Margarita's Cocina Mexicana, Lakeland

Reviews

• RJ

  Rebecca Johnston

  5 days ago
  2.0
  The food was basically white people tacos. I've never had a crispy, dry enchilada, before today. Service was basic at best. Pre-bussing the table makes the experience so much better. Two people should not have six glasses between them on the table, as well as plates from appetizers, entrees and dessert at the same time. Adding gratuity to a large party is totally cool in my mind. It is NOT cool to drop the check off without mentioning that. It's sneaky.
• JJ

  Judy Jones

  6 days ago
  5.0
  Great experience tonight at Margarita's Cocina. Husband had the fajitas, they came out sizzling hot and he said they were fantastic. I had Al pastor enchiladas and they were equally delicious 😋 Highly recommended the blackberry margarita as well. Our waitress "Bri" was a delight, very personable, professional and attentive adding to a top notch memorable experience. We will definitely go back!
• IV

  Isaac Vasquez

  Aug 10, 2026
  3.0
  First time trying this Tex-Mex spot in Lakeland. 🌮 Overall, it was okay, but we felt the menu options were a little limited. The service was great, and the atmosphere was pleasant. The food, however, was just average. My wife had the Agua Chile a fried tilapia with pico de gallo on top (grilled is also an option). It wasn’t bad, but the flavor of the fish became a little overwhelming after a while, and she didn’t finish it. I had the Chile Relleno with Carne Asada—a chile stuffed with a LOT of cheese, fried, and topped with mole sauce and carne asada. It was pretty good, but extremely greasy. There was SO much cheese that I ended up removing most of it and just eating the poblano chiles and carne asada. The queso dip was $12.99, and honestly, that’s pretty much all it was—just a ton of melted queso. I expected flavor or heat in the dip. The chips taste like it was from a bag and the salsa was okay. The rustic green salsa they bright out for our food was actually pretty good, but could have used some salt. The rice and beans were the winners! Both were delicious. 👏🏼 I also ordered the Cucumber & Lime Agua Fresca. It was very cucumber-forward and sweet, with barely any lime. I expected more tartness. For the price, I’ve had better. Would I give it another chance? Hmm… maybe. That’s about as high as I can score it. 😂 ⭐️ Score: 1–5 (5 being the highest) 🥒 Cucumber & Lime Agua Fresca — 2/5 🧀 Queso Dip — 1/5 🌶️ Salsa & Chips — 2/5 🌶️ Chile Relleno & Carne Asada — 2.5/5 🐟 Agua Chile/Fried Tilapia — 2.5/5 🍚 Rice — 4/5 🫘 Beans — 4/5 🍽️ Service - 5
• ME

  Michael Elton

  Aug 9, 2026
  1.0
  We decided to try to come back to this restaurant after its rebrand from Ovation. We walked into the same tired out dank/dark atmosphere of Ovation, nothing changed, no bright, clean fresh atmosphere you would expect in a new mexican restaurant. Me and my wife sat at the same dark worn out Ovation bar. We ordered their basic margaritas. When they arrived we took our first sips only to taste a thick syrupy sugar drink. We ordered some appetizers, taco shooters, guacamole, chips and salsa street corn. We dipped our chips in the guacamole, which had a soupy pureed consistency, awful. The steak taco shooters I ordered arrived and the meat was burnt and was fiberously chewy. The wife did love the street corn, though. The server was nice and had her manager remove the drinks and the food we sent back off the menu. The, whom I believe was the owner was very loud in his interactions with spme.of the customers. At one point he became very loud with some customers in the main dining area demanding they leave immediately. I wasn't sure what the issue was but the only person raising their voice was the owner. I would not recommend this restaurant to ANY ONE! We ended up redeeming this experience down the road at Plaza Mexico and enjoyed the table side homemade guacamole.
• TW

  Tyla Ward

  Aug 8, 2026
  5.0
  I was not expecting this place to be so great, I don't typically care for authentic Mexican food because I am from Texas I prefer Tex-Mex. But this place was really good. I had the carne asada enchiladas with queso on top (gotta make it Tex-Mex some how) the refried beans are amazingly good very seasoned, the rice had good flavor too but the beans are better. Only thing I would change is the meat was falling out of the tortillas, it needed some kind of binder inside to hold it in. Other than that, this is a great place for the family or date night. The customer service is top notch also. Great job Margarita's!!