Mauricios Mexican Food & Pizza Cantina — Restaurant in Covina

I'd say this place deserves its 4.5 star average, it was pretty good but fell a tiny bit short of 5 stars for me. It was my first time there and tried three different tacos, carne asada and carnitas street tacos, and one hard shell shredded beef taco. All three were pretty good but I felt the hard shell taco was small compared to my favorite spot Pepe's (on Hacienda, not the one on Azusa), the carne asada here had a nice marinade (something Pepe's falls a bit short on), and the carnitas were tender and juicy with nice flavor. The salsa was good too, the salsa they drop off before you order had a slight roasty flavor but was still nicely balanced and not "burnt" tasting like many roasted salsas seem to be. The other "chunky" salsa was basically pico de gallo with water added but it was good too with a nice garlic finish. I asked for some green salsa to try and liked it as well.

So, where did they lose a star if you're curious? I like my carnitas on the crispy side but the service and water is what kept my visit from being perfect. I ordered soda water with lime and they charged $1.95 for it, I hate when places charge for soda water, but if Coke or Pepsi or whatever is more than that, like $2.95 , then I guess that's fair. What I didn't like is that the water tasted like it came out of old pipes and it certainly wasn't filtered, it wasn't an overpowering flavor but I could taste it and it wasn't ideal. And while the two employees were very nice, the whole time the waiter only came over to take my order and ask how I was when I was done. I wanted two more tacos and some more water and had to flag him down....oh and I was literally the only one in the restaurant on a Monday afternoon except for the one other person that they were talking to instead of checking on me. I'm not super fussy and it wasn't a huge deal, especially as the employees were really nice when they did get to me, but I just can't give five stars on that particular day. I'd still go back, good salsa is half the battle with any...

Wow, what a find as we were traveling from Vegas to LA! 4 adults, one 3 yr old! We all loved it! The margaritas were the best we had in a few days, even after being in Vegas!, tasted like top shelf, but it was their house margaritas! The Carnitas were absolutely delicious, caldo de res delicious, quesofundido was amazing, soft tacos with Carnitas incredible, Chicken Mole was to die for, and my granddaughters kids bean & cheese burrito was eaten with out a peep, my Carnitas with a side of tomatillo sauce was out of this world! This would be my regular go to weekly cuz it's just that good! Seriously! This place checks all the boxes, service is awesome...

First time coming here and it'll be the last time I go back, went this morning to pick up menudo went home to eat the menudo it tasted like it was made from the can it had a funny taste to it, I called the restaurant to complain the manager told me to bring back the menudo and I can get something else I end up ordering the carne asada torta witch it was the worst the meat had no favor and it was cold I spent $19.00 what a waste of money I'll never go back there and I'll not recommend this restaurant to anyone the food suck I wish I could give it a no star The waitress was wonderful she me respect I ended up throwing...