This is our first time here, and this is a difficult review to write because the food is great but the atmosphere is greatly lacking. We absolutely love their chicken enchiladas and Chile relleno, and the tostados, rice, and beans were yummy too. The tamale could have used a little more filling and the mole' a little more depth, but all of the food surpassed our expectations by far especially for Mexican food in Columbia, TN. Now for the not so good, the dining area is not where you want to hang out. I totally understand why there are so many to go orders. ALL of the booth seats are ripped, there's way too much clutter at the entry, no one needs a gum machine, or random sports gear unless you are a sports bar or catering to kids. I would move 'every' item out, paint the entire room so it's clean, but doesn't smell of floor disinfectant, do a deep clean on the sticky tables and menus, and other table items. Then I would only move the necessary items back into the room. Ahhh a place we all want to dine. Also, while we were there a broom and dustpan were left leaning against one of the tables for an extended period of time. This is just a lack of training. Attention to detail is the key to success. This would be a five star place if it felt more inviting instead of like my spare bedroom where everything goes that I'm not quite ready to part with yet. I was a bit leery and checked their scores today.... Good news... Cocina Real 5021 Trotwood Avenue Columbia, TN Food Service Establishment Inspection May 19, 2025 Score & Grade: 97 read more

Our first time here & the food was fantastic!They were quite busy during lunch, however, our waiter was terrific & very attentive, great service. My husband& I had the "Mexican Style" tacos with rice. Good portions & food was very flavorful. We found ourselves a New Mexican restaurant for sure! read more

Cocina Real - Blended peach and mango margaritas, carne asada & carnitas Mexican Style (aka street) tacos. All were delicious and very reasonably priced. - Mexican Near Me - Columbia, Tennessee

Good customer service- always friendly and make sure my order is correct. It is a fun place to eat. The food is always fresh and tasty.

My first visit. And I am a Mexican food snob! I must say I'm impressed. I ordered a lunch, special, shredded beef Mexican salad with a side of beans with cheese and a peach margarita also on special. I asked for shredded beef to be in the salad instead of ground beef and it's delicious! Everything seems freshly cooked. Service is great restaurant is clean. Food has a good monetary value. I'll be back again. read more

Cocina Real - Lunch special taco salad with shredded beef side order of beans and cheese with chips pretty good salsa and a peach margarita!!! - Mexican Near Me - Columbia, Tennessee

i have found hair in my food the past 2 or 3 times i've been there yall need to wear hair nets or something!

This is the best Mexican restaurant in Middle Tennessee by far and the margaritas are stout considering the cost of tequila these days. Excellent service and great vibes. read more

Picked up burrito California. Excellent. Enough food for 2 meals. Good value. Clean restaurant with a lively atmosphere. Surprising for a Monday. read more

Speaking as a native Southern Californian who's eaten a LOT of truly amazing homemade and restaurant Mexican food over the past five or six decades, I'd say this is above-average fare, especially for small-town Tennessee. It's more similar to Tex-Mex than traditional Mexican, but you have to expect the dishes to be somewhat gringo-ized in this part of the country, and it's still pretty tasty. The interior is very small, but it's clean, and the layout is comfortable. The portions are generous for the price, the service is solid, and the folks running the place are very nice. It's just a reliable, sit-down, family type of joint. And, being in an area that offers almost nothing but marginal mega-chain places, it automatically rates as twice as good! Haha We don't have reason to spend much time in Columbia these days, but whenever we are there, this is definitely one of our top three spots to grab a quick and satisfying dinner. It absolutely beats fast food any day! read more

I used Cocina Real to cater a lunch for one of my doctors offices. They did a great job making sure that everything was perfect. The food was excellent, all of the food was ready for pick-up before it was promised, which was wonderful, and everyone was pleased with the flavor and quality of the food. I will certainly use them again when I need great Mexican food or when I'm in the area and craving some great food! read more

Cocina Real - a mexican restaurant with tables and booths - Mexican Near Me - Columbia, Tennessee

