Corazon Cocina — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

I'm from Mexico City and this is one of my favorite places in SB because of the food's flavor, variety, and nice presentation. In fact my friends brought me here to convince me to move to SB and they were successful!

The food is definitely authentic and here I can find dishes that are hard to find in the US. Don't forget to come on Fridays to try their amazing cochinita pibil tacos! The meat is so soft and flavorful that it takes me back to my childhood memories. Tacos al pastor or gringas (quesadillas with pastor) are also really good and taste like in Mexico City. I also love to get any tacos with shrimp or other sea food. Their ceviche with mango is delicious but you might want to share that with someone plus try some tacos.

Another plus is the location. The public market is beautiful and cool. If you are nervous about covid, they have plenty of outdoor sitting where you can enjoy the nice SB weather and streets. So I like bringing friends and family when they are visiting. Just FYI, these tacos and food are considered fancy Mexican food and I agree. So the prices are high. You'll end up spending at least around 15 usd if you are hungry only for food (not including drinks) but you'll have a great culinary experience. That's why I don't come here so often. But it's definitely worth coming!

Another downside is that since it’s all take out, they give you bunch of plastic utensils, plastic salsa packages and disposable boxes. So my eco-friendly heart is broken every time I come here. I wish they had reusable plates and cutlery for those who are eating here. It would be worth more worth paying the high prices. I’m surprised they don’t do it because my favorite (and cheaper) taqueria does it (Pipeye’s). So I really hope they start reducing...

This location is one of the first ones you see when walking into the public market. There’s plenty seating located all throughout the market place. Ordering was quick and easy but the options made it hard to choose. I went with the Ensenada, Norteño (my favorite) and Carnitas (2nd favorite). I also bought 3 more tacos (Al pastor), a horchata and Arnold Palmero. The Ensenada fish taco was surprisingly bland and didn’t have much flavor. I kinda wish it had more sauce but the other two tacos made up for the lack of flavor. The Norteño was incredible, the meat was tender and was super savory. It had cheese melted into the inside of the tortilla which was very nice, beans that were also cooked well and guacamole which tied everything together nicely. The carnitas was also savory and was accompanied by onion, cilantro and guacamole. The meat itself was a bit luke cold but still delicious. Last but not least the Pastor taco had a nice smokiness to it and had a sweet glaze. All the ingredients that were used seemed very fresh and the meats and fish were tender. The drinks weren’t as good, as the horchata was really gritty and had strong cinnamon flavor and the Arnold Palermo (hibiscus tea and ginger lemonade) was too sweet and had an overwhelming ginger flavor. Overall the total came out to be $59, including tax, as the tacos were around $6 each (norteño was $10) and the drinks were $5-$6. Overall it was a good experience, I would definitely come back for the Norteño, to try the other tacos, for the other food items and for the intriguing...

Pretty good place, but nothing special, and when it comes at thisbprice point, you are allowed to get more critical.

Lacked enough salt to bring all the flavors out. Fish taco was very good and tasted fresh. However the quesadilla with the tortilla made from cheese was severely lacking flavor, so much so, that you would think they just used a severely dehydrated corn tortilla.

Very good salsa verde and fresh guacamole. The salsa roja could've used more salt as well to bring some of the flavor out, as by itself, it just brings spice to the table, rather than any other complexity.

Again, it's not that the food tastes bad, it was definitely enjoyable, but nothing special, and when a taco is close to $10, it better be spectacular, instead of outdone by a hole in the wall in LA at a quarter...