Ahh, the ubiquitous Mexican-American restaurant! Get some salsa and chips, choose a lunch combo and then stumble out in a carbo-filled haze. Sounds like my kind of a meal. But with so many Mexican options in the Triangle, it sometimes gets hard distinguishing the good ones from the meh. La Cocina is a small regional chain of Mexican restaurants that was quite the pleasant surprise for me. I stopped in for a quick lunch with co-workers and was really happy about the visit!
Inside, La Cocina has some space to spread out in with three separate dining rooms. As soon as we sit down a basket of warm chips are put down at the table along with salsa and the chips are great! Thin, crisp with just the right amount of salt, the feasting begins. I put in an order for lunch special #4: beef taco, chicken quesadilla along with beans. And it’s not a long wait but that’s ok since I’m happy with my tortilla chips! Maybe 5 – 10 minutes later I get my meal and it’s a LOT of food for $6. One crunchy taco with shredded beef covered with cotija cheese, one large plate with plump quesadilla and re-fried beans. The taco is decent, maybe a bit under-spiced but a decent quality. The large quesadilla is plump and full of chicken chunks, less cheese and well-browned, a nice choice. And the beans are fried, nothing specially good or bad here.
Overall La Cocina delivers decent Mexican food for not much dinero. They look like they have some more authentic Mexican specialties which would be great if I lived in the area. And from what I’ve heard, the bar can get pretty lively after work. But for now, La Cocina is perfect for a quick lunch! Fast, tasty and filling Mexican eats right around the corner from me, keep up the great work La Cocina! I’m pretty sure I’ll be in your kitchen again, sometime soon…
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