Boka Kantina

ORIGINAL TASTY FOOD OVERSHADOWED BY A DIRTY SPACE
It’s obvious that there are some real Boka-​fanatics on Unilocal.I actually decided to try Boka out because of it’s Unilocalers.
When I dug a little deeper to find out why I was so underwhelmed by my experience here, it was obvious that much of this loyalty has been built upon the Boka Truck experience where taste trumps some of the more important parts of an enjoyable dining experience like service and cleanliness.
If you read the «About» section on the Boka website it reads «We are committed to making great food for you… From a Truck. And we will do it in weird places.» I think one of those weird places is in the fairly dirty* Tuckahoe space that reeks of little or no ambiance — another Unilocaler said the tables and chairs felt like they belonged in a cafeteria. I would agree. And although I’m a huge football fan, the televisions that were tuned to the games, gave the place an identity crisis.
*One can only assume that «dirty» is part of an authentic weird-​place experience?
The floor was sticky and the bathroom was dirty. When I took a seat in my booth, there were grease stains all over the seat. I had to ask my waitress to wipe it down for me. Above us, on the Boka Kantina sign, you could see where someone had taken their hand and wiped a huge section of greasy dust away.
I didn’t get the feeling that the staff didn’t clean, I just get the feeling that the managers didn’t teach them how to clean properly. Robert Irvine would have a hey day at this place.
If you’ve read my other reviews you know I have a soft spot for hole in the walls. I know that culinary prowess doesn’t always come with managerial skills and a sense of aesthetics. I think this is the case here.
The food is great. It was absolutely great. Where some places suffer from a menu with too many choices, this one actually suffers from one with too few choices. I would’ve actually tried more dishes if there’d been more to offer. Unfortunately, I won’t get that chance.
I’m left wondering, if Boka cuts so many corners on the cleanliness I can see, I wonder what corners they cut in the kitchen and the places I can’t see.
For this reason, I unfortunately won’t be joining the ranks of the Boka-​fanatics. I almost feel the need to point out how inherently wrong the food world we live in is where I’m inclined to give a Taco Bell a 5 star rating and a place like Boka that has so much potential only 2.
Next time, I’m going to head to my weird little kitchen and make tacos for myself. At least I know it’s clean there.

We are becoming surrounded where we live by lots of Mexican restaurants, and I am 100% OK with Boka Kantina joining the collection. Don’t let the interior fool you as they are renovating — the food is worth it, and the service is top notch.
Normally we aren’t ones for appetizers, but when I saw their tots special, I knew we had to give it a try (from their menu: HONEY-​TRUFFLE TOTS I GUAJILLO MAYO I FARM CHEESE I HERBS). They were seriously delicious, and came out hot and fresh (almost too hot to eat right away!). Not your typical cheese fry/​tot appetizer at all (they call it their «cheese fries»); we would go back just for more tots.
We each had The Gauntlet, which typically comes with three different tacos: beef Asian-​style, pork American-​style, and chicken Mexican-​style. I’m not one for pork, and eat beef pretty sparingly, and they had no problem making all of my tacos chicken. I really enjoyed the flavor of all three tacos, but the Mexican was hands down my favorite.
Plenty of food for $ 30.00. Really great value for the quality of food!

Boka has long been known for its amazing taco trucks. What a great surprise to find that they have a brick-​and-​mortar restaurant as well. The folks running it are very friendly. They keep a constant rotation of boutique peers and gluten-​free cider on tap in and bottles. The location is in a nondescript strip mall, The interior looks to be recently renovated.
Oh, The tacos are still fantastic. The fusion combinations of flavors are innovative and unique but farewell together. my favorite is the duck confit.

