Chuy's Taco Shop on El Cajon Boulevard in College Area, San Diego, has operated as a counter-serve Mexican restaurant at 6663 El Cajon Blvd, Suite G, CA 92115, since Chuy and Marcela Gaytan opened the kitchen in 2017. The Gaytans built the menu around recipes from their childhood in Mexico, and the Food Network featured the shop on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, highlighting the Chili Relleno Burrito and the Shrimp a la Diabla — a fiery sauteed shrimp plate whose heat level has surprised even travelers accustomed to high-Scoville cuisine. Rolled tacos are made to order in the enchilada style, fried until the shell crisps and then blanketed in house-made enchilada sauce, and the California Burrito stuffs carne asada, fries, cheddar, and pico de gallo into a flour tortilla that routinely measures longer than a forearm. The carne asada fries plate layers an eight-ounce portion of grilled steak over double-fried potatoes with cotija, guacamole, sour cream, and pico, producing one of the heavier loaded-fry builds on the El Cajon Blvd corridor. El Cajon Boulevard through College Area runs east from SDSU toward the La Mesa border, and the Dirty Birds sports-bar crowd a few blocks west feeds into the same late-evening taco traffic that keeps this kitchen running until 10 on weeknights. Horchata is mixed on a churner rather than poured from a premade jug, and the salsa bar stocks multiple house-made options ranging from a mild guacamole salsa to a roasted red that carries real capsaicin. The best tacos in San Diego come from shops where the tortillas are pressed fresh and the proteins are grilled to order, and this kitchen runs both practices across its carne asada, pollo asado, al pastor, and carnitas builds. SDSU sits roughly a mile west along El Cajon Boulevard, and the late-night hours draw campus traffic looking for the best Mexican food in San Diego after evening classes and study sessions clear out. Breakfast burritos fill out the morning menu with machaca, chorizo, and standard egg-and-potato combinations, and the breakfast program launches at 8 each morning. The same 92115 stretch of El Cajon Blvd that houses the shop runs past Su Pan Bakery and a dense cluster of international restaurants, making the corridor one of San Diego's strongest multicultural dining blocks east of the I-15. The San Diego County Health Department has scored the kitchen at 94 out of 100, and the carnitas fries — slow-cooked pork piled over fresh-cut fries with avocado sauce and crema — have earned a following that rivals the carne asada version.