I ordered wrong I think...I got the chicken katsu and the sauce tasted more like A1 sauce. It was…read morevery acidic and not sweet like katsu sauces I have had before. I even tried their teriyaki sauce to try and make up for the katsu sauce but it was way too salty. I ordered a side of seasonal veggies and they had no seasoning what so ever. 3 stars because my partner had the poke combo plate and really enjoyed their meal.

I had to try the viral Poke Burger, so I hopped in my car and drove all the way to Santa Cruz and…read moreit was absolutely worth the trip! As soon as I walked in, I immediately felt the Hawaiian vibes. The atmosphere was welcoming, and the cashier was incredibly sweet and helpful. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't pre-order the burger for pickup, but I was told it's made fresh to order and available in limited quantities, which made sense. Along with the Poke Burger, I picked up a bottle of their Garlic Gurl hot sauce. Being from Gilroy, I had to give it a try! It had the perfect amount of garlic flavor with just the right level of heat--not overpowering at all. I also grabbed a Hawaiian drink from the refrigerator by the entrance. Having just returned from Hawaii, it instantly brought me back to the islands. The restaurant itself is spacious, clean, and inviting, with plenty of indoor seating as well as outdoor seating. Parking was easy to find, which is always a plus. When my food arrived, I was surprised by the portion size. The Poke Burger is huge and could easily be shared between two people. While I'm personally not the biggest fan of crispy rice, the poke filling inside was incredibly fresh, flavorful, and delicious. Every bite was packed with flavor. Overall, I really enjoyed my experience and will definitely be back to try more items on their menu. If you've been seeing the viral Poke Burger all over social media and have been wondering if it's worth the hype, I'd say it's definitely worth checking out!

A few weeks ago, we went hiking with some relatives in Santa Cruz to the top of the world De…read moreLaveaga Park Hole 27 of De Laveaga Golf Course. On the way back home we stopped by this little Taqueria restaurant. There's no parking spaces here, we parked over the bank since it's on Sunday, empty. The restaurant is clean, the salsa bar is right there with all the great stuff, the amazing thing is the chips all you can eat are there too. The chips and salsa here are the best anywhere, even better than Mexico or Cancun. So crispy, light, and the pico de gallo is excellent and fresh. I had the fish tacos, plentiful but a little surprised since the fish is not fried as all the places I've been, it's sauteed or steemed, no vegetables like shredded cabbage or anything, just lots of fish chunks and soft taco shell. Anyhow, it's fresh and delicious. Our other members ordered beef, pork tacos and they're so mouth watering too. There are so many young people like students coming to this place, so crowded and lucky we got the table to finish our foods quickly so others can sit. I tried the rice drink and it's like rice water and sugar, it's good but extremely sweet. This is the place I will visit after a long hiking day, it's wonderful and I love the chips and salsa here.

This is the last time I will be coming here. The main cashier had a very bad attitude yesterday. I…read morewas reading him my order of 2 items. Mind you, there was a long line. I was trying to help him out, as I'm in the hospitality business for high level profiles. He responded and told me he's an old guy, but very rude when I told him the two items and he just cut me off while I was talking . It was a chicken burrito with refried beans, no rice & carne asada fries. He also threw my receipt at me. I get it if you under pressure, but never take it out on a paying customer because you can't work well under pressure. He left a bad taste in my mouth with his bad attitude. I will not be coming back. Be kind to your customers especially i was trying to help you. Lol. The meat was overly cooked. The burrito still had rice in it. Fries were very oily. I still tipped him, even though he didn't deserve any of it. Bad service. Bad attitude.

The restaurant views alone were worth it alone. Nice food, the fish and chips were no way like the…read moreBritish kind and the fish is breaded not fried. Service was slow but would still recommend

The food was as good as I was hoping it would be…read more The Crab Cakes were well seasoned and the sauce was tasty. Zucchini sticks are always good. The cheese didn't have an overpowering salty Parmasianish taste. The batter had flavor. WAIT a few minutes before eating. They WILL be HOT and burn your mouth. Which means they were made fresh.. *Not pictured* The Clam Chowder is good. Not thick but not watery. Very peppery which I like. Had enough seasoning. Had celery in it, which I'm not a fan of but I couldn't taste it so that was nice. I wanted the Mahi Mahi to have more of a charcoal/smoke flavor, but the Mahi Mahi was firm, moist, and didn't need salt. The bacon cheeseburger was a bacon cheeseburger..pretty good from what I was told. I'd eat here again..maybe try the soups or seafood pasta dishes next time? The service was ok, didn't get to order any soda/drinks but was provided glasses of water. The food came out quickly. The bartender could be heard shaking and making mixed drinks and cocktails. I'll order one at the bar next time. We were seated at the end of the restaurant by the Manager's Office near the cashier. It's a nice view.

