La Cocina Restaurant

This is by far my favorite Mexican restaurant in PDX. This place is extremely casual and inviting. Everything we ordered was delicious; the portions were generous and healthy. The service was great. I highly recommend the scratch margaritas. Lots of vegetarian options too!

Food is five stars. Chile verde burrito was outstanding and very well priced at 7.25 for a generous portion. Only reason for four stars was somewhat poor service. Ambiance is cozy and quaint, it’s a great neighborhood restaurant.

Ohmigod. Just so good! Cozy vibe, family-​owned and amazing food! I’ll be going back, again and again!

Neighborhood Mexican finally!!! Killer margaritas and I love the kale quinoa salad on days I’m sick of mexican food. Everything is pretty good at a minimum and I appreciate the vegan and veggie options. Olé!

Como se di se yummy en espanol
Best atmosphere. Great service. DELICIOUS and simple foods! Hubby had the 7 Mares soup and ate it with an «uhhhhmmmm» with each bite. Irritating? No! So fun to be with someone who loves their food. I had a couple of simple tacos (both made with pork) that were perfect for the moment! Light but filling! Had a nice side of rice. The margarita was well-​made, not too sweet, with fresh lines. I suspect they make their own mixer… delicious!
This place is affectionately quaint. No too noisy. Just a mumble of conversation. The smells? Ahhh. Roasting peppers and sweet meats!

Holy sweet god of jesus christo di mexico.
This place is amazing. Best meal I had in PDX and I spent 11 days just eating out 3x meals a day (33 meals) like the american glutton I am. So out of the 33 meals I had, I consider this the best one.
I had the Mares Seafood soup and my dear sweet jesus — it’s precisely heaven on Earth. The soup taste like the Justice the citizens of Mexico never received because of the political strife with the Cartel.
The soup is so good that, in fact, If hypothetically, the chef were to be a member of the Sinoloa Cartel — I believe his victims would forgive him because of how good this god damn soup is.
I believe this soup is honestly the answer to the political corruption in Mexico. Spread this soup around and I promise you, justice will be served (as well as soup)

Our goto place for really good Mexican food. The owner and staff are very friendly and a aim to please. My favorites here are the Alhambra and their mole. They never disappoint.

super yummy mexican food with all the vegan/​vegetarian options you could ask for. There are sauces and the servings are generous! The service is great and i’m so happy i discovered this place! definitely check it out if you’ve got a hankering for good authentic mexican food

First try tonight: potato taquitos were fresh crispy tortillas with well cooked yet firm potato and tasty pico and guacamole. My shrimp and crab enchiladas were good, decent sauce and well seasoned sides (and no fishy taste). Husband’s colorado beef chimichanga was good though a little underseasoned for his tastes. The green and red salsas were good. We’ll update after trying a night with the kids, but good enough we feel comfortable trying :-)
Service was excellent. Polite, fast and not obtrusive.

I had lunch here today and I must say it was GREAT!!! It was so good that I am going to Make them Restaurant of The Week on Fox 12 TV Oregon !!!
Sales Manager
Fox 12 Daily Deals
Moises

Had to try the La Costa Enchilada to see what all the pix on here were about. Yup! It was all super delicious. I will definitely go back there.

Great spot for Mexican food! Huevos rancheros & enchiladas w/​green sauce were both excellent. Mexican food should taste as bright and flavorful as it looks and La Cocina nails it. Prices were beyond reasonable and was a steady flow of lunchtime patrons on a Saturday, which means it really is a local fave. Also, they have a TV tuned to US football — so sports fans can have the best of both worlds. Service was excellent. Will be back for margaritas. Check it out!

I’ve been here twice now. Both times it was quite – not too many people. It was a great spot for our cranky baby; a Mexican place with color and ethnicity just makes a crying baby fit in. The food is amazing. One of the best Mexican places I’ve been to. Also, it doesn’t kill your wallet like Nuestra Cocina (this is another expensive place that is more upscale). Their Mole is amazing; I can drench everything in it. Ingredients tasted fresh, and you can tell someone worked on your food for a while to perfect it. Pastor Burrito was a great bang for the buck. Very big and filling. Their special seafood enchiladas are great too.

Great authentic Mexican food with a great atmosphere! What more could you ask for?
Btw the verde enchiladas are the best in Portland!

Service is really good!
3.5÷5
Food: Empanadas were nice with a generous serving of sauce.
enchiladas could have been a little hotter; found them to be luke warm.

