El Mezcal Cantina

Loved everything about this place! Food was incredible!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Amazing drinks, delicious food, wonderful service! We can’t wait to come back! Love the outdoor seating area & the bar inside is such a cute spot!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The food at El Mezcal Cantina was good, but nothing that really stood out or blew me away. The service, however, was excellent — attentive, friendly, and easily the best part of the experience. The spicy margarita was also outstanding and definitely one of the highlights of the meal.
That said, the pricing was honestly hard to justify. Spending around $80 for six tacos, chips, and salsa felt pretty outrageous for what was served. I’ve had the same quality — and often even better — in Mexico for about a third of the price. Overall, it’s a decent spot with great service and excellent drinks, but the value just didn’t match the cost for me.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 5

This place has good food, unfortunately, they don't have enough help. Tried to order tonight and just get a pizza. Called the first time, went to voicemail, called the second time, a nice lady picked up but immediately put me on hold. I got other options, I'm not waiting on hold 10 min for you to take my order.

Very disappointing experience. Cannot believe how disastrously they handled Cinco de Mayo. We specifically made a reservation well in advance because we expected it to be busy and wanted to avoid exactly the kind of mess we walked into. Apparently reservations don’t mean anything.

When we arrived, the staff acted confused and disorganized, as though our reservation either didn’t exist or was an inconvenience to them. After standing around in a packed entryway for almost 10 minutes, we were taken to the bar (the bartender never acknowledged us), and after a total of 30 minutes we were finally shoved into a table hidden away in the back upstairs. All “good” tables (outside & downstairs) were given to walk-ins.

And then things somehow got worse.

The young man waiting on our table eventually dropped off one crumpled menu (and I literally mean balled up in his fist, he tried to flatten it out). He did however return with a couple more (not crumpled) menus a few minutes later, but he did not take away the tattered one. He picked up the crumpled one, went around the table handing out the other menus and handed me the raggedy menu. I organized this dinner!!!

He did not stay to answer questions or put in a drink order. After sitting at the bar for a while we knew what we wanted to drink!

More than an hour after arriving for our reservation, we had not received even water glasses — not water, just the actual glasses. We tried to flag someone to attend to our table multiple times with no success.

Staff repeatedly passed by us without acknowledgment while the entire restaurant operated in complete chaos. At no point did anyone apologize, communicate delays, or make even the slightest effort to manage the situation professionally or with care. We watched a table seated long after us receive water and seemingly order.

We TRIED to get drinks & apps but ultimately our table got up and walked out without ever being able to place an order. Again, no one acknowledged us once!

What makes this especially frustrating is that we had dined here the week prior and really enjoyed the food, which is why we chose to come back for a celebration. Unfortunately, good food means very little when the management and service completely collapse the moment the restaurant gets busy.

One of the most frustrating dining experiences I’ve had in a very long time.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 5

Service: 1

i rarely leave reviews but last night was THE WORST experience i’ve ever had at a restaurant.

we arrived at 6:30 (remember this)
me and my partner were seated at the bar to wait for a table we reserved but we never got a table. there was practically no communication throughout the entire night aside from our order being taken.

after 45 minutes we finally had our order taken. chips, a salad, a molcajete, and steak tacos. we waited 2 entire hours to get our food (now 9:00) i get it’s cinco de mayo, but a 2 hour wait on CHIPS and SALAD is insane…they were supposed to be our starters but came out with our entrees?

but to make things worse the ceasar salad had little to no dressing and came grilled and unchopped? just 2 romaine hearts with minuscule amounts of cheese and croutons. we couldn’t even care anymore though so some romain hearts with our entrees it was👍🏼

[i hate being all negative and doing this so i will say the molcajete was good, chips were average but not worth a 2 hour wait. tacos were eh.]

as we finished our food i jokingly told my partner we would probably have to wait an hour for the check now…unfortunately that became a reality😀 for once in my dining experience it hurt me to leave a tip but i couldn’t find it in me to leave a well deserved 0%.
we finally ended up leaving around 10:00.

i’m not sure what went wrong and why they handled this day so poorly. i’ve never ever had an experience like this in my life, but i hope they’re prepared for next years cinco de mayo. (and change up the salad i still can’t believe what they served us😭)

moral of the story, probably never come here on cinco de mayo🫩

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1

Let me preface by saying, we attempted to visit on Cinco De Mayo, so results may vary on a different day. Where do I even begin….we made a reservation for 7:15pm and arrived promptly at that time for our table. After waiting 20 minutes for someone to even acknowledge our existence, we were told they were getting a table ready for us. 10 additional minutes later, much to our surprise, someone else is sitting at the table that was committed to us. After another 10 minutes of waiting, we’re now 40 minutes past our confirmed reservation, we have been committed to another table at their upstairs room. This required the party already sitting there to depart, which we waited for. After sensing no bussing would be happening to the table, we decided to sit with the previous party’s leftovers still on the table. Thinking we’ve weathered the worst of the storm, we were excited to sit, order, and enjoy our meal….that thought was misguided. Service was dreadfully slow, a glass of water took an hour, incorrect drinks were served, and appetizers were provided in tin foil containers, with small quantities as we likened the appetizer experience to military food rations. I completely understand that instances like this can happen at high volume times, however, what irked me the most was that during the time that we were seated, we got the impression from the minimal service interaction we did have, that we were the inconvenience - for simply wanting our reservation honored. After nearly two hours, we threw in the towel and left. To be honest, I have been on a slower evening and the food is great, however, this experience is making me question whether I would come back.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 1

Delicious tacos and Brussels sprouts salad.
Bartender made an excellent Hugo Spritz and my manhattan was good.
Small restaurant.
We had reservations but could have walked in at 7 pm on Friday.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Fish Tacos

Drinks and food were super tasty!!! Willl definitely be going back!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

The drinks are presented beautifully, the service is ok.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 2

Great authentic meals and beverages. I’ll be back!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

This was the best Mexican restaurant I’ve been to in a long time! The food was phenomenal, the drinks were amazing and the service was impeccable. The second floor is a perfect space to rent for private events. We will 100% be back soon.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Really enjoyed the drinks, aguachiles and octopus.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Amazing restaurant!
One of the best Mexican restaurants in the city

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Don't come here. I don't want people to know about it.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5