Alejandra's Mexican Cantina

The tacos by the way are street tacos, quite small. I had the pork tacos I prefer the red sauce to the green sauce that came with them. Husband at the chicken enchiladas rice beans it comes with 2 enchiladas so he just had one packed up to go. The $6 happy hour Margarita was quite small. And if you don't get a margarita it's quite expensive.

Looks like a great place to eat. Big disappointment, take long to be attended (restaurant barely 5 tables). mediocrity drinks food wasn’t better the guacamole was old (dark brown). Server said bar tender has 8 years experience but he was able to do just an ok drink. Is a shame such a beautiful place

Alejandra's didn't disappoint! Wonderful meal, and Lancelot was a great server. Really appreciate the suggestion on the nopalitos salsa. Absolutely delicious! Everything was great. We will be back soon! ............ ............ It breaks my heart to have to update my review. I'm not sure what's going on with Alejandra's lately, but it's definitely not the same place it was just a month ago. Service has tanked. Each week is worse than the last. Menu has also changed, which is fine, but the server nor the manager knew the menu at all tonight, and once again, we were all but forgotten about. Received the incorrect food. We didn't have utensils for everyone and had to sit, wait, and hope our server remembered we existed to get his attention. We were the ONLY table in the entire restaurant when we arrived and still couldn't get even mediocre service. Margaritas were still good, but everything else was lacking at best. This place had real potential. I hope they can figure out how to save it before it's too far gone. Three extremely rough experiences in a row. I'm not sure if we will be returning for a while. It's hard to justify going back at this point.

We decided to check this place out for some delicious Mexican food. This location has historically been a tough spot for restaurants to stay open. Since we've lived here, there have been 3 or 4 different restaurants try to survive. Hopefully Alejandra's can buck the trend and be the one. These days it seems like service has declined just about everywhere. Less staff so less attention and slower service. That's the case here as well. It wasn't overwhelming but just a little slow to get drinks. We could see the drinks sitting at the bar but took a few minutes to get to our table. The food was very tasty, but definitely on the spicy side. The menu indicates which dishes are considered spicy, but we both agreed that ours were pretty spicy even though not indicated. Great flavor and taste though. The chips and salsa were great - medium to medium hot for the salsa. It was a nice date as there was live guitar music while we were there. Nicely decorated inside, comfortable and warm. The restaurant was pretty full but no wait to get seated on a Saturday evening. Overall, I would go back and enjoy it again, but it's not on my must eat again list.

Wife and I celebrated our anniversary here together. Lindsey the hostess was super nice and let us pick where we wanted to sit and everything. Venue has a great layout and the variety of seating (windows/booth/outdoor,etc) and vibe was spot on. We went on a Thursday and there was actually live music—perfect for the occasion. It was a great start to the night. However our service went downhill from there. (And maybe it was just our server for this time) but we got kind of a “look” because we didn’t order drinks. And while we had a bottle of water to refill our own cups, we had ran out by dessert and it never was refilled. When we asked for another round of chips/salsa it was like we were bothering her. She forgot to bring the tortillas that came with my meal—I had to remind her. After dessert we waited a long time for our server to finally come around and give us the check. Maybe she was giving us space for the occasion, but we felt a little neglected. (And we were not seated off to the side or anything, we actually were in a the middle of the restaurant area.) Food was good! Lots of seasonings are used if that’s what your looking for. The chips had a lime seasoning on them (wife didn’t care for) but I didn’t mind. Salsa was really good and guac was spot on. Carnitas were perfectly cooked and while the rice was decent, the beans hit the spot. For some reason I only got two tortillas to work with and they came out “wet” and super hot. (This might have been because they forgot and rushed it out for me). Wife got the fish ceviche. She felt it was too salty but everything was fresh well prepared. Horchata cheesecake was kind of stiff, like it was in freezer for too long—I expected more creamy texture. The flan, however, was good and well done. Both had fresh fruit on the side which made it nice mix-in options if you like that. Overall the environment was fantastic, the service a bit disappointing (except the host) and the food, while priced as “fine” and served looking as such, was good, but not always great for the price being charged. We look forward to possibly giving them a second try again in the future.

