another place that serves them as delicious as Karina's does. The portions are big and presentation is lovely. This is a great place for happy hour and it seems to be packed come thursday-sunday. Love this place and I definately plan on stopping by on my next trip to SD.

    (5)

  • Steve D.

    Dropped in for lunch during conference with the rest of the teachers. Enjoyed some iced tea and 3 wonderful tacos. Had the Oyster, Octopus, and Carnitas tacos. Have to say the Octopus Taco had great seasonings.

    (3)

  • shahla e.

    I went to Karina's in a very conservative frame of mind, thinking I would only maybe have 1 taco because I was stuffed from lunch. Well our foodie friend took matters in his own hands and ordered for everyone at the table because he had been there before and knew how delicious everything would be. The first platter brought to the table was octopus ceviche which was very fresh and tender. The seond ceviche had shrimp and crunchy cucumber and this was my favorite. It was lemony and just right to my taste buds. Then they brought the bean quesadilla and the last tray of ceviche which was very good but I am not sure what the ingredients were. All this served with light crackling dry corn tortillas. I can't finish here without mentioning the roasted serranos with thinly sliced fresh onions marinated in soy sauce and lemon juice which we loved. We drove 20 miles to get to this restaurant and it as sooo worth it.

    (5)

  • Christie R.

    3 Corona's & a Shrimp Cocktail = My kind of Dinner. [Also-because I LOVE the Brown boys]. "Aye Mija, DAMELO DURO !"

    (5)

  • Eric R.

    Really good food, hot waitresses and live music. This is a place where you could take your friends and they would not be dissapointed. I'd go here every week if I could

    (5)

  • Suzy S.

    Best ceviche I've ever had!!!! Yummm. I was only there for a few minutes to pick up the ceviche to go, and that was a few minutes more than I needed to be appalled by the waitresses' outfits. Good times!

    (4)

  • Alex B.

    One of my best buds Leo had been trying to get me to go here ages ago, and I'm just getting to writing about it now. He kept talking about the waitresses and how good the food was too. Well it was all good! BOTH of them. Karina's didn't fail to disappoint, Having grown up on Mexican food it sometimes hard to be pleased by a sit downn Mexican restaurant. Karina's is worth it guys! 2 thumbs up!!

    (5)

  • Mary M.

    Apparently this place was nicer a couple years ago, now it has a drive thru and the inside is a tad bit ghetto, it's funny they still use the nice restaurant plates, whatever I'm not that picky! the prices were good and the young guy who helped us was very nice and patiently answered all my food questions lol ,he did forget my Jamaica. The food made up for that! I'm not a huge fan of tacos(especially the tiny ones) because you have to buy like 10 to fill you up. I got two lobster tacos, a shrimp quesadilla and I shared a shrimp cocktail. The lobster tacos-I'm drooling just thinking about them! How have i never had these before???!!! and i was stuffed after, couldn't even finish my quesadilla! I will definitely be coming back for more!!

    (4)

  • Jade L.

    Excellent food! Whenever I'm in Chula Vista I MUST eat at Karina's. I usually get the combo plate with 2 lobster tacos. YUM!!!! Besides the excellent food, the service is average. I think they're going for a Mexican Hooters type theme, but whatever floats their customers' boats. I love the food regardless.

    (4)

  • Rossi H.

    It is above three stars but not high enough for me to make the drive even when I do crave the molacajete. So many good things to eat. I would pass on the oysters here though. Seen too many people take that road and have it end rough. The prawns are great. Ceviche is good. I like some spot down the street better (and they have turtle soup!) if that is what I am going for. A big plus is the modelo especial. It is the perfect beer with the aguachiles. I will say that this is my favorite spot for mexican seafood dishes. The whole fish is amazing here. When I lived down in the south bay, this was a weekly stop. and if i butchered the spelling on some of the items, forgive me. I am papel and the spell check sucks.

    (3)

  • Dr. Tom R.

    Best Mexican seafood around!!! Try their coctel campechana and tacos de marlin. They are to die for. The scenery is the best around as well...

    (5)

  • Barny R.

    This is one of my favorite sit down spots for mariscos. Whether it's coctele campechana or fish ceviche, stuffed clams or shrimp tacos, this is where I would want to go if I want to sit outside under a palm umbrella and just enjoy the breeze and atmosphere.

    (5)

  • Anna G.

