Cocina Central

Not a fan. Ordered chili relleno and tortilla soup via Order Ahead. It was not prepared when my husband arrived to pick it up. They hadn’t even started it. I like spicy food but the chili relleno was too spicy to eat. The soup had a nice flavor, but I wasn’t expecting the grainy texture.

Awesome Mexican restaurant that has tacos, tortas, and tamales!
Not your typical Mexican hole in the wall taqueria, more upscale sit down restaurant with a full bar, craft beer selection and lots of tequilas to chose from as well as flights for tequilas which is really cool. Bartenders and servers are very friendly and professional and help you pick from the menu. I ended up doing the flight of the week for tequilas which was fun to learn about. I don’t normally eat vegetarian but the tacos of fire roasted Rajas, which are strips of peppers cooked in cream was definitely one of the top taco experiences ever! They make their hand made tortillas, So good! Will be craving those for sure!

My wife and I wanted to try something new and stopped into Cocina Central — — I drive past it everyday on my way to work. We were *NOT* disappointed! The tequila inventory was impressive and the grilled shrimp tacos (my wife) and blackened fish (me) were fresh and tasty! Even the corn chips were delicious (lower salt than most places). The staff were friendly and knowledgeable about the offerings after the reincarnation. We would recommend it and are adding it to our group t list!

This place was five stars before their most recent menu change. They had traditional Mexican dishes, as well as some interesting California inspired fusions. We especially enjoyed their take on a burrito bowl (‘The Whole Cocina’) and we were disappointed to see that they no longer had this item on the menu.
It was also nice to have the allergy markings on the menu that seem to have been removed.
They have great food, great service, and great atmosphere, but we’d love to see the previous menu come back!

Dined tonight for the first time.
Apps: Guac
Dinner: Enchiladas de papas (SO), Tacos Dorados (me)
Didnt care much for the flavor, which most Mexican food has, both of us got sick 2 hours later (tmi…unstoppable diarrhea)
Not too many guests for a Saturday night, we were there for about 45 minutes and I think there were less than 20 ppl dining during the whole time we were there. (7pm-7:45ish)

Was really pleasantly surprised with the quality and authenticity of street tacos –carne Asada pollo and veggie. Good portions. Guacamole. Friendly service. Fair prices. Nice ambience for strip mall location. Next time I gotta try the real test. Margaritas! Sit outside and take in some fresh air or sit inside. Catch tv in the bar. Nice options. Check out this spot.

This is a decent place to go for tacos. If you have a small appetite — I recommend going for the a la carte tacos — they are reasonably priced at $ 4 a taco with some options costing $ 5 (steak, piggy). With the complimentary chips with paprika and salsa, this is enough to fill you up. The taco platter comes with a tasty brown rice, cheese, and beans side. Overall, for the quality of the tacos, I think the platter is a tad overpriced.
The main problem I have with this restaurant is the service. It can be a little hit or miss and the wait staff seems to turn around quickly. I have found myself waiting a while for the bill or to refill water. I think this place opened a little too quickly for its own good before they could
Get settled with the proper staff and training. I remember in the early months during the summer time, they hadn’t installed blinds so half of the restaurant was squinting because of the sun.
Overall alright for tacos, but generally if you come with a big appetite, the food is overpriced for the quantity and quality you get.

Pretty bummed with the new changes. This place wasn’t that bad before it all happened. They used to have great house made tortillas and the ingredients were better. I’m sad to say I won’t be coming back…

I’ve been to Cocina Central several times now and haven’t seen many changes since it has opened. There seems to be a high staff turn over which typically results in less than optimal service. There are always 2 male hosts that sit at the front and walk around or meet with friends outside and then ask how your service was when they literally do nothing.
They’ve started a lot of promo deals like Taco Tuesday and Thirsty Thursday. Their drinks are great and the food has been consistently good. Their chips are fresh and have paprika sprinkled on top!
I love their food but the management really needs to figure out how to fill the place and have more engaging and active staff. Every time I go there are usually only 2 or 3 other parties seated.

Came back a few weeks ago and tacos just arnt the same anymore Idk.

Bottom line: Won’t come back. The service is repeatedly frustrating and not good. This visit, I had to go get the server twice — once to even get acknowledged (and then we waited about 8 minutes for iced tea when the restaurant isn’t packed) and the second time for my friend’s food. Everyone was effectively done eating and he STILL didn’t have his food.
Unfortunately, the food is actually decent. Too bad.

Have passed by this place multiple times, and with a groupon in tow, my coworker and I came by for lunch today.
A little after 11:30 AM, there was only one other party eating. The establishment is large and I loved the interior. Our waitress was friendly and really helpful. We were greeted and given menus and chips and salsa. The salsa was tasty and the chips had a nice peppery touch.
I ordered the steak torta with a guava iced tea which tasted even better with some sweetener. My friend ordered the carnitas tacos which came on their homemade tortillas, rice, beans, and soup. Our food came out really quick, and the torta was bigger than I thought. However, the bread was cold, hard, and dry. Otherwise the steak, cheese, cabbage was good, but very little avocado and jalapenos.
Overall, the food was pretty good, and I will be back to try the other dishes.

Great time and great food at Cocina Central! Chips + Chipotle Mayo is a hell of a combination! Great atmosphere, chic décor and a friendly staff… Doesn’t get any better! Gotta try the steak diablo burrito or the chicken tacos!

