La Cueva Grill

Service here is impeccable and the tacos are first rate. I ordered the hard tacos and they were just like the ones I ate when I lived in Guadalajara. They are served under a pile of lettuce and cheese so it looks like more food than it is, though still a large serving.
While you are waiting for your meal, you can help yourself to their salsa bar where they have hot tortilla chips, home made queso in a crockpot, pico de gallo, a hot green salsa, and a very spicy habanero salsa. I didn’t have the guts to try the habanero but the other 3 are delicious.
As you are finishing your meal, they will offer you a free sopapilla for dessert.

Great Mexican food and one of the best places for it. The owner is very freindly and welcoming. i highly recommend this place to anyone wanting great Mexican food in OKC.

We walked to La Cueva Grill from downtown on a Monday for lunch. We arrived around 12:30 and the place was not totally full, but very close. It’s not huge, and you can certainly feel cramped when it’s busy. But, too many people at a place is usually a good thing.
You order first at the register, then get a number. You then get your beverage and hit the chip/​salsa bar. To go with the chips are a typical tomato salsa, a (very) hot habanero salsa, a verde, and the traditional cheese sauce. The chips are kept under a heat lamp, so they’re warm when you get them. We had a group of 5 and there wasn’t room for us inside. Fortunately, we were able to pull two tables together to sit outside. We were lucky, as the weather was fantastic.
I liked all of the salsas. The cheese sauce is just that: cheese in sauce form. But, I recommend adding one of the salsas to it for a makeshift queso. I tried this with both the verde and regular salsa and liked both. The habanero is orange, chunky, and brings the heat. It’s certainly not the hottest salsa I’ve tried, but it’s definitely got a punch.
After finishing some chips and salsa, we waited. And waited. And waited. It took over a half hour from ordering until we received our food. This is the only thing preventing me from giving La Cueva 5 stars. I was told by one of my buddies that the first time he ate here it took a fraction of the time, so I am sure on a return visit it won’t be nearly this long. But, it was frustrating when we were on lunch break and needed to get back to the office. The owner came out and confirmed what we ordered, and we had our food 5 minutes after that.
I went with the fish tacos, which come 3 for around $ 8.25 and a side of refried beans, which was extra. The fish tacos are large, with plenty of grilled tilapia with some lettuce, chipotle mayo, and a sort of avocado cream sauce on the side. They were clearly just made. The fish was seasoned very well and cooked completely. They were difficult to eat, all 3 of us that ordered the fish tacos eventually had to give up on eating them with our hands and resort to the fork. But, I would absolutely order these again. The refried beans were HOT, as in I would not advise you touch the plate. They had a layer of crispy cheese on top, which I suppose is from being under the broiler too long. But, I actually liked it. I had not had the cheese crispy before on beans, it’s something I liked. Other than that, they were good, but not revolutionary.
I’ll add La Cueva to my regular rotation for downtown adjacent lunches. I am hopeful that the wait is not nearly as long next time, but the food was fresh, the people were friendly, and everything tastes fantastic. That’s a successful lunch in my book.

I came here on a Saturday a few months ago and was supremely disappointed. The chicken enchiladas were bland, tough, and unattractive looking. The queso was chunky and almost tasteless. No one was in the restaurant and I soon realized why. I love Mexican food and I’m not typical fussy — but this restaurant completely let me down.

Great place for a quick lunch.
Carne Aseada Tacos were exceptional and the service was very prompt and attentive.

Food was delicious! Like homemade. Super friendly service! Affordable prices. Nice casual place! Definitely worth a trip!

We stopped in for lunch on a Saturday. It was really quiet, but we wanted something near downtown. When we went in, the owner seated us and gave us suggestions at our request. My husband ordered the carne asada tacos and I had the carnitas tacos. Both were excellent. Even my husband who isn’t a fan of pork liked my tacos. We will definitely be back!

Carne Asada tacos are awesome. Everything is homemade including the salsa. Service is awesome and so is the staff. Best Mexican in OKC hands down.