    Sit outside! Good live music. The Michelucas are the best! Large copas with chamois and lucas on the rim, clamato mixed with beer and a ton of lime. Chips and salsa are tasty... and that's about all I'd go for. The food is kind of pricey.

    (4)

  • Kendra P.

    As of my last review of this place we no longer go there. The food IS absolutely amazing, but the service is sooo bad. The last three times we went, we had to wait for the waitress more than 20 minutes for either the check or to order drinks. The last time we went, we took an out of town guest and waited more than 30 minutes without our waitress even asking our drink order. My boyfriend got so angry we left (and put a couple $ for the chips and salsa we ate). The place is way too little for the stage they attempt to squeeze in between the tables. It makes it too loud to talk over dinner. If you are looking for someplace, I would go to Marisa's in Imperial Beach. It is amazing.

    (2)

  • J S.

    Karina's in Chula Vista has really great food!! I had the 'Seven-Seas' soup, and it was absolutely Delicious! (It had 7 different kinds of seafood, skinless boneless fish fillets of -halibut, -snapper, & cod, plus Shrimp, Crab, Octopus, Clams, & Scallops) Wow!!! what a large portion too, the bowl is so huge I had to share half of it with a friend. The service was very good also, our Hott /Sexy waitress brought us endless Chips & Salsa. and attentive drink re-fills. Ahhh,... Food for the Stomach, & Candy for the Eye, I only wished I could have stayed longer for the Mariachi music under the Palapas.

    (4)

  • Ruben A.

    Service was good. Carne was chewy, Shrimp was on the fishy side (you know what I mean), and the chicken was perfect. Price was a little higher than I felt they deserved for the quality given.

    (2)

  • Richie E.

    One word...................CHAVELAS. If you've never had one and are wondering what they taste like. Head over to Karinas. I'm not exactly sure what they put in there besides the usual clamato, hot sauce and your choice of beer but its damn good. There mariscos is pretty good too.

    (4)

  • Jarold E.

    Great respite from the ubiquitous taco shops all over town. Nice to be able to get some great tasting Mexican seafood. Huge ceviches are well worth it and should be shared. Would also recommend the stuffed avocados. Waitresses are beautiful. A bit on the pricey side, but you get great food and service.

    (4)

  • Paul K.

    I love this place. I try to go at least once a week. I also try to get something different every week but the red fried snapper is just so good. Karinas definitely has the best seafood in town and some really cold beer that the attractive waitresses open for you everytime. The manager is very accomodating and friendly. Did i mention that the waitresses are beautiful and the beer is cold?

    (5)

  • Vero B.

    The only seafood I like to eat is ceviche. That amazing concoction of lime induced fish with fresh veggies is making my mouth water this very second. With that said, this place receives my seal of approval. Not the best, but I've had worse. First and foremost, you can't miss it. Weekends there's a mariachi and the waitresses wear extremely tight black skirts. Personally I prefer a topless cut man serving my food, but whatevs. This place (especially on weekends) is definitely infested with the aesthetically pleasing. Rumor has it that this place is co-operated by "narcotraficantes" [Mexican drug dealer's]. This explains the expensive, nice cars. Or maybe it's just hype for the added business. I mean who wouldn't want to come to a place with hot girls, good food and co-operated by some sort of mafia. See, makes it exciting!

    (4)

  • Ayako Y.

    Great fish tacos and authentic Mexican Seafood. We enjoyed strawberry margarita and even virgin ones ! enchilada with green source recommended was fabulous,too! We will definitely come back.

    (5)

  • Jesse A.

    Great food! This was my go to place for mariscos before I found out that if I drive a little further, I can get the same quality food for almost half the price and better service in Tijuana.

    (4)

  • Neil P.

    All I can say is...LOBERSTER BURRITO!!!

    (4)

  • Monica G.

    Better than hooters because the waitress's don't look like they have grand kids. Legs and Brest and I'm not talking about the menu the girls are friendly and the food is good I love the shrimp burrito with Karina sauce. Can't wait till they open there new location in Eastlake!

    (5)

  • Yoav L.

    very good ceviche + entree. take the family there is mariachi you will enjoy.

    (5)

  • Alfonso S.

