Cenote Grill - Escondido

In the 7/11 shopping center on west el Norte pky this jewel has been thriving in its location since its very opening day. With good reason. Owner/chef closes between lunch and dinner to prepare all ingredients and have everything ready for the evening. No siesta time for him. Food is consistently good and is more geared to interior Mexican traditional cuisine yet very palatable to North Americans. I love this place. Cozy friendly and clean, it is a favorite. You have to try their wonderful salads.

Excellent food healthier than traditional Mexican food.  Very helpful servers, but they can be extremely busy we have waited over an hour for a table in the past.  Wish they took reservations.

Great service! They close from 2:30-4, but we did not realize that. We arrived at 2:35, and the hostess happily told us we could still have lunch! Thank you! And a great lunch it was! Fantastic Mexican! I had the carne asana plate. The pico was very fees and delicious as was the clearly just made guac. My wife said the fish tacos were the best she ever had!

Really appreciate the flavors. The Al pastor was very good. No spicy heat, but you can ask for the Serrano sauce.

Cenote is A Okay!. My wife and I recently found a gem in Escondido for Mexican food, Cenote Grill. Since moving from Phoenix in 2011 we’ve been in search of a place to get good Mexican food, good value and good service. Based on our visit on 8/30/13 we may have found that place. Our server (noted on the receipt as ID 6 was pleasant, attentive and personable. Unfortunately I don’t recall her name. The margaritas by the 1⁄2 liter (metric in the US? were a good value. The chips and salsa were good and promptly replenished when needed. I had chicken fajitas which were good – seasoning was great. Choice of white or brown rice for Spanish rice was new – brown rice was tasty. Portions will not leave you hungry – we both had leftovers. 2 thumbs up.