Tienda Santa Cruz — Restaurant in Portland

Located in the back of a convenient store, many "influencers" I have come across will not go here because they feel it's beneath them to be seen in such places. This place has authentic, real and simple Mexican food. It may not feel like home cooked food, but it tastes really good and fresh. Several items can be modified to your needs. Some items have good spice levels. You pay at the cashier first. Then food comes out within 10 mins, fresh and made to order, and is brought to your table after you. Everyone here is working hard to serve every hungry person. It feels normal.

Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. A lot of Portland "influencers"(who are anything but) will try to steer you away from such places. Why? Because such down to earth and for-the-common-normal-folk places don't have incentives for people trying to post photos in return for free food or $25, the customer base here won't pay $20 for overpriced lunch, and such small places don't have the network to send each other business. You don't have to be a cook to tell if the food is good or bad, but you have to be desperate to make a living and get free insta invites in exchange for free pics on Instagram.

This place gets a lot of people, and there's a reason why: food is simple, tasty, cheap, the place is relaxing, and it's non-pretentious. Everyone here is usually coming from work or taking a break from home. Almost no one (except me, which I'm working on) had a camera out to take the attached photos.

I recommend the Chili Relleno burrito (it's a very large portion) and cheese quesadilla. Overall, one of the better (if not one of the best) Mexican food...

My favorite Mexican in Portland. Everything here tastes a bit different- in the best possible way.

I don't know what is happening in the kitchen. I could be brainless, but everything here seems to be made from scratch. Many Mexican places seem to have the same boring Sysco food. It's almost like fast food. Even though these places (mostly) have different names, they all still have the same food. Not super good, not really bad either. But not Santa Cruz!

Santa Cruz flour tortillas are a little thicker, wonderful texture. The asada has limitless flavor and it's cooked perfectly. Beans taste like they have been cooked from dried beans, no cans. The rice is spot on, again, with a texture that I love so much and I am always let down when other places don't even come close to the flavor of this rice.

So I'm gushing. And everyone that loves Mexican food has that Mexican place that they're loyal to. I have a few of those. But Santa Cruz is different. I can't exactly describe all of the little things that add up to make this my favorite Mexican restaurant. Just know that if you really like the type of Mexican food that these types of restaurants provide, than you owe it to yourself to check this place out. Look through the rest of my reviews, this is the only one that I may seem hyperboloc about but I really don't think that I'm exaggerating.

Prices just went up a bit but are still good. Service can be a bit slow but this may be because there is always a bunch of people there, at about any time of the day, which seems a...

We dropped in to get some food to share with friends at another establishment Front of the foodery was a store featuring some of the most decadent cakes I've ever seen! (I'd give those cakes a 5 in a New York second!) Anyway, the menu for what was available was posted behind the register. It was large and very readable, but in Spanish. The lady who helped us spoke English and helped us order tacos and a large order of beans and rice to go. Here is where I get a little unhappy. There was a sign that said you could have 3 oz salsa or sauce per taco or burrito. Since there was no sauces at the station, I told the lady that I was going to need some mild taco sauce. She squeezed one serving out of a container she had at the register and handed it to me, and turning around she went back into the kitchen. When she returned it was with our food, so I figured she had made a few more sauces to go in the kitchen. We paid, and went to the car. Upon arriving at our destination, we discovered not only had we not gotten but one mild sauce for six plus tacos, but we had gotten no plastic ware, and our order of beans and rice was a side order(very small). Very very disappointing. Not a good way to Garner more customers. Anita and I will not be ordering food from there again. We hope, if you go, you have better luck. Bye from...