Had a hankering for some Mexican grub, so pulled up my handy dandy Unilocal app — and bingo bango –this place is close and has some good reviews.
Super friendly and helpful staff. Attentive and prompt.
The drinks were delish — a Mojeto and a Margarita were enjoyed.
I ordered the steak fajitas. Whatever they were marinated in was the bomb — not too spicy but a great flavor. Came with your choice corn or flour tortilla (I got corn) and beans and rice. Plenty to share — I ended taking ½ home. My hubby got the enchiladas (his go to) and said they were very good. He finished it, but regretted it — could have taken ½ home.
The atmosphere is casual and comfy. Small and kinda intimate. Openish kitchen in the back and a wee bar.
Overall — a very positive experience and I do believe we will be returning.
PS — my hubby left his wallet and the server ran out after us to catch him to return it — much appreciated!

My new favorite! Woo Hoo!
Unilocal doesn’t always steer me right — although La Cocina has high ratings, I was hesitant. But my Mom really wanted Mexican for her Birthday dinner and I couldn’t stand the thought of the old school, way past their prime Taco House or (heaven forbid) Burrito House.
I figured it could NOT be worse than the afore mentioned places.
There are many, many items on the menu I want to try. I’m glad I was educated in advance about paying for chips/salsa…that would have been a surprise for sure. But; to be clear — it was chips, salsa (pico de gallo) AND guacamole, we also added sour cream and weren’t charged for that. $ 8 wasn’t outrageous as the guacamole by itself is usually $ 6 easily at most places. AND it was all perfectly yummy!
We had pork tamales, chicken tamales, chicken enchiladas, green and red sauces. It’s was all fresh and delicious. The rice was flavorful, everything was seasoned well. Black beans on the side were good.
Service was prompt, efficient, friendly. 6:15 on a Friday night and a table for 3 was easily available.
My brother was treating — so I splurged on a cadillac margarita. It was GREAT!
I was so pleasantly surprised, I didn’t want the meal to end. I am looking forward to the next visit already.

Being from Texas I know Mexican food and I know it well, ok not Mexican, but Tex-​Mex. I have looked for anything resembling Tex-​mex since my arrival 4 years ago and I have been sorely disappointed. Then while searching the internet I stumble across what appears to be a real gem, La Cocina. I marked this as my next restaurant to hit and I wanted to get to this one quick.
Upon arrival I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. I was there about noon on a Tuesday and when I arrived I was the only person there. Over time others showed up, but the restaurant was never full. Service was very attentive, quick, and very friendly.
I ordered the cheese enchiladas. When they arrived I immediately knew i had ordered the correct thing. The cheese was super gooey and melty, the dish tasted fantastic and looked even better than it tasted, if thats even possible. The side of beans and rice were standard and the chips and salsa (more like pico) cost $ 3.50. I am still a little weirded out by paying for chips and salsa, but welcome to Portland and in no way did this detract from the meal, ambiance or experience.
I absolutely fucking loved La Cocina, love it. It does not have a super cool name like others in town, it does not sit in the trendiest location on the coolest street, but what they do do is turn out some outstanding Mexican fare, not Tex-​Mex, but some items and preparations lean that way.
I am sold, on one visit (!) that this may be the best Mexican (Tex-​Mex) in the city.
I will be back the very next time I am in the vicinity, I am sure it will be great. I am really looking forward to it, I’ll let you know.

Ate again here last week! All three of our meals were perfectly prepared and executed. Since I don’t live in PDX and often there for only a day, I can only choose one place to eat dinner. It’s hard for me to go elsewhere for a great, reasonably priced, can’t be made at home meal (at least without hours of prep).
I ask that not everyone fill this place up every night because I often go at a moments notice and would hate to find that one cannot eat here «without a reservation.»

Not as yummy as I was hoping. There was real potential but I think laziness got in the way. For example, the delicious La Costa enchiladas were only half-​filled. Or the classic burritos, that the menu stated were made with handmade tortillas, were actually made with the store-​bought stuff (and that was the only reason I ordered he burrito… I love handmade tortillas). Just a darn pity. The drinks were tasty and I was told that the margaritas are made with fruit purée but who knows (tortilla-​lies will make you question everything). Tacos were inconsistently tasty (one of the calamari tacos was not as tasty as the other two calamari tacos we ordered).
Easy to find street-​parking right up front.
Gross bathroom.
Accepts plastic.
Kinda pricey for the inconsistencies.