Super cute spot right off the beach. We also got a view of the colorful houses from our table. We…read morechose outdoor seating where our table was close to a lil pond and ducks were swimming up to us! We also saw someone stand-up-paddleboarding in there as we were eating! Happy hour is M-F 3:30-5:30pm but I heard they may be discontinuing it soon :( We got the Happy Hour Cucumber Margarita + Chicken Taco Combo, Lagunitas IPA Draft Beer + Shrimp Taco, Calamari, and Loaded Nachos. Happy hour plating size is smaller than the full menu size but the amount of food was perfect for my group of 3. They gave a generous amount of chicken+shrimp on the tacos so we put the extra meat on the nachos! The shrimps are grilled with a smoky charred flavor and the chicken is so juicy and flavorful, almost having a curry/tumeric taste. So delish. Staff is super nice and our waiter was super helpful. Vibes are immaculate and I'm sure food would hit even better after a warm summer swim!

I came here to on a weekend with my family and some friends. I like that they have outdoor seating,…read morehowever, that works better for smaller group. We had a pretty large group - not particular big (but close to 10 people) but we had to be split up in 2 booth tables. They do have a kid's menu which is great for family with kids. It does come with a drink, we got milk for our kids. Surprisingly, the portion is really good for the kiddos! We got a quesadilla for them and it was definitely more than enough food for 1 kid. We should have just had the kid share 1 item. The cost of the food all felt a little pricier than I hope, but the food wasn't bad. I got the bajo tacos and it was a good size. It had deep fried fish in them. I felt the dipping sauce that came with it was pretty good too. My husband got the quesabirria tacos which I thought was pretty good. However, I felt the dipping sauce that came with it was a little saltier than I like. I thought the service was good too. The wait staff did a good job in making sure we had what we needed. We also had the ceviche as a starter and I enjoyed it as well. We had a positive experience here. We would probably return. Parking here is also very busy and hard to get.

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.

We're visiting from the Bay Area. This was our first time at Manuel's. It will not be our last!…read more The restaurant is cute and reminds me of a Mexican restaurants I grew up going to. Beautiful decor, fresh flowers & friendly staff. The chips & salsa were fresh and delicious. The salsa had a different flavor. I'm not a chef. But it reminded me a little of adobo (maybe)? Whatever it was we all really enjoyed it. The guac was creamy and limey. Most of us got combination plates. I got the 2 items: a cheese enchilada with the carne asada taco (it's a bit of an up charge & it was definitely worth it!) the asada was so delicious! Chewy and flavorful. The enchilada sauce was perfect too. My husband's combo plate, was similar but he got 3 items, including a pork tamale. He said it was great. Other things of note: the beans were good & not runny, according to others as I don't eat beans. Rice - so good, my kid ate an entire side of it. Loved the rice. Chili verde - incredible accounting to my MIL Daily lunch specials were repriced very reasonably & there's several options.

First time visiting Manuel's. The atmosphere is cosy and welcoming. My mom and I were seated right…read moreaway at a nice table by the window, though my mom felt it was too cramped. The service was amazing. I had the daily special, which included a salad, tea or coffee, and ice cream. The potions were too big for me to finish, but overall it was delicious. The mole especially was excellent.

Everytime im in santa cruz i always have to stop here! Its so good and price is also good! Very…read morefalvorful and i love spicy!!! I always get the 2 taco combo with rice and beans! Delicious!!! Service is always nice

Pretty bad place to eat as a vegetarian except for the fact that you can find parking here…read more Food 0/5: one of the worst veggie burritos I've had in life. First of all, it had no vegetables at all, not sure why it is called a veggie burrito. I initially ordered the las palmas burrito which supposedly includes sprouts and they charge 2 bucks for the sprouts in it . The person at the counter asked me "they ran out of sprouts and if I would want to substitute sprouts with lettuce" at noon, the restaurant opens at 11 am and there were not many people at the restaurant to begin with. No one would pay you $2 to replace sprouts with lettuce in your burritos - that's no protein. They also charged me $1.5 extra just to heat my burrito. Service 0/5: nothing stood out. Pretty bad service Ambiance 3/5: ambiance is okay. It was clean and you can find parking in an otherwise crowded downtown

Had such a great time on taco Tuesday! Bradley and Jesus took care of us and were so welcoming and…read moreattentive all with a beautiful views, we'll be back

Great spot right on the pier. We had the chicken Caesar and the carne asada fajitas--everything…read moretasted really good, and the salad was fresh and on point. The only thing I'd say is the chicken on the Caesar could've been a little hotter. The only downside was the staff having what looked like a "secret" conversation right in front of everyone... not so secret . That said, I'll definitely be back for the food--and maybe another episode of Bar Wars