Cocina Azul

A great place for authentic New Mexican fare.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Try the green chili stew.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Great service! Good food! Excellent happy hour! From the outside it looks like a pricer place than it is so don't let it's appearance throw you off. This is a casual eatery but a step up from your average Mexican restaurant. There is a full sized bar and several tables placed in the bar area. A low wall separates the rest of the tables both helping keep the noise level down and separating those that don't want to sit by the bar. The same waitress that seated me took my order, mentioned the noon to 2pm happy hour, and made sure I had refills and everything was to my satisfaction. I ordered the brisket street tacos (per another Goggle reviewer's suggestion) and was very pleased with my selection. Street tacos were small but you are provided 6! And 2 sides. I chose calabacitas (yellow & zucchini squash with corn, tomatoes, & onions) and rice. Also provided red & green sauce, lettuce, tomatoes & guacamole. Sour cream provided upon request. The brisket was juicy and flavorful, the rice so moist---some of the best flavor I'd ever had, but as far as the squash dish I could have eaten just a large bowl of that & been very happy. The combo was very delicious and satisfying. And with 2 sugar rimmed on the rock margaritas ($4.50 each)---one peach & the other strawberry (actually had alcohol otherwise I wouldn't have ordered another) it was a very good meal. I highly recommend this restaurant if you're in Albuquerque. No frills but great service & good food! And to top it off the manager offered me complimentary pineapple sorbet from Frost's!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Brisket Tacos, Calabacitas

Was dirty and the food was subpar to say the least.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 2

Service: 2

I was there for lunch. The food was good but the service was lousy. It took a long time to get my food. The waitress didn't offer to refill my iced tea. After I requested the check I waited almost 20 minutes before she brought it. The dining room was extremely loud. I get the impression that the bar was the staff's priority and not the customers like me who were just ordering food.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 5

Service: 1

Carne adovaca Chile rellenos were delicious and there was enough left for take-home, especially with the two sides that came with it. This was our first visit and we plan to return.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Love this place and it’s HOT salsa

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This was my first time eating here. I was looking forward to trying this place. The waitress was not attentive. It took forever to place our order. We had to ask the bus boy to get our waitress to order our food. We never seen our waitress the whole time we were there. It was like she was hiding in the back. The place was not busy at all at 2:30 pm when we ate. My wife ordered 3- carnita tacos and 3- steak. The carnitas were very dry and not worth the 20 dollars. We will not be coming back here anytime soon. This is the one on Montgomery.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Food was horrible, don’t waste your time and money here, it was our first and last time!!!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Excellent sauce red, green omgoshhhhhhh 😲 burger, enchiladas, quesadilla, burritos brisket, the sirloin steak, very good. Get your butter here fast before i eat all the food. Every dish was well seasoned and the free desert, at least thats what I call it is a fresh bread with honey you can drizzle OMG 😲 AMAZING

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Cocina azul was amazing! My family and I were very pleased with the food it was honestly one of the best we’ve eaten not only in Albuquerque but from our home town (El Paso). Our server was Alex, and he was one of the best who’s ever attended us. He was very polite, friendly, informative and over all the best. My wife and I are on vacation celebrating our birthday and he gave us amazing places to check out. If I can rank this restaurant any higher I would. I highly recommend checking out the restaurant and hopefully Alex will be your server! Thank you Alex!

I had a taco salad. Best taco salad I've had in a very long time. Everything fresh. The house margaritas are AWESOME.

Very good! This is the 3rd location I've gone to on a visit to ABQ. Great! The carne adovada is delicious. And the sopapillas were fresh and super hot. Staff was friendly. Prices were reasonable. Would definitely recommend!

The food is consistently delicious but I've noticed that when I order the carne asada fries, they tend to be stingy. Last week I place an order to share with a friend. Hardly enough for one. Other times the account is perfect. I guess it depends on who's preparing the food. The service at the Holly location is superb! I usually only order to go, but the staff go out of their way to make sure all is perfect. The bartender is always very nice! Thank you!!

Food was so bad.