    The only good thing the city of Chula Vista has when it comes to food is mariscos. Everyone I know loves Karina's & prefers it to Hector's (except on Taco Tuesdays). While it is a bit pricey for the average Juan or Maria in the South Bay, the food is excellent. And yes, for those who think someone should create a Mexican version of "Hooters", guess what? Karina's already beat you to it. I'll take off a star for parking because it's pretty inconvenient, not being able to find a spot.

    (4)

  • Ana G.

    When I feel like having Mexican seafood, i come here. LOVE IT! Definitely to try: Stuffed Avocado (they put shrimp ceviche inside and avocado half, so good) and the Tamarind Margarita (it is wow).. i wish i lived closer to it.

    (5)

  • Kaiden D.

    Food here was delicious and the waitresses are HAWT. Ever been to a restaurant where the standard shoes for the wait staff is high heels? Well you will have if you go here. Karina's is a great fusion between delicious food for your pallet and candy for your eyes. Great service too. I was surprised by how prompt .and attentive the service was.

    (5)

  • Penni P.

    Paul are you sweating from the hot salsa or the hot servers??? We went for a weekend lunch and a couple of beers and we were not disappointed. I have always been fond of the buckets of beers left at the table. We got the calamari and the shrimp, both in the garlic sauce. I have tasted better garlic sauce. However the Calamari & the shrimp were both cooked perfectly. They have about 10 different types of ceviche, which we will be trying next time. Seriously each server was prettier and had bigger boobs than the next one and they were all super nice too! The Mariachi's we nice and not too loud. Good food, great service and my husband highly recommends =)

    (4)

  • Mira K.

    i had exceptionally high expectations for karina's because it's a good friend's favorite restaurant (and she is very particular about her mexican food). i just didn't get it! it did not help that there was a full mariachi band playing the entire time we were eating dinner. we couldn't hear the person sitting next to us and were playing charades with the people across the table. it is a small restaurant and it was SO loud in there with the band playing, and really killed the mood. the food was 'meh' at best. the ceviche was good, but that was the only thing memorable. everything else was greasy and dull with flavor. it was also quite expensive for what you got! my entree was nearly $20. i would never go out of my way to come to this place again.

    (2)

  • Laura T.

    All I can say is OMG!!! The best-est shrimp in my entire life!!! I think I could eat that everyday for the rest of my life! As a matter of fact if I was on death row, I would order this as a last request! SLURP!!! It's actually an appetizer. If you are using the Espanol menu it's under Botanas Calientes and called "Camarones Cucaracha" (picture 14) and in the English menu it's under Appetizer called "Shrimp Cucaracha", the best 20 bucks you will ever spend. Only thing is be prepared to have slow service if you sit outside...super dooper slow. I had to keep flagging her down because she was too busy trying to concentrate on walking with her high shoes. Think the service is faster inside. For this dish you have to like spice, lemon flavor and cheese (it's very light though). they use a sprinkle of parmasan which magically ties it all together. OMG...I'm salivating now! To top it off this is healthy!!!

    (5)

  • Nadiyah S.

    Shrimp in Garlic sauce is bomb!

    (4)

  • Keith H.

    Great Mexican seafood and good atmosphere. Love the laid back yet festive location. The normally friendly service can be a bit slow when they are slammed and the mariachi can be so loud you can't think. Other than that the real pull is the good food especially the ceviche tostadas with a little mayo. Awesome!

    (4)

  • Pj B.

    BOMB ass Ceviche no doubt! i went there a few times usually just get that and some beer. They have a outdoor seating area but have never really gone when the place gets going. The people i have gone with ordered some of the other foods and said that it was all good so i guess i should stop bull shittin and check that out.

    (5)

  • Johnny G.

    This place is great for Mariscos! I recommend the ceviche and coctel de pulpo. One thing this place has that most don't are the beautiful waitresses!! Picture gorgeous models in super mini skirts (right below ass crack short),big breasts and in high heels! I could barely concentrate on my food! I'd go here to just drink. Service was just ok and parking is good. They have a really cool outdoor area that's well shaded. Big screen tvs playing various sports and live music. I would definitely check this out again! Note to the married fellas: bring your sunglasses! Haha!

    (4)

  • Jen G.

