I recently had one of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve ever encountered, and unfortunately, it happened during a special occasion which was my mother’s birthday dinner. We had a reservation for a party of 12 and arrived around 6 PM to a relatively quiet restaurant, which made what followed all the more frustrating.
Despite the light crowd, service was extremely slow. It took an unreasonably long time to receive our food, and once it arrived, the quality did not justify the wait. My traditional tacos were served in stale shells that were too hard to bite into. I had to remove the filling and eat it without the shell. The chips were also stale.
Throughout the meal, we were largely ignored by our two servers (one of whom seemed to be in training). No one checked on our food or experience until much later when plates were being cleared. I mentioned the stale tacos to a server, and she said she would inform the manager but we never heard back.
Earlier, we had informed the staff it was my mother’s birthday, and I discreetly handed over candles and a birthday pick for the complimentary dessert typically provided. After dinner, some guests ordered additional desserts and we expected the birthday dessert to follow. Instead, we waited more than 30 minutes without any follow-up or desserts. One guest had to leave due to a family emergency during this delay.
While we waited, we observed the staff regularly checking on other tables, but continued to ignore ours. It’s difficult not to question whether our treatment had something to do with the fact that we are African American, especially given that the other patrons receiving prompt service were not.
When a server finally returned, it was to pour water only for a few people and without asking the entire table. We requested our checks, which were eventually brought, but then we were left waiting again for another 15 minutes. At that point, my mother had to seek out the manager herself, as no one came to follow up.
Even more concerning, we saw the manager walking around the restaurant and continuing to clean tables after being told we wanted to speak with her. It took her another 10–15 minutes to return, at which point she briefly apologized and offered to refund the desserts and my meal. But instead of taking care of us she continued on picking up plates and cleaning tables. The complimentary birthday dessert never arrived or any dessert for that matter, and the waitress whom I had to track down myself still had the birthday candles and pick in her pocket. Once the manager returned she went ahead and refunded us the desserts and my taco meal.
Despite the poor service, we chose to make the best of the situation and celebrated my mother with a song and each other’s company. However, it’s incredibly disheartening that a place like Cantina Laredo would provide such subpar service on a day meant to be joyful and memorable.
I hope this feedback is taken seriously and used to improve staff training, service consistency, and attentiveness especially for large parties and special occasions.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
Brendan McLennan
The food was great, the chips and quac and salsa were great to start. The service was lacking unfortunately, took over 45 minutes to order and some people in hour group had to leave given the slow service and other commitments.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Chips and Salsa
Jess Jess
Stopped in for lunch, no wait. Food was good I chose salmon. Server was attentive.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Mark Humphreys
Great deal for Sunday Brunch, good food and friendly staff.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Kenneth Lang
Made reservations for 15 for wife birthday. She love Mexican food. Came to Catina Laredo. Everything was great. Forgot servers name but she was amazing. Wife and family really enjoy the great service and food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tim Duffy
This was the first time I visited with friends. Our server was great. The portions were large and tasty.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mike Hancho
Your abuela isn’t in the kitchen here, and no one’s blasting a Spanish radio station while chopping onions—but that’s okay. This isn’t the kind of authentic spot where you’re magically transported to Oaxaca or the Yucatán.
What you do get is tasty, well-prepared American-Mexican food in a sit-down, tablecloth environment right in the heart of the Town Center. Our server Jessie was on point—quick with the food, attentive with the drinks, and courteous the whole way through.
If you’re craving an “I just crossed the border into flavor town” experience, this isn’t it. But if you want solid Tex-Mex comfort food without the drive or the mystery meat tacos, Cantina Laredo hits the spot.
I’ll be back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Letticia Dsouza
We were curious about what they meant by gourmet Mexican food. The food was like any other Mexican place.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Chanda
Service was ok. It could have been better. Noticed that others had plates on their tables for the chips and salsa. However, we had to ask for some. I had to ask to have my lemonade refilled. The salsa had alot of black pepper in it. The rice seemed dry. The overall food was ok. Had the steak burrito. The cheese sauce on top was a bit salty. The quesadilla was ok ... but it wasn't a wow factor.
Benjamin
Good and service was excellent!! The server we had was a fine young lady that acted professionally, courteously, and was excellent!!
Cantina Laredo is an upscale Mexican restaurant with great service, great food, and awesome food presentation, all at reasonable prices.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jon Erickson
Good food. Service is worse than bad. Asked for utensils three times and still didn’t get them by the time entree was served. No water. They must have been way understaffed but still this was a bad experience.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
David Strommer
Great margaritas!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fletcher Garrison
An acceptable Mexican food experience in St. John's. Food was good, but not outstanding which the price might lead you to believe. Had a very solid waitress, but the atmosphere felt too sterile for her to redeem. Also, Dos XX as the only amber on tap? Felt very whitewashed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Aaron Oliver
Hair in the food, dismissive service, and inedible steak. My carne asada and my son’s steak nachos both had a strange, gamey taste that was so bad we didn’t eat our meals. My wife’s chicken tacos tasted like pre-packaged grocery-store chicken. Service was slow, the staff seemed careless, and nothing felt fresh or authentic. We paid for food we didn’t eat and left. One of the worst dining experiences we’ve had. Don’t waste your time or money here.
