Margarita's Cocina Mexicana, Davenport — Restaurant in Four Corners

A solid Mexican joint. The street tacos I had were authentic and simple, exactly like you’d expect. No surprises. Not a ton of ingredients in the street tacos, nor should there be. These are what street tacos should be. I went in during a downpour, purely by chance, as I originally intended to attempt a Mayomera burger, but to my surprise when I arrived at Mayomera, they were nowhere to be found! Google said they were open but whatever.

This isn’t about Mayomera however, this is about this place: Margarita’s Cocina Mexicana. Anyways- central Florida did what central Florida does: temporary torrential downpours. I just wanted some calories and wasn’t in the mood for the drivers during this.

I saw this place right in the same strip and it looked decent from the quick research I did online. Was greeted immediately, they seemed a bit surprised a lone white dude was eating solo at prime time but I was seated right away, and welcomed warmly. The waiter Xavier brought me water and some good recommendations along with the standard chips and salsa. He had some really great recommendations (I always ask for recommendations) and took time going over everything. I never felt rushed or needed to wait etc.

The salsa is always a dead giveaway if this place really cares or not. I was happy to see this salsa didn’t seem to be the usual cheap stuff 90% of Mexican joints put out. This had some nice flavors and a little heat but nothing anyone would consider “hot!” The salsa appeared and tasted of a higher quality. Good start. It was only a minute or two before another staff member greeted me warmly, offering his hand and a greeting in Spanish. As we shook hands, I replied “hello” and he smiled and said he was asking if I spoke Spanish. Obviously not haha but just another point to add on the authenticity scale. What followed was one of the nicest interactions and conversations I e had with a random restaurant “person” I’ve had in years. Come to find out I was talking to the owner, Joel. He showed genuine interest in me and was curious where I was from etc. it didn’t take long for me to really like the guy and we ended up talking for a good 15-20 minutes. He’s a good man, a proud owner, and it shows. I had a great meal and Joel even offered me a Modelo on the house! WOW. Real people here, real food. It was such an unexpected pleasurable solo dinner, every once in awhile you run into someone who you just jive with, and I felt that here. I really respected how Joel warmly greeted each and every customer, you know, old school style. Especially after eating at some of the other establishments in the area where you know the workers just have disdain for yet another tourist, Joel’s Margarita’s Cocina Mexicana is the real deal. I semi-regularly visit the area for both family and fun, and my hope is this place along with the other owned establishments just continue to flourish, will 100% be...

We visited Margarita Cocina Mexicana today during their soft opening. This restaurant is beautiful with quite a bit of tables and booths and also has a bar. The menu has quite a few appetizers and entrees to choose from. Today we ordered an appetizer - Corn Dip ($12.99), and entrees - Margaritas (Chicken) Fajitas ($24.09), Chile Rellenos ($13.99) and Tamales ($16.99). The entrees were served with Spanish rice and Refried beans. They also bring chips and salsa to the table as standard. Tasty salsa. The Corn Dip was quite flavorful and we would order again. The Fajitas were served sizzling and steaming as they should be. They were flavorful but a bit more salty than we would prefer. The Chile Rellenos were served in a pair. The breading was kind of like the consistency of a really light tempura. The Tamales were served out of the corn husk with a spicy verde (green) sauce on the side. The tamales were on the dry side (they crumbled fairly easily) and lightly filled with pork. The Spanish rice was moist and flavorful but again too salty for our tastes. The refried beans were a good consistency a few of us thought they were awesome and some of us weren’t fans. We also ordered a house Margarita and it was one of the best Margaritas we have had in a while. Our server was excellent, attentive and personable. The owner also stopped by the table and introduced himself and shared that the restaurant is named for his mother. We really enjoyed meeting him today. Our visit today was during soft opening as the restaurant had only been open 8 days. We are confidant that this restaurant has great potential and it is a welcome addition to the area. We know that some things on the menu may change as they receive feedback in these early days and we are sure that they may add some things to the menu in time too. Two things we would hope for would me a nice yellow Queso dip and add cheese enchiladas as an option to the Enchilada entree. We will return to this restaurant and encourage you to experience Margaritas if you are...

I am so disappointed. We decided to come here for Cinco de Mayo since it was a new spot with great reviews and I LOVE Margaritas and Mexican food. Service was a little slow but I understand as they were busy for Cinco. They didn’t have any specials which was a little surprising.. but no big deal. Ordered the Blackberry Margarita and it was straight lime juice- awful, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t even taste a hint of tequila nor cointreu. It was the WORST Margarita I have ever had 😖 they took them off the check but they could have told us they were made in a batch and offered to have one hand made or something…. This alone could’ve saved the experience but they made no attempt to make it right. All downhill from there; Chips and Queso dip took 20-30 mins to come out and it was barely warm. The food was edible but not worth the prices. The fresh flour tortillas that came with our fajitas was the best part of the meal. Thats sad. So so so very disappointed. We won’t be back, Cinco was a bust this year. I had to stop on my way home to get Tequila so that I could make my own Margarita, so I feel a little better now 🙃

-After reading the response from the Restaurant on my review I am appalled. I don’t know who you “think” I am but you are sadly mistaken- our family was not asked to leave nor did we bring our own bottle with us. If I did that I wouldn’t have stopped on my way home to buy a bottle! DUHH 🙄 We were disappointed by the entire experience. And your response is a perfect example of the restaurant owners character… YOU are obviously unhappy about my review, just like WE were unhappy with your establishment so now you want to respond by making up a false narrative to justify your lack of hospitality....