Mala Pata Molino + Cocina

Absolutely blown away by Mala Pata and the staff! The ambience at Mala Pata felt warm and inviting. The staff were incredibly knowledgeable about the menu, and could offer great recommendations to our party of three. We ordered so many dishes and not one was disappointing. Here are a few of our favorites: (All were fabulous dishes) Butterflied grilled striped seabass with both salsa verde and roja Flautas de papas – Tuna tartacos Aguachile verde Pina Y Queso Guacamole Pork carnitas Great portion sizes mean there was plenty for sharing within our group! If you favor a great cocktail look no futher than the beautiful Peyote bar. The cocktail menu will satisfy everyone. Mala Pata delivers bold flavors, creativity, and a vibe that’s rare. Whether you’re a Latin‐food aficionado or just looking for an evening of great food this place will earn every 5 star review they receive! We are looking forward too our next trip. Reservations are recommended.

It's only been a couple weeks since they opened, and the food and experience was amazing! The customer service is amazing, you can tell each employee cares. We saw one of the owners working as well. The food was all delicious, authentic flavors but with fun little twists. Drinks were tasty as well. We sat with the view of the kitchen which is fun and high energy. If you want more quiet and personal, I'd choose the Yellow Room. But we loved the view of kitchen seating. 10/10 experience!

Overall rating 9/10 Was lucky enough to go on opening night of this gem of a place. The flavors they are exploring seem to redefine Mexican food and in an extremely good way. We tried 5 dishes and were overall impressed with the dishes. I feel there some minor nick-nacks that will be ironed out over time. The thing that I love was the amazing atmosphere of the place and it was infectious! I left inspired by the exploration of flavors and thus plan to come again. Dishes reviewed below: Pina y Queso -9/10 You must get this dish especially in the current heat! Very refreshing with an addictive queso cream sauce (I am guessing some mixture of queso fresco and table cream), layered with zing from shallots and vinaigrette rounded off with the tang from the grilled pineapple. My only comment on this dish - more pineapple - so that you can get one with every bite. Guacamole - 10/10 Best Guacamole I have had at a recent. Love the chipotle salsa on the side. The marinated tomatoes were the best burst of flavor and highly recommend. Aguachile verde - 7/10 Very standard appetizer but had a nice kick pairing shrimp with the serrano. Honestly it was good, but everything else was much better and had a lot more rounded flavors. Flautas de papas - 8/10 Nice inversion of the fried/grilled potato flautas available at other places with a fluffy potato filling. Would have loved to see a layer of sauce inside the flautas or some other flavoring in the potatoes for a better flavor. Colombian Buenolos - 9/10 I loved this! Reminded me of Pao de quejo but my partner found it to be a bit oily in the mouth feel. Replacing the chili oil with chili crisp might help? Latte Tres Leches - 8/10 Great cake that was more caramel focused than coffee. Would have liked it more with a slightly higher coffee kick. All of this came to just over hundred bucks and felt very reasonable for the number of things we got to try. Can’t wait to come back again!

We had been eagerly awaiting the opening of Mala Pata, and I am pleased to say it was worth the wait! We were seated at our scheduled reservation time, and we're promptly addressed by our waiter. We ordered one mixed drink, one house cola, two appetizers, and two mains. We were given an amuse-bouche of sorts on the form of Duros, which were small crunchy rings that had a unique and nostalgic flavor. We liked the presentation and unique texture of the Colombian Buñuelos, and the Piña y Queso was very beautifully plated. We enjoyed the flavors of both, but wished for a little more piña in the latter. My wife ordered the fish tacos, which she said were very good. I ordered the Rajas Enchiladas. The cheerwine mole was a pleasant surprise! It took the sweetness from the soda, but the flavor was very strongly mole. It was excellent. We finished with a tres leches cake that had good flavor and was a little lighter than we were expecting. Overall it was an excellent dinner. My personal highlight was the value of the meal. We've recently been disappointed with the cost of a dinner for two (with no alcohol ordered). In Raleigh we'd run upwards of $80 for something that left us hungry or disappointed. Fortunately Mala Pata delivered on both quality and value. It really is a unique place that's worth visiting. We've already started planning our next visit!

Great addition to Gateway Plaza. Food is delicious and the service always fantastic. Have been quite a few times since they opened for lunch, dinner, and their Taco Tuesday which featured only tacos on the menu.

A long awaited opening that did not disappoint. Church bells rang in my mouth from the first sip to the last bite. The corn fritters are INSANE… “They’re somehow sweet, salty, and cheesy all at once” - my date. Tuna Tartacos were yummy and unique but didn’t change my life, same with the Flautas (but those were my date’s favorite dish.) Enchiladas blew me away…I don’t even want to share the special sauce so that you have to go find out for yourself! The Mezcal Mule was the best cocktail I’ve had in a while in ways words can’t explain. We switched from our table to the bar for dessert to experience it back there and while I really wanted the chocolate dessert, the bartender swayed us towards the Tres Leches with promise of a crunchy topping and despite being a rich-chocolate-dessert-loving lady, I have zero regrets. Phenomenal service, phenomenal food, and only week 2?? Ready to come back, congrats Mala Pata!

Amazing food! Stylish restaurant with lots of attention to detail. We tried almost everything but some of our favorites were the fuego margarita, buñeulos, pasillo de humo, and pudín de xoco. But the enchiladas with Cheerwine mole won the night.

