Restaurante Los Pinos

This place has been good and the same for at least 20 years. Their chicken soup is the best.

As a self proclaimed burrito connoisseur i give this place my two thumbs up! Really good carniasada and amazing salsa, the red is pretty spicy with great flavor. One of the top three in santa cruz for burritos and salsa in my opinion.

Authentic Mexican food... visiting Santa Cruz and came here on a whim... large portions. Salsa is hot for most people. Definitely give this place a try.

This is our favorite neighborhood place for tacos and casual Mexican. I hate to even do this review because I don’t want them to get too busy!! Lol. Go for sure though :)

Guacamole was delicious, and the sangria is hilariously huge and also amazing. All the food was fantastic.

This place is perfectly priced. Got myself their Asada burrito and before I knew it my order was ready before my eyes! The service was very attentive and friendly. I totally recommend stopping by Los Pinos for your Mexican food cravings!

This place is a little known gem. The food is outstanding - I believe they have the best burritto in town, no joke. The ingredients are fresh and tasty. But what sets them apart is their expert tortilla handling, whole avocado slices, and amazing salsas. They must pan fry the tortillas just the right amount of time as they are perfectly done. Service is fast and courteous.

Excellent options here, great service, I've added them to my regular take out rotation. Delicious food!

I have been eating here for over 15 years! I have enjoyed EVERY bite. This is authentic Mexican food. They make the guacamole fresh to order and it is the best on earth! The salsa is my favorite and extra spicy. This is the go to spot for me and my family as we all love the food and the people that make it! THANKS LOS PINOS!

Great place with large servings. Usually quick service and not overly crowded. Love the huge tortas! There is metered parking on the street in front, (we like to use the Bank of America lot 1 minute away in the evenings 👍🏻)

Love this place. Locals catching the soccer game, chips crispy, sauces/salsas tasty n spicy, tacos legit. I am an out-of-towner but will hit this for sure when I am back in town. Qué rica esa comida!!!

Delicious and fast Mexican in downtown Santa Cruz. I got the al pastor regular burrito, my partner got the carne asada regular burrito, and we split an horchata. Everything came out very quickly and was delicious. The al pastor and carne asada were cut into small pieces so they were easy to eat in the burritos and there was a lot of meat mixed in with the beans, rice, and cheese.

It was delicious! I had two carne asada tacos, $5 each. Spendy but it’s typical for Santa Cruz! Chips were great

Extra-Super Quesadillas never get old. Always have some left over for dinner (: #delicious

Wanted to share this, My husband went today to buy me this shrimp plate OMG it's the best ever this place has the best food and service if your in santa cruz you got to go here.

Javi serves the BEST Chavela around!! His food is just delish!! A definite must when in the Santa Cruz area

Oh my god! What a burrito! I got the California burrito, and added an egg, and it was huge! Really soft flour tortilla to wrap it all. Very tasty! $17 with the egg added, but next time I will just get the burrito as is.

Come here for the biggest quesadilla of your life. This could be 2 dinners (if you have self restraint)

Keith Backman

Great place with large servings. Usually quick service and not overly crowded. Love the huge tortas! There is metered parking on the street in front, (we like to use the Bank of America lot 1 minute away in the evenings 👍🏻)

Nathan Mueller

Love this place. Locals catching the soccer game, chips crispy, sauces/salsas tasty n spicy, tacos legit. I am an out-of-towner but will hit this for sure when I am back in town. Qué rica esa comida!!!

Samantha Cavanagh Lewandowski

Delicious and fast Mexican in downtown Santa Cruz. I got the al pastor regular burrito, my partner got the carne asada regular burrito, and we split an horchata. Everything came out very quickly and was delicious. The al pastor and carne asada were cut into small pieces so they were easy to eat in the burritos and there was a lot of meat mixed in with the beans, rice, and cheese.

Tyler Thom

It was delicious! I had two carne asada tacos, $5 each. Spendy but it’s typical for Santa Cruz! Chips were great

Jose Adan Regalado

Extra-Super Quesadillas never get old. Always have some left over for dinner (: #delicious

Esmeralda Gaitan Figueroa (Essi)

Wanted to share this, My husband went today to buy me this shrimp plate OMG it's the best ever this place has the best food and service if your in santa cruz you got to go here.

