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    Cafe El Palomar

    3.2 (366 reviews)
    Closed 8:00 am - 8:00 pm

    Cafe El Palomar Photos

    Business Info

    CAFE EL PALOMAR ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Cafe El Palomar

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    Relleno, chile verde, rice, beans
    Panette P.

    Chile verde, relleno, rice, beans- it was flavorful and excellent. Generous portion and goid price. First time eating there on a late Sat afternoon. Service was prompt, friendly and attentive. Great location for harbor, icean and beach views.

    Shrimp tostadas
    Ray T.

    I used to dine at the downtown location a long time ago and always enjoyed the food there. We tired the cafe this afternoon for dinner. It's right on the water with great views of the ocean and harbor. It's not very large but well kept and clean. It has a diner vibe with a pretty good menu and drinks to offer. It was early so it wasn't very crowded. We got seated immediately and were greeted by our waitress shortly thereafter. I ordered the chile colorado (which is made with pork vs beef) with rice and beans for sides. My cousin ordered the shrimp tostadas. Mine was good but it was only warm and not hot which would have been ok but the plate was not heated so by the middle of the meal my food was pretty cool. The flavor was spot on and the pork wasn't bad. The beans and rice were good. My cousin enjoyed the tostadas. The salsa here is very good, very tasty! Overall the experience was good but it could have been much better with hot vs warm food. One final note the flour tortillas that came with my meal were pretty small and they only provided 2.

    Looking out to the beach
    Tom B.

    It is a beautiful beachside location with nice views and a relaxed atmosphere. I came here randomly on didn't know much about this Mexcican style restaurant. It seems to be well established and a bit dated, yet clean and cared for in general. We were seated after a bit of a wait as no one was around at the reception area, and when the receptionist came, she seemed somewhat indifferent and not engaging. Although not at the windows, we still had a good enough view outside, and chips and salsa were brought to the table. Both were fine, yet nothing was very noteworthy. The menu is broad with many of the typical 'Mexican', albeit it American version, dishes. They had fish tacos listed as a special on a menu board at the entrance, so l decided to try that. First, I ordered a jalapeño margarita, which was just fine, yet again, nothing special, and hardly any intensity of spicy jalapeño flavor. The glass was rimmed with spicy salt, and there were some sliced jalapeños in the drink, but I got no spicy punch out of it, as if watered down. There were two fish tacos and beans/rice on the dish. The fish tacos were OK, the breading adequate, yet overall, it lacked flavor. Bland tacos, just don't do it for me. Sorry, but the entire experience seemed very ordinary and lacked any pizzaz. It just fell flat, although nothing horrible... just middle of the road Mexican fare.

    Chicken enchilada
    Christina T.

    So first heads up. This restaurant is in the same strip mall as The Crows Nest. So parking is a pain. But if you are at all familiar with the harbor, Twin Lakes, or the area in general this shouldn't be a surprise. Now on to the food. I actually really like their food! I personally think their enchiladas are the best thing on their menu. I always get my dish with black beans and typically get a chicken enchilada. I really don't remember a time I've been disappointed. Back when I used to live closer, my best friend and I would come for the street tacos and we're never disappointed. I'm also unsure what chips they use/buy/make but they are good along with good fresh salsa. Service however can be hit or miss. Sometimes, like our most recent visit, it's great! Other times, lackluster at best. Honestly it depends how busy the bar is. Speaking of the bar, it can get LOUD thx to those sitting at the bar. So if you can sit more towards the entrance it helps. Overall, I'd recommend Cafe El Palomar if you're in the area

    Vinnie C.

    Walked over from Twin Lakes and had a early dinner. The Shrimp enchiladas, Carne asada fajitas and tacos were all really good. My Cadillac Margarita was off the hook - I loved it. We'll be back often!!

    Benches outside sitting nice shot of the lighthouse
    Mel M.

