The news has sent a wave of sadness through longtime customers and the City Heights community, where El Borrego has spent nearly two decades serving traditional Southern Mexican cuisine rooted in family, celebration, and heritage. In a recent holiday message, the El Borrego family thanked patrons for “20 amazing years” of love and support, calling the journey one defined by gratitude, service, and connection.
Founded by Rosario Sotelo and her daughter Rodnia Navarro, El Borrego began humbly in the mid-2000s as a weekend operation selling lamb barbacoa tacos from a driveway under a tent. What started as a small, family-run effort quickly grew into a destination restaurant, drawing diners from across San Diego County in search of authentic barbacoa, pozole, chilaquiles, and other regional specialties rarely found elsewhere in the city.
El Borrego became especially known for its lamb barbacoa, a dish deeply tied to Sotelo’s roots in Guerrero, Mexico, and traditionally reserved for special occasions due to its labor-intensive preparation. Cooked overnight using maguey leaves and time-honored techniques, the barbacoa helped define El Borrego’s reputation as a place where food carried cultural weight, not just flavor.
Over the years, the restaurant evolved into a cornerstone of City Heights, offering a menu that reflected both tradition and inclusivity. From chilaquiles and pozole verde to squash blossom quesadillas, huitlacoche, and vegetarian-friendly dishes, El Borrego earned praise for welcoming diners of all backgrounds and tastes. For many locals, it became a go-to breakfast and recovery spot, a place of comfort, warmth, and consistency in a changing neighborhood.
The restaurant’s impact extended beyond the kitchen. Sotelo and Navarro, first-generation immigrants and small business owners, frequently spoke about their commitment to uplifting City Heights through economic opportunity, cultural preservation, and community-building. El Borrego was not just a restaurant, but a gathering place where food served as a bridge between cultures and generations.
While no specific reason for the closure has been publicly detailed, the announcement comes amid ongoing challenges facing independent restaurants across San Diego, including rising costs, labor pressures, and long-term economic strain. The loss of El Borrego represents not just the closing of a business, but the end of a rare culinary institution that helped define San Diego’s Mexican food landscape outside the mainstream.
As word spreads that December 28 will be the final day, supporters are urging diners to visit one last time, share a meal, and show appreciation for a restaurant that meant far more than what appeared on the plate. For many, El Borrego will be remembered as a place that delivered exceptional food, genuine hospitality, and positive energy - especially when it was needed most.
El Borrego is located at 4280 El Cajon Boulevard in San Diego's City Heights. For more information, visit elborregosd.com.
Originally published on December 26, 2025.
