Cocina Central

Great chicken tacos. Gluten free. Carnitas tacos also good. Full bar with creative cocktails. Evan the bartender made us feel right at home. They've only been open a few weeks.

OMG - tacos to die for! Homemade and handmade tortillas stuffed with real grilled meats and incredible flavors. Friendly staff. Gluten free and veggie friendly as food is made fresh. A suggestion - not a tequila drinker - please get some decent wines for us wine drinkers!

Yummy!!

Best taco place I've ever been. Love the corn tortillas. Not usually a fan of corn tortillas but these were orange/reddish. They add some kind of pepper to it. They are yummy and they have Gluten Free items on the menu!

I will definitely go again.

KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF WITH GREAT FLAVORS!
No joke, you MUST try this new place.
What a terrific surprise.
Great selection of vegan and gluten free and
of course the meat dishes that many people will want.
This is seriously our new fave. As good if not better than
Reposado in Palo Alto without those prices.
These people put a lot of care in their healthy
modern mexican dishes.
Thank you, Cocina Central.

Really friendly staff. Gluten free items marked on the menu. The red salsa they have (you might need to ask for it - it's named after the owner) is amazing. One of the best salsa i've ever had, and I live in Texas. I liked the tacos - the corn tortillas are thick and obviously homemade. Also, you must get the Mexi Mule. One of my favorite cocktails I've had in a while, and I'm not a big tequila fan. Really liked this place. Will definitely be back!

"This place is a little too healthy for Mexican food," sez the Mrs. Also, some dishes are a bit spicy (well, at least for her). My carnitas meat was like a nice, slightly dry, pot roast (very light on the salt). The corn tortillas are gluten free, so really not much like conventional corn tortillas (a bit on the pasty side).

However, my brown rice was almost like couscous, with real bits of corn straight off the cob. The music they play is cheap, generic shopping mall pop. We were there on a very hot day, so if you are too, stay away from the windows!!

Just ate here for lunch and wow... you know how you feel when you just got ripped off. As we were leaving I turned to my lunch mate and we both said the same thing, "Never again !!!"

Friendly staff but that is about all I found to like. All vegan and gluten free, you could also add tasteless. Not sure about the reviews of this place as "Awesome", more like awesomely bland. I love Mexican food... this ain't Mexican food, it's a Silicon Valleys idea of what Mexican food should be. Disappointing as I was looking forward to another place to go for lunch or dinner.

For all you get here on a plate at Cocina Central... you get charged handsomely !!! 4 tacos, two cokes and some guacamole, chips (not free)... 47$ Maybe they have a good happy hour so you'll forget the rest of the experience. Here is a better option just across the street... La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill.

First time here.

Came on Sunday afternoon after a long hike. Was super hungry so some of the review could be biased.

We were greeted and seated right away. It was not that busy, probably because it recently opened.

For appetizers we got house made tortilla chips that were super fresh, thin and crispy. Really enjoyed them and highly recommend as appetizer.

For main dishes we got three types of tacos: fish, soy chorizo, and steak. All of them were freshly made on their house made soft tortillas that are gluten free, fluffy and tasty. The side of beans and rice were average, and had some cheese similar to queso fresco sprinkled on top. They also came with a side of soup which was good but not as ethnic as we had hoped. Overall, although most of the dishes were more Americanized than we would have liked, they were fresh and flavorful.

For dessert we had their signature dish -Coconut flan which was very good.They must use some sort of coconut cream that made it taste more like a mousse, very different than the traditional flans I have had. Highly recommend.

Also we felt they had good portion sizes, even though I was super hungry I felt it was just the right amount. The plates come with 2 soft tacos and soup.

The only negative parts
- The "central" in the name made us crave for something in Central America, but the menu lacked in options. Perhaps more inspiration from the area would be a good way to spice up the menu.
- their mason jars with utensils does not have spoons. Not sure why even though a good number of the dishes require it.

Tacos pretty good, pricey though. I'd come back if I'm really craving for thick doughy & soft corn tortilla tacos. Dinner was:

A bowl of chicken soup which came with 2 corn tortillas,
happy hour crispy tofu taco, chorizo taco, carnitas nacho, the Linda drink ($7, has jalapeño! Good for that time of the month!)
my hubby ordered Mexican mule ($7, which I end up drinking), & carnitas torta($11). All good, even my little kid's chicken quesadilla was good, (I wish there were a selection of fruits, besides the little cup of black beans & rice as a side dish, for the kids! I ended up sharing my soup with my little kiddo.
Only con:
1) we ordered a coconut flan ($6!) to go (which was a little bit on the small size, looks more like a kid's size flan!) & it was put in a: paper to-go container. I think it's ridiculous that they did that because the sauce was seeping thru the container!
I just looked at my receipt again, yup, it was $6 flan, where's the coconut? Rip-off!!!
I was gonna be nice, but I just realized I got jipped! From 4 stars to 3(I'm too nice! It was hard for me to type the word : rip-off! But not dumb! I was going to put just 2 stars!)With a $10 tip, for which I thought was a very good dinner. Dinner that I didn't have to cook so- I -can- relax- from- a- crazy- day- in- the- office- kind of deal.

2) my hubby's carnitas torta didn't come with meat the first time, 2nd time it did (although the bread was thick) & it was good, but only finished half. The food craving was gone.

Bottom line: go to Aqui in Cupertino, you'd be happier there chips are free refills, when you buy it. Ambience is better, they have a full bar & have better prices & especially good gluten free dessert that are adult size! Come to think of it , I think Cocina gave me a kid's dessert!
Oh & if you don't like Cocina or Aqui, then better to go to Costco & get yourself a fool proof dinner: $5. Baked chicken with a bottle of wine, or dessert wine & fresh fruits! Cheap & delish! Plus you've got plenty of left overs!

It's what I get for trying a new restaurant right away, instead of " waiting" it out for a little bit.