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    Peppers Mexicali Cafe

    4.0 (936 reviews)
    ModerateMexican
    Closed 11:30 am - 8:30 pm

    Peppers Mexicali Cafe Photos

    PEPPERS MEXICALI CAFE ATMOSPHERE

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

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    Recommended Reviews - Peppers Mexicali Cafe

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    Trevis M.

    Peppers Mexicali is one of those local gems you're glad you stumbled upon. The moment you walk in, the warm, friendly service makes you feel like a regular even if it's your first visit. The portions are generous and you definitely won't leave hungry. I ordered a beef dish and was blown away by how tender the meat was. It practically melted in my mouth. Their sauces are another level too. flavorful, with just the right kick, and clearly made in-house with care. Everything from the chips and salsa to the entrées was fresh and full of flavor. Add in the chill, laid-back vibe and quick, attentive service, and you've got the kind of place you keep coming back to.

    House Margarita
    Angela D.

    It's worth the wait! Great Mexican Food. The tortillas are hot and fresh. My husband and I shared the fajitas to save room for dessert. It was perfect. The restaurant is small with a small bar. The line to get in on a Wednesday night was a 45min wait... still worth it!

    menu
    Leslie C.

    This restaurant has very nice outdoor seating with heaters!! Service was ok. i asked for salt but it never showed up. Ordered the swordfish fajitas and the chile verde with side salad instead of rice and beans. Everything was tasty, portions were huge and pricing was reasonable. Not the best mexican food i've had but a reasonable option.

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    Leah B.

    Super kind and helpful staff. Took my order and sent it to kitchen immediately. Walking distance to the beach. Nice spot with great food.

    Christina G.

    "DO ELSEWHERE!!!" $27 for a taco plate by myself. Clumpy rice with no color or flavor, beans no flavor, meat was chewy with nerve... Service, nobody came by. Good thing I didn't bring my RV group or I would have been so embarrassed! I packed the the food and gave it to a homeless guy! My go to place is 10 minutes up the road on Forest: Sarita's Mexican Grill Restaurant, 21 Soledad, Monterey 93940.

    Lauren D.

    We're in town visiting family and decided to stop in. We were able to walk in at around 5;30-6 on a Saturday and get an outdoor table for 7+ adults. The staff was extremely accommodating. As busy as it was, our food and drinks came out quickly. Everything was correct and we couldn't have been happier with the service. The cherry on top was the location of their outdoor area. Our kids could run around in an empty side lot which was extremely helpful!

    Mimi V.

    After hearing about how good the garlic shrimps are on Yelp, we decided to go there to give it a try. It doesn't taste like Mexican food because it was in a creamy white sauce. It was not bad. But there is no Mexican Spices to it. Before we order, we had asked how much for a side of Carnes asada and the waitress said $6.95. So we ordered the garlic shrimps plate ($23.95) and add on a side order of Carnes Asada. Then on the receipt they charged us $16.95 for a side of Carnes Asada. Are you kidding me? If we had known that we could of order a whole meal instead. They also charged you for service fee. With that cost you can get better food somewhere else.

    Chips
    Brian B.

    It's a very nice place. The food is tasty, and the service and ambience is wonderful. Just beware, as Mexicali places go, Peppers leans heavily into the Cali in presentation. I had the special salmon tacos and my wife had the Tacos Al Carbon. My salmon was very good and her skirt steak was perfect. But, these were served on flour tortillas. Flour tortillas are for burritos. Tacos go on soft corn tortillas. The condiments were shredded leaf lettuce and some grated cheddar and Monterey Jack. The also had a little bowl of pico and another of their guacamole. There was no cilantro, and the pico was primarily just diced tomatoes. Their guacamole is delicious, as are their margaritas. The red and green salsas they bring with their chips are quite good as well. I found the black beans tasty, and the rice boring. Seeing those flour tortillas served with tacos though was Roy.

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    5 months ago

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    8 days ago

    The best Mexican food in PG... but I miss their outdoor seating. The tacos al carbon are fantastic.

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    1 year ago

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    1 year ago

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    2 months ago

    I've been dinning there for years. I highly recommend this dining experience. Service and food are all exceptional

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    7 months ago

    Very tasty usual Mexican fare. Ate outside, very nice. Had the special chicken tamale.

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    Page 1 of 24

    Ask the Community - Peppers Mexicali Cafe

    Do you guys cater?

    No.

    Are they a Pepsi or coke place?

    Coke.

