Taqueria Santa Cruz

open late, chill atmosphere, carne en su jugo is the best soup in town. other things are good, but there’s a reason why half the people in the restaurant are eating this soup

Number one I am not a Google reviewer Maui fire victim coming home to enjoy some of the best Mexican food a lot of places closed early I am a culinary chef from sanderlings to Seascape Resort to UCSC I am very versed what's my safe and serve at a 91% from Cabrillo College This truly was a nice place the melon agua I really would like to try the horchata I asked you would love to have it a small taste all of them to give a good review and even more to ask him if they make this in house I use my Vitamix and other culinary devices to make my own. I spend a lot of time in Baja Mexico and Mainland Mexico add Mexico City working hard surfing taking my vacations from Baja California to Mainland Mexico to the Mexican pipeline I don't do this for the recognition or a lot of fake Google reviews who come in for points I'm an honest person and a 64YRS vested member in Capitola and Santa Cruz

Excellent flavors, menu with a lot of variety. Always busy, but worth the short wait.

They have a trompo here! Authentic Al Pastor tacos. Great tacos and quesadillas. They also have the best agua frescas here.

I got two meals, and neither of them were good. The burrito was overly soggy and lacked flavor, while the chicken was chewy and hard to eat. The ceviche was alright, but not as good as other options, and the tostada was burnt. The tortilla chips were good if you like a lot of salt, and the salsas available were watery. They charge a 4% credit card fee, which is much higher than the 2% the processor would charge them. To top this all off, they put the ceviche into the bag on its side, so all the juice leaked out into the bag. Safe to say I won't be coming back.

Update 🔥🔥🔥 Got the soup again, amazing soul food, I must have it every week now. Ordered the flour tortillas (I know corn is more authentic but...) fresh made to order, hot and chewy with delicious burn marks, are you kidding me?! I drank ever drop and again, wow! Original review Carne en su jugo! Remember that name, it translates to delicious Mexican soup or something. Kind of like a Mexican Pho without the noodles. So good, so fresh, like something your Mexican grandmother (you wish you had) would make you. The cashier was beautiful, nice and super helpful. They are lucky to have her. Their Al Pastor is as good as it gets. 🔥🌶🌯🌮

I go there for the menudo. Tasty broth, lots of tripe, decent portions. Make sure to add all the fixin's they serve with the soup. They have a nice small salsa bar. Great place to have a menudo and a Modelo. Might be my regular stop. One of the better menudos in town. So good.

If you like eating bland Mexican food look no further. Mexican food that is missing flavor is hard to do but this restaurant managed to do it. No salt on the beans, cold chips and flavorless salsa bar and to top it all off cold food. Provecho, no gracias!

I came here for lunch before going to a Santa Cruz Warriors game. Parking was easy to find. The place was clean and the customer service was great. Everyone was so kind and very helpful. I ordered a burrito bowl of carne asada, with no rice or sour cream, and a side of tortilla chips. The bowl was perfect. Full of flavor in every bit. The asada was so juicy and tender. The salsa was a perfect compliment for the meat. I highly recommend this place.

it's the average ok burrito/taco spot if you don't wanna cook ot wanna eat something in the moment... I ordered a "super" burrito (which is a regular size butrito ) with "al pastor" as protein, WATCH OUT! cause they gonna try to make it look like a good size burrito but once you cut it in half you'll notice they save money by giving you about 5oz of protein and the rest it's just a bunch of carbs: rice, beans, lettuce. Over rated spot!

My relatively new burrito spot in Santa Cruz. I usually get their carnitas burrito with everything. Always so good .

Nice, clean place, I demolished my entire regular burrito, but in terms of flavor I did find myself wishing for more oomph? I wish there was more seasoning in the meat, but there was plenty of freshness from the pico de gallo and the rice was pretty well seasoned. It's not a burrito I would find myself wanting more of, if I wasn't hungry you know? But perhaps I'm spoiled for choice. Be sure to know your numbers in Spanish, because that's how they'll find you. Friends got different types of super burritos and felt it was too much to eat in one sitting, while I finished ~5 minutes before they even decided they couldn't put a dent into the last 1/4 of their burritos, so I think it's worth the extra dollars to get a super. Chips were tasty though, and the salsas available are pretty fun and tasty. The vibrant red one has a nice tingling spice, that's fun. Didn't try their aguas but it looked quite nice! Staff is kind and efficient, they're all so sweet but definitely brush up on your Spanish for convenience sake!

