I consider La Palapa Nayarit to be in Imperial Beach though I know it’s called “Nestor”. I’ve just always associated that whole area with Imperial Beach! My childhood friend, Sarah, moved around a lot but they seemed to always end up living in Imperial Beach and I spent a lot of time in this area. Once we got off the freeway that seemed close enough to Imperial Beach for me. Hah!
La Palapa Nayarit is a place we visited during the South Bay Food Crawl and Jake had been hankering to go back for the sopes. We made a little revisit to the restaurant one afternoon since we were heading down to the outlet mall in San Ysidro.
[birria de res / $7.95]
We checked out the birria de res this time around, inspired again by the South Bay Food Crawl.
It was served with a side of fixings (onion, cilantro and lime) and the birria was nice and hot. It was nicely simmered and flavorful though not quite as good as the birria from Fernandez Restaurant. It didn’t have a ton of beef in it but the broth was still flavorful. But it did fall a bit short in comparison to Fernandez. The meat was tender but there wasn’t enough of it.
The tortillas also weren’t as good as the ones from Fernandez, but hey, they were good enough. We managed to make about 6 tacos or so with the tortillas and beef from the broth.
[sopes with beef combo / $5.95]
The sopes combo is a great deal at just under $6 – you also get a drink included with this meal. The sopes were a little softer this time around so they were slightly easier to cut and bite into. The beef on top is a shredded beef that’s quite saucy/wet but the sopes are sturdy enough that they don’t get really soggy. I actually kind of like the beans here, but only if you give me a biteful with cheese on them (cheese is what makes beans taste better, in my opinion).
[side of guacamole / $1]
I also ordered a side of guacamole for my tacos (and just to eat with their complimentary chips since I don’t care for their salsa). The guacamole was actually really incredibly delicious and it only cost me $1! When was the last time you got a little side of guacamole for $1?! Obviously I was excited and ate like half of the tiny dish of guacamole before I remembered to take a photo…
The guacamole tasted like they made it fresh and they actually put extra stuff in it – tomatoes, red onions, and cilantro. I’ve noticed a lot of places these days don’t add of that “extra” stuff – probably because there are lots of people who don’t like the cilantro, or the the onion… or the tomato. I was quite happy to see the extra additions actually in the guacamole which made it very flavorful. It was creamy and well seasoned and I’d actually come back just to get more of their guacamole, I liked it so darn much.
Lunch for three people under $20 makes me a happy girl.
La Palapa Nayarit
1873 Palm Ave.
San Diego, CA 92154
(619) 429-1158
Their coupon is in the Entertainment value book that you and I have. There is a paper one and an extra one online, if you have the phonr app.Yeah, that area is considered San Diego, 92154 zip. I think there is a cut off a few streets up where it turns into IB.
A few days after our crawl, Bert and I went back and tried the birria. It wasn’t as good aa the one from Fernandez. The meat wasn’t as tender
Hi CC – Ugh, I didn’t even bother to look in there, haha! Thanks for the tip!! I guess we’ll have to go back one more time 🙂 I agree, the birria isn’t as good as at Fernandez but the sopes were still tasty.
I remember the beans from this place were super delicious! Mm hopefully S and I will make our way down to IB/CV again soon 😀
Hi Jinxi – I don’t eat a lot of beans but I do agree with you – the beans here were tastier than other places! I’m sure going to IB is like a mini road trip for you guys, haha.
I love sopes! THe bfs roommate’s mom used to make the best sopes and I haven’t found anything in a restaurant that can even compare….might have to make the trek to IB/Nestor when we get a sope craving!
And guac for a $1!! Makes me even more sad about paying $10 for guac in Palm Springs -___-
I’m sure homemade sopes are the best thing ever. But you gotta find a close second, I guess. I’m not a sope expert but I like these. And really, I’d just go back to eat more $1 guacamole… 🙂 $10 guac…. man, it better be so freakin’ good!