I have loved Tortilla Flats since it was in its original location down the street. The service and food are no longer what it used to be. After several tries in recent months, my last visit will be my final one. The food was lackluster, service (when dining alone) feels underwhelming and dismissive, and the 'famous' margueritas are mostly ice, no real flavor for the cost. After being a loyal customer for more than 36 years, I bid a sad adios... read more

This restaurant is extremely overrated. Never ordered a tamale that was a just lump of sweet corn cake before, now I have. How do you not put anything in a tamale?? Rice is very dry and bland. Enchiladas are topped with canned corn. Service is substandard. Adios, Tortilla Flats. Or should I just say "Goodbye," since you're a Mexican restaurant ran by white folks. Nothing wrong with that, but at least find a good tamale and enchilada recipe. read more

Hands down THE best find!!! The ambience adorable..the food AMAZING! Fresh... FANTASTIC... beautifully platted.. wonderful service. I will drive from Los Gatos to dine here! read more

I was sincerely impressed with all the clearly labeled vegan gluten free options! They have gluten free enchiladas! Make sure you ask for rice and beans because some entrees don't include sides. Very busy popular place but we still got seated within five minutes. The menu layout made me feel like they take food allergens seriously. Friendly staff excellent tasting dinner. read more

Read: Not a taqueria/Mexican diner. Not authentic mexican food. Pretty mediocre vegetarian/vegan options.. Love the ambience and the margaritas and thats what I'll go back for! read more

Coming back from the east coast, i was looking forward to some bay area Mexican food, but Tortilla Flat's didn't come close to satisfying my craving. The food was terrible... And expensive! It's 12 dollars for single enchilada with rice and beans. The rice was dry, bland, and had some weird seasoning powder on it. The beans TASTED LIKE CHILI BEANS. The enchilada was small and bland. None of the food was anywhere near authentic. The customer base seems to be of that "local retiree" type. You know, old people who like bland and americanized food. I left this restaurant feeling robbed and unsatisfied. Don't make the same mistake! read more

AVOID this place. Most of the waitstaff is super rude. There is one thin blond woman that is really nice and super professional, all of the others need attitude adjustments. The food is mediocre and terribly overpriced. $12.95 for two cheese enchiladas?? Really?? At one time this place served really great food and awesome sauces, but not any longer. Forget it. Terrible, terrible! read more

Big Delicious Margaritas! :) I came in with friends to specifically try the Frida's Favorites menu. Everything we ordered was delectable! Azteca tamales as well as the fresh corn tamales were perfect. The Azteca was filled with melt in your mouth pork and the corn was sweet and buttery. Soooo super delicious. I highly recommend the cactus verde as well. I can not wait to eat here again. If you are expecting Americanized Mexican food you might be a little disappointed with Tortilla Flats. The food here is very authentic, fresh, and free of lard! I love it! read more

I'm a local going to college in New York State, so I was looking forward to coming back to some good Mexican. Went in for lunch around 1 pm, service was slow. Waitress/hostess was nice. I had the tamales, my friend had an enchilada. Neither of us thought much of our dishes. The tamale was ok I suppose, nothing fantastic. The rice was unique, to put it nicely. It was rather dry. For the quality of food, it was grossly overpriced. My tamales with rice and beans was $13 not including tax or tip. I will not go there next time I'm in Santa Cruz. read more

The garnish (a pepper cut to look like a flower), the decor, and the Dia del los Muertos alter were the best things there. The food: bland. Super bland. Seven year olds would love it. No spice, no heat, no salt even. Pricey for the experiance. My gf's comment on the food: "I thought I was in Nebraska". Bottom line: if you are a gringo and think tacos have crispy shells and Pace makes good salsa, you'll be happy. If you expect cilantro, cumin, chili and some character in your food, look elsewhere. read more