    I give this two stars, because I honestly have had better. The food is good, the seafood seems fresh, BUT realistically speaking they're selling you their new décor versus the typical "baby-blue-paint all over" Mexican seafood restaurant and your charismatic friendly server is a chick wearing fish nets, and spilling cleavage...yeah...sex sells, and guys, I'm not trying to belittle this restaurant but come on...anyway, probably not a place to have a date (for obvious reasons), families? you could probably find a more comfortable setting with great food and great service for less(Hector's on Broadway is awesome). Menus are a little over priced, overall, a satisfactory place.

    (2)

  • Antoinette A.

    This place is my absolute favoriate. It's a little pricey and always crowded but the food is GREAT. I especially love their michelada's. The shrimp cocktails are huge.

    (4)

  • Meghan J.

    This restaurant sucks. Mexican hooters? PUH-LEEZ. There are restaurants in Mexico with hotter girls. And the food is horrible. The service sucked as well. I would not come back here. I'd rather go to El Torito. I don't get all the hype.

    (1)

  • Monica R.

    The ceviche stuffed avocados are sooo good! Its a fun place to come with your girlfriends for some good food and good times. Last time i went I got the lobster burrito, and I must say, i was not a fan. It was super salty and just lacked the flavor of lobster that i craved. I should have known it wasn't going to be great seeing as how it was only $10, but it was still good to know. In the past i've had so many delicious entrees, like the shrimp quesadilla, 7 mares (seven seas) soup, fish tacos, ceviche, and so on. Its so good, and at karinas they make sure the girls look good too haha! They're really nice though

    (4)

  • Rudy S.

    You have to try it .... Leave it at that!

    (5)

  • Aiesha R.

    Service was slow, the food was only ok, the portions were huge but, We found a hair in the breaded shrimp, which ended our appetites. The manager only offered a half assed apology. Don't think we'll be eating here anytime soon.

    (1)

  • Vi N.

    i love the ceviche here. served on top of an avocado, fresh and tangy. it's delicious from first to last bite. a bit pricey, but definitely worth the treat! also, their beer can be served with the tamarindo-lucas-ish (forgot the name of it) syrup on the rim of the glass, and it is oh-so-refreshing with an ice cold corona. great food, and of course, busty ladies in tight tops helps with the environment. :)

    (4)

  • Sue L.

    Fabulous shrimp burritos with very yummy green sauce (Karina's sauce). They have a fun little outdoor area so this place is perfect for lunch on a nice day. Very relaxing atomsphere... good for a lazy Friday lunch!

    (4)

  • Priscella N.

    I don't get all the hype with Karinas...... really, REALLY NOT THE BEST mariscos around. Mazatlan is way better and probably half the price. I just think everyone gets fooled by the decor. I know shrimp ceviche is raw, but Ive never been served a tostada with blue, completely raw shrimp except for here. And when I told them i wasn't gonna pay for or eat it, they gave me attitude. They tried to say that's what ceviche is.....please Ive been eating and making mariscos my whole life. Never has it looked like that. Plus, being over priced doesn't help them much.

    (2)

  • Jammie J.

    I have been to this place tons of times and each time ive enjoyed it. I love coming here for micheladas and michelucas! DELICIOISO!!!!! Their grilled prawns were are also very yummy, but other than that the food is mediocre. The waitresses outfits are SUPER skimpy, scantliy clad is what my boyfriend calls them. Depends on who your server is, but generally you have to pack your patience when you come here, especially if you sit on the patio. I like sitting outside on a nice warm summer day!

    (3)

  • Julie B.

    I was really in the mood for Mexican Seafood and Karinas was written up so highly that we went there for the first time on Friday. We ordered some of their more expensive dishes... a Steak, Shrimp and Chicken combo and some seafood appetizers along with beer. Our waitress served us our beers and our kid's soda in a timely manner... along with chips. But she kept coming to our table to say that the food was almost ready... over an hour and a half... we waited as she kept saying it was coming 3 times she misrepresented what was going on. Finally my husband had enough of just beer and chips and went to the manager. Apparently their regular cook didn't show AND their heat vent broke... so their output was kaput. Happen to be the night we decide to try it. They comped the beers for our trouble... and we had to find another place to eat. I know it was a situational thing that couldn't really be remedied... but they should have had the manager come out to the tables and inform why things were delayed... NOT have the waitress be tasked with lying to her customers. I've worked in the restaurant biz for 8 years... and this was something that could have been handled/managed better... and I don't think I'm going back because they left it up to us to make the hard decision to leave.

    (1)

  • Mark C.

