Olitas Cantina & Grill

The food here is super bad, just like the service and its not worth the price. The enchiladas tasted like chef boyardee with some minute rice. Never coming here again I don’t recommend it, they do have a nice view though.

This place is at a great location with a fantastic view of the ocean! The seafood dishes are excellent as well– I got the lobster tacos and he Goya quesadilla. We also split a margarita which was tasty– note that blending it does cost extra which our waiter did not tell us when he offered it! Overall, good food with great views.

This place is just okay. Maybe we went on a bad day? I got three tacos for over $ 20. I wouldn’t have really minded if they would have been tasty, but they were pretty bland. The two other plates we ordered were also bland. If you’re Mexican, you are not going to like the food.
The view is great, the service is good, and the portions are generous.

Food was good ! Really good, but service was terrible …
Our server was a young lady who seemed really pissed off and in a rush !
Actually, since we got there everyone kept staring and making comments about how we were «mexicans «
She was really unfriendly and just an uncomfortable feeling eating there over all .
Food was good but maybe taking it togo will be a better idea next time …

Damn, I love that Don Julio margie! Today I tried their nachos for the first time, and they were very good. The only disappointment is that they don’t include guacamole on the nachos, but otherwise, I had a delicious lunch of nachos and a margarita.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they have a special-​priced lunch menu, which is a very good deal. Take advantage of it!

We were seated promptly by the hostess, but then no one ever came to even take our drink order. Waited 20 minutes without ever being acknowledged and then walked out.

Still love you guys and I finally brought the BF and he’s a big fan as well!
We have a passport card which works at a variety of restaurants. Olitas is one of them and I suggested we go here. He hasn’t been in ages and it wasn’t for dinner so we had to come because I’ve been many times without him and the food is great, for being on the wharf.
We got seated right away and drink orders were given. I already knew what I wanted — duck carnitas with mole 3 ways — yummy! I got it once before and couldn’t wait to eat it again. Still as delicious as I remember and the BF liked it too.
He ordered the seared ahi which looked great. I might be ordering that dish next time :)
The calamari was very tasty, lightly breaded and fried nicely, not greasy at all.
I have to mention how much the BF loved the salsa! My dish came with a side dish of beans and rice which is too much to eat with the three tacos, so I took it home. He ate it for leftovers and was very happy with the flavors. Of course we dumped the rest of our salsa on it too :)
WE will be back! (probably sooner than later.)

Amazing views of the ocean, quick seating, great service, scrumptious fooood! :)
We walked in at about 1:30/2pm and we were going to be seated away from the windows but we asked for a seat by the windows and we were immediately seated. This is probably because it was not crowded, and we just got lucky, but whatever it was, it just made the experience a lot more fun!
We were served tortilla chips and pretty good salsa! Or maybe I was just really hungry. But the Mexican Pizza was amazeeeballs! And then we also got a vegetarian quesadilla and vegetarian enchilada which were both very very good.
Service was great, drinks were great, everything was just great!

Went to Olita’s twice over the course of two weekends while down in Santa Cruz. Very good views of the water from the second story of a building down on the pier next to the boardwalk. Was a bit of a treck to find it but the great views at night were awesome (we saw whales!)
Beer/​Drinks ⁶⁄₁₀: Nothing too overwhelming in this category. The beer list houses all the classic bar staples and a few local. They have a pretty long list of margaritas to choose from. A group of 5 of us ordered a pitcher of these and were very pleased with the decision.
Food ⁹⁄₁₀: everything my group got here was amazing and huge. The burritos were the size of small children and even the tacos were overflowing. I got the three duck tacos with different molé sauces and love them. Also how can you not love unlimited chips with salsa.
Definitely a good quiet spot to grab some beachside Mexican food. Make sure to look out for seals and whales!

My sister and I came here for happy hour on Taco Tuesday. Love the views from this restaurant. Gorgeous! The margaritas were good the service was good and the lobster taco was delicious. I will definitely be coming back!

Yummy seafood and more Mexican style. Beautiful views of the beach and boardwalk. It’s on the wharf UPSTAIRS. Don’t miss it.