I went in with high expectations since I am already a huge fan of the food/ambience at Centro, and Mala Pata totally exceeded those expectations! The food was incredibly thoughtful and unique, the atmosphere is lovely (elevated but not pretentious; somehow a perfect spot for a casual bite but also feeling like you’re in a nicer space), and the service was stellar. The spicy margarita is perfection if you’re a spice lover, and the buñuelos blew my mind. The aguachile and cheerwine mole enchiladas were also stars! I haven’t stopped thinking about the tres leches cake either. I can’t wait to go back to try more dishes, especially the fish tacos! The Peyote Bar next door is also a beautiful vibey space, perfect for waiting for a table. Ample parking. Prices were very, very reasonable for the exceptional quality of the food, space, and service. Can’t say enough good things!

This place is special. The people, the service and the food are exceptional. This is the best restaurant we have eaten at in a long time. The food is so delicious, perfectly cooked and exotic it makes you feel like you are in another country. The depth of the flavors and the presentation of the food are an experience everyone should try. We are going back soon!

My wife and I went with some friends last weekend. We did have to wait 15 minutes despite having a reservation. Things happen and they are new but not the best first impression. There was no attempt to smooth it over at all. We were asked to go get a drink at their adjoining bar. (I pay you more money because you didn't have my table ready?) The ambiance was very warm and inviting. The wait staff was attentive and knowledgeable. We got the buñuelos, piña y queso, carnitas tacos, flautas de papas, salsa macha wings, tuna tar tacos, and the tres leches. I would describe all of the dishes as fine. Pretty much every dish except the salsa macha wings lacked any real flavor. The pricing model was probably the worst part though. The shareable dishes were priced between $12 and $16. However, none of them were sharing size. (2 flautas, 2 tacos, etc.) Main dishes are $30-$40 but we didn't get any of those. There's some potential here, but overall they really need to rethink their menu. Either the pricing needs to adjust to align with what you're serving or the menu items need to adjust to align with your pricing.

Wow!! We loved everything we had at Mala Pata, the drinks were amazing as well as the food. It was quite busy on a week day night and everyone was talking about how good their dishes tasted! The staff were very knowledgeable and described the dishes as they came out. We will definitely be back!

Loved the experience here. Super packed on a Wednesday evening so highly recommend reservations. Their drink menu is extensive. The menu is unique and we ordered a couple of plates to share. Guacamole, fish tacos, wings, and enchiladas. Everything was delicious! The guac and the wings came out first, followed by the tacos and enchiladas. Our only callout was we wish the courses were spaced out a little better. Definitely will return

Went to Mala Pata with some friends on a Saturday night. Let's start with the good-service was excellent, waitstaff was knowledgeable and recommended items and answered all of our questions. Drink menu was great (had one of my favorite beers, the Prairie sherbet sour) and definitely has some interesting items on the main menu. Everything came out hot and fresh. We had the salsa macha wings, buñuelos, carnitas tacos, flautas de papas, tuna tartacos, and piña y queso as well as the tres leches. Everything was good but I wouldn't say anything was mind blowing. I personally found the tuna tartacos to be the best item with the piña y queso in second. For the negatives, we had to go get a drink at the bar next door for 15 minutes despite having a reservation because they were running behind (it happens and I know they are new--just wanted to note) and to rub salt in the wound--they didn't comp the drinks or offer anything for us having to go wait next door. Honestly our main qualm was the price to portion ratio and price based on ingredients. It just seems a little outrageous to charge 14-17 dollars for 4 chicken wings or 3 potato flautas when those are not high cost items--for something like raw tuna, the pricing makes sense but for corn tortillas with potato? Furthermore the portion choices didn't make sense for sharing despite that seemingly being the intention of the menu (3 tacos for one dish, 4 with another). Finally, the tres leches had goat milk which we found unpleasantly game-y (not sure if this is traditional but just our opinion on the dish). Overall I'd say it has a good vibe inside and could be fun for drinks and apps if you're willing to spend a little more but not sure it's for us.

So good! We had the flouts, fish tacos and enchiladas I also had the Mai Thai. Will for sure be back.

Very cool and hip new spot in Raleigh. The entire staff was so friendly and helpful. We went and split multiple appetizers. They were all very good. I will definitely return. The Carnitas tacos were great.

This place didn't serve frozen margaritas or fajitas. The service was fantastic, and the space was well decorated and fun.

Amazing food! Nik out server was very nice and informative! Friendly service and great flavor all around! Definitely recommend! :)

Incredible food. Try their mole sauce. It was really really good. Also their cocktails are really good Hope to go back and check out the bar.

Very mixed feelings about Mala Pata. The name is so good and gave me high hopes for it being authentic and bold. The decor was quite nice and also seemed promising. The drink menu is extensive but the three cocktails we tried were overly sweet and we ended up leaving one untouched. Only one Mexican wine on the menu which was disappointing considering there is so much good wine coming out of the region right now. We ordered the guacamole, the flautas de papa, fish tacos and tacos de lechoncito. Everything was good (especially the lechon) , just not amazing. It all tasted fresh and very homemade which we loved, but most of the dishes lacked spice, both flavor but mostly heat wise. The pacing was also terrible, we had 3 out of the 4 dishes before the first cocktail even came out. Ultimately I loved the more sophisticated Mexican vibe but it was a bit too subdued. Mexico is bold and bright and spicy and full of personality and this fell just shy of that bar.

This place was incredible! The staff were so friendly and kind and the service was great. Hands down best tacos we've had in Raleigh and best meal we've eaten out in years. Everything we had we would order again and wanted more of. Definitely going back!

If you are looking for traditional mexican food this is not the place for you. I asked for a frozen margareta and they don't have them. No fajitas either. Basically, no traditional drinks or food. Our meal was okay, but we won't go again.