De Leon Cocina

Reviews

• Brian D.

  star star star star star 31 May 2026

  Little Latin restaurant tucked into the Ponce Hotel. Was a bit surprises at first, but the music and the friendly waitress convinced us to stick around. Glad we did! For appetizers, we ordered refajo (Colombian soda and beer mixed drink), and an order of both the beef and the vegetarian empanadas. The vegetarian empanadas were made with quinoa, and tasted very fresh. The aji sauce could have been a little spicier, but that is my personal preference.
  
  For the main course, our table ordered the bandeja paisa, the trucha (fish) special, a vegan bowl, and the picada (assortment of grilled meats and starches). I was very happy with the vegan bowl, which came with a dressing on the side. The beans on the bandeja paisa are also vegetarian. I was told that the meat on the bandeja paisa could have been cooked a little more in order to be well done, which is the preference of most Colombians. By the time we were finished and were leaving, the restaurant was full of customers, and there were several people lined up as well. My family was really happy with coming here for lunch, and have made this our go-to spot when we go back to St. Augustine.

• Mare M.

  star star star star star_border 31 May 2026

  Started off with some arepas and tostones.. The arepas are the best I've had since leaving Philly.. Just delicious! We both got bowls.. I did the veg bowl - my sweetie had the calamari and shrimp.. really good, fresh stuff! And of course.. they had Tres Leches.. so I couldn't say no.. loved it (except for the chocolate underneath- Tres Leches is supposed to be about vanilla/cream).. but.. we still devoured it! The waitresses were great - super friendly and attentive!  
  
  It's kind of an odd set up  - with the restaurant being open to the hotel lobby... but... we got there at 5 and the place was empty...? You're missing out... get over there

• Martha C.

  star star star_border star_border star_border 18 May 2026

  Found this little restaurant inside an hotel by yelp. Decided to give it a try with my husband. We were welcomed by probably the whole staff including the kitchen staff as we had gone in really early in the morning. Honestly we were so excited they let us choose where we could sit down and they all spoke spanish and English.
  Waitress brought us water and asked us what we wanted to eat we ordered fried yuca with mojo sauce as well as 3 colombian beef patties. Delicious appetizers they hit the spot just right.
  But during our time of eating the appetizers and receiving our food we noticed one of the waitress or maybe bartender( she was inside the bar table) was agitated by something and started crying... although she didn't really try her best to hide it, neither the host ,I'm assuming he was , tried to avoid us seeing that nor did our waitress who was drinking from her Starbucks coffee and kept looking at us did something about. To us it was just very weird and killed the vibe of what started off with good food and good environment.
  
  Next we received our entress we both ordered bowls my husband ordered the inca and I ordered the Paisa. The rice to us tasted old not fresh, we could barely finish it, beans tasted like they came from a can, and although the presentation of the plates look amazing enough to post on Instagram as you will see on our pictures, the flavor was just not there it seemed bland and felt like it waa missing some type of spice. All in all would give another try since its in a quiet little area in front of the lobby and the appetizers we do have to say where amazing and delicious. Wish the entres could have amazed us as well and we wish whatever happened with the crying waitress to have been fixed.

• Stephanie M.

  star star star star star 18 May 2026

  A M A Z I N G!!!!! If you come to st agustine this place is a must. Authentic Colombian food with s great home taste. Very detailed with everything.

• L S.

  star star star star star 16 May 2026

  Little gem inside the de León. Latín food with a twist. The chicken empanadas are different but delicious the pork sandwich is with actual pieces of pork best pork sandwich I ever tried