La Cocina

Good tacos, kind of a combo of authentic (fresh cilantro, soft corn tortillas) and Americanized tacos (ground beef), but they hit the spot and it was a fair price. Was there late afternoon, the service was quick, but they weren’t at all busy. Small side of Guac was good too. Great homemade chips too. I’ll be back.

Pretty good food, reasonably priced, arrived quickly. Nothing exceptional about this place, but it’s definitely a solid place to grab lunch in the Loop area.

Food was pretty terrible. Customer service is worse…

Horrible place. Even the shittier north side Mexican places are WAY better. Their tortas for breakfast are simplistic and had no taste. Their chilaquiles are horrible as well. Their meat tastes like ground beef and their rice is dry. The only good about this place is their salsas and the Mexican coke. That’s it! One of the ladies in the register has the this diva attitude. Oh I’m sorry I’m paying with my card and I made you work extra by swiping it. If you value your money don’t come here.

Lousy so-​called Mexican food. I ordered enchiladas with «mole» sauce and one of them was caked with dried sauce on the bottom and grossed me out. The others had practically no sauce and were dried out. These people don’t care about quality, they’re just dishing out product. Fortunately, I didn’t get sick. Don’t go there.

I don’t see what the race is about this place at all. It’s always crowded and the food is not good. The steak has no taste to it and the guacamole makes Chipotles’ crown King. I won’t be eating here again.

Delicious place for a quick lunch. Food is made fast and reasonably priced. Sopes are great!

I typically love this place! I always get the steak taco dinner. this time, I order it with cheese. I got changed an extra dollar for the cheese, and when I walked the 6 blocks back to my office to eat, there was no cheese. UGHHH. It still tastes good, so I’m going to go back, but I’m going to triple check that they give me cheese.

This place is the absolute best when it comes to burritos. They are delicious and bursting with flavor. I have been eating here for years at least once a week. Their cook is top notch and the rest of the staff are some of the kindest people you’d ever meet. It’s an excellent place for the lunch rush, as they have a system to get you in and fed in a quick and orderly fashion.

Had the chilie rellanos today and they were horrible! The egg part was so hard it appears they did it the day before…

More like 3.5 stars, but def not quite a 4, so I guess a 3 will do…
This place is a pretty sketchy hole-​in-​the-​wall place under the train tracks, but hey I didn’t expect it to be fancy so that’s fine. The menu consists of a variety of traditional Mexican dishes, from tacos to burritos to carne asada to flauntas. The prices are not very cheap, but I suppose the big portions make up for it (except for the quesadillas… they are tiny and something like $ 3. So not worth it).
The only major complaint I have is that I ordered a Mexican steak and they didn’t tell me it was going to take at least 15 min after I paid. Since lunch time during the work week is hectic, I definitely would have ordered something else quicker if they told me before. The steak was also extremely salty… not a fan.

Garbage
Enchiladas with Ground Beef!!!
Insult to the Mexican kitchen and traditions. If your trying to compete with Taco Bell then go on with your business practices.
Your location is awesome nobody has a clue what real Mexican food so if you put enough sour cream, yellow cheese, and ground been anything they will love you.
Any Mexican restaurant serving ground beef should not be able to call themselves Mexican. Unless you make traditional picadillo with raisins and potatoes.
GARBAGE If your Mexican don’t waste your money.
If you are American you won’t know the difference because all you like Sour Cream, Yellow Cheese, Guacamole and ground Beef.
(This was an old post of mine but I lost my password. I wanted to post it under my new account)

This is one of very few taco joints in the Loop. It’s a shame that with all of the great Mexican restaurants scattered around this city, there are none downtown. I was really craving steak tacos and decided to come here. I’ve been here before but it has been a while. I ordered 4 steak tacos for dine-​in. They get an extra star because they give complimentary chips & salsa when dining in.
The tacos are a good size, but the corn shells are always hard/​stale. The toppings are fine (cilantro, lime, and onion) but the streak is more like barbacoa. When I want steak, I want steak, not braised beef. I do love barbacoa when done right, but this is neither steak or barbacoa and has a weird aftertaste.
My only other option really is Taco Burrito King or La Bamba for a taco lunch in the loop and neither of those are quite authentic enough. Chicago being home to one of the largest Latin populations in this country, it’s surprising that it’s this hard to get a good taco in the Loop.

