La Cocina Mexican Restaurant Cary — Restaurant in Cary

My husband and I came to North Carolina from Pennsylvania for a friend's wedding. Our hotel was near and my husband decided to surprise me with lunch. I had no idea where we were going, we just knew we were starving. To my absolute delight he brings me here to La Cocina!!! This establishment has such a cozy, relaxed atmosphere and I loved that they were playing good old fashioned Spanish music that I was super familiar with and was able to sing along with and dance in my seat to, as I enjoyed my meal. There was a very small "lunch crowd" I guess you could call it but, not rowdy or anything of the sort thankfully. Now to the SERVICE! Our server was Alex (Alejandro actually but I guess he uses Alex for the job). This gentleman is an absolute GEM!!! From the moment he introduced himself and took our drink orders, his demeanor was wonderful. He gave awesome, detailed recommendations about the variety of sangria's and drinks that they served. I went with his recommendations! lol When he brought us our drinks, he asked if we were ready to order and I proceeded to ask him about the menu since it was my first time ever visiting. He was so detailed and took his time explaining as well as recommending a variety of items to try. My husband ordered the Tender Ribeye and I ordered the Shrimp Fajitas. They served you tortilla chips and homemade salsa as you wait for your food. Without a doubt, their house salsa is one of, if not THE best salsa both my husband and I have ever had! We told Alex how much we enjoyed it and I didn't realize it at the time but, he took note of it! (keep this in mind for later). Now, my mother back in Pa has been looking for a place that makes authentic tamales and unfortunately, we can't find anywhere back home in PA. As luck would have it, what happened to be on the menu???? You guessed it...TAMALES! lol So I told Alex about my mom's predicament with her sooooo desired tamales and told him that I would like to try one to see if I liked it, so as to bring some back to my mom. He jotted down an order for 1 along with the rest of our food and went away to the kitchen. When he comes back, this wonderful gentleman came back with not 1 but 2 tamales, each made differently, so that I may try them and decide which one to take back home. He was super attentive, truly cared about whether or not we were enjoying the food and that we had everything that we needed as well as talking with us as if we were old friends catching up after a long time. All that along with never missing a beat with his other tables! Needless to say my husband and I enjoyed our experience here in every aspect. I ended up ordering a dozen tamales to take back home lol. I thanked Alex for absolutely everything and especially for making my first ever Mexican restaurant experience in North Carolina such a wonderful one. OH, and we also took a huge container of that delicious salsa of theirs back home too! LOL! If you want a great dining experience that will make your taste buds dance, and an even more awesome dining experience because of such amazing quality servers, then definitely come here to La Cocina! My husband and I cannot wait to come back on vacation next year and...

I was very excited to check out this restaurant with friends. The hype was short lived. The mango strawberry daiquiri was really good. The cheese dip was watery.. I simply asked them to take the cheese dip away as I only had one bite of the dip.I was informed that this is the quality of the dip here. No one has complained before about the quality of the dip. Manager ceaser said he will not take the dip of the bill. Then 2 seconds later he said I can order something else. I ordered guacamole. He took one of Three portion of the dip back which I simply gave back which I had no intention of eating. Then manager came by and saw that theee was another portion of dip. He came and asked Can I take this away. I said yes go ahead. Then I placed a dinner entree order. I ordered a burrito, enchiladas and chili pablono with a side dish of rice. As I was spllting the dish with my wife. I was cutting the chili pablono was only half of the pablono pepper. The bottom of the pepper was missing. I was simply told this is how we make it here. I said once more please take the food. I haven’t even had a bite of the food. I do not want to pay for this food. 3 minutes after there was a police officer on the table saying if the manager on duty served food even if we didn’t eat we should pay. I never refused to pay for food. I simply asked for better quality food. If they cannot provide it then I shouldn’t have to pay if I didn’t eat it. Officer informed me unfortunately you have to pay and speak to the owner at a later point and I should do a google review if I want. For now pay for food as the service was provided. After we paid for food that I didn’t eat. I simply asked for owners contact information. The manager ceaser said I am the manager and owner. There is nothing I can do. The manager/owner said you Indians act out as you always want free food.. I would be careful when visiting this restaurant where you are belittled for poor quality of food provided instead of apologizing and asking if I can...

Feel like celebrating Cinco De Mayo, Las Posadas, or Un Feliz Cumpleaños? Come to La Cocina!! There are 11 locations to try, so if this one isn’t convenient enough for you to visit, check out their website. The restaurant is huge and makes you feel like you are transported to Mexico with the atmosphere and pleasantry of the employees. It feels like you were invited into someone's home and given a heartwarming dish. The margaritas are giant, and the alcohol-to-mix ratio is perfect. Not too strong and will hit you just right to want more, so be mindful. Their housemade salsa and guacamole is freshly made, so you’ll want to keep snacking! I ordered the shrimp burrito accidentally and the shrimp was grilled, but there wasn’t anything else stuffed in the tortilla, so it fell short for me. The Mojarra Dorada was fried well, so it was still moist and succulent. They lightly coat it in a spice flour, so you’ll still taste the fish. Lastly for dessert we had the fried ice cream in celebration of my mom’s birthday. They use corn flakes to coat it and the mexican vanilla ice cream was rich, creamy and if I could buy a pint I would in a heart beat because it was so...