Always good tacos
Can’t make up your mind you can get the gauntlet. (Three tacos three ways). 8₄_​2014 they are having a reopening. They now have a tiki bar. They also have Thai margarita. They will be having a bunch of specials to celebrate the relaunch and new cocktail program

During the visit we had the fried green tomatoes and empanadas. The tomatoes were ok, but the empanadas were phenomenal. The flavor very well-​developed, however, there was hair on it. So, that was the end of that.
The owner did come over to apologize for the incident, and offered to prepare us something himself. Since this visit was solely to use a voucher given from a previous incident, we declined.
I can tell that the owner loves and wants his business to do well, but there has to be more attention paid to what is going on in the back of the house.

The food is original and tasty. I like that there are lots of options for tacos. The pizzas are well done-​nice crust and well thought out toppings. BUT the restaurant has a slightly dirty, greasy feel to it. The Chuck Norris poster in the bathroom is hysterical.
PS I’ve eaten at the truck a few times and have never been disappointed.

I should add before starting this review that I’ve visited the boka truck on a couple of separate instances and have also been to the new tako bar in the fan. What I found upon visiting the kantina last night was just a regurgitation of the same olé menu, with the slightly awkward addition of a pizza joint co-​locating in the building (is it same ownership? space sharing? hard to tell.)
So, with that being said, I get the idea of opening multiple locations. Boka has a rave following, and so far they seem to be successful. But to have different names for various locations, which all, by the way, have virtually the same menu, is kind of misleading. I was expecting a different experience from the boka tako bar, but there were no surprises – not even on the specials menu. And yeah, the tacos – takos – are good, I like the heat, but I’d like a little variety better.
The location of this place is weird. Enough said. The interior makes it evident that this place is succeeding on food reputation and not on attention to detail in diner experience – we must have listened to the same 2 songs 10 times during the hour we spent there. Our waitress was fine, pleasant enough, but was charged with running the entire floor and greeted us as if we’d walked into a Ruby Tuesday’s. I was underwhelmed.

Boka had a tiny trailer — barely larger than a phone booth (young people, ask your parents) — in the Food Truck Court at River Road Baptist Church a few nights ago, where I tried their awesome Korean Fusion Tacos. Who would guess pork would be so complemented by Kimchee on a taco? First rate. Today I spotted their Starling location by accident and decided to give it a try.
Give them credit for an innovative menu. You’re getting big city sophisticated taste fusions in a town not exactly known for trendsetting. I had the «Gauntlet» which consists of a beef, chicken and pork taco, each complimented by unique Asian spices and influences. To be honest, I don’t know what else but they were excellent. Some of the other reviewers posted good pics.
I would have tried the fish tacos had they not been made out of catfish. I can’t be too snooty about dining on bottom-​feeders since I do like shrimp, but given a choice would always opt for something else, ideally ahi or wahoo for tacos.
There are enough menu options to warrant repeat visits to work through the menu, even if the tacos were not enough incentive enough.

Visiting Richmond twice in one week, I stopped here both times and ordered the Gauntlet, which includes 3 different soft shell tacos — beef Asian, pork American and chicken Mexican. Resourceful beer menu with good specials. If I lived nearby I’d be here all the time, not for the ambiance, but for takeout, an easy bite with friends or inexpensive date night. I love tacos and this place is doing it right — fresh and flavorful. Yes please, I’ll have another.

3.5 stars
The place was packed. I got the «gaunlet» which was 3 tacos, 1 mexican, 1 asian and 1 usa style. There was lots of meat. The asian was the best of the 3. The tacos were interesting and good. But not great.
We had to wait 45 minutes for the food. I guess we should have called ahead.