Came in for happy hour. It was my first time visiting and won't be my last. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted with a warm welcome. Lindsey (hostess) was AMAZING!! Very friendly and inviting. She was attentive and checked on us frequently. Many regulars came in and she knew each and everyone's order. I was very impressed. She clearly pays attention to the needs of customers. The bartender Jonathan was also awesome. I had the pineapple habanero margarita (a few), and they were delicious. I tried the oysters which are a great deal on happy hour (1/2 dozen for $9). They were fresh and I loved the accouterments served with them. Shout out to Lucas who prepared them. We also tried the guacamole, taquitos, chips and salsa. Everything was flavorful and fresh. Can't wait to come back to try other offerings. Lindsey was also kind enough to give my friend a free dessert for his birthday. He had the mini churros. I personally didn't try them as I'm not a big fan of sweets but he enjoyed them. Would highly recommend you give this place a try, you won't be disappointed. Thanks Lindsey, Jonathan, and Lucas for making my first visit a great experience!!

My husband and I eat out constantly as we are retired, and that is one of our joys. We've eaten at many Mexican restaurants, and I have to tell you they are at the very top of the list! A good test is a Mexicans restaurants chips and salsa to start. Theirs are fantastic, the best salsa ever! Their Happy Hour has some of the best food offers, and the taste of everything we had was a 5. Their drinks are very good also! On this visit, we had Shrimp Cerviche, Birria street tacos, chicken taquitos, and fish street tacos and finished off with their Tangerine Flan. We will definitely be regulars here, especially for their 3-6 daily Happy Hour! Also their staff was very friendly and efficient. I love the ambiance of the place, so pretty!

Decided to give this place another try. I came here the night before to listen o the live music which was really amazing. Then I came here with a friend for brunch the next day, we ordered the steak fajitas and chilaquiles with a side of chips and guac with salsa. The portions were larger and we had food to take home after we closed out. Out of everything I really loved the chips and guac. The chips were seasoned well and thicker. The salsa was good too, I usually have big scoops of the salsa but this one was a bit spicier that got spicier with each bite.

Worst service ever. Brought food without silverware or plates. Drinks came 15 minutes after ordering. Never go back.

Ruben was awesome!!! Great food, drink atmosphere and service!! Glad to have this open again! A++++ If you're in the neighborhood we recommend you stop by...Ruben will put a smile on your faces!!!

This place is where Crazy Burros uses to be and other restaurants can't seem to survive here. I sure hope Alejandras does. They have fantastic service and delicious food. I'm a fan of their chicken and rice soup and I love their tacos. Especially smitten with their chili relleno tacos. They have a full bar and make a mean cocktail. I had a wonderful Expresso martini. They have a great ambiance and view. Also a front patio that would be great in the nicer weather. They also have I've music on some Saturdays on the patio. I hope they open earlier once summer starts. Right now they open at 5.

This is one of the nicest restaurant settings around. The menu is more limited now but the food is good. The service has been extremely poor on each visit. Tonight we made a reservation. We were seated by the band, as asked. Then we waited... and waited. We went to the host counter and told them we hadn't been seen or ordered a drink in 31 minutes. We had their attention for a bit. Food was good, even though they got my order wrong. Then over an hour and nobody came back. I not the kind to walk out, but was tempted, but we went back to the host station and asked to pay. Timeline: 6:30 reservation, host station to say we had not been seen my a server 7:01pm. Appetizer ordered 7:04pm. Dinner ordered 7:15pm. All served quickly. Then at 9:25pm we walk in to pay. Luckily we were not rushed and we did enjoy the band (even though they kept popping breakers and loosing their mics and amps. I hope they resolve this because the location is premium but their is now way they can survive like this. This has happened to us on the last 3 visits prior to this, as well. On a prior visit my wife had a work party with over 15 people. Many of the group left without ordering as we were not getting attention. I want this place to thrive, I really do...

