Poc-Chuc

Solid four stars. Staff is friendly and price to value ratio is great. Last time I was there I had a huge plate or cochinita pibil for like $ 16. The portion was generous, so I ended up taking like half of it home. There was a bohemian gentleman playing the guitar inside the restaurant, which made the atmosphere very relaxing. I’ll definitely go back and recommend to anyone who wants to try Mexican food ala Yucatan style.

The first time I had traditionally mayan food was in Playa del Carmen, by Cancun. At a really fancy place! This place is better.
This is my favorite restaurant in the city. Hands down. Huge portions, reasonably priced, and run by a wonderful family. Get the Poc-​Chuc! Enough that my boyfriend gets stuffed, and he’s 6’3. Casual atmosphere, delicious food.

If you’ve lived in Mexico or eaten the cuisine extensively you know that the small, hole-​in-​the-​wall, tucked away restaurants are always the best.
Not sure why Unilocal feels the need to highlight the health inspection rating for this spot – trust me when I say that a passing rating in SF would put it in the top 95% of restaurants if it were in Mexico.
Favorites: Poc Chuc, Platillo Maya. The tortillas are heavenly, and the salsas are the best in town.

Poc Chuc is a long time favorite. Their Pollo Pibil and Cochinitas Pibil are both phenomenal. I used to work nearby, but now live out of the country, but I try my best to stop here when I find myself in the area again.

Zero stars. I think the food safety alert is why stomach didn’t feel good after 2 hrs from eating here. I feel like throwing up now knowing they recycle their food ! Also, the place smelled like a public bathroom. I didn’t finish my food and don’t want to.
Never again. Thank you.
If there is such an issue with the food safety they should close it down. Especially being that they are in a bad neighborhood, and they keep the doors open,…rats are probably a regular customer there. Ewwww.

Talk about being a delight for its tasty meals. You cannot beat their service as they are super professional. Going back in a few days and I am so looking forward to it.

Authentic Mexican tapas. Had two tacos — steak and shrimp. Wasn’t crazy about the steak one, but the shrimp one was tasty.
I didn’t find it that remarkable. The service was great.

Amazing food! The chicken is so tender and delicious.

I had pretty high expectations because of the Unilocal reviews, but this place is for the adventurous diner who wants a fully authentic, working class mexican restaurant experience, complete with homeless asking to finish your bowl of chips, plenty of flies, no paper towels in the men’s room. Seriously, every one of the half dozen restaurants I’ve eaten at in Juarez are three-​four stars above this place.
The pork in the house dish, Poc-​Chuc had lots of gristle left in it, was well done (I prefer some color to my meat other than gray-​brown). The handmade corn tortillas were the awsome expeption, along with the chips, guacamole and salsa. The (thankfully free for Unilocal CheckIn) dessert, fried bananas with ice cream, still had the bitter ‘strings’ on the bananas — seriously, what cook doesn’t know to strip those off a banana?! The ice cream was a rich, french vanilla style. Couldn’t believe a mexican restaurant had no flan, though!
The staff was reasonably attentive and very friendly.

Always satisfying, nice people, and sometimes there’s a bad-​ass guitar player who takes requests.
I would ignore some of the other reviews calling this a «working class» restaurant (as if that is a bad thing) but if you’re looking for a fast-​food style Chipotle experience this will not be your place. If you enjoy good food, are relaxed/​casual, and like actually conversing with your dinnermates you will have a good time.

I love the food and ambiance this place has to offer.
However my 1 star is for the poor food safety guidelines this restaurant lacks.
–they recycle the chips and tortillas from
table to table
–ready to eat food seats next to dirty already eaten out of dishes or raw food
–I had requested to get a box for my left overs… and not only did they pack my left over chicken pibil, but also someone else’s beans and tortillas!
I did not ask for beans nor tortillas to go! So why pour me some off of someone’s plate???
It truly breaks my heart to see how a restaurant with such high potential and great number of clientele ignores food safety. I’m sure we can all look pass rude waiters or slow service, but please don’t look pass the safety of your health!

Great for a (relatively) cheap and filling dinner before a show or on any old weeknight.
The immediate area around ZSpace is a bit pricey restaurant-​wise (or Dear Mom, which is more bar-​loud than restaurant) so we’ve been expanding out reach closer to 16^th street BART.
Usually fairly quiet and empty, though on a recent trip it got quite crowded just a few minutes after we sat down– not sure if that’s a new thing or a fluke, but we’ll be sure to get there on the early side again just in case.
The rush meant service was a bit slow, but it’s clearly a family-​run operation: our primary server was the owners’ son, who couldn’t have been older than 12. He made a few mistakes, but who could blame him?
I usually get one of the marinated chicken dishes, but everything I’ve tried has been tasty.
The sangria is not kidding around (not _​amazing_​, but good). Most entrees are enormous and around $ 12. What else could you ask for?

