Tocaya Modern Mexican — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Health-conscious Mexican fast-casual restaurant. Good spot to grab a quick lunch or get takeout. The Santa Monica location doesn’t have parking but it does have free WiFi (you need to put in your email address). There’s some metered street parking or you can park in one of the nearby garages for a free 90 minutes. If you check in on yelp, you can get free chips and salsa. I ordered takeout through the ritual app on Friday and it was ready 15 minutes later. There are cubbies in the back with the different takeout orders but there is also a worker who will get the food for you. Drinks are separate from the bag. I got the taco combo which has 2 tacos, a side, and a drink for about $10. The tacos are small but tasty. I got the chicken and the turkey picante, and both were good. You can get your choice of style (I like barrio) and cheese (the queso cotija is good). I like the Spanish cauliflower rice as the side but you could also get chips and salsa, guacamole, street corn, etc. For the drink there are different types of Agua Frescas but the cucumber mint really hits the spot. Overall a good spot for a...

This place is alright. Overpriced and small portions. Okay flavor. To be expected in Santa Monica. They cook in PUFA so that’s not great but who doesn’t these days. What’s not cool is kitchen staff handling order receipts with BPA & BPS in them with the same gloves that they have on for food prep which are often wet. If you’re not familiar, traditional thermal paper which is used to print your receipts contains a lot of BPA which is a massive hormone disrupter in humans. In most cases your hands are dry when you pick up a receipt from the store so the absorption through the skin is lower (still better to avoid if you can) but when water is present, the absorption is approx 10x higher and that’s through skin. Imagine eating food which is intermixed with those chemicals. They could upgrade to even Taco Bell standards and use a big screen to display the current order being prepped to solve the issue. The...

I came back here for the first time in years. The first time since last decade, and it seems even better than I remember it. The one staff member they had their it seems serving everyone, Elisa, made sure of that. In a world where I'm so accustomed to restaurants declining in quality and cutting corners over time, I had a great experience.

Elisa, one of their workers was taking orders, delivering the food to the tables, clearing and cleaning tables by herself, and was knowledgeable about the menu. The service was excelent despite this place being understaffed. I'd definitely come back here again, and recommend it to lots of people.

I ordered every taco on the menu and more. I was also here with my vegan friend who was satisfied with the selection of vegan friendly options. So if you're vegetarian or vegan this place may also be a great...