Rocio’s

I’m the guy who wrote the review with the half empty burrito. It’s left a bad taste in my mouth (literally). Rocios responded to my review at the time, and though I didn’t go back, it was a nice gesture.
Last night, I was craving a burrito, and since rocios is just down the street, I decided to go for round two. Happy to say It was delicious. This burrito was STUFFED with meat and guacamole. I added the enchilada sauce and cheese and it was well worth it. The enchilada sauce seriously kicks ass.
This time I’m giving 5 stars and I think they deserve it. I was bummed to have written such a bad review. I have hundreds of check ins all over town, and the few review I’ve written have all been positive. I’m stoked to have another good restaurant in the neighborhood, and judging from their response to my last review, they’re good people who care.
Thank you, can’t wait to come back, cheers.

We kept it simple & had the fish taco, enchiladas etc. All good. The chicken tortilla soup was wonderful. I would do the soup over & over. The menu is all ala cart so you’ll need to order & pay for the side dishes separately. The sides do come in ½ orders so mix it up. The average rating for this place is 4 stars, I think, because of the ala cart ordering which can translate to a higher price. I like it is better this way as I can order the (lower) amount of food that I want because I think portion sizes in the US are generally to big.

There are not many options for lunch in the area, so we were pleasantly surprised after walking in the door at Rocio’s today. The staff was extremely welcoming, the décor was what you’d expect at a good Mexican restaurant (well decorated and a great bar right in the middle of the restaurant), and the menu looked good along with great tasting food. We will be back for lunch and for dinner!

I ordered the carnitas burrito and it wasn’t as hot as I wanted it, but the pork was DELICIOUS! I look forward to trying more dishes! Lots of love for this SD based restaurant!

Such good food and sincerely nice service. Very attentive and kept chips and salsa filled throughout our meal. I had a combination plate with a vegetarian taco and cheese enchilada. Very cheesy and the taco was super flavorful. Big portions too. Will definitely be going back!

So happy to have good Mexican food near the Brooklyn neighborhood. I came here for lunch and got the Carne Asada burrito. Carne Asada was marinated perfectly, it’s seriously one of the best burritos I’ve ever had. The addition of guacamole and the hot sauces really lended to the carne Asada which really didn’t need the extra stuff to make it taste good since the meat held its own. I can’t wait to go back again to try tacos and drinks at dinner!

I feel really strongly about good Mexican food growing up in Southern California where there is a plethora of delicious Mexican cuisine.
In Portland, the best is Rocio’s. Started by a San Diego family, basically the Mecca of Mexican, it hits the spot in all the right places!
The tacos are on point and the staff is friendly. The modern décor only adds to the ambience. Get the rolled tacos or the fish tacos. Period end of story, prepare to be full and happy. If you’re in the mood for a beverage, ask about their special or go with the classic jalapeño margarita, my wife loves them.
If you want something more traditional their tamales and enchiladas are great and their soups are the perfect warm meal when it’s grey outside.

Oh so delicious! Second time we’ve eaten here and it really is authentic Mexican food!
Tio Tigre the tiger welcomes you into the restaurant and the food makes you want to stay!
We’ve tried every taco on the menu and our favs in order are below…
Rolled tacos– beef then chicken or get half and half
Fish taco
Carnitas
Classic hard beef tacos
Adobada
Great place for happy hour or a lunch time meal. Prices are really reasonable and drinks are strong
Chips and salsa are dropped at your table upon arrival and the salsa has the perfect amount of heat.
Basically bottom line: go here! Eat all the things!

