Some places serve food. Some places feel like home. That's exactly how I felt walking into Cuca's Restaurant. I stopped in for the machaca and immediately understood why this place has such a loyal following. The beef was flavorful, perfectly seasoned, and had that homemade quality that reminds you of breakfasts at your grandparents' house rather than something coming off an assembly line. What really stood out though was watching the sweet woman behind the counter cooking the food as orders came in. There was something comforting about it -- like being invited into someone's kitchen rather than eating at a restaurant. In a world full of trendy spots and over-the-top presentations, Cuca's keeps it simple: good food, good people, and the kind of atmosphere that makes you want to stay a little longer. Sometimes that's all you need read more

Checking in at a old school mom and pop. I've been here before 2nd dine in. This is a true mom and pop been here in pico rivera for many years. As competition surrounds this establishment it has stood the test of time. The proprietor she's in her 70s and still works her shop. Now understand this is like going to your nana's house chairs and booths mis matched but feels like home. Customer service is family. Groups are welcome with a dining area and TV running sports. And to go counter ready to serve of course well know for great Tamales great mix of masa and meat along with other great food. Family is here working wait staff and counter staff. Grandchildren are even on staff. My wife and I has tamales plate. Pork style very succulent and tasty. With rice and beans like mom or grandma made. Food is great old school yet still modern keeping up with the times. Atmosphere as I have said is rustic bur still comfortable and welcoming If your looking for quality not quantity Tamales that are worth the price this is one of the old school. I recommend this establishment because I love how welcoming and makes me feel at home read more

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Amazing quality & service--exceeded expectations! Highly recommend. 5 stars! Food was amazing.

Just like Abuelita's homemade food. Everyone is extremely welcoming. We will return many times read more

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A great place for a home cook meal, awesome comfort food. We stopped by for a quick bite after grabbing a Tierra Mía across the street. Wifey & I were going to have a very busy day and wanted to fuel up before we got started. Once we grabbed our caffeine, we wanted something tasty...something different. We decided to give it a try, after so many years of just driving by this little gem. I was craving something savory, so I ordered a Carnitas burrito con todo and Wifey got the breakfast burrito; chorizo con papas. Both were great! I prefer carnitas myself. Great portions. Plenty of energy now...EDC here we come!!! read more

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I got recommended to this place by a local business not to far as I was waiting for some parts to arrive. I checked it out, thought it was going to be just your regular Mexican restaurant. Got there at 2:30pm not busy so service was quick. The spot is decent size and it's decorated old school lots of Raiders décor. Ordered the Torta de Carnitas and goodness gracious I was in aww. It was top notch and worth the money. If your near the area try this place out and you may run into Dona Cuca. read more

Cuca's Restaurant - Torta - Latin American Near Me - Pico Rivera, California

Veterano hole in the wall that has their regulars . Food wasn't great. You get served an extra hot plate and the food isn't that hot lol . We will not be coming back. read more

Hi I order tamales to be honest they were not good at all thy had alot of masa i but tastes salty and sour couldn't even taste the meat. Was very disappointed, also the refrigerator they have their is a mess you can see through the glass how they put their left over food in plates I don't recommend the tamales nasty spend so much for nothing never again. read more

My whole fe wanted menudo blanco and this is the only place that has it around here. Food tastes homemade. Ambulance feels like you're in her dining room. They make everything when you order it. Highly recommend!! read more

Cucas is a hole in the wall with home cooked food fresh and tasty The green chili salsa is the best and the atmosphere is like eating at honey read more

This was our first time. Looks like the place is well known to regulars that live or work nearby. The older waitress seemed impatient to our questions. Served us and never came back to check on us. The place is in great need of up keep and maintenance. read more

Cuca's Restaurant - Taco de chicharrón. I didn't like the taco. The beans and spicy green sauce were ok, but the chicharrón& clumpy rice were tasteless. - Latin American Near Me - Pico Rivera, California

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Todo estaba perfecto. La comida, el ambiente y el servicio. Quiero ponerle seis estrellas!

The atmosphere is great the food is Bomb Bay Cuca is the cook there and she has a great personality I suggest folks to stop by and try the food they also have the NFL package and other sports aa well they have 3 big screen tvs and there sons and daughters also work there they make you feel at home read more

Bomb CarneAsada burrito homemade with chopped up Avocado and melted cheese with fresh hot sauce on point

It's a hole in the wall, which does not bother me. Some of the best food is in these kind of places. I've been trying to find a place that has good authentic tamales. I've tried a few places already & decided to try Cuca's based on reviews. I ordered 6 red pork tamales. They took forever to come out with them. So they a obviously frozen & it took a while to steam them or boil. I think they were boiled. The masa was hard, no flavor, the meat & red chili had no flavor. I couldn't even cut into the tamale, that's how hard it was. I ate one and threw the rest away. I was actually afraid of getting sick from eating it. I do not recommend the tamales at all. read more