Will definitely be returning. Drinks and music were great. Food came fast and was the perfect amount. Staff were all super friendly.

Great spot for happy hour & reverse happy hour. Live music which is great and nearby to the move theater for convenience. Great atmosphere and staff was friendly.

Came here for family happy hour (husband, 7 yr old and me ) for the first time and had a great experience. Portion sizes were very generous - we had the Surf and turf tacos, Fish tacos, Bacon-wrapped shrimp (daughter's fav), Elote and Birria flatbread (super tender meat with pickled onions). We finished with the Dulce de leche cheesecake. Everything was very delicious and we are looking forward to coming back to try their entrees. Ambiance was beautiful- hadn't been since it was Ignite - they've remodeled and the bar area is especially well done with the glowing stone counters and open airy design. Can't wait for warmer weather to leverage the lovely patio area too (although I saw they have large fire pit which could work in our so cal winter). Perfect place to meet up with friends or a date night (or a family hh night). Service was warm and friendly- shoutout to Diego our server for taking great care of us!

I always drive by and have wanted to try but the reviews weren't great. Glad I stopped in because apparently being under new ownership and an updated menu was the trick! I always judge how good a place will be by their chips and salsa. These were fantastic! The beans and sauce had tons of flavor! They were not bland at all and I had enough leftover for lunch the following day. The k since was nice and the large windows had really pretty views of La Costa. My server was friendly and quick. Can't wait to come back with my family.

We went her for Restaurant Week and decided to order off the normal menu since we don't do dessert. Our server April was wonderful and after that our experience changed some. The food wasn't what we had expected and decide this will be our last time. My husband had Chile Relleno that was really sad. It was very small and covered with a red sauce that looked like tomato paste out of the can. I had a very dry Hatch Chicken Buritto with not a lot of flavor. I really want this place to make it but unfortunately it will not be with our help.

It's BACK and it's GREAT. NEW MENU, NEW MANAGER at the bar, Bennett was so excellent Our meal was very fresh. Had the Tacos and enchiladas were yummy The decor is very modern Mexican. Five Stars

What a great night of music, food and drinks ! Ruben was fantastic with customer service ! He did an amazing job keeping up with all my drink orders !

Stopped in for a Margi(s) and an appetizer. Reuben our server was beyond fun & informative. Food was OUTSTANDING! Reuben was a blast! Can't wait for our next visit.

My wife and I went on a Saturday early evening for dinner. The atmosphere is nice with some nice high views of La Costa. The salsa probably was one of my favorites of the meal. The service was just ok. My wife ordered a Coors Light and the waitress brought out a Miller light. No big deal. I told the waitress that I would just drink the Miller light but I already ordered myself a margarita she said that's fine but it's four dollars and just set it down walked away. Again not a big deal but she acted like I was looking for a deal or something. Overall pleasant experience the food was decent but there's better Mexican food in Carlsbad/Encinitas.

Beautiful property. We sat at the outdoor bar. There were fire pits and several TV's to watch sports on. Nice views and lovely foliage. Happy hour was great. Good food and drinks. You gotta check this place out.

The place is beautiful the food is amazing love the flavors very relaxing I enjoyed my dinner and the music everyone was excellent love the service

Overpriced Mexican with minimal variety. One thing I love about living in SoCal- the Mexican food! So when there are multiple options to choose from, Alejandra's wouldn't be towards the top of my list. The food wasn't bad, it was just overpriced (by a lot!) and the options were just limited. More than $100 for 2 dinners and 2 drinks? No thanks!

Incredible band that really lifts the spirit, and the drinks are absolutely delightful! It's such a wonderful atmosphere all around. Ruben is an amazing Bartender, good stuff drinks!

Amazing overall experience! Incredible restaurant! Excellent service, family friendly is a huge plus as well! , great date spot ! And the food was Terrific! I knew when the chips and salsa came out the food would be just as good ! Stop looking at my review because you're hungry and don't know where to go lol, book yourself a table at Alejandra's !

