Cocula Restaurant Calumet City — Restaurant in Thornton Township

Ok so hear me out I have been coming to the commercial location as well as the Torrence location for 26 years... Yasss clock it! (Since I was 14 I am ow 38) So this review is solely based off my today's experience at the Torrence location. I arrived at 9:05am and ordered the tostado de Civeche (mind you I'm a bartender just getting off and headed to my real job in accounts payable) so the Civeche is just the right amount of everything to sober me up 🤷🏽‍♀️. I get my food which is 15 minutes away from my destination and I'm going in on it only to find a long hair in my food 🤢. I immediately called and the lady directed me to bring the food back... I did at once mind you 15 minutes to have gotten there now I'm 45 minutes in (15 mins to get there, 15 mins to drive to work 15 mins to drive back hairy food) 😔. When I get there they exchanged the Civeche no problem but I then say I'd like to place an order for menudo. When I get to the register the lady first tries and ring me for my hopefully hairless Civeche then says oh I forgot I then say I ordered menudo and she tries to charge me full amount I say shouldn't there be some type of discount applied after all I am still patronizing this business after finding a hair that clearly wasn't mine (I have braids ) but still willing to eat here. The man says I'll give you a small cup for free, so I respond I'm not looking for anything for free but I would like to not feel as if my time was wasted. So I say just give me 10 % off (clearly only the tax at this point) but no he insist he'll give me a little sample cup of menudo and then tells me to go as to shoo me off(literally using his fingers in a scoot type way 🫳). Needles to say I'll travel to the commercial location before dealing with these bozos again! What really sucks is my family is there every weekend either enjoying the food or the food, comradery and the environment with the mixed cultures the atmosphere brings. My advice to Coculas is when you have a safety violation dealing with food or the cleanliness of your establishment it is best to accommodate the customer in the best way possible because now all of my many followers get to see how you deal with your customers right wrong or indifferent. I am sure the money over 26 years may be mean less to you but I'm sure anyone who reads this works really hard for their money and will think twice about patronizing a place that is self serving instead of customer focused. I'll just start going down the street to El Mirachi...

I love cocula, but the one on Torrence was the worst all around experience that I ever had. Don't ever ever ever go to that one. When my friend and I got there, I told him to get the table while go to the bathroom. On my way to the table the waitress were sitting down looking like they didn't want to be bothered. The majority of the people that were there at that time were black. They weren't crowded yet I had to ask the waitress who was sitting down next to our waitress who was sitting with her back to the customers, if she could have her to take our order. When she told her, instead of turning around letting us know that she will be right there. She nodded to the waitress that she was sitting with and waited before coming to take our order. I ordered the fajita de bistec. He ordered a steak burrito and a chicken taco. My fajita dinner was brought out on a regular plate with everything on it, instead of the meat grilled and brought out on the sizzling platter. Instead of the meat being skirt steak, it was some unseasoned round steak that was tough and sliced wrong with the meat vein sticking out. The beans and rice were horrible and unseasoned. My friend burrito had a few pieces of meat in it and was mostly a tortilla filled with lettuce and cheese. I was so disgusted, I just asked the waitress to give me a box for my food so that I can take it home and redo it. I don't even trust eating the refried beans that look like throw up, nor the rice that looked like and tasted like it had been boiled in red food coloring. Mis amigas and me, have cooked better food then this at home. I paid $ 60 for that. Still tipped the waitress 10. Because I know that I will never be back there again. And anyone black who supports this one after lunch hour and before the Latinos come in after 7:30pm should just pay attention to the atmosphere, attitude, quality of the food before you start drinking. Then go there around 8 when most of the Latinos come in and see the difference in all. I have been eating at cocula on commercial and pulaski for over 15 years and I have never had the experience that I had...

Had a recent experience trying out this restaurant as I gauge which are my preferred Mexican places. I can understand its appeal to some, but it will not be my first, second or even third choice.

On the positives: The whole place is very attractive and the atmosphere is pleasant. Colors are vibrant and pop, drawing the eye. There's a feeling of being 'transported' just a little bit which gives a nice experience. The staff are also pleasant and attentive, so you will be well treated while you are here.

When it comes to the food, however, it was considerably more of a mixed bag. If you are looking for antojitos (Mexican street food) like tacos, gorditas, enchiladas, burritos and the like, there are definitely plentiful offerings. However, the restaurant appears to cater more to higher-end ingredients, with a very robust seafood section that you may not expect. The menu is large and can be difficult to navigate (and here, its colorful nature is a bit of a detractor. It's a very 'busy' menu.). The quality, also, is a touch on the bland side in terms of flavors. The refried beans are white navy instead of the usual pinto beans, and are not completely pureed, which gives them an odd quality. The red sauce is low in the expected flavor. You're getting quality ingredients, but there's a certain... lacking in everything, especially for the price.

This, naturally, brings us to the price. This is a $20-30/head price location if you are going CHEAP. Some of the individual dishes (especially in the seafood section) can go at least $10 higher per head, so be aware that the food is probably more expensive than many mexican places you might go to. For the quality of the ingredients, I think the price point is a bit advanced and the spicing too lite for my tastes.

HOWEVER, that doesn't make Cocula a "Best to avoid" restaurant. It's a good restaurant, but the price point and individual offerings may be outside of normal expectations in a restaurant like this. So, best...