A Hidden Gem! If you're looking for one of the best places to eat out, you have to check out Mama Greta's. I had the carne asada and it was cooked to absolute perfection--tender, juicy, and full of flavor. It's honestly the best Spanish food I've had in a long time at a restaurant. The service was just as impressive. The staff was warm, attentive, and made the whole dining experience feel extra special. Whether you're a local or just visiting, do yourself a favor and stop by Mama Greta's. You won't be disappointed! read more

Food is gross, ordered bees soup, seafood soup and pupusas and it all tasted old and reheated.

Been going to this restaurant for years. It's very good authentic Salvadorian food. Nice dining area and the waitresses are almost always friendly. read more

This was my first time eating pupusas and I was absolutely blown away! The corn tortillas are incredibly soft and griddled to perfection. My favorite by far was the loroco pupusa which had an earthy but sweet flavor. The service was quick and the food was delicious. I highly recommend! read more

La Cocina De Mama Greta - Loroco, Pork, & Chicken Pupusas - Salvadoran Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Wonderful brunch spot with full breakfast and lunch menu. Welcoming and gracious service, even on a busy Saturday morning. We had huevos three different ways, and a side of various pupusas. All excellent. Lively atmosphere of mostly families, most of whom seemed to be regulars. Would love to come back for dinner. read more

La Cocina De Mama Greta - Excellent menu of traditional Salvadoran and Honduran favorites. - Salvadoran Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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This place has become my favorite hidden gem. I legit get cravings for their pupusas. The bean and cheese one is my favorite.

Sadly the food is amazing but service is terrible, parece que una mesera solo con los que quiere les trata bien. Bien ruda creída increíble cómo uno puede aguantar con ella. She's completely rude only gets near to men to talk to them. If you're a women she'll point to things in the menu from a distance & talk away from 4 ft but if you're a man she'll get up all close! Hopefully she can change some day & make the place a better experience! read more

First time here and the food was wonderful. The steak was so good and juicy. Great service and price. read more

La Cocina De Mama Greta - Salvadoran Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

This little joint is back behind the Red Lobster on Old Wake Forest, and you would never see it if you weren't looking for it. I'm glad we went looking! First the negatives: They need to update the menu. There is at least one item on it that they don't make anymore. Sometimes they run out of certain dishes too. The service can be a little slow, but not ridiculously so. I tend to be a relaxed diner anyway, so these things have never bothered me greatly. Lastly, the flan wasn't so great. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't anything special either, so save the fat and calories and skip it. The positives far, far, FAR outweigh the negatives. As for the menu, it's extensive, so even when they don't have the first thing I try to order (which has happened every time I've been, so it's straight up comical to me at this point), there is always something else that catches my eye. The menu is fun to explore. The food is made fresh to order, and the service is friendly, and that is more important than speed to me. They have lots of interesting beverages and desserts that you won't find anywhere else in the area. The wait staff is helpful with answering questions and making good suggestions. The prices are more than fair, and portions are generally ample, so we always end up ordering too much food. The food is soul-satisfying too. Most of the time, whatever I get ends up being just what I wanted, even when it wasn't what I wanted in the first place. Does that make sense? My favorite thing so far is the breakfast menu, served all day. Most of the breakfast plates come with slices of fresh avocado, sweet fried plantains, dark beans, a hunk of white cheese, and sometimes a thin sour cream, and the combination of these things is just perfect. I feel like my life has been incomplete because I haven't been eating avocados and plantains for breakfast on the regular... so yummy. This is not fine dining, and I love it for that reason. It's humble and consistently delicious, and that is what I find so charming. This place leaves me with a good feeling, a happy tummy, and the craving to keep going back for more. Te amo, Mama Greta. read more

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Service was okay and the food was authentic. Not what I was expecting but also didn't disappoint. Maybe an ok place to go if you're hungry but don't expect five star restaurant read more

Really good food, it's definitely a homemade taste. Takes a while but it's well worth the wait. I had the carne guisada, bananas and yucca. Delicious read more

I went for the pupusas. They were very good, the sauce and the topping not so much. The service was very slow used up 40 min from my lunch and the order was to go. However like I mention they were good enough to make the wait worth wild. The staff is what really the reason it only gets 1 star. When I walked in 4 waitresses were sitting down they all got up as I walked in and were happy to see a customer but once I mention I will like the order to go! They looked at me with discuss. Like why even show up kinda look! One girl just point to where the menus were and just said let me when you are done. Just terrible! read more

This is one of my favorite Latin American restaurants in the triangle. I, unfortunately, have the bad habit of overeating, so this place feeds that vice. The walk back to my car is brutal. But, I do it with a smile because the food is soooo worth it. This is one of the few places that keeps it real. I like to keep it simple and just order some Salvadorian cuisines. The rice and beans are fantastic and the tostones are delicious. I love ordering the bistec with grilled onions smothered on top. The flavors of home come together well with all the sides. I'm a bit hesitant to try their bandeja paisa just because they're not Colombian, but that's just me being picky. This place would get 5 stars if it wasn't for the slow service. It's especially (internally) irritating when you go there salivating for a good Latin American meal. read more