I was very excited when my boss first told me about this little restaurant. He said they made excellent chicken mole and thats all that I needed to hear before I set out on the 30 mile drive from San Jose to get my fix. My girlfriend and I enjoyed our first meal there well enough, but what REALLY excited us was the owner telling us that she holds a "mole week" a couple times each year. That brings us to our second visit which this review is based upon. Let's cut to the chase. For the amount of money they charge, the portions are EXTREMELY stingy. Even for my girlfriend who doesn't eat as much as I do, she was left hungry. We had to TRIPLE up on chips & salsa (chips = great... salsa = not-so-much) just to leave satiated. I was really surprised that the dishes we ordered were not accompanied by warm tortillas, which at just about any other Mexican restaurant they would have. We had to ask for them, but they obliged us upon our request. Also the service (both times we've been) is very slow & inattentive. I spotted our waiter several times just standing behind the bar chatting with his co-worker while his four tables were left on their own. He messed up a few minor things on our order but he seemed so out of touch with the responsibilities of a waiter that we just assumed he was new at his job. Now, as for the food (what little there was), the taste is MAGNIFICENT! Their rice and black beans served on the side are delicious and the four different entrees I've tasted have all been complex and extremely flavorful. I was able to try a few of the different mole dishes and ALL were simply amazing. I can see why people like this restaurant so much based solely upon the flavor of the food itself, but they really need to be a lot more generous with their portion sizes. I might go again if mole week comes around again... I'll just make sure to roll through the Taco Bell drive-thru first so I make sure I get enough to eat! read more

Nice looking restaurant inside. Classy even. We used to eat here way back when. But I took my grandson the other night, and truly the food was not very good. Stale lukewarm rice. Yucky beans! I got a tostada with pork, and it was really tasteless and a pile of stringy meat on a ton of lettuce ( which tasted like out of a bag?) grandson was hungry so ate his enchilada but I think it was just average or below. Mexican food food should come steaming hot. It really wasn't. It all tasted stale. I'm not going back. But the service was excellent and a very nice waitress. read more

We can walk to Tortilla Flats and we used to, weekly. Not anymore. The fun waitresses don't work there anymore. Most of the food was never that great, in fact the beans and rice are horrible, thank goodness you can order most of the meals "a la carte". The Margaritas are fabulous but REALLY pricey. The Seafood Enchiladas are really good, I'll give them that, but you can usually only get them on Friday nights. Most of the deserts, which are homemade by the owner, are awesome. But the prices are high for what you get. If you go on the weekends there is always a wait. Don't even try in the summer when the tourists are around! We finally figured out that the big draw for us was that we could walk there, the staff was friendly and knew us, and the margaritas were good. We've decided that's not enough anymore. I make better Margaritas and there are MUCH better restaurants within a 2 mile radius! read more

Lived in SC pretty much my whole life but somehow never ate here before. That being said I'm on the fence about going back. The atmosphere is cool, I liked it. It can get loud but I don't mind people having a good time. The waitresses are friendly enough, plus they are hotties. Anyways, about the food: Beans = bad (weird burnt tomato flavor added to them) worst beans I've had. Rice = bland (no flavor or salt) Carne Asada = good, tender nice citrus marinade. Drinks = way over priced and could be better The food came super fast after we ordered, that being said. Does that mean it was already made and just scooped out from a hot tray? Dear Tortilla Flats, Please change your bean/rice recipe. Just because you have a full house doesn't mean you're doing everything right. read more

Presentation doesn't make the taste. I had the Durango enchiladas. I give it a 8 out of 10 on dish presentation, a good picture for Facebook. Taste wise only 5. Not my favorite. I didn't get the Mexican taste. read more

The Original Margarita is outstanding--best margie to be had in all of Santa Cruz. The food is different than typical Mexican food--fresh and a lot of it is lighter fare than most Mexican restaurants offer. The tapas menu provides additional choices--and are great for a light meal. Some of the food is organic too. You can ask to learn more. The special events always have something creative and the desserts.... the cheesecake.... may make you swoon. Cheryl makes her own and they are great. I admit the chips are easy to ignore but that's not a bad thing when the rest of the food is so tasty. If you are vegan, try the flatland choices. I like the flatland tostada. YUM! read more

