Coconut Beach Tacos & Cerveza

I always eat my food and then have the thought of taking a photo afterwards! This place is very good. I had the carnitas enchiladas which came with rice and black beans. The beans were more like a soup, which wasn’t my favorite. My mom had 3 different tacos and dad had chicken fajitas, which they both said they enjoyed. The entrees were very reasonably priced. I had a mixed drink that definitely could have been stronger. Chips and salsa are extra, but good. The staff could use improvement, but overall they were accommodating. More than once we were asked how we were doing and if our food was ok. It’s a little dark in the restaurant, but very spacious. The music/​videos are a little weird (we went on a Friday night, so I’m not sure if they are playing all the time). I will definitely be back to try out some more of their food!

I went to Coconut Beach last night for the first time, and was pretty excited because Mexican food is my absolute favorite. I was there with a Nerium Party and there were a lot of us there in the back room, and they only set aside two servers. The other server seemed to be right on top of everything. Our server however, was the worst. I don’t complain in restaurants… its a hard job, and one that I’ve never done. I respect that servers often get treated like crap and that they don’t get paid well for a hard job. However, I also expect them to do a good job. If I didn’t do my job, I wouldn’t get paid. It was almost 30 miutes before he came over and asked if we wanted anything to drink. we ordered 5 waters, 1 beer and 2 orders of queso. 20 minutes later we got our drinks, and probably 10 minutes after that our queso. (meanwhile… the table behind us had received their drinks, chips salsa, and multiple refills from the bar… same server) ONE HOUR later… someone with us had to walk up to him and ask him if we could order, his response was oh, are you ready? ummm yeah dude. its been an hour.
This is where it really went downhill for me. 3 of us ordered burritos. I am ALLERGIC to avocados. In my ordering of my burrito, I said at least 5 times. «No guacamole, No avacados. I am allergic» At one point I felt he wasn’t paying attention so I even said… if you try to kill me I won’t be happy. He laughed. An hour later, our food finally came out. They handed out the burritos. No designation. Nothing. I looked very carefully at mine, moved things around. Saw no green other than lettuce. I got 3 bites in and noticed that my mouth was buring. At first I thought it was just the spice. Then after my fourth bite, I saw it. Guacamole. A thin layer spread under the sour cream and lettuce, directly on the burrito. I immediately got up and took the plat to the bar with intention of asking for the manager, but the server intercepted me. When I told him what the deal was, his ONLY RESPONSE TO ME was «well, there were three burritos at your table.» Are you kidding me??? You didn’t mark the burrito with no guac, you didn’t tell us, hey this one is the one with no guac. I made it VERY CLEAR that I was allergic, and you laughed it off. AWESOME. Every restaurant that we go to, when I tell them I’m allergic to avocados, if anyone else orders something with them on it, they put it on the side instead of directly on the plate… that way there is no confusion.
He then asked, well what do you want to do… you want us to make you another one. Well no, because we won’t be here another hour to wait for it. He stood there for a second staring at me like he couldn’t BELIEVE that I was upset, and then said… well, I guess we can take it off the bill. You guess? No. That’s exactly what you will do. Because I can’t eat it.
The complete disregard for something that can literally kill a person is disgusting. I will be calling later this afternoon and speaking to the manager. My tongue and throat feel like they have been burned, and my throat feels swollen. I have taken a benedryl, and it did nothing. The next time I have to go here for a meeting, I’ll be taking McDonalds in.

Amazing. Burritos. Fast service, delicious hot sauces. Excellent chips and salsa. Generous portions. Glad I tried this.

Loved this place near the Louisville university. The highlight were the nachos which had some delicious pickled jalapeños and the fish tacos. Skip the mole fries, they tasted like Christmas and not in a good way. The drinks were okay, a little light on the alcohol. But hey there’s always beer.

I don’t know how this place is still open honestly. The whole restaurant smelled like a sewer, the service was painfully slow, our order and our bill were wrong. Will never come back here!

I really enjoyed the fish tacos. All the elements were fresh and tasty. The service was perfect. The pace a little slow, but we need to slow down a bit. But when we needed service, we didn’t have to say anything, poof, they were there.

