Zocalo Cocina Mexicana

I am kicking and kicking myself for no going here b4. I pass by this almost every night as I walk. I decided to stop for Cinco de Mayo.
At first things were just ok (no tequila???) but once I started talking to the staff things turned for the best! Awesome sangria, the ceviche was great! The staff is super friendly.
I hear they close this saturday for some reason. Hurry in if you like the place!

I’m not a huge fan of Mexican food to begin with– or at least it has to be done right in order for me to even want to come near it.
Went here for a friend of a friend’s birthday celebration and it was fantastic. I loved the décor– authentic without being tacky (ahem* margaritas).
The batheroom was really cool and spacious– not that it’s that big of a deal but it was a nice surprise– even came with free mints.
Service was great, sangria was delicious– my burrito was fantastic (although doesn’t quite beat Herrera’s), and the prices were decent. Would definitely go back if I’m in the area

DON’T let the four stars fool you!!! I love the food here but I am never going back to this place and I’ll tell you why.
I went here for my birthday last September with my husband and his family and we had a great time. The food was amazing as usual and I had no complaint until it happened… I made the foolish mistake of leaving my birthday card when we left, now there wasn’t much of value in the card, meaning there wasn’t loads of cash. It think there were some movie tickets (which are very valuable to me,) and maybe a gift card to a restaurant or something. We all leave and walk back to my apartment which is literally a 10 minute walk down the street from Zocalo.
Once we are home I realized I didn’t have the birthday card and we proceeded to make the 10 minute walk back to Zocalo thinking of course they set it aside somewhere hoping we would come back for it. BUT NO! We arrive and the waitress says they found my card after we left but they don’t know where it is at the moment and that she’ll check out back with the bus boys to see if they have it.
As we’re waiting, the valet guy overhears the whole thing and basically told us that if I lost something there, it is most likely gone, now that suggests to me that either this has happened before or he doesn’t have a lot of faith in the staff there.
The waitress comes back and says they can’t find the card but she would take down my name and number and call me if they find it. I don’t believe the waitress was in on it but I do believe that someone who works there stole my card. I went back once after that incident and was just resentful and angry the whole time and haven’t gone back since.
My husband and I were regulars there for quite awhile and it’s a shame that I don’t feel comfortable going back because someone there is a thief.
Oh by the way, their hostess, the tall girl with the long brown hair is a complete idiot!!! she is rude and has no idea what she is doing.

am a fan of the guacamole. even better, pour in a couple bowls of salsa then dig in. flavorful grilled steak came with mesclun salad that unfortunately tasted muddy. and please don’t call it ensalada de frutaS if all it’s got is diced apples. as for the chicken fajitas, have had better for less dinero. plates big and filling. but just not good enuff for a return. lo siento.

Finally came in for dinner the other week. Holy hell their guacamole is good! I could have ate that all night! I had the beef tacos and those were delicious as well. I inhaled them in about 2 seconds.
My friends and I shared 2 pitchers of sangria. Man, were they tasty and a little dangerous.
By the time we were finished we were so full of good food and drinks all we could do was mosey on back to my apartment, sit around, and digest.
How on earth have I lived down the street from this place for nearly three years and never had a meal here?!

I had a GroupOn to this restaurant so I was excited to check it out! My friend and I went for lunch last Saturday — it was around 3:30, and pretty quiet, so we got seated immediately at the window and had great service.
Both of the recommendations from our server turned out delicious — he changed my friends mind from Apple to Mange Sangria and she found it delicious, through the cinnamon stick or no.
The tableside guacamole recommendation was well worth it — I’m going to go ahead and say this is the best Guacamole I’ve ever had at a restaurant.
My Beef Fajitas weren’t really anything to write home about, and the guacamole that came with them wasn’t as good, but I had my huge tub of fresh guac so I didn’t mind.
I would def go back, but I also appreciated having the discount GroupOn — a bit pricey for lunch, although technically it was probably the dinner hour due to our later arrival.

we recently moved to brookline from cambridge, and have been looking for a last-​minute late dinner replacement after being horrified by Tasca’s recent service/​food. Unfortunately, Zocalo is not that place.
This was our first time at Zocalo, despite being attracted to peek into the windows while driving past it. The ambiance ifsvery nice– when we arrived (at 10 pm), there was a large party finishing up and the music was low, so all we could hear was them shouting. They left soon after we arrived, so it quieted down.
We ordered a bottle of wine, the appetizer sampler, the avocado & cheese salad, and the tableside-​made Ceviche to start. Everything came out quite quickly, and our server was a sweetie. However, the Ceviche was not made tableside as the menu stated– it was still good though, but it made me wonder how fresh it was.
The sampler was good (the roasted corn is a bad version of Toro’s though) and the avocado salad was the best thing we got for appetizers.
The man got fajitas (how can you go wrong) and after a few glasses of wine, I decided on the fried stuffed chiles with mole. This was a DUMB decision. They were fried to a crisp (not in a good way) stuffed with way too much cheese and then drenched in a very chocolately mole (without much other seasoning). Overall, it was way to rich in ingredients but poor in flavor.
Make sure you get here early, because when the clock strikes 11 (their closing time) they start cleaning. The kitchen staff came out, started shouting to each other, and even started running the vaccum. It was very off-​putting and I wish we had been warned when we came in that this would happen.
Overall, we’ll come here again but be careful what we order/​when we come.

