In Estes Park on vacation, I searched for Mexican food loved by the locals. La Cocina de Mama had…read moregreat reviews. What restaurant with the name Mama wouldn't be good? The hostess was very friendly. They sat us right away even though it was busy. They also let us move tables, as I was getting iced out by the air conditioner. We order chips and salsa (which are not complimentary), but only $3 and the salsa is wonderful. For dinner, we ordered the carne asada plate and the two taco plate. The carne asada was tender and full of flavor. It was cooked with grilled veggies, and served with rice and beans and hand made tortillas. The tacos were large and tasty as was the rice and beans. If we were staying longer in the area we would have returned to try the other restaurant specialties.

this place is great!!!…read more there is a small parking lot attached. we did not need a reservation on a monday in mid-september. cozy inside or outdoor patio with amazing views! service was great and quick. the food was delicious, well priced, and very large portions. definitely worth the visit!!

Just go to Casa Grande down the street. Better service, bigger food portions and same price.read more

Overall, it's a good option near the river…read more One of us only drinks true N/A beer 0.0% and they had one on the menu but they were out, which was a bummer but not a big deal. The food menu is on the smaller side, but everything sounded pretty good. We weren't super hunger so we shared an appetizer sampler which came with fried green beans with an aioli, chips and guac and salsa and a queso dip. The chips were sooo salty we were having to wipe salt off them before eating, but then the rest of the food lacked salt/flavor. The green beans were decent, and the queso was pretty good. The guac lacked a lot of flavor. Probably wouldn't order again, but for sharing with the table it's a fine option. When we got to our table, it had been freshly cleaned up, but the table was soaking wet still. Service is what brought this up from a 3 to 4 stars for me. From the host to the server, everyone was really happy and friendly and helpful.

Saturday night on March 1st wasn't too busy as we expected. We were seated right away in a…read morecomfortable booth. It appeared that many of the waitstaff congratulated around the bar area and we had to wait a bit to submit our order. We ordered the Vallarta Margarita which was tasty. For dinner we had the traditional #8 and the Cabana Burrito. Both were delicious, especially when topped with chile verde which was spicy and fresh. We'll definitely be back to enjoy the food while seated on the huge patio.

As a local we've tried every Mexican restaurant in town except this one and coming from TX none…read moreseems to compare to Texas TexMex. In my opinion there's a difference between Mexican and TexMex. The Yelp reviews are not good for this place. That's why I do what I do. I give my honest opinion and don't rely on what others say. So it is, yes it place is more expensive than most Mexican restaurants, it is however in a tourist town so that will explain some of it, but the small things matter to me. I got water served in a glass glass and not those cheesy red plastic cups that never feel clean even if they are. So nice glass #1. Good service #2, fantastic presentation #3 and good tasting food #4 so that's a winner for me. The best tasting Mexican restaurant in town!!! Yes it's more expensive and I'm fine with it being a little more expensive with what I just mentioned. 8.95 for chips and salsa well that's a bit too crazy, when I come from the Dallas area where chips and salsa are free, that's a little hard to swallow. There no apps that are under 15 pretty much a bit crazy. Otherwise my fish taco were really good. I loved the salsa everything had great flavor so this is a winner for me oh and a good selection of nice sipping Tequilas

Service honestly wasn't spectacular. food was good but super expensive it was 65 dollars (not…read moreincluding tip) for 2 meals. If he asks you if you want it spicy spicy say no lol it burned my whole mouth.

Mediocre Mexican food that is overpriced. Estes Park is a tourist destination and this place…read moreobviously caterers to tourist not residents who might actually want quality food. 52$ for lunch. The serving sizes are correct so you will leave full, but I wouldn't say satisfied. The decorations are nice and they have a large window in the back room looking outside, so the ambience is nice and the waiters were fine and attentive.

We stayed at trailhead lodge for one night and had an amazing time! free smores offered from 6-9PM…read moreand the service at cafe colina was great! the vibe in the lobby is cute with plants everywhere. breakfast burrito was hot and felt homemadee, and the whipped avocado sauce and salsa was realllyyy good! horchata overnight oats came with a berry sauce that was unexpectedly delicious!

Good food, good service, nice outdoor space! We will be back the next time we're in Estes. Nice…read morespot away from all the downtown crowds.

Unique Mexican restaurant. The salsa taste like they put chili powder in it, which is kind of a new…read morecake. The chips and salsa were free and they get them out to you quickly when you want to get started sitting down and getting drinks. I feel like I've eaten junkie all week so I got the garden fresco burrito. It was just filled with carrots, zucchini, onions, rice and beans. Great "light" burrito. Fast service and a great place to sit while you do your laundry two businesses down.

So I must say at first I was really Leary if this place and didn't have high hopes for it, boy was…read moreI wrong. It's a very small establishment w 20 or so tables inside and another 10 outside. Service was amazing. For our appetizer we got this fried cheese with chorizo on it and omg it was to die for. It came w corn tortillas so you could make your own little cheese roll up. It was so good I ordered it the next night. For dinner I got just a taco and tostada and my husband got the carne asada and the flavor on that steak was mouth watering and so tender and juicy. This place over all was great CANT believe I almost passed it up because it didn't look good. Wont be doing that again.

