Eating Tacos Gardenias’ tacos was one of the best part about my trip! On a 5 day trip, I came here 4 times! They have such delicious margaritas too(mango is highly recommended), and the servers are very nice. One thing I did not like about Cabo was that the servers hovered over you as you waited to pay, but never once did they do that here. I would recommend getting the grilled shrimp taco and the beef burrito. I also love that they give you the condiments to put on your tacos, and they have their own sauce that is super spicy but delicious. I would want to come back to Cabo just for this taco place. Also, it is super cheap too! I got 2 tacos and a margarita for roughly $ 10.
Gabi C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Gold Coast, Australia
This place is a must go if you’re in Cabo! The best fish taco I’ve ever had! Great service, fresh food & so reasonably priced! We had 5 tacos & a drink each, including a generous tip it was $ 250 pesos! Thanks gardenia :)
Andrew E.
Rating des Ortes: 5 La Jolla, CA
Awesome authentic Mexican food with great prices. Went there with my family and we got the seafood soup(loaded with seafood), campechana which was pretty good, and an assortment of tacos. I had the grilled shrimp, barbacoa, and cochinita. The shrimp was decent but the other two were amazing. Very flavorful and good portions for the price. A great little spot that everyone should visit.
Mau's C.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Tuckahoe, NY
Great shrimp tacos. Did not like the others at all. Would only come back for shrimp. Tried to be adventurous but didn’t work out. Horchata off the menu beverage is delicious. Will definitely return for shrimp tacos only.
Tim S.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Surprise, AZ
So, I was looking through some old pictures and came across a few of them from spots in Mexico. Up until a few years ago, you couldn’t even write reviews for establishments in Mexico here on Unilocal.Well, you know what? Times have changed! Mexico reviews are incoming! Buckle up buttercup! Tacos Gardenias! To this day, the best fish tacos I have ever had! We came here 3 different times during 2 separate trips to Cabo. Each and every time, the tacos were amazing! Gardenias is located off the main strip, kind of behind the mall and fire station. If you ask anyone in town, they can point you in the right direction. It’s an open enclosure and you just walk in and grab a seat wherever. They have different types of tacos, but I would highly recommend you stick with the shrimp/fish options. They come to your table«naked» and then you dress them yourself. They provide you with a nice condiment tray with all sorts of options(salsa, cabbage. limes, crema etc.) I’m a pretty simple man, so I just dressed mine with some pico, a little cabbage, and some hot sauce. The fish and shrimp are battered perfectly, fried to a crisp golden brown, and just flat out delicious(I heard they use halibut… cant confirm, but it is a «meatier» fish). Like I said earlier, still to this day, haven’t had a better fish taco anywhere! Prices back then were just under $ 2.00 a taco. 3 – 4 tacos and a Mexican Coke for about $ 10.00. Can’t beat it! I hope I can make it back here someday. I think about these tacos often, and even when I get a really, really good fish taco here in the States, I always think about how perfect the ones at Gardenias are! Definitely a must stop if you are down in Cabo! Simply the best!
Season S.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Los Angeles, CA
Amazing! My brother has been raving about this place for years and we finally tried it. The fries & grilled shrimp tacos were amazing. The beef burrito and sea bass taco were also fantastic. This is definitely an amazing must-try hot spot. $ 80 for lunch & beer for 8 people! Can’t be beat!!!
Jason M.
Rating des Ortes: 5 San Diego, CA
The epitome of a Mexican fish taco. Fresh fish, fried perfectly and placed on a fresh flour tortilla. An absolute must while in cabo.
Marci A.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Belmont Shore, CA
authentic mexican food! this place was awesome and great escape from bland all inclusive resort foods. chicken quesadilla: loaded with meat and homemade tortilla. nopales taco! so good! i wish my nopales at gome came out as good as theirs. you wont even miss the meat. served with portable topping station of gauc, salsas, fresh onions, and super fresh cabbage. ceviche pulpo y camaron: packed with seafood! tons of flavor with unlimited chips and crackers. highly suggest this place if you are in cabo
Vanessa K.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Concord, CA
Pretty good for fish and shrimp tacos — fried. Decent price too. This is near a lot of the resorts in the area. Wouldn’t say it was amazing. Did have some concern for cleanliness, but no one was sick, so it’s okay.
