Santacruz Taco Co

As I walked up to the table and tent at the Open Market, the nice gal out front was inviting, cheerful and her comments about the tacos made me decide to try them. Although I have tried many, I hadn’t yet found a great taco in Hawaii… so I’ve been on the lookout for any newcomers for the past 5 years since making Honolulu my home.
I ordered two charbroiled-​chicken and one fish taco. In about 3 – 4 minutes, they were ready.
In a word, AWESOME!
Their corn tortillas were deliciously light and thin, too, so that I could enjoy the food in the taco more than the tortilla. But I could still taste the flavor of the corn and I would happily eat these tortillas by themselves, if they were available.
As for the contents of each taco — each had a carefully chosen and blended mix of diced and roasted peppers with fresh cilantro, with «perfectly cooked» chicken and fish, making for the best tasting tacos outside of Mexico or California. Seriously, each individual taco was by itself a small piece of culinary art — clearly the owner/​chef loves what he does and this love comes through to the food.
Go! Enjoy! And you’ll be thanking me.

Having just moved from SoCal, I had a mean Craving for Mexican Food so I ordered a Carne Asada Tostada! I was hoping for spectacular but it was just okay. Tasty aside from the bread being a little burnt.

Love the carne asada and the salsa is the best!!! Found them at the Maliki farmers market Thursday eve. They say they are at Pearlridge farmers market and Kailua some where on the weekends too.

Delicious lengua tacos! The food was also served fast. I guess they are only at the farmers market on wilder st.

Cute farmers market in Makiki. Went there looking for «taco Thursday». Tried every taco on the menu. The grilled chicken was a delightful tasty surprise! So juicy with grilled flavour. Everthing else was meh. The taco wrap was dry, so texture was bad with every bight. Needed a lot of water to down it if ya know what I mean. Lengua was okay but a bit sparse. The carnitas and asadas were hard to tell the difference since both were burnt black from over cooking. The spicy sauces could not save this one. By far the worst tasting taco was the fish. A big fat YUCKY, YUCK! All cabbage and soooo bitter. May have been the orange color sauce that came with? After the first bight I exclaimed how terrible it was. Watched my other half try it and he spit it into the grass. Wow, was it a different chef subbing in? Not sure why these 5 stars are given. Total taco Thursday disappointment. The Makiki open market was great but would not recommend this taco truck to anyone. Well, unless you like paying for burnt bitter dry food.

I had the carne asada tacos with a side of beans. Really good flavor. Nice and simple and the food tastes authentic and fresh.
I spoke with the owner and they’re only at the farmers market. So if you so happen to be there or craving some Mexican food during farmers market hours. Definitely make a stop here.

Molequiles were drool worthy. Beans actually had flavor. Best mole I’ve had and better than most in CA. Ive never even seen molequiles on any other menus in Hawaii. Will be back for more. He cooked my eggs perfectly over medium. Eggs were a little runny, but mostly cooked through. Yummy!!! Pico had lots of jalapeño kick, and gave the dish a nice freshness. Must eat!

I’ve tried several Mexican taco restaurants in Honolulu, but Santacruz Taco has the best tacos I’ve tasted to date. The tacos are great ! The meats are high quality and the variety (different flavors) of hot sauces they have on the side (mild/​medium/​hot) and the vegetable garnishes really make a difference.
Makiki Farmers market is where I enjoy this delectable, savory experience on Thursdays. I hope they open up a full time restaurant in Honolulu.

Best Mexican breakfast in the Islands! A must for Saturday mornings at the Saturday market at Kaiser high school in Hawaii kai 9am-​1pm.
Absolutely the best homemade tortillas and refried beans any where. Love the chorizo and eggs plate.
Plenty of tables to sit at in the market.
It’s a ritual for me! Ten out of a ten for me!

I just love the lengua tacos here as they are VERY solid but today decided to have a FULL breakfast. I was hungry today after my regular double Koko Head hike.
Tagged along with my friend who shops weekly at Hawaii Kai Farmers Market and decided to eat here as we had to wait for his free-​range eggs to be delivered.
I ordered the rajas con huevos (roasted peppers & eggs) con queso and beans w/​tortillas and they were the BOMB!!! I tried my friend’s dish of chorizo con huevos (spicy sausage scrambled with eggs and potatoes) and it was very tasty. I’ll admit I’m not a fan of beans but the dish of refried beans w/​fresh queso was INCREDIBLE. To solidify this, my friend also commented the refried beans rated one of the best he’s ever had (he’s a fellow foodie and has traveled all around-​the-​world). We washed our breakfast with the incredible cucumber lime drink. The total cost of today’s breakfast w/​drink: $ 18.
The food from this place is legit peeps. Good food and service with a smile.
P. S. I was STUNNED when the cook (as well as owner?) of this place called my name today. He was able to figure me out from my previous posting on Unilocal.I guess the people do read our reviews.
NOTE: Cash only.

1 man, 1 mission behind the counter, serving up some great tacos!
Recently discovered Santacruz Taco Co. upon my first visit to the Makiki farmers market. Although this farmers market might not be as big and flashy as the Honolulu farmers market on Ward it does offer unique pop ups that i have never before heard of my entire existence on the island.
While walking through the farmers market there was a certain scent, and chopping noise that lingered throughout the market. I’d like to say it was sort of a love at first scent. My nose did all the tracking and it led me to Santacruz Taco Co. The chef was chopping grilled meats up in the back, and everything came to a slomo, much like a scene from the matrix.
A quick glance at the menu and my vision honed in on «Beef Tongue». It wasn’t long before my mind was able to put that together with «Tacos» and that was the end of that train of thought.
«2 Laguna tacos please!» And there i was holding my $ 4 out. A varied row of condiments lay before me as i was served up the steamiest authentic looking tacos i’ve seen in a while. So many decisions on what condiments to sprinkle on the taco, and then i saw it. «Spicy Gaucamole»
«ABSOLUTELY!»
That was the end of that train of thought.
Then there i was green spicy avocado sauce spewing out of every bite. Beef tongue was grilled to perfection! Soft and chewy, just the way i like it. Topped with veggies which had a salsa consistency. While be coming back for more, since i think this is the only place that makes beef tongue tacos.

This is the best place for authentic tacos! Everything is freshly made from scratch. From the tortillas to the pico de Gayo to the chorizo. They know how to do it right! Everything is seasoned to perfection and grilled up just right. The tortilla is nice and thin the perfect balance of chewiness and crispness. The homemade salsas are excellent as well.

Nice little food stand at the Makiki Farmers Market on Thursdays. Enjoyed the little $ 2 tacos. It was just the right size to sample after having other items that night. Will enjoy again and again.

My wife and I had the carnitas and lengua, both were tender and tasty! Plus the green tomatillo sauce added a nice kick! Good stuff!!!