Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill has debuted their new menu as Pacific Wharf continues to transform into San Fransokyo Square. The “Big Hero 6” themed area will be completed on August 31, but venues have been making changes in phases.
Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill
The restaurant is still in the process of getting a new look, but only two menu items are actually new.
Still, we’re giving you our impressions of everything on offer at Cocina Cucamonga.
Entrées
*NEW* San Fransokyo-style Street Corn – $8.99
with Togarashi mayonnaise, queso fresco, furikake, and bonito flakes served with wheat chicharrones
We have never been excited about any street corn dish that has been marketed at a Disney park as we found them all to be somewhat disappointing. This is the first that not only doesn’t disappoint but in fact impresses. In the entirety of all of the new food introduced for San Fransokyo Square, this is the item that most effectively and creatively blends Mexican and Japanese flavors for a winning combination.
The combo of well-roasted street corn with a topping that is sweet, creamy, and spicy at the same time makes this a dish that you absolutely must try. The somewhat standard pinwheel chips, which we previously had at the Cervecería, are elevated by dipping them in the excess topping that you’ll find on the bottom of the plate. Our only complaint would be that we wish there was more so we could spread it evenly on all the accompanying snacks.
QuesaBirria Street-style Tacos – $12.49
Braised Beef and Cheese Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa and Consomé
QuesaBirria is a hybrid of a quesadilla (melted cheese in a tortilla) and Birria (shredded beef stew with spices), a modern twist on two traditional dishes. This iteration features shredded beef cooked in Birria broth, folded into a quesadilla, and deep fried.
The beef has been slow-cooked, so it’s tender and oozing that amazing orange grease that stains your fingers and says you’re about to eat something delicious. It flows from these small tacos and gets everywhere, which is to say, you might want to grab a stack of napkins.
The consomé is meant for dipping, to replicate the Birria stew as you eat the taco. The deep fried crunchy taco softens a bit as you dunk it, though, so we just ate the consomé as a soup side dish and enjoyed the tacos with the tomatillo salsa.
The flavors in this are wonderful. The cheese is melty, the beef is soft and flavorful, and the deep-fried crunchiness really makes for a good taco. As far as theme park food goes, these are pretty darn good. Overall, this is a great taco plate that will satisfy your cravings. We recommend it.
Carne Asada Street-style Tacos – $11.99
Citrus-marinated Grilled Steak Tacos with Crushed Avocados and Fuego Salsa
Let’s get this out of the way as it’s by far the most disappointing of the remaining tacos. The spicy salsa included is to die for — it brings a tremendous amount of heat for a Disney Parks dish. However, the beef is low quality. It’s on the chewy side and not particularly well-seasoned, so overall, this leaves a lot to be desired.
Al Pastor Street-style Tacos – $11.49
Pineapple-Achiote-marinated Pork with Crushed Avocados and Jalapeño-Garlic Salsa
This one is our personal favorite dish in Cocina Cucamonga. The pork is incredibly tender, juicy, and bursting with flavor. It’s accompanied by a proficient burn from the spice that is slightly offset by the avocado. The corn tortillas are perfect, even if they sometimes have a hard time containing the mountains of meat that are included with these dishes. No matter how big of a mess it makes, this is still one of the best counter service dishes in all of Disneyland Resort.
Pollo Asado Street-style Tacos – $10.99
Achiote-marinated Grilled Chicken Tacos with Crushed Avocados and Fuego Salsa
These tacos are a close runner-up to the pork. Again, the salsa and the seasoning on the chicken deliver a good amount of spice so be forewarned. The chicken itself is perfectly cooked. It’s juicy and tender and complemented by all the ingredients.
Plant-Based
Tacos Dorados de Papa – $10.49
Crispy Potato Tacos topped with Cabbage Slaw, Dairy-free Crema, and Tomatillo Salsa
If you’ve been to Taco Bell, we hope that you’ve encountered the spicy potato tacos, because they are to die for. Given the reputation of that fast food item, we had high expectations for this dish. Unfortunately, it is a much blander interpretation of a similar concept.
The potato filling is akin to the inside of a potato knish — it’s a sort of seasoned mashed potato. That being said, even with a healthy amount of slaw added inside, it just didn’t have enough going on to even describe a flavor other than potato.
Sides
Frijoles Charros – $4.49
Chorizo and Bacon stewed Pinto Beans
There’s not much to say about this side dish. It’s essentially a watery cup of beans. It’s not particularly good or memorable. None of the bacon flavor was prevalent. We would avoid this.
Lime-Cilantro Rice – $3.99
Given the price of the tacos, a small side of rice should probably be included, but given the quality of the rice, it’s probably for the best that it isn’t. The rice was wet and mushy. It’s not at all the consistency you want. Hard pass.
Specialty Beverages
Horchata Agua Fresca – $5.99
House-made Rice and Cinnamon Beverage
While this isn’t a drink we feel we should be having in the middle of the summer, it is a good interpretation of the intended beverage. It’s milky with a cinnamon finish, which makes it feel like a holiday drink. We would get this again in a slightly cooler time of year, but there is also a better version served at holiday events.
*NEW* Melon Cocktail – $16
Tequila, Melon Liqueur, Fresh Lemon Juice, Orgeat, topped with a Cherry
With our experience reviewing theme park cocktails, we expected this to be sweet, syrupy, and undrinkable — so we were pleasantly surprised that it was good. It’s refreshing, not overly sweet, and not sticky or syrupy at all. It’s extraordinarily well-balanced with subtle melon and lemon flavors. We highly recommend this.
Lime Margarita – $13.50
Classic Lime Margarita
Margaritas are available at many theme park locations, but this is one of the better options. There’s not much to say about it as it is fairly standard, but at least it’s an enjoyable and drinkable version of a popular cocktail that is readily available.
Citrus Michelada with Bootlegger’s IPA – $15
House-made Michelada Mix served with Bootlegger’s Cocina Cuca-Mango IPA
Citrus Michelada with Modelo Especial – $13.75
House-made Michelada Mix served with Modelo Especial
The IPA is absolutely the worst theme park cocktail we’ve ever had. It does not blend with the other ingredients in an enjoyable way. We can’t imagine that even someone who loves Michelada could drink this. We can stomach Michelada and we can stomach IPA, but this blend should be reserved for some sort of torture.
The Modelo Especial on the other hand is a far more drinkable version of the Michelada cocktail. Even someone who isn’t a fan of these types of drinks can finish it without regrets.
Modelo Especial (ABV 4.4%) – $11.75
rich, full-flavor Pilsner-style Lager
Bootlegger’s Cocina Cuca-Mango (ABV 6.5%) – $13
Mango flavored Hazy IPA
Watch our video review below of ALL the new San Fransokyo Square venues that have opened so far.
Will you be visiting San Fransokyo Square soon? What are you hoping to try at Cocina Cucamonga or the other new and updated venues? Let us know in the comments.
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