See all

Wednesday evening is 2 for 1 margaritas so off to a great start. Service was quick. Salsa and chips are very good. I got the tacos but when they brought my food no beans or rice. Overall good food. read more

Cocina Real - Tacos - Mexican Near Me - Columbia, Tennessee

See all

Good food, fast service. Only negative is that there are no tables for large parties of 6 or more. Would have to call ahead. read more

Love this place! Favorite place for my man and I to get Mexican food in Columbia. The servers are awesome and friendly, the food is delicious and what you expect, and the margaritas (especially the El Presidente) are our favorite. Highly recommend! read more

Two steak quesadillas everytime I come into town! Fairly good price and. Good amount of meat also

Food great, service 2 nd.to None and too busy eating salsa, which was good and chips to notice ambience

Amazing food, great staff and so much fun on Wednesday they have trivia night. Super family friendly !!

Fast, friendly service. Good location, easy parking. Yummy food...great neighborhood gathering place.

Food is good, we've gotten all sort of dishes here but my favorite has been the carnitas flautas, they hit the spot every time!

If I could give more than 5 stars I would. This is the BEST Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. Food is fantastic. Service is excellent! read more

Our Hunt For great Mexican Food in Columbia is over! Finally! Our first clue of the quality of recipes was the Salsa with substance (not watery) & Thin Tortilla chips! Great Meat Choice fillings! Yummy desserts; fried ice cream & my favorite "FLAN"! Going to be my "GO TO" and conveniently close to home! Sweet! read more

Do not, I repeat do not order the fajitas. Unless of course you are looking for teeny tiny crumbs of meat and 28 lbs. of vegetables served amongst the crumbs of meat, to disguise, said lack of meat. Everything else was good, but did I mention the lack of meat? read more

I LOVE THIS PLACE. This is one of my go to restaurants. The Nachos Pastor is my favorite thingon the menu.

This place is usually great, but the last 2 times have been terrible. I get the same thing every time. I don't know if they have a new cook or just changing things up, but the food is now awful. Soggy chimichangas. Barely mashed guacamole. The beans were crusty. The salsa was bitter for some reason. This place has been our favorite for a year, but it's just not the same. Today we were disappointed to find the outside area was full of smokers. It was finally a beautiful day, couldn't enjoy it outside on the patio with our kids. Couldn't enjoy inside either because the place reeked of smoke every time they opened the door. read more

Cocina Real - Soggy chimichanga, dry beans, and barely mashed guacamole. - Mexican Near Me - Columbia, Tennessee

Highly recommended! Service is always great and fast. Food always tastes very fresh, not too greasy not to salty; just perfect! The are always willing to accommodate your requests! read more

Amazing food! Great service! Very fast & very clean ! Very friendly. Also the Mexican style hamburgers are amazing I recommend giving them a try . Best place in town . This place gets an A plus ! So many great items on the menu from chicken wings to chile relleno , if you like hot things lijalapeño try Chiles toreados read more

See all

Overall a great Mexican restaurant! We dined on a Saturday night at 6:00 and were seated immediately. Seating was plentiful and our drink and food orders were taken promptly. Salsa was a bit disappointing- very salty and big chunks of tomato- I suspect they may use canned tomatoes. Margaritas were very reasonably priced- 4.95 for 12 oz. I ordered the Verde Burrito and it was DELICIOUS. Lettuce and pico was fresh and crunchy, the pork in my burrito was tender and juicy, my helping of rice was plentiful. Service was quick- but didn't always come with a smile. All in all, great food and drinks, okay salsa, okay service. read more

Cocina Real - Verde Burrito - Mexican Near Me - Columbia, Tennessee

Worst Mexican food I've ever had. Ask for a quesadilla, you get meat on a tortilla. Ask for an enchilada, you get meat wrapped in a tortilla with cold sauce poured over the top. A good place for drinks, but not for a meal. Edit: it has been little while and I'm feeling sick to my stomach. read more

