Cochinito — Restaurant in Spokane

Edited to add that the owner has already reached out to me to make this right. I will be returning. This is a good place I will still bring my family and friends.

I have been to this restaurant several times. I like to eat here when I go downtown for a show at Spokane Comedy club or somewhere else nearby. I have always enjoyed the Katrina bowl with pork and black beans - it is extremely tasty. I have never had a negative experience until today.

Because this place has delicious food, I know they get long lines. I have happily waited in line and at a table for my food here on many occasions. Today, my 9 months pregnant girlfriend and I were out for a last mom's night out before her baby arrives, and were going to a show at Spokane Comedy Club. Naturally I wanted to eat dinner here because the food is always delicious. Both my girlfriend and I were in a time crunch to get downtown after working all day, and have time to eat before lining up for the show, so I decided to see if they had an "order online" option, which they did. I ordered for pick up at the restaurant. When we got there it was about 30% full, many many open tables, and absolutely no line which I was not expecting, because every time I have been there the place is jam packed. We went to the counter to order soda to eat with our dinner, and said we'd be sitting at a table to eat our pick-up order. A woman behind the counter, who later identified herself as the manager when I asked to speak to a manager, very forcefully told us that "TO GO IS TO GO. You can't order online to skip a line and eat at a table here. You have to eat it somewhere else." For a minute I thought she was possibly joking. The cashier ringing up the soda looked uncomfortable. When I realized she was serious I pointed out that the restaurant is very empty and they have no line. I could see if there was a line and the place was packed that they would have that stance. But not when it's empty. It also does not mention this anywhere at all when you place an online order. She went on and on about how it's because of the "cost associated with the take-out containers," and kept being very forceful about us not eating inside a practically empty restaurant where I already paid for and tipped for my food online. She insisted we had to leave after picking up our food in a very forceful manner. We asked if they could please make an exception, as my friend is 9 months pregnant and where the heck are we going to eat outdoors downtown near that area, when it's cold outside to boot. The cashier suggested we sit at a neighboring bar's outdoor seating.....Will they let non-paying customers sit there? Unlikely. The cashier was trying to make the best of it. I could tell she was uncomfortable with the manager being rude.

I was in some serious disbelief that she was being so stern with paying customers who also tipped. I could see them saying, "we can make an exception this time, but in the future, this is our policy." A policy, mind you, that is posted in zero places, including when you place your order online.

A very nice gentleman who had been placing an order witnessed this whole uncomfortable, very awkward exchange. He was at an 8 person table and only had 6 people in his party, so he invited us to sit at the table with them, which we accepted.

I'll have to say this is one of the most awkward meals I have ever eaten. Being a repeat customer, and having had many pleasant experiences here, I was very disappointed and did not feel welcome at all. Despite the food being very good, I feel this interaction was in very poor taste and does not sit well with me. I am considering not eating here again...

Was not for me! The service was non existent, it is a full self service deal, I’m glad they didn’t make me cook my own food too. Still kind of annoyed they even asked for a tip at checkout after the fact. It was very much like a fast food setup but with more rigorous rules and the fast food employees are usually a little more helpful. We had to stand in line with our 4 kids before we could get a table (this was clearly an issue over and over for other parties who came in as well), that unnecessarily plugged the line up and we seemed to be in the way of the kitchen staff who were running orders out and trying to give people of little space at their tables. They asked for a drink while we were in line, I ordered a Moscow mule and the gal who made it didn’t put any ice in it.. I waited in line until it was our turn and then I pointed out there was no ice, I drank it down some so they could throw some cubes in. Ordered our food, got a table (which wasn’t super clean) and then as we were waiting for our food we asked the bus boy who had been standing there for quite some time, possibly waiting for a table to clear out, about the water. He said it was self service “over there” and head nodded in the general direction.. he had a tray which would have been nice for the 6 waters I needed to grab, but he just stood there and watched me. Next the food came.. very underwhelming.. asked the same bus boy who hadn’t moved yet but kept standing behind me by the pillar, about silverware, and he said, “ya it’s over there too, self service”.. again, could not care less… really disappointed I left a tip at this point.. kids finished up most of their food but not all. Again, in a half full restaurant, ole busser boy is hanging out at his perch, ask him about a to go box, and oh boy I hit a hat trick “those are self service too” and then looks away while clearly doing nothing… I couldn’t believe it.. it actually ended up being 4 times because I had to go get some self service ice for my warm drink once the 3 cubes melted… I literally could not stop laughing about how much of a joke the service was, until I remembered I had tipped them, then I stopped laughing.

Food, was a 2 star.. kids weren’t thrilled, cheese helping on the nachos was skim, tacos had Mozzarella cheese which was a little weird.. was thinking at least cheddar or even maybe Cojita?? Seemed pretty gringo to me.. maybe they were out? Chips were good but then again, hard to have bad chips. The dip was interesting.. the way it looked and tasted.

We hit up 100s of restaurants, all around the world, every year with our kids in tow. We try to weed most out through the reviews before we go, this one we tried on a whim while walking down the street as it had a cool name, decor, etc… I should have ran when I saw the “take a menu and get in line before you get a table sign”… screamed fast food, but again, even then I was hoping for some good service and food… could have saved a ton of money and tracked down a taco truck.. but can’t win them all.. gotta try it once so I can tell you to not try it..

Look somewhere else.. bet ya $5 they’ll try harder than...

We had dinner here Friday night after a long day on the road and honestly we regret eating here. We walked in and expecting to eat Mexican food, this is 200% not Mexican food. This is white people taco night.

The first turn off was ordering food and drinks at the bar and being directed to find your own seat. This works for some people in our modern age, but I was expecting charismatic servers with peak salesmanship. There is neither of that to be found here. The second turn off was looking at the back kitchen and it was so white washed it might as well have been a PTA meeting in South Hill. We knew we were screwed from that very moment. We ordered 5 different types of tacos and they were beyond abysmal. There were “interesting” ingredients like goat cheese, ricotta cheese, sprouts, quick pickled onions, nasty tomato sauce on the carne asada, and for some reason the Spanish rice had shredded carrots in it, filler? The horchata was a gross mix additive that settled to the bottom of the glass. Service was impersonal, tacos were terrible, overall a negative experience. Not what we were expecting in a Mexican food restaurant.

The name Cochinito means “Little Pig” in Spanish. They should have named it Cerdito Blanco, “Little White Pig,” because this establishment is certifiably a white appropriation of culinary art.

Please change, get real servers, hire Latinx staff in the kitchens, stop messing with tradition. Who puts bean sprouts on a taco? White people, that’s who. Do better. The missing link is making people feel like family. This is the key to a successful business.

I will always remember this experience because of the customer service. You can tell when you’re in a good restaurant by how you’re treated by the hostess or server, and here it does not exist.

Sincerely, a normal human that was so affected by their experience, that they wrote a story book about it 2 days later.

Edit after original post: A quick Google search revealed that the first names of the owners were Justin and Travis. I am directly addressing them when I say: understand the culture of which you’re trying to represent. What on earth are you...