Taqueria Santa Cruz

The main reason why I was attracted to this Taqueria was because when I was vegan, they were able to cater to my dietary needs which, wasn’t so trendy 6 – 8 years ago. And for being a Mexican joint, surprising that they knew what that even meant.
The carne asada is good on anything… along with the chicken. Located near UNLV, we eat there when jonesing for some good Mexican food.
And to us students it’s the little things that matter… they have great salsa and give you chips with every order!

the service was fast & friendly, the place had plenty of seating & 2 flat screen tv’s and a small salsa bar. the menu was a little limited. we were fully expecting this place to have fried quesidillas & tacos and stuff since that seems to be the trademark of taco shops in santa cruz, ca where we visit every summer. the tacos were the same 2 bites tacos everywhere in town for $ 0.99-$ 1.29 but here they wanted $ 2.00 and the meat was tender & spicy but the cilantro was so dry i could smoke it, the salsa bar was empty and offered no carrots, radishes or jalapenos just salsas & cilantro mix and pico de gallo which was a little dry too. overall the food was decent but overpriced, some of the enormous burritos people were eating looked real good. they did provide everyone a bag or basket of tortilla chip s but they were way burned and not salted. they did have coca-​cola in a glass 16 oz bottle.

Being from Cali, I must say that although this place was not bad, it certainly does not compare to Taqueria’s back in the Bay Area! I mean don’t get me wrong, the food is authentic Mexican. But what influenced my decision to give a crappy review were two things. One, I had the Carne Asada Super Burrito, good price, good ingredients except for one small problem… The meat was burned! Nothing like biting into a Tasty looking Super Burrito only to bite into meat ashes! Mmm, yummy. Finally lost my appetite about half way through my burrito after coping with the annoyance of meat ashes in every bite I took.

The Second reason is that my girl friend hated it! She was not feeling her burrito one bit! So, normally I would be willing to give this place one more try next time I’m in Vegas, but the gf says we are never going there again! Sad too because what brought me there to begin with was all the great reviews on Unilocal

a hidden gem in the target shopping center. total home-​style feel. many things are excellent, like the al pastor and the carne asada. they have the whole rico menudo thing on the weekend, but i don’t eat bowls of soup with tripe in it, call me lame.

I’ve been eating there for … like 6 – 7 years already. Almost since they’ve opened and never been disappointed. I don’t come that often any more not because food got worse :) — only because I cook at home most of the time these days but if I’m in no mood to cook Taqueria is always on my casual dine-​out list.
As for menu: tacos are great — con lengua are my favorite ones, I also get fish tacos sometimes. Burritos are good too — I like one with shrimp (they put quite a bit of shrimp in them). Actually I think you’ll be safe ordering anything off the menu and you’ll guaranteed to walk away full.
Mmm… I’m already hungry :)

Just your typical little hole in the wall Mom and Pop restaurant with excellent Mexican Food.
Wasn’t sure what would be good here so opted to try three different types of Meat out in their tacos.
Beef, Pork (not the BBQ kind), and Pollo. YUM! Let me just say this. The pieces of meat were small and filled the entire soft corn tortilla shells perfectly. Not the little dinky corn tortillas like you’d find in LA these are the medium sized ones and if you’re like me one would probably be enough and 3 would be plenty for a big hungry boy. I
took a bite of each kind without seasoning them (added lime, tomato salsa, and avocado later). BY far hands down the Beef was my favorite meat. It had the most flavor of the three and was cooked perfectly. The pork came in second and the chicken third (with the least flavor). Beef definitely won by a landslide and the seasoning only helped it even more.
The home made chips were a little thick and if you catch yourself eating them while you’re waiting for your meal you may not have room when it gets there.
The Horchata was PERFECT! Some places make this cinnamon rice drink entirely too sweet. This guy must love this stuff because his is one of the best I have ever tasted and I’ve had a lot of Horchata!
The rice and beans were nothing to write home about unfortunately. I had high hopes for them after my friend had bragged to me about how much he loved this Mexican restaurant. The beans were a little dry and certainly refried. The rice was fine but the beans just didn’t help it. Would have loved a little more moisture and a little more flavor here. But overall everything was great!
The prices are VERY reasonable so even if you choose something you’re not a huge fan of you won’t feel like you’re wasting a ton of money.
NYC’s over priced horrible Mexican food just makes me appreciate a place like this even more.
Kudos to this Taqueria (originally from Santa Cruz) for bringing their business to the locals in Vegas.
Date Rating: 1
Pick up Scale: 1
Strong Suggestions: Just order «Take out» or grab a quick bite when you’re running an errand. Not a place to have a formal dinner party but you will enjoy the food.