La Cocina Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Maple Valley Township

Edit to add 7/20: What a professional response from the owner or manager (photo included since I don't know if it will remain once I post an edit). After being there for 2 hours, no, we didn't want to wait however long it would have taken to speak to a manager. And, when a server sees a mostly uneaten item, perhaps they should ask, "How was everything?" Well, they should ask that anyway, but didn't. Had they asked, I would have said something. But I also have a life outside of your restaurant and didn't want to spend even more time there. I hope the other people who were there and left angry see this and also leave reviews because I can assure you we weren't alone. And, it's not "trashing" a place when it's a true depiction of the experience. Shame on you for not acknowledging you didn't live up to basic standard of non-burnt food, and instead responding with immaturity. And perhaps fix the issue the waitress claimed she Has brought up to leadership multiple times without it being resolved. When your staff are also complaining, clearly "one" bad review isn't your real problem.

Original review, written 7/19: Let's start with the good - the beef taco was excellent. Unfortunately, that's it. We arrived about 1 p.m. today (7/19/25). They were busy because of the event at the Wildflower Schoolhouse, so we were very patient. I stood at the door for a while, unsure if we were to seat ourselves. Servers walked by but didnt acknowledge us. Another party walked in, also waited a bit, and then they walked further in to ask a server what we should do. They said seat yourself wherever you can find a table. They had just cleared, but not wiped down, a booth so we sat there. After 15 minutes a waitress said she'd be back soon to get our drink order and wipe down the table (it never got wiped down). She eventually took our drink order, brought our drinks about another 15 minutes later but left before we could order food. Again, we were patient because they were hustling, but they were clearly frazzled and could not handle the pressure. In the Two Hours that we sat there, they spilled multiple trays of drinks and knocked many other cups over while cleaning. My friend ordered a beef taco with rice and beans, I ordered a beef taco and a chorizo taco w/rice and beans, and her daughter ordered the Walking Taco special w/rice and beans. About 45 minutes later the bartender comes to ask us if we all ordered tacos w/rice and beans. I said two of us had tacos w/R&B and one had a Walking Taco w/R&B. Another 10 minutes later our waitress comes w/1 plate (beef taco w/R&B) and 2 plates each with 1 taco w/R&B. She gave my friend the beef taco, then looks at the other 2 plates and said "this isn't right" and walked away. She comes back with my order, and asks the dtr what her order was. She repeats W.T. w/R&B. Waitress asks "Fritos or Doritos"? She answered doritoes. That finally arrives and waitress says "I keep telling them the W.T. doesn't ring in to the kitchen." The beans were thick like paste, and dry. The rice had no flavor. The chorizo in my taco was burned so badly I didnt take more than a bite. It was half black (not charred. BURNT). When the bartender came to take our plates, I asked for the check. 20 minutes later I had to flag down our waitress to ask again. By this time it was half empty - a couple tables of people walked out after not being helped, and another table of ladies snapped that they wanted their checks ASAP because they'd been done for almost an hour. We can forgive long wait times when its busy like that, but the food was so bad we...

My fave local Mexican spot is closed on Tuesdays so I took my lifetime lunch date to a place we drove by while accidentally exploring yesterday! The small drive was worth it, the restaurant was cleaner than I anticipated. Our waitress was great, took our orders quickly and delivered our food timely. The food - For a place out in seemingly nowhere, the food was fantastic! Chips and salsa came first, and I was blown away by the salsa. The salsa is freshly made with fire roasted ingredients. We both ordered the #11 taco lunch special with ground beef. The beef was seasoned wonderfully, reminiscent of my favorite home taco meat seasoning. I ordered a side of guacamole with my tacos and it was just as good as my husband's home recipe. I left with a happy belly and a happy wallet. It was a great, affordable lunch! I plan on bringing the family as they offer an amazing menu. If you haven't been, you should. 🌮 Side notes: It's small spot with a bar. While they offer a vast menu to accommodate family needs, our waitress had colorful language with other customers during our visit. While my husband and I don't have a problem with this, it's the reason why I brought a star down on atmosphere as others would. She also did not ring my credit card correctly. I used their ATM to get cash out with my debit card, and got a notification the waitress entered the wrong CVV. She was busy, as a dozen crew guys from County Line came in as we were finishing up. I've worked in food so, I get it. It's still a great place with good people and...

I want to rate this restaurant so much higher, however, there were some issues which I hope the owners will read and address. First the bugs in the windows, it's unappetizing to eat your meal next to a window with dead bugs in it. Second, a waitress was taking her smoke break on the deck outside which I am not judging her smoke break just that when she returned to the food service area she did not wash her hands and delivered customers their meals. This same waitress dropped left over food items on the floor, cleaned it up with her bare hands and again without cleaning her hands was reaching into the ice area to fill cups and then served drinks. At this point we were ready to leave the restaurant--why we didn't is that another waitress, Kim, was serving us and she did a great job! There was also a staff member going in and out of the kitchen while eating her own taco, no plate, going in and out of the restaurant while eating her taco and then returned to working without washing her hands as well. That said, the cook is wonderful, friendly, and makes very good enchiladas. We've gone here for the food, but I don't know if we will go back...maybe once more to see if their food handling practices improve because the food is good--the staff just needs more training so restaurant goers...