Los Cucos Seafood & Steaks

I feel bad saying this… I’ve been a Los Cucos regular since the 90’s when the restaurant was located at the current seafood location. Back then we saw and talked with the owner every time we went. Now, she’s never around and it shows. The service is always always terrible. The margaritas are weak and taste like there’s too much sugar. Happy hour has great prices, but is it worth it? I’d rather just drive 3 miles south on Hwy 6 and go to Lupes Tortillas where the fajitas are fabulous and queso flameado is to die for. Sorry Los Cucos. This hurts me more than it hurts you.

Such a great location for the locals; and such a waste!
It was with great anticipation we visited Los Cucos S & S on Friday. After having been closed for what had to be the better part of a year, this restaurant recently reopened. Prior visits prepared us for the fact that this is not your chips & salsa or queso kind of Tex-​Mex.
My first clue should have been the difference a couple of weeks make. Several weeks ago, while heading home down Ave D, I noticed the parking lot was full; lots of people trying the recently reopened eatery. Fast forward to last Friday, traditionally a day you can’t get into a restaurant for dinner in Katy, or most of Houston for that matter. We arrived at 5:45, granted a bit early, but were the second party there. As confirmation, when we left @ 7:00, there were only 5 tables occupied… something had changed in the last few weeks. I’m guessing word of mouth! I will say, the staff’s heart is in the right place. They were accommodating about the high chair and kid’s meals and certainly had smiles and friendly attitudes. But, sadly, that didn’t translate into a good experience for the meal.
My wife and I were the first to arrive getting a table for 7; almost immediately, we had a complementary appetizer of vegetable bisque; good start but nobody asked about the rest of our party. They had not even made it into the parking lot and the result was cold bisque, Additionally, no one had mentioned that it contained shrimp; not unreasonable at a seafood place, but, had I not tasted it we would have had to call 911 as my wife is very allergic to crustaceans. And yes, we do eat a seafood restaurants all the time and it’s no problem. Communication! Later, when ordering her meal, she pointed at the menu and said «fish basket, I’m allergic to shrimp»…when they brought her meal-​you guessed it — shrimp basket! Now maybe it was a language issue, but regardless, you should expect your waiter to be able to communicate effectively. Management/​training issue?
Lest you think it was all about the serv ice, everyone at our table commented on how bland everything was. Also, I guess that they’re subscribing to the theory that you should make your money in drink sales; a small flute (who uses this for Chardonnay?) was $ 7 for a no-​name house white.
All in all, a very disappointing outcome to what we really wanted to be an enjoyable experience. The place is convenient, clean; the kind of establishment you would hope to be able to make a regular dinner hang-​out. But, alas, it’s not to be… and so the search continues!

This is it, folks. The very first Los Cucos in Houston. The original, the mac daddy of them all. I remember eating here at least once a week when I was in Junior High & High School (Mayde Creek!). The food is always excellent, despite the décor of the strip center. Don’t judge a book by its cover.
I haven’t eaten here since they turned it into a Los Cucos Seafood & Steak joint, however I have heard great things. They do have some of the traditional items, however the focus here is obviously on the Mexican spin of seafood and steak. This is where, in my opinion, Los Cucos truly shines at their regular restaurants so I should probably slap my face shut that I haven’t been back in so long to this location.
¡Viva Los Cucos!