I could say just a simple "eh" and leave it at that, but i hate those sorts of reviews, so i WONT! :) This joint was NOT the best mexican restaurant in the area... not even close. The food was palatable, and would have been delicious if i had come in from a long day of surf and sand and let the prelude of a few beers soften the blow of what was essentially a soggy relleno and a sad pork enchilada. I dont mean to be mean, i really dont, but it wasnt great. not great at all. Love, Sara read more

Tortilla Flats is a wonderful little "Hole in the wall" that I used to frequent back in the early 80's, when I lived in Capitola. I brought my wife there for the first time and was immediately swept back in time. The service was friendly and relaxed, even though the place was packed. We chose to sit at the bar where we started with a couple of great margaritas, not too sweet with a perfect balance of Tequila and lime. The chips were crispy and fresh and the salsa had a nice bite to it. I ordered the special Santa Fe Enchiladas Verde, filled with tender carnitas and napped with a beautiful green chili sauce that was spicy without overpowering the palate. My spouse had the Green Corn Tamales, served "unwrapped" but on their green corn husks. Moistened with a poblano chili sauce, the sweetness of the corn was offset by the spice of the chili. Again a winner. We finished the evening with the Best. Flan. On. The. Planet. The amber caramel was not scorched, as is so often the case, and the custard was creamy, smooth and flavored with hints of nutmeg and vanilla. All-in-all a lovely, casual meal, for a couple who rarely gets the chance to dine out. read more

Go. Eat. Repeat. My friend and I decided that this is the best place for dinner in the area. We ordered everything on the menu that had seafood in it, and were so delighted by the delicate sauces and salsas that came with it. Normally, I turn my nose up at sit-down Mexican restaurants, but this one really takes it to a whole different gourmet level. Order the margaritas, they are incredible. Great for dates, and out of towers. read more

The tapas menu is to die for. We chose Tilapia, calamari and the salmon plate. Ordering those 3 small plates was perfect for the 2 of us. The ambiance was perfect. We didn't have to wait for a seat. We were served immediately. We started with 2 margaritas, Rojo and a pomegranate margarita. I can't wait to come back! read more

It's okay, just okay. Has incredible potential but none of us were "wow'd" by the food. I agree with everyone else - the beans suck. Rice was barely okay. I do like the ambiance, not going back though. read more

This place is TINY - we had 5 people and were crammed in a corner at a table that was extremely tight, especially with our 2 pitchers of margaritas! But it was cold outside and warm inside, so we didn't mind. We ordered pitchers of the classic margarita - these are DELICIOUS and deceptively strong. We were all stumbling out of there when our meal was through- good thing I live around the corner! We all ordered different dishes and everyone loved their meals. My boyfriend had a skirt steak dish off their special Cactus Festival menu and devoured it before any of us got a chance to taste it. My chicken mole enchiladas were super flavorful without being too intense. My only issue with the menu is that all the specialty items (including the numerous enchiladas) are served a la carte. If you wanted to add rice and beans it would be an extra $5+... definitely not worth the price, but it would have been nice to have some rice to enjoy with my meal. You will end up spending a lot of money here if you aren't careful, but it's worth it. An individual margarita is $9, but the glasses are pretty large...and as I said before they are strong! We will definitely be popping in here more often now. read more

Hands down the worst Mexican food I have ever had. The only reason I gave it two stars is because the service was wonderful and the people working there were pleasant. The food has NO flavor what so ever; from the beans and rice to the actual meal itself. The Margaritas were extremely watered down and it was just one big slushy mess. The ambiance was nice, but I will not be returning. read more

So both of these stars are going to the tastiness and quality of their food. I had to deduct three stars based on the following: The restaurant is small and the staff aren't willing to work with you when you have a large group (over 6 people). I was told that they don't seat over 6 people after 6 pm when I called to make a reservation. In addition, they will not seat you until everyone shows, so no one better be running late. Food can be tasty but inconsistent. Sometimes good, sometimes not. There is no place to stand and wait for a table. You are left awkwardly hovering in the doorway until a group leaves. Poor dessert selection. read more

My wife and I had Lunch there on Sat. the Crepes were Fantastic. Lobster and Shrimp Whoo Hoo! It was so good we went back on Sunday. The staff are all friendly and accommodating. The food is out of this world! Thanks for a great experience! read more

