Cocina Esperanza

An intimate and cozy space, unpretentious and a great neighborhood hangout. Generally I like the food but it can be uneven — on a recent visit, our enchiladas were bone dry (no detectable sauce) and covered with WAY too much cheese, which I did not think was possible, but the cheese had formed kind of a hardened shell over the top of our entrees by the time they arrived. Other nights/​other dishes have been more successful. Service can be very slow – they tend to be understaffed, but on the other hand, they do not rush you out the door. Overall, a relaxing ambience with decent food (most of the time).

I love this place! This is one of our go to places in Ballard. It is not as greasy as a lot of other Mexican cuisine and the quality of food is really good. It tastes like you are having a meal in someone’s home rather than a restaurant. Love the chill vibe and they makes really great margaritas. I love the cucumber one personally! Also A+++ for being in the location of the old Gob Shoppe!

Good spiced sangria, casual/​cozy atmosphere with nice lighting, ample servings (too much for me though) and good service! Highlight = the potatoes that come with most meals were delicious. Really well cooked and spiced!

Great neighborhood restaurant. I have never had to wait for a table. The food is really good. I love the veggie tacos. They have tons of fresh veggies.

I finally made it to this restaurant and I can’t believe it took me this long! First of all, the food: Delicious. Like someone mentioned on here the menu is small but it doesn’t need any more. Highly recommend this neighborhood gem.

Big portions of delicious food. More than enough for one person to share. Kids meals are also enormous. Some reviews mention no hard alcohol, but we have no found that to be the case (margaritas are decent but not amazing).
All food has been tasty. Of special note is that the vegetarian options are chock full of fresh veggies. Also love the grilled potatoes served with all entrees.

This place has some interesting and delicious food. It’s a little more expensive than some other nearby family style Mexican spots, but it’s a nice for a weekend evening, and I expect the prices keep it from getting too crowded.

Best Enchiladas on the planet!

I absolutely love this place! This is our go-​to when my boyfriend and I are craving Mexican food. I have never had a bad thing on their menu — and really, I’ve probably tried near everything at this point. But the sangria is definitely a must. It’s nice that it’s tucked away from all the hustle and bustle that has become of downtown Ballard; its super cozy, family owned, and I love that we are always greeted with a familiar face.

After eating at just about every sit-​in Mexican establishment in the north end of Seattle, I realized I was missing one. Cocina Esperanza!
It was quiet and the patrons were sparse, namely because it was 5:30pm and quite honestly, who eats dinner at 5:30pm? Today that was me.
Ordered the chicken soft tacos, boyfriend ordered the pork enchiladas con mole. We were satisfied; both with the portions and the authentic flavors. The wait staff are very friendly and happy to serve you.
Missing one star because the prices are a little high (though I’m sure their rent is, too), and because the chips and salsa are probably the worst I have eaten at a Mexican restaurant. We’re still happy we went and if we shall return, it’ll be 5:30 again and we won’t request chips and salsa.

This place is great. Understated and not fussy, but really terrific and elevated food.

Just stopped by for take out and was in love with how good everything smelled when I walked in, delicious!
Ordered a shredded pork quesadilla and some chips and salsa (since I read comments about it) to go. It was all really delicious, came with a touch of cabbage slaw, pinto beans and their savory potatoes. Even after I finished my meal, the aroma coming from the empty container was irresistible. Definitely going back for this and to try their other dishes.
Their salsa was very interesting, there was a definite tang and some cream to it, perhaps even a little Olive oil. I’m buying a jar of this next time.
Downsides? Can really only think of a couple and they aren’t even about the quality of the food. 1) I wish they were open on Sunday and Monday and 2) seemed slightly pricey.

It’s almost cute when businesses don’t have websites in 2014. It’s cute until I need to write a review, and I can’t find a banner to help promote them, and I can’t find a menu online to confirm that they have tequila. Which means that when I go with a friend for a Tequila Tuesday (#67), I find some great Mexican food, but not a drop of tequila in sight.
Luckily, they have sangria, which as we all know is an acceptable substitute in dire situations where tequila is hard to come by (like dining alone in Brighton for Tequila Tuesday #37).
And as I say, there was also pretty amazing food. The salsa was totally delicious on the house-​made chips, and I continued my epic quest to eat all of the camarones in Seattle by scarfing a delicious shrimp quesadilla with pinto beans and home style potatoes. But wait, is it home style if they’re not the home style my mom makes? Anyway, they were cubed potatoes with special seasoning and a bit crispy; a unique yet enjoyable side dish. Dinner was, on the whole, quite good, and very tasty when enjoyed with a nice glass of sangria.