    A friend suggested this restaurant. I've had plenty of Mexican food, but never mariscos. The restaurant is very clean and spacious. The food looked great, was delicious and IMO, worth the price. Service was also attentive. No complaints!

    (5)

  • Miriam G.

    So I went to Karinas to actually hang out with a cousin Karina I hadnt hung out with in years, we were there for a while. Had the shrimp cevich and it was yu-uh-mmy. Our sever girl was super nice and very attentive, and brought the coronas out as soon as we would order them. It was moderately priced and very very good.

    (5)

  • JIM R.

    This place sucks. Expect to get crap service If you arent a drug cartel member. The waitresses have bs attitudes and move slower than slugs. The service is so crappy no need to talk about the food. No need to dine here, there are many more places that appreciate and want your business.

    (1)

  • Yvonne S.

    The raw shrimp ceviche is delicious!!!! I am not a seafood lover and I somehow managed to fall in love with this place. The first time I went I ordered carne asada and that was delicious too. Great sabor but the service can be a but slow at times. It's worth the wait.

    (4)

  • Angelique K.

    Holy Cow is this place delicious! I love Mexican Food, and my husband took me here for the first time today. This place has the best Mexican Food in town by far! Authentic, fresh, and great Cadillac Margaritas to boot! We went around 3pm on a Sunday, and it was pretty full, no wait, but busy. I hear at prime time it's super packed. Service was decent too...my rating is mostly on the food, but everyone was friendly. The place has a patio and inside dining as well.

    (5)

  • bryan h.

    food: 7 service: 8 drinks: 6 design/ambiace: 8 crowd: 7 wait/parking/reservations: 10 This is Mexican Hooters. The draw to this place for most people is the waitresses in fish nets. The food is good as well. I only have had lunch there, but always imagine watching Marriachis there at night with a bucket of beer and some tequilla shots. They have Mocajetes filled with cheese, steak and shrimp that are pretty daunting. Everyone says the Lobster Burrito is great, but I haven't tried one. The cocteles are always good. I usually order the Campechana. Try the fish or calamari fillet with a different sauce. They have garlic, poblano cream (sinaloense style), a spicy sauce diable and many others. Their chips and salsa are good as well. Salsa could be spicier. If your looking for a volumptuous waitresses go here. If you want the best Sinaloense sea food go to Mariscos Godoy.

    (3)

  • Karen T.

    One of my favorite Mexican restaurant in San Diego. I love their green enchiladas. I've never had creamy green sauce on enchiladas. I love that they are unique. Also, their white garlic rice is different from the typical red rice served at most Mexican restaurants. I also like their steak fajitas, the meat is really tender. Service is OK. The only downside of this restaurant is the atmosphere, it is ghetto and the waitresses look like they belong in a street corner as opposed to serving food. I don't understand how the owners could let them be so exposed at a family restaurant like that. But whatever, to each it's own...I'm sure they get a lot of business like that but also a lot of complaints.

    (4)

  • Michael M.

    Place is amazing. It is a bit pricey but seafood is expensive so its worth it. I like the grilled prawns with garlic comes with tortillas beans rice get a bucket of beers and enjoy your day. I felt safe here and the waitresses make you feel at home. ; )

    (4)

  • L G.

    me and my friends usually go here on a sat or sun after a long night of partying , this place is great not only because all the waitresses are required to have c cups but the food is actually pretty good . i usually order the lobster taco combo with a pacifico or micheluca to drink but i also love the ceviche costeno with avocado on top , trust me if your feeling hung over or sluggish this is defiantely the place to get your day back on track .

    (5)

  • Adriana B.

    Horrible food, horrible service, horrible atmosphere. My husband, daughter, and I went here on a Saturday night, and although the place wasn't very busy, it was extremely loud in there. The kind of loud that does not allow even for the smallest conversation. I ordered chicken fajitas and to my surprise, it didn't come with guacamole, sour cream, or even tortillas! I had to order these items on the side. I'm a Mexican food fanatic, and at any new place I try, I always get chicken fajitas as a way of gauging how tasty the food is there and this was the very first time I had to order these items as side dishes. Our waitress was very slow in bringing us our food, bill, etc., undoubtedly because of the ultra high heeled shoes she was wearing as part of her uniform (black leggings, low cut black top, and said heels). Definitely not the kind of outfit I want my 8 year old daughter to start trying to replicate. The food was not very good either. For the first time in my adult life, I left half of my dish uneaten and had no desire to bring it home with me. My husband ordered shrimp and crab enchiladas, which, by the way, came with guacamole and sour cream galore, and he really liked them...I did not. All in all, a bad dining experience, and I would not recommend this place to a soul.