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    Michael's Grill & Taqueria - Blackened Chicken Sandwich

    Michael's Grill & Taqueria

    4.4(505 reviews)
    1.0 mi
    $$

    Michael's is a Pacific Grove staple. It's got that "California casual" vibe with a weird but…read moreperfect mix of Mexican, Texan, and even some Cajun influences. You can tell it's been a local favorite for decades--the hand-scrawled signs and slogans everywhere give it so much character. They've been around for 40 years! The Blackened Chicken sandwich is what they're famous for, and it lives up to the hype as I've been ordering it since middle school. It's got a solid kick, and that buttermilk garlic dressing they use is addictive. If you're leaning more toward the taqueria side, the Blackened Shrimp Tacos and the Steak Fajitas are the move. I also get the House Burrito a lot as it's one of their famous specialties. Everything feels fresh and grilled, not greasy, which is a nice change of pace. The service is fast and friendly and the portions are huge for the price. It's a small, no-frills spot inside, but they have plenty of seating and a steady stream of locals picking up takeout which is always a good sign. Every meal comes with chips and salsa! Pro tip: They're closed on Sundays, so make sure you get your fix during the week. Definitely the best spot in PG for a quick, high-quality lunch that won't break the bank.

    My wife and I came in to Michael's Grill one evening to satisfy our craving for Mexican Food but…read moreunfortunately left unsatisfied :( I understand this restaurant is here to satisfy and appease its community of Pacific Grove but to be honest as a Mexican/American myself.. this is not authentic Mexican food sorry and I'm not even mad at the restaurant for what it serves. I'm just letting those know who are planning to visit and planning on eating Authentic Mexican food this is not it. Service is fabulous and ambiance is very nice but food wise it's personally not for me. Canned sauce uncut chicken strips, ground beef and no real authentic flavoring is not authentic in my opinion I'm just giving my honest raw review but overall the employees seem happy customers are happy and this place good share of people eating in and picking up and I couldn't be more happy for the owners to have this working out because the restaurant business can be a brutal business and I give props to anyone starting one up let alone keeping one going for many years.

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    Michael's Grill & Taqueria - Chips n salsa

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    Combo - most delicious!

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    Aquino's Birrieria & Brunch - Al Pastor Street Tacos

    Aquino's Birrieria & Brunch

    3.8(287 reviews)
    1.0 mi
    $$

    Aquino's Birrieria & Brunch: Highly recommended by a life-long local, I arrived and placed a…read moretakeout order for a Quesabirria Taco & a Birria Super Burrito. It was 4pm on a TUE & I was the sole customer. During my short wait, I was amused by the old Chinese decor. Back at my hotel I opened the neatly packed heavy duty containers (see pic). Wow! The food was as delicious as it looked. Every ingredient was tastable! I had to slow down to make my enjoyment last. Aquino's is no average Mexican restaurant. It's now in my top 5 - and I'm from Los Angeles! Can't wait to go back.

    We stumbled upon this place to dine-in because a restaurant in the same plaza was closed. We didn't…read morerealize this place was closing in 20 mins, but they were happy to let us order to go. The food was okay. We were going more for some casual quick eats, so I ordered an al pastor taco and guacamole and chips. Al pastor is my preferred choice of meat so when the staff member also recommended the al pastor, I was totally looking forward to it. However it was a good 3.5 in flavor, contains pineapple, but they were definitely marinated with canned pineapple pieces. The cook and char on the pork was okay, it was tasty, but I've definitely had my share of fantastic tacos having lived in San Diego and Los Angeles. I really expected more from the guacamole because typically it's not that hard to mess up. Unfortunately it was bland, straight avocado with no sign of any spices, chile, onion, etc. and portion size was smaller in comparison with the amount of chips given. I even tried to add their spicy green salsa and lime wedge from my taco to it and those items couldn't even help the flavor profile. Chips were warm, but also lacked flavor, like salt as well. Decor was interesting and eclectic because it seemed they took over a previous asian restaurant and have not quite finished renovating or they are just choosing to keep that decor up. Service was good since we ordered to go. If I'm ever in the area again, willing to try other items and give this place another shot like the birria or something.