I LOVE Tortilla Flats. My partner and I have gone there regularly for about 4 years now and it is our Favorite Restaurant of any! We have never been disappointed with the service and the food is amazingly good! I had my favorite again yesterday: the Durango Enchiladas (which come ala carte) plus one Green Chile Tamale. I was struck with every bite of both enchiladas: what a great mix of rich spice sauces, elegant presentation and fabulous complex flavors! Nowhere else is this good. We don't particularly like the chips (not worth filling up on), though we do like the salsa. We don't love the rice and beans and stay ala carte, adding the remarkable green chile tamale (the Only place I love the tamales) for a larger size dinner. And the Margaritas are my Favorite of anywhere, ever!! The Original is the most kick-ass Margarita around. Yes it is twice the cost of the house Margarita at (the also excellent, El Palomar, which does have the best chips around), but Tortilla Flats Margarita is larger than one and stronger (and better!) than two... so the price is just about right for this exceptional drink. I am always satisfied with two margs everywhere else and just the one, thanks, at our beloved Torty Flats. The master chile and food and flower grower (gorgeous fresh flowers on every table) and super chef, Cheryl Marquez is a national treasure. She has been collecting and growing and keeping alive so many rare chiles and fine food traditions from this whole hemisphere, like Frida's Favorities (Frida Kahlo) that were terrific. And Cheryl's desserts are as special as the entrees. Turtle or caramel cheesecakes and varying items too rich to mention without adding virtual calories just thinking of them. For our favorite Gourmet Mexican Food of any restaurant ever, it's always Tortilla Flats. read more

I've been going there since mid 70's back when I was at Cabrillo JC. Every time it's been WOW what a great meal and nice local folks, seems like almost every time I/we go there, there is someone I know. My favorites are the vegetarian tostada and the truly home made apple pie. All at fair pricing. Not cheap not expensive, always quality. 30+yrs now. logan c. read more

Amazing Margaritas...great chips and salsa! But healthy Mexican food! Not really for me.

Acceptable customer service. Nothing great or extraordinary. Food didn't taste like authentic Mexican food at all. It tasted more like it came out of a can. :( most of our plates went back half full to the kitchen. Editing it to two stars because the waitress took away my guests food before they were finished eating without asking. read more

I've lived in Santa Cruz for 25 years and have never met a local who doesn't rave about Tortilla Flats as our best kept secret. The margaritas are simply the best. Get the Original, you won't be disappointed. I love that they use healthy ingredients in the dishes, which are amazing. I've never seen a menu like this before. The owner makes everything fresh in the morning and her sauces are unbelievable. I've tried every enchilada plate and they're all delicious and very unique. You just can't find these kinds of recipes anywhere else. Their seafood is really good too. This is not your typical mexican food, I took my in-laws here when they were in town and they said they'd never had a better meal... and they're tough! The decor and atmosphere are wonderful and the people who work there are always nice, it seems like they all really love their job which to me speaks worlds about a restaurant. I could NOT believe it when I read some of the other reviews of Tortilla Flats on Yelp. This is without a doubt the best mexican restaurant anywhere around. I guess if you're looking for massive portions of gooey greasy Taqueria food you'll be disappointed. There are an infinite number of Taqueria's in Santa Cruz- go somewhere else if that's what you're looking for. This is a gourmet restaurant. I'm happy to pay the $12 for world-class, healthy food. I really don't think that's overpriced. This restaurant speaks for itself. Go check it out read more

Nope, nope, nope. That is what I would say if someone asks "should I go there?". We called ahead, party of 6. Got there, chips and salsa already on the table, GOOD. That was the only Good part. Took over 5 minutes to get someone to ask for drinks (it was a Saturday night with only 3 other tables full, and the most had 3 people). Then they got some of them wrong. My Mom (a chef and hard to please) got the Flatland enchilda (Flatland is a nut filling instead of meat, though the server wasn't sure WHAT kind of nuts). Our portions seemed small and even my 9 year old niece asked for extra rice instead of beans and then commented she should have asked for no rice, it was boring. We had to practically stand up and step in front of a server to get our "one free" refill on my sister's drink. My Mom made sure that at best they got a 10% tip (my Grandfather was paying and tips all). I tip for service, so they are lucky I wasn't eating there! Not again, thanks! read more