We had a very good experience during our first visit to this restaurant, so on our last day in…read moreEstes Park it was an easy decision to return. The first time was very good but the second was even better. Our server, Ramis, was excellent. He was very friendly and told us about his summer internship in the US as a foreign student. His story was very interesting and we wish him the best of luck. Besides excellent service, the food was outstanding. The wife had the beef stroganoff and loved it. There was a lot of tender meat and the dish was very flavorful. I had the reuben and it was excellent. One of the best I have had. The fries were crispy and coated with a delicious seasoning. I also had a cup of the soup of the day, beef with vegetables and barley. It was very good and I was inspired to make my own after we returned. I again had the IPA and the wife had the peach lager and both were excellent. We visit Estes every two years or so and this place will definitely be on list the next time we are in Estes.

The ambience here is very nice. Comfortable and clean, situated near Nicky's resort and has some…read moreoutdoor seating. The food on the other is just ok. Nothing special. It was prime rib night and i was excited to order. The prime rib was blah and unseasoned. The baked potato was good. My husband ordered the pork tenderloin sandwich and it was not good. Very thin and dry, no sauce on the bun, he had to ask for mayo. Maybe our orders were a one-off because i see other reviews raving about the food here. Drinks, on the other hand were fantastic.

We spent the day in Estes and decided to walk around Main Street looking for somewhere new to eat…read morewhen we came across this little Mexican restaurant. The place is definitely small inside, but it had a nice atmosphere and the service was really good from start to finish. For appetizers, we ordered the chips, queso, and salsa. The queso was definitely different from what I'm used to, but it actually wasn't bad at all. I ordered the street tacos -- three carne asada and two chicken -- topped with cilantro and onions, plus an extra al pastor taco because I wanted to try it. Out of all of them, the al pastor was my favorite. The meat was super tender and flavorful. I wasn't a huge fan of the mango on it though; I would've preferred pineapple instead, but I just picked the mango out and still enjoyed it. My husband and I also shared a side of rice and beans. The beans were decent, although a little salty. The rice, unfortunately, was the low point for me. It honestly had almost no flavor and kind of tasted burnt. I definitely wouldn't order the rice again. Overall, the food was decent and the service was great. I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to eat here again, but it was still a solid stop while spending the day in Estes.

The food is pretty good for a Mexican menu in a small mountain town. The service was horribly…read morelacking. We were the ONLY table in the restaurant and our waitress wasn't attentive at all. The period of time between each time she stopped at our table was abnormally long. I have no issues being patient if the place is busy but since we were the only people in the restaurant, I don't understand what the delays were from. Tacos plate, Mexican salad and fajitas plate were tasty. Chips and salsa were fine. Don't order any margaritas or mixed drinks - super watery! Beers were fine.

A quiet out of the way place. I have never seen this place slammed but that doesn't mean it should…read morenot be a place to eat! I went in and ordered a few things. It was made quickly and I could watch the process. There was no skimping on the portions as far as I could tell! Service was fast and polite. The person at the counter helped me understand all the options and allowed me to make substitutions w/o extra cost. If I am on that side of Estes at lunch time it will definitely be one of my go to options.

Woooow, their meat for their food is soooo goood! I'm from LA so we know our tacos and this place…read moreis damn good! Their pastor and asada are chefs kiss. And I got duck duck jeep'ed haha so cute! Good and friendly service! Nice people (:

Food took a while to arrive, about 45mins, but complimentary salsa and chips were give…read more Friend got a chicken quesadilla, bean burrito, and I got the queso fundido. Of course I forgot to take pictures. But for me, it's was pretty good. A lot of cheese and not enough bread IMO. The cheese was also a little harder than I expected, but maybe that's normal. Either way, decent food at a good price, so would go back again - just order something new

We were craving Mexican for lunch and saw Chelito's while walking around Estes. They had no wait…read moretime, unlike the other restaurants in town. This should have been warning that things may not be up to par. After taking our order we were surprised to find out that chips and salsa was considered an appetizer and not free unlike 99% of all other Mexican restaurants. We decided to order it regardless. Thankfully, the salsa was good. When the entrees came out, mine was completely different from what I ordered. (I ordered a Chimichanga and an enchilada dish came out. Wuuut?) The server was apologetic and ran it back to the kitchen. Soon the Chimichanga came out and we started to eat. My partner ate a chili relleno and said it was soggy in the middle and hard as a rock on each end...ie nuked and not cooked. My Chimichanga was also soggy. It tasted OK, but I've never eaten a non crispy one...so again....probably thrown in a microwave and not cooked properly. On the way out of the restaurant, you can see into their pantry. We saw canned tomatoes among other non-fresh items. Really? Not even fresh tomatoes? So this place nukes non fresh items and serves them up as restaurant quality. No. Just no. The only reason why this isn't a one star is the servers were polite and nice. Do yourselves a favor and don't eat here if you want authentic FRESH Mexican food. If you like your food nuked and out of a can - go for it.