    Food Very good taste authentic Service Quick friendly Ambiance Very bizzy but some how peaceful I took pics of all the art outside and the benches for sitting beautiful Try the lunch special #3 sope Very good

    Jalapeño Poppers and Paloma cocktail with a view. Both were very tasty. Volleyball at Harbor Beach was fun to watch too.
    Danielle H.

    The food was ok, but it's really about the view and ambiance. Drinks are really tasty too. Chile verde was good but the rice and beans were lackluster, kinda bland. The salsa was great and worked nicely on the beans and rice though. We also ordered the jalapeño poppers and they were delicious - a lot of them came in the order as well.

    Combo fajita

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    10 months ago

    Located at the Harbor with views of the beach and ocean. Staff was attentive and professional. Food was flavorful.

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    10 months ago

    We ABSOLUTELY LOVEthis restaurant! We are regular customers, and they've spoiled us for Mexican food!!!!!!!!!!!

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    1 year ago

    Food was not that great and pricey for what it was. Location is wonderful and service was fair.

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    Page 1 of 10

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    The Real Taco

    4.4(159 reviews)
    2.1 mi
    Family-owned & operated
    Outdoor seating

    All the way from Tahoe and man oh man that burrito was amazing and there's parking which is a hard…read morething to find around here haha Stop on by Quick update the next day I stopped for a veggie taco the next day....BEST TACO I've ever had. Great flavor and the veggie taco has rice!! Yum Service is fast very nice as well and there are a few tables out front to sit and eat. Stop here you won't be disappointed

    Had lunch here today with the family…read more.. Pros- food was tasty. There were plenty of seats, both shaded and in the sun. Very dog friendly...including ours, there were 4 dogs in total. It's also in a cool location, several other eateries and drink spots to check out. We had 2 super burritos that were customized (one no sour cream, one no beans, both with 2 meats. The crispy beef tacos (fam favorite), and a fish taco (too spicy for me!), oh and chips and salsa. Cons- the super burritos were supposed to come with guacamole, but neither did. Didn't think about it until my son asked, but we were pretty much done eating at that point. We also had to pay for chips and salsa. Never a fan of that. The bag of chips and the salsa containers were also small. If you're going to charge, you should make it worth it for the customer(s). With tip, it was just over $70 bucks in total. Overall we all enjoyed our meal. Next time I'll look for the guacamole earlier, to make sure we get it! The location is near my son's place, so we will likely be back!

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    Copal - QUESADILLAS DEL MERCADO w/ added chicken

    Copal

    4.2(440 reviews)
    2.0 mi
    $$

    delicious oaxacan food, very hard to find in the bay area. i dont live very close but will be…read morecoming back

    I can't remember the last time I ate somewhere where everything was really good and the service was…read moregreat. My fiancé and I came with our dog and were seated in their patio. The patio is covered and there's a pathway leading to it from the parking lot which is helpful if you have a dog with you. The server immediately offered to bring us some water for our dog in a to-go container. The table already had a water carafe and clean glasses. We ordered our coke zeros, the antojito platter, ceviche, two mole negros and lechecilla for dessert. The ceviche was fresh and the tostadas were crispy. We marveled at all that came with the antojito platter. It came with taquitos, memelitas, molote, quesadilla with epazote and mushroom, chapulines, some queso fresco and a small serving of guacamole, salsa and pickled red onions. Everything was delicious. I even worked up the courage to have a chapulin and it actually tasted good! Perfect portions to share and still feel a bit full off of it. I've had mole negro before and each time was forgettable. When we tasted our mole negro, we immediately knew that what we were having was legit. So many complex flavors coming together beautifully. We already stuffed ourselves with the appetizers, so we had to take the rest to go which pained us because it was so good. We wanted to finish it right then and there because it was warm and tasty. It was still great the next day as leftovers. The dish came with big tortillas and some rice which had some slight flavor to it. I told my fiancé that if all this food was this good, we couldn't leave without trying their dessert. We got the lechecilla. It tasted like a Mexican chocolate panna cottage but creamier since panna cotta uses gelatin. It came with strawberries, whipped cream and I think a dusting of chocolate or cinnamon. We devoured it quickly. Servers were attentive and very patient. Like I said, we brought our dog with us. We kept having to readjust her so she wasn't laying out in the servers' way (she's a German Shepherd and Husky) but she still decided to lay down in their path numerous times (we tried!) and even then the servers were very kind. They checked on us frequently too. We know we will definitely be back.

