Tampico Kitchen & Lounge

Great little Mexican restaurant on the Pacific Garden Mall’s South end. It is worth the walk if you want authentic food, nice service, and reasonable prices. There is another choice that is more main stream in the center of the Mall, but this place is worth the walk and about half the price. Our Waitress was very attentive and friendly and the owner was on site and personally stopped by to talk with us. Very happy with my lunch. I am not going 5-​stars yet due to the lack of air conditioning inside the restaurant and the door left open to get a breeze also brought in flys. Also, the furniture is old and needs an upgrade. Fix these up and you will have a 5-​star review from me as I will be back for sure.

Hot garbage. Worst Mexican I’ve ever ate, margarita was all mixer no booze. Service was terrible. Just a weird place, even for Santa Cruz. If you’re a fan of tasty Mexican food or just good food in general, go somewhere else.

My family and I have gone here for years. The staff is great, the food is great, and the drinks are reasonably priced and on point. I recommend the nachos con to-​do, or the fajitas. All their food is great to be honest, but those two are the ones I always reorder frequently. Try the jalapeño margaritas!

I was skeptical about this place. It looked a little dingy and there was hardly anyone else eating here. It’s bigger than I was anticipating, with two rooms and a bar. My friend and I were here for lunch and were greeted by Miguel who took good care of us. Both of us ordered agave margaritas ($ 7) and #9 enchiladas of your choice with rice and beans. The margaritas were strong. The food was surprisingly pretty good. Everything had good flavor, albeit a little salty.

Happy to say that the décor has been updated. You still get the strong odor of Lysol when you walk in. New rugs and re-​upolstered seats but still needs a paint job over the funky sponge paint.
I wanted a tostada but not in the crispy bowl. Miguel accommodates every wish. I watched people come in there just to see him. He’s just a good guy and the highlight of the place.

Food was just okay. Have to say though, they accommodated my partner’s requests, which weren’t too arduous. If the little flies weren’t buzzing around (kind of surprised with this cold weather) and the drinks were served in adult size glasses I may have rated this higher. Also, the waiter kind of gave us he feeling like he wished we had gone somewhere else.

I want to love this place as some of my family lives in Tampico and the food is so good there; however, the food here is far from fresh and authentic. I’ve tried the albondigas or meatball soup and it is flavorful but salty, the Santa Fe enchiladas with beef and the beef is tasteless and very finely ground like Taco Bell. The burrito is good and big but the beans tasted like lard and the service in the bar area can be slow and cold from some of the ladies. I wish I could give them more stars, but I’m just not impressed. :-(

The moment we walked in we were not even greeted. We sat down and the lady passed by and said that she’s processing a credit card of another customer as if we were in her way. And then she doesn’t even get to us before she went to somebody else first. When we finally got our food, the meat had the weirdest taste… it was disgusting!

Super dank food!!! Enchiladas ans Tacos are on point! Super friendly service as well!

The most bland Mexican food I’ve had in my life… never again would this be an option for me unless I was getting paid. Edible but it sucked

Outstanding find. Came here by accident and feel fortunate to have done so. I had the chili Colorado and my wife had the carnitas plate. Both were excellent in flavor and portion (although the leftovers were enough for lunch the next day). The margaritas were tasty and our server Daniel did an excellent job of taking care of us. If we didn’t live 300+ miles away we’d be here weekly. I highly recommend this restaurant for some of the best Mexican food in the area.

Guacamole excellent, beans excellent, Carnitas soft and delicious not greasy, service excellent, eat here before you die and often. Only wish they were in Sacramento where I live

I seriously haven’t been here in years, since I’d say the 90’s. My mom wanted to go back on mother’s day. Usually I hit up other places on Pacific, but it was mother’s day. Do what mom wants. To my surprise, all the food was really good. I hope to take my fiancée back here sometime. The flavors in the enchilada sauce and their refried beans are really good.
This is not your fancy kind of restaurant, but honestly I like that more. It is about what they serve, not a fake front with fancy decorations. See you soon Tampico.

I was there for one hour waiting for the service and finally I got a waitress. She barely ask us what we wanted. My plate was the worse. I ordered a carne asada plate. It was like chewing on a leather piece of stuff. Horrible … Please know what u want … Thanks so

Chicken wings are salty as fuck. I suspect the hand that held the salt shaker has Parkinson’s.
When I first found out I didn’t have my wallet with me after I made the order, the old lady immediately said oh if you can’t afford it… turned around and walked away as smooth as ball room dancing. Really?
I wouldn’t have even stepped into this place if it weren’t because the rest of the street was shady as fuck. This Mexican bar is the only place blessed by Jesus right now.

The food is good but not really Mexican, is more Mexican-​American. Taste good not to much cumin, so that’s really good, the tacos are with crispy tortilla, I really like them.

Just not good.
Chips: thin and boring. Salsa: biting without good flavor. Santa Fe Special: Lacking in flavor. Refried beans: too salty. Rice: dull. Wife’s cheese enchilada: flavorless.
This would have barely passed for good Mexican food in the 1960’s, and this ain’t the 60’s.
Nice server, but she didn’t come back to the table to check on us after leaving los platos.
A wasted opportunity to have a good meal in downtown Santa Cruz.

… Nachos and Beer!
So, so good.

We were a bit a worried when the place only had 2 other patrons in the middle of what should have been a dinner rush, but my family was super hungry so we went in. The food was absolutly divine!
We had the Chile Verde, the Killer Quesadilla, and some kids meals. Both the adult meals were delish! I heard no complaints from the kiddos.

Haters can really move the target. When trying to find good eats, I like to keep my mind open. Cuz when I do, good stuff falls into it. Like this place! Delicious homestyle Mexican food. Like if you had an Abuela and she kept a kitchen open all day long.
Great service too! And some local flavor as well. I am only speaking truth here, but Santa Cruz people… do they know it’s 2013? Hippies every where! Gonna eat, pay the check and high tail it back to 101!
I kid. It’s good and quaint here.