Carnitas’ Snack Shack recently opened a third location, right on the waterfront. Located at North Embarcadero, the new space has a full bar, a beautiful view of the water, and some new menu items. All the seating is outdoors, including covered seating at the restaurant, as well as extended uncovered seating at the public park areas next to the restaurant.
You order at the window and are then given a tracker so that they can bring the food to you when it’s ready. Some of the new menu items include brunch items served on weekend mornings, fish tacos, and soft serve ice cream.
Fish Tacos
I thought the mahi mahi was nicely cooked. It was flavorful, moist and flaky. I did feel like the rest of the taco toppings needed something more though, as they were all a little bland. These were decent fish tacos, but not quite as good as some of my favorites in San Diego. All the food here is served on disposable plates rather than the nicer dinnerware used at the other two locations.
Pork Belly App
I don’t think we’ve ever been able to visit this restaurant and not order their signature dish, which is our personal favorite as well. The sweet and spicy glazed pork belly slab is always melt-in-your-mouth and pairs well with the crisp apple frisée salad. On this occasion, our pork belly didn’t look quite as nice as it usually does– it actually looked a little dry. However, once we dug in, it still tasted fine, though I would have liked it a little hotter. I think it may just have been sitting out a little long because it took us a while to get our food.
Vanilla soft serve with bacon whiskey truffle crumble
We finished our meal with some soft serve ice cream topped with crushed bacon whiskey chocolate truffle.
I had been hoping to try some of the cocktails, but the weather had cooled down faster than I anticipated and it was quite windy that day too. I was too cold to linger long over cocktails. Hopefully, another time.
Overall, this new location is a very beautiful space with a great view. It’s also in a very touristy area of San Diego, which is great for tourists to enjoy both the view and some good food. However, as a local, I’d prefer to visit one of the other two locations and not have to deal with finding parking and all the other issues of being in a touristy area.
Menu:
Previous posts to Carmel Valley location and North Park location.
Carnitas’ Snack Shack Embarcadero
1004 N Harbor Dr
San Diego, CA 92101
