The restaurant is dark for dinner (had a hard time reading the menu) so it's perfect for couples. The bar is brighter with skylights and lots of young people and drink specials. Also great for lunch - good specials and fresh Mexican fare.

The food was great! The problem we had was with the seating staff and the waiter. First, they refused to seat us, then they changed their mind. And mind you, the restaurant was almost completely empty. Once we got seated, the waitress was kind of in lala land. She was nice, but did not cater to our needs. Instead, the bus boy was more attentive, providing us with refills and more chips and salsa.

Carne asada melt in your mouth delicious. Beans blah.

The restaurant has quite large servings. We ordered chips salsa and guacamole and by the time the food had arrived everyone was already full. Other than that it was great! Their special pork tamales are delicious.

Good food and good service. Try to make it on Friday if you can, it's the only day you can score carnitas mmmmmmm. Decent cocktails also :)

Was a nice time for all, waitress was very good, the guacamole was on the thin side wouldn't order again. There were 2 bills and somehow I got charged for both on my credit card althought the other person paid cash. Ultimately the confusion was redolved yhe next day, so yhank you management.

I have loved El Palomar ever since I was a little girl! The dining room has a majestic feel that always reminded me of some kind of castle, and the bar is open, with an almost tropical feel. We find ourselves going there to hit up great happy hour deals with friends, to celebrate special occasions, or just because my man and I don't want to cook that night. Definitely one of our family favorites that has stayed consistently classy and yummy. Great staff, great food!

It's down town Santa Cruz; not Palm Springs. Don't expect much and you'll be happy.

It's walking distance from the movie house; that's the "Great" thing.

If you have time drive to the wharf's pier where they're better restaurants.

Great Food, good service, always a place to bring company.

We were shocked to see the new menu at this Santa Cruz staple. $18 for my burrito and they no longer include the delicious tortillas they're famous for. Way too expensive for Mexican food. Sorry Palomar this is our last time eating at your far too overpriced restaurant.

Restaurant is in the lobby of the El Palomar Hotel. Beautiful old building, very casual feel. Everything we tried was excellent. My wife is a cook and comes from a Mexican family. She was pleased so I think others will be, too.

El Palomar offer bedsides the standard Tex/Mex menu of most Mexican restaurants, a varied and imaginative offerings of well prepared, tasty dishes.

We arrived at the specified time and were seated promptly. Our hostess dropped by the menus, telling us someone would be by later, the chips and salsa were dropped by promptly, some time passed 5-8 mins. before our waitress was free to stop by. She took our drink order, we also requested water for the table. The bar drinks came by first eventually the water arrived, this was finished quickly as it had been a hot day, waited a long time for refills of water, after our meal arrived. The food was tasty but cool. We said nothing as time on the metered parking was ticking. All in all, more wait staff would be useful as well as more service staff. The cook should take the temperature of each dish they send out. We did have a nice visit.

The dining and atmosphere is fun, casual but perfect for an evening out with a good friend, family or work group. The meal was delivered promptly and our glasses were rarely empty. The server was very attentive at appropriate times and allowed for time to enjoy our meal and converstion.

A dining experience at Palomar is a must!

We enjoy coming to this restaurant anytime. It is always a favorite. We use it for all graduations, birthdays, out of town guests, and just us.

Quick reliably quality lunch at a good price options

We went to the outdoor bar area. It's got a nice area to sit in a semi outside feel to it. Food was plentiful, reasonably priced but service from the bartender for food order was sooooo slow. We ordered guacamole and he finally attempted to bring it with our lunch instead of as an appetizer, we turned it diwn at that point.he took a long time to even get us a drink, never brought us water never refilled our chips, never asked us how our lunch was etc. it's was very quiet there but he was busy chatting behind the bar. However chimichanga was huge and delish. Margarita was good

Great food cool building and friendly service

We love El Palomar, Santa Cruz. The building is worth the price of admission, and the food and service are first rate.

I had not been to El Palomar in Downtown Santa Cruz for several years and almost forgot about it as a choice for Mexican food. I was pleasantly surprised that a friend and I got in very quickly with our reservations made on Open Table even though we were 15 minutes late. We were seated quickly and had a delicious meal and drinks. I'll put this place back on my list for sure.

We had a nice time there for a small party, celebrating a birthday. The restaurant itself seemed a little tired, but the menu was nice and the portion were good.

