Jason F.
Yelp
A new fast casual Mexican taqueria located in the sleepy bedroom community of Pinole, California. Taqueria La Cocina replaced the Kyoto Ramen/ Lilikoi Boba location in the Pinole Gateway Shopping Center directly located right off of the Pinole Valley Road exit off of Interstate 80. When I saw that there was a new taqueria in Pinole, and after realizing that they had taken over for Kyoto Ramen, I knew I had to make a visit as soon as I could, and when a friend went to a local community partner and found coupons for complimentary taco available with no purchase necessary at Taqueria La Cocina, we knew we had to make it there before this deal expired. Luckily on a recent Friday afternoon we managed to make it out to Pinole, and being the lovers of food that we are, we decided to not only get two of their Regular Tacos, plus an additional from their menu to split.
The menu at Taqueria La Cocina is separated into categories including Tacos, Burrito, Nachos, Quesadillas, Sopas, Plates, Breakfasts, Vegetarian, and Sides. Interestingly enough, they also still sell sweet treats at Taqueria La Cocina including their former Boba Teas, as well as traditional Mexican specialities such as Fruta Fresca, Elote Cup, Mangonadas, Diablitos, and Todos Locos. Today, we decided to come for food, as we stuck with our plans, as their taco menu looked amazing, and so we ordered two Regular Tacos that were topped with the meat of our choice, in this case carnitas, in addition to cilantro, onion and salsa. To add to our order we also decided to order their Super Burrito, which featured rice, beans of our choice, in this case refried beans, cheese, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and the meat of our choice in this case we ordered Carne Asada. Our total bill was $13.16, which was aided by our coupon, and made us so happy that we were getting so much at an affordable price point. As we waited for our food to be made for our takeout order, they have not only a plethora of sauces from verde to roja to pico de gallo, they also have a plastic bin filled with light tortilla chips under a heat lamp of which you can grab as many as you like and eat to your heart's content.
It didn't take too long for our order to be called, and their team was nice enough to put another bag of tortilla chips for us to enjoy as we brought our food home. Upon getting home we each ate our Regular Tacos, and they were a perfect light snack to start our meal. We then split our burrito and it was so large that we easily could have saved a small portion for a future meal. Yes it was that large and so hearty to consume. I cannot wait to come back and support La Taqueria Cocina when I get the chance to, as they certainly become a welcome addition to the community as there aren't many other traditional taquerias in the vicinity so this is definitely a place that the public is going to embrace, especially if they keep doing those extraordinary introductory offers like a complimentary taco. The fact that they still offer complimentary tortilla chips is a rarity and for that we should be so lucky, I can't wait to come back to order their Quesadilla Suiza Super, which sounds as outrageous as it is described and their Plates were not only reasonably priced, but seemed quite hearty by the description alone. Here's to the continued success of La Taqueria Cocina, may their stay at the Pinole Gateway Shopping Center be a long and successful one!