La Especial Norte 664 N Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

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Walking in it’s hard not to notice the bright bold happy colors and decorations throughout the restaurant. We were seated immediately by a window on the right side, my view on the left was a nice mural wall painting of the sea including dolphins and tropical fish.

First page of menu
First page of menu
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Los Caldos
House Specialties
House Specialties
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Seafood
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Combos, Ala Carte
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Side Orders

One of my favorite foods is; chicken taquitos smothered in guacamole, so of course I had to order it. Came with beans, rice, cole slaw, guacamole, sour cream and cheese on top. The taquitos were a bit too hard, after a few bites I discovered the chicken was crunchy as well making it hard to eat. Guacamole was fresh, the cole slaw had a nice light dressing, beans smooth and tasty, rice a bit plain, but has good flavor. Maybe just needed a little bit of salt. The server was nice enough to take back my plate of taquitos and bring me a delicious chicken, bean burrito after I told her what happened. Five gold stars for great customer service!

Next visit I had to try the chicken soup. It came in a large bowl covered with fresh diced avocado and cilantro floating on top. The smell was incredible. Paired with flour or corn tortillas (your choice) this is a combination that can’t be beat.

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Chicken soup
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Chicken bean burrito, with delicious red sauce
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Booth by the window

Part of the wonderful appeal is the decoration on the outside. We took our time and looked at everything. Love the fact they have their own parking lot so you don’t have to park on the street or somewhere a few blocks away. Woo hoo!

Encinitas is a Spanish name meaning “little oaks”. Put that together with La Especial Norte and you’ve got; Special Northern little oaks. Just a fun fact.

In January of 2004, La Especial Norte was named as one of the best 100 restaurants in the WORLD for their soup! By Savoy magazine and City of Encinitas.

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By Maggie

I use a combination of my iPhone and my Fujifilm X-E2 camera for all my photographs. Just depends on where I am as to which one I'll use to take my pictures with. I love to write original stories combined with my photographs. If you'd like to send me a message or comment, please do so at; maggie@hungryones.com We just celebrated our 14th Anniversary this October 2016!! So exciting!! 2015 A couple since 2003 and now on the precipice of this new journey, our fondest hope is this website serves a purpose. One of useful information presented in an elegant, beautiful photographic setting. Together we love to discover new restaurants, food trucks, diners, café’s, huts or where ever we find food being served. The love of artful, carefully crafted, passionately orchestrated food, beverages and let’s not forget desert, Is something we both enjoy immensely. Immersing ourselves in the history, culture and surrounding locations of our adventures hopefully leads to not only meeting new people, but making new friends, sharing ideas, listening to stories and learning something new everyday. Maggie

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