Probably my 5th time here and their food is always solid! I usually get tacos here but the last time I ordered jugo de carne which means soup with meat. I got this one with carne asada! It came out very hot and enough to share with two. They have an awesome salsa bar too which a variety of different salsas. One in particular is hotter than your average spiciest salsa at other places. Their green sauce. They have about 4-5 different ones you can choose from. Try them all! The only downside is, the employees working there have limited English but know the key words so you should be fine. Parking is kind of a hassle. There's a back lot that's tight and only dedicated to them, but it's only about 4-5 cars. There is also free residential street parking but it ends up being a bit of a walk. It's not too bad but it could be a lot better. The interior is a bit outdated but very casual and inviting. There's plenty of seating though and a unisex bathroom in the back. A ton of locals come here and they're usually pretty busy, which is a really good sign! Definitely recommended! Eating alone here isn't awkward either but bringing friends is always better. Cheers!!!

Solid burrito spot, with 10/10 chips. Order at the counter, and food is brought to your table quickly! No wait on Saturday around 1:30 pm - Free chips are awesome. Thick, crunchy, a hint of sweetness for that addictiveness, and not greasy. 10/10 - Super burrito with al pastor: tortilla was toasted and had a nice chewy to it. Freshly shaved off the spit, al pastor was a hit. The lettuce adds a refreshing touch, whether you prefer it not, is a different question! Guac was a moderate amount inside. The real star is the cotija cheese. It makes this burrito stand out amongst the other burrito competitors out there. 9/10 - 49er regular burrito with carne asada: good size, carne asada wasn't overdone, and had some nice char crispy bits. Flour tortilla has a great chew to it. Enchilada sauce was nothing to write home about. The dried chili flavour was there, but it lacked depth. Maybe if there was more of a tomato backbone and heavier seasoning. Maybe even some chicken broth. 7.5/10 - Salsa bar is okay. Things tend to run spicy FYI. The pico didn't look super fresh or vibrant. 6/10

The food was so good, I felt like I was cheating on my usual Taqueria. The young lady who took our order was happy and delightful. When we told her it was our first time here she was excited to make recommendations and let us know how they had the best food in town. On her suggestion, and the suggestions of many of the reviews here, we tried the Carne en su jugo. The broth was just right, the flavor was delicious, and they definitely don't skimp on the meat. I think this will now be my go to dish when the weather is cold and rainy. We also tried an assortment of tacos. - Chorizo, Carnitas, Asada, and Al Pastor. While there were all delicious and generously portioned, the house-made chorizo and the carnitas were my choice for the best of the four. Even though it's right on Soquel, there is plenty of parking in the street and in the lot behind the building. I hope my five star review moves the needle on this place because my experience was quite the opposite of the low star reviews for this place.

one of the best taquerias in santa cruz. we ordered fish tacos and the fish was incredibly fresh. they loaded the tacos up with toppings too, especially sour cream!! they were delicious.

Outstanding catering service! Jose and his team were fantastic to work with. We hosted an event and needed to feed 120 people. They delivered a self-serve delicious, freshly made, hot meal of beef/chicken/cheese enchiladas, rice, beans, chips and fabulous salsas. The portions were generous and they didn't skimp on meat. They took care of every detail, arrived on time and after, came to collect the trays/service items. The cost was reasonable..especially given the high quality. Many of the guests requested their information to make follow-up visits. I highly recommend Taqueria Santa Cruz.

Kind service. Good food. Bright walls. Agua frescas. Lots of seating. Crummy parking lot in the back. The spaces are narrow even for my compact car. There is key lime, a jalapeno and dried chili's behind the bowl. The bright red salsa is actually hot. Yum!

Taqueria Santa Cruz is a nice little local restaurant in beautiful Santa Cruz. The people there are great and willing to help make any accommodation you need. I also love the small authentic taqueria vibe with the salsa bar and tvs everywhere playing soccer matches. The food was good but a bit more pricey than I expected. I loved the sauce on the eggs but felt the beans were missing a little bit of flavor. Overall a nice place to check out and always good to support local!