First, let me talk about the Ambiance of Zocalo. I’d go as far as to say it’s outright impressive. I was impressed. Somehow it managed to be chic and whimsical and romantic all at the same time.
My group was at the bar, and I understand we overwhelmed them, but they were warned in advance that a large group was coming and, despite this, service was slow in areas. Not HORRIBLY SLOW. But you definitely had to chase it down and even after asking if our tables could get bussed we sat for another 30 minutes or so with dishes in front of us.
The sangria options are incredible. It’s a shame that they don’t have a full liquor license to add margaritas, but then, maybe it’s a good thing, because they took what they had and ran with it well.
My friend and I shared two appetizers, stuffed plantains and nachos. The plantains were stuffed with pork and we all kinds of awesome and the nachos were just good. The price was higher than typical Mexican and the portions were smaller, but the food was fancier, and, as I said, the ambiance is surreal.

three stars for the uye and the co to the lo and back to the zo.
what can be said, sure they are home to the 7 dollar beer, but they also serve guacamole in a bucket sized portion, perfect for you and 13 friends.
extra star for the décor and opportunity to walk out with their furnishings, not that i did such, but apparently their taste is desirable with the kids these days. parking is a bitch, but they do have valet, so thats a plus, if you do that sort of thing, i dont, but karma was on my side and i found one of the 7 visitor parking spaces in the area of resident parking. on the green line, so you can get sangried (you know what i mean there) and then make it onto the train for all sort of debauchery, as long as its before midnight (natch!)
also walking past the place on my way out i saw hordes of women on the restaurant side, so guys, this is your chance to surround yourself in that type of environment. well im no longer into that, but you might, and thats what Unilocal is for.
score.

Friday night UYE. Once again, lovely experience at Zocalo.
630 and the place was pretty empty. 630 on a Friday? Hum, you’d think there would be more people out for dinner… then again it is 630.
They had the tables in front of the bar reserved for Unilocalers. The tables were set up nicely with napkins and glasses.
We were given chips and salsa which were disappointing. Not freshly made chips… tisk tisk. Take the time and make the chips Zocalo, it makes the difference. Salsa was ehh… I heard people saying that they loved it but it wasn’t my cup of tea. It was an odd consistency. Mostly watery tomato juices with some large fresh tomato chunks. Eek! Methinks not.
Chicken Enchiladas were very yummy. Topped with verde salsa and a bit of cheese. LOVE the verde. Perfect amount of cheese. Served with a side of black beans and rice. The beans and rice were tasty, just a pinch of seasoning, not dry or bland. I only wish the sour cream was served on the side instead of plopped on top of my enchiladas.
A-​OK
I was once again unimpressed with the Sangria. Red Sangria=Red wine with fruit juice, some small fruit chunks, and a cinnamon stick that just gets in the way. Meh. I’ve experienced better.
Prices were just right. $ 14 for enchiladas, $ 18 for a pitcher of sangria (about 4 glasses).
$ 6 Valet? sweeeeeett. Waiting 30 mins to get your valet, not so sweet.
Zocalo is growing on me. The food is delicious and the prices are fair. If only it weren’t so far…
Oh, and thanks for participating in Groupon Zocalo.

My, this is one colorful place! And I mean that literally because of the purple walls. I found the staff to be quite friendly, and the bathroom beyond the bar to be much too full of sweet fragrances.
We were started off with a decent portion of thickish tortilla chips that seemed rather low sodium and a rather wet yet fresh-​tasting and light-​on-​the-​chunks salsa that I enjoyed. Part of the reason I liked it though was that it wasn’t spicy — which might be a negative for pepper-​heads… but in that case, you can request a side of hot sauce to spice up your meal.
Their online menu need updating — the Tacos a la Parilla (Soft corn tortillas with grilled tuna, cabbage, pickled onions, tomatoes, and raddish. Topped with crema mexicana and avocado sauce) is still $ 12.25, but the side of plantain now costs $ 2.25 instead of the $ 1 mentioned online. The grilled tuna was pink in the center and came three tacos to a plate. It was okay, but the meatiness of the fish caused the dish to taste a bit like chicken according to my friend.
The plantains were covered in some kind of white sauce and a sprinkle of what I’m guessing was cheese. The slices were bite-​sized and not particularly sweet — perhaps the plantains were cooked while green? Personally I prefer the sweet sort.
We spotted the cart where they prepare these huge rock bowls of fresh guacamole and were sorely tempted… but it would be too much for us. We were able to order a smaller side portion for $ 3, which was filled with chunks of tomato and wasn’t all that flavorful, but was nicely cool and creamy.
Before leaving, we topped off our tummies with a vanilla flan $ 5.50 which they make on site. It was a decent portion for two to share, and the flavor was good, but the consistency was more solid than expected.
For fish tacos, they also offer a fried haddock version which I might have to come back to try sometime.

