La Cocina Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Saint Augustine

I have been searching for authentic Mexican food and a venue that reminds me of my beach volleyball tournaments in Rosarita days.

The search has been real, I went all through Georgia didn't find anything. The closest I can get is San Diego California, obviously.

I figured due to the unique cultural diversity and St Augustine Florida I would come into luck in finding something decent in the area.

After searching reviews, we settled on trying out La Cocina Mexican Restaurant. When we pulled up, at 8:30 p.m. I immediately smiled because it literally looked like a place I ate at in Rosarita.

There was an outside patio, and we were immediately greeted by VERY friendly waiters. We looked at the menu and the prices were all very reasonable. I settled on the beef enchiladas.

While waiting we were brought out fresh chips and salsa. The salsa was extremely fresh and had a good flavor to it. The waiters were very nice! Great conversation, very well traveled, they all had goals and dreams - which I fully support.

For me, part of a restaurant experience is the service and ambience / atmosphere atmosphere. I was not disappointed at all. In fact, I haven't had this great of service since relocating to the East Coast. #nolies

The food was five star! Very authentic flavors, the beef enchilada had a sauce that was a little sweet but again more like a Rosarita style less like Tex-Mex. The beans were made with lard, the rice was not boxed rice it was freshly made.

These were very large portions, so I ended up taking half of my meal home. I'm always about rationing my food because leftovers the next day of a great place you visited are kind of my thing.

The venue itself is very low-key, dim lighting, it takes you to a completely different region of the world. The walls are adorned with beautiful Mexican murals and there are more private rooms. The early April Florida weather was stellar and naturally we opted to dine outside.

Honestly, the vibe alone is worth a visit. At first it feels like this place is going to be a small hole in the wall, but once you enter and walk through you realize there is plenty of seating for large groups.

I HIGHLY recommend visiting this restaurant, even if it's a little out of the way - like it was for us.

Pro Tip: if you want to eat good food, don't go during busy times - at any restaurant.

REASONS TO VISIT: Plenty of Parking Ambiance Reasonable Prices Authentic...

Wife and I were heading to Culvers and saw this festive mexican cantina calling our names much like a siren's song lures an unsuspecting sailor. The allure of a traditional mexican dish has its hooks in us from the very start. We are from southern california and lived in Texas as well (thanks Navy), so we are very accustomed to various latin treats. We were very much looking forward to adding this to a regular rotation if it hit a few of our requirements. I ordered the Carnitas extra crispy. You will see in the photos that they were hunks of pork that were almost brown black in appearance. They were ok and not enough seasoning. Tender and not really crispy. Good enough, I would say. My wife ordered the Carne Asada Chimichanga with sauces on the side. The exterior from her opinion was perfectly crispy. The interior was lacking. She kept on saying the meat was dead. There was an oozing cheese inside, and the meat was tender enough. There was no real seasoning, which might be why she kept on saying it was dead. Beef flavor but not really appealing. To me, it was edible, but to her, it was not. The chips were not fresh, but they were under a warming light, which gave the illusion that they were fresh but not salted enough. The base salsa was good and tasted fresh. If the chips were fresh out of the fryer, they would have hit one of the requirements. They offerered other sauces (a habenero and a jalapeno) both were ok and worked. We ordered the queso sauce, which was nothing to write home about but good to dip the chimichanga in since the cheese sauce that came with the chimichanga had this sauce and salsa mixed in. My wife was not a fan. The service was just ok. They were friendly, but it took a long time to order and get drinks. He might have been slammed (castillo may have been his name). The drink refills we had to ask and interrupt him from another table to get. I probably would not come back. Really, I wanted to give a fully positive review, but at this point, I can not. If I were to come back, I would probably try...

Our local quest for excellent mexican food brought us to La Cocina. Two friends raved about this quaint spot away from tourist central in St. Augustine.

We dined on a Friday evening, the joint was half-full. Service was uber fast and attentive.

I ordered the Carnitas, my other half ordered the Enchiladas (beef & chicken). Drinks were delivered with lightning speed. Limes for the ice tea instead of lemons. A nice touch.

The complimentary chips were warm, thin, and crispy. The salsa was hand made with fresh ingredients and quite chunky. But it lacked any spice or heat. Very bland.

The entrees were delivered quickly but not sizzling hot as with other mexican joints. The portions were small in comparison as well.

We both agreed the refried beans and yellow rice were very tasty. Not your average sides.

The carnitas were served with yellow rice, beans, lettuce, onion/tomato mix, and 3 corn tortillas. The pork was chunky, not shredded. I had to shred the pork myself for the tortillas. Very dry and very bland. I added some leftover salsa from the chips to help with the dryness.

The enchiladas didn't fare any better. While the ingredients were good, they were very bland.

Basically we have a Mexican restaurant that is afraid to use any spices or any heat. Everything was bland...from the salsa to the carnitas to the enchiladas.

All-in-all, fast service, small portions, and very, very bland.

Our quest for excellent mexican...