Taqueria El Buen

I'm not from Santa Barbara, but from the Central Valley where AMAZING Mexican food is around every corner. Trust me when I say Buen Gusto has the best carnitas burrito I have tried in all of Santa Barbara. I've been to Super Rica, Pipeyes, Cucas, Rudy's Mexican, and Cuernavaca - all places locals have recommended to me. And Buen Gusto beats out all of them. The carnitas is definitely their best meat, I've had the carne asada & al pastor but the carnitas is where it's at! The most recent time I went, I had to actually pick some of the meat out because there was too much and the ratio of pico & rice was off. But don't take that as a complaint, I was very pleasantly surprised. They are very quick getting your order out. I visited on Father's Day and got my burrito in less than 10 minutes. The cashiers are fluent in both English and Spanish and are VERY nice. The tomatillo salsa is my favorite - not spicy at all though, if that's what you're into. They have sliced jalapeños, lemons, and radishes in the salsa bar, which I've noticed has become kind of a thing of the past after Covid. The prices are good for Santa Barbara, I haven't yet found a cheaper burrito that has the same value as Buen Gusto. The burrito itself: it's moist. I get the regular burrito and there's never a lack of moisture even though the ingredients are pretty simple. There is a light layer of grease that sticks to the aluminum foil and the tortilla, but I love that. Please try Buen Gusto, you won't regret it!

AMAZING FOOD. I currently live near Palm Springs, where you would assume there's great Mexican food. You'd assume wrong. It sucks here. Cheap, lazy crap. Santa Barbara, Ventura, TO, Oxnard... great food. Buen Gusto's greasy, FULL, savory, tasty, crispy quesadillas are legendary. My gold standard quesadilla. Thin, clean, dry quesadillas are the worst. If it's not thick with marinated meat and dripping grease, then it's not a good quality quesadilla. Good quesadillas are not meant to be healthy options. I've only had the quesadilla and Camarones a-la Diabla, that was great too. I just ate another typical POS quesadilla from Palm Springs area, and it made me give this spot 5 stars.

Delicious food, pretty authentic Mexican food. Good portions and salsas are spicy enough. Service is great and the cashiers are friendly and kind.

Taqueria Buen Gusto also does catering. Alberto & his crew were awesome. We chose 3 different meats for tacos, carnitas, chicken, and carne asada as well as beans, rice, salsas, and chips. He also brought some guacamole. Everything was delicious & many of our guests complimented the food. They arrived on time, set up where we requested, and took care of everything professionally. Highly recommend!

I've passed by this place many times but never stopped. Mostly because it's in a small shopping center with very little parking. A friend invited me for lunch though so I finally got to try it. I entered a utilitarian interior and was greeted by friendly people who got my order done fairly quickly. Prices are on the high side for a hole-in-the-wall but decent for Santa Barbara. I ordered the tacos al pastor plate. It was pretty good, with fresh ingredients and lots of food. I tasted my friend's crispy mashed potato tacos and they were really good. Wouldn't mind having them again. There are better places on Milpas, some of them a hole-in-the wall, and some of them more upscale but there's nothing to complain about here. The food is good.

Great salsa bar and the best chorizo egg burrito. I've had in a very long time. Look forward to going back and try and other things on the menu.

Milpas street offers a great deal of restaurants of all types. Today I opted for this joint. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much as it was closing time and you know how that can go....but. The food was great! I got the enchilada combo. Great flavors and the portion size was huge. Price point was good at $13.99 for three enchis, rice, beans and a dollop of guacamole. Friendly fella at the front. Why hadn't I been here before??!!

Some of the best quality tacos in Santa Barbara! One of my go-to spots when it comes to ordering takeout. The salsas are also very delicious and being able to select from a salsa bar makes it all the better.

This place has been here forever and okay delivers authentic and traditional Mexican food. The food is excellent. Everyone is super friendly. Sometimes they run out of their special dishes such as the menudo, so get there early. There are tons of salsa options as well. The enchiladas and nachos. The menudo was great. There is plenty of space to eat. You can eat inside or outside. Parking is in a little shopping area. If there are no parks then you can park on the street. Prices are great. This place has been here forever and okay delivers authentic and traditional Mexican food.

There are a lot of Mexican restaurants on Milpas. At first, I thought about going to Super Rica. Line out the door- no thanks. Then I remembered Taqueria El Buen Gusto. I like its low key, local vibe. It's also got plenty of parking and there was only a small line at the noon hour. Lots of SB high kids on lunch break but I got the last table. The staff here is super friendly and the food is tasty and reasonably priced. It's been around for decades- my friend who is in his late 50's worked here as a teenager. The menu has lots of offerings but I went with the taco plate (pollo and carnitas) which comes with rice, beans and guac. Yummy. Highly recommend this taqueria!