Soooo yummy! Hatch chile burrito is to die for. Service friendly and nice. Great setting too. We had the house margarita and a ranch water. Also good. Highly recommend.

Please add tacos/ rolled tacos to the kid's menu- and NOT the app- something small at least. Even 2 would work. A lot of families have been coming to this location ( all the various restaurants) for a long time. We will continue coming here. Wonderful service and great revamped menu. We have reservations tonight!

This is the third iteration of a Mexican theme restaurant at the corner of Alga and El Camino Real, after The Crazy Burro and Ignite bistro. Alejandra's is by far, the most elegant and creative establishment of them all and certainly elevates Mexican cuisine to a new level for Carlsbad. We went to check it out during happy hour which is offered every day. Sat at the bar and chatted with our bartender Juan who is very knowledgeable about food and beverage and had great recommendations. We ordered the oysters ( from Baja,) ceviche and tacos with different versions of margaritas and each dish did not disappoint. The bartender mentioned they are starting up a brunch on the weekends so we hope to check it out.

Sneakily have some of the best salsa and burritos in San Diego. The fajitas are too oily, but tacos, burritos, quesadillas and enchiladas are awesome. Great margaritas too

I don't know if I'll be coming in, maybe and I'll Change my review depending on the service and food but for now I'll just say I tried to make a reservation and they never called back......

So glad Alejandra's opened in the neighborhood. Excellent food and the patio with wonderful band playing. Particularly Salty Suits and Ronstat Tribute band ... Come for the food and margaritas, and we stayed for the music.

Wowzer! My experience here was SO awesome! If I could give more stars I would! The staff here are so friendly and made us feel so welcome! Shout out to Lindsay! We sat outside on their beautiful tropical patio with our pup. Such a lovely, inviting space with a bar outside! The margaritas were so tasty! The food was incredible, even the chips and salsa blew me away! Such great flavors! Definitely order the tomahawk pork chop, oh my gosh - INSANE! Pro. tip - ask for Melanie to be your server, she was awesome and so sweet! Parking is easy, dog friendly, inside and outside seating, great service and delicious food! You can't beat it!

Lovely location, beautiful restaurant, amazing view, mediocre food... The bartender is great. What a good person! He gave our birthday party 50% off a round of shots. He is a good person. The waitress is kind and attentive. Checked on us 4 times. The chips and salsa are great. Fresh and crispy. The appetizers (tacquitos and sopes) were delicious. Crispy and light. The main dishes... I understand the 3 star rating... The beans are tasteless and rice is out of a boiler. This I can forgive, but... The fajitas ($28) are more veggies than meat. I was hoping for large, juicy shrimp but received many small cuts of a whole shrimp. Maybe 4 shrimp total in the dish all cut up in small pieces. I'm a bit disappointed. I'm full, mostly due to chips and salsa, but I'm done for tonight.

I had a lovely time on Saturday evening with my boyfriend at Alejandra's. I got the fresh guacamole, fried avocado tacos and the margarita flight was my favorite part! It was so delicious. The ambiance was perfect for a date night and the service was incredible. Brooke and Benny made us feel like we were family! Can't wait to go back and try more dishes in the vegetarian menu!

Great food and ambiance, had the margaritas, ceviche, fish tacos, all fantastic. Ruben was our server and is awesome!

Ate on a Thursday outside on the patio. Service was outstanding. He came and checked on us just the right amount of time, gave us great suggestions, got us hooked up with happy hour pricing at the buzzer. Best of all, the food was delicious. We had shrimp ceviche which was very authentic (I lived in Baja for 5 years) and my buddy had the quesabirria. Delicious. The steak tacos were seasoned great...everything was amazing and we will definitely be back.

Please, please, please do not waste your time. We've given this place 3 chances as it is so close to our house. Epic fail each and every time. Food is mediocre at best and service is absolutely horrific.

