Estrella Cocina

"First time visiting Estrella and I definitely enjoyed the restaurant. It was date night for us. Booking a reservation was easy. We were immediately seated when we arrived. We even got seats outside to enjoy the awesome views of the Main street bridge and the river. Yancy was the best. He checked us in, offered blankets (it was a bit chilly), made his rounds, ensuring we were enjoying our night. He was the highlight of customer service with a smile. So Yancy, this review is for you because you were awesome and we appreciate the hospitality. Will definitely be back, to enjoy Estrella and definitely to see you again."

"Yancy was a great host, even reserved a table for us well in advance of our reservation time! Food was amazing and Kaleb M was nothing but a great server! Kept us up to time about our food and explained things really well! All in all, wonderful experience and would definitely come back again :)"

"Yancy made sure we had an unbelievable view on the rooftop and was a delight from start to finish! The drinks were incredible, the food was delish, and the service was top-notch! Thank you, to Yancy and team, for an amazing first visit — I will be back soon!"

"Ok here is an honest review for you… The rooftop is absolutely stunning! The lighting is perfect! However, it should not take 20 minutes for some drinks and chips and salsa. Also, the menu needs a little work on the description of food. Can’t really tell what you are going to get. I did ask for an explanation of some of the menu items and the server explained something totally different from what I thought I would receive. It came to the table and with an optimistic mind I decided to try the dish. The slop and soupy appearance was not enticing at all. Very weird ingredients as well that they paired with it. My boyfriend’s dish was also less than desirable. It is really sad that we paid $155.00 for a slop of a hot mess. The $14.00 drinks were served in the smallest glasses you could find in Jacksonville. I will say the street corn dish was very yummy. And I did enjoy the real tortilla chips. With that said, the food wasn’t up to par with the ambience. In fact, I believe the view is the only saving grace for this restaurant. The 3 stars I gave is a generous rating as far as I’m concerned."

"Went here for the first time since their remodeling. Overall it was good, but we did have a few hang ups. They must have been severely understaffed because there were some empty tables outside and only a couple seats taken inside, but we still had to wait to be seated. I liked the new additional outside part with an optional cover from the weather, which was where we sat. We were also seated at a communal table and it took about 10 minutes for us to be helped. During this time we were pretty confused about the menu, specifically the molcajetes, because there really isn’t a good explanation on how it comes or what it is. We also thought it strange that all of the appetizers (antojitos) and entrees (entradas) were listed in the same giant category on the menu, which made it difficult to figure out which plates were smaller or bigger. Our server was nice and seemed to anticipate this happening because he offered to explain any parts of the menu before we even asked. We ordered a couple cocktails, which were fine, but nothing special. We also started with the chips appetizer trio, with guac, queso, and salsa, which was good. The chips were pretty greasy though, and sometimes stuck together and chewy. We also got some Birria empanadas that we all liked. I thought the flavor was just a little bit strange. For an entree we shared the carne mixta molcajete, which was very good, and definitely enough for 3 people! We actually didn’t end up finishing it. The only thing we didn’t like about the dish was that it only came with 3 small tortillas, and one of them was severely broken. This was enough food for 2-3 people so there should be AT LEAST 6 to match the amount of food. This was very strange. The food we give 4 stars. It was pretty good, but there are a few small ways it could have been better. The service was the most interesting part of the experience. The host seemed a little impatient as we were asking the options for the night and where we could be to wait. As mentioned, our server was helpful, although a little slow, but it was the table runners that were worse. There were at least 3 dishes that were brought out to our table that we didn’t order and had to say they were for someone else. Then, after we had started eating our birria empanadas, the waiter came over to the other party that was at the table and explained that we had accidentally been given THEIR order of empanadas (we ordered after them). We felt bad about the situation, but we had no idea since they were brought right to us. Overall, the rooftop is really nice and the place is worth it for the views. The food is good/decent too, but the service needs some polishing, and the menu could be better organized and have more description."