Cuca's Restaurant - a partially eaten plate - Latin American Near Me - Pico Rivera, California

Talk about authentic! We stopped by for a late breakfast and felt like we stepped into a little piece of Mexico. From the amazing, family style customer service from Al, who made us feel right at home as if in a family member's kitchen. The menudo is amazing, and some of the best we've had! And the Machaca and the Huevos Rancheros were so delicious and fresh! And the salsa's were very good and savory too! I will definitely be back any time I'm missing my abuela's cooking. read more

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Looking for a favorite (Menudo) Google recommends this place. As I entered the place, which outside look is a bit sketchy, it took me back to childhood places in Mexicali. Waxed cement floor, comfy big sofa like chairs, happy music LOVED IT I order the menudo, got a nice big plate for 10$ beautiful red color soup, nice eatable pieces of meat cuts but The Smell of NOT washed cow meat made my nose CRINGE!!! I tried adding extra lemon juice, extra onion and salt but it was embedded. A nice long lemon water wash takes THAT SMELL away beautifully PLEASE TRY IT!! They where nice enough to exchange the order, not many restaurants do this. Since I had ordered a Michelada, that was one classic delicious prepared mix, by the way. The second dish ordered, I had chosen was Eggs with Chicharron. Spicy Uff! Well over all the environment was happy, the service courteously, prices good.... but disappointed on my meals. If in need of a GOOD MICHELADA, I'll try it again this time I'll order TAMALES. Hopefully its better than the Menudo. ; ) read more

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I do not recommend this place but the lady that took my order was lovely. The refrigerator which they open to get vegetables/eggs is not clean. I will not be coming here again. read more

Awesome homemade food! When you look at this place from the outside, it doesnt look like much, but once inside, it kinda reminds u of one of those little stalls in Olvera Street, cooking up some authentic mexican food. Dona Cuca, is still cooking all the food, so plates do take a bit to come out. I had the huevos rancheros this weekend which came with stewed pork meat, rice and beans and two eggs. Very good. Chile sauce was tart and spicy. Homemade tortillas...mmmm My wife had the chilquiles rojos, which came with beans and rice. They make there chilaquiles here by mixing the red or green sauce with scrambled eggs, which i thought was interesting, but very tasty non the less. Everyone was ordering these. It looks like the place had an addition added next door, so more tables. We also tried a tamale with cheese and chile.. Very good. Only complaint, with more tables, they need at least one more server. So yes, service lacked. Im sure this will get taken care of. read more

Cuca's Restaurant - Inside at front by kitchen - Latin American Near Me - Pico Rivera, California

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Your tamales are delicious and their hot chili is so good. So far that's all I've tasted I will go back and taste something else

I love holes in the wall so the repaired-but-not-yet-repainted-drywall didn't throw me too bad. They didn't have Al Pastor so I opted for tacos con Carne Asada, Chile Verde y Carnitas. The Carne Asada had a great crispy consistency but no flavor. The Chile Verde was good mostly because of the salsa. The redemption came with the Carnitas! It was wonderfully crispy and flavorful, it saved the meal. The tacos were larger than average and topped fairly heavily with chopped tomato. Kind o' different. If I had gotten 3 Carnitas tacos I'd rate the place a 5 but 2 of 3 tacos were at par or below and they were out of aguas frescas. I'm tempted to give 'em a 3 but we all know that's generous for this visit. If the tamales are good I'm willing to reconsider. read more

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The breakfast burritos at this place are so good-big and made fresh. But DO NOT ORDER ONLINE!! The restaurant does not have an online ordering system and the one linked here is a scam! We ordered online and got to the restaurant to pick it up and they were like... Uh We don't even have a computer. Someone put their menu online and is taking payments at ordercucasrestaurant.php or something like that. Call or go in person to order!! read more

Best Mexican authentic food in town. Love it. Great service and full of flavor.1st time here but will come again. read more

Cuca's Restaurant - Chile Colorado Burrito - Latin American Near Me - Pico Rivera, California

Got lost in memories when I walked in and smelled the food and the tortillas warming up. It was like my grandmothers house kitchen. I had a chili verde burrito, best I have encountered. There speciality is Tamales, so I order two reds to go. They were good, but probably better if I had let them heat'em up instead of my home microwave. True true SoCal Mexican food I recommend highly to try. read more

tl:dr don't order the enchiladas... Your probably better off eating the item they are known for Tamales. I'm in the area due to my cat being at the vet's next door but I needed to eat so between Subway, Tierra Mia and this place I decided to go here to Cuca's. I wanted to like this place, mom and pop restaurant that had that in Mexico feel. But, I couldn't. I ordered the cheese enchiladas they come with rice and beans. The rice was clumpy like paste and a taste of garlic but no salt or seasoning at least the garlic wasn't overwhelming. The beans with cheese were the only thing I semi enjoyed. The enchiladas were disappointing, the sauce had no flavor, the enchiladas were just swimming in sauce all that sauce and no flavor its incredible honestly. I couldn't even smell the food from the kitchen as they cooked it. Maybe some day I will try their tamales but I don't think so. They also gave me some salsa or hot sauce I'm not sure but maybe that's where the flavor is? I also ordered a Mexican Coke that was obviously okay otherwise I probably would have had a fit. The decor is probably a mix between being at your families house in Mexico and being at a restaurant (Art work of Maria Felix and Pedro Armendarez) and that blue that is used in Mexico. read more