First off, this is a nicely decorated restaurant with good music playing. The staff was friendly and welcoming and the manager (I think she was the manager at least) was awesome and came by and checked with how everything was going. Now, let's talk about the food. The queso fundido was fantastic and the tortilla chips here are one of the standouts; thick, crunchy, salty, and seasoned with a bit of lime. Very nice. We also had the carne asada tartare. It lacked a bit of seasoning and the chips they serve with it felt a little too thin to standup up to the thicker cut tartare. It was better when you are it with the tortilla chips. It also needed an egg or something else to give it a bit more texture (in my opinion). The mains we had were the Chicken Enchiladas and the Al Pastor. The chicken enchiladas were good, but nothing spectacular. The red sauce was full of flavor but quickly thickened up and there wasn't enough to cover all the enchilada so some of them were dry. The rice and beans though, were really good! The beans were slightly creaming and had nice seasoning and flavoring. The Al Pastor is actually a tomahawk pork chop. It was good, but a little dry. However, with some of the adobe sauce, salsa, etc. in a tortilla it was good. Overall, the food was pretty, but for the price (about $250 for 4 of us -- three cocktails included) I don't think it stands up to the price. I don't think we'll go back for the mains, but would be a great place for happy hour again with the chips, guacamole, and other appetizers.

Riuben was an awesome server! Best margs and the band Sticky Sweets was the best! Love the fire pits too! Definitely coming back here and bringing more friends!

Poor customer service. Made reservations in advanced and made notes that we would like to sit close to the live music. Came for our reservation and our table was far from the music where we couldn't hear. So we asked to be seat closer because we came for dinner and for the live music. They were not too friendly or apologetical about not reading our note and specific request when we made reservations. I understand things happens, totally get it but it's how you handle and address it is what matters. For a higher end restaurant based on their menu and prices, I expected more. We ended up leaving to dine elsewhere after 30 mins + wait. I feel like they could have handled it differently and shown a little more care There are too many awesome restaurants around to try.

Wow! Come see Ruben for the margaritas Wednesday- Saturdays. He'll make exactly what you ask for. He's the best!!! Also the HH is so good! Havnt seen a deal like this any where else. The ambience is gorgeous. I like that it's not overly crowded but still a good vibe. My new fav place.

We originally came to this location when it first reopened. The service has improved so much. The food was actually great. The service experience was timely. The drinks were amazing. Cannot say enough for those of you who may have come earlier. You should definitely try it again.

Ruben, jr,Annette and nevin at the bees knees!! I've never had more outstanding service at a bar / restaurant ever and the tacos are delicious and authentic highly recommend this place to anyone. Also live band was amazing and the fire outdoor fire place was a lovely touch. My first 5 star review !!

So, in January I gave them a 5-star revue. My initial impression was very positive. Now, I question if we will ever return. Let's start with the fact that they have beer on Happy Hour for $7. My understanding was that all beers are $7, but no, it's only the "house beers". The funny thing is the "house beers" are always $7, so how is that a "Happy Hour" price? Also, they have dropped many of the best deals from the menu. The final factor was the bartender largely ignored us & acted offended when I asked about pricing. You weren't busy at all, so how about interacting with customers & not being dismissive.

I'm writing this review for the management team. Last night 7/5/2025 was a disaster. I'm giving most staff a 5 and I'm giving management of 1. Food was a little bland but ok and atmosphere was great.It was obvious observing that not only did the restaurant get more people than they expected listening to the live 80s band, but there are no processes in place that could make your staff successful. The bartender and our waitress were doing the best they could to manage the tables. Where was management? They should've been out there hustling by busing tables, stopping by each table to ask people if they needed anything, helping fill up the water decanter that went empty as people waited for the ice to melt so that you could get some water, putting utensils and plates on the tables ahead of food service, helping get the drink and food orders out. There were so many opportunities for a manager to jump in to help but there was no one who consistently hustled. We saw an additional three staff people make appearances but not any of them walked away from a table carrying a dirty dish. There was a young man who didn't know what to do with the food coming out so he's looking / waiting for the waitress while everybody is watching their food get cold. There's no system in place to find out which table the food should go. Your guest are busing their own tables. We waited so long 30+ minutes for our drink order that we had to go to the bar. One table ordered "to go" food and got it faster than sitting in the restaurant. The bartender, who's your moneymaker, is having to leave the bar to tell people to move then bus / clean a reserved table which backs up the whole process. Where was management? The staff was so nice yet they have not been trained. I hope Management spends time today evaluating last night to put some processes in place that if you get slammed your staff has the training to handle the crowd. There was so much money you missed an opportunity to collect for your people that it's just sad to see when you have such good staff working for you.

