Julie's Cocina — Restaurant in Cottonwood Shores

We got our good via Doordash and I want to make it clear that because of that I am not taking into account food temperature or the numerous missing items in my order when rating this restaurant. My review is only regarding the taste of the food. I heard good things about this place from neighbors, so I was really looking forward to trying it. But the food was very disappointing. It tasted to me like public school cafeteria food, not the flavorful, well-spiced comfort food I am used to enjoying at Mexican restaurants. My husband and I both got the Mexican platters. We can not comment on the chalupas or the Guacamole salad because they were missing from our order. (Again, this could easily have been the mistake of the delivery service and not the restaurant). We did each get 1 chicken and 1 beef enchilada, rice, beans, and a crunchy taco. The chicken enchilada tasted like plain chicken smothered in jarred chicken gravy. No spices or seasonings. The beef enchilada had slightly more flavor, but was also very bland. The rice and beans seems to have no seasoning at all, less a hint of tomato sauce on the rice. The included salsa was the only thing that made the food palatable. I rarely leave a negative review, but it irks me that we spent $60 on 2 dinners and it was pretty terrible and on top of that we didn't get a third of what we paid for. (Doordash did extend a credit for the missing items but I would have rather the chalupas). We won't...

Food is about average as far as mexican food goes. I actually worked there a few years ago. The owner was verbally abusive as well as unable and/or unwilling to accept responsibility for anything but rather shifted blame onto the employees. One night in particular we were understaffed (to say the least) and the place filled up. We failed miserably at everything due to the fact that we just didn't have enough people on staff. We couldn't get food out to the tables so it sat and got cold and we had to re-make numerous plates. Julie's husband came in to help us, although it was late when he arrived. He was always very pleasant and polite. Julie came in the next day and proceeded to inform me that I made multiple mistakes that night and the night being a disaster was certainly my fault. Of course I'm familiar with "abuse" of all sorts. "Physical", "verbal", "emotional", etc. etc. so to be honest, the verbal abuse didn't have any impact on me. I am old enough and emotionally mature enough to let that go in one ear and out the other. I was more disappointed with her refusal to pay me after I left. She owes me two weeks of pay that I still to this day have not received. This too is just another form of abuse, that's pretty much psych 101, I get it. I don't wish her any ill will and like I said, the food is mediocre. It's not the "best" nor is it the "worst" I've ever had. There is just a serious lack of options there...

We frequently Julie’s Covina almost every Friday. Even during the pandemic, we ordered take out every Friday night. Every now and then they would make a mistake on the order that we would realize after we arrived back home. But , after two consecutive orders were messed up (usually small items) we had a third order on a Friday night where they forgot to include half of the main courses. We were almost home (15-20 min drive) when we realized it and returned to the restaurant to recover the order that was lost. After a wait, they brought out the remainder of our order. They had charged us full price. When I asked to speak to the manager about the whole debacle, she wouldn’t offer any consideration for our double trip, extra wait, and the fact that our food was cold now. She said she added some extra guacamole to the order. I don’t even like guacamole. It wasn’t about the money. That didn’t matter. It was about being accountable for your mistakes and the impact it has on your customers. They don’t seem to care. We have friends/neighbors that have had their orders messed up, too. So, we have stopped going to Julie’s altogether. And, it’s unfortunate the management is just so short sighted. She lost us as a loyal customer and anyone else who asks us about their restaurant. Other than...