I’ve been to Zocalo a few times and every time I enjoy the food but am not «wowed.»
We went with a group for a friend’s birthday last night and I had said on the online reservation that it was for a birthday. No cake was given.
We had to wait for a while for the last of our party to show up, but we got some drinks and guacamole (made at the table — VERY tasty, but in a shallow bowl that does not give you nearly enough for the expensive price tag of $ 8!). Our waitress came over often, not pressuring us, but making sure we didn’t need anything. We started with a half bottle of Sangria (we went with the Mango, not realizing it was Chianti-​based, so it was rather drier than we would have liked) and some beers.
Once the rest of our party showed up and we were ready to order, one of my friends flagged our waitress and she never came over! The owner ended up taking our order.
Everything was excellently presented and the food was decent (I got fajitas and my fiancé got a quesadilla — hard to mess those up!), but nothing was drop-​dead amazing. And 2 of my friends were waiting for 5 – 10 minutes for their plates to come out, while we all had our food in front of us.
The bill came to about $ 185, including tip, so that’s not bad for 7 people with a bunch of drinks. I would go back, but it wouldn’t be my 1^st choice.

First impressions:
Good: The décor was pretty, the clientele was pretty.
Bad: The hostess was terrible, the other staff was not great or welcoming either
After (finally) getting seated: (in order)
Bad: waiter immediately coming and asking what we wanted to drink before we had time to peruse the
Good: ample sangria and drink menu
Bad: second waiter coming over to ask us what we wanted to drink immediately after the first waiter
Good: Tableside guacamole preparation and tasty chips and salsa
(potentially) Good: tableside ceviche preparation. When I’m looking for a place to eat when Andy is out of town I will have to return and sample this, I miss San Diego and Cancun mostly for the fresh prepared Ceviche
Bad: creepster waiter approaching from behind Andy every single time (Andy was in a corner with a table directly next to him, it was a super awkward approach)
Good: Pear sangria
Good: Our entrees both had good flavor but we both found ourselves wanting a little more something. Perhaps not more of the main attraction, but maybe just a bit more rice a/​o beans. I found it odd that mine came with mashed potatoes, however, they were very flavorful. My braised pork was delicious and the refried beans were yummy with the right mix of saltiness and butteryness.
Potential problems: parking on a busy night (where were all the people, we weren’t there super early (though it was about 6pm and we had a groupon, does that make us grandpas?).
I’d probably go back and pay full price, it was a pretty nice time.

Reading a lot of these reviews, I am experiencing major déjà vu.
We (a trio) had reservations for Saturday night at 8:30. When we arrived, our table wasn’t ready yet and our curt hostess told us it would be a few minutes. Five minutes go by… then ten… the hostess comes back and pretty rudely suggests we wait at the bar.
We make our way to the bar and have a seat. The bartender is running around like a beheaded chicken squawking that she’ll be right with us. (Though it’s a Saturday night… the restaurant is busy, but not unusually so.) After ten minutes of waiting, we order three margaritas. When our drinks finally arrive — they taste like mixer. Where’s the tequilla? Perhaps it was hiding…
As we sip at our drinks, the hostess comes back around and let’s us know that our table is ready and then scurries away. Bartender — nowhere to be found. Can we bring our tab with us? Can we close out the tab so we can sit down? Anyone? The bartender finally pops up from the kitchen, she quickly closes out the tab so we can go to our table. …but she ran the card for the wrong tab… As she refunds the money and closes out the correct tab, the hostess is back looking pretty annoyed that we haven’t come over to our table yet.
We’re rushed along and sit down. Okay. We’re down and we’ll enjoy a pretty tasty meal, yes? Let’s hope so…
The guacamole was awesome. They make it fresh at your table and it’s like heaven in a big stone bowl.
The three of us are enjoying the guac and the queso fundido (which is ok — but started to get a little congealed). We’re drinking out margaritas… about an hour has passed. Our waiter comes by and takes a second drink order. Ten minutes later our baffled waiter returns. The kitchen has lost our food order. (Really, guy? I’ve never been in the restaurant business, but I’m pretty sure everything get’s punched into the computer and the kitchen gets the ticket?)
We reorder the food and also ask to talk to the manager. We’re not angry — we just want him to know our adventures at his place. The waiter (now deer in headlights) says he’ll get the manager and walks away. I walk him punch our order into the computer. Go and check on, not one… but three tables and as the guy who looks like the manager is about to walk out the door, we flag him down ourselves.
After we relay our tales of woe, he says he’ll check with the waiter on our food. We tell him that he just took the order again, so it’s no bigs. He tells us to be patient and walks away. (Be patient? Waiting 30 minutes for a table when we had reservations. Waiting over an hour for entrees that were lost? Not screaming and berating our clearly terrible waiter? I think we’ve been patient enough…)
The manager returns. And seems less than apologetic. He puts on the schmooze — Oh we’re so sorry this happened blahblahblah have a free round of drinks. If I’d been the manager of the restaurant, I would have offered a bit more — half off the bill, free apps — something more, but that’s just me.
Regardless to say, we get our food and it’s OK. Not great. Not terrible — it just is. The guac was the only saving grace of the place — though, I can get the same guac and better food/​service at Olé.

