Anejo Cocina Mexicana St Johns — Restaurant in Florida

Añejo Cocina Mexicana – St. Johns, FL: A Solid Meal with Room for More Flavor

Añejo Cocina Mexicana has a lot of promise, but my visit left me wishing for just a little more—more heat, more seasoning, and more atmosphere. Let’s break it down.

Ambiance & Service Walking into Añejo, I expected a lively, immersive Mexican dining experience, but the atmosphere was surprisingly subdued. No music playing, no energy in the air—just a quiet, almost neutral setting that didn’t quite match the bold flavors Mexican cuisine is known for. Some traditional Mariachi tunes or even a Latin playlist could have gone a long way in making the space feel more authentic. That said, the service was excellent. My server was attentive, friendly, and on point the entire meal, which definitely helped elevate the experience.

Chips & Salsa – A Disappointing Start Chips and salsa are usually a great first impression of a Mexican restaurant, but here, they fell flat. The chips were dry, lacked seasoning (not even a hint of salt), and the salsa didn’t do much to make up for it. Salsa should be fresh, bold, and packed with flavor—this one was forgettable. A little more spice, acidity, or depth would have made a world of difference.

The Main Course – Flavorful but Lacking Heat For my main dish, I went with the fajita burrito, which had a lot going for it. The ingredients were fresh, the toppings were plentiful, and the overall flavor was solid. However, it arrived warm rather than hot, which took away from the experience. Mexican food should hit the table sizzling or at least piping hot. The seasoning was decent but could have used more kick—whether from heat or just a bolder blend of spices. It had the potential to be fantastic, but it played it too safe.

Final Thoughts Añejo Cocina Mexicana serves up a decent meal, but with a few tweaks, it could be so much better. The food is good, but not great—the flavors are there but need more intensity. The atmosphere could be enhanced with music and a livelier vibe. The service, though, was a standout, and that’s always a plus. Would I go back? Maybe, but I’d hope for some improvements next time. If they can turn up the heat—both in temperature and seasoning—and bring more life into the dining experience, they could easily be a top spot in the area.

Overall...

We attended Anejo with our family, took a good 10+ minutes to have server come and take our drink order, then another 10+ minutes to bring us 4 waters. Server then left again even though we were ready to order. By the time he came back we had sat down for almost 30 minutes just to order. Honestly should have left at the point because it didn’t go up from there.

We waited on queso that came out lukewarm at best, but our kids were starving so we didn’t say anything. When we started approaching about 45 minutes waiting on food we had to physically wave someone over and ask about our food. Someone said they’d be right back. Our waiter came by said “I’ll check on your food…” then walked over and literally just stared at us so we asked again about food. He said “oh let me go check.” Like the interaction we just had never happened. We finally got a response from someone else saying our food was “coming right out.” Our waiter came back with another queso “free on the house” per the manager. We sent it back and just asked for them to take the queso we already ordered and ate off the bill. Our daughter’s food finally came out a good hour after we ordered it.

My husband’s food and my food came out 10-15 minutes after our daughters. At that point they were done eating and my food wasn’t even prepared properly. We will never be returning and will only suggest people NOT dine here. Worst service experience I think I’ve ever had.

• EDIT TO ADD : It was not busy when we’re seated. Our server had one maybe two other tables plus ours. After we ordered 2-3 more tables sat in his section, larger parties, they ordered after us and several of those tables received their food before we did. We didn’t order anything specialty ethier. More than likely our server forgot to put our order in and so we sat for that reason. They claimed the kitchen was backed up but I don’t see how as there werent that many people in the restaurant when...

Shocking quality difference compared to Ponte Vedra Beach location. Our visit started with a couple of margaritas. Unlike Ponte Vedra location that serves best margaritas in town, this location had bottom quality margaritas for 14 a pop. In my case, I had a jalapeno cucumber margarita, but instead of cucumber water with muddled jalapenos and decent tequila, it tasted like everclear alcohol without any tequila and cucumber floated in it with some cut up jalapenos. Are you guys serious? It was also served in a Moscow mule cup without warning to make this even worse... That was just the start. We came with a child with dietary restrictions, ordered taco rice and refried bens with no dairy and vegetables on the side. Guess what comes out? Tacos without vegetable with cheese.. When requested to correct the order, on second attempt they still brought out tacos this time without cheese, but also without vegetables.. and beans were red beans in sauce and not refried beans. Given that the waiter tried to memorize our short order for 3 people and we were not able to easily call him to correct either food or my drink order, we figured that it would likely just get worse from here and left.. By the way, chips and salsa were also surprisingly bottom quality... very strange when Anejo in Ponte Vedra Beach serves some of the best in the city

I did read the reply to this review and I wish there was a different way to reply. Either way, let us know if the issues above are addressed and we can come again and update this review. And of course since this business has been open for some time, maybe you were aware of these challenges... In that situation, it might make sense not to...