Taqueria Vallarta

My order was wrong, cold, got mixed up with another customers food and was just bummy never coming back.

The food was decent for the price! They have a salsa bar which is nice and the food is ready really fast!

This place is awesome, great food, big portions, authentic salsa, breakfast burritos and steak burrito are my favorites here with a big cup of Horchata. Service is always good and fast. This place is great for real Mexican food.

Fatty authentic tacos with great salsa and chips. But wait, I thought Mexican tacos are inexpensive. Hmmm, I guess you pay for quality and taste. Taqueria Vallarta serves their super tacos with lots of meat, lettuce plus the authentic cut tomato but I found a taquiera that serves guacamole with their super tacos. The food is good but to get that 4 star you need to serve the guacamole.
Taqueria Vallarta has an extensive line of burritos, tacos and combination dishes.
Doing the olé dance in Santa Cruz…

Fresh produce sets this place apart from some of the other nearby taquerias. If you like carnitas I always get the carnitas super nachos. BOMB

We were driving through Santa Cruz on our way home to San Diego and were craving Mexican food. We decided to stop at this place since the sign in front says authentic Mexican food… There is absolutely NOTHING authentic about this place! Let me clarify that I am of Hispanic decent and know what authentic Mexican food tastes like, so I am perfectly qualified to make this review. The food at this place was tasteless, tortillas were far from authentic Mexican tortillas, more like «Guerrero» tortillas out of a package. I ordered a shrimp taco, the shrimp looked like frozen raw shrimp that was recently defrosted, tortilla was not fully cooked, and it simply had no taste! My husband ordered a shredded chicken taco, it was mediocre at best and his tortillas were not fully cooked either. My daughters rice and beans lacked flavor and her grilled chicken taco was also mediocre. Our «Agua de Pina» drink was watered down and was definitely not fresh! Granted they have unlimited refills on their Agua Frescas… NONE of their «aguas frescas» were fresh! They are a flavored syrup mixed with too much water. The food AND drinks at this place are absolutely horrible! $ 33 down the drain The one good thing I will say about this place is that it was very spacious and appeared clean.

Yummy food, clean bathrooms, & free chips and salsa. Can’t find anything to complain about

Taqueria Vallarta has been the go to spot for post UCSC rides for me and my friends for the past 5 years.
The parking lot is tiny, but we can leave the bikes in the bed of the truck and grab a booth so we can keep an eye on them.
The quality of the food never varies, and the prices are right on point. On my last trip I even got to see the police take down a bum who had allegedly just robbed the local safeway! I mean, where else can you get lunch and a show for under ten bucks?
I love the free chips/​salsa bar, and all the meats are always really tender and have good flavor.
Santa Cruz is full of great little taco spots, and for me this is one of the better ones.

There are lots of good taquerias in Santa Cruz, you have to find your own favorite. Vallarta isn’t the best value, but for our money, the Carne Asada is the tastiest we’ve eaten.

Love them! And they know me since I’m a regular.
Love their tacos and the customer service is always great.

Though I go to all the taquerias around town, this one is my «go to» for best consistent quality of carne asada, carnitas, and el pastor. some have more savory el pastor but I like the meat quality better here in terms of not having any fatty chunks or gristle/​burnt stuff. Ive tried most of the dishes and been satisfied with them all, though only with those meats and chili verde. Ciao!

Food: Delicious, salsa bar all you eat
Service: Excelent, my burrito had sour cream and I forgot to tell them not to put any, they gave me a new one in no time.
Very clean tables and restroom.
Props to the aguas frescas with free refills
A must if you are craving mex food.

I love it here!!! It’s delicious. I love the micheladas they taste great! I also like the shrimp cocktail.

The food is good but the service I did not like. Once my quesadilla came out I asked the man who was working the cash register if he could ask the cook to cut my quesadilla in half he replied by saying no that’s why we give you a plastic knife for. The manager definitely needs to train his employees on customer service

Hot food is a big deal to me. Came out quickly and steaming! Not usually the case for beans, rice, or enchiladas, so I was very pleased. Legit nacho bar.

Stopped by on the way to somewhere, food is good for the low prices. The service is fast and the place is a little dirty. Don’t go into the restrooms if you still want to eat.

I didn’t even know I liked spicy pickled carrots until I ate at this restaurant. Now I’m addicted! The portions are a good size for the price and everything is very fresh. But seriously… you have to try the pickled carrots.

Excellent Mexican food! I live in the Central Valley which can be called the armpit of California and is likely the meth capital of the U.S. BUT you can not beat the Mexican cuisine! Typically Bay Area Mexican food is awful and white-​ified but this place was not. The salsa and chips were great. The meals were reasonable and plentiful. You do need to request refried beans (they gave me whole pintos). I definitely recommend this place!

Our go to place for Mexican food when we’re in the area. With so many locations, you can’t miss running into it while in Santa Cruz!
Food wise, the quality and taste are on par with the best of them. We had the Super Nachos with both carnitas and chorizo. The chips were crisp and light, having a great amount of salt to them. The meats were crispy and tasty! The only thing missing was beans which I thought was part of the package. The kids ordered the Super Nachos with carne asada and a super carnitas burrito. Both were also enjoyable as well! Porton wise, a bit smaller than most other places we’ve been to.
Another plus was the unlimited refills of soda. On the minus side, their aqua frescas looked to have been made from concentrate as they were circulating in those machines normally reseved for pink lemonade, Orange Julius, etc. They tasted fine to my kids, however.

As an avid Chipotle-​goer, I was disappointed to discover that they were closed on New Year’s day, but fortunately they were because we stumbled upon Vallarta nearby, where the food was equally as delicious and fresh!
Straight-​forward Mexcian food with a most excellent price point – my tostada was HUGE and only $ 5! Super casual and quick. Delicious free chips with an awesome salsa bar! Usually I’m pretty weary when it comes to casual spots like this – especially in regards to Mexican – but Vallarta nailed it.
Can’t wait to come back, as everything looked so delicious.