Cocina Mexicana — Restaurant in Barrie

2024 April After two years, I made the hour long trip to try Cocina Mexicana again. I tried everything on the menu so you don't have to. I'm rating each taco out of 10.

Overall, there's a language barrier as English is their second language. However, staff is incredibly friendly and is accommodating.

Note, the restaurant changed it's business model recently so only Wednesday is AYCE.

There is enough variety on the menu that you'll find something you'll like.

The food is 4/5 but the friendly service and authenticity elevates to a near 5

Free birthday meal w/ ID

--- Review --- Pescado (Fish) - 8.5 light & crispy. the fish is likely cod or halibut, fresh w/ a mild mayo sauce. Camaron (Shrimp) - 6.3 slightly chewy, and not deep fried. the shrimp is pan fried w/ a mayo sauce. good but could use more seasoning. This would be better battered & deep fried. Tinga - 5.7 pulled chicken breast in a smokey red sauce. found this rather bland but would be good for those who like plain food. Carnita - 7.7 clean pork taste that focuses on the quality of meat. very neutral tasting and surprisingly good. Conchinita Pibil - 4.5 similar to the Tinga but with pork and a tangy red sauce. Chorizo - 8 good flavour with spices that aren't overwhelming. a light coat of fat that glazes over the ground chorizo offering a rich bite and mouth feel. Carne asada - 7.9 A bit too salty when I got it but it is a very hardy beef taco. good quality beef. Papa Con Chorizo - 6 it's saucey with peas and potatoes. was just OK bit on the plain side. Compechamo - 7 had good flavor but unfortunately big pieces of beef cartilage that was inedible. likely a one off situation Pastor - 8 clean pork taste with sauteed onion. Gringa - 8.6 my favorite. grilled pork with sauteed onions. the flour totilla has a soft and pillowy bite. pork had very good flavor.

Nachos - 8.7 chips are light and crunchy and The combination of queso, sour cream, beef and toppings made it a very enjoyable snack. completely different from your typically American Tex Mex. Chilaquiles - 6.8 nachos with a very tangy green salsa topped with meat. it's just ok. Sopes - 4 I do not recommend. thick corn dough pie topped with meat. the dough is very bland. Quessadilla - 5.7 it's too starchy as the pastry is made from corn. flour pastry would've been tastier.

Bunuelo - 8.7 good quality ice cream on a crispy cinnamon sugar wafer like disk. Three Milk Cake - 8.8 Simple cake sitting in a pool of milk. served chilled and has really good and fresh taste. nice way to end the meal.

2022 I traveled an hour north from Toronto to understand why this place is highly rated. The two of us opted for AYCE ($33.99) in an effort to try everything on the menu.

Tacos: truly authentic and strictly Mexican tacos. This is not Tex Mex or fusion. Tacos came out hot and the meat:tortilla ratio is at least 2:1. Simple ingredients let's you taste the taco for what it is. Some tacos can be dry because they serve salsa in a bottle on the side. I tried all 13 tacos, all ranged from good to excellent. My favorite was Camaron, Carne Asada, Campechano. Carnitas were ok but needed more contrasting texture and flavor (soft on soft) - this would go really well on a tostadas.

Enchiladas & Quesadillas: very comforting with a good combination of sauce and melty cheese. Tasted very home style. Quesadilla was nice and crisp and not greasy.

Nachos: very good. Homemade and not the store bought kind. Fried tortilla always yields crunch and flavor. Before you order, opt for the nachos on the menu because it comes with chorizo, pico and toppings.

Service: excellent. Extremely friendly, humble and welcoming. Waitress always has a smile on her face. Owner came by to take feedback which shows he cares about his customers.

Decor: clean and spacious with Mexican art scattered around. Could use more charm and intimacy. Space feels too open.

I typically refrain from 5/5, but the overall combination of taste, value, friendly staff makes this place perfect. I'm very hard to please but Cocina Mexicana has passed by...

From start to finish we just had the worst experience here. I’m so sad because an influencer friend raved about this place so we immediately booked the next bday in our friend group here. We drove and hour so the disappointment was real. Free parking after 5 pm was the highlight of the night :) We were seated on the rooftop patio and left there for about 20 minutes without a drink or menus (restaurant had only a few tables at this point of the night). Server asked us what we wanted to drink and we said we don’t have menus so we don’t know what to order . We were then given the free chips (with only one very spicy dip , supposed to be three different kinds of dips ) and our menus . Drinks took another half an hour to come to the table . In the meantime we ordered. The order took another 30 plus mins and a different server came up to the patio with a tray of food and walked around and then went to the back of the patio to chat with the bartender (still with the food). After about ten minutes he approached us with the tray and asked us if we were waiting for food and we said yes. It was our food the whole time . My one friend received a fish taco that looked good and another tostada that was dripping in liquid so she had to return it and they took it off of the bill. My other friend ordered the same tostada and it was missing from the order completly . I ordered Birria tacos and they arrived pretty cold by this point and definitely nothing special about them .. meat was overcooked and dry and they don’t give enough dip. Toppings were frugal . Not worth $25. We also ordered street corn which was frozen corn with mayo and lime on it (almost $10). So both of my friends ended up with one tiny taco ($9 each.. insane), and we shared my Birria tacos because we didn’t have another 40 minutes to wait for more food . They sang happy birthday to my friend and gave her free cake and a beer to apologize for all the mistakes . Multiple people came to apologize because the mistakes just kept happening . The cake was not milk cake at all.. just vanilla cake with a bit of milk sauce underneath .. zero authenticity . We then asked for the bill so we could leave and go eat somewhere else. Another 30-40 minutes passes and we stop a different server to say nobody brought the bill and that we had asked a long time ago so to please help us and he walked away laughing at us . Very very unprofessional . I’m in shock by the service actually . So disappointed to take a friend out an hour away for this and have this type of experience . To top it all off , the washrooms were disgusting and smelly .. my friends toilet she used was broken and the seat almost broke off when she was on it and a whole sink wasn’t working so we had to wait in line to use the other sink to wash our hands which only had a tiny stream of water coming out . Feel so bad for my friend that this was her birthday :(:(:( we left angry...

Extremely Disappointing Experience – Would Not Recommend

After visiting this restaurant for lunch, I was shocked by the number of health and service infractions. It started when I had to wave down a server just to get a glass of water. What disturbed me even more was seeing a staff member behind the bar handling cleaning tasks, then immediately serving my water—grabbing ice with his bare hands and no gloves, without washing his hands first. That alone was enough to make me feel uneasy.

The overall experience only went downhill from there. The menu was confusing, and when we tried to order a combination platter (which we assumed was customizable), we were told we couldn’t make changes because the cook “wouldn’t like it.” That was baffling.

We ended up ordering the taco mix with five types of meat. The fish taco turned out to be a frozen fish stick on a tiny tortilla. The beef (carne asada) was so tough it was nearly inedible and made us both feel sick. The chicken taco was the only one that was remotely decent, but by then the damage was done.

I’ve never written a bad review before, but this experience left me disgusted and disappointed. I had heard mixed things about this place, but seeing it firsthand confirmed the worst. I’m not sure if it’s under the same ownership as when it was located on Yonge and Burton, but it’s certainly not the same quality.

The service was poor, staff were inattentive, the food was overpriced for the portion and quality, and it didn’t feel authentic at all—certainly not the level of Mexican cuisine one would expect. It’s a shame, because the location is beautiful, but it's being completely wasted with the current standard of food and service.

They seriously need to reevaluate their operations—both in the kitchen and front of house. I could never eat here again or recommend...