Kimberly T.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Fairfax, VA
My least favorite place from the entire trip. I was hesitant to come here at first, but since it was near our Airbnb, we decided to give it a try. Decent service, but overall mediocre tacos. I shared the barbacoa, fried fish, chicaron tacos with my boyfriend, nothing worth raving about. The most enjoyable part of the meal was their seafood soup, you could really taste the richness of the broth from all of the juices that were absorbed into the soup. If you’re looking for authentic tacos though, suggest going to Tacos Guss or Los Claros Jr instead.
Evan J.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Phoenix, AZ
The absolute best fish and shrimp tacos of my life. I’ve eaten at every taco dive around Cabo and this is my #1 favorite. So fresh and delish. Great setting, great salsa, easy parking, great staff, authentic Mexican tacos, wonderful ceviche and cocteles. Even the barbacoa and al pastor was great. Highly recommend. Love this place.
Nathan K.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Riverside, CA
We had a great experience here! The food was amazing. Obviously we had tacos but we also tried the seafood soup. The tacos were great. We had a variety including chicarron, fish, shrimp and beef. Definitely don’t miss the fish and shrimp. They were our favorite. The tacos are delivered with a variety of salsas, toppings and cabbage so you can dress them to your liking. The seafood soup was completely LOADED with seafood. Most restaurants skimp on the seafood but not here. It was so delicious. We’re here for a few more days and I know we will n end up here at least once more before we head home. Don’t miss this place.
Vishal P.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Tallahassee, FL
Came cabo for three days and ate here twice. This is your ideal place to grab tacos. All the toppings and sauces come separately in tray. They offer variety of meats. I went deep sea fishing and brought my filets here to have them cook it. Lady asked me how I want my fish cooked. I told her grilled and fried. She ended up not using all of it and kindly return the rest to me. Highly recommend this place. Cheap and good!
Eddie L.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Las Vegas, NV
Supposedly the best fish taco in Cabo. This place has been open since 1980. We had the seafood soup, fish, pork, and shrimp taco. The horchata was the best that I had tasted in Cabo so far. Seafood soup was very fresh. The condiments for the taco were decent. I prefer Taco Guss. The tacos itself were fresh. The fish one was the best one. Not a bad place for tacos.
Rachael S.
Rating des Ortes: 1 San Francisco, CA
BLEH!!! SOBAD!!! Can here off of a recommendation — Unilocal reviews also looked positive, so thought we were in for a treat. SORELY disappointed! We tried the shrimp ceviche and three tacos to split(grilled fish, shrimp, and BBQ pork per the recommendation of the waitor). Best part was that it was not all that expensive, so we didn’t feel bad walking out feeling that gut-rot guilt you feel if you over pay for something terrible. But none the less, we left disappointed and wishing we would have indulged in the fish tacos at 12 Tribes that are WAY more fresh, HUGE in portion size, and WAY better bang for your buck. The best of the tacos was the BBQ pork — it’s really the only one that had flavor at all. The seafood ones — both the fish and shrimp, were super greasy, over cooked, and under-flavored. The ceviche was the worst thing of all. We pretty much lived off ceviche our entire week in Cabo — and couldn’t bring ourselves to eat more than a couple of forkfuls of this stuff. Not only was the shrimp rubbery and felt like it had been sitting around for way too long… but it also had the worst seasoning ever. We couldn’t put our fingers on what it was — but my best guess was celery seed… eew! Gross. Anyway, it was so full when the waitor came back, he actually commented on it. He asked if we didn’t like it, and we kindly but honestly told him the truth. Not that it made any difference anyway, we were still charged for it. Would have paid for it anyway, but the offer to take it off of the bill would at least been a nice gesture. I don’t know why this place his highly rated. Only conclusion I can come to is 1) the folks rating this place highly don’t know good seafood or 2) were buzzed(or in my opinion, wasted) to have to enjoy the offerings at this place. Will NOT be back. Check out 12 Tribes like I mentioned — just up the road at the Casa Dorada hotel — if you’re looking for a delicious and inexpensive lunch spot. I highly recommend their fish tacos.
