Tienda Santa Cruz

This is one of my favorite places to get tacos and burritos. They’re fast, cheap and really delicious! There’s also various salsas to choose from.

Poor service, OK breakfast burrito.
I’ve only been here once and I was up from LA staying at a friend’s house around the corner. I called in a breakfast burrito: Chorizo and Eggs. What I got was a chorizo burrito. When the lady rang it up, she actually noticed it didn’t have eggs in it, and just wanted me to take it. I asked her to have them make me another one, and she said they didn’t have any more chorizo. No more chorizo at a Mexican joint? That’s like not having water at the lake.
Anyway, I thought the burrito was OK, but certainly not what I wanted.

Yummy tacos! We ordered 3 chicken and 3 pork tacos. I ate mine so fast that I forgot to take pictures. At $ 1.25 per taco, what a great price. I loved the avocado green sauce and pickled carrots. Definitely authentic. We plan to come here again.

Fresh, delicious and authentic is how I would describe this amazing place. I’ve enjoyed going here for the past 4 years. Every dish that Ive had tastes home cooked to me. The cleanliness of the eating area could improve, however, I understand that during lunch and dinner time is when they get slammed. Definitely worth stopping by and trying out their menu while supporting local business.

Delicious chorizo, spicy and classic. The burritos are a good size and very filling. The avocado sauce was unexpectedly good — tangy, a tiny bit spicy, bits of avocado. My husband had the chorizo torta — also tasty. He added the pickled carrots and loved it. Prices are top notch, $ 10 for the both of us. I think they offer some free soup while wait but I would honestly save all your belly room for the food. We will be back since we live down the street.

A glimpse of matters south of the border is wonderfully brought here with Tienda Santa Cruz. They are authentic as to have the refrigerators filled with pastries, lots of snacks, and plenty of Mexican cuisine items available, since this is a taqueria after all.
Going here was great. I had heard that this a taqueria, though last time I didn’t notice and it looked like it was missing that element and that it was just a mere convenience store. I ordered a burrito for five dollars. It was a big pastor burrito, portioned as if it were at Claim Jumper. It was also very good, though I’ve had better. The meat was properly marinated. Otherwise, it was just good, though the meat shows minimal cutting of corners. Tacos are just $ 1.25.
This is a culturally enriching experience.

Mmmm tacos! Managed to shove 6 into my belly and I don’t regret a thing. Put some chipotle sauce on some of them, do it! Put a roasted jalapeño on another, do it! Just go get some tacos and die happy. You know you want to… mike drop

A complete hole in the wall on 82^nd. I am seriously addicted to tacos! I’ve only ever gotten tacos, and I personally feel like it’s the same as St. John’s, but perspective is subjective to each individual. I am loving the juicy carnitas and the ‘ol standby of carne asada tacos, and have stayed and ate my tacos. I speak a little Spanish, and can get by. It’s definitely not a place to hang out, if I am driving on 82^nd to avoid the 205 traffic it’s been a must for me to stop and get tacos.
I think they have a five dollar credit/​debit minimum, so cash is optimal, unless you plan on getting more food. Sometimes they have the avocado salsa, sometimes they don’t.

Lunch today, ordered 2 sopes and my friend ordered chicken taco combination plate. When my sopes arrived they were not sopes at all they were huraches. I ask the attendent where are the sopes and she said that was them refering to the huraches. I said these are not sopes they are huraches, and she gave no repley. I thought oh well no problem ill just be content with these. I generally dont like huraches because they are much thinner then sopes; and these huraches were no exception. Expensive too $ 5 for each. Beans cotija cheese lettuce and avocado. Verdict… they werr pretty good i still prefer sopes; but, with a very good salsa bar and cnillis torreados, the meal was delicious and filling. My ftiend enjoyed his combiation plate.
This is a grocery store and bakery as well as a taqueria. Not pretenious at all very comfortable and causual. The perfect place for a meal, just a quck bite or for take away. I will come back. Every thing was fresh and really quite good. The employees or owners were all friendly and the place was clean. This place is worthy of a visit and i may say multiple visits

This place is awesome. The best Mexican food in montavilla by far but hard to spot as it’s tucked away next to subway. Pastor tacos my go to. 1.25!!! All montavillains should go support them. Very good fast service, you can phone in orders, and they’re very friendly

Don’t go here expecting the same quality as the St. johns one. Same family, different stuff.

I’m always excited to try a place that could be deceptively delicious. A Mexican shop/​panadería/​taquearía sounds great. I was disappointed on all fronts. Nothing in the store that isn’t also available at Fred Meyer, a limited pan dulce selection, and the prepared food was dry and salty. I finished my food, do its not the worst thing I’ve eaten on 82^nd, but I don’t think that I’ll be returning.

Burritos stuffed full of beans, rice, cheese, & choice of meat for just $ 5.
The salsa bar has four sauces from mild to habanero & of course my favorite avocado sauce is included in the mix. There’s pickled carrots & jalapeños, too.
Service is always friendly & fast. This location is smaller than the one on Lombard but there’s still enough room for seating in the back. While you’re waiting check out the great homemade bread & bakery items.
Cash AND debit are accepted. You need to purchase at least $ 5 to avoid the debit fee but that’ll be easy after ordering that gigantic burrito I talked about.
Get to Tienda Santa Cruz before we fatten ourselves with this stuff.