Wife and I went to this restaurant for her birthday; I actually pass it every day on my commute to and from school. It’s a little whole in the wall kind of place on 16^th between South Van Ness and Shotwell. It’s pretty close to the 16^th Street BART.
We started with the platano frito appetizer. Portion size was smaller but not terrible. The first surprise of the evening was the flavor — they use sweet plantains. There were a few bites that felt more like dessert than an appetizer, but overall it was tasty.
For dinner, my wife ordered the eponymous Poc-​Chuc; I got the Cochinita Pibil. Mine was described on the menu as marinated pork. The second surprise of the evening came in the form of my dinner — the pork was left in the marinade and served soup-​style in a bowl. Again, not a bad thing, but definitely unexpected. It came with a bowl of pickled onions and a bowl of white rice. Apart, the three components would have been passable at best; together they were delicious.
We had wanted to try the horchata but they were out, along with all their other specialty non-​alcoholic refreshments (which seemed odd since it was only about 6PM on a Saturday night). My wife did get to have a glass of sangria we she reported as being not too strong but tasty.
Overall it was a pretty good experience. We’re not rushing to go back but it was still good.

Our group of four stumbled upon this hidden gem when our intended spot nearby was booked up. Mayan-​influenced food for the night it would be!
We shared some things, but each got an individual dish, too. My part of the whole enchilada was as follows:
–Guacamole and Chips
–Platillo Maya (shared)
–Chimole de pavo — Turkey molé soup
–Sangria
Will immediately insist you get their original guacamole mix. Tastiest chip complement you can walk into — with a sangria, especially.
I enjoyed both the ginormous Platillo Mayo and my more personal serving of Chimole de Pavo — the latter did «just the trick». I’d never had a soup with turkey as the primary meat source (and yet, who hasn’t heard about Chicken Noodle Soup?), *AND* I love molé! Kind of like a spicier Thanksgiving broth, and quite delicious.
An acoustic guitarist played so peacefully and romantically in the background that I often could not speak! His notes often enticed me away from my plate. He sat so close by… :-)
Sure as heck hope to return!

Poc chuc satisfizo mi paladar yucateco al 100%. Los frijolitos cabax, como si los hubiera hecho mi abuelita. Y el Poc-​chuc, aunque le faltó la naranja agria, (q no creo se consiga aquí) muy rico! Ni q decir de los dzalbutes y panuchos. Lo único q sugeriría es una mayor variedad de postres. Qué tal unos caballeros pobres o papaya en almíbar?
En general totalmente recomendable.

Great place! Love it! I should really come here more often as it is just off the 16^th St. Bart station. The two times I’ve been here I ordered the same thing (I was feeling nice and meaty: p).
We started with the complimentary chips that come with two different types of salsa. I love the chips. They have just about the perfect amount of grease and texture to them. And if it is your lucky day they will be handing out complimentary GUACAMOLE.
Guys seriously though, try the guacamole, it is the best guacamole I have had. I couldn’t get enough of it. I should really ask them their recipe for it, truly awesome!
Then on comes the Carne Asada dinner plate. This is great as well. They actually serve you a good amount of carne asada which is so tender and juicy. The marinade is also superb. And if you want you can ask for girlled onions which is also cooked to perfection.
For such an inexpensive place, it really deserves 5 stars. The staff is also very friendly.
Cheers! :)

Great food, lackadaisical service.
You may be ignored and have to tackle them like Terry Crews to get any extra napkins or a refill on your drinks. Otherwise you’re basically on your own when the food comes. We ordered some very messy dishes and were trying to flag someone down to get some extra napkins, not one person even walked out from behind the counter. When we were finished and it was time to pay… tumbleweeds. It was like an abandoned town in a country western. We eventually got up and walked over to where people were cooking and asked someone (the chef?) who we could pay. Then someone came out from the back and ran our credit card. Never saw the original person who took our order. Oh well! The food was great, so we left happy.
Reasonable and budget friendly prices.
I VERY HIGHLY recommend the pollo con chicharos– it’s a special that’s not on the menu, but when they do have it… it is stupendous!!! Great guacamole as well. Their tortillas they serve with the pollo con chicharos are perfect– chewy, soft and warm.
We’ll be back when not in a rush and can tolerate the slow service, the food is just that good.

