La Tolteca — Restaurant in Maryland

Poor quality food, mediocre service, high prices.

The title above describes our first and last visit to La Tolteca on York Road in Cockeysville, MD. We were torn between trying Mezcal, in Timonium, or La Tolteca as we had never been to either. Getting stuck in the left turn lane of Timonium Road made the decision as northward on York Road we headed. Upon entering the restaurant, only a few people were dining and two were at the bar. But then again, it was only about 3 in the afternoon, so not surprising. I guess we should have known that things might not go well when there was, what appeared to be pieces of food, on the floor around most of the dining booths. The table tops were okay but the floor needed sweeping. Our server arrived promptly and took our drink orders. Drinks arrived along with a serving of chips and salsa. She returned in an adequate amount of time and took our food orders. We asked if we could order a Mexican Pizza and were told yes, but that there would be a $2.99 upcharge since it was from the lunch menu. Not wishing to make a fuss, we agreed. A request was made to hold the jalapenos and onions, along with the pico de gallo. The next order was for a combination platter of a beef enchilada and a chicken tamale along with rice and refried beans. The food arrived very quickly and we were shocked by two things. The Mexican Pizza was the smallest we had ever seen and consisted of a crispy tortilla (that was overcooked) and some ground beef with melted cheese. We asked for some lettuce and tomato to put on it and did receive a plate of tomato, lettuce, and one small dollop each of sour crèam and guacamole. The enchilada was also extremely small and consisted of tasteless ground beef in a cold tortilla with a smear of red enchilada sauce on it. The tamale was okay, but just okay. It appeared to be something not made fresh in the restaurant. The rice had a good taste as did the refried beans but they were not very hot (even though the plate was too hot to touch). We ate the meal and agreed to just pay the bill and not return again. However, La Tolteca had one more surprise for us! The bill contained an item labeled “quaca salad” at a cost of $5.25. I asked our server about this and she informed us that was our lettuce and tomato and that anything she gets from the kitchen has to have a charge associated with it. While this was understandable, it would have been nice to have known this ahead of time because I would have refused the item. So, overall, the title sums it all up. If you are looking for good Mexican food, don't look here. For the quality of food you get at La Tolteca, you can go to Taco Bell and spend about 1/3 what you...

I hate to give bad reviews but unfortunately, today's experience was not good. I was looking forward to eating here as my wife and I pass it often and I love Mexican food. We had the time today and were hungry, it was about 1:30 pm. We were greeted and sat immediately, the decor is nice and the restaurant looked clean. We were brought chips and salsa immediately upon sitting and the server told us she would be "right back" for our drink orders. It took her over 15 minutes to come back for our drink order. We were actually getting up to leave when the server noticed and ran back to our table for our drink order. We ordered steak fajitas to split and kept a menu in case we wanted to order something else. It took about 40 minutes for the fajitas to arrive. The fajitas were not sizzling and the meat on the top was cold. There were no plates, tortillas, or set up (the plate with fajita fixings) delivered to the table. I had to get up and ask for this. The fajita beef was mostly luke warm, seems like it sat in expo a while and we tasted no seasoning. The food in my opinion was bland and unseasoned. The salsa seemed like it was out of a jar, the most tasty item was the unsalted tortilla chips which were served fresh and warm. I honestly did appreciate they were not salted. Another thing we noticed was each table that was being served never had all their dishes arrive at the same time. One or two people would receive their food and the other people at the table would receive their food five to ten minutes later. Parents were receiving food before their children. There was a lady and her kid sat five minutes after us and as we were leaving they still had not received their food. I was seriously waiting for Robert Irvine to walk in and shut down the service. I was sure we walked into an episode of Restaurant Impossable....

Usually I would highly recommend this place, but the experience we have had the past few times we have ordered take-out have been below average. Tonight was even worse. I called in my order for pick-up, I had ordered 2 of the chicken chimichanga meals, the lady repeated only 1, so made sure to say, 2 orders of the chicken chimichangas meals, she seemed to understand. Picked up my food, drive all the way home, only to find out that they had forget one of the chimichanga meals. When I tried to call to complain, no one picked up. Again, I called, no answer. I decided to drive over there instead. As I'm driving, I call again, someone answers at the last minute and I explain what had happened, only to be hung up on. When I get to the restaurant and explain what was going on, there was a lack of understanding of the issue, as she thought I was placing an order. I told them that it was missing from my pick-up order, and she checked my order, only to find out that they never charged me for it. There was no empathy or sympathy for the problem that arose, and no care that I had driven all the way home and back to the restaurant, as she made me pay for the chicken chimichangas and make me wait for 20 minutes while it was prepared. Meanwhile, my family is at home, kids are eating, my wife doesn't have her meal, and my food is getting cold. This will probably be the last time I go here because I have seen the service and quality continue to decline in the...