Coyoacan Cafe
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Private Lot
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
44 reviews
San Jose, CA
"These guys have the best Pico De Gallo in the south bay. It's bar none. The best. The big dog. I always like to get a whole bean, cheese,…" read more »
15 Reviews for Coyoacan Cafe
I went to Coyoacan today for lunch, and I was very satisfied with my meal. I ordered the carnita tacos (served w/rice, beans, guacamole, pico de gallo) and my boyfriend had the steak tacos. Both were fresh and tasty.
Our waitress was polite and came back to check on us several times. There was a sign saying that the restaurant has changed owners, and I noticed that the walls looked like they had been repainted and they were replacing their old sign.
I hope that the food and service continue to be good!
This place is not all bells and whistles. This is good homemade authentic Mexican food.
The best time to go is breakfast on the weekends. They have the best chorizo and eggs, and if you are into menudo, you can get that too.
Tacos al pastor are another favorite of mine.
They make their own tortillas, which is the real selling point. The salsa is also homemade so the spiciness changes each time I've been there.
The tv is always on, which is a drawback. Also the bathroom sucks.
It's totally worth it for the price and the food.
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I have had much better mexican food before and will never came here unless someone else wants it. The place is a hole in the wall and left nothing to be desired.
I will say, their shrimp cocktail is the best I have ever had but will not go out of my way to order it.
You can never go wrong with an eatery that makes you feel like family, even if they do not speak you language. I love that this is completely a family run business. The grandparents are usually in the back cooking and watching novellas.
They have some of the yummiest guacamole around.
Now that I read a new review from "patti F.", I am worried that they might have changed.
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Cool (1)
Absolutely incredible Mexican food, very authentic and delicious.
I am a huge fan of burritos and this place does them right. I recommend either the super burrito or the burrito mojado (wet burrito). I hope that you like it as much as I did!!
I was referred here by this nice Mexican boy and I could've sworn he recommended the fish tacos. No fish tacos here, but authentic Mexican is what you'll find. With soccer blasting on the t.v. in Spanish to the taqueria decor with requisite cerveza banners, that's what I'm talking about.
Portions are huge. I don't know what taqueria doesn't give huge portions and isn't cheap. The only thing is they do not have black beans, only pinto but you can get them whole and not refried.
And whenever you can, use the restroom prior to coming here. It's unisex and the smell of pee made me want to gag.
People thought this was:
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Cool (3)
When I'm craving a big plate of beans, rice and a burrito that will keep me full for days I head to Coyoacan Cafe. This nice, clean little Mexican restaurant has plates that rival most *hole in the wall* style taquerias without health/sanitation fears that often accompanies them.
Chips are always fresh and often warm and are served with a spicy salsa that for whitey's like myself need to eat with caution. I haven't had a lot of their meats as I usually only eat chicken, but I would doubt that they would be anything less than juicy and flavorful.
I more often go there for a *huge* breakfast burrito which is bursting full of rice and beans, eggs, your meat of choice and whatever else you might want to add. Complement that with some horchata and you've got a meal that will keep you full until dinner. If you ever go there on a weekend morning, most of the guests there are having this soup dish. I apologize for not knowing the name of it but apparently that is their specialty. A beefy broth with some sort of meat (yes, probably some form of beef) with vegetables. Seems strange for breakfast but everyone seems to love it. We once asked our server what it was and she gave my friend a sample. He said it was delicious and he could see why it was so popular.
Next time your tummy is screaming for south of the border, instead of heading to Chevy's, try Coyoacan Cafe. It's clean, friendly and authentic Mexican food!
I LOVE this place. Their food is delicious. The portions are just right.
My only complaint would be that the salsa is really spicy so I can't give it to my niece.
Lousy decor, bad location, good food, reasonable prices and I can never get the spelling of the name of this place right!
Overall, I haven't had a bad meal here - I've gone here about 8 times in the last 3 months. Here's the good stuff:
Tacos - go fresh tacos, forgot the gringo friend stuff. You pick of meat fillings and here's my top list (in order):
Al pastor (marinated pork) - I live flavor and spice and this has both. Yum!
Carne Asada (beef steak) - done just right, not dry.
Canitas (friend pork) - excellent! Ask for some fresh salsa and lime to go with this one.
I'm normally not a fan or re-fried rice but they a excellent job!
Platters:
Chile verde platter - very nice, pork is tender, sauce is tangy and smooth.
Cecina - I'm not sure I have the spelling correct. Nice marinated pork, grilled, cut it up and put in your torillas with the guac and other stuff. Good good good!
Mole - very nice sauce! Lots of packed flavor.
Saturday afternoon is my fav time to come here, I can usually grab a meal and a beer and watch soccer on the TV.
I wouldn't recommend this as a first date place - unless she's really into food and can overlook the atmosphere.
People thought this was:
Funny (1)
My first time here was a bizarre dining experience. The positives:
* It was cheap.
* The service was super friendly.
* The food was decent; the salsa was very spicy.
* The portions were big enough and the presentation was lovely.
* It was only about a quarter full at dinner time on Saturday night. This made it very kid-friendly.
The negatives:
* I ordered a burrito with just rice, beans and pico de gallo; it came with no pico de gallo.
* The vegetarian burrito and the vegetarian enchilada both are stuffed with zucchini -- just zucchini.
* When we arrived, the TV was blaring Fear Factor dubbed in Spanish. Then the movie S.W.A.T. came on. After about ten minutes of the movie, a really loud song drowned it out, presumably from the jukebox. When the song ended, we were back to listening to the dubbed movie.
* My husband's iced tea refills took a while, and you don't want to be left drinkless with such spicy salsa.
Subsequent visits have been equally weird. Sometimes I get no drink. The TV is always loud. But the staff is also always friendly. And for $7.57, I can get a regular burrito and a Jarritos (Mexican soda, though sadly they don't carry Aguamineral), which rocks.
[ UPDATED 12 April 2008 ]
People thought this was:
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Great burritos and tacos. spicy salsa. super friendly service. clean!
One of my favorite taquerias in the area. They have the best Mexican shrimp cocktail that I've ever tasted! I usually order the same thing: tacos al pastor. It is very tasty and the meat is tender. The portions are pretty big, too. I've never left the place unsatisfied!
I ordered a fajita chicken burrito. It came with a ton of onions though, so beware! I like whole beans more than refried and they were able to accomodate me. The food was good though and the sangria was grrrreat!
Great food, lousy atmosphere. Features freshly fried flour tortilla crispy taco shells. Best taco around because of this, for me anyway.
A bit pricey for a hole in the wall for lunch. Cheap for dinner.
Colloquial is probably the single most fitting word to describe this place. From the mannerisms to the menu, and the television to the tacos, this place definitely has "Mexican dive" down to a tee. A couple reviews complained about the decor, personally I found it to be a nice change of pace. Sure you might not want to bring your mother-in-law there, but if soccer and beer is your mood then you'll fit right in.
Our server was very friendly (but a little slow). The salsa was spicy. Having never had Mole before I ordered it. Maybe I'm not a Mole fan, or maybe their Mole isn't very good, either way I thought the food was only so-so. Over all I give it a 3 for OK food, at an OK price, but with a nice atmosphere.
UPDATE: I've since had Mole at other restaurants, and Coyoacan's was definitely inferior. Based on this experience I would definitely choose other Mexican restaurants over this one.
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