Lisa W.
Rating des Ortes: 5 San Diego, CA
The best seafood cocktail in all of Cabo, it’s one bold statement to make! It’s one for the seafood lovers and not the meat lovers here. Their seafood cocktail is about 90% seafood and 10% juice, where as other places have about 60⁄40 ratio. Here, you will get a spoon full of seafood and goodies every time. It was thick and full of whole shrimp, scallops(or sea snail of they don’t have scallops) and octopus. I believe it was called the campechana(mix seafood). The tacos however were good but not the best fish tacos in Cabo. Their best tacos were the grilled fish(big olé slab) and the barbacoa(shredded beef). I also tried their seafood soup, it was like a cioppino but every bite had seafood in it! I love it. You don’t come here for tacos(go to Taco Guss for meat tacos, go to Tres Islas for fried fish tacos) you come here for the ceviche and seafood cocktail! You will not be disappointed in the portion of seafood mixed in there and flavors. We ended up coming back for their seafood cocktail after having tried another place and was disappointed. This is the best seafood cocktail and ceviche! Note: please tip them. Service isn’t the best but these people work hard and make a minimal, we were told 8 hour shift at $ 7 for the day. A buck or two goes a long way. We came upon a couple who didn’t tip because(and I quote) the exchange rate is 16 and the restro converted at 14(if paid in USD), the girl said«the difference is your tip» NO! That’s NOTHOWITWORKS you imbecile. He doesn’t get the difference, it goes to the restaurant and it’s different everywhere! That’s no excuse to tip nothing you cheap asses! The server was nice and we felt bad for him so we gave him a 20% tip, it covers us and the cheap asses that had no common sense.
Heihachiro K.
Rating des Ortes: 5 North Park, San Diego, CA
Five stars for the Campechana Seafood Cocktail. I’m addicted to that stuff. I don’t know what it is about it but they made it on point and it hit the spot. I highly recommend Taco Gardenia to anyone who visits Cabo just to try their Campechana. I can’t believe how good it was. It came with an assortment of shrimp, octopus and sea snails bathed in a heavy lime/fish/clamato– like juice piled high over the top of the serving bowl. I couldn’t believe the density of seafood. The ratio of seafood to liquid in this dish was perfect. You had just enough juice for every bite of seafood, but not so much to compromise the protein serving. Like I said, it was muy perfecto. No complaints here. Campechana Seafood Cocktail — best food I had in Cabo, besides the tacos at Guss. Barbacoa Taco — pulled beef, nicely done. Slow cooked and saucy! Grilled fish — very good, super fresh, not fishy, I’m ok with it not being fried. Chicharito Taco — pulled pork, very nice. It was slow cooked and had a saucy flavor. Camerones Taco — fresh grilled shrimp, es Bueno! *Just a regular restaurant in Cabo, but it beats the hell out of Cabo Wabo and those other fancy rip off corporate joints that suck. This place is all about the food. Great restaurant and I’ll be back!
Louisa M.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Las Vegas, NV
Everybody’s a critic when it comes to food but the Cabo San Lucas online review taco wars seem to be the most divisive of any foodie place on Earth! One Unilocaler’s «best taco in the world» is another’s «worst taco ever.» So take all of this with a grain of salt on your margarita glass. Tacos Gardenias is just«okay.» Will these grilled shrimp tacos change your life? Nope. But are they good to fill your belly without costing a fortune? Yep. I wouldn’t go out of my way to seek this place out but if you happen to be walking by, you could do worse than stopping here for a snack. The open air restaurant has a neat thatched roof and a small bar up front, with an open air kitchen and reasonably clean restrooms in the back. The tacos were salty and pretty tasty, but I enjoyed the soft corn tortillas and the fixings better than the fillings. The shredded slaw and spicy salsas were the star of the show. I found the table service to be fast and friendly. This place also accepts credit cards, really nice if you have just arrived in town and have yet to hit up a local ATM to get some pesos. Another tip: If you are seated by the street and the front entrance, be prepared to be hit up by beggars wanting some change or a free beer or taco. This doesn’t bother me but it really made the large group at the table next to us squirm.
