Taqueria Los Pericos — Restaurant in Santa Cruz

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover has never been so keenly prominent a situation as this restaurant. I was perusing an article on Google news regarding the best tacos in California. Fifth on the list was this nondescript, zero frills hidden gem in the heart of Santa Cruz - a twenty minute stroll from the famed Boardwalk.

Driving up, first thing to nice is lottery parking, meaning: if you find a parking space nearby, you should buy a lottery ticket. Street parking is your best bet because the place is popping! I’m n our half hour there, the amount of foot traffic in and out was incredible. The employees here are some of the fastest, intense, hard working people I’ve ever witnessed at a restaurant. The sheer bombardment of humanity coming through their small doors creates an IMPOSSIBLE environment to keep immaculate, especially in a situation where troglodytes such as myself are serving (and more importantly spilling) their own chips and salsa. To keep the small dining room clean would take an army and even that might not work due to the place being occupied to capacity the entire time we were there. We were lucky enough to grab a table - turnaround is fast here. And our food took ten minutes at most to receive. Five of those waiting minutes were spent at the chip and salsa bar. They offer fresh, warm chips and four different salsas ranging in heat, not to mention pico de gallo and the traditional carrots/jalapeños mix.

Refreshments include your garden variety soft drinks, Jarritos, beer, and agua frescas. The Horchata was bomb.

The food was exactly as the article described. Prices were relatively the same as locally, perhaps slightly less - but the serving portions on the tacos I ordered were significantly larger. The amount of shrimp and meat on Ku tacos made it impossible to eat. I separated the taco shells(as usual, most taquerias use two taco soft shells together so they don’t tear) and made two full shrimp tacos from one. The chili verde taco was delicious as well. My date had enchiladas. They were smaller than you see in many taquerias, but they were priced around five dollars less for a dinner plate - a nice tradeoff as two enchiladas, rice and beans for $11 is a steal I downtown Santa Cruz.

Napkins are located in hanging dispensers attached near the windows. It took me a moment to locate them because I had never seen them displayed in that manner, but it’s actually a genius move because the napkin holders are the largest I have ever seen and you will need napkins!

Be prepared to pick up your own order from the heating lamps when your number is called. This isn’t a big deal as the place gets crowded and it simply makes no sense to have a waitress deliver your food. Also, do the right thing and clean/bus your own table afterward. Some patrons may complain about doing such, but it’s simple respect and kindness to those that follow you. AND it keeps their prices low. And again, the place is so damn busy, once you stand up, someone is going to sit right down immediately, leaving no time for someone to come wipe down the ta le after you.

Love the food! Will definitely become our go to place when in Santa Cruz. Only reason it isn’t five stars is parking and the fact that some people will look down on the massive amount of broken chips on the floor near the salsa bar, which is ironic, because they too will drop chips when loading up...

on 6/7/24 I decided, for the very first time, to visit this place for a Carne Asada Burrito Supreme. Upon arrival, which was about 5:30 PM I noticed the place was very small and crowded with limited seating. That wasn't going to be an issue, as I was going to order my food to go. When it was my time to order, I noticed that the cashier appeared to be miserable, as displayed by the look on her face. She didn't greet me with a hello, how can I help you or? what would you like to order? Well, after a few seconds, I decided to ask her if I could please order a carne asada burrito supreme. After placing the order, I waited for a few seconds again to see if she was going to say thank you. She did not. I then decided to go ahead and say thank you for your help and walked over to the waiting area. Considering how busy it was, it didn't take long for my burrito to be done. And I was ready to go home. Well, unfortunately, after returning home, I realized, after taking a bite of what I thought was going to be my carne asada burrito, ended up being a chicken burrito supreme. I tried calling a few times, but it went straight to voicemail. So, I had to return to. the Taqueria. Again, the same lady who took my order originally was still there. When I finally walked up to the counter, I explained to her what the issue was. She never mentioned a word only turning to the server and asking him to prepare the burrito correctly as my receipt clearly indicated a carne asada burrito. What was most astonishing is that the cashier never bothered to apologize for the mistake by the restaurant. In fact, she was ready to go to the next person line when I said, wait, that's not it. I explained that I had to drive over here, drive all the way back home, and then come all the way back here again because of the mistake they made. She finally said she was sorry for the mistake. Really! Clearly, this cashier has some people problems. She can't seem to do the job in a polite professional manner. This was my very first time stopping here to order food, and it was a terrible experience. I can honestly say the carne asada was ok, but I've had better. In my experience, when you thank your customers and show appreciation, it makes a...

Amazing Mexican fare right in the center of Santa Cruz. My son goes to school here and had recommended this place for their authentic Mexican cusine so finally today, I gave it a try with the rest of the family. We entered the small locale which is right in downtown Santa Cruz and close to the river at around 12:45 and you could tell immediately that this place is a hot spot for locals to grab a quick and tasty lunch. There is seating for about 15-20 people inside and two tables also outside but all seating were taken and there was a line of 4-6 people in front of us placing their order. The line however was moving fast and we placed our orders which were the carne asada super burrito and the Al pastor house super burrito. The difference is that the house burrito doesn’t have any rice in it and the standard burrito has sour cream (I think based on tasting both). And the difference between regular and super burrito is the size of course. We waited about 10-15 mins for our food to be ready and in the meantime was able to snag a couple of seats and have a visit to their amazing salsa bar for some free chips and a variety of salsa. My Al pastor burrito was amazing. Hands down one of the best tastiest and juiciest burritos of my life. My son’s carne asada burrito was also great. He said that it is as good as the chronic tacos burritos that he regards highly and always raves about. This is definitely a place that I will visit more often. The two burritos came to about $28 after tax and the place quieted down right around 1, so next time I will visit a bit later to avoid the rush. 5...