Coconut Beach is my go-​to for food while tailgating at UofL football games. This spot is directly across the street from the stadium.
It’s owned by the folks who run Taco Luchador, so if you like TL, you’ll like this.
The portions and food are good, but oddly, each time we’ve gone on a Saturday, the prices were different. Sometimes it’s 9 $ for 3 tacos, sometimes it’s 10 $.
I’ve had all of the tacos. All solid, but the al pastor was my least favorite. Too sweet for my taste. The guac is also under seasoned. But the barbacoa nachos are awesome, as are the barbacoa tacos. Carnitas are my favorite, though.
The Synchronizada (spelling?) was a fantastic take on a quesadilla. The warm, gooey quesadilla was topped with braised beef, chicken, cheeses, onions, and jalapenos. Awesome flavor and portion.
The chilaquiles (my personal favorite) was also spectacular. The cheese sauce was dynamite, as were the eggs and braised beef. A+.
You’ll get the option of three house-​made sauces: chile de arbol, habanero, and jalapeño. All three are good, and the habanero managed to get the flavor AND the heat of the pepper. Most habanero sauces only get the heat and miss out on the flavor.
Coconut beach isn’t getting 5 stars for a few reasons. One, no free chips and salsa. Come on, really? A Mexican place without free chips? Second, the atmosphere is bizarre: it looks like a dance hall, it’s too dark, and the space is laid out very oddly. And finally, although the house-​made sauces are fantastic, the only bottled hot sauce is … Frank’s. That’s just weird.
If you go on a game day Saturday, don’t let the dark lighting and atmosphere fool you. This is good food.

Went here for lunch on a Friday. The place was much bigger than I anticipated on the inside, a renovated warehouse with a single line of booths along one wall. Sort of weird atmosphere, but doesn’t take away from the experience.
We ordered the empanadas as an appetizer, which come with chips and salsa-​but not your ordinary salsa. Our waiter (who was VERY helpful and friendly by the way) told us it was a veggie salsa, they blend vegetables and the salsa turns almost black. Unique and delicious. Nice to have a break from the routine watery tomato mess served at most Americanized Mexican places.
The empanadas themselves were fantastic, make sure to scoop up some of the peppers and sauce on top of each bite for maximum taste bud enjoyment.
I ordered the Sincronizadas Mexicanas, and boy am I glad I did. After chips and salsa + empanadas, I was ready to take a box home, but no such thing happened. The entrée consists of four cheese quesadillas piled high with lettuce, onion, tomato, guacamole, and your choice of chicken or beef. While I will say the guacamole could be fresher, everything else was down the hatch almost faster than I wanted it to be. The chicken was moist and tender, again a pleasant break from big chain Mexican places.
In addition to all that greatness, our server also brought us 3 homemade sauces of varying hotness. While I didn’t get to try them (I’m telling you, that meal went down fast), I’m sure they were up to par with the homemade salsa as far as being distinct and delectable.
I hope this place continues to expand and get more business! They deserve it.

I love this place I have eaten here twice and both times the food is amazing. The mole fries are on point. The mole is a traditional brown, simi-​sweet, yet savory sauce usually put on chicken, but here is covers fries then topped with cheese. I could eat these EVERYDAY!
The other thing I order was the carnitas tortas – which means pork sandwich. It reminded me of mi abuela’s cooking when I was very young. The bread was soft on the inside and had a slight crusty outside. The pork was seasoned perfectly and it was topped with pickled onions.
This was one of the best Mexican — style restaurants I have been to in a long time.

I went to this place after hearing from one of my co-​workers how much they love it. I heard it was basically Taco Luchador (and I believe they are owned by the same folks), but slightly less expensive and a bigger space. We got there and it looks like a big warehouse. We entered from the side of the building, and to our right was some reunion party going on in what looked like a bar/​dance space, and to our left was the restaurant. It was a weird hodge-​podge of spaces, but I had heard good things, so we sat down.
Our service was painfully slow. One of the other servers at one point jumped in to help out because they noticed how long we had been waiting, but they only jumped in once and didn’t lend a hand otherwise when it wasn’t that busy, which was pretty disappointing. Their service left a bad taste in my mouth, which is unfortunate, because I had their plantain tacos, which were unexpectedly great. The plaintains were lightly fried and the aioli, corn, and cilantro just made these little street tacos so pleasant to eat. I split a pitcher of margaritas with some friends, which were a bit wimpy. Overall, the food experience itself was decent, but the service was definitively lacking.