We have enjoyed our meals at Cocina Real. The guacamole is very good and their Pico de Gallo is one I would enjoy as a main course with some chips and a beer! Their enchiladas are a favorite of mine - no matter the filling or topping. Great flavors and perfectly cooked - not mushy. The menu is huge so choosing what you want can be difficult, but a lot of fun. I always order a standard item the first time I try a restaurant - my way of checking out how they cook things. So far, they exceed most other Mexican restaurants in Columbia for taste, quality, and preparation. Add to all of this the fact that they have friendly staff and great service; well, it is definitely a place to go if you want good Mexican food and a nice environment. read more

Ordered carry-out. Great food and plenty of it. One order of vegetarian fajitas and Pollo Charro (chicken); large serving of chicken and a variety of veggies in the fajitas. Carry out presentation was nice and very appetizing. Although I didn't walk through the place I did take note that what I saw was clean. The servers were all in gray pants and purple polos. Note: if you're a restaurant owner please take the time to clean your windows. Windows are the customer's very first impression and it does make a difference. Even if people don't pay attention to windows...they will when they sparkle. Keep the door clean!!!!! If I lived here I would return to try some other dishes. read more

Still the best Mexican place in Columbia. Food is fresh and always tasty. I highly recommend the guacamole casero. Just tried the Burrito del Mar today for the first time and really enjoyed it. read more

We love this place. Friendliest staff. Great food. Try the burrito verde! Exceptional.

The food was like any other Mexican restaurant, but the chorizo queso made this a solid 4. We went on a Wednesday, and it's trivia night! So it was super packed and we had to wait maybe 10 minutes to sit down. Service was not super slow, but you can't be mad, because it's a full house and they're running trivia. We ended up playing along, too! read more

Decided to give it another try - we will not be back. The service was terrible. Everyone who came in after us ordered first. One waiter finally took our drink order, but brought water instead of tea. He did not bring our cheese dip so we had to order it again from someone else. It took forever for our food and to get our check. The food is very bland, particularly the salsa. There are too many similar places around to bother with this one. :( read more

This was the worst Mexican I have ever eaten. My husband was so sick the night he ate it and the meat didn't seem right. This place will make you re think about going out to eat. Cook at home it's safer. read more

Waited an hour and a half for our food and almost left. Our waiter was overwhelmed for some reason and we had to self serve ourselves as far as utensils, napkins etc...had to flag down whomever was passing by for salsa, drinks, as our waiter went missing...we should never have came back here anyways as the last time we were here my son's girlfriend had a piece of glass...thats right GLASS in her ice cream and she cut herself on it. They were so sorry they gave us a free dessert. Wow thanks. We will never go back! read more

We're new to Columbia and have been looking for our go-to Mexican restaurant. This is it. I always get the burrito gigante and my wife lives the shrimp tacos. read more

Cocina Real - Burrito gigante - Mexican Near Me - Columbia, Tennessee

This is the newest Mexican restaurant in Columbia and it also happens to be the best. The food is always fresh and delicious. Cocina Real's waitstaff are friendly and attentive. However, they did NOT have their beer/liquor license the last time I was there. They had a sign stating that they would have it soon. They might have it now. Call ahead to check if you're wanting beers/margaritas with your food. Highly recommended if you're wanting great Mexican food in Columbia. read more

My husband and I are new to the area. We just stumbled onto this restaurant. We eat here at least once a week. The food is delicious and the service has always been great. I definitely recommend giving it a try. It's my understanding there are two locations. We've only eaten on Trotwood Ave. read more

Reminds me of Camino Real (5 locations in Murfreesboro). It's definitely worth a try! Lots of menu selections so there is sure to be something for everyone. Kid Mac n cheese is Kraft with Queso read more

Called in to place an order. Told the girl that answered the phone my order and she then placed me on a 5min+ hold. Then I had to repeat my order several times to them. I just gave up. read more

Such a sweet staff. Very quick food delivery and we made it in time for two for one margaritas!