Valerie R.
Yelp
I've had mixed experiences at La Boca over the years. Having visited their old location in the past, the drinks were good and appetizers were generally good, but anytime I had dinner it was mediocre at best. I've had a restaurant. com certificate burning a hole in my pocket since July, so finally decided to check out La Boca's new location. I went in on a Monday for the "Blues, Brews and BBQ" special. I'm not sure what the "blues" part is, and I didn't have a brew, but I was curious to see what BBQ at a Mexican restaurant was all about.
Having read their website before we got there, I saw that there is a different BBQ special every week. Some type of smoked meat with sides. It's made fresh for Mondays, and they sell it from 5pm - midnight or until it runs out. The special on Monday 1/13 was 1/4 applewood smoked chicken and a smoked sausage on a pretzel roll with peppers and onions. It came with choice of 2 sides (mac and cheese, potato salad, cole slaw or baked beans), all for $10.
We arrived around 6:30 and the restaurant was remarkably empty. It is a lot nicer looking than their old space, though from the inside you'd have no idea you're inside a Mexican restaurant. I suppose that's not a bad thing. We were seated immediately and our waiter came right over. We ordered drinks (frozen mango margarita for me, pinot noir for my husband). Though I couldn't find any of the flavors on the new drink menu, I ordered what I had always gotten in the past and I wasn't told it wasn't available. The drinks arrived quickly, along with chips and salsa. The chips were fresh and the salsa had a nice kick. The mango margarita was light on both mango and tequila. It was fine, but had I known it was $7.50, I would have gotten wine instead.
For an appetizer, we ordered "empanadas" - chorizo and queso variety. I put it in quotes because while it was plural on the menu, it was singular on the plate when it arrived. One lame little empanada with the characteristic La Boca topping of lettuce, tomato and cheese. Oh, it was all coming back to me, everything I dislike about La Boca. Inside was dry and relatively flavorless. Not much filling at all. The empanada itself was mushy, not flaky and crisp. If you blindfolded me and asked me what I was eating, I probably would have guessed that I was eating a microwaved frozen bean burrito. Not good, especially for $8. Even worse to get charged $10 when the check came, even though the menu said $8. I was very glad I had not decided to give a Mexican entree another try. The quality of their Mexican food has obviously not improved.
Our BBQ entrees arrived. I ordered the mac and cheese and cole slaw on the side. The cole slaw was good, fresh. The mac and cheese was mediocre. It tasted like it was made with velveeta and not much else. My husband got the mac and cheese and baked beans. The beans were the star of the meal! Yummy with big chunks of pork in them. Best thing I ate all night. The chicken was good taste wise, but very dry. Luckily I had a side of sauce to dip it in. The sausage grinder was good, but the roll was very dry. I ate the sausage, peppers and onions and it was good.
As I started this review, I had it pegged as a 3. I've now talked myself down to a 2. Food quality, prices, overcharging from already high menu prices, it was not a great experience. The BBQ was fine but not enough to go there when I don't have a restaurant.com certificate to lessen the prices of the drinks and appetizers. I didn't mention earlier in the review, but our server Mitchell was wonderful. He was there when we needed him and wasn't there when we didn't. If not for him, this review might have come in at a 1. I just think for both Mexican and BBQ, there are much better choices for your money. And now I don't even think it's a good spot for drinks anymore, unless you want to spend money on drinks with little to no liquor or flavor.