Granted these are the only Pupusas ive had in NC but they are pretty delicious. Fairly priced, and a very comfortable setting. For the cons; i can tell it is a very family employed type of business (as most salvadorian restaurants are) and because of that the service can be a hit or miss. I personally dont care or mind since i was brought up in that style. So yes, if its full dont expect service to be fast. And ive had better pupusas. Thats where my 3 stars come from. But in the end, just go and get some freaking pupusas! read more

Having lived in the DC area for a number of years have eaten at quite a few Salvadorian restaurants. The papusa's at Mama Greta's are as good as I have had and the other Salvadorian dishes are quite good as well. The atmosphere is casual but nice like the prices. The only knock I have on Mama Greta's is that the service while freindly can be a bit spotty. read more

La Cocina de Mama Greta is the type of place that you don't see coming off of the main road, or the side road, or even the alley that you have to drive down to get there. It's almost a mythical place that you can only reach if your guide is the keeper of the keys to Hogwarts. Tucked away behind thrift shops and accounting firms that advertise being armed, you can make the journey through fire and ice to reach the door steps of Mama Greta if you so dare. When you walk in, no, when you see the sign for this place, it smells good. The menu is extensive and you will not hear anyone (employee or diner) speak English until you do, but when you want "authentic" this is what you want. However, I can tell if I am going to like a Mexican restaurant by how much I like their chips and salsa; and the salsa coming out of Mama's kitchen is a joke. It has the consistency of a bloody Mary and it tastes like a peppery foot rub. On our first visit, my girlfriend ordered the carne asada and I got the stuffed peppers. We ate our food begrudgingly, jealous of the sights and smells around us. Sadly, I don't think high hopes got in the way of our meal, it just wasn't that good. The words uninspired, dull, one note, and stupefy come to mind. We left certain that it was not the restaurant's fault, but our own. Clearly we ordered the wrong thing. Shaking our fists in rage, we vowed to return. When we apparated to mama's a second time, my girlfriend got a cauldron of soup the looks of which inspires movies or at least the monsters in them, and I decided to order a burrito, because if you can't make a decent burrito and it is on your menu, you are no good to me. I will start with the soup. It is served in a bowl that could house a box of cereal. I mean it is a TON of soup and we could not finish it. Did we not finish it because of the portions, unlikely. Instead, the broth was very salty and towards the bottom of the bowl, all of the marrow and/or splinters from the bones was waiting, so trying to slurp the broth around hard kernels was not a chore that either of us were willing to invest a dentist visit in. The soup was good, but my girlfriend and I both felt confident that we could make it, and we are not great cooks. The recipe: chicken broth, beef, carrots, cabbage, seasoning...I hope I don't get in trouble for revealing their recipe. My burrito was a good burrito. The chicken was crunchy from the grill, the beans and rice were not lacking flavor, and the burrito was pressed so even the tortilla had the welcoming crunch of a grilled cheese sandwich. That being said, the burrito was very pedestrian, and I would not be complaining if it were not for the higher price point on it. If I'm going to shell out a few extra dollars for a burrito, make it more filing, unique, or give me some plantains or something as a side, because if I get another plate with bland guacamole and sour cream on a bed of iceberg lettuce as my only side item, it's avada kedavra time. What tips the scale of my low rating of this restaurant is not the serviceable food but the service in general. I am not one to time how long things take, but it happened that my girlfriend got a text right around the time we ordered, so I can say with one hand over my heart and the other over a bible with an American flag bookmark that it took over 30 minutes for a burrito and soup to touchdown on our table, and even once it came, we had problems: missing silverware, empty drinks, and a lonely chip basket and if the restaurant were even slightly busy, I wouldn't mention it, but there were only 10 other people in the place, two of them were watching TV and the rest worked there. I hate to be the muggle of bad news, but this place aint got nothin' in its spellbook that Chipotle, Taco Bell, or those little frozen beef tortilla things are jealous of. If I go back, I'm pointing at what my neighbor is eating and pulling the old accio spell. read more

There are two things that I want to mention about La Cocina: Servicio Polite, accommodating, attentive staff. All the servers are right there whenever you need something. The owner is frequently around and he is just as kind and accommodating. It almost feels like you're a guest in a Latin home! Comida For me, the pupusas are so good! They are grilled and non-greasy (which is a plus for me, that's how my mom makes them). They are full of flavor and balance crunch with soft/chewy quite well. The curtido (the pickled cabbage) is also done well and when combined with the salsita, they enhance the guanaco wonderbread. I also usually get the platanos fritos con frijoles y crema. Just one of the dishes that takes me back to Guatemala. Sumación Whenever I am introducing people to pupusas (which is unfortunately more than it should be) or when we have a larger group, we are going to LCDMG! read more

