Cuya Cocina Latina — Restaurant in Raleigh

A fantastic meal on a Friday night at this spot on foodie-heaven Glenwood Avenue.

It's a storefront shop, with 18 tables and half dozen bar seats inside plus another 10 or so tables on the sidewalk-turned-patio. The interior is eclectic, lots and lots of plants including a gorgeous live plant wall at the back.

Service is excellent. Reservation honored to the minute. Our server, Stephanie, did great work - explained the menu, made some recommendations and paced the meal perfectly. Thank you!

Started with some sangria. A fruity red blend, this house-special concoction includes a couple of shots (maybe bourbon, maybe vodka - I can't remember). Beautifully garnished with an orange slice and including one of those awful paper straws. (Sorry, environment - plastic straws are superior).

Tried a couple of the small plates, and one of the large plates. Starting with charred octopus. A 6-inch grill-charred tentacle is served atop a concoction of butter beans, peas, black eyed peas, parmesan butter and sprinkled with chives. Don't get hung up on the appearance of the octopus... it's really delicious. Firm, vaguely calamari-like in texture and taste. The accompanying beans concoction is outstanding. The sauce is perfectly spiced (garlicky), the beans the ideal texture. Yum!

Next, tried Gambas al Ajillo (garlic shrimp). 6 tail-on butterflied shrimp are gorgeously broiled and served in a luscious garlic-butter lemon sauce. Shrimp have a nice crisp snap to the bite. And that sauce! Perfect to dip the accompanying baguette.

Also had chargrilled oysters. 6 oysters, smokily char-grilled then topped with panko, shredded prosciutto, shards of red onion and parmesan cheese. Then broiled to crunch up the top and slathered with garlic butter. WOW! Not the slurping kind of oysters, but these are excellent.

Lastly, tried Pinche Carne Asada. 4 slices of perfect medium rare steak are served over a melange of broccoli, mushrooms sauteed in tallow, topped with a broiled green onion and surrounded by smoked potatoes. Now THIS is how to cook hanger steak. Fork tender, juicy, bursting with flavor. The vegetables perfectly accented by the sauce, smoky potatoes outstanding for fork-mashing to absorb the juices.

Tab for dinner $132 with 2 cocktails. Well worth it for the high quality food in a trendy, cool environment with top notch service....

I wish I could give this place a better review, but my experience at Cortez Restaurant last night with two friends was nothing short of shocking. We had a reservation for 5:30 PM and were looking forward to enjoying a nice evening of food, drinks, and good company. Unfortunately, what unfolded was an experience none of us have ever had at a restaurant.

We started with drinks and appetizers, savoring the atmosphere and exploring the menu. As we enjoyed our food, we decided to order additional appetizers and more drinks. Everything seemed fine until around 6:15/6:20 PM, when I ordered another drink and some food. Our waiter returned shortly after and informed us that we could no longer order drinks or food because they needed our table.

Wait—what? At that point, we already had a bill of over $350. Looking around, there were open tables both inside and outside the restaurant. We were not made aware of any time limit for our reservation when booking or when we were seated. Had this been communicated, we would have made different plans or adjusted our pacing. Instead, we were abruptly told to leave, which was incredibly disrespectful and embarrassing.

To top it all off, when we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed their sanitation score was a 90.0. DISGUSTING! I wish I had seen it sooner—it would have made us think twice about dining there in the first place.

Despite this treatment, we still paid our bill and tipped, but the whole situation left a sour taste in our mouths. It’s unacceptable to treat paying customers this way, especially when we were spending a significant amount and contributing to the lively ambiance of the restaurant.

Cortez may have decent food and drinks, but the poor communication and rude handling of this situation have completely turned me off from ever returning. If you’re looking for a welcoming, customer-focused dining experience, I would not recommend this restaurant. Save yourself the frustration and choose a place that values...

Alrighty, let's get to the skinny.

This was definitely a pleasant surprise. The wifey and I have been on a "go to our favorite place" kick recently but a friend came into town and we decided to try out Cortez and, let me tell you, it was AMAZING! Not only pleasantly surprised by the ambience, decor, and service but THE FOOD. Started off with the oysters (core sounders and another one but both are locally sourced) and they were so delicious! Haven't had oysters like these in awhile. Smooth and medium salinity and creamy! We had the Bread + Weed Butter - the bread was particularly good and the "Weed" butter (herb+nori+anchovy butter) was subtle and creamy. Smoked and Loaded NC Papas were also on the appetizer lineup and sort of a play on loaded baked potatoes. Were slightly salty but overall great as well. Then, we went into the mains like the El Dorado tacos (corn tortillas, tuna, potato, crab salsa, lettuce, crema, lemon). Comes in 3s but were fantastic. The El Fish Mac (currently being voted for meat alternative burgers for James Beard) was one of the biggest surprises! For one, it was so so good! Burger patty made with swordfish and possibly mushroom with house made pickles and sauce. LIKE WAIT. THIS ISNT A BEEF BURGER??! Now, mind you, it does have a slight hint of fish taste but I was so shocked at the first bite. Could not tell the immediate difference and it was tasty! Seasoned house made fries with Alabama white sauce? Yum! And of course, the Spicy NC Tuna dish. A fried rice topped with seared tuna and various sauces and kimchi with fried egg to top it off. It was a nice play on a similar Korean dish. I had no complaints and we finished everything!

Just FYI, the server we had was wonderful, pleasant, and made the experience even more lovely....