Copal Restaurant

Wow, this place is the real deal. My friend and I came here for lunch. My friend who got one of the moles was immediately in love. She has a super sensitive sense of taste and smell, because she is a chef. I'm gluten free and vegan for medical reasons, and they have a huge menu to fit both needs!! The tacos, which is what I had, with vegan carne asada were super tasty, and the beans they came with are unbeatable. I would order more of those beans as a side! The guacamole was *delicious*. Their salsas are outstanding. The chef there is a woman, and we were informed that she wanted to bring her recipes from Oaxaca to her new residence, in Santa Cruz. We are LUCKY to be this woman's guests. The tortillas were handmade corn, and GORGEOUS. I felt like each recipe was a home recipe, safe for me to eat but also far more delicious than I could think up or make at home. My friend saw one of the larger dishes, go by and we both gasped. It looked like a baby dinosaur! If you haven't been there, ask your server how much you want to eat. Some of the dishes are huge and some are smaller, like the tacos (perfect for lunch, I thought). The food is so good there that you might be tempted by the desserts there as well. I have said restrictions, but someone else would probably go for it! Their servers are super nice too. I can't remember our server's name unfortunately, but we had really sweet young lady on Friday 3/21/25, so thank you!! She was communicative, attentive, sweet, and never said a mean word even though I asked her a couple times about something. Super nice. I definitely will keep this place in mind, even though I don't go out much, I love food, and their place is right down the street from my place. Thank you Copal!!

Menu has Gluten Free (GF) labels for many dishes, unfortunately several of those listed as GF contain items fried in a shared frier which is also used for Gluten containing items (Churros). I did find such GF labeling very misleading as well a dangerous for people with Celiac desease. For examples Tortilla Chips, Molotes, Antojitos Platter are all listed as GF but contain fried tortillas that come from frier used for Churros (weath flour based). I ended up having the Tacos which were suposed to be safe and I still had a reaction. In short, this place is not safe for Celiacs as their menu is not to be trusted.