High expectations met with somewhat disappointing results. Visited with a local who raved about TF - they love the margaritas and mole enchiladas. I did not have a margarita (diet coke was good), but I did try the mole enchiladas. The enchiladas were good, not great...the beans and rice were damn near inedible. Portions a bit on the the small side. Luckily, they delivered mega baskets of chips and jugs of salsa - that helped. I liked the atmosphere and the servers were efficient. My kids liked their food well enough, didn't love it. A 2.5 star rating is fair. I reserve 1-2 stars for poor to bad restaurants - TF was not poor to bad, but barely good and definitely NOT great. Probably my first and last visit. 2.5 stars, yes 2.5. read more

We've been going here since it opened (remember the 80's?) I appreciate that the flatland option is still on the menu. The margaritas are the best! Glad they figured out outdoor dining, we didn't want to see them close. Even though the original owner is now cooking in heaven, the place is still one of our very favorites. read more

My family went to Tortilla Flats on a Wednesday. I was totally amazed that there was a wait. However, it was dinner time and the restaurant is on the smaller side. Everything was good... the wait service was friendly, the food was good. I was asked by a friend if I would recommend the restaurant and my answer was yes but don't expect your standard Mexican restaurant fare. I had the shrimp enchilada with a salad substituted for the rice and beans. The salad was microgreens with a chipotle and cilantro dressing. It was excellent. The enchilada was filled with shrimp and topped with a green sauce that was maybe a tad to citrus but still enjoyable. My husband commented that he normally doesn't like rice at Mexican restaurants because it tends to be greasy but Tortilla Flats rice was nice and fluffy. This is high end Mexican food at an affordable price. read more

This place was, well, not worth it. Yes the staff was friendly and the drinks were okay, but the food was obviously pre-made and just a little higher quality than Taco Bell. I had the super burrito which seemed to be a mission tortilla filled with bland beans and rice and boiled chicken. My fiance had the enchilada and chile relleno. He said they were okay. The chile relleno sauce tasted canned to me. Good place for chips & salsa and drinks. That's about it. read more

Had the green corn tamales - delicious! The rice and beans were ok, as was my magarita. Amibiance is nice, if a little small and cramped. Tried it 3 times - once for dinner and twice for lunch. All three times the service was pretty bad. The waiter never came by to check on things, and when we were done eating it took so long for anyone to come by the table that I was fed up and decided to skip the dessert and just get out of there. It's too bad, especially in this economy, when restaurants don't make great service a top priority. Loved the tamales, but it's just not worth the aggrevation to go back. read more

We went here specifically because of Yelp reviews and had a really nice time. They were terrific with our 4 year old (brought little toys for him to play with) and we came on a night that they were serving tapas (only Mon. and Tues). Husband LOVED the variety of tapas and even the 4 year old ate the cheeses, olives, eggplant, and soup. I, however, am a simple eater and so things were a little too fancy-shmancy for me here. The drinks are also expensive for the size glasses. Four stars for being "very good" and we'll certainly go back. read more

Creative menu, taking liberties with traditional Mexican food in a way that enhances and improves on the recipes. Cheryl is committed to a continuining education about her cuisine, and visits Mexico regularly. I give five stars because in the fifteen plus years we've eaten there, I've never had a dish that wasn't delicious. You're in good hands with anything on the menu. Great margaritas, too! read more

Bland. No flavor. No salt even. As a chef you need to taste your food. Clearly these guys don't, or they wouldn't send plates out like that. My wife ordered a quesadilla. Yup you guessed it. Also bland! How do you f@#k up a quesadilla?! There seems to be a lack of good restaurants in Santa Cruz. Can someone tell me where to get good Mexican food around here? read more

Had an amazing margarita!! Small and crowded space was not ideal, but the food was fantastic. I had tamales that were awesome! If the wait wasn't so long, I would go back more often. read more