I don’t understand why this place doesn’t at least have 4 stars!
Tacos are $ 1.99 a piece, the carne asada and al pastor are both good (though I think there’s more flavor with the al pastor). We’ve had sopes, tostadas, and the horchata – all good!
It’s a no frills sort of place; the waiter that we get never make small talk, and the staff doesn’t often smile but the service is quick, the tables are clean, the salsa is good (and has a kick!)…and sometimes my lunch costs below $ 6…in the Loop?
I may be one of the few, but I’m appreciative of La Cocina for my taco fix!

Being a Mexican I must say I have been disappointed. My order of choice was a steak burrito. The meat was not well cooked for one. I don’t believe the meat was even steak. It had a different texture and was over seasoned.
I am sad to say for once I wish I would have stopped at chipotle vs here. I would have gotten a bigger portion for less and in all a better tasting burrito.
As for the service, It was very uncomfortable. Walked in confused as to where to order. As there was many people, None paying any attention to me. A girl was forced to take my Oder and they complained about it. In Spanish, yes shockingly I know Spanish. Oh and I failed to mention I dinned in and was not asked once if I needed anything. Kinda felt like my business was a burden. Needles to say there will not be a next time.

3.5 Stars
Lunch time in the loop believe it or not can get pretty boring. My friend suggested we deviate from our usual lunch time selections and go here. We went around 1 so it wasn’t too crowded and we were able to have a seat with no problem.
I love that they give you chips and salsa at the table. My favorite is the red salsa. I love the hint of saltiness. For my meal I ordered the steak taco lunch which was a little over $ 8. As usual I requested only cilantro and onions on my taco. It also came with refried beans and rice. It was pretty decent, but I’m used to going to authentic Mexican joints my friend takes me to around the hood, which presents a taste difference when it comes to the seasoning of the meat. For the loop though this place is right on and will join my arsenal of food places to rotate between.

So, you don’t want to wait in the line that wraps around the outside of Chipotle, but you do want guacamole… enter, La Cocina.
Definitely a solid choice for a quick loop lunch, La Cocina has the main bulletpoints I seek: –cheap –fast –fills me up. I love that they have shredded chicken (as opposed to chunked), I love that the chicken isn’t ridiculously spicy, and I love that you can get eggs/​chorizo for lunch.
My only few negatives are: –everything seems really, really salty –those menu boards. For reals La Cocina, fix those menu boards/​tvs. There are 2 or 3 rotating menu pages, but they flash up on the next one so fast that you can’t ever really read the menu.
Even if there is a long line, they will have you in and out in minutes.

It pains me to give a low rating to a taqueria. Even at its worst, Mexican food is always a good decision. With my office’s move to the city, I have to find a new burrito spot. Sadly, La Cocina isn’t it.
Their staff was friendly and the service was fast.
The burrito, however, wasn’t that good. Al pastor is my life blood. Their tortillas were about medium size, not the jumbos other taquerias normally use. This would be fine if it were amply full. Mine was light on all ingredients. I went with 8 coworkers and the verdict was the same for all the burrito eaters. Those who got taco salads were satisfied with the meat portions.
Additionally, we had 3 baskets of chips for the table. We asked for another basket toward the end of our lunch and were told it would be $ 2. That’s like an Italian restaurant charging for more bread. Chips are insanely inexpensive to make.
Coming in just under $ 9 for just the burrito, without rice or beans, La Cucina will not be my cucina.

Pretty disappointed into what this place has turned into. It seems the owner and main guy I saw every time I came here has gone somewhere else. Ever since then, the Steak has been very mediocre. It used to be cooked to perfection with so much flavor, now it’s pretty soft and bland. They also stack on too much lettuce on the tacos.
I will still come here for a quick taco fix, but no longer is this one of my go-​to places.

I don’t know how this place has four stars. How do you mess up a steak burrito?
For almost $ 8 for a burrito I expect a decent burrito. This was a little on the small side. The burrito was soggy and the meat tasted like it was boiled and over salted. As I was eating I even started developing a puddle. Not good.
There is a void of good Mexican food in the loop. Next time I’ll settle for Chipotle, may not be authentic but it does the job,