Cocina Azteca — Restaurant in Mount Laurel Township

My first visit: This appears to be a husband & wife team/small business. The male took the order. The flavor & portion size of the food was acceptable, The price for our dinner combo was $15.50/per person. I felt there was enough of everything on the platter. First impressions do matter though. The raw details: Prices on all entrees are $2 more than what is actually listed on the menu, they were out of tamales, the tv music volume was distractingly loud while trying to converse with my group. For A/C, a degree or two cooler would have been perfect for a hot afternoon. We got there around 3 which isnt a peak time for lunch or dinner so maybe it was just bad timing for the thermostat setting. Everyone is on a budget in our current Biden- burned out economy & resturants have suffered for the past couple years trying to survive. But every CUSTOMER is a PAYING customer who should be made to feel catered to, glad they came,and want to go off their budget to come again. I picked up the entire tab for my group. There was no "wow factor" here for me, The food & portion was decent but the overall dining experience did not leave me feeling glad i spent nearly $70 there or anxious to go back. The kicker: We got there a few minutes too late for the lunch specials. My guests were ravenous at 3pm as they hadnt had lunch so they devoured the chips & salsa. The owner said if we wanted more it would be $3. I have never had a Mexican resturant say that. Clearly we were a group of 3 there for dinners at that time of the afternoon, not freeloading for water and free chips. This is an example of penny wise pound foolish, (more budget conscious than customer conscious), a gracious bowl of chips and a degree cooler might look budget bad to a penny focused person but could have gained 3 regular customers and a much better public review. Budgets are important, but gaining long term loyal customers who give good referrals are priceless...

I like to support local businesses, but unfortunately this wasn’t a good experience. Upon entering, We were kindly greeted by slightly overwhelmed staff. The restaurant itself was dated, but very clean which is much more important. It took a while until our waiter arrived, but I was hoping the food would make up for it. I had to request chips and salsa after drinks came, which those and the bottled coca cola were pretty much all that were good. We got a beef and a chicken chimichanga dinner. It was very watery and didn’t taste well. The beef was chewy, salty, not too good of flavor and dripping. The chicken was a little better with flavor, but still dripping. The watery juices from the meat leached out into the liquidy refried beans making a liquid soup like mess on the plate. I wish I got a picture, but it was a mess on the plate trying to work with it, so an image would make this look even worse. It made me give up and my friend and I barely ate the meals. We didn’t take any left overs, didn’t want to complain because our waiter already seemed overwhelmed. We decided to order dessert, thinking that would be the saving grace and well... the banana chonga my friend got was good, but the strawberry syrup should have been chocolate (the waiter said they were out and decided to substitute). I got the fried ice cream and it was a large scoop of ice cream in a fried tortilla topped with whipped cream, then caramel and strawberry syrup, those flavors don’t really go well together and there was nothing fried or at least a crunchy coating to give the fried ice cream idea. I did at least attach a pic of the ice cream that I lifted to show nothing on it making it nothing like fried ice cream. I wish the business the best and hope they can make it, I’m so close by that I just wish they...

I hate leaving reviews for places, but this is my expectation. We saw this place and were amazed by the great reviews in such high numbers, however I have a feeling why that is. It’s noted on the wall, if you leave a good review, you’ll get money of your order(or next order). That should have been our sign to leave but we aren’t the brightest in the bunch. I am one hell of a writer so, here I am. Atmosphere was fine, typical hole in the wall small business. Granted, bathrooms were a mess and toilet didn’t even work. If I was still bulimic(1 year purge free) this bathroom would have literally ended me. But beyond that, It was fine, nothing notable, nothing awful. Service was ehhh. Food was quick to come out, but I have a feeling why it was so quick to come out. Water wasn’t refilled or anything but whatever. Check didn’t even come out. We ended up just leaving 40 on the table(Food ended up being 35) and called our loses. Oh god, the food was something else. We got our food and it seemed fine to the eyes, but it was awful. It’s important to note here, me and my dad are push overs and suck ups and I would rather end my life then to send food back or complain. I got the chicken quesadillas, or I should say quesadilla since it was one giant quesadilla . It was pretty much just 95% chicken and 3% cheese, but whatever. The chicken however was just awful, it was rubbery and seemed undercooked. I won’t be surprised if I come down with E.coli, salmonella, food poisoning OR all of them after this meal. My dad hated his meal aswell, he got some kind of burrito and he ate it, but he ate in spite and because he just came from work and was hungry. Overall, if you’re desperate for Mexican food, just go to on the border because that’s...