    (1)

  • Timothy B.

    The food is great but let's get to the real reason for this review. The servers. Remember Robert Palmer and his Addicted to love video? A bunch of women were swooning to his tune. I called them the zombettes as they looked like zombies. Anyway, that is the way the servers here dress. Beautiful pulchritudenous Mexican muchachas so a lot of guys come here.

    (5)

  • Patricia L.

    This place oddly reminds me of some random korean bar/restaurant, with loud pop music blaring in the background, except instead of soju and fried chicken, they serve up buckets of beer and amazing seafood platters. Yes! the portions are huge, the waitresses are hot, their skirts plenty short, and the food tasty and fresh. Great for groups.

    (5)

  • Anthony A.

    food is really good. the muchachas que estan buenas!

    (4)

  • JoeDiner S.

    Mmmmm...Karina's! Best of the south bay, except for Mariscos Mazatlan. Don't miss the huge shrimp with toasted garlic and a bucket of Corona's...

    (4)

  • Jennifer B.

    The best Mexican food I've had. Great prices for such large portions of seafood. I'm hoping they open a restaurant in San Jose! :o)

    (5)

  • Eduardo C.

    I lived in San Diego for a few years and loved this place. This is by far the best mexican seafood around. I now live in Santa Barbara but everytime I come to San Diego I make it a point to eat at Karina's! The fresh ceviches are amazing, but my favorite is definetely the "Camarones con salsa Karina". I have never met anyone (that has eaten here) that doesn't love this place...

    (5)

  • Javier C.

    The Best Mexican Seafood place in San Diego, great food, great drinks, great service and georgous hot looking girls wearing mini skirts...where else can you go eat and drink in san diego with eye candy walking all over the restaurant??? used to have live music but not anymore...

    (5)

  • D S.

    Love the food here. Anything with shrimp is fantastic. The waitresses like to show a lot of skin. Some people have told me that they don't feel safe here.

    (4)

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Map

Opening Hours

  • Mon :10:00 am - 10

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : Yes
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : Yes
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Dinner
    Parking : Private Lot
    Bike Parking : Yes
    Good for Kids : Yes
    Good for Groups : Yes
    Attire : Casual
    Ambience : Casual
    Noise Level : Average
    Alcohol : Full Bar
    Outdoor Seating : Yes
    Wi-Fi : Free
    Has TV : Yes
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : Yes

Categories

Mexican Cuisine

If you enjoy Taco Tuesday, then you have officially fallen in love with the Mexican Food. The main grain of Mexican cuisine is maize. Also known as corn, maize is grown for the past 9000 years after the crop was discovered by the people in Mayan civilization. Mexican empire flourished when they started growing beans, tomatoes, chili pepper, sweet potato and cactus. Till this date these ingredients are used in cooking authentic Mexican dishes and drinks.

Great use of spices, fresh chili pepper dishes like fajitas, tortilla chips, corn chips, salsa, chimichangas, burritos, nachos and quesadillas are invented in America. But when you are looking for authentic Mexican food then you must find a restaurant in the city that serves Rajas con Queso, Garbanzo in a Guajillo Chile Sauce, Pork Filled Chiles Rellenos, Chiles en Nogada, Molcajete Salsa, Pico de Gallo and Frijoles de la Olla. An eye-opening fact – Mexican don't like their food hot. They use fresh chili and other spices to create a flavor that lingers in your mouth.

Mexican food is great for those who are Gluten Intolerant as they use Corn instead of wheat in most of their dishes. Also, you can easily find many beans based Mexican dishes. Another dish which didn't get similar glory as tacos or nachos is the Mexican hot chocolate. If you love something hot on a chilly day, then go for Mexican Hot Chocolate. On merry days, you can enjoy the authentic Mexican Drinks like Tequila, Mezcal, Tecuí, Sotol, Bacanora, Charanda, Posh O Pox, Puebla and Pulque. Mexican Cuisine is for people who enjoy strong drinks and hearty meals.

Karina’s Mexican Seafood Cuisine

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