It's a normal day on the Titanic Pillgrims cruising along the ocean in what was the biggest ship at the time moving like a snail. I have been eyeing Taqueria Santa Cruz on door dash for quite sometime but never found the courage like Rose had when she was about to jump off the Titanic. What they didn't tell you was that it wasn't an iceberg it was the iceberg lettuce in my order of nachos that caught me off guard. I might have ordered it by mistake, but it turns out that I actually liked the refreshing taste and bike lettuce gives off .my first time dining in person and was so excited to get my Nacho on. not sure about you, but I love the nostalgic vibe that Taquerias give off. I ordered myself a plate of nachos which were inexpensive, fresh, and delicious! my eyes widened as I sat there watching the chips marinate in all the lovely toppings and I got no meat. The food was brought out to us really fast, but we didn't get served any water. Im pretty sure that if we wanted water it would have been easy, but just so you know, no ask = no water, so I hope your mouths dont get too overstimulated not being able to clear your pallet. What I dont recommend doing is ordering nachos from here for a delivery order. I had placed an order at 5:30 but my order estimated the arrival to be at 6-6:30 which is a longgg time. I called Grubhub to try and cancel my order knowing that the nachos weren't going to be done good, but for some reason the agent encouraged me to not cancel the order. I waited and my food came around 6 ish, but instantly I knew I opened that takeout bag and yes.... the nachos were soggier than a load of wet towels in the washing machine. However, the order was salvageable! how? I meticulously removed all of the chips given in the order and was able to use the complementary bag of chips that were for salsa. I was able to avoid the experience of soggy nachos all thanks to a free bag of tortilla chips!

Food (4.25/5): The food was yummy! I appreciated the complimentary chips--you grab salsa, pico de gallo, and radishes yourself. The salsa was not stand out but decent. The burrito portion is huge for its price in the Bay Area. Service (4.5/5): Efficient ordering at the counter followed by speedy food brought to you. They will announce your number in Spanish then bring the food to you! Everyone seemed friendly. Ambiance (4/5): It was quite lively, many people were passing in and out & many were seated for dine-in Giving 5 stars because this place is great for a casual burrito spot with a dine-in option

Crunchy tacos with shredded chicken are amazing! I'm not a huge fan of spicy food, so these tacos are great, but still super tasty. All the staff is very friendly, and they get the food out quick! And of course, the chips with the green salsa is a must. Love this place.

Ordered a super taco and what a mess! Needs a super tortilla, had to eat a soggy wet mess! What a waste.

Whenever I'm in SC I never fail to visit this temple to perfect burritos and immaculate vibe. The feeling inside is cool old school Mexican family atmosphere, and the burritos remind me a lot of in the Bay Area in the 90's before business interests destroyed 95% of the taquerias. If you were there, you know this is a very high compliment! Chips are excellent, salsa bar is on point (verdad, no es gringo!!), perfectly comforting rice and beans, and burritos worth making a special trip. They do both carne and veggie dishes well, so you can bring the whole family and everyone will be happy. It's got that great combination of cleanly-maintained and working-class. It's always busy, there are always soccer matches on some TVs playing on mute, and it's always a good feeling to bring my Mexican family here. Not recommended for fans of Chipotle! Come here if you like real Mexican food and feel like having it California style. Now I'm hungry again after writing this review! Big love to you TSC

Carne en su jugo está riquísima. Tiene mucho sabor. Carne asada, tocino, frijoles y aguacate. Las trabajadoras muy amables. Bastantes asientos. Food is delicious I had beef stew, bacon, beans and avocado. Plenty of space to sit and parking in the back. Family friendly. Staff works fast, busy during lunch hour.

The carne asada tacos are fire!! They're well served and come with enough toppings. The service was fast, and they were nice.

Best bang for your buck lunch on the westside. Super burrito is killer and super filling.

The worst Mexican food ever! Order the deep fried fish and it was covered on fish scales and still had its gills poorly cleaned before cooking, it had no salt nor seasoning, the tortillas were soggy. My partner order a Carne en su jugo, what a disappointment! It seems like they just throw beef broth with beans carne azada and bacon. NO FLAVOR AT ALL! Nothing like the traditional carne en su jugo.

Their menus weren't updated and when I had ordered a burrito and realized it came with an ingredient I didn't like, I kindly went over to the counter to explain what had happened and apologized for the inconvenience but I'd appreciate a new burrito without salsa. The cashier proceeded to try and charge me half the price for a burrito I barely touched. I started going back and forth, trying to understand why I had to pay again and cashier proceeds to tell me, "Save your money.", walked away and still charged me $9... Never coming back here again.

Great al pastor tacos, terrible service. We ordered 4 separate plates of tacos. We ordered two plates regular, and two plates plain for the kids. The person who took the order only got one plate as plain. We told the server when she brought the food and she just referred us to the cashier. The cashier said there would no way they would make new tacos unless we paid for them. I was shocked, but we ended up paying again so that out kids could eat. I've never been somewhere that wouldn't fix a problem that they caused. If they would have repeated the order in the beginning this could have all been avoided. The tacos were great but the service was terrible.

