El Santuario Tacos & Cocktails

Came for the none traditional tacos and ended up with tacos and Ramen. (Wednesday is Ramen Night!) Neither of which disappointed. They have a large variety of traditional and non traditional tacos, both of which were VERY good. The Ramen was better than most Ramen restaurants. Each ingredient was super flavorful. Their cocktails were mixed very well with the right balance of strength and flavor. Would highly recommend. They have nightly food specials and happy hour.

I heard so many good things about this place, so I decided to give it a try. I sat down at a table and the table top was sticky. That alone should have made me walk out. But I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt. I ordered corn, nachos w/Bistek, Bistek (street tacos), Crab tacos, Pork tacos, and a very expensive hamburger taco.... I apologize for the lack of pictures as I was anxious to grub down. Corn was mediocre, The nachos lacked cheese sauce (I had to ask for more), The bistek meat was dry, tough, and lacked flavor, so when I was served the Bistek tacos I just returned them cause it was the same kind of meat as the one on the nachos, I took a bite out of the Hamburger taco and as you can see I didn't finish it. It also lacked flavor and was overcooked. The pork taco was just as bad. I wanted to save the best for last.... The Crab taco was not at all what I expected. The inside texture was just mush and the flavor wasn't there at all.... The service is lackadaisical... The prices are high for the quality of food. I wish I could give this place a better review but I just can't.

Check it out. Soft shell crab tacos Alligator tacos Chicharron tacos First time there but definitely WILL NOT be the last. I had a nice surprise when I walked in. One of the owners of The Flying Pig is also involved with this place. So of course, I am not surprised that the food is good.

Three words! Pork belly tacos! Great tequila and mezcal mixed drinks and the service is always superb. Met the owner one night. He was a really cool guy! Can’t say enough good things.

Their mushroom burger/combo was super delicious, as was my Margarita on the rocks, Mexican coke, and flan! Hector, the owner, was super helpful and accommodating, and helpful in helping us decide on what to eat, bringing us more avocado slices. I would highly recommend El Santuario to everyone.

Great variety of fusion style tacos. Flavors like hamburger, quail, or alligator give an exotic flare. While Staples like Al pastor, bistec, and mole are still there for something more familiar.

Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free friendly, but they have meat (quail, etc.). Homemade blue corn and yellow corn tortillas from masa, enfused w spinach, etc. Tried the spicy tofu taco and the cauliflower taco (2 orders), and quinoa salad. Delicious homemade, creamy salsa (green was habanero-based and red was jalapeño based). Nice staff. Food came out right away. Sunday and Tuesday - 1/2 off tacos. We had 3 tacos, quinoa salad, and water for $10, today, Sunday. This is right off of 1732, behind the Stripes plaza.

Great gourmet tacos and cocktail bar! Love, love, love, the pineapple margaritas! Pork belly tacos are absolutely delicious, drizzled in jalapeno honey. The bartender, Edward, is excellent, providing great service and food/drink recommendations if needed.

Neat idea, but ok execution. Server recommended we try the strawberry tres leches for dessert. It was cake soaked in strawberry NesQuik, lol. It's closed. Demolished now.

Great little place to grab a drink, tacos, and "beer food." They have specialty items like duck and fig quesadillas, boudin tacos, and escargot, but also the regular stuff like bistec, pork, chicken, and brisket. They also offer a good variety of beer ($4-5) and mixed drinks ($7-8), as well as dessert such as fresh made churros (with caramel dip) and the "chaco taco," a fried chocolate taco shell with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. The churros were pretty descent fresh, but the chaco taco was just ok (more for the novelty). The food is descent (portions are a bit small), and drinks are pretty good. If you're in the area and looking for a place open a little later than other places around town, this is a cool, casual, divey place to go.

This place has consistently had great service for the 2 years that I've been going ! My favorite menu item is the Jamaican jerk tacos

Finally tried this place after following them on social media for a while. First let me say- the tacos are tasty and different, and we enjoyed trying some unique flavors not typically found in tacos. Jamaican jerk and Cuban were two noteworthy varieties I tried. However, everything is sold a la carte, is in, you pay $2-4 per taco and no side dishes are included. Also, the tacos are very small. I ordered 3 different tacos, my boyfriend ordered 6, we got chips and salsa, a small dessert (churros with caramel sauce) and only had water to drink and paid nearly 50 bucks for 2 people. We also left hungry because the portions are so tiny. This was on a Saturday night and the place was nearly empty. They need to figure out a different way of doing things or they're not going to make it based on prices/value.

OMG. I am in heaven. Never had such good food. Absolutely fantastic. Service is fantastic. Just added pineapple and shrimp. Ummmm. Other good ones were chicken and hamburger.

Excellent and you'd never know it. Don't let the bar feel fool you. This is a very creative taco menu. You'd expect this quality and innovation at an upscale place in some suburban neighborhood. Everything is house made. Favors hip out at you. Mole, jerk, pineapple, pickled onion. This place is a gem.

If you want a fancy place to eat....not here! But the tacos are delicious and a note about them. They are the size of street tacos. The shrimp tacos were our favorite.

After eating so many traditional Tex Mex tacos throughout our Texas road trip it was nice to get some truly unique stuff--duck and fig jam quesadillas, soft shell crab in blue corn tortillas, pastrami tacos, quail with jalapeño bacon and corn queso sauce, and brisket tacos. Also, unlike the majority of taco joints we ran into, this place not only serves alcohol, but the cocktails are really good and the beer list more than satisfied the craft beer snob hubby. I wish they had more vegetarian options, but what they had was very high end tasting. Friendly and attentive service as well.

The tacos are delicious! We came on a Tuesday for half off some of the tacos! They have very unique tacos. We got 13 tacos and they were all delicious!

Whoa!!! Tacos are eccentricly excellent, had the Duck-Fig quesadillas and Quail and Soft Shell Crab. Amazing!!! Nice ambience made even friendly by their cocteles de tequila y mezcal. Damn good. Tacos and drinks are more upscale then your usual taqueria y cantina. A nice addition to our culinary and beverage establishments in deep South Texas.

Congratulations on being featured on NPR; it is deserved. This is my favorite place to eat in the Brownsville "area" (it's in Olmito). Don't let the unpretentious location or look fool you; there is some serious creativity going on here.

I am so glad that we had our lunch here. It is not much to look at but once inside...wow. The best margaritas in the valley. Some amazing and creative tacos. We can hardly wait to come back and try the other tacos

Amazing tacos. Drinks are great as well. My wife ordered the pork belly tacos and the surf and turf taco. She flipped and said that they were the best tacos she's ever eaten. I got the quinoa tacos, they tasted fresh and full of flavor. We had the chips and salsa as an appetizer and the chips we're fresh and crispy. The salsa came out hot and was just the right about of spice level. Definitely check this place out if you are nearby or passing through.

I would love everyone to try this place it's 5 star gourmet fusion tacos, top notch ingredients. The inner part of me hates to forfeit secrets on the internet to share to those with a less developed palette but here you have it uniquely different and nestled in what I think is a diamond in the rough kinda of place. The undulating notes of pork belly and sweetness strike the tongue well with flavors. These are not your ordinary tacos, they are nothing less than greatness. QUIAL AND PORK BELLY IS A MUST HAVE.

Wow! The atmosphere was great and the customer service was 10/10. We got to try the nachos, elote, vegetarian tacos, "el pepino" cocktail, and everything was extremely delicious. We will be coming back. Thank you!!