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    El Palomar - El Palomar Restaurant - Front View

    El Palomar

    3.7(1.1k reviews)
    1.6 mi
    $$

    A delicious choice for every occasion. I've been coming here for over 20 years and love it. The…read moremain restaurant, with its deep booths and beautiful high painted ceilings, is a lovely destination for fancy dinners. The bar is a great date spot, and the taco bar (?) in the dar back is perfect for a quick bite or drink with a buddy. Their chips and salsa are next level. I love coming here for lunch when I work in downtown Santa Cruz.

    3.5 stars. We were looking for a spot to eat after doing a hike at Henry Cowell and found this…read moreplace tucked away on the main street. After not being able to get in at a few other spots, this place didn't have a wait time. Let me get this out of the way first. Service was *excellent.* The interior of the restaurant almost looked like an old church with its arched ceilings and tiled floors. It lent to a very old Mexican Pueblo Town Vibe inside. The outdoor patio (after seeing it) almost made me wish we sat outside after seeing how bright it was out there. It was very dark inside compared to how it was in the patio area. So why the 3.5 stars? The food. Coming from East Side San Jose where Mexican food is plentiful and done well, I can't say that this place came close. The chicken inside the taquitos were so dry inside that I kept wondering if it was shredded chicken that sat out for a long period of time because the juice was sucked out of it. Now let's move onto the beans. I love me some refried beans and these tasted bland. I was so disappointed. The rice was good however I've had better. As for the Asado Rollos which were described to us as a chimichanga that is sliced up, I was also left wanting for more. Taste wise it was lacking. It had all the fillings in there but after having one slice, I was done. There was one thing that was the star of the show here. It was the complimentary chips and salsa which was refilled several times by the staff. These were addicting and probably could have just had these on their own.

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    El Palomar - Dining Room

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    Taqueria Jalapeños - Breakfast burrito with chorizo

    Taqueria Jalapeños

    3.9(204 reviews)
    1.4 mi
    $

    first and foremost i want to plea to the cooks : STOP ACCOMMODATING TO WHITE PEOPLES TASTES BUDS!!…read moreADD THAT SALT AND SPICE!! PLEASE!!! i truly do not want to say the quality is suffering from when i used to get them. I lived two blocks down and they were always my go-to. gen some of the best tacos in downtown santa cruz. ny partner got a carnitas burrito and the flavor was just lacking so much in the beans and rice. i added my fav green sauce to every bite which was upsetting bc i love that sauce and used more of it faster. ill still go whenever i need a good taco - unsure if they do taco tuesdays still but def a good time to try them out. their horchata is also one of my favs in town!!

    Semi-affordable, and decent food, but temper your expectations…read more At Taqueria Jalapeños you'll find relatively affordable and average tasting Mexican food. The shop is tight, compact, and grungy. Parking is minimal but there are a few spaces outside the restaurant.. But what the shop lacks for in size they make up in character. Once you enter, you are greeted with a wide menu with plenty of options that range from weekly specials to Birria Tacos to name a few options. When I had their special California Burrito I was a bit disappointed by the quality of the meat. The carne asada was tough and was full of cartilage. It came to a point where I had to dissect the burrito to remove the carne in order to enjoy the burrito. I will probably not be returning unless there is truly nothing open in the area and I am absolutely starving.

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    Taqueria Jalapeños - Fanta onto the street

    Fanta onto the street

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    Cafe El Palomar - mexican - Updated May 2026

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