Very unique in food selection and taste. They could have created a better dining experience with improved arrangement of the dining area. No habla English, so good luck on getting what you think you ordered.
Special bonus tip: Try out the salsas on the table before you cover everything unless you have an mouth of stone.

Is this place a secret? If so, we need to spread the word! I’ve only gone during the work week for lunch and there needs to be more people going!
The food is very complex and not your typical «chips and salsa Mexican». But speaking of chips and salsa– and queso– Coconut Beach does then right! Though you have to pay for them.
I got the carnitas burrito and it was huge! Took some home for dinner that night. The carnitas were deliciously marinated. There are 3 different sauces that come in tubes– warning the spicy is HOT. A second time I got 3 tacos but could only eat 2 in the sitting. The carnitas are my favorite filling, but I also enjoyed the fish.
Definitely worth a try for something filling during lunch!

Never had any quesadillas like this! Cheese quesadillas on bottom, then chicken on top with salad on top. Presentation was impressive, portions were large and taste was incredible. Muy Bueno!

Fresh! fresh! fresh! Number one word to describe this restaurant by far. I ordered 3 tacos (forget which ones, sorry) and they were awesome! Perhaps the best chips and queso combo I have ever eaten as well. Prices are very reasonable. They bring out 3 different sauce combinations to put on the tacos, all of which had dates on them. I had to verify that the dates actually meant they replaced the sauces on a regular basis (weekly was what I was told) and you can definitely tell. I don’t think I have ever been to a taco joint where the sauce was not crusted on the tip of the bottles until now. I will definitely be coming back to this location and I highly recommend to anyone who loves good food. Great margarita and beer specials as well.

Clean place. Awesome staff. I wouldn’t have a problem eating here in the future, but I doubt I’ll go back.
Being from the owners of El Taco Luchador & Mussel Burger Bar, I expected so much more. Don’t get me wrong, Coconut Beach Tacos & Cerveza has everything that El Taco Luchador has with a few other menu additions.
The tacos that I ordered tasted fine (2 Pollo Adobo & 2 Al Pastor). My only complaint is that it seemed like they made them at Luchador & then shuttled them over to us. They weren’t as fresh as they’ve been each & every time at Luchador. It was the same result with the Mole fries. Tasty, but not the freshest.
Before this turns into a comparison review, I will touch on the burrito that my lady ordered. It was good. I know this because when she says that she’s full and continues to eat until the food is finished then I know it must be good!
We went on a Wednesday evening. There were only 4 – 5 other tables with people in this extra large place. I expected the food to be much fresher than what it was. I hear that this place is packed on Friday/​Saturdays… especially during football season. If the freshness isn’t there with 4 – 5 tables, I fear that fresh food probably isn’t much better with a packed house.
When I’m craving tacos, El Taco Luchador always pops into my head. When this was the case yesterday, I thought to myself, «Why not go try their other place?»
Ultimately, the place is good enough to justify the price, but in the future I’ll skip this place & head on to El Taco Luchador.

Well this place is gross. I mean, it’s clean. The service is fine. But the food actually tasted awful.
The fish taco stank. Not a normal fish smell. But like someone put a terrible season and batter on it. Gross. And it didn’t taste very nice.
The chicken burrito was the same. Really bad flavor. I don’t know what they had going on there. I didn’t care for it. Ate maybe half of it.
The black beans looked like someone took cat poop and baby poop, mixed it together, and served it. And it didn’t taste much different.
The rice was the best thing they had. It was just plain, white rice.
I won’t be back. Nasty. Besides, it right next to UofL’s football stadium. I should have known better than to go over there.

Holy moly. My parents are I came here for a quick workday lunch and, in one visit, this has become my new favorite Mexican place in town! We were seated immediately and were given chips and salsa. You could tell that both were homemade and the salsa had such a different and yummy flavor. On the advice of fellow Unilocalers, we ordered some Maduros. My dad wasn’t a fan but my mom and I both thought they were delicious and different (my dad’s a weirdo — who doesn’t like plantains?!) I ordered the Chicharrones taco and the Baja fish taco. They were both delicious but my favorite was the fish — it was set off perfectly with a nice amount of slaw. I put a little verde sauce on there and my tastebuds were sated! My mom had the burrito and my dad had the chicken torta — they both loved their entrees.
The best part? Our entire meal was $ 27.00. That is unbelievable for the quality of food!
Stop reading my review. Go. Go now!

