El Santo: Tasty Mexican Food in New West

El Santo is a Mexican-inspired restaurant in New Westminster (located near Big Star Sandwich) that’s named after the restaurant founder’s childhood hero… masked Mexican wrestler, Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta, also known as El Santo (Spanish for The Saint).

Up until my first visit here, if you mentioned New Westminster and tacos, I would have immediately thought of Taqueria Playa Tropical on 6th Street. El Santo is quite different as the decor is quite modern, inviting, and polished. I wouldn’t say that one is better than the other… they’re just different.

On my first visit, I ordered some tacos… the El Pastor ($8) and the Pescado ($8).

The El Pastor is made with 12-hour braised Fraser Valley pork, onions, cilantro, grilled pineapple, and salsa roja. The pork was quite tender and plentiful. While $8 might seem expensive for tacos, there’s actually enough filling to make 4 tacos (they give you two soft tortillas for each taco) so it actually works out to about $2 per taco.

The Pescado was quite good. I really enjoyed the crunchiness of the beer battered BC ling cod and the shredded cabbage with the creaminess of the avocado crema, tomato, scallions, and salsa verde.

I also ordered an El Camino ($6) drink made with pomegranate, lime juice, and rosemary.

The tacos were a bit messy to eat (as expected), but I was surprised at how flavourful everything was… especially the salsa verde.

I came back for a revisit a week later and ordered the Cachete ($8) made with braised beef cheek, crispy shallots, jalapeño, and salsa roja. The crispiness of the fried shallots contrasted nicely with the supreme tenderness of the beef cheeks. I paired my meal with a Mandarin Jarritos ($3.50).

The fried jalapeños were not overly spicy and I really liked these tacos. If you ever have a chance to order tacos with beef cheeks… just do it!

I wanted to try their Churros ($8) – these cinnamon and sugar dusted mini churros were super crispy on the outside and soft and airy on the inside.

You get a Dulce de Leche dipping sauce to top things off with.

On my second visit, they also gave me some complimentary homemade pink marshmallows with my bill. Loved how super soft and pillowy they were. Make sure you check out the large El Santo mask artwork on the back wall.

The following week, I wanted to try something different than a taco so I ordered their Pescadito Veracruzana ($12) and paired it with a Lime Jarritos (3.50).

The BC ling cod is served with capers, olives, roast tomato, and a mild chili broth with Papas Mexicanas (wedge cut potatoes with onions and peppers). Everything about this dish was good. The torta had a crispy, toasted bun with juicy ling cod inside with avocado and red onions. There was a pleasant spicy heat in my mouth after I finished this meal. Make sure you try their Papas Mexicanas… really good, seasoned potatoes).

They also gave me some of the same complimentary marshmallows at the end of my meal. Overall, the service seemed friendly enough but they did wind up giving me the wrong menu on multiple visits (the dinner menu differs from the lunch menu). In terms of taste, they have some solid dishes and well worth a visit.

680 Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC

elsanto.ca