La Boca Loca - 601 S. Boston

[RecycleMichael]

Location(s) Being Reviewed: Southeast corner of 6th and Boston

Date/Time of Visit: 12:30 on a Friday

Quality of Food (1-5): 4

Menu/Food Options (1-5): 4

Quality of Service (1-5):4

Atmosphere (1-5): 2

Overall Rating (1-5): 4

Price ($-$$$$$):$

What makes this restaurant unique:
This is a little restaurant on the corner. It only seats 18 people indoors, but has seating outside when the weather improves. It is under new management as of the end of January. They are only open lunch 11am till 3pm on Sunday through Friday and very late hours 11pm till 3am on Thusday through Saturday nights.

They have a pretty simple menu. Tacos (flour or white corn), Tortas (grilled Bolillo roll) and tostado (flat fried corn tortilla).

You pick from Steak in one of four ways...Dulce Calor (coleslaw, fresco cheese and lime), Steak Street (cabbage onion, cilantro and cheese), Fajita (onions, poblano peppers, jack ceese and sour cream), and Steak Dorado (poblano peppers, jack cheese and salsa).

The chicken recipes are more varied...Baja Chicken (onions, poblano peppers, jack cheese), Fajita (same as above), Street (same as above), Pina Pollo (pineapple, onions, cheese and lime), Pollo Carbon (chorizo, jack cheese, sour cream), Pollo Verde (onions, poblano peppers, jack cheese and salsa verde), and San Juan Chicken (Jicama sauce, avocado and cheese).

If you want seafood...Baja Fish (grilled tilapia, cabbage, cilantro, cheese and baja sauce), Cancun Fish (grilled tilapia, Jicama sauce, cilantro and avocado), and Shrimp Po' boy (shrimp with lettuce, pickles and mayo).

Any two items with black beans, chips and salsa, and drink is $8.50 including tax and any three are $10.70 with tax.  

Tell us about your experience:

I had to get food for three so we tried the Steak Fajita soft taco, the Shrimp Po' boy,  the Baja chicken, and the Pollo Verde. The total bill came to under $15. They gave me the chips while I was waiting with their spiciest salsa. The salsa was outstanding, I thinkas good as I have ever had. The chips were in a small bag and were way too salty. The food was very good. I didn't eat the steak (gave up beef for lent) but tried the other three. The Baja chicken was my favorite. The black beans were also very good.

I hated that they had styrofoam cups and styrofoam to go containers and whined to the employees about it. The meal took about 15 minutes to prepare and the employees checked in with me and offered good suggestions about the food. I used a groupon so the meal was only $8, but I will go back and pay full price again soon. The place is next door the Deco store owned by TulsaNow legend The artist and catty corner to Elote.

here is a link...http://labocalocaok.com/

It was hard to find the website because LaBocaLocaTulsa.com website was the old owners and searches kept pointing me there. They said they were trying to buy the website from the old owners but were having issues.

[Conan71]

A friend of mine posted a positive review on FB today as well.  I guess I'll get the Groupon and give it a try.

[Gaspar]

Let me do some quick and easy math.
6 days a week, 18 seats, one meal $8-10.

If (and it's a big "if") you can do 4 turns for lunch, that's 72 patrons.  Lets be generous and just say that they do 100 with takeout.
At $8-$10 that's $80-$100 a day, 6 days a week. . .so $480-$600 a week.

Now, not being there, I must assume from those numbers that they only have one employee.  Prep service and cleanup is going to be about 8 hours, and at minimum wage that's going to be about $60 a day, dropping their gross to $20-$40 a day.  Rent, utilities, napkins, plastic forks. . .need I go any further?  They are making negative profit. 

Sounds like the food is good, but the business plan is horribly flawed.  Even if they did 3-4 times that amount of business a day, they would still be pressed to make a profit.

That's why I have come to the conclusion, when you see the Groupon, go eat there, because that is likely your last chance.

[Conan71]

Let me do some quick and easy math.
6 days a week, 18 seats, one meal $8-10.