Cocina Esperanza serves great Mexican food in this sleepy Sunset Hill neighborhood! I love their crab sincronizada entrée – which if you’re not familiar is kind of like a quesedilla. With crab. Lots of it. And not that fake crap.
My fiancée and her sisters love the enchiladas, which looked quite delicious. The veggie enchilada comes with a nice mixture of vegetables, including kale. If you’re a kale fanatic, order this.
I’m disappointed they don’t have hard alcohol, and the acoustics weren’t great – so if there is a family with an obnoxious child it gets pretty loud. However, overall the atmosphere is pretty chill.
Plusses:
— parking
— great sangria
Minuses:
— no hard alcohol!
— families with loud kids

UPDATE: They will sell you the salsa if you ask nicely :) I think it was $ 8 for a big ol thing of it that lasted me better part of a week.
Also, they are really really nice to regulars!

The food is excellent and reasonably priced– but they are seriously understaffed.
On a Friday night when they were packed with a wait out the door– there were only two servers working. The lack of servers made it tough to get a drink or place any orders. Our meal took forever.
The food is GREAT though.
Our party of six all ordered different plates and everyone had good things to say. My point is– just about anything on the menu is going to be good.
The standouts were the Chile Relleno (baked in the oven– not fried and filled with meat instead of cheese). The Chicken Mole special was terrific– as were the Shrimp Tostadas.
It is true that they use store bought chips and tortillas. It is what it is. They’ve caught some flack for it– they don’t have a fryer– but with the kitchen so close to the dining room, and the restaurant being so small– if they had a fryer you’d smell like you’d just worked a double at McDonald’s after enjoying dinner.
Store bought chips is not a deal breaker for me and I plan on going back.

Great authentic & unique flavors.
Rich mainland Mexican flare.
Occupancy 48 = quaint atmosphere.
Loved the chicken tacos (4).
Sangria served to the next table looked fun. Must have been good; they ordered a second round.

I’m a huge fan of this place. Delicious chicken verde enchiladas make me happy. Friendly servers make me happy. Sangria pitchers make me happy. House specialties make me happy (try the yummy sausage appetizer…). You get the point. I am a huge fan of their homemade salsa, tortillas, and all the varieties of hot sauce to try.
I like how it’s tucked back in a neighborhood with not much else around it. They have parking, but street parking is never an issue either. My only complaint, and not even worthy of dropping a star, is that the chips are nothing to write home about. Just standard store bought. I’m sure they will figure it out eventually.
I also love how they don’t have a huge menu. They just do everything on it right. My fiancé had the Carne Asada tacos. Delicious.
We’ll be back. Very very soon.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect after reading the reviews on here. But here is what I learned to be true after my dinner… DON’T BELIEVE THE CRITICAL NONSENSE!
Are the chips store bought? Yes. I agree it’s a bit disappointing. But the meal… (which is why you came right?) is outstanding. What they do best here are enchiladas. I had the chorizo. They were spicy, well seasoned, and plentiful. They came served with a side of potatoes and beans. I stopped just short of licking the plate. It was that good. Very glad to have this place within walking distance of home!

This is absolutely without a doubt going to be my new favorite restaurant in town. I’m going to make a bold statement here and say this is probably the most authentic Mexican food in the city and I’m bummed that I didn’t discover it sooner.
The place is small but we didn’t have to wait for a table at all which was nice. Started off with chips and salsa but as other reviewers have mentioned they don’t appear to make their own chips which was a little disappointing. I don’t go out to eat for the freebies so it wasn’t a big deal to me in the end.
I ordered the slow roasted pork enchiladas, and my boyfriend had the carne asada tacos. The portions were on the larger than average size and I wasn’t able to finish all of mine, but my boyfriend had no problem on his. He was most certainly jealous that I had delicious leftovers to eat the next day which were just as good reheated. Service was exceptional and the prices were great. I will be coming back here as much as I can!