We are so excited that this restaurant made it back after their kitchen fire. We had eaten here many times before and really loved their unique blend of spices and special food items they offered. Once again the meal was fabulous and we will be returning often too enjoy their many options!

Great happy hour It was my first time there Thursday 30 November 2023 3 to 6pm happy hour Great prices Can you believe 9 dollars for 6 oysters on a half shell Great service Great happy hour I was surprised that they didn't have Crown royal on the bar But they had Jamison's and it was great

Your next brunch place to stop by and check out! So much good food and the drinks are amazing!!

Amazing food, ambiance, happy hour, and our server Annette was fabulous!! We stopped in without any explanation and ended up finding a new favorite spot. Happy hour had so many great options and went to 6pm even on a Friday!!! All the portions were huge even from the happy hour menu. I'm super picky and loved everything. We will be back. Next we will try brunch.

Great happy hour-tacos and margaritas are great and nice atmosphere inside and outside.

Mom taught me. Only responding bc u sent me a message. Food, service are disturbing. Good location, but u should know better.

The servers were very nice & quick service...but they food was DISGUSTING!! WORST MEXICAN FOOD IVE EVER HAD!!! & I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD!! Those stuff wasn't even edible. I wasted $23 on 1 bite of disgusting enchiladas & threw it in the trash!! Even the beans looked like strait dog poop!! NO JOKE!! I will NEVER eat here again. Yuck!! (I MUCH PREFER Nortes which is almost on the beach. Beautiful view, good service, & tasty reasonably priced food. DEFINITELY THE BETTER OPTION (in my opinion)

No exaggeration... Came here for Happy Hour. The service was borderline rude and extremely inattentive. We literally had to flag people down for everything - water, chips, to order drinks and then food, to get flatware to eat our food once it arrived almost 30 minutes later. Had to go up to bar to order a second drink, which took almost 15 minutes to arrive. And the place was not busy at all. Drinks were just ok. Nice looking with colorful rims and dried fruit garnish, but watery overall. Got the carne asada nachos which were pretty awful. Enormous chunks of gristly meat. You literally needed a fork and knife to eat these...and they didn't come with them. Or napkins. Poor topping distribution/ratio. Mostly dry chips. Just not good. The temperature on the patio was an inferno & we were told there was no way to adjust the heaters, so finally had to ask if they could be turned off for a little bit. The live music was just...bad...& so extremely loud so you couldn't have a conversation. They also had a strobe light going but all you could see was a bright red laser that would occasionally land on someone's face. All I could think of was that eventually someone would end up blind. It was making the dog at the table next to us go nuts, which added to the cacophony of noise. Oh...and the place caught fire while we were there and had to be evacuated. Had paid, but were unable to finish our food and drinks (or send them back). It was comical how bad this place was. Went across the street and enjoyed the rest of the night with great drinks and food. Maybe it was an off night but no need to ever return.

Food and drinks were so good! Annette was a fantastic server. I had shrimp fajitas, hubby had carnitas tacos, mom had bone marrow tacos, dad had chicken enchiladas mole plus elote. Margarita flight and Black Plague beers on tap! Yes please! Great vibes, excellent decor, can't wait to go back!

Ruben was amazing . Fun personality . And the food was great! Definitely coming back !

The food was yummy, we especially enjoyed the churros for dessert! Our server Rueben was awesome.