La Cueva Grill is a great place to get together with friends. The food is delicious and the service is outstanding. We were in OKC last May for the Native American New Play Festival and were delighted to be guided to La Cueva Grill by an enthusiastic regular. It is within walking distance of the OKC Music Hall and we returned several times. The last time we went, Shane, the owner, was just flipping the ‘open’ sign to ‘closed’ because of the torrential rain and expected flooding. When we asked him of another place within walking distance, he took pity on us and opened his doors. If not for Shane’s big heart, we would have arrived at the performance soaked, bedraggled, and HUNGRY. Good food, great service. Recommended!

Sweet! Totally happy about this place and glad we found it. The atmosphere is relaxed and quaint. We had a nice quiet time, the only ones there, to enjoy our beers and food in peace. We didn’t go during a busy time obviously. The manager was exceptionally nice, of course we were his only table but he was sincere. If you can catch them on pulled-​pork taco day then you lucked out. It’s at random so happy hunting…

Although this place is a total whole in the wall, it’s clean and delicious and the people who work here were really nice! We had the chicken and carne tacos and they were both really yummy, especially with the avocado sauce served with them. I will definitely be going back.

This is a small scale Mexican restaurant at 4^th and Walker. You order as you walk in, get a number and take a seat. There are about 12 tables inside and 2 out front.
I ordered the taco salad– I wanted chicken fajita, but they 86’d at 12:30…they supposedly ran out… ok, anyhow ordered the steak fajita salad instead. It was good, but not great. For the $ 8.95 price plus an up charge for fajita meat, I expected more.
So, if you’re downtown and need a quick fix, this place is ok– they have a serve yourself on chips, salsa and queso. Their salsa was very good and fresh– the queso was also good. Service is friendly and helpful. The quality is good, but the amount of steak should be more given the price.
Just remember, it’s fast and not like other full scale service restaurants.

A tick above Chilenos, but not really better than Abuelo’s.
This is a quaint little restaurant tucked below apartments next to Hobby’s Hoagies downtown. It’s pretty small inside, so no big groups. The interior is in ok shape, some ceiling tiles out of place, but it had TVs, which was a plus. I think the place is relatively new, because things seemed pretty beta mode. It’s sort of a self service place where you order, then sit down and help yourself to forks and napkins. The service was good, they were flexible with requests, and the food came out quite quickly. the prices are reasonable for lunch as well.
They have chips, salsa, and other available. The chips are ok, the salsa is actually very interesting. I was a little afraid of it, as my stomach is somewhat sensitive to tomatoes/​very acidic things and very spicy things, and it was all of the above. I liked the taste. It kind of punches you in the tongue with tanginess. Not sure if it’s got tomatillo in there or what, but it is also very spicy, so not for the faint of tongue. The other dipping stuff I’m calling other, because I’m not really sure what it is supposed to resemble. I’m pretty sure it is supposed to be queso, which it isn’t. After my recent bout with Chilenos, I have grown a new pet peeve. Okie-​Mex restaurants trying to go on the cheaps with the queso. It’s like because Ted’s gives free queso, everyone feels they need to give free queso. In the case of La Cueva, it’s like a lumpy mildly viscous translucent yellow sauce that I’m pretty sure is made with rice starch/​ground up rice and unknown other ingredients, the least of which MIGHT be cheese.
I ordered a Chimichanga with «cheese sauce» which was more of that odd substance that was set out with the chips. It came with refried beans covered in melted and browned cheese, with Spanish rice. The chimichanga itself was pretty good minus the creepy yellow «cheese» sauce, the beans were good, and the rice was as expected.
It’s not bad. I’d avoid the «cheese» sauce for my queasiness factor about not knowing what I’m eating, but I would try it again to see what the carne asada tacos are all about. If they’re super delicious I’ll update the review.
~UPDATE~ So I went back today to try the Carne Asada Tacos, and you know what? They ARE pretty good. I don’t usually order tacos as I am always afraid they won’t be very filling, but these tacos come in a pack of 4, so I was definitely full by the time I took down the 4^th taco. The meat is tender, and tasty. the only down side is that these carne asada tacos are just that, and nothing more. They come out with tortillas and carne asada inside, and that is pretty much what you get. No cheese, no lettuce, no guac, no sour cream… Just yummy carne asada in tortillas. If I could offer a suggestion: Carne Asada tacos=3 tacos with a side of rice and beans/​cheese, which would give the consumer the option of adding rice and beans into the tacos, or at least having some flavor variety on their plate.
In summary, I would probably return here, but I think the restaurant could really benefit from a few improvements to make it seem less beta. The floor plan is kind of uninviting: There is wasted space on one side of the kitchen and everyone crammed in the limited seating on the other side with the busy salsa bar bathroom/​kitchen entrance etc. The menu items are generally good in my 2 visit experience, but possibly overly simple. To be really special, they need something to push them over the pretty good mark. It’s pretty good as is, but I think with modest improvements this place could be a really amazing, that was so good I’m coming back here to eat this again type place. Think Bubbles… with kittens in them… Carnitas… smoked in applewood with chipotle marinade and bacon pieces mixed in… Carne Asada, with a savory guac, dallup of sour cream and a squirt of chipotle sauce and shredded cheese.

