Counter-service Mexican food on La Mesa's University Avenue corridor draws steady traffic to La Mesita Mexican Food at 7012 University Avenue in the 91941 ZIP code. An eight-option salsa bar ranging from mild tomato rojo to high-heat serrano verde anchors every order, a condiment-forward approach that parallels the house-reduced Italian pan sauces at Antica Trattoria across the La Mesa dining scene. The birria program slow-braises beef in a guajillo-and-ancho chile consomé, served as tacos, quesabirria, or loaded fries, with the cooking liquid offered as a dipping broth on the side. Weekend menudo simmers tripe in a red chile broth with hominy, drawing a dedicated morning crowd to the University Avenue location. The house horchata and agua fresca program complements a Latin-focused beverage corridor on University Avenue that also features Chuchees Frutorteria and its hand-cut fruit cups with chamoy and Tajin. The carne asada program uses direct-flame grilling to achieve a char crust on marinated skirt steak, then hand-chops the meat per order to maintain texture consistency across burrito, fry, and taco builds.