Q'ero Restaurant 564 South Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA 92024

"My wife and I had a wonderful lunch today at Q'ero! The food was delicious and the service perfect. Just an enjoyable experience all around. The calamari was perfectly cooked and seasoned deliciously--and the Q'ero spice sauce is the perfect compliment with the dish. We also had two of their empanadas, the chicken and vegetable, and they were also a delight. Thank you Q'ero and to Roland our waiter for allowing us to have a wonderful afternoon at your restaurant!"

"This is an awesome place in downtown Encinitas. Forget tacos, burgers, diners, or pasta & try a new taste from Peru. A delicious & nutritious spinach, beets & walnut salad, a chicken & quinoa dish & a braised salmon w buttered potatoes. We also split a tasty drink similar to a sangria. Everything was very tasty & healthy, excellent staff & service."

"Had lunch here with hubby and was very disappointed. On top of the food being overpriced, there is a hidden 5% service charge. We ordered lomo saltado — the meat was hard and the rice was underdone. We also ordered maduros which was covered with caramel sauce. The caramel sauce tasted like meat. Service was good. We got the food quickly. Server was nice at first but he gave us an attitude afterwards maybe he overheard my husband talking about the service charge. We tipped generously anyways. Tbh, for the amount money spent, you’re better off going somewhere else."

"One of our favorite restaurants of all-time, anywhere! It was great to enjoy dinner there again after moving out of the area…it had been too long! The decor and ambiance make you feel like you’re in Peru, but what makes this place special is the food. Everything is so flavorful and authentic! We loved the arepas and empanadas, salad, and the fried yuca frita and plantains appetizer in particular. Be sure to add the spicy sauce! I recommend the chicha morada as a non alcoholic drink too. The chocolate cake and alfajores are delicious desserts."

"A nice little Peruvian restaurant in Encinitas. They try to keep things as authentic as possible. We were seated outside with heaters, which was good but still cold. The servers were sort of friendly but not too friendly. We ordered a bunch of different appetizers to share and then the main entrees. Our absolute favorites were the yucca fritters, the ceviche and the maduros. The crispy plantains were good, but not as good as the maduros. Among the empanadas, we ordered the veggie, chicken and beef ones. The veggie ones were a hit among the vegetarians in our group. Between the beef and chicken, the beef empanadas won hands down. These empanadas are gigantic and definitely meant to be shared. My friend enjoyed her lam shank a lot but again, it was too big. The lomo Saltado was good but I would've liked the meat to be more well-done than it was. I also ordered a tres leches to go and it was fantastic. I got a pisco Sour to drink and it was excellent! All in all, this was a great culinary experience and definitely similar to another great Peruvian restaurant I like. I would recommend giving this a try! P.S. parking is a problem so start hunting for one as soon as you are about half a mile away!"