Solid tacos here! I got a the carnitas, the pastor, and the asada. The best was definitely the pastor, then the carnitas, then the asada. The chips that came with the meal were a bit stale, but overall I was quite happy with the taco experience - would recommend overall!

Complementary chips are always great! This place was bustling on a Sunday afternoon, and it had great food. For the prices, everything was absolutely worth it. My partner and I both chose to get super burritos, and we were both greatly satisfied with the portions, as we are both big eaters. Personally, I didn't think this restaurant was extraordinary, but this is definitely somewhere to frequent for a good and fairly-priced meal. They called numbers in Spanish, so make sure you know how to listen for the numbers!

This is the only taqueria I go to in SC. I'm from San Jose so I know what a legit Taco shop is. Boost

Be mindful of the limited parking in this area of Santa Cruz. The food came out fairly quickly and was very delicious. My fish ceviche and fresh avocado paired very well. They serve complimentary chips and include a salsa bar. The Torta gave a perfect portion and burrito met expectations. Service was quick and prompt. The interior is very traditional Latino which is nice in an area like Santa Cruz. The horchata was definitely different in flavor and some salsas needed to be restocked in high demand. The one I loved was not in stock

Stopped by here for some breakfast. We ordered a few breakfast burritos. The ham burrito had "chunks of ham" . List of rice. We had to pay extra for papas (I thought breakfast burritos always had papas in them) . Burritos were nothing special. Kids ordered tacos and rice. They loved it.

We love this place but I'm so disappointed lately. This is not the first time this has happened so posting this review seems fair. The burrito on the left is a kids burrito and the burrito on the right is a full price regular burrito. Both only beans rice and avocado...so now multiple times in a row I've been charged for a full size burrito that's smaller than a kids burrito. This is the reason we will not be coming here as often. It's a shame they think this is acceptable.

Tremendous local Mexican restaurant. Combo platters are insanely good. The mix of meat, salsa, fresh cilantro, pico de gallo. Made with care. Everything chopped to perfection. The Carne asada was just out of sight. Perhaps one of the best value for money restaurants i've ever been too. Very little ambience and the seats are lousy but who cares. You're there for the food, not the people watching.

A friend of mine told me this place is like a hole in the wall kind of place. The food was good. I ordered the fish and shrimp taco. I recommended getting both! The workers were very helpful when I was ordering and brought me my food when it was ready.

I eat here at least once a week. Its really good. Take my word for it. Just try it. Everything here is good.

Go for the Al Pastor tacos! They are awesome! I could eat those everyday. Service was friendly. Restaurant was clean. They haven't spent much money on the interior design. Think typical taqueria. Lots of natural light inside. Also for those that love habanero, they had a great habanero salsa for the chips. Smokey flavor and spicy!

Authentic Carne en su jugo so amazing! Came with my friends for their favorite soup and it was just what this weather called for. 10/10!! I'm sure they have amazing food just by the flavor of the broth but I'll be back to eat this again

This place has bomb tacos! I've tried almost every meat in them and they are all delicious! We stop here for lunch every time we are in Santa Cruz!

I found this place on accident because the outside isn't very inviting, I started using the super chargers at the Whole Foods across the street and oh man, this place is one of a kind(minus the other spot on the west side owned by a brother). A must visit place especially for their "Carne en su Hugo", I've been to Mexico and it doesn't even come close. I also get the el pastor taco as well. All their juices are hand made onsite(not bought from a distributor). The staff is like visiting family, always the best service. They don't know me by name but they recognize me, which is my favorite.

Taqueria Santa Cruz gets a lot of hype for one reason or another. I've had a lot of friends and colleagues recommend this place, and perhaps it would've been great had I come here before going plant-based. However, as someone that no longer eats meat, I thought it was just decent. Best news for vegans - their beans and rice are all completely free of animal products, including their refried beans. This was music to my ears as most taquerias tend to incorporate meat or lard in their beans. This did help me out in deciding what would be a filling and satisfying meal for myself. I went with their Super Veggie Burrito ($10), which included rice, refried beans, lettuce, pico, and guac wrapped in white tortilla. You also get a small (and I mean small) basket of chips, and I wish they'd offer a chips bar like other taquerias. My burrito was honestly pretty simple: filling but not exciting. It was nice that everything was vegan friendly but there wasn't any other filling that they could offer like mushrooms or zucchinis to replace the meat. For card users, they charge a $15 minimum unless you want to pay a surcharge for swiping. I found that a bit steep considering how we want to encourage contactless payment and that it's so common for digital payments nowadays. If you're looking for a quick meal without expecting too much, then this taqueria will work for you.