I’m not so keen on Zocalo. The atmosphere is nice. It’s great for a romantic date or a group of friends.
Then there’s the food. The guacomole was amazing. I also tried the ceviche. It tasted fairly average. While it wasn’t horrible, it’s certainly not memorable either. Still between everything above, it would get a 3.5−4 star rating from me.
However, service was utter crap. Ceviche takes awhile to make. It’s also something that’s prepped in advance. That’s just the nature of the dish. So when I was with a large group of Unilocalers, and everyone got their food but me, I wondered what was up with that. My dish should have been one of the faster ones to bring out since all they really had to do was plate it. Instead, my dish came out 10 – 15 minutes after the previous last dish came out. No explanation was given.
There are many places to find great guacomole. There are also many places to find average food with bad service, so why stick to just Zocalo?

So I came in here with a $ 25 gift certificate from
which they took with no problems.
So now that that is out of the way, on to the restaurant… as you will see by the photos posted above the ambiance of this little Mexican restaurant makes you feel as if you are no longer in Brighton. It was a cross between the upscale locations in Boston yet still had a bit of Mexican flair.
Mel & I had gotten the chips & salsa with the ‘mole. They rolled out this cart and made the ‘mole for us right there in front of us in this giant stone grinder and fresh ingredients, including the avocado being opened in front of us.
The mango sangria complemented my meal very well. I had the Cochinita Pibil which was a shredded braised pork served over rice, with black beans, and a tortilla. The pork was so savory, it almost melted in my mouth, but it had a hint of some sort of spice, maybe cinnamon, which gave it the perfect kick of something extra.
Another great addition to the Brighton area. Watch out, Allston/​Brighton is starting to get infiltrated with wonderful restaurants that not only has good food, but great atmosphere as well.

I love coming here for food. Their chicken mole enchiladas are delightful, and I love that mole sauce. Their service is fantastic — my water glass is bottomless. Their servers constantly refill our chips and salsa too. Mmm… their salsa is so good. The guacamole is made right at the table. I’m generally not a fan of guacamole, but this is good stuff.
I also love coming here just for drinks. We order pitchers of sangria, munch on chips, salsa, and guacamole, and chat. I like all of their sangrias (they have several flavors), but the peach one is my favorite. Our nights out drinking are spent here because I much prefer this atmosphere over a bar.

This place needs some love! I went there on a Friday or Saturday night and had no problem getting a table at 8 PM… That’s a little scary given how good this restaurant is. I would hate to see it go under.
I agree with most of the responses that this is a very solid Mexican restaurant. Melissa M. pretty much describes the pro’s best and Eduardo C. points out some of the things that could be tweaked to make it more authentic. This is a place where two people can eat and drink for around $ 50. Definitely worth a visit if you haven’t been.

I am basically allergic to spicy food. I know, I know.
The great thing about Zocalo is that apparently, even their ‘spicy’ selections don’t come out all that spicy. I suppose that’s just great for me, and for other spice-​phobes such as myself.
It’s nice to be able to enjoy an entire Mexican food menu!
That being said, the tableside guac is to die for and is the real reason I return.

Went here the other day with some friends with a bit of trepidation running through me. I’m not good with spicy food and, overall, I am a picky eater.
However, the pollo al carbon was quite tasty without having a lot of spice. The oranges on top, however, were very spicy (to me, at least). The rice was good as well.
I had the lemon sangria, which was pretty smooth compared to other sangrias I’ve had, and a friend had the peach sangria. I hate peaches… or rather, I hate the smell of them. A friend in college would douse herself with peach bodyspray and it was horrible. But, this sangria was so tasty and sweet!
A little expensive if you are going to get sangria and regular plates, but the burritos and enchiladas were well priced and they have a specific vegetarian option, which is nice for people who need it.