I'm always on the lookout for something a little different for our Friday work lunch adventure. This popped up and none of us ever having tasted a pupusa before, this place was put next on the list. It's tucked away a little so don't despair, keep going and you'll find it. We were the only ones there at about 12:45 which worried me a little. Got menus and I had a really tough time deciding what I wanted. There was a lot to choose from and finally got around to asking the server. The first one couldn't have been older than 15 or 16 and didn't really offer much. When I persisted, an older lady came and chatted a little bit, but again, not very loquacious. Finally, they pulled out a guy from the back who spoke fluent English and was very friendly and helpful. He stressed the beef stew was the dish to get, along with my pupusa. Wasn't on my radar initially, but I went with it and was not disappointed. Not exactly what I had in mind for lunch, but it was delicious nonetheless. My lunch mates both got burritos and were very pleased. The meat was well cooked and were choice cuts. Not chewy or gristly at all. The sauces, seasonings and vegetables were robust and fresh. The server gave us the lunch special all around $6 and change, so we will definitely return. I'm thinking I will try some breakfast dishes next time! The service is a little slow (and I admit, I was a little demanding...) but overall a very pleasant experience. read more

Clean, great service, great food. Menu is filled with delicious favorites from Central America. You can hear them making the tortillas and pupusas fresh. Reminds me of breakfast at my mom in laws. Prices are very good and you get a lot of food for your money. read more

La Cocina De Mama Greta - Menu - Salvadoran Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

One of the lesser known jewels of North Raleigh dining, Mama Greta's is one of our fave places to eat delicioso, autentico, Central American cuisine. My wife grew up in Guatemala and this is as close as it gets for her in NC. My go to dish is the Carne Asada Mama Greta. I always sub the platanos maduros for the tostones, since I grew up in FL with Cuban cuisine and that's what we like! They are open for breakfast and serve traditional breakfast dishes all day. Make sure to stop in and check them out! read more

La Cocina De Mama Greta - Carne Asada Mama Greta w/ Platanos Maduros - Salvadoran Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Stricktly basing the 5 stars on their carne asada. I'm from Miami and after moving here it's taken a lot of adjusting to the lack of Hispanic food or authentic Hispanic food shall I say that NC has to offer. I had the carne asada and it was great, flavorful and everything else complimented it well. Will certainly be back. read more

WOW My wife and I found this place by mistake and what a great mistake it was. The food and service was excellent-it's not fancy, go for the food not the ambiance. read more

La cocina de mama greta, it is not a Mexican restaurant, it is s typical Salvadorean Restaurant! When you want a authentic Salvadorean food, here is the place...., or a good Honduran food.,, they make the fresh Baleadas. read more

Very hole-in-the-wall spot, but it offers HUGE servings and delicious food! The carne asada is absolutely mouthwatering, and my husband loves to order their pupusas. We visit this spot every time we head into Raleigh! read more

You shouldn't go expecting to get in and out of here quickly.. However, the service was fantastic and the waitstaff is super nice. The food was hit or miss for me... The chicken stew was over-salted but the corn tamales and pupusas were delicious. I'd like to come back and try a bunch of the other specialties. read more

This is my favorite place for pupusas. Las pupusas de loroco are wonderful. I wish they had wine, but it is a nice atmosphere and the service is always pleasant. I've tried pretty much every Salvadorean place in Wake County and this is the best, imo. read more

Worst service ever waited a very long time for food. The restaurant was not busy. I ordered pupusas revueltas tasted more like cheese only we ordered other food but so upsetting not that good either. I have had better Salvadoran last time coming here what a waste of money & time. read more

I came here for the pupusas and they are great. The food in general is very good. There are many vegetarian options and a large menu too.

This review is for the pupusas! I am in the RTP area frequently, and this is a place that I try to visit every time. Pupusas are an El Salvadorian specialty consisting of a thick, homemade tortilla stuffed with a melty blend of mild cheese and fried on griddle, with the option of pork or frijoles available if you want something a little heartier. The curtido, a spicy cabbage and jalepeno pickled condiment, is insanely tasty, and I usually ask for extra and still wish I had more! It's the perfect companion for the hot, gooey cheese. They are very good and filling, and if I'm not mistaken, none of the choices are more than $1.70 or so, making this place my absolute favorite place for a cheap lunch or dinner. This place is small, and a bit hard to find, but is the most solid pupusa in the area, and I've sampled waaay more than I should have ;) They also offer a wide assortment of tacos, soup, and a very reasonably priced dinner menu. read more

Food was good, service was a bit slow but over all a great bang for your buck! Lots of vegetarian options and authentic Salvadorian food.

Waiting going on 45 minutes says it opens at 9am if you are gonna eat here don't cone without calling to see if this place is open

This is a great family run restaurant. The Salvadoran food is excellent. We had the steak and pupusa. We are definitely going back again. So much to chose from. Grabbed a cookie on the way out. Nice way to end the meal. read more

I had their beef soup and it was very good but a little too salty for my taste and this is the reason for the 4 stars, but everything was good. Great service! We also had the platanos con cream and the carne asada. Will be back for the pupusas. read more

It was mediocre, it didn't have the wow for me. We have eaten there before and it was better than today. We had breakfast and it was bland. The server was pleasant :) read more

Great food and the waitress was nice but when we ask to change the channel on one if the tv the owner had an attitude to bad the people act like that read more

ordered the popusas and I was very pleased. I liked the cheese better than the "revuelta" but both are excellent.