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    Aquino's Birrieria & Brunch
    Aquino's Birrieria & Brunch - Green Chilaquiles - Made with Cilantro, Onions, Queso Fresco, & Two eggs your choice

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    El Cantaro

    El Cantaro

    4.4(1.3k reviews)
    0.9 mi
    $$

    This is an amazing Vegan restaurant. I was in the area for the day and found this place. I haven't…read morebeen to many Mexican restaurants with any vegan options let alone a full Vegan menus. It took our party (8 people) a while to decide as we were spoiled with choices. But we had time as it was pretty busy for a Friday around 1. I ended up getting the carne asada nachos and the aqua Fresca that they had that day (mango and watermelon I think). Both were absolutely spectacular. The picture included might not show the best scale but I had 2 others helping me to eat this plate and otherwise I would not have been able to finish it (even as a larger man). The crunchy jalapeños with the chips, beans and guacamole were the perfect balance. As a meat eater, the texture of the faux meat was a touch odd, but the flavor more than made up for it. The staff was helpful and attentive even as they were balancing supporting customers, answer phone orders, and taking regular orders. My wife and will definitely be stopping by here more often!!

    Christian radio talking at me and my daughters the whole time, every time. Amigo, you are driving…read morecustomers away with this station and maybe that's how it should be- your mission to expand Christianity will lower your customer base and hurt your profits and allow you to pay less people. It's cool I'm sure your employees want less pay, less hours, and to listen to this all shift, every shift. And we know: the power of Christ Compels You to spread God's ideas despite what the heretics say. You're righteous, we get it. But you make amazing food, and are doing amazing things for the Mexican Community and the Vegan Community (and with that, the innocent animals of this world). Someone, somewhere down the line helped inspire the business decisions you are making right now. Maybe let this help you too. I moved to Santa Cruz the same year you opened and have been visiting 8-10 times a year since. Your menu continues to be extensive, and this last visit your cheeses weren't even as gooey as they had been (in the past the vegan cremes and cheeses were on the heavy side, but our 4 meals were all great yesterday.) We do know to order over the phone, because your line is slow, the options take a long time to explain, and the preparation is often a long process too. So we ordered ahead. Then got told we couldn't do that and would have to leave, but we had kids so you said this time was ok. After being scolded, we counted 26 seats. We took up 4 of them. Lots of available seating, and four smiling vegans in your restaurant, being cute (daughters 1 and 4) and writing 5 star reviews and spending maybe $5k there over my lifetime. Chill with the condescension, your service is slow AF sometimes. Everyone knows it and talks about it. We are seasoned and know to order ahead now. It's what we're going to do, while we continue to give you our money, while you consistently take a long time to get food to us if we order in store. Hopefully you stick around forever! Hopefully you change your horrifying radio station- but maybe God upstairs' opinion is more important than your customers. Gobbless

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    El Cantaro - Pretty mello. How I prefer it!

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    El Cantaro

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    El Torito - SLOW-ROASTED CARNITAS

    El Torito

    3.2(2.3k reviews)
    1.2 mi
    $$

    Before leaving for the airport stopped in again + had lunch…read more There was three of us so we had Grande Fiesta Platter appetizer, Buffalo tenders,crispy Flautas, Nachos Supremos + cheese Quesadilla. Just enough to get us home. Pretty sure it was the same waitress as before. She's a sweetheart + efficient. Skipped the bloody Mary, but mom had one + my sister had a Pina Colda. The views from the restaurant are outstanding.

    This place is not worth it. Very poor quality mexican food for high prices. The waitress working…read morethe 2 tables next to us said a very rude comment to me as well about the way I was biting into my food - maybe the fajita steak was overdone and chewy? I had the margarita flight which tasted like juice and had zero alcohol in it. We then ordered the queso dip and it tasted like microwaved velveeta cheese with some tomatoes thrown on it. The chips are NOT FRESH. Very stale and probably store bought. We then had the carne asada burrito as a chimichanga. It was very soggy. Stuffed with pinto beans. Tasted more like a soggy bean burrito with few pieces of meat. I had the steak fajitas - sour cream was $2 extra and didn't come with cheese. The steak was over cooked and chewy. Bell peppers weren't fully cooked. The plate wasn't even steaming when coming out. We then had the fried ice cream which was still frozen solid in the center we had to wait for it to soften more. It was covered in nasty corn flakes instead of graham cracker crust. Kids quesadilla was just a tortilla with cheese and zero flavor. Paid $136 for horrible food.

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    El Torito - Pina Colda + our waitress

    Pina Colda + our waitress

    El Torito - How yummy is this plate FAJITAS COMBO

    How yummy is this plate FAJITAS COMBO

    El Torito - Sunday Brunch Waffles

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    Peppers Mexicali Cafe - mexican - Updated May 2026

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