Mariscos El Nayarita II

Overall and excellent dinner with large portions and friendly service.
The menu is huge, so many choices. It’s almost daunting. But once you make a choice you’ll enjoy it.
The grilled praws were excellent. And the guacamole is to die for, though I wasn’t a huge fan of their corn tortilla chips. We had the flan for dessert, which is also really good. The flavor is excellet but the texture of the flan isn’t as smooth as some of the other ones I’ve had. Just make sure you have room for all the good food!

What a cool place ! Way off the beaten path in the farm and farmers market area of Watsonville .We were the only «gringos» there — which I considered an auspicious benediction ! The place looked a bit rustic and I was already questioning our decision to drive inland for seafood — so glad we stayed — the food did NOT make us sick,
and Everything was so beautifully prepared !
The chavelas (michelada)are what brought us in. A Latino friend of ours had assured us –these were the «best around».They did not disappoint ! They even come with 3 prawns as a garnish !
Our waitress (who spoke English perfectly) was very warm, with lots of helpful suggestions — we said we were here for the Lagustinos. But how they are prepared is your choice. She recommended the «sauce you will remember «…So yup, let’s do that !
Obviously a «house specialty» the flavor, will indeed, haunt me. Spicy, but not so much that it overwhelms the other complex flavors going on in this sublime dish. The Lagustinos were huge, and the plate was definitely enough to split .
The locals at the next table, watched us relishing our meal, and offered to buy us a second round of drinks. Just saying ., we were welcomed with open arms, and though it looked like a «shack» it was the best meal I have had in months, despite canvassing a lot of fancy SantaCruz restaurants lately ! And when we got the bill ?
We were Shocked —- at how inexpensive! Nice for a change ‚
Worth the drive !

After driving by their packed parking lot every time we pass this direction we finally stopped today for lunch and were not disappointed. Next time I’m going to try the other favs people listed here but we played it pretty safe with the fish tacos (HUGE) and the combo fajita which was sooooooo goooooood. Whatever they marinate the shrimp in, it’s magical. Service was fast, and friendly. I would definitely return.

Excellent food!!! My husband and I have tried almost every dish here and we have not been disappointed once. I love their aguachile casero and my husband loves the mojarra frita. The best chavelas in town. This place is clean and the service is great. The seafood is always fresh. If you come here please PLEASE try Los langostinos!!! You will become addicted to them. This place is worth giving it a try.

I have driven from Santa Cruz JUST to eat here. It is literally our favorite place to dine out in Watsonville. My personal favorite are their chavelas and raw oysters. Seriously if you never tried a chavela or don’t know what it is, you must! Service is great, and I love the vibe of the place. You feel like you’re in a little hole in the wall in Mexico. I love the authenticity of the place.

Try out the chavelas ask for the chavelas Nayarit special !

If you’re already drunk and want or need some greasy food. This is your place. If you are looking for good Mariscos. This isn’t the place. The service was slow, all the plates came out at different times, poor service.

This is most definitely the best Mexican seafood joint in Watsonville. I always order the large shrimp in chipotle sauce, or their shrimp ceviche tostadas.
The negatives is that’s it’s a bit over priced and you will come out smelling like a fried catfish.
Dont let the smell keep you away:)

This place has the best mariscos options in Watsonville and have some pretty awesome chavelas topped off with shrimps on the rim of the glass. They have this one dish I believe is called «pescado nayarit» or something like that which is a deep fried fish stuffed with mixed seafood and tons of cheese. Hands down the best mariscos dish I have ever tried. The reason I couldn’t give them a five star is that the parking sucks, there’s too many men that have staring problems and the service is not the best. All of these things can be overlooked once you taste their food.

I came seeking some kind of Mexican shrimp/​prawn plate and some beer at the recommendation of a neighbor. The menu as someone else said is very non descript with some poor English translations. Our waitress spoke English but seemed to prefer Spanish when she could get away with it. Anyway, I ordered some AMAZING shrimp fajitas, seriously the best fajitas I had ever had. It seems that they perhaps specialize in shrimp as it makes up the majority of their menu. My wife ordered up some kind of breaded and baked fish/​shrimp/​octopus/​cheese dish. Neither of us were huge fans of that, but it was decent. We also has some shrimp tostadas which were great. The salsa was excellent! However, the tortillas were «meh» quality store bought fair. Wait staff was super kind, and there was a horse «parked» outside. I think some dude was offering rides on it. Inside it was pretty loud, which was fine by me for the occasion. Loud juke box and lots of drunk folks. This seems to be the place to go to get sloshed while eating. Good vibe in that regard. I knocked off two stars for the general dirtyness of the place and non descript/​poorly translated menu, but added back a star for the awesome food and vibe. Will definitely be back.

OK, so I tried the fish tacos which were huge and excellent. I also tried a cooked shrimp tostada this time, which was also very piled with shrimp and toppings. I think of tacos as small, so I usually order three tacos, but the tacos here are HUGE. If you usually eat three, then order two instead. I can’t believe how big the serving sizes are.
I am definitely coming back whenever I have a fish taco craving. Great stuff! I upgraded the place a star for the fish tacos. My favorite item so far. Watch out for the salsa. It’s the hottest stuff that I have tasted in Watsonville.

I love seafood. I love Mexican food. You’d think that I could find a decent Mexican seafood place, well, so far, no luck in Watsonville. The fish fillets in most Mexican places are either tilapia or catfish, not exactly high on my list of tasty fish.
And, here, as in so many Mexican restaurants, the shrimp are usually overcooked to the point of turning to a chewing-​gum consistency. I made the mistake of ordering the camarones a la diabla. The shrimp were tough; the sauce OK, but not especially good; and the side dishes, a two on a scale of ten.
Here’s another place to which I won’t return.

In my quest to try most, if not all of the Mariscos/​Taqueria joints in Watsonville, my coworker and I ventured to the fringes of town, WAAAAY out on East Lake Avenue. It was there that we found Mariscos El Nayarita II. «Bienvenidos a su vitimana» indeed. Nothing says decent Mexican restaurant like a server who only speaks Spanish. Good thing I’ve got mad Spanish skills.
First things first. Check the beverage list. Mexican Coke (coca de botella)? Check.
The décor in these places is seldom worth discussing. I would say it holds true here. My only comment is that it must be nightmarishly sweltering inside during the summer months, because we were very warm inside on a pretty temperate day. Oh, and the jukebox. Every once in a while someone will feed it some dough. Be prepared to put your conversation on hold while that goes on.
Now, on to the menu. Glancing at it we were a little bit unsure how to proceed. Most of the items didn’t really have explanations; lots of items seemed like guesswork. My lunch partner almost ordered pulpo de something (octopus), but at the last minute followed suit with the fish (pescado) tacos. I think we were both pretty happy.
The fish had been chopped into little bits, breaded, and fried. Unlike some restaurants that fry up the whole filet of fish, this technique produced a much greater surface area of fried goodness. Now, I’m no engineer, but I think the increase surface area of fried fish increased the crunch ratio substantially. Muy importante. I’d definitely come back for those, but if you want white boys like me to be adventurous, something needs to happen about the nondescript menu.