Vaca Loca The Latin Taste

I really hope this business gets more customers. The guy who runs the front is honestly so genuine. Beyond that though, their food is delicious and tastes like nowhere else I’ve eaten around in Seattle. But actually, I wonder what they use to marinade the meat.
I recommend the El Gaucho, Cuban and the Filet Mignon. Like other people said, the sandwiches are messy but oh so good.
Truly recommend. You won’t regret it, and your money will be going to a restaurant that keeps Cap Hill more local with these kinds of hole-​in-​the-​wall.

My friends give it five stars. I give it two just because they said it’s good. We ordered via Grubhub and I didn’t get my order. So I had to watch everyone eat and then go out to get something to eat myself. Which defeats the purpose of ordering in. Not ordering from this place again.

I’ve ordered Vaca Loca on double-​digit occasions. Their service is bad, but their vaca frita has always been delicious, and it’s the only «Cuban» food I can have delivered. VL doesn’t press their Cubanos, even though Cubanos are supposed to be (and the menu represents that they’re pressed). But I’ve just pressed them myself because the pork was so damn good. Oh, and pintos (refried, even) not black beans? Sure, even things out of the can can taste good next to maduros and sofrito-​flavored meat.
But last time the vaca frita came soggy. And tonight I thought, «sure, I’ll give it one more try.» All I can say about all of the food tonight is «yuck.»
It’s my fault really. I’ve long suspected that this place is a front for some kind of trafficking. But now I’m convinced it’s not a front for trafficking tasty food. I won’t be back.

Go eat there. Stop reading Unilocal,and don’t waste an hour deciding. It’s sandwiches. They’re delicious. Arepas were also great, as I assume all the food is. I plan on fully verifying that assumption as quickly as possible.

The service and ambience can be better but the food is FREAKING AMAZING. Had the Cubano, yuca fries, and plantain chips. All was fantastic. Definitely coming back

Delicious, filling, some of the best Latin food in Seattle. Different league than most Mexican/​Latin around this town.

This place deserves more love. Had the seafood sandwich. It was delicious. I’ve had several other sandwiches and they’ve all been good to very good. I would recommend this place for lunch easy. Hard to find. In the back on the first floor.

So GOOD! I got delivery from here and oh my GOD. I got the Vaca Frita and the Cubano and both were amazing! I also got a side of arepas but they called and said they were out of those so I got tajadas instead, and i didn’t care because the tajadas were SO GOOD! So Good, I can’t even describe. I got delivery on Sunday and now it’s Tuesday and they’re NOT OPEN ON TUESDAY and I’m DYING. I need my FIX. I hate onions but the onions on the cubano were sweet instead of gross onion taste so I was totally fine with that! If you can’t handle spicy stuff, the Cubano and Vaca Frita are perfect, they’re not spicy at all!

The restaurant is kind of hidden away inside the complex so you won’t see it from the street.
I really enjoyed the food here. I would most certainly come back for more. We started with the Yucca fritas which came with a delicious mojo to sauce. Also, Had the crazy crow and I do wish It was spiced up a little more and maybe a little bit better toasted but that was my personal preference. Otherwise the meat and all the flavor was all there and on point. My partner had another dish, she wasn’t feeling a sandwich so they made her a chicken dish that was very good.

Super messy delicious sandwiches. The flavors are bomb.
Their sandwich menu has several very different options which I love! It’s easy to get something very different than your typical cubano.
I can’t wait to come back!

Had chicken sandwich over here and it was great. Probably will go again to check out other ones on the menu. If you want to have Cuban sandwiches, this is the place to go. They have three beers on tap as well. Coming to the price it’s reasonable for what they serve.

Wow fifth Latin sandwich place I’ve been to and may be my favorite. I mean maybe better than Paseo’s.
Ordered the gaucho. Sooo tasty. I’m gonna be back in here more often to try EVERYTHING!

A fun little place with big hearty flavors!
The empanada appetizers are excellent. Crispy shells around tender juicy filling. Careful — they are burn-​your-​face-​off hot! Both sauces are really yummy too, bold flavors not afraid to kick up the heat.
The Crazy Crow (Cow?) is an amazing combination of tasty steak, creamy avocado, fresh greens, sweet caramelized onions, rich aioli, and a perfectly golden fried egg, in a crusty sandwich. Everything works together to make each bite an indulgence in complex flavors and complementary textures. Protip: tie your hair back and roll up your sleeves, this sandwich’s a messy one. I would recommend keeping the wrapping paper on to try and contain this juicy, bursting-​with-​flavor concoction, but what the heck, you’re gonna end up dripping grease one way or another, might as well just tuck in with gusto and throw caution to the wind. It’s more fun this way!
The owner /​bartender (?) came to chat with us and throw some sass. He was awesome. If you dare to question his claim of mixing the best mojito in Seattle, he will show you his tattoo of «mojito»! The mojito comes sweet or strong. I ordered the sweet one, and if that wasn’t considered strong, I am afraid to find out what strong tastes like! Definitely a tipsy walk back to the office.
This place has a chill vibe. Down to earth décor, fun music, cool people. I’d go back and get the Crazy Crow again!

This place was unique. Service was abrupt and we were some of the only people eating here. They have 3 tacos for $ 5! You can pick from fish, chicken or beef. It even comes with a soda. The tacos were fresh and tasty– won’t rush back here but if I’m in the neighborhood looking for a cheap lunch I will be back.

