Mi Cocina Closes

Downtowner · Post by **Downtowner** » Sun May 04, 2008 11:13 pm

Went by and saw Mi Cocina had closed. Really thought they had the best (and strongest!) margaritas in KC. Sad to see it go. I think they have a couple restaurants in Dallas (their HQ). Anyone know what happened?

GRID · Post by **GRID** » Sun May 04, 2008 11:15 pm

That sucks. I liked that place.

Post by **mean** » Mon May 05, 2008 12:04 am

They had some pretty decent enchiladas and great margaritas. Too bad.

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Mon May 05, 2008 12:09 am

It was always pretty busy when we were there. Sorry to hear it, it's my wife's favorite (she's from Dallas).

She's not going to take this well.....

bobbyhawks · Post by **bobbyhawks** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:19 am

Cyclops wrote: It was always pretty busy when we were there. Sorry to hear it, it's my wife's favorite (she's from Dallas).

She's not going to take this well.....

Food was mediocre and bland... their VIP room was the biggest joke in the world (unless you like hanging out in unfinished basements). People liked it because you could get a pretty looking, swirled, average margarita for $12. Hope the Plaza can bring something local in.

Maitre D · Post by **Maitre D** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:40 am

Get ready for a swarm of upper-end restaurants to go titz-up. This economy is so hostile to that concept right now.

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:46 am

does mi cocina fit the label of upper end?

Maitre D · Post by **Maitre D** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:56 am

KCPowercat wrote: does mi cocina fit the label of upper end?

I'd say that the average dinner tab is in the upper 1/4 of all eateries in the city.

So not Plaza III. Not applebee's either.

LenexatoKCMO · Post by **LenexatoKCMO** » Mon May 05, 2008 9:58 am

Any mexican restaurant where you have to put on a striped shirt to fit in qualifies as "upper end" in my book.

NDTeve · Post by **NDTeve** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:06 am

I wonder if MiCocina is closed for good or what? Haven't been able to find anything on it. Maybe Joyce's column will explain.

Maitre D · Post by **Maitre D** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:11 am

once a restaurant closes, it is gone for good.

they don't make that decision lightly.

Post by **dangerboy** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:22 am

Maitre D wrote: Get ready for a swarm of upper-end restaurants to go titz-up. This economy is so hostile to that concept right now.

Or perhaps Highwoods has another national chain lined up and needed the space from Mi Cocina?

NDTeve · Post by **NDTeve** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:25 am

Maitre D wrote: once a restaurant closes, it is gone for good.

they don't make that decision lightly.

Probably right...don't think they had any renovations planned or anything like that.

LaurenKU · Post by **LaurenKU** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:40 am

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Saturday (Tres de Mayo, I guess) and were planning on going somewhere on the Boulevard, but started drinking margaritas during the Derby and decided we ought to go somewhere we could walk to instead. Walked down to the Plaza and saw MiCocina was closed, so we went to Baja 600. I know they've been planning to change concepts soon...any word on when this would be, or do you think they might reconsider, now that they're the only Mexican on the Plaza, now?

SAC · Post by **SAC** » Mon May 05, 2008 11:28 am

LaurenKU wrote: We celebrated Cinco de Mayo on Saturday (Tres de Mayo, I guess) and were planning on going somewhere on the Boulevard, but started drinking margaritas during the Derby and decided we ought to go somewhere we could walk to instead. Walked down to the Plaza and saw MiCocina was closed, so we went to Baja 600. I know they've been planning to change concepts soon...any word on when this would be, or do you think they might reconsider, now that they're the only Mexican on the Plaza, now?

I was told awhile ago that Baja 600 was not changing concepts after all.

kcjak · Post by **kcjak** » Mon May 05, 2008 11:40 am

Baja 600 has been mentioned as changing concepts too many times over the past few years to count. And far too many times I've said to someone 'they're supposed to change concepts soon' only to end up looking like I made it up.

Regarding Mi Cocina, I thought half of their food was average, but the other half (Ernie's Chicken...mmmm) was terrific. Seemed to me that the 'normal' entrees that 80% of the guests might order at a mexican restaurant (tacos, echiladas, burritos, etc) were nothing special - it was the stuff that you had to step out of your comfort zone and try that was great. And how can you not like a margarita swirled with sangria?

Just like BBQ, everyone has their own tastes for mexican - myself, I can't stand Baja 600. If they didn't have the outdoor patio and now the priviledge of being the only mexican restaurant on the Plaza, I can't imagine it would be around much longer, either. I also happen to like the ambiance of Mi Cocina, including the club downstairs. To each his own...

KCPowercat · Post by **KCPowercat** » Mon May 05, 2008 11:45 am

Mexican on the plaza is a tough cuisine because it's lower price point....just like you can hardly find Mexican cuisine on the strip in Vegas but you can find 100,000 steakhouses and Italian places.

I mean the top menu price on their menu is $22.95
http://www.mcrowd.com/micocina.pdf

Post by **cknab1** » Mon May 05, 2008 1:58 pm

Back in the day I was a big fan of MiCocina. I’m still friends with the managers that were there for about 5 years. Mico Rodriguez owns MiCocina and several other places in Dallas. The Taco Diner, Mercury (upscale Mex), and the rest of the MiCocina’s there. His nephew married into the Hunt family and on a trip to KC he loved the Plaza, so he put in MiCocina. This was his only place outside of Dallas. Then about 2/3 years ago, he started going a little nuts. He fired Ricardo who got the Apartment downstairs going and many other improvements. I guess he was getting jealous of how well it was doing without him. After a few more months he fired Manuel, another long time manager. He let the downstairs close up and the food started getting a little erratic. He chased off the two long time bartenders, although Martin came back for a while. It was actually rumored to be closing for about a year now. Still, it is a shame this happened to the place. I feel for the few remaining original employees. So yes they are closed for good. If you have a Ernie’s chicken itch, Dallas is the only place to scratch it.

Cyclops · Post by **Cyclops** » Mon May 05, 2008 2:44 pm

bobbyhawks wrote: Food was mediocre and bland... their VIP room was the biggest joke in the world (unless you like hanging out in unfinished basements). People liked it because you could get a pretty looking, swirled, average margarita for $12. Hope the Plaza can bring something local in.

I mostly went there for lunch and I liked it just fine. I don't usually get drunk on margaritas over the lunch hour. Since we moved our biz to the Crossroads, I haven't been there as much.

Like I said my wife is from Dallas and she was a Mi Cocina fan for years before they came to KC. Her favorite was the sour cream chicken enchiladas.

Something local? on the Plaza? They pretty much stopped looking for that years ago.

Post by **chrizow** » Mon May 05, 2008 2:47 pm

mi cocina's food was really tasty, especially if you ventured outside the more "traditional" fare. their "modern" plates were quite good. i also ordered their egg dishes. magnifico. great margaritas too, probably my favorite in town. mi cocina was one of the only places on the plaza i actually like, so this sucks for me.

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