BOCA by Chef Maria Mazon

Some of the best, high quality, unique tacos you can get in the Tucson area. I have been going to BOCA for roughly 4 years now and every time I have been, I haven't been disappointed. They have some of the best salsas that I have had in the Tucson area. If you are ever craving tacos it some great food in general give BOCA a try!

Overall Ok food. Poor service. 2 ppl no alcohol $57 before tip.Food:The Burro (burrito). Large. Carne asada. Meat was there. Not abundant, not tender or juicy, but rather average.Taco 1) al pastor w/a ball. (Server added it to the burrito plate.) The al pastor was outside my flavor range. But not bad. The ball was tasty, but smaller than a golf ball.Taco 2) surf n turf w/rajas. Turf was same as above, but the rajas was a great flavor add. The shrimp was a delicious beer batter and 2 shrimp with a size about 25ct per lb. These were good.Guac - the two bowls combined were like one large Haas. Straight mashed Avocado. 1 bowl topped with turmeric and paprika. The other bowl topped with queso. Nothing special. The chips were very good and generous portion. Salty, thin and crisp.Lemonade was fresh squeezed with sugar added. That was good.​Service:Got seated right away.Time passes. No water. No set up. No hello.Approached for drinks. No menu explanation.Few more minutes.Water dropped and order taken.Time passes.Salsas were dropped. This restaurant is "known" for the salsas. The server could have been proud to tell us about the salsas. Nope. Didn't tell us anything about those. Hot or not. Flavors, etc.Much more time passes.Chips and guac arrive. I ask for a salsa introduction.Time passes.People who ordered after us got their food first.More time passes.Food arrives.I ask for a set up (napkins, fork).More time passes.Set up delivered.Try to catch the server. Missed em.Try again- asked for the lemonade we ordered. The person didn't stop and muttered something on the way by.Time passes.Got the lemonade.No check-in.Try to catch the server to ask for a refill. Nope.Got the check before the meal was over and then asked for a refill.Time passes.Finished the meal.Got the refill.Asked for it 2 go.Cup for drink came.Check picked up.Time passes.Box for food arrives.

1st bullet point review of the year...let's go! We were a party of 4 that had dinner here on a Saturday night. Reservations were made through RESY and this is how things went down.*Food - We enjoyed an interesting salsa flight of 7 different salsas. My fave was something that reminded me of chermoula and the other salsa of note was the blueberry kimchi concoction which tasted more like something I could drizzle over some vanilla ice cream. I ordered 2 tacos, the grilled shrimp and the cauliflower with curry sauce. I appreciated the option of having a cabbage wrap instead of a tortilla. The grilled shrimp was delicious and the cauliflower was fine but way off the taco path more so eating it off of a cabbage leaf. It was good though. For my beverage I had a unique iced tea, berry and prickly pear? Super refreshing.*Ambiance - cool-casual vibe, not intimate, low-key lively, conversational art*Service - Hostess service was fine, prompt. Our server was ok. Our service was interrupted by an "incident in the back". That's fine but we didn't know so we asked another server to let our server know that we ready. Boy, I didn't know that the blatant eye roll was still a thing and that this dude couldn't be bothered to simply reply "sure thing", "yes, of course", or "yes, I will let them know". Before that happened, we were having a conversation about the decline of good service and that no matter how fabulous the food was, if the service came with entitled attitude, it wasn't worth going back.*Edit - Restrooms - Hubby said one was gross and clogged so my friend used the other that didn't have paper towels or soap. She ended up using the lime slice from my tequila shot to somewhat wash her hands. You gotta stay on top of that cuz that can be an experience killer. Care about your establishment!In conclusion, food=unexpected and imaginative, ambiance=see above, service=area of improvement opportunity for the wait staff.The end.

Delicious! Guacamole was so good!! The peanut salsa and green salsa were great. The banana salsa was not my favorite - could've done with more guacamole instead. The margaritas were great! And the tacos were very tasty. My favorite one was the grilled shrimp (camaron). The asada was really yummy too. Environment was really cool and the waitress was super helpful. Food came quick!

Amazing food and service all around!! Cauliflower, al pastor, and fish tacos were delicious.

I'm not gonna lie. I was pretty underwhelmed by my experience at Boca. As a fan of Top Chef I was looking forward to sampling Maria's cuisine, but the entire experience fell flat.Serve was okay, not super attentive, just mediocre. He asked if we wanted chips and salsa and we said sure, and even though it was Happy Hour, he brought us and charged us for the full price chips and salsa instead of the smaller portion and better priced happy hour version (for only 2 of us dining). Nor did he ask us. This felt a bit shady and disappointing.The food didn't blow me away. Some of the salsas in the assortment were really unique and delicious and others were unique but missed the mark, just meh.I ordered 3 tacos and they were stuffed full of filling which was nice! So portions are pretty good and hefty. That being said, the flavors were just basic. I've had much more flavorful tacos in Rhode Island where I'm from, and we aren't famous for our Mexican food. I also had much tastier Mexican food at other spots in Tucson so for what it's worth, I can't imagine I would return here.

Food is ok, would be better if the service was a little better. Very poor experience again the tacos were not terrible, I will give it another try on a week night maybe. PS slow kitchen as well

We have never had this bad of service! It is so disappointing. We sat and shortly after the bartender took our drink and chips/salsa order. The drinks were delivered with the salsa and we waited 30 minutes for someone to appear again. We were told the machine was down, but the chips were not hot when they arrived. We had to ask for the chips, we had to ask for the check, we never got a drink refills. It was such a disappointing experience.

I was craving tacos while staying with my very picky better half. He suggested this place for lunch. He got a few carne asada tacos and a steak and cheese quesadilla and I tried the Al pastor, carne and mole as well as a salsa flight with chips. I thought the carne that day was a little underwhelming (he did too), the mole was a bit too bitter for my taste and the Al pastor was delicious!All in all had a good experience, our server was also nice, atmosphere was cute and clean. hostess was super friendly and helpful.

I was so excited to try BOCA (Top Chef fan). The vibe and patio are fun (beautiful mural)! The service and food miss the mark. The hostess was quick, funny and engaging (she's traveling to Miami soon). We arrived a little after 3PM so it wasn't a busy time and happy hour started at 4PM. $8.25 for chips and five salsas, one was super spicy but no flavor. Ordered the Carmelo and it was our favorite thing, they didn't skimp on the cheese or steak. Had a carne asada taco and burrito. Burrito was large but lacked any significant flavor. Now for the lackluster service. Emptied our carafe of water, BEFORE we ordered, she said she would bring more. After we ordered our food, we heard other tables (different servers) getting a description of the kitchen something about scratch made, and food takes a little longer and some other things we couldn't hear, we got none of that helpful knowledge. Then we wanted a second beer but she never came back. My friend went to the bar to order, meanwhile sees our server come out of the restroom carrying a large trash bag, sits it down and walks directly to our table (ugh, please wash your hands) with another carafe of water. Lack of attentiveness continues as we waited for a refill on the soda. It was just an off afternoon. Not a good value at $5 for a taco! Overall value, service and food disappointing. There are too many gems around Tucson to settle for this.