La Unica Taqueria takes Mexican food to a new level. As one of the defining aspects of Santa Barbara, Mexican culture appears in a wide variety of forms, from the widespread use of Spanish as a language, the fruit carts that can often be found at intersections, and, of course, the abundance of taquerias and Mexican restaurants. However, La Unica Taqueria provides a unique and refreshing experience for Santa Barbara’s Mexican food lovers.

String lighting, modern decorations, and upbeat Spanish music in the background give the restaurant an undeniably warm and cheerful atmosphere. The staff is all incredibly enthusiastic and thoughtful, always ready to answer questions and clean up plates. Furthermore, the restaurant is wheelchair accessible, with a high availability of space, combined with a ramp at the entrance.

The tacos served at La Unica Taqueria are delicious and come with a variety of toppings on two soft tortillas. The lengua taco, made with a soft, tender, and flaky beef tongue, is served with a mild green salsa and onions.

The al pastor taco features crisp, savoury, and slightly spicy meat that contrasts perfectly with the sweet and juicy pineapple slices that adorn it.

My personal favourite has always been the cabeza taco — tender meat from the head of a cow delivered in a soft tortilla with chopped onion and cilantro, creating the perfect balance of fatty flavor and lean meat (and that’s coming from someone who strongly prefers lean meat). For a slightly sour kick, add a squeeze of lime and a few slices of the tasty pickled radishes, and these tacos are to die for.

But La Unica Taqueria goes beyond tacos. As a restaurant focused on Mexican street food, it also serves many other beloved classics, such as burritos and elote de pueblo, or Mexican street corn. Their nachos are outstanding, topped with beans, cheese, chipotle, sour cream, guacamole, cilantro, onions, and pineapple. They also offer tortas, a terrific type of Mexican sandwich with meat, sour cream, chihuahua cheese, onion, and tomato.

My brother is rightfully a huge fan of the bold and unapologetic torta campechana, which comes loaded with meat and plenty of equally delectable toppings. Its unique appetizers feature novelty tastes such as bone marrow, offering diners an incredible experience to be able to try so many new and interesting flavors.

Additionally, La Unica Taqueria offers great horchata and aguas frescas. The cucumber agua fresca is a wonderfully refreshing delight, especially paired with the richer dishes offered at the restaurant. The watermelon agua fresca is similarly invigorating — very flavourful and not too sweet.

Outside of the entrees, many of the dessert options feature strawberries, such as the fresas con crema, which are served with cream, marshmallows, and cookies. Although some may find the homemade flan too heavy or sweet, the strawberries and almond slices balance it nicely. Its creamy texture, subtle taste of cinnamon, and vanilla notes are a nice touch.

Recently, La Unica Taqueria has renovated its menu, shifting towards featuring seafood dishes alongside its traditional offerings. New additions include flavorful fish tacos, loaded grilled octopus plates with salad and rice, and seafood tostadas.

However, even as an avid seafood enjoyer, many of La Unica Taqueria’s new seafood items taste mediocre. I ordered the grilled pescado zarandeado, although acceptably seasoned, it is dry and lacks the savoury, smoky, hot flamboyancy that the traditional dish typically delivers. In fact, it tastes very much like the curly fries it is served with, except in fish form.

Although the sides of fries were exceptional, the same flavor being applied to the fish filet yielded an unsatisfactory result that I wasn’t fond of. Although the tostada koketa (a tostada with tuna slices, spicy sauces, avocado, fried onion, and garlic pearls) is a fun concept, it is a highly loaded dish, and the moisture from the toppings makes the tostada soggy.

Since it opened in 2021 on Upper State Street, I’ve frequented this restaurant for everything: quick meals, celebrations, and casual outings with friends and family.

However, my one complaint is La Unica Taqueria’s constantly changing menu. Many of the fun and delicious options once offered have been subtracted in order to make way for newer ones. My family and I have been mourning the loss of the whimsical tripa taco since its removal from the menu. Even the iconic pico de gallo, once available at the previously diverse and colourful salsa bar, has disappeared.

Although it makes sense that a restaurant located in a coastal region would emphasize seafood, the newer marine-oriented portion of its menu seems less popular than its red-meat counterpart. Due to the common conception that fish tacos are less authentically Mexican than classics such as al pastor tacos, I observed significantly fewer seafood meals on the table.

La Unica Taqueria offers several vegetarian options as well. Their vegetarian al pastor — made with mushrooms and traditional al pastor seasonings go surprisingly well together. Rather than attempting to cheaply imitate meat, as many “Impossible” substitutes do, they instead work to complement the earthy, nutty taste of mushrooms.

The poblano taco, however, can be overwhelming. Although its explosively heavy seasoning, strong cheese, and a serving of rice nestled inside the tortilla next to a poblano pepper work to create a bold first bite, it can easily become too heavy after half a taco, which some people may find problematic.

Regardless, the service remains exceptional. The passion that the staff has for their food and their customers is undeniable and thoroughly contagious — one can’t help but share in their joy and excitement as well. As a Spanish learner, I often order and talk to my waiters in Spanish, and they are always incredibly supportive and eager to connect with me, which makes the experience more encouraging.

Overall, La Unica Taqueria is a spectacular experience. Its flavors are an incredible, bold delight to indulge in with friends and family, and the atmosphere in the restaurant is wonderfully warm. I would highly recommend going to La Unica Taqueria with friends and family to develop a taste for bold, one-of-a-kind Mexican food together.