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Just had Cuca's for the second time. If the food is as good the third time I'm asking if I can work a day there for free just to be around all the amazing comfort food read more

I was excited to try this place out due to all the positive reviews. We ordered some masa for tamales and 3 carne tamales to go. We still have to use the masa but this bad review is for the tamales. They were soooooooo salty!!! I couldn't even finish it. I am soooo sad because i reallly really wanted to like them. I hope that the masa wasn't the salty part because we ordered some for our tamales. Really disappointed but I am willing to give it one more chance soon. Just not tamales that's for sure. Maybe I'll try one of their other food items and hopefully I can update this review. read more

I came here once when I was a kid and just finally came back for a second time years later yesterday. I really liked the food, reminds me of a little mom and pop restaurant in Mexico and also like if I'm eating in my moms kitchen. Great, delicious and well priced comfort food. Try them out. You'll love it! read more

Cuca's Restaurant - Chips and salsa first. - Latin American Near Me - Pico Rivera, California

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Had breakfast here of a bowl of menudo and plate of machaca. The food was excellent and the salsa (chili) was tasty and had a nice kick. Cuca's was there and she was pleasant and welcoming. I would definitely dine here again. Decor is clean but nothin' fancy. If you want a no frills but very good home style Mexican breakfast Cuca's is that kind of place. Prices are about $8+ for plates and worth every dollar. read more

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Delicious food. As many say it's a hole in the wall and you cannot get more authentic than this. Highly recommend.

Yummy yummy!!! Please continue to visit this location so Cucas is still there for many years to come!!! Delicious and made with love!! read more

Cuca's Restaurant - Quesadilla con carne y verduras. - Latin American Near Me - Pico Rivera, California

Doesn't look like much from the outside but inside was nice and the people working there were very nice. The food was very yummy. The prices were good. A very nice hole-in-a-wall .. would recommend. read more

I came here because I last minute had to get tamales and they were the only ones open during that time on Christmas Eve. Two things the tamales are delicious. They're on the pricier side but they were the best I've had from a restaurant. My card had been hacked that day so when I went to pay for them my card got declined. Someone had taken $500 from my account. they still gave me all the tamales I had asked for even though I didn't have enough to pay for them. Thank you! read more

In the interest of full disclosure, I've never been here. However, I've had their tamales and they're awesome. A coworker brought some tamales to our office holiday party last week and I asked him to bring me some the next week so I can take them home. I'm used to the traditional red chile pork tamales but the red chile beef are great, and I'd never had a "cheese tamale" before but I'm in love. I'm from New Mexico and they tasted a little like a green chile enchilada! Here's the other thing, they're really big, not skimpy at all. read more

This place is literally a hole in the wall.....feels like you're walking into someones house (kinda rundown)....but the food is GOOD and the service is good too (the times i been there it's only been 2 young ladies running the kitchen, they hold it down) The food reminds me of old-fashion/home cooked meals. I tried the ceviche tostada, nachos w/carne asada, and BOMB micheladas!!! Everything was yummy. I'm craving their food NOW!!!! On my way...bye :) read more

Amazing hidden gem. Cuca is the sweetest lady... come say hi, grab a beer, and have some delicious Mexican food!

Ate here with my friends peter and Andy Cervantes when I was a kid back in 85 86 and they're food was the best I ever had .

I'm starting to like the Menudo more and more every time i try it. This is a small local joint, the kind you love to support. No big chains here, just down home fresh cooking with a smile. The breakfast is good and fast...stop in if ever in the neighborhood. It's always good to support old school local joints. Honorable Mention: Menudo read more

Really great Tamales! 2 nice hardworking ladies doing a great job with great food! Fresh out pork & red sauce tamales so moist & tasty! Then had Chicken & green chili & then a sweet tamale yummm! Really quiet just one other customer while i was there. 8 or so booths & some tables looks like could handle 2 groups of 10 or so besides the booths. Could use some music for atmosphere & just needs a little work here & there which just means you gotta stop by & try em out! read more

The food here is delicious, Everything is made fresh from scratch every day. The carnitas and the tamales are the best. They have large size portions especially of their sopes and gorditas. The place might is not elegant but it doesn't matter when food is so good read more