Coconut Beach Tacos & Cerveza is the best of El Taco Luchador, which is under the same ownership, with some other new favorites mixed in.
This hit me when I was deep into my enjoyment of an al pastor (pork) taco. I had had this delicious taco before, I thought.
And a quick comparison of the two restaurants’ menus shows that CBT&C has many tacos and tortas that look similar to ETL’s, plus other specials, appetizers, soups and burritos that are their own.
But considering how great ETL is – and really how great all of the restaurants that are operated by the Martinez family are — this is more than A-​OK in my book. Who wouldn’t want to have more of their greatness around town?
(That was a hypothetical question, but still, the answer is a resounding, «Not me!» The more Martinez restos, the better!)
So for my first visit to CBT&C, we started with the maduros, which are plantains topped with crema, queso and cilantro (also a favorite at ETL).
And these were as good as I remembered them from ETL. The savoriness of the crema and queso pairing was a good match for the sweetness of the soft, warm plantains, making it more than a one-​note appetizer.
For my tacos, I got the barbacoa, al pastor and baja fish, with the fish being my favorite. I loved having that crunch of the beer batter within the taco, and the fish was tender and cooked well.
All in all, the tacos at CBT&C as well as at ETL have a nice balance of protein to cheese to other add-​ins. They are never over stuffed, yet three usually fill me up for a meal.
Our server was helpful when it came to describing the menu and giving his favorites, and the meal was very affordable at $ 2 per taco, which is cheaper that ETL. Tacos there range from $ 2.50 to $ 3.25 each.
The location and décor is a bit strange, I grant you. It’s in the old Tailgaters spot, directly next to Papa John’s Stadium. Both I and my lunch companion remarked that we worried the place was closed because there were no other cars in the parking lot when we arrived just before noon.
It was open, though. I just hope more people frequent this spot to help it stay open, since it isn’t in a high traffic area, except on game days.
All in all, this was a great lunch. I feel like CBT&C would be a good place to show off your foodie prowess to out-​of-​towners, given its out-​of-​the-​way locale and great food.
P. S. I’m saving my last star for a return trip, in which I try some of the items CBT&C alone makes, like the Sincronizadas Mexicanas (a quesadilla with a strange name) or carne asada burrito. Yum!

My hopes were high for this local joint. Perhaps it was the time of day I came in, but staff were off their game and the food was lackluster (and I was HUNGRY!).
When I arrived at 2:30, staff were at the bar eating and laughing together. That wasn’t a problem but the amount of time it took to be noticed and seated was rather silly. The place was dead.
Either the server lingered too often and too long or he disappeared. Sometimes the music turned off. There were people coming in and gathering laundry and floor mats. It would have been cool to do it away from my table. It felt distinctly like I was there during closing/​opening.
Unfortunately, the sandwich lacked much flavor and needed salt. I’ve been waiting to ask for salt and the pickled jalapeños for about 20min but I’m ready to take this to go.
For those ordering the chicken sandwich, there is not much protein (if that’s what you are hoping for).
I’m sticking to taco luchador for now. Maybe I’ll come back in the evening when this place is more lively.

YUM!!! Coconut Beach Tacos & Cerveza has quickly become my favorite Mexican restaurant in town, and I sincerely hope it will become a fast favorite for others! This restaurant is located in the old Tailgaters Sports Bar & Grill, of which I was never a fan. However, this is completely different. The menu offers $ 2 tacos like you find at sister restaurant El Taco Luchador. I mix up my order every time, because they’re all my favorites! There are a number of your other favorite Mexican foods as well; the carne asada was delicious, but literally everything my friends and I have ordered has been delicious. A number of their items have a unique spin. For example, the salsa served with chips is house made and not like one I have had elsewhere in Louisville. If I could suggest one thing you MUST try (if you like plantains), it is the maduros. AMAZING. Seriously. I love them.
The space is large with large booths and a bar with plenty of seating (and other tables in between), and they have a private parking lot surrounding the building. The staff is friendly; the bartender remembered me (and where I work!) from one visit to the next. They’re also fairly quick, which is great, because you don’t want to wait long for this food. I believe on weekends this space is also a nightclub for salsa dancing, though I am not totally certain on that. Also, for updates on hours, etc., like them on Facebook (ex. They recently posted «winter» hours.). Then, whether you are nearby at UofL or far away across town, rush in to have a delicious and inexpensive meal.