La Cuerta was an a great place to hang out before the play at the Civic Center. Only a block and a half away, and the food was great, as well as the prices. I was looking for a place that I could hang out for awhile before the show, and La Cuerta was perfect. Great service, not too expensive, and good food. Mike and Shane were super nice and did not mind that I was hanging out on a cold snowy night. They treated me like they were glad I was there, even though they likely would have preferred to close early. Great, quiet location for dinner. I will go there again!

Oh my wholly guacamole! I wanted fajitas without the whole fajita getup, and their torta hit the spot! The sandwich was flavorful without being overbearing. Their queso wasn’t too shabby and the salsa was tangy. The guys were really pleasant and took good care of everyone. The price was right too.
Nutshell: nothing fancy, food is easy on the eyes and taste buds, and a great budget friendly stop.

Had the ground beef Chimichanga plate and had phenomenal flavor! The rice and beans complemented the meal. Owner was very nice and brought our dinner straight to us. The complementary chips and queso and so papilla were delicious!

We just spent a few days in OKC and had La Cueva for lunch on our last day. I have nothing but great things to say about this place! The food is delicious. I had the carned asada tacos, and they were some of the best I’ve ever had. I also tasted some of my family’s food with the same result, delicious! The «serve yourself» chips and salsa bar was also very convenient and tasted great.
In addition to the excellent food, the staff were truly awesome. The man who took our order was very kind, prompt, and helpful. And one other staff member (maybe a manager or owner?) really stood out. When we walked out of the restaurant to leave he came outside onto the sidewalk just to talk with us and ask how we enjoyed our meal. He continued to ask us where we were from and what we were doing in OKC. Wow! That’s rare these days.
What great food and great people! Next time we’re in OKC La Cueva will be first on the eat list.
Go there yourself!

Amazing Carne astada tacos! Everyone in my lunch group loved their food. It’s on our list of favorites.

I love this place! One of the owners (Jaime) is a very nice man who is always there. He will make sure people are taken care of! It is my little secret for a great lunch.
They are beginning to have some extended hours and has been open in the evenings on Thursday and Friday. Also, they have been open during every Thunder playoff game for beer, chips and salsa, and a limited menu (which has the best things on it). Highly recommended!

I really love this place.
The owner (the guy who is always at the register telling people what to do, so I assume he’s the owner) is a really nice guy.
The tacos are awesome! They are authentic street taco style. Not the kind of «street tacos»
that other places are using as an excuse to make tiny tacos, but the real deal. It’s like $ 11 for a meal and you’re going to get stuffed.
The only downside is they have some weird hours. I’ll post a photo of their hours next time I’m there.
The goods:
1) Awesome street-​taco style tacos
2) Very unpretentious
3) Clean