R C.
Rating des Ortes: 5 San Francisco, CA
I had a laugh reading a few of the reviews stating their ‘expertise’(«We speak Spanish» & «I’m from SoCal so I know what a good fish taco is». Really? Let me break it down for you: if you are looking for high end tourist comforts or cheap street food this is not the place. What it is simply is great tacos, mariscos y gente. The proprietors Guillermo y Marta are beautiful people and they make sure you enjoy your meal, made a lot easier with great food. They’ve been running this place for more than 25 yrs, which is only part of the story. The prices are very reasonable for Cabo, not a tourist trap by any means but you can certainly find cheap street tacos if that’s what you are looking for. And for those who say service is slow, I say chill out, you’re in Mexico. The meal is meant to be enjoyed. If this is your mindset, do not pass go and make sure to stop by.
Edith V.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Monterrey, México
Camino a la playa, caminando desde Lázaro Cardenas esta este lugarcito que me llamó la atención por su olor a pescado frito. Tienen desayunos comidas, cenas, etc. Yo desayuné quesadillas y tacos tipo baja, con 2 estas muy bien, si traes mucha hambre unos 3. Están super bien servidos, tienen buenas salsas y el sazón esta muy rico. Son tacos estilo baja pero también tienen sopa de tortilla y cosas por el estilo. Buena atención, puedes pedir para llevar, no es caro y tienen bebidas naturales como jugo de naranja, jamaica, etc. Yo entré por curiosidad pero la verdad me gustaron más de lo que esperaba. Los recomiendo muchísimo!
Allene T.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Manhattan, NY
I, like many others here, saw the rave 5-star reviews for Tacos Gardenias and immediately made my way over on the first day of my trip. It’s located behind Plaza Paradiso. It’s pretty much al fresco dining with a roof over your head. Service is pretty decent. However, the tacos here, compared to the many other tacos I had in Cabo San Lucas that week, were just average. So-so. They come very, very naked and bare looking like most other places, and you dress them up yourselves with the sauces and garnishes they put on your table. However, something about the tacos here just looked even more naked than the others I had. The fish taco was not really that amazing, not hot enough, and wasn’t flavorful at all and I’ve had way better nopales(cactus) tacos in NYC. For a taco joint in Mexico, my expectations were just a lot higher. I wouldn’t expect NYC to have BETTER tacos. The secret sauce was also just meh. Not really spicy, not really anything. Prices were okay — they’re not really that cheap compared to the other taco places in CBS. Sorry, going to have to disagree with the reviews here.
Ricardo Z.
Rating des Ortes: 5 México, D.F., México
Si estas de vaciones en Cabo San Lucas y ya te cansaste de ir a los lugares que tanto recomiendan a los turistas, te recomiendo este lugar. Es un restaurante que lleva 30 años de estar despachando los mejores tacos estilo Baja de la zona. Ya sea de pescado o camaron empanizado o la version light a la plancha, son estúpendos. El lugar no es nada pretensioso pero la comida es muy buena, tambien tiene unas campechanas de tamaño grande que son deliciosas pero si no estas con ganas de mariscos tambien tienen tacos de chicharron en salsa o cochinita o barbacoa(recordar que la barbacoa de estos lares es de res) y son excelentes cualquiera. Tambien la sopa de tortilla o la sopa de mariscos tambien son estupendas y todo esto lo puedes acompañar de un buen clamato, cerveza o chelada o si tienes garganta mas dura con un buen tequila. Esta muy cerca de la marina, osea que no tienes pretextos y abre de 8am a 10pm.