Yessica Frescas

Javi serves the BEST Chavela around!! His food is just delish!! A definite must when in the Santa Cruz area

Jason Abraham (Jason Abraham Photography)

Oh my god! What a burrito! I got the California burrito, and added an egg, and it was huge! Really soft flour tortilla to wrap it all. Very tasty! $17 with the egg added, but next time I will just get the burrito as is.

Fifer Garbesi

Come here for the biggest quesadilla of your life. This could be 2 dinners (if you have self restraint)

Delicious and huge portions! Tastes healthy too

Amazing food, humongous portions, the salsa was amazing and the chips were nice and warm, and the staff were very kind. Absolutely eating here again in the future!

Everything was great and super tasty. You shouldn’t leave Santa Cruz without visiting this place😋

Delicious food, kind servers, true authentic Mexican food. No hassle, no frills - so far, I've had the Siete Mares and Pescado Fritos and both were the best I've tasted in all of Santa Cruz County. I got my order as To Go so the atmosphere I didn't really get into but there were people there enjoying their food and sports on TV. A nice surprise.

Been coming here for years, brought my lady friend today and enjoyed the food just as much as ever.

Delicious! Generous portions served by the nicest people you'll ever meet. Very highly recommend if you are in the Santa Cruz area. The crunchy tacos, nachos and burritos are all very highly recommended.

The secret is, this is the best mexican food around. The machete taco is the signature dish, but there are plenty of other good things on the menu. Ask for some green hot sauce, some salt and get at least two machete and a bottle of coke; you won’t regret it. I particularly think they do beef well here. I’m pretty sure the family that runs this place is from Isla Janitzio in Michoacán and they are honestly just the sweetest people. Don’t just get the same things as you would at some of the other popular taquerias locally that are Mexico city style. I ate here about once a week for over a decade and having moved away I miss it dearly.

Jaqui Lee

Delicious and huge portions! Tastes healthy too

COREY WILSON

Been coming here for years, brought my lady friend today and enjoyed the food just as much as ever.

Natalia Sanjuan Gil

Everything was great and super tasty. You shouldn’t leave Santa Cruz without visiting this place😋

Alaina S

Guacamole was delicious, and the sangria is hilariously huge and also amazing. All the food was fantastic.

bradily owens

Delicious food, kind servers, true authentic Mexican food. No hassle, no frills - so far, I've had the Siete Mares and Pescado Fritos and both were the best I've tasted in all of Santa Cruz County. I got my order as To Go so the atmosphere I didn't really get into but there were people there enjoying their food and sports on TV. A nice surprise.

FoxKnight1551

Amazing food, humongous portions, the salsa was amazing and the chips were nice and warm, and the staff were very kind. Absolutely eating here again in the future!

P C

The secret is, this is the best mexican food around. The machete taco is the signature dish, but there are plenty of other good things on the menu. Ask for some green hot sauce, some salt and get at least two machete and a bottle of coke; you won’t regret it. I particularly think they do beef well here. I’m pretty sure the family that runs this place is from Isla Janitzio in Michoacán and they are honestly just the sweetest people. Don’t just get the same things as you would at some of the other popular taquerias locally that are Mexico city style. I ate here about once a week for over a decade and having moved away I miss it dearly.

J M

Delicious! Generous portions served by the nicest people you'll ever meet. Very highly recommend if you are in the Santa Cruz area. The crunchy tacos, nachos and burritos are all very highly recommended.

A great place. Pay at counter. Great alcohol selection. Fun!! Food is very good, just not great.

If you come at a peak time, expect a line out the door, literally. But if you're local, you can find a time when it's reasonable. Prices are normal Santa Cruz, expect $7 to $12 per person. Food is really good (carnitas!) Setting and decor is cheap, but whatever. Chips and salsa bar is very generous.

Great Mexican food. I Love their Green Chile burrito but a close second is the Carne Asada Burrito. Erik's favorite Taco: El Machete.

We strolled in as they were opening the doors. It did not take long for the lunch crowd to start. We ordered and the food was brought to our table reasonably fast. The burrito I ordered was really good. I cannot speak about the rest of the menu yet, but my first impressions were positive enough that I will be back.