Back when I lived in an apartment around the corner from this building, I used to frequent Villa Escondida. Times have changed: I no longer live around the corner (I’m still close enough to walk, though), and Vaca Loca has taken over this space. Fortunately, the quality of food available in this little back-​of-​the-​building restaurant space has not diminished a bit.
Vaca Loca’s menu runs the whole gamut. There are appetisers that sound extremely, er, appetising – I’m yet to meet a sane person who doesn’t enjoy empanadas or arepas. You can also get a salad if that’s your jam, and they even serve brunch (with a heavy Mexican tilt) on weekends. However, I found the sandwiches the main draw of the menu, and didn’t even consider ordering from a different section.
I ended up settling on the Guarani, and mmm it was good. The pork was tender, juicy, and falling everywhere – just the way it should be. The sandwich was served with a sweeter sauce on the side, and I quite enjoyed getting some of the sauce on my sandwich before every bite. My friend got the seafood sandwich, and he thought it was out of the world (he especially praised the chimichurri in it).
The restaurant was extremely empty (there was one other customer apart from us at 6:15PM on a Friday), which is something I noticed even when Villa Escondida was in this space. I guess being at the back of a building – and being beneath a fantastic taco joint – might do that to you. The food really is pretty delicious, and I think the sandwiches are great value for money at $ 9.95 each. I really hope these guys are able to stay in business, because I want to come back many, many times and try everything on their sandwich menu eventually!

now that the light rail expansion includes the cap hill and U-​dub stations, my lunch options have expanded quite dramatically! one of my homies recently discovered this tucked away sammich joint so we decided to take the now-​conveniently-​short hop over here.
when i say tucked away, i wasn’t playin’. it’s almost directly behind americana but you’d never know it was there unless you was looking for it because i totally was at americana recently and i never noticed it… d’oh!
i’m no expert in latino foods or culture and don’t habla no kinda espanol or anything (although i’m fairly certain when they call me «culo» it means i’m super cool) so i can’t speak on authenticity. i can tell you that my cubano sammich (word to prez obama in havana) was flippin’ delicious. not as big and messy as paseo’s but certainly flavorful nonetheless. they serve it with a side of fruity dipping sauce that, when paired with that pork in the sammich, reaaaaaally really kicks the taste into full turbo mode. i wish i had room to try the empanadas on the apps section, it sounded delightful but then i wimped out because, well, i kinda had to head back to work… boooooo.
i do have a minor gripe, however. the sammiches took WAAAAY too long to be served. there was maybe one other table in the restaurant with customers and they already had their food so our 4 top shouldn’t have taken quite so long for just the 4 sammiches. not sure what the hold up was but this was prime time lunch hour and if this place was full capacity, we’d never have gotten our food. this might have been a one-​time issue so i’ll come back to try them empanadas. arriba, cabron!

Excellent little «hole in the wall» on Cap Hill (In the little enclave by Americana – end of the row across from Kimchee Bistro). My buddy had requested meat sweats for dinner post movie and we decided to try this in lieu of emptying our wallets at El Gaucho or Ipanema. Colombians have a good handle on their meat.
Service here was friendly and funny, and the food was great. We started with empanadas – fried in corn meal! Delish. I had the Cubano – and for all you Paseo lovers, this one is equally worth standing in line for. We also tried the Guarani, Parilla (amazing), and the pork entrée (forgot what it was called).
Seems like some great guys running the show, do them a solid and try it out.

The Crazy Cow (misspelled as the Crazy Crow on their menu). GET IT. Don’t walk. Run.
When they say «grilled to perfection» they freakin’ mean it.
That sandwich was very thoughtfully done. Every element of it was amazing. It was a messy sandwich but that didn’t stop me from burying my face in all that goodness! It was so amazingly flavorful and not with straight up hot spiciness. It had a complexity of flavors where all the parts tasted good and put together, the pieces worked magic in your mouth.
I have both dined in and ordered this to be delivered to work. The quality was consistent regardless of how you have it. I did enjoy the very hospitable demeanor of the server/​host at the restaurant. They took every care to make sure we were enjoying our meals and took pride in what they had to serve and I would say, rightfully so!
The rest of their menu is exciting as well. Their salads are hefty, filling and bursting with so many complementary flavors. I haven’t tried their plates, but I have made vaca frita at home (it’s daaaaank) and I can’t wait to try it from here to save myself the work.

Have to give 5 stars to Vaca Loca! Their sandwich is out of the world delicious! I’m surprised not many people know about this new, awesome sandwich place… but I suspect it’s partly because their store is a little hidden and doesn’t get as much foot traffic/​visibility as it really deserves. The store is inside the same building as Hana and Americana on Broadway. If you are looking to find this place, it’s on the first floor, opposite of Kimchi Bistro and behind Americana, and downstairs from Tacos Chukis.
I decided to try their Crazy Cow Sandwich (~$ 9 excluding tax/​tips), and oh wow… I was so surprised how moist, fresh and tasty their ingredients are! I love that the sandwich was so moist and succulent that the bread was able to soak up some tasty juice, too. I also found the combination of pineapple (I think?), fresh avocado, fresh spinach, overeasy egg, and some pesto-​like sauce, together with the meat… a rare but wonderful combination! You get all the taste in one bite! Savory from all other ingredients… but yet. some sweet from the pineapple, too!
I also like that they have super customer service mind here. The guy who works here is super polite and grateful for his customers. I’m definitely bringing my SO to check this place out the next time! I know this is a new place… and noticing from such low foot traffic… I really hope this place gets a chance to stay! Their food definitely deserves all the customers/​raving reviews (I actually like it more than the new Paseo establishment, too!)!

Great new place on the hill. Same location as Tacos Chukies just on the bottom floor. The owner is a super sweet man that seems to put a lot of love into what he does. The sandwiches are huge and super messy. I had the steak sandwich that had a house made aioli with grilled onions and arugula. The only thing that made me sad was my sandwich was supposed to come with avocado and it didn’t. It was really good though so I’ll let it slide. Great experience overall. I will probably go back to try other items off the menu.