ZOCA Mexican Restaurant - Capitol Hill, Washington DC

We were a party of 15 and they had the tables ready for us upon arrival. Breakfast food was amazing, service was quick and very friendly, and they have literally the best orange juice I've ever had; fresh squeezed and amazing in every way.

They call it Modern Mexican Cuisine. Are you curious what the modern twist means into Mexican cuisine? I was! Nobody could explain it. Worry not! I will tell you!Service is totally modern - unfriendly hostess, indifferent server with no knowledge about anything we asked - virtually non-existent.This is the first Mexican restaurant I have seen where you do not get complimentary chips and salsa. Of course, you can purchase them - for $19!Everyone's food has arrived luke warm. We all had to ask to have it warmed up.The fajitas came on a plate, not a sizzling skillet, with no usual accoutrements and completely void of any flavor.The prices are totally unjustified.I think I will stick with "old-fashioned" Mexican Cuisine!

The food was overpriced for the quality. After eating at this establishment the credit card I used to pay my bill was used to open a cash app account and my friend who was dining with me, the credit card she used to pay her bill was used to purchase hundreds of dollars of shoes. I reached out online to the store prior to making an online review and received a strange response back indicating that we were the only people to have eaten at the restaurant during that entire day. They also refused to acknowledge that there was an issue.Would absolutely not return and would tell others to not dine here.

Excellent food, great drinks, and smiles! Went to a CasaMigos food pairing dinner last night. It was amazing. It was a simple four course dinner each with a cocktail that could be enjoyed with or without the recommended CasaMigos flavor. They were fabulous either way. The food was incredible as were the pairings. Would take any guest there without hesitation.

Had such a fun experience at Zoca! I went for their Tequila Dinner experience and it was amazing. There were four-courses, each paired with Tequila and a juice to complement it or to add your tequila to. The service was great! The aesthetics were super cute. Definitely a five star experience and I posted more on my TikTok chloelynneats

Beautiful ambiance. The decor is so well done. I really enjoyed my food and the attentive wait staff. I went with a group of 12 and it felt like we had our own private dinner party while utilizing the second floor dining area. The drinks were strong and flavorful.

Welcome to the neighborhood!After mistakenly trying to dine on opening day, we returned a bit later on a Tuesday for happy hour.Street corn nachos were delicious, drinks were yummy, and service was overall friendly. The ambiance here is fun.The Carne asada taco meat was a bit tougher than I am used to, I'm not sure if it's a chef specific method but I'll try others.Zoca is a little pricy for my taste but the menu is very interesting and generous HH schedule (see website) is worth coming back for.

My wife and I have lived on Capitol Hill for nearly a decade, and we rarely deviate from our favorite local spots. We took a chance on Zoca today…Wow. Excellent dining experience on every level.The decor is beautiful, and the service was A+. Incredibly friendly and attentive.The drinks were outstanding. The margaritas were fresh and well-balanced, and the Paloma was delightful. The salsa and guac were great, as were the quesadillas.Highly recommended. We’ll be back.

Our first time to ZOCA is our last time. Do yourself a favor and go down the street to La Lomita.Ordered takeout via Postmates. A new spot to try! Food arrives quickly which is the best thing I'm going to say about it.The food portions were meager and the packaging underwhelming. I ordered the steak on chillie pepper entre and that's literally all I got. There were no fixings, tortillas, rice/beans, or vegetables, just a bit of sauce smeared around the side. Tastes just okay. My wife ordered the pork barbacoa fajitas and her portion was slightly less meager, which isn't an endorsement. The fixings however were modest and underwhelming including three small tortillas. For our appetizer we got the red leaf avocado and it was literally a whole avocado (sliced!!) over red leaf lettuce with no dressing, a few pieces of corn and tomatoes, and stale strips of tortilla chips (the menu said "tortilla chips" - nope; also "red beans" - none). It was awful.We spent $70+ and looking at things you would have thought we spent $15.I also recommend the margaritas at La Lomita.

Wow!!!! Was not expecting this. What a wonderful upscale Mexican restaurant. The drinks were great. The food was great. Our server, Ryda, is the best. Very attentive, pleasant and a big smile. Too bad that we’re from Hawaii and won’t be able to come back anytime soon.

It was a nice place, staff was excellent the food was good my Margarita was a little watered down and they made a big deal about there drinks. Guacamole was awesome. My chicken tacos were good, my husband empanadas he give them a 7.5.

Day 2 of the opening and I can already tell that this place will be a hit. The food was amazing. Service was quick and the drinks fresh and strong. Kelly was amazing. She literally squeezed the limes for my margarita directly in front of me. Great conversation and all around nice person. Come for the Great food and drinks, enjoy additional amazing conversations.

From Bethany Beach to Capitol Hill comes a Mexican restaurant on the same block as local favorite Santa Rosa. Curious, my family dined at ZOCA on a Tuesday just five days after their grand opening. It was our first and probably last visit. Here's why:1) Service: From the start, it was superb. The hostess was genuinely nice and made us feel like family. Although slow throughout our stay, the staff were always friendly from our server to the bartender.2) Food: It was hit or miss. My barbacoa pork sandwich was large and tasty, but the rice and beans it came with were not good. The shrimp tacos and fish tacos were good and both came with well-made corn tortillas. We got the trio of appetizers- salsa, guac and queso. The chips were good, but the trio were subpar.3) Drinks: We each ordered a margarita- the OG, pomegranate frozen and a paloma. They were just okay.4) Space: It's a little more fancy than other nearby Mexican restaurants, but nothing noteworthy. The sidewalk patio is nice, but small and only has high top tables, making it not ideal for kids.5) Price: This is where they go wrong. It is soooooooo expensive. My pork sandwich was $22 and a platter of three tacos only is $18. There's no free chips and salsa. The trio came with a small plate of chips and it was $2 more for extra chips.With friendly staff, I wanted to love this place, but when you can get much better food and drinks for half the price down the block at Santa Rosa, I'll pass on ZOCA.

The drinks are pretty good, and the food is mediocre.But the prices…are absurd. The cheapest chips and salsa option is $13. There is an up charge for extra chips if you run out. The best Mexican places give free chips and salsa the moment you sit down. The queso was also this bizarre gelatinous texture that did not look or taste right. I could’ve made better guacamole at home.If you want to be fancy and expensive, fine. But your food must be at that caliber, and it’s simply not.Hope to see prices come down or food quality go way up. If I return and observe an improvement I will revise this review.

We were really excited to give it a try - we’ve tried most of the Mexican restaurants in DC. We were extremely disappointed with both food and service.For food, the barbacoa ribs were far over sweetened, and had a 2mm by 1 mm piece of red plastic in it. Our waiter rightly brought it to the attention of the manager, and we were disappointed with how she handled it. First, the manager didn’t really apologize - mostly excused that s/he had looked and talked to the chef and couldn’t figure out where the plastic came from. S/he then offered a $10 coupon on a future meal at one of their places. While I appreciate the manager coming out to talk to us, for a place where each dish runs $20+, I expected a bit more. On a more minor service item, we had already been disappointed with staff asking us to stack appetizer plates so they were “out of the way” but then not clearing them.Not the best of evenings.All together not the finest of evenings.