La Cocina Restaurant — Restaurant in Portland

Like I said before I walked out of this biased, discriminatory shindig that they call a restaurant I am VERY disappointed in the service. First of all when my husband and I walked in they were dead as a doornail and I couldn't help but get a negative vibe, like we were disturbing them. It felt like when you accidently walk in on someone changing. The staff reluctantly greeted us then instructed us to seat ourselves where we remained sitting for a good 2 minutes before we were approached and received water, and mind you I'm 6 months pregnant, and then finally after the water, we received menus. Then two older gentlemen walked in and the atmosphere changed so quickly you wouldn't believe it was the same staff let alone restaurant. The waiter, possibly manager, greeted them immediately and with such friendliness he couldn't attend to them quick enough. They barely sat down before their menus were in their hands. While all this was going on our "enthusiastic" waitress was taking our order and I couldn't even pay attention to her because my jaw dropped in such disbelief. It was such a gut punch that me and my husband decided to cancel our order. What makes it even worse is how the workers were acting completely dumbfounded that I was upset and what I was upset about when I addressed it before leaving. It was such a "in your face" difference in treatment I don't know if it was cognitive dissonance or they're really that stupid. What I want to ask is were you worried you wouldn't receive a good tip? FYI, regardless of the taste of the food, which I sadly did not get to experience, we always tip at least 20% for good service, it doesn't even have to be great, just good. So I hope that your tip from the two older gentlemen that you were breaking your back to kiss a** for was worth losing potential regular customers. I'm not sure if it was our age or how we looked, and although we were not dressed as nice as the two men who clearly just got off of work, we certainly were NOT dressed like scrubs albeit we were treated that way. However, what I am sure of is I will never come back here. They didn't even try to rectify the situation like a good business would have. So all in all, you could have a great experience here or it could be shotty, I guess it all depends on the employees' perception of you and...

Great server. Gave us extra time to order as we were talking nonstop. There were 3 of us. We ordered 7 dishes, 2 of those to go. Our food was freshly made, all dishes were hot. Nothing premade & reheated. Had dishes not found at other Mexican food restaurants. The dishes reminded me of food I had during a week's stay at friend's home in Merida, Mexico. Dishes didn't have the same sauce served on every dish. They were quite busy. We arrived around 5:45. There was a party of 32 that arrived during our meal. Very friendly staff. Continued to check on us to make sure everything was good. I've eaten at numerous Mexican restaurants. This was by far the best. Will return again and again as long as food quality stays consistent. I had 2 dishes to go. I was really excited to see that they had empanadas on the menu. These are little half circle shaped "pies" that are normally made of a flaky crust & filled with various items, which can differ depending on where they're from. I found the ones with ground hamburger, vegetables & raisins. This is the one I first tasted back in the 1970s. They can be baked or deep fried. Unfortunately, these came in a thick, soggy dough. Unsure how they were cooked because they had been covered in a blah red sauce & were soggy. I scraped out the meat & put in my dog's dish. My 2nd dish I got to go was an enchilada dinner. The pinto beans were pretty good, the Verde sauce was flavorful and the enchiladas had plenty of filling. I might try the empanadas again WITHOUT the sauce. Hopefully just deep fried. Even with this little set back I would return. My dinner companions had the 7 Seas fish stew. It contained mussels, octopus, fish, shrimp etc. He & his wife said the stew was very flavorful and the octopus was cooked properly and was not chewy/ rubbery. My other friend had a Chimichonga which was also reported as good. We also had an appetizer of fried cauliflower with a sour cream sauce. It was very good and...

Sadly, La Cocina fell victim to the pandemic and closed about nine months ago.

I grew up in Arizona and really miss Sonoran style Mexican food which is spicier but not hot for the sake of heat. The burros are large, filled with meat and sauce, no other fillings (beans or rice) and the costs are fairly reasonable $6-7. Plus, I worked in a Mexican restaurant in high school so I kind of know my way around the food.

So when a Mexican cab driver recommend La Cocina to me a few weeks back, I thought I'd give it a try. Upon entering I felt like I was home, Mexican music, murals and flags along with posters and a soccer match on a huge projector screen. The menu was extensive and included beef tongue although a bit pricey $3.25 for tacos and upwards $15 for entrees. After 2pm, they offer a $5 happy hour menu!

I ordered their classic Grilled Chicken burrito, flour tortilla, pinto beans, mexican rice, pico de gallo and guacamole. I asked to have mine without rice which got me a questioned look by my server, actually I almost ordered my burrito without beans as well, but didn't want to risk getting 86'd. I guess I'm traditional when it comes to my burros.

My order came fairly quickly and overall the food was good, but I was hoping for something more along the lines I'm used to. The chicken was good and so were the beans, but not nearly as spicy as I would have liked. The pico de gallo and guacamole was good and added to my dining experience.

My next visit will be after 2pm so I can try the happy hour menu, in the meantime, I'll dream of the Sonoran desert and the lovely food...