Giving this place 5 stars to help it bump up to at least 4 stars which I think it deserves. Had a good experience and I think it does deserve 5 stars legitimately for the Taqueria category. Came here on national quesadilla day so got one with Al Pastor since I read some reviews on how good it was. Definitely was very good, what I liked about it was that it was more meat and not a lot of cheese, you often get the opposite at other places. No issues with service either, the gal that took my order was really friendly and helpful. Plenty of good parking and seating. I'll definitely visit again when I'm in the area and craving good Mexican food (which is pretty much always).

I stopped at this spot because I was out doing storm watch in Santa Cruz... the Mexican food in Santa Cruz is ok.. this place stands out tho! The carne en su jugo goes crazy!!! I loved it! The tacos are mid but that carne en su jugo with some flower tortillas had me smiling while I was sweating! I highly suggest this place for the good service and the chill vibes! Get the carne en su jugo tho!!!! You welcome

Scrumptious. Food was out before I came back from washing my hands. Love the booths and the colors of the walls. Amazing green salsa. My friend and I plan on becoming regulars.

I've been going to this place for years and somehow, I always forget to review this reliable restaurant. Everything they make is good, reasonably priced and they're quick. I especially like their chorizo meat. I also like their menudo, but those are only available on weekends. They're right there on Highway1 right next to a Subway for easy identification.

We come here regularly and these guys are always busy. Locals love this spot. Some of my favourites: soft grilled chicken tacos and a carne asada burrito. Burritos are delicious and pretty big so I always end up saving some for later. I also like that these guys have a salsa buffet so you can make extra salsa to go. Their salsa is deliciously spicy

Winner! Excellent tacos that never disappoint. You can even get them to go and have them sit a bit waiting for your guests to arrive and they'll hold up. The flavors are deep and rich. None of that fake over salted stuff, the meat will shine through and actually be tasty next to the cilantro onions salsa. Really solid and dependable tacos spot! OG, too! Support the ones who made a name and kept the tradition alive!

Dora always takes care of me, she is super friendly and always gets my orders perfectly, I like their carne asada plate, and the 49 super burrito.

awful absolutely awful the girl cashier had an attitude while attending me and i had a question about the food and she gave me an attitude i asked if they had a burrito de pollo and she was like "if we have a tortilla and chicken then that's a yes" thats disrespectful and that's not it we also overheard them call us names for making a complain about the food having something it wasn't supposed to awful dirty place

The family is staying nearby at the Paradox hotel. We were hungry at 9:30pm, so we looked for some options on Yelp. I tried calling in an order, but no one answered. So I drove 3 minutes and ordered takeout in person. We ordered a couple Al Pastor tacos on the recommendation of some other reviewers. These tacos were nothing short of amazing... the best Al Pastor I've ever had. We also got a Carnitas Burrito. This burrito was well-constructed and so so delicious, especially with some of the salsa verde from their salsa bar. The chips were also fresh and crispy. We'll definitely be back.

Bland and Dry. My daughter like the quesadilla because she doesn't like cheese. The sauces taste like ketchup. Dryest most blah nachos and shrimp burrito I've ever had I ate a 1/3 and brought it home to the chickens. It's always busy but I've been in three or four times now and it's always been the same. Blah, dry, and just like they opened up cans and dumped them in to dried out tortillas. Required a knife to get through the burrito even though it was covered in enchilada sauce.

It's been at least a decade since the last time I've been here. Other than the fact that it's not as crowded, as it used to be, it's still just as great. I wish people would come back here and enjoy it as much as I do. The service is just as great as it was before. I asked for a deconstructed burrito to feed my 103 old Auntie, and they were able to accommodate me.

Al Pastor tacos Smackin!!!!!! The meat was hella tender and juicy. Will definitely be back!

My husband and I were on the last day of our trip to Santa Cruz and we were so freaking hung over. We needed a nice delicious breakfast burrito to help us through the day. So happy that we discovered Taqueria Santa Cruz! We both got some breakfast burritos which have your choice of meat (ham, sausage, bacon, or potatoes), eggs, rice, beans, cheese, and tomatillo salsa all wrapped up in a delicious tortilla. Great reasonable price, perfect size for breakfast (not too overwhelming), and unlimited chips and salsa! What more could you ask for?! Definitely coming back here again for breakfast or any other time of the day! The salsas and meats were so flavorful and delicious that we want to get their tacos next time!