If (and it's a big "if") you can do 4 turns for lunch, that's 72 patrons.  Lets be generous and just say that they do 100 with takeout.
At $8-$10 that's $80-$100 a day, 6 days a week. . .so $480-$600 a week.

Now, not being there, I must assume from those numbers that they only have one employee.  Prep service and cleanup is going to be about 8 hours, and at minimum wage that's going to be about $60 a day, dropping their gross to $20-$40 a day.  Rent, utilities, napkins, plastic forks. . .need I go any further?  They are making negative profit.  

Sounds like the food is good, but the business plan is horribly flawed.  Even if they did 3-4 times that amount of business a day, they would still be pressed to make a profit.

That's why I have come to the conclusion, when you see the Groupon, go eat there, because that is likely your last chance.

You missed on the math.  If they did 100 covers a day at $8 to $10/copy that's $800 to $1000 per day, or $4000 to $5000 a week on a five day week.  That's do-able assuming they have a handle on food costs.

[RecycleMichael]

gaspar is a word guy not a number guy...

They had one guy doing all the grill work and one guy doing everything else...taking orders and cleaning everything. The third guy was there training the other two.

The amount of seats really doesn't affect some restaurant business plans. My favorite burger place is Bill's Jumbo Burgers and they seat four. They probably sell 1,000 burgers a week out of a restaurant that seats less than a mini-van.

[tulsa_fan]

I thought this place was mentioned somewhere else on here, but I second the positive review, and agree the park across the street is a great place to enjoy the food when they weather warms.  Plus, they sell beer.  Plain jane beer, but still a cold Bud Light still hits the spot for me sometimes, especially when I have to go back to worK!  The food is very good!!

[brunoflipper]

plus, they deliver

[tulsa_fan]

So I ate there today and realized it is completely different than when I had been there before.  New ownership for sure, so I take back my beer comment because they don't sell it!

I had a Baja Chicken Taco and Steak Fajita Taco . . . . AMAZING!!!  The salsa was very good, actually tastes like my homemade. 

The service needs some help.  It was slow, they seemed pretty disorganized. we were there at 1 pm.  They guy taking orders had a hard time keeping things correct.  The "hot" salsa was not, it was no different than the mild, which mad me sad.  And they give you a small amount of salsa in a huge container.

I wish them well though, those tacos were the best I've had!

[DolfanBob]

Hey Mike. Are you talking about Bills Jumbo Burgers on 41st just East of Sheridan?
I ate there all the time back in the 80s when I dispatched for Tulsa Cable on 44th st.
Fantastic food and excellent prices at that time.

[carltonplace]

Hey Mike. Are you talking about Bills Jumbo Burgers on 41st just East of Sheridan?
I ate there all the time back in the 80s when I dispatched for Tulsa Cable on 44th st.
Fantastic food and excellent prices at that time.

Admiral Place just east of Utica.

[BKDotCom]

La Boca Loca = closed  (they may have a food truck?)

I think something that might work in that spot is a "Gnarly Dog Houz" hot dog type joint

La Boca Loca was tasty... they were just way too slow for that spot.   When you've got space for 15 patrons, turn-around is crucial

[sgrizzle]

La Boca Loca = closed  (they may have a food truck?)

I think something that might work in that spot is a "Gnarly Dog Houz" hot dog type joint

La Boca Loca was tasty... they were just way too slow for that spot.   When you've got space for 15 patrons, turn-around is crucial

I had actually tried there a few weeks back and the food was pretty amazing. It closed three days later.

ixnay on the otdoghay. Gourmet hotdogs were a briefer flash in the pan than gourmet cupcakes. Limited number of people in Tulsa who want to pay $6 for compressed leftover meat byproducts with fancy toppings.

[carltonplace]

Closed for repairs?

[cannon_fodder]

Closed closed.  For sale sign on the door.

[sgrizzle]

Just rumors but have heard something like this:

It was started by a woman who shortly thereafter got a divorce. Husband owned it so it closed. He then let some other people run it but it seems like they couldn't keep it going.