Get on the Good Foot and Get to Rocio’s!
When the house made chips and salsa hit your table the moment the wait staff say hello, you know you came to the right place. A good friend of mine took me here as we were both hankering for good Mexican fare. The owner of Rocio’s apparently has a sister restaurant in San Diego where my buddy lived for a long time, and since you get good Mexican there, good chance it’s here too!
Nice simple menu, nothing overly gentrified, just simple, well prepared Mexican classics made with love. Lots of taco options with multiple meats and sauces, and a nice selection of well made margaritas I might add!!! Plenty of veggie options which change seasonally, which was a welcome addition for me. I opted for the veggie burrito, which was a huge step above your average veg. A large variety of fresh veggies (cauliflower, potato, onion, corn, tomato, peppers, etc.) nicely grilled up without being drenched in cooking oil that slid into a rice and bean backbone with a very flavorful flour tortilla. At $ 10, it’s well priced and a sure winner for this reviewer. Chock full of flavor with a nice smokiness and a little kick of spice.
We also had an appetizer, something I hadn’t had before, a plate of sauteed cactus. Not my favorite, but no fault of the restaurant. It was well prepped, slightly sweet and smoky with a nice amount of creamy white cheese, just not the most palatable for me.
Overall just a fantastic place in SE to do Mexican right without getting gouged on the price. If this restaurant was in the Pearl I’d be singing a different tune for sure! Very clean, spic n’ span place, including the restrooms which is always important to me. Attentive and excellent service as well. They take care of you here.
Where it loses a star for me was simply that on our visit there was a heavy cigarette smell that came blowing in from somewhere. Very strange, because there were no open windows, and no open doors. Just a damper on what otherwise was a great meal and a great time. Not fair to speculate on why it happened, so I’ll just chalk it up to a one time issue. Don’t let it deter you from going, as I’ll be back myself. Just frustrating and not very nice for a first time customer.
Rocio’s is a great experience for great Mexican in a place that’s perfect for date night, drinks with buddies, or a warm stop on a cold night when you’re starving and need that salsa fix!!!

We live in the ‘hood and were excited that a Mexican joint popped up near where we live that we can walk to. I like the location, the ambiance and the friendly wait staff. We ordered a steak burrito smothered, and a crispy taco and an enchilada. The steak burrito was kind of boring, and not as flavorful. Perhaps a different type of filling would have been more suitable. I liked my crispy taco and my chicken enchilada with green sauce. I really like this place, and out of convenience would go back again. I like the chips and salsa, the salsa is quite flavorful.
Rocio’s is not authentic Mexican, but if you’re in the mood to actually sit down somewhere and have chips and salsa and a decent meal with craft beers etc. then check this place out.

Hands down best Mexican joint I’ve found. The food is so flavorful and reasonably priced. Service is always top notch to. Just go here.

Yahoo! I love this new spot. Even though it was hopping busy, my beau and I were seated right away.
We ordered a bunch of small smalls and enjoyed each one, chile colorado tacos, ceviche, and holy guilty pleasure… the elote (corn on the cob smothered in mayo and cheese!)
Great food coupled with a lovely space and a wall of tequila is the perfect recipe for a real addict. I’ll be back soon!

My frame of reference for Mexican food has been spent mainly down in Texas for a period of over 13 years. Tex Mex is some incredible food that is not overly spicy but has some good hot sauces to go with it. There were many hole-​in-​the-​wall spots that I enjoyed finding and were usually better than some of the bigger chains in the Dallas-​Fort Worth area.
Up here in Portland, I have found several hole-​in-​the-​wall spots that I enjoy some good home cooking Mexican food. Rocio’s is different because it is a style of Mexican food that I am unaccustomed to, California Mexican. Essentially, the same food but as with a burrito it is covered in either red or green enchilada sauce. They call the style «wet». The burrito I had was also different because it was mainly just the meat and guacamole. In the Tex Mex style, there would also be veggies such as rice and beans, tomatoes and onions. This burrito was huge and the carnitas were incredible. Forget ever eating a Chipotle burrito again this place will ruin you for anything else.
After riding in a rainstorm on a Saturday, I made it over to Rocio’s and met my brother there for lunch. It was pretty quiet being that I think we were the only customers in the place other than a couple of people at the bar and we ordered a couple of Negra Modelos and chips and salsa were brought over to our table. It’s a great menu with tacos, stews, burritos and mole. I learned of this place from friends of mine who live up here and are originally from San Diego. Rocio’s has a sister restaurant down there called Ponce’s and it’s been around for a long time. The food is a good sign that they know what they are doing. As stated above, we both ordered burritos and we each got sides of rice and beans. The beans were not overly creamy and had a beautiful smokey taste to them. Just perfect. I got the carnitas and my brother got adobado, which was beef in a red sauce sweetened with pineapple. Both were huge and both were very very good.
I can’t say enough good things about this place, but if you haven’t been, then you need to ASAP. Its that good.
Enjoy Rocio’s soon.

Burritos are San Diego-​style, yay! Good size, of course filled with meat. Carnitas was good, maybe not as good as my memory recalls from places like Robertos and Cotixan, but definitely filled my craving.