Review of Cantina Laredo – Friday, 10/10/25
I recently had one of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve ever encountered, and unfortunately, it happened during a special occasion which was my mother’s birthday dinner. We had a reservation for a party of 12 and arrived around 6 PM to a relatively quiet restaurant, which made what followed all the more frustrating.
Despite the light crowd, service was extremely slow. It took an unreasonably long time to receive our food, and once it arrived, the quality did not justify the wait. My traditional tacos were served in stale shells that were too hard to bite into. I had to remove the filling and eat it without the shell. The chips were also stale.
Throughout the meal, we were largely ignored by our two servers (one of whom seemed to be in training). No one checked on our food or experience until much later when plates were being cleared. I mentioned the stale tacos to a server, and she said she would inform the manager but we never heard back.
Earlier, we had informed the staff it was my mother’s birthday, and I discreetly handed over candles and a birthday pick for the complimentary dessert typically provided. After dinner, some guests ordered additional desserts and we expected the birthday dessert to follow. Instead, we waited more than 30 minutes without any follow-up or desserts. One guest had to leave due to a family emergency during this delay.
While we waited, we observed the staff regularly checking on other tables, but continued to ignore ours. It’s difficult not to question whether our treatment had something to do with the fact that we are African American, especially given that the other patrons receiving prompt service were not.
When a server finally returned, it was to pour water only for a few people and without asking the entire table. We requested our checks, which were eventually brought, but then we were left waiting again for another 15 minutes. At that point, my mother had to seek out the manager herself, as no one came to follow up.
Even more concerning, we saw the manager walking around the restaurant and continuing to clean tables after being told we wanted to speak with her. It took her another 10–15 minutes to return, at which point she briefly apologized and offered to refund the desserts and my meal. But instead of taking care of us she continued on picking up plates and cleaning tables. The complimentary birthday dessert never arrived or any dessert for that matter, and the waitress whom I had to track down myself still had the birthday candles and pick in her pocket. Once the manager returned she went ahead and refunded us the desserts and my taco meal.
Despite the poor service, we chose to make the best of the situation and celebrated my mother with a song and each other’s company. However, it’s incredibly disheartening that a place like Cantina Laredo would provide such subpar service on a day meant to be joyful and memorable.
I hope this feedback is taken seriously and used to improve staff training, service consistency, and attentiveness especially for large parties and special occasions.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
The food was great, the chips and quac and salsa were great to start.
The service was lacking unfortunately, took over 45 minutes to order and some people in hour group had to leave given the slow service and other commitments.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Chips and Salsa
Stopped in for lunch, no wait. Food was good I chose salmon. Server was attentive.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Great deal for Sunday Brunch, good food and friendly staff.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Made reservations for 15 for wife birthday. She love Mexican food. Came to Catina Laredo. Everything was great. Forgot servers name but she was amazing. Wife and family really enjoy the great service and food.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
This was the first time I visited with friends. Our server was great. The portions were large and tasty.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Your abuela isn’t in the kitchen here, and no one’s blasting a Spanish radio station while chopping onions—but that’s okay. This isn’t the kind of authentic spot where you’re magically transported to Oaxaca or the Yucatán.
What you do get is tasty, well-prepared American-Mexican food in a sit-down, tablecloth environment right in the heart of the Town Center. Our server Jessie was on point—quick with the food, attentive with the drinks, and courteous the whole way through.
If you’re craving an “I just crossed the border into flavor town” experience, this isn’t it. But if you want solid Tex-Mex comfort food without the drive or the mystery meat tacos, Cantina Laredo hits the spot.
I’ll be back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
We were curious about what they meant by gourmet Mexican food.
The food was like any other Mexican place.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 4
Service was ok. It could have been better. Noticed that others had plates on their tables for the chips and salsa. However, we had to ask for some. I had to ask to have my lemonade refilled. The salsa had alot of black pepper in it. The rice seemed dry. The overall food was ok. Had the steak burrito. The cheese sauce on top was a bit salty. The quesadilla was ok ... but it wasn't a wow factor.
Good and service was excellent!! The server we had was a fine young lady that acted professionally, courteously, and was excellent!!
Restaurantji Recommends
Cantina Laredo is an upscale Mexican restaurant with great service, great food, and awesome food presentation, all at reasonable prices.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good food. Service is worse than bad. Asked for utensils three times and still didn’t get them by the time entree was served. No water. They must have been way understaffed but still this was a bad experience.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 1
Great margaritas!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
An acceptable Mexican food experience in St. John's. Food was good, but not outstanding which the price might lead you to believe. Had a very solid waitress, but the atmosphere felt too sterile for her to redeem. Also, Dos XX as the only amber on tap? Felt very whitewashed.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 4
Hair in the food, dismissive service, and inedible steak. My carne asada and my son’s steak nachos both had a strange, gamey taste that was so bad we didn’t eat our meals. My wife’s chicken tacos tasted like pre-packaged grocery-store chicken. Service was slow, the staff seemed careless, and nothing felt fresh or authentic. We paid for food we didn’t eat and left. One of the worst dining experiences we’ve had. Don’t waste your time or money here.
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