There is another more popular place around the corner (based on reviews online), but it was packed out and the digital menu was broken so I walked over to Los Pinos instead. It felt much more authentic, like an actual restaurant you might visit in Mexico. Prices were reasonable, food was pretty good, although I didn't really love the shaved steak on my tacos (didn't taste fresh). Overall, a nice place to stop.

Corey Potter

There is another more popular place around the corner (based on reviews online), but it was packed out and the digital menu was broken so I walked over to Los Pinos instead. It felt much more authentic, like an actual restaurant you might visit in Mexico. Prices were reasonable, food was pretty good, although I didn't really love the shaved steak on my tacos (didn't taste fresh). Overall, a nice place to stop.

Great food. Had the shrimp cocktail with octopus. Very delicious and filling. We also had tacos, nachos, chicken enchiladas and it was all good. Kids split a bean and cheese burrito plate and it was more than enough.

Good authentic mexican food. Go there early, We went there late, and the carne asada tasted like it was sitting in the warmer for way too long. It was all dry, hard, and weird flavor. Definitely was not prepared/ cooked fresh.

I ordered a shrimp tostada and regular nachos. The description of the tostada said it comes with lettuce, avocado, sour cream, cheese tomato and beans. There was ZERO sour cream, cheese and beans, yet a ton of shrimp. So large portion, but not tasty. The nachos were pretty awful. They don't use queso, just a blob of microwave mild cheddar in a clump with a pile of halapenos out of a can on the side.

Usually really good foid and portions but this time I ordered the fried chicken and it was bad. Only had 3 pieces the size of my thumb with a chicken leg that looked like it went through some hard times and made me sick to my stomach. May need to tweak that recipe.

I hoped the place had a better flavor. I have tasted better. OK, my wife liked the "Camarones Diabla", but I didn't care to much for the "Chile Relleno and Enchilada" I had. But good to watch sports and friendly service. 😉👍

Staff was nice. Restaurant was ok a little out dated. The food was ok nothing to write home about. Prices were good.

Black Marley

I hoped the place had a better flavor. I have tasted better. OK, my wife liked the "Camarones Diabla", but I didn't care to much for the "Chile Relleno and Enchilada" I had. But good to watch sports and friendly service. 😉👍

Debbie Pieracci

Staff was nice. Restaurant was ok a little out dated. The food was ok nothing to write home about. Prices were good.

So they used to have a burrito dorado. I asked the guy if they still had it and he said "Oh that's the chimichanga." I was like weird, it wasn't at all like a normal chimichanga but ok. He could have just said "I haven't worked here that long" or "I have no idea what you're talking about" but he went with the confident wrong answer instead. What he gave me 20 minutes later was a traditional chimichanga, which differs massively from the burrito dorado they used to have in that it's not portable and is all wet and requires utensils and a flat plate. So the rest of my evening, which was to be mountain biking to meet friends in the forest and have burritos, was pretty much shot. I ended up just driving and hiking to the meeting place and not mountain biking at all to avoid sloshing this wet chimichanga all over my backpack. And now I feel like they owe me a burrito dorado. Also the carne asada tasted more like pollo asado. With los pericos so nearby and tasty and a little cheaper I don't really recommend it, unless you're looking for traditional American family restaurant Mexican food in a quiet sit-down space.

Would be fine for takeout if you’re ok with the limited menu. The food itself was quite good if you are happy with the options. Very friendly but slow service from a clearly overworked staff. Tables were clean and well looked-after. The decor leaves much to desired - enjoy the view of boxes and storage shelves, and two tvs perpetually showing boxing/MMA. Very no-frills, even for a basic taqueria. So many better options nearby.

My fiance and I went at 12:50pm on a Monday and ordered the California Fries. Not only did they mess up our fries, but we ended up sitting there waiting for our order until 1:35pm. All the while watching entire families; who were behind us in line mind you, get their food before us. Dont know if it was a racism thing, or if these guys are just totally incompetent, but we will NOT be returning again.👎👎👎

Burrito extremely dry. It had no sauce, no cheese and no avocado. I ordered a complete one and only had meat, lots of rice, lettuce and no avocado, no sour cream, no melted cheese and little beans. Very dry!