My friends and I were walking around the neighborhood and wanted to give Rocio’s a try. The place looked steady so we talked to the hostess and got seated right away. Chips and salsa were delivered promptly and then the server arrived to answer questions we had. Mostly everything is a’la carte with exception of a few items, The guisado;s plates ($ 14) comes with choice of meat along with beans and rice.
The server said special accomodations may happen if the place isn’t busy. He mentioned earlier the kitchen was slammed with orders coming in 15 – 20 minutes. I felt a little nervous since that could be a long time, but at least chips and salsa were replenished when needed. I ordered the chili Colorado guisado, another ordered the chocolate chicken mole, and the other a smothered burrito.
The food arrived faster than anticipated and no apologies were necessary. The server came by frequently to make sure everything was taken care of. Service is definitely spot, the food however lacked something. My dish was pretty good for the most part. The beef was very tender and the first few bites had just the right amount of seasoning. I believe smoked chipotle was used as a seasoning as it had a nice smoky finish. The rice however was overcooked and the refried beans lacked any flavor. I couldn’t finish either or because it was just bland and boring. The home made tortillas were great as I made some tacos with the Guisado.
I tried my friend’s burrito and it won everyone in the table. There was a good amount of filling with each bite and the portion is very generous. The only thing missing was the hot sauces — I forgot to ask if the restaurant provided that or not. The chicken mole was very strong and somewhat bitter. There wasn’t a sign of any hint of sweetness, just salt and bitter.
Our server continued to make sure we were taken care of and again was the highlight of my experience. Overall, the food is ok but could use some readjusting with their seasonings, or lack thereof.

I do hope the food and service catches up to the décor in this lovely spot. Everyone was very friendly but not skilled, leaving us to wait a while on a quiet early evening. The margaritas definitely use fresh squeezed lime juice but are kind of sweet and not very strong. The salsa that came with the chips was the tastiest item we had, everything else is just kind of bland-​salads, nopalitas, nachos, and a couple of tacos. VERY kid-​centric on a Friday night, gotta say the crying babies and floor food don’t do much for the ambience.
All that said, I wish them luck in the future.

Get outta here, if you want cheap filling tacos. There’s a Taco Bell/​Taco Time combo up twenty blocks on Powell/​50^th.
This place: quality over quantity! We had a party of 6 and came here for lunch including the ping pong reviewer below me. Staff was super nice, put some tables together in the middle of the room closer to the amazing looking bar (instead of seating us in the corner that actually was meant for bigger groups like us).
Besides the free nachos, I’ve ordered 3 tacos, Carne Asada, Pollo Asado and Carnitas. All three were bomb, in particular the Carnitas. This could be easily the best Carnitas I ever got here in PDX. I like it when the pork is dryer, almost crispified.
Definitely coming back for some happy hour. Gracias!

Came in not super hungry after a good sized breakfast. Ordered a taco for $ 3.50 and felt like it should fill me up. Imagined a normal soft taco and felt okay about the whole thing. When the food came out I had a soft taco in front of me that when I picked it up, was roughly the size of a ping pong ball!
I get it guys. I grew up in this city and have seen it morph from a mellow place to this food mecca where everything has to be tiny and flavorful. I know the food in this thing doesn’t even get close to the $ 1 mark so come on. I ate the taco and it tasted good, actually it was a taco that I would love to eat again but at this price I’ll probably never be back or recommend this place.
The restaurant was super nice and I loved the decorations. Staff was friendly and the location is easy to get to. This one hurts because with a good tasting taco, I hate that the tiny portions have to be what kills it.

I want to like this place. I really do. The neighborhood needs more quality dining options. But the food at Rocio’s seems to be an amateurish work-​in-​progress.
Burritos, plates, salsas and guacamoles all are universally under-​salted. Admittedly, there are salt-​shakers on the tables, but you can’t quite sneak salt into the center of a burrito… In part because the food seems under-​salted, plates are generally flavorless, lacking the bright, fresh flavors you’d typically hope for in good Mexican food. I’ve seldom had guacamole so bland. Likewise, the tortilla-​to-​filling ratio on the burritos is way off; you’ll have to work through several layers of flour tortilla to get at the burrito’s savory fillings.
Otherwise, service is prompt. Interior is nice.
Been here twice now, and I’m unlikely to try it again.

I’ve been here twice now. I like that it’s table service and you start with chips and a very addicting salsa.
The first time I got a carne asada taco and a shrimp taco and both were so delicious! They are a bit small but they make up for that in quality. An average person should order 3 if that’s all you’re having. My friend got half a salad and it was ginormous so there’s that. She says it was tasty and would get it again.
2^nd visit I got a carne asada burrito and added rice to the inside. Best value! I need to try the drinks still! The place is beautiful. I’d go there just to sit in someplace pretty.
Oh and the service! Top notch. Everyone was super friendly and thoughtful!