We make this a regular stop whenever we come to the area. The service was great and the food was even better! Great variety - loved the carne asada enchilada filling.

Four of us made a reservation on a Friday night and were seated immediately, and there were at least a dozen people waiting for tables. We immediately got chips and salsa, and quickly got glasses of water. Our server was friendly and attentive, and the food came out surprisingly fast after the order was placed, especially fast since the restaurant was packed. Be careful when ordering if you don't like spicy food, because their "house fillings" for various dishes are almost all spicy. I asked our server what the least spicy filling was, and she said the guacamole, and she was right; I had previously ordered the house shredded chicken filling and it was so spicy I couldn't eat it. The food is good and a great value.

This is our go-to place for Friday night. The carnitas is outstanding and the servers are fabulous!

I had a pleasant experience at El Palomar. I had an ahi tuna salad, and though it was a tad pricey (~$17) it was delicious. If I were to alter the salad, I would have added more avocado. The sauce had wasabi which was great! Another time I came here, I had the carne asada tacos, which was a great sized portion because I left with a leftover taco. I would recommend this place, definitely.

Can't go wrong the beautiful restaurant. Food is good, best chips of anyplace, service is professional and overall fun!

I am so happy we had a reservation. The wait looked super long, but due the afore mentioned reservation, we hardly waited at all. It was really good. The nachos are yummy.

Server was great. Good p,ace to go before dancing. Big tables and reasonably priced food.

My husband has dined here before, but this was my first time and was not disappointed. We couldn't stop eating the chips and salsa!! The dinner was great, staff friendly and attentive, wonderful ambiance in a lovely historic building. We will definitely come back.

We always go to the Friday night carnitas. THE BEST!

the seafood pozole was very good.

A good choice for downtown Santa Cruz dining. Great margaritas! Our only complaint is that it was so dark in the dining room that some of us couldn't read the menu!

The interior is beautiful and the food is decent. The downside of this place is the service. Our waitress was adequate -- filled the order but not much more. The guys clearing the tables were terrible. One fellow started clearing dishes well before we were all finished eating. Arms and elbows reaching across the table while still in the middle of our dinner. Another guy started clearing our drinks before they were finished, and barked orders about what should be handed to him. I pointed out that I wasn't finished and, after handling my glass, he put it back on the table and walked away. These guys need some serious training. Anyway, we'll go there again for the food and location, and hope that they get their act together.

Was looking for Mexican food and ended up there. Very good food and friendly service.

The food here is good, not great. Overall a fun place to dine, the waitstaff is (for the most part) very timely and helpful. If they used fresh rather than frozen prawns that would be a huge improvement. They could also have some more fun with the drink selection. The dining room tends to get quite loud and also is a bit too dimly lit. Nothing that ruins your experience, but area's where the restaurant could improve. The steak seems to be their strong point, I'd avoid prawns and some of the chicken is hit-or-miss.

El Palomar is in the Palomar Hotel and it took several trips around the block to find the restaurant. Once inside, the restaurant is in a spectacular, high ceiling room with a bar next to it which is quite grand. The menu had the usual Mexican items but featured ceviche, lobster enchiladas and our favorite, Jose's special. Everything was seasoned to have some sense of spice but not with the raw heat that blows off the top of your head. The fish items were done to a turn which the carnea(sp) asada was really unique and worth a special trip.

All in all, we were looking for a place to eat while not able to be in our home and found a quite remarkable restaurant.

This is my third visit to El Palomar, and each time the food has been excellent. The service has been generally poor however, but the atmosphere and awesome food overshadows it. The house margaritas are excellent as well. Portions are large, plenty to have for lunch the next day. Some of the bext Mexican food any of us have ever had.

The sopes were quite good, the chili rellenos was heavily breaded, but good. The other meal was a generous portion of seafood stew on top of chili rellenos. It was a satisfying meal, in an impressive environment. The interior is lovely, with an elaborately painted ceiling.

I was craving salsa and chips along with a solid Marg.

Well chips and salsa were on point and the food was great (a bit pricey) but thats what you get in a hotel.

The marg was SUPER weak. We ordered two pitchers and between 3 people did not feel a thing. Sad but at least it was good food. Waitress seemed to be over stretched I had to tracked her down :(

We had an impromptu family reunion including my 2 year old great-niece. The food was great, like fresh, home made fare. Very kid-friendly