La Cocina

Service is always good. Nice clean place. Food is good. Wish they had vegetarian red chili.

Based on Audrey A’s review I visited to try their cinnamon rolls.
Nope — they don’t serve them anymore.
Still, I love their food and the service is just fine.

The Frito pie and the the stuffed Sopapillas were excellent and the service and price were right on!!!

Very dissapointed. Charged .35¢ per packet of honey for the sopapillas. Definately won’t come back here!!! Very bad customer service

Been looking for a place to vent, LA Cocina is an OK place to eat.
While the food is typical NM fair, the service is poor.
Especially in the mornings, there is a short, dark, and rather plump waitress who I always seem to draw. She is rude obnoxious and just plain mean.
The salsa is hot, watery, and with no flavor of its own, except the cumin, I swear if they watered down and served Pace it would taste better.

This is great New Mexico menu. Not Mexican food. Great breakfast with blue corn piñón nut pancakes. They also have a very good bakery case at the entrance. Too full? Take home a piece of delicious carrot cake. The staff is well trained. They know how to serve without over doing it.

Love their food. Their red chile is the best, so good I had to take some home with me! The staff was fast and friendly from the moment I walked in the door. My waitress was very kind and answered all my questions.

This is our go-​to place in northern New Mexico for New Mexican food. The red or green chile is always tasty, the guacamole is a plentiful serving and the blue corn enchiladas, steak, lamb dishes, calabacitas (squash dish) are all super! Prices are very reasonable. Located in a beautiful adobe structure. Only gripe is that the sopaipillas arrive with the dinner so that if you want them for dessert with honey they are cold by the time you eat them! There are fancier places in the area but none better in my opinion!

A lovely place we stopped at on our way to Sante Fe (coming in from the north). We noticed a PACKED parking lot (Sunday, 12:30) so decided to forego our plans at old reliable Gabriels and try something new. Glad we did. The food was reasonably priced and quite tasty. La Cocina had the feel of a place using recipes that have been in the family for decades.
Guacamole, a little too chunky and needed salt, otherwise, very good ingredients. Wife & I cleaned out the bowl. The only downside to the meal were mehhh chips. Obviously not made on site the way chips at home in Tex Mex restaurants are. But that’s a small thing right?
Wife was tired of spicy foods so she got a small shrimp platter w/​fries and liked them. My Carne Adovada over cheese enchiladas was killer good. The Adovada sauce has a deep, rich flavor, and generated a slow burn heat. Pork was lean and very tender. By meal’s end my face was sweating big time. Pinto beans, usually an afterthought (are you listening Papasitos in Dallas??) were exceptional. Sopapilla was mehhh but who cares after an exceptional meal eh? Great service and wonderful atmosphere. We’ll be back!

This is a lil’ ditty of a review for a place I only grabbed some coffee from, never ate. I think it’s important to note good coffee spots in Espanola because, let’s face it, there aren’t many. La Cocina has an espresso machine with a fair menu of the basic brews that’ll get your motor running, it’s a good pit stop on your way to Los Alamos or up north. The employees were friendly, they were informative when I asked for directions, and the goods came out relatively quickly. My only suggestion: add a few pitchers and sweeteners for customizing the drinks.

Damn fine food and decent prices up here in Espanola. Great portions and excellent flavor profiles. Kind and friendly staff too.

The food is fantastic. The atmosphere is very nice. I have always received good service. Prices are a little higher than most places but it is worth it if you are looking for a good meal. They also have decent espresso beverages for after your meal. Definitely recommend.

I really like this place. I was served by Crystal, one of the BEST waitresses I have ever met.
We have been coming to this place for 2 decades and enjoy every visit. Yesterday we had some of the best service I have ever had, honestly the nicest waitress ever!
They have some of the best Chilies in town, and they don’t water the product down, like some other places on main street. The food is healthy & tasty too!
BRAVO La Cocina!

Good food great service and atmosphere. Waitress was always prompt with our requests.

Really great food! Carne adovado (?) was tender and juicy and perfect with green chile. Guacamole was only complaint-​very chunky and a little bland. Location is also a little bit off.

REALLY GOOD BREAKFAST!!! REALLY HEALTHY!!!
Tofu Scramble in Little Town, NM? — YESSIR!!!
Real «big city» vegitarian/​vegan options here. Green Sauce was best I’ve ever tasted. B-​fast Burrito was huge, tasty and cheap. Tofu scam was fabulous. Friend is a carnivore and said their dead animal product was also super good. Service was friendly and prompt even though place was busy on Sunday morning. This place could hold its own in any big city.

Finally a place for great coffee without the required additional vocabulary. Pastries are all fresh and housemade, with the cinnamon rolls to die for. All their plates are high quality Northern NM food without the Los Alamos and tourist traffic discovered us prices of el Paragua. Great service, never seen any friendlier; lovely sopapillas, great red chile. I tend to stick with my favs like the carne adovada burrito plate or frito pie but everything my company eats is also good. They could get a better salsa maker but who has room when everything else is so good. The breakfast burrito am special is a heck of a deal-​they will let you upgrade your coffee for a minimum up charge.

Wait for it… WOW! Did you see that? Let’s try it again… WOW! La Cocina is such a staple in the Beautiful Espanola Valley. True authentic Spanish plates, just as good as grandmas cooking without having to do the dishes. The help is always smiling and very attentive to ones needs. Oops. I almost forgot to mention the coffee is divine…

Great value, attentive, competent service, good food and portions. Background but not loud music, spacious dining room where you can hear each other talk. They also have vegan/​vegetarian dishes.

This place has really gone down hill they used to serve excellent Northern New Mexican food but the last couple of times I have went there food just seems to be bland and boring.