La Cocina de Maria, 142 W. Washington St., West Chicago 60185 (630 520-2699). Plates $13.99- $16.99 ; entrees $2.95-16.99; desserts $6.99; drinks $1.50-$6.99
Those who have tried the amazing restaurant known as La Cocina de Maria realize it is a must-visit spot that will not disappoint. The food is spectacular, and will leave the taste buds wanting more.
One crisp December day, around 5:00 in the afternoon, I traveled with two friends, Evelyn and Yadhira, to a small, family-owned restaurant located in downtown West Chicago: La Cocina de Maria.
Entering the restaurant, customers can see so much going on in there: the owners have so many cute, random decorations and patterns all over the restaurant, including faux brick walls and photographs of random people from past times. A variety of bells hung around the whole restaurant, along with motivational signs strategically placed throughout the four walls. The restaurant’s tables were bright and colorful, and brought forward a sense of joy with the beautifully-colored patterned tiles that all of the tables had.
La Cocina de Maria is a really small place and would definitely feel uncomfortable to dine in if they were ever to get busy all at once. It is not a spacious place, and there are only about six tables in the restaurant. Each table has only four wooden chairs, which are of normal comfort level.
In the restaurant, the owners played Spanish music softly in the background. It felt like a Sunday morning getting woken up by my Mexican mom with her loud cleaning music playing in the background at 7:00 in the morning. As I entered the restaurant it took me back into the kitchen back in Mexico. It felt like home, and smelled like a delicious dish my grandma would make.
La Cocina de Maria opened up back in 2014: it is a family-owned and operated restaurant that is full with an amazing menu that has a variety of authentic Mexican food.
As soon as my friends and I sat down, the waitress came up to us and greeted us, asking if we would like to get something to drink. She was pretty nice and polite: there was not much interaction with the waitress, everything went pretty fast within ordering the drinks and food. After my table received our food, we never got checked up again, and in fact, had to get up in order to get our bill because they never came back to see if we were even done and ready to leave. However, any blips in service did not dampen the overall experience.
The food was very delicious and the servings looked painful to even finish. I got a Birra Burrito. It was huge for only $13.99, and looked amazing. The staff placed the burritos so nicely on the plate, which made the dish so appetizing. My friend Yadhira got a Torta Cubana, which was huge. It was stuffed with a lot of different random foods, and was only $14.99.
“It has a lot of different flavors but it’s actually pretty enjoyable,” she said.
Lastly, my friend Evelyn just got three steak tacos which were really scrumptious.
“The meat is actually pretty moist and chewable. And the tortilla is not soggy. I liked that it didn’t fall apart like other tortillas usually do,” Evelyn said.
Each traditional taco was only $2.95, and came with the meat of choice, as well as onion and cilantro. For drinks my friends order water and a Coke, something classic, and I ended up getting a Horchata – which in fact was not so enjoyable. It had a tint of smell of Horchata, but was, in reality, really watered down.
Still, I would most definitely recommend this restaurant to others. It is most a must-go restaurant in West Chicago, if only for their expansive and delicious menu. Besides the Horchata, there were no problems when I dined-in with my friends. I had a good experience and will be going back to try different foods.