Cocina De Barrio

Consistently delicious here. The Salmon mole and chicken verde mole were excellent. The vegan dish was great too. Nice to have a lot of vegan/vegetarian options. Table side guacamole is a must. Drinks are a definite highlight. Love the Palomas. This was my third visit, and will be back.

Happy hour food and drinks are amazing! We enjoyed the Memiletas, guacamole, and our favorite drinks were the mango and strawberry margaritas.

Yvonne did a fantastic job making sure we were taken care of. Thank you Yvonne for being attentive and giving us a special experience!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We found this place by accident. We were excited to see many dishes we had been craving. Unfortunately, every mole dish my friend wanted was on the spicy side, which she can not eat. She opted for the Ceasar Salad with salmon. To her disappointment the dish was a lot saltier than she expected.

I had short ribs in mole negro. They were good not great. The mole overpowered the taste of the meat. The best part was the guacamole with chapulines which added a wonderful smoky flavor to the guacamole.

The cucumber margarita was good.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 4

Fabulous food and authentic vibe!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Chuy makes a great margarita! Tortilla soup was delicious. 10/10 service. Will return!

Great food, if you are looking for Mexican cuisine different from the usual fare of tacos, burritos etc. It has some unique dishes with huitlacoche, nopales and chapulino. Great ambiance and service, Excellent location - we went to the one in Encinitas.

Great service and lots of traditional and extremely authentic Mexican food. Masa cakes with barrio lamb and the short rib are phenomenal. So many margarita options. Have recommended this place to friends. Love it.

An unforgettable foray into Oaxacan Mexican Cuisine! Not your traditional tex-mex food tho we normally enjoy that. This is a lovely huge step above any Mexican food we’ve tried anywhere, the flavor of each dish was tantalizing! My husband & I had very good traditional style Margaritas, excellent Salsa & Guac; even the Tortilla Chips excel. We were there during Happy Hour & ordered the recommended Mango Habanero Aquachiles (Shrimp) just the right amount of heat; we also had the memorable Memelitas. SO GOOD!! Portions are generous. A taste sensation at restaurants is necessary or why bother to dine out….that is my motto & every bite of our dinner made us happy!
Our servers, Oscar and Nikki were both friendly & attentive. We will definitely look for them next time! We had nice conversations with them both & also with Oscar, the Manager.
This restaurant was recommended by friends, thank you Larry & Mary!
Definitely a new favorite the next time we’re in Solana Beach!
Sharon & Mark Hug

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We had the ceviche which was good. The fish was at the correct consistency and the mix of flavors in the ceviche were great. My friend had birria tacos which he said were amazing. I had the short rib. It was a mix of complex flavors. The short rob had a slight burnt taste, a little too much. It came with a carrot puree with dumplings and a lemon rice. When mixing all the flavors together in each bite it made everything work together nicely. I just wish the burnt tast was slightly less, it overpowered the flavor of the sauce a little bit. I then had a corn pudding with ice cream. It was supposed to be basically like banana pudding IT WAS AMAZING. I did not expect it. I also had the jalapeño mezcal cocktail with black sea salt. It was delicious and not too spicy

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Delicious cocktails . Guacamole is incredible. My fish portion was very generous as was the dessert which we shared among 3 of us. Highly recommend.

Happy Hour 5$ Margarita was pretty good. HH food menu was a bit pricy, 10$ chips and salsa among some other 12$ and over items. Atmosphere was pleasant.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 4

Really enjoyed happy hour with some coworkers. The salmon dish is incredible, fish tacos awesome. I had a beer, but my coworkers all had specialty cocktails and loved them. Chill atmosphere and attentive staff

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

My wife and I were recently in Encinitas when we happened across Cocina on a Sunday afternoon. What a fabulous find! We shared the aguachiles negro for an appetizer and it was absolutely amazing! Then I had the lamb birria, that's right lamb birria juevos rancheros. First of all, the portions were enormous. No way I was finished that in one sitting. But second, it was delicious. I didn't have a cocktail, but the bar looked super cool. I would definitely go back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Oh I loved this restaurant it was my first time going here and I would so recommend for birthdays.

We love this place and eat here for dinner as well as brunch. The service is great and the space is beautiful. And the food is so so good. I love the short rib with mole.