Thought it would be the perfect lunch for the day when we visited SF. They have a lot of high ratings and convincing reviews about their handmade flour tortillas. It is just 2 blocks away from 16^th St. Mission BART station and we arrived around 2PM. It was a quiet joint and you will feel relaxed with the silence and dimmed lights. But after 10 mins, people came in out of nowhere and it was packed. It has a narrow space with lots of tables and chairs close to each other.
You will have a basket of complimentary chips with Tomato and Habanero salsa. Crispy and not greasy. The salsa taste fresh. We ordered the Platillo Maya, Poc-​Chuc and a free dessert of the day in which you could get upon check-​in. We are looking forward for their Caramel Flan but it’s not available. They have 2 desserts to choose from and we chose the Fried Bananas with Ice cream.
Platillo Maya (Appetizer Combo for $ 10) — Handmade Tortilla cooked in 5 different ways. You’ll get 1 Empanada, 1 Tostada, 1 Salbute, 1Kotzito and 1 Panucho. The Empanada is stuffed with ground pork and tomato sauce and was deep fried. I was not a fan. The tortilla is a bit thick and not enough filling to make it balanced. The Tostada is my favorite of all. The corn tortilla was crispy and complements well with the black bean purée and queso fresco. I don’t like beans but the black bean purée was an exemption. The Kotzito is rolled and fried tortilla that was smothered with tomato sauce and queso fresco. It has the same taste with Empanada but the tortilla has a hard texture. I’m not sure if it was supposed to be hard or just crispy. Nonetheless, not a fan. LOL. I wasn’t able to taste the Panucho and and Salbute but hubby said that the taste was ok. Overwhelming at some point. I guess it’s just too much tortilla for the day!!! haha!
Poc-​Chuc — (Grilled Citrus Marinated Pork for $ 12) — You will get 3 big sized Grilled Pork, grilled red onions, shredded cabbage and bouillon rice. The pork was succulent, full of unimaginable flavors and refreshing. It was a taste of rainbow in my mouth on every bite during Pride day. Haha! I was so happy because I was so hungry and the food didn’t disappoint. The grilled onions were the perfect side dish along with the citrusy taste of the pork. Don’t you forget the perfectly cooked bouillon rice.
Free dessert — Fried Bananas with Ice cream. We have 2 Unilocal accounts. Hubby and me. I was expecting that we could get 2 free desserts because we have 2 coupons to claim. We showed the server that we have 2 coupons and it was a very awkward conversation. He then gave us one. But it was all good. The dessert is big enough for one person anyway… and…It’s FREE! LOL.
Quality and quantity of food is here. Inexpensive. The service was fast but they are understaffed. They have one server who runs around and dropped some of the plates at some point. Goodness gracious, give this man a huge tip!!!

Perfect Mexican food for cheap. I was in an argument with my significant other, and it was very difficult to stay angry while eating the food. Your food is so good it saves relationships.

I predict many future happy meals at Poc Chuc. So many mouth-​watering items hit our table, including icy beverages like strawberry agua fresca ($ 2.50) & michelada ($ 5) — their version tasted of lime & tamarind, which paired beautifully with my choice of negra modelo.
Fluffy homemade corn tortillas were the perfect vehicle to carry chunks of pollo pibil to my mouth (drumstick a little gamey, thigh mild & tasty.) This dish was familiarly reminiscent of a filipino dish called afritada in its tomato-​based sauce. Amazing that their slow-​roasted meats (my chicken, the pork shoulder in his taco) were fall-​off-​the-​bone tender while their carne asada had a nice crispy outside; their textures were on point.
$ 2.75 tacos and $ 10-​$ 13 rice & meat dishes means getting a home-​cooked meal for cheap, & with attentive, doting wait staff, it feels like family is cooking for you.

Still 5 stars, and still seriously good food for not a lot of money. We (husband and I) eat here really often.
Last Friday we listened to some lovely classical guitar, had beer (yay! finally they serve alcohol) and ordered the Poc Chuc to split with an extra side of black bean purée and extra fresh homemade tortillas. After sampling our way through the menu, that’s what we almost always get as we both agree it’s the best thing on the menu.
Sometimes, if super hungry, we get plantains or guacamole as well. There’s also a flan for dessert with a Unilocal check in, and even though it’s good, we’re almost always too full.
I’m glad to see this restaurant is getting busy, but a little selfishly sad we dont get to waltz in whenever anymore. Now we are prepared for a short wait on a weekend…
That’s all good though because this place is soooo good, and worth a wait.