I’ll be back! Turned to Unilocal to find some decent Mexican food in the area, and I came across this place near home.
First off, it’s pretty intimidating. The place doesn’t look like a restaurant, and the menu on the wall is 100% Spanish. Be brave, it’s worth it!
We ordered a few tacos and a burrito. That and a coke were less than 11 bucks. Sweet! The food came quickly, and it was awesome. The burrito was better than most food cart offerings, and super cheap. The tacos were even better. To top it all off, the salsa bar is stacked!
Glad I found this place.

Ummm. No. Starving after being sick and not eating for 2 days, I walked to try a new Mexican spot. Got 3 tacos and beans and rice. Girl at the counter thought it was weird that I requested beans n rice. No clear menu except some sloppy hand written poster board on the back wall. Meat on both carnitas and asada is bland and fatty. Salsa bar is ok. I got 2 big packs of that tamarind spoon candy, though, so that’s a plus. I like Los Taquitos much better. Won’t be back unless it’s for the market items.

4 big tacos — $ 5.00, salsa bar with other condiments — free, not having to drive all the way to St Johns for the best tacos in Portland — priceless.
The rumors are true, Tienda Santa Cruz is selling tacos and burritos again.
Just got back from having a taco medley (one each; carnitas, asada, pastor and chorizo) each one better than the last. They also have a salsa bar that is larger than the one in St Johns which includes six different kinds of salsas (I recommend the avocado or tomatillo) as well pico de gallo and pickled vegetables.
I addition to being a good value, these are easily my favorite tacos in Portland. They also make great burritos (my favorite: the chile relleno) for only $ 5.00.
If you have not been here yet, go now, you won’t regret it.

Big news! The taqueria portion of this store is back!

YES! hot food is back at Tienda Santa Cruz complete with the famous avocado sauce.
Brief menu on the wall, but just ask and they will accomodate. So far I’ve had the veggie burrito a couple of times it’s just so good. Beans, avocado, rice, cheese, some pico what more do you need? Fast, inexpensive and tasty. No dairy? No problem!
On my list to try: cammarones de diablo (sp?) and vegetarian huraches.
This time around there were different bottles of hot sauce on the tables to try out.
Bonus — pick up some mexican pastry for breakfast!
Also the same owners as the amazing Taquiera in St. Johns.

My last review stands, and it’s one of my better reviews. You should read it. I just needed to drop an update here to refresh a few things. First off…
THE TACOS ARE BACK!
Tacos, burritos, menudo, and on weekends, consome with barbacoa. Oh hell to the yes. Current prices:
Burritos: $ 5 ($ 6.5 if you add on arroz y frijoles)
Tacos: $ 1.25 — $ 1.50 (depending on the meat choice)
Everything else? Who knows.
The tacos are super legit. Stuffed full. You won’t find a better deal anywhere in PDX. And they have a complete salsa bar.
Cash only. Bring your Washingtons. Get ready to grub down.

I just learned from a fellow Montavillan that not only is this place related to the St. John’s location, but they also JUST BROUGHT BACK THEIR HOT FOOD!
If you haven’t been to TSC, and if you, like me, miss the authentic Mexican cuisine of, say, California, then you absolutely have to try this little hole in the wall. I used to go to the St. John’s location for my weekly taco fix. Now it turns out I can stumble here after stumbling away from my favorite watering hole, and that makes me a very happy human.

The bread here is delicious :) especially las conchas y cuernitos

So. I am a Mexican pastry noob. I didn’t know what I bought here, and the nice lady did not understand me at all. What I thought was a dollop of chocolate in one pastry turned out to be a guava nestled in custard. But that’s part of the adventure. For me, anyway.
I will be back, mostly confused, buying pastries based on looks, and then becoming delighted by $ 3 worth of fresh, sweet pan.

Amazing tacos and they are unbelievably cheap. Don’t expect atmosphere, as it is a little hole in the wall behind a market, but nothing beats this price for this quality in the area. I recommend getting a few different tacos with friends and sharing.

The *mexican restaurant* part of the establishment is now closed.
This was told to us TODAY by the lady behind the counter.
The bakery and store part is still there. We had a couple of their baked treats and they were good. A nice pick me up after a long day of running around.

If you’ve recently found TSC in N. Portland you know it’s good stuff. I didn’t know that TSC on NE 82^nd was the same folks until Jimmy C.‘s review. Soooo … when I found myself out east around dinnertime looking for a quick easy and inexpensive feast … I pulled into the small strip mall at the SE corner of Burnside and 82^nd. Sure enough, the same Mexican market feel as the St. Johns place.
There’s a very small seating area but the menu is the same, the prices are the same, the bakery goods are the same. I was planning on a burrito al pastor but then, there hanging up was a sign saying that on Saturdays and Sundays, a Barbacoa (lamb) special burrito, $ 4! A lamb burrito! Al Pastor will have to wait. I had that little burro home so fast and in my belly… MmmMmmmmm!
Jimmy c. is right, they need to go global! I am such a fan!