I tried the three piggy tacos again. They were excellent. It came with a small soup and a side of beans and rice. The chips and salsa were free, but we had to ask for it.
My friend had the sopes. They looked very similar to my tacos but were a little bigger… maybe they use the same tortilla base?
The food tastes fresh and healthy, and is a bit different from your standard Mexican restaurant. I’ll come again!

Ordered the chicken taco plate. It came with 2 chicken tacos, a cup of the soup of the day, a little cup of rice and black beans with some cheese and some sauce on the side.
The tacos were really good. The meat was moist and the tomatoes added moisture as well. There was even a little guacamole in there and you cannot go wrong with that. Will definitely order again. I was satisfied with the serving size.
Cup of rice and beans was nothing really special. I mostly picked at it since I’m not a huge fan of cheese. I did not use the sauce much at all because it was on the sweeter side and I don’t prefer those but I don’t have anything bad to say about it.
So the biggest reason this entrée gets this place a 4 stars is because the soup of the day was BOMB!!! It was some sort of shredded chicken soup that came with a tortilla chip. It had veggies in there but the broth was amazing! It was saltier than most places but I loved it! I even ordered an enter large bowl of the soup after I ate this because I could not get enough of it. I would definitely get this soup again and again. I need to find out which days they have this soup…
Service was friendly and since it was not very busy the food came out on time. Definitely will hit this place up again when I’m in Palo Alto.

Not a bad place… I feel this place is best for a lunch place. Due the heavy nature of Mexican food. The food is good. Taco Tuesday are always a hit.
They do things differently then the other larger size restaurants. It’s trendy with a tough a hipster and a smidge of –dudebro–
I like their take on tortillas. And I love the serving size is much appreciated.

LOVED IT! $ 10 for a delicious, filling meal!
Tried this place out after driving by on the way to work all year! Definitely glad I did! Although some of the menu items are kind of expensive the taco special is a great deal and so tasty!
I got the soy chorizo tacos which came with a soup of the day, chips and salsa, rice and beans, and two tacos. Normally I’m not a fan of fake meat, but the soy chorizo was absolutely delicious. I can’t wait to go back and try some of their other vegetarian options!

The food is awesome. Taco Tuesday’s can’t be beat! Try the carnitas nachos and house margaritas!
Too bad the service is lacking. Whenever we have gone, there have been no more than 3 or 4 tables filled. Takes forever just to get menus, 10 minutes for drinks, and we constantly had to remind the waiter for things we ordered. He would disappear, come back to check on other tables, then disappear again having forgotten we asked him for anything. This happens consistently.
We will come back for the food, though if the service were better, we would come a hell of a lot more!
Wrote management about the problems we encountered a week ago. Sadly, their business email does not work, and they don’t check their Unilocal or Facebook messages.

I’ve been enjoying stopping in to Cocina Central the past few months. I like all of the tacos. My favorite are the fish tacos. The tortillas that the tacos are housed in are delicious. They also have breakfast options in the morning. I really enjoyed my breakfast burrito. The only reason that I don’t give it 5 stars is the price and the drinks. The drinks are good, but too small and weak. The prices are pretty steep even for the area. I will be back, but I will be careful about racking up the bill.

Cocina Central feels a bit like a copy of «Tacolicious». But instead of having the funky and off-​kilter atmosphere one sees at that small chain, Cocina Central has a slightly more modern, upscale, open-​air feel, including a large outdoor patio. (If Tacolicious = the city, then Cocina Central = suburbia). Much like Tacolicious, however, the food focus at CC seems to be on quality, not quantity.
It’s just too bad the quality wasn’t as good as they may have been shooting for. Both my meals here were a little below expectations:
– Fish taco plate. ($ 12) for two small tacos, plus a small soup and a small serving of mixed rice/​beans. The tacos were small and messy; these were fork-​and-​knife tacos vs. pickup tacos. The fish looked to be freshly fried in batter but was a bit too soggy. Also it was a little too fishy-​smelling for my taste; it made me wonder how old the fish was. 3 stars.
– Carnitas taco plate: ($ 11). The tacos themselves were tiny. (These would be $ 1 tacos at a local taqueria.) The meat was very soft; there were none of the crispy edges that I enjoy from typical carnitas. In short, decent quality but pretty boring. I’ve had much better. The tomato-​based chicken posole on the side was nice but also tiny. The rice and beans had a little too much Mexican cheese mixed in. They were also 90% rice and 10% beans. 3 stars max
One big negative for me was the lack of fresh chips to the table. (Tacolicious provides a huge basket plus salsas with each order, gratis). I did see baskets of chips and guacamole float by on trays, but these were $ 7 for one tiny basket and about ¼ cup of guac. I didn’t really feel like (nearly) doubling my lunch cost for such a simple app.
As for the positives, the staff was positively friendly and CC did have a very decent beer list, including 6 microbrews plus 2 Mexican beers on tap. On my second lunch visit I enjoyed a nice pale ale from Ballast Point. (It was cinco de mayo, after all!).
In summary, after two visits I haven’t found anything at Cocina Central (yet) to keep me coming back. The food wasn’t that impressive and the taco plates were just sized too small for me. Still, they are close to work, so no doubt I’ll return someday.

De mexican food no tiene nada la comida mas mala q buena el servicio terrible los presiosos exagerados para el tipo de comida muy pobre en todo nesesitas mejorar terrible