JT L.
Yelp
We were excited to try Cantina because we saw how alive it was as we were walking by. We were impressed with the atmosphere, the New York feels, and extensive drink menu. We did not have reservations but were seated immediately. Their menu did not offer any of the traditional Italian food such as eggplant Parmesan or ravioli, so it was a very limited menu. For drinks we had scotch and a Moscow Mule (pretty tasty). Then we ordered the Rib Eye and Solomi Piconte pizza (the waiter suggested this for meaty) ....
The Solomi pizza was mediocre, thin crusted, with the sauce on the sweet side (because of the honey), not as much meat as I would expect and very little cheese. The ribeye was cooked to the order. However, the sauce was overwhelming and took away from the juiciness of the steak. I'm used to being asked to check on the preparation of the steak by doing a quick cut in the middle, or at least have a follow-up, but it was non existence here. Overall, for the price of the steak, I expected better.
On a side note - initially our waiter was attentive, brought our drinks fast and took our orders quickly but unfortunately that did not last long when his shift ended around 10PM. We were forgotten after that, no refills and no one else came by to check on us. From where we were sitting we had view of the kitchen in front and bar to the right. That's where our waiter was after his shift with a beer in hand. Quite disappointing, we thought someone would have informed us of the change in staff or at least he would give us a heads up. Anyway, we had to flag down another waiter to get our check.
3 stars for the drinks, atmosphere, accepting AMEX but if we had to rate on food and service, 2 stars. Not somewhere we would be rushing back to!