The recent decline is pretty obvious here.
We’ve been back 3 times since the first and it’s gotten worse every time. This makes me so bummed I can’t even tell you. To have had a place that close to home with great food and then have it gone… it was almost depressing.
I’ll explain. We got there at 8:20, I didn’t realize they closed at 9 on the weekdays. It took us forever to get a drink because every beer they have on the menu, they don’t really have at all. The beer they do have is not that great anymore. Used to have Devil’s Backbone Vienna Lager… not anymore. Used to have Boldrock, not anymore. We ended up asking what they DO have, since they didn’t have anything that great. Ended up with a Dale’s Pale Ale. Not that novel. Don’t give people a beer menu when you have zero beers on the menu to offer. Just dumb and I feel bad for your waitstaff.
My other half always gets the Gauntlet. Three tacos, all different, usually good, this time they were not. I got the kielbasa taco and the pork belly taco. The kielbasa was pretty good LAST time, not this time. It was greasy and generally not good. The pork belly was even worse. It was impossible to eat because it was so hard and chewy. Took one bite, cut my mouth and just left the rest. I think I ate all of 3 bites of my dinner and ended up going to Cookout for a burger which was 10x better.
And that, it sad. Not only sad, but at 9 o’clock sharp they made sure you knew to get the heck outta dodge. Turned off all the music, started banging pots and pans in the kitchen. Ok, I get it. I’ll never show up 40 minutes before you close again. I promise.
The place is getting dirtier too. The floor has been sticky the past two times we’ve been there and the bathroom was literally sticky and disgusting.
Hope y’all have a better experience than we did. Too much money to spend on something that is not good.

It has been several months since I have been to Boka Kantina and I just getting around in posting my review & photos. I went to Boka because of the many reviews here in Unilocal,and OF course I was interested in trying something new in regards to Mexican Fusion Food.
Boka is a VERY clean place and since I went in on an afternoon, it was NOT busy which is understandable. Upon receiving my menu and this was MY first time here, I was hoping the Server would explain to me as to why they are different than from the Mexican Restaurant around the Corner. Since I am just a «Simple» man who wants to know why they are in the Art of Fusion Food… Please explain to me what it is all about.
I ordered the Boka Soft Takos with Beef, Chicken and Pork. They have NO Salsa and chips which was to my disappointment as I like to snack on Mexican Chips while waiting for my order. A kinda Minus for me… Anyway, the food came out quickly, and once she sat it down… I did not see the waitress until I was finished. NOT once did she come around to ask how was everything, and/​or do you need any Tea since my glass had been sitting there empty for 15 min.
The Boka Takos tasted like it was fused with Asian spices. An interesting combination to say the least. I enjoyed what I ate, however I am not sure I would go out of my way to eat it again. Now, I have a feeling this is what they meant by «Fusion» food. FUSION = Different!
When I was finished, the waitress brought over a Tablet for me to sign and to add a tip for her. I thought about the TIP, as she certainly did not earn a nice 20%, so I gave a 10% Tip. Why? My tea glass was never refilled, and she never asked me how was everything… Most of all, she seemed more interested in wanting to talk with the cook than wait on the customer… I may go back, however it may be a while or several months again.

How crazy is it that this place opened up right down the street from me, and it took me until today to haul my keester in there?
Plumb crazy.
Anywise, I can tell you that you NEED duck confit pizza. Oh, you’re a gluten-​free vegan? They’ve got a rice-​noodle bowl that you can ask them to forswear the sausage on, or you can order the Boka Salsa Trio.
But this place is all about the joyful conflation of beef, or pork, or chicken, or fish, or shrimp and epic flavors of all sorts. Sriracha, salsa verde, crema, all of the above? Yeah, they got that.
Highly recommended, both for flavor and friendliness. And I can even WALK there!

Popped in for lunch. Music was trendy rock-​based and a little loud. A good sign that I’m getting old but also something to consider if based on your dining companion. I could almost hear my dad saying turn this stuff down in my head.
I ordered the gauntlet — a trio of tacos for $ 8 at lunch (10 at dinner). The American pork was the standout for me. Next time I am just getting those — they were that good. The Mexican chicken was a bit bland but that’s chicken for you. Portions were large as they don’t skimp on the protein.
They also have a well curated tap selection and about 40+ craft beer bottles. No bar to sit at though.
I’d go back without hesitation as there are a lot of interesting things on the menu I need to try.