This place is pretty damn tasty!
Great Maggie’s
Great window view
Great sea life in action
Great service
Great food! I’ll be back. A really nice sunset

This place is pricey for Mexican food, but it is very good! I have eaten here many many times, and I have never been disappointed. The chef is local and very well trained. There are some gourmet items on the menu and daily specials. The food is so fresh, and it is always packed. My only complaint is that it is REALLY noisy.
There are some phenomenal views.

The food wasn’t great, chips were out of a bag as opposed to fresh, there was a good deal $ 3 beer and $ 3 tacos which definitely lacked flavor as did the ceviche. It has a nice view and Joe our server was pretty good. I would definitely not recommend it go back.

The shrimp taco and chili relleno were yummy and they have great inexpensive margaritas! But no Bueno on meat in burrito and tacos. Carne and carnitas and lobster all tasted funky! The service was great and they offered to credit our bill — which was awesome.

Megan B the waitress, you gave us such a great experience from our Santa Cruz vacation that we are still raving about this place and your fine service.
The three of us went in on a Thursday afternoon seeking sustenance (booze) and a chance to sit and see the water (our landlocked self’s being thirsty for the ocean’s attention). The place was pretty empty, save for the half dozen or so people seated at the bar, which would be expected mid-​week and around 4 pm. We were prepared for a quiet lunch, uneventful even, just to experience the location. But it was not uneventful. It was amazing. Megan B was just so nice, we ended up chatting for a long time between her strides throughout the establishment. She was helpful and encouraging our choice in meals (despite two of us focusing more on the liquor aspect than the actual food…) and she entertained us with short anecdotes and we did the same in reply.
While her conversation was superb, so was her serving skills. She anticipated our needs; bringing water often, a refill on chips, getting us another round of drinks, flipping to the happy hour menu and persuading us to get the deal including a margarita and a taco. I choose the blackened fish taco and it was cooked perfectly, flaky and not dry, with plenty of shredded colorful cabbage on top. We had margaritas on the rocks with salt, it was excellent (and plenty addicting… we had two each… or was it three???)
Overall, we had a great experience and a lovely time here. We look forward to coming back again!

I had my rehearsal dinner at Olitas last weekend and I couldn’t be happier with my experience. We had 55 guests setup in a sectioned off area and the food, service and atmosphere were all incredible. We had three servers and no one’s drink went empty, food came out promptly and was delicious. Their GM Patrick worked with me throughout the process and he was terrific. Incredibly responsive and accommodating he made everyone feel welcome. He was outstanding and made the entire experience so memorable.
I had many out of town guests (including me) and they provided a high level of service. I thank them and will recommend them to anyone wanting to hold a rehearsal dinner at Olitas.

I really enjoyed my food and the view! Great window seat overlooking the warf and Boardwalk.
Waitress, not that great. She took forever and seemed irritated. There were only a couple of them for the whole restaurant but it wasn’t dinnertime yet, nor was it that busy. They do seem to have enough payroll though for the hostess to sit on her behind… cross-​train and multitask people! I probably won’t go there again, there are other great options on the warf.

Came here with some family, for a nice dinner! For starters, the view from the restaurant is just so breath taking. We enjoyed watching the sailboats and sea otters swim up to the edge of the dock where we watched from our seats.
I had a Bloody Mary which was fabulous! My aunt had a house Marg and Travis had some adult version of an Arnold Palmer, with Citrus Vodka in it. That was yummy also.
Their menu was a decent size. I got the scallop and shrimp tamales, which were super yummy. I would get them again. Also, their salsa was really great. What else to say about this place, hmmm… OH, their black beans tasted really weird. Almost like dirt. I’m not sure if it was a spice that I didn’t like or they were cooked to long, but that was the only meh part about our experience. Other than that, I totally plan on coming back. I had an awesome experience.

Suuuuper good carnitas taco! The chicken enchiladas were a little lacking and I didn’t care for the red sauce. The service is lacking at time also, unless you’re ok with kicking back for a while.