Cozumel Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Milwaukee

I wanted to jump on here and write this review before slipping into my inevitable food coma.

We were in the mood for Mexican and decided to venture out and try something new in the area (East Side). This spot didn’t exactly grab us based on curb appeal, but after reading some solid Google reviews, we figured it was worth a shot. Bonus points: they’re open until 9 PM on a Sunday night. Walking in at 6 PM without feeling like we were ruining someone’s night? A rare blessing these days.

From the start, everything—food, drinks, and service—was on point. They greeted us with chips, a red salsa, and a warm bean dip with what appeared to be tiny pork sausages. A nice touch and not something you see everywhere.

We were in the mood for margaritas (when aren’t we?) and opted for the $30 pitcher instead of the $8.75 20-ouncers. They told us it held six margaritas, but honestly, we squeezed eight, maybe nine, out of it in small rocks glasses. Both were Sunday deals, so expect a slight price bump on other days, though still worth every penny.

For food, my wife and I went with the ceviche and the Pollo Hawaiano, and both were stellar. The Hawaiano was a fun, unique dish served fajita-style on a sizzling skillet with melted cheese, onions, pineapple, shrimp, and chicken. It came with flour tortillas, plus a whole side dish of rice, beans, lettuce, guac, and more. An absolute banger of a meal—highly recommend.

The ceviche was not bad either. Having just spent a few weeks in Mexico feasting on aguachiles and ceviches, this ALMOST made us feel like we were back on those beaches in Holbox. Definitely enough of this to share as an appetizer between 4 people, or to eat as your meal.

My brother ordered the steak fajitas, and his girlfriend got the taquitos. I didn’t steal bites like I normally would (I was a little too focused on inhaling my own food), but both got rave reviews. My brother, in particular, couldn’t stop talking about how good his meal was—and he was genuinely bummed about moving back to NYC this week after just discovering this place.

Dessert? Oh, we went overboard. The table couldn’t decide on just one, so we ended up with three: the banana burrito, the sopapilla, and the churros. Each came with ice cream and whipped cream, which was excessive but glorious. We didn’t technically need three, but we still polished off most of it. No regrets

Now, a few minor negatives. Nothing deal-breaking, but let’s get into it:

The lighting. Some of the mood lighting worked, but there were a few aggressively bright lights that killed the vibe a bit. I get it—visibility is important—but softer lighting would’ve elevated the experience.

The music. We started with classic Spanish tunes (think accordion 🪗 and trumpets), which we were loving. Then, mid-meal, the playlist pivoted to what can only be described as Taylor Swift-adjacent country. None of the songs we Shazamed were actually Swift, but they had that same pop-country energy. If you’re into that, great! We just weren’t ready for the tonal whiplash.

The queso dip. While tasty, it was a bit too runny. It slid off the chips like water off a ducks back. Still, I consumed about 4 of the 8 ounces of it, so take that for what it’s worth. ——- Even with the bright lights, country pop, and runny queso, this place is a 5/5 in my book. The food and drinks were just that good, and we can’t wait to go back. Do yourself and the neighborhood a favor: next time, skip BelAir and give this spot a try. You might just find your new...

(One more thing) I’m not sure why reviews of your restaurant popped up on my Home Screen but it did. I noticed you ( the owner) left a reply to a 5 star review……

“Cozumel Mexican restaurant (Owner) Thanks you so much for your support and I hope see you again”

As a matter of good business ethics, it's important to respond to all feedback, not just the praise. Ignoring critical reviews while only acknowledging the positive ones reflects poorly on customer care and accountability. A responsible business engages with both compliments and concerns to build trust and improve service. Acknowledging the critical reviews could persuade someone to give you another shot.

OK, that’s all I wanted to add. Here’s my original review…..

I’ve NEVER left a restaurant review before but omg this place SUCKED!!! We tried it out because of the 4.5 stars but I have no idea how they accomplished that. Maybe it’s family or friends leaving these reviews but it’s definitely NOT any where near 4.5. I could write up a million reasons why this place sucked and make this review crazy long but I don’t want to waste anymore time than I already did because we were there a little over 2 HOURS just for dinner. To sum it up the steak was bland and dry, nobody at the table liked their food, and don’t bother asking for something (ex: WARM STALE chips & salsa or sour cream) because they’ll say yes and then never come back to the table. It was awful and we just wasted A BUTT LOAD OF MONEY! My heart goes out to the owner. I feel really bad for him but if this place is going to make it he needs to do some hard changes. Im sure he’s not happy about the state of his restaurant either. Oh yeah…one more thing. Self titling yourself Milwaukees best Mexican restaurant means nothing if you just decided to call yourself the best. How is that even a thing? I want all of our money back not just the 10% off we were given. Nobody even hardly ate their food....

Didn't really expect too much from this place as you can tell it's not a super authentic Mexican restaurant. I ordered a spicy margarita and it was basically cut up jalapeño chunks with sour mix and no tequila and it tasted very off more like green apple and I wasn't able to drink it because it was so sweet. Also I asked for the smallest size and they gave me a goblet which is also not what I wanted. As for the food it was some of the worst Mexican food I've ever had. I ordered a simple enchilada, rice, beans, and tamale. My enchilada tasted like it had canned tomato sauce on top instead of a Mexican red sauce that I'm used to when I order enchiladas. It was so bad that I ended up just leaving everything on my plate and eating the chips and salsa. The rice was undercooked and hard. My tamale was covered in a weird brown sauce and chunks of what look like canned dog food but it was supposedly ground beef even though the tamale itself had a different kind of meat in it. I've had a lot of tamales and eaten at a lot of Mexican restaurant and I've never been served a tamale covered in sauce before it was just weird and also terrible. The service was also not the best either because once we sat down we waited almost 20 minutes for someone to come to our table. There were some other dishes at our table that looked equally as terrible especially their beef tacos. There are plenty of better authentic Mexican places to eat at and I unfortunately didn't choose this place for dinner someone else did because I would have chosen...