My wife and I went here for dinner on a Saturday evening and agreed that this place is awesome! It’s in a nondescript strip mall in the west end and the inside of the restaurant leaves a bit to be desired, but that is the only complaint I can lodge.
First of all, they have an all Virginia craft beer draft list and about 30 other bottled craft beers on their chalk board beer menu. Spectacular stuff.
We started out with the crab rangoon flautas, which were basically three egg rolls with crab rangoon filling and a chili soy sauce. They were excellent and we agreed that we could have eaten another order.
For our main dishes, she had the fish taco and the Asian pork taco. The pork was awesome and the fish was just so-​so. I had the shrimp and grits taco and the beef short rib taco. Both were really good, but the short rib was one of the best things I have ever eaten.
Finally, we had Mexican tiramisu for dessert. I don’t really know what was in it, nor what made it Mexican, but it was very good, too. It had little crispies on it, which was a nice touch.
Highly highly recommended.

The Boka truck serves up some pretty good tacos so I thought why not give the brick and mortar location a try. It’s located right across from Regency Mall on Starling drive; you can actually see Sears/​Macys from the parking lot. I would have thought they would pick a location somewhere downtown since that where most of their business is.
Service: I walked in and wasn’t greeted by any of the three employees.(minus one star) I saw one of those hostess tables but wasn’t sure if you sat yourself or not. I walked towards one of the tables and asked one of the employees and asked if I could sit anywhere else and she said «yeah» and that was that. The employees seemed to be more interested in talking to each other instead of serving the customer.
I got the Bacon and Scallop Empanadas which were really tasty. They came in three and were lightly fried and crisp. I would definitely order them again. I also got one of their dessert tacos which was good, but not great. The flour tortilla wasn’t grilled or anything so it didn’t add much to the dish.
Total came to 15 bucks which was a little pricey considering the portion sizes aren’t that big but was enough to keep my belly contempt. What’s new here are their pizzas which i’ll try next time.

Okay, so I finally got to try Boka, and… I. Don’t. Get. It.
The first time I went, they were closed for renovations. The second time, they were slammed. Mind you, slammed for this place is not saying much considering how small the dining area is. I waited. And waited. And waited. Service was terrible. I ended up walking out.
Gave them another try today, and specifically went at an odd hour to try to miss the crowds. Well, service was better because of that, but the food is just okay. I got the Gauntlet and the meat on all three was dry as a bone. The flavor was in the toppings.
Ambiance… there is none.
I MAY give them another try to sample the fish or shrimp tacos, but frankly, there are just too many new spots in Richmond to keep giving this place another shot.

I really like their tacos from the mobile truck, so when I heard that they had a taco and pizza restaurant within a few miles of home, I had to go.
The standard tacos plate of three tacos is 8 bucks. They’re tasty. The combo is chicken pork and beef, one of each. These tacos aren’t your normal taco fare. They are supercharged. One is a beef bulgogi Korean style, one is Asian cilantro chicken, and another Mexican style pork. Very satisfying together.
They also serve eclectic pizzas and I am sure that I will try them soon. They have a great selection of beers and wines as well. We were there for lunch on a Tuesday and they were almost full capacity. Great spot for casual lunch or quick dinner.

I have been back to Boka a couple times and wanted to update my review. What it comes down to is that Boka Kantina, while having some unique fusion flair to it, is still primarily a taco place. Saying that Boka Kantina is as delicious as La Cabana doesn’t sit right with me, so I can’t justify it keeping the 5^th star.
I will say though that it is definitely worth checking out if you like tacos or if any of the flavor combinations in the reviews sound good, because you can definitely get some unique and awesome tacos here.

A big hit with DH and me. Great menu. It is so much more than you can serve out of the side of a truck but with all the deliciousness you have come to expect from Boka.. They also have a great craft beer selection and an amazing agave limeade. Plus, it is within 5 or so minutes of my house. DH and I will be regular customers!
P. S. Try the Shrimp and Grits taco!