Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar

Cantina Taqueria & Tequila Bar in Harlem did not come to play with the portions these appetizers could feed a small army! The seafood paella was the star of the night: flavorful, packed with shrimp, mussels, and calamari, and served piping hot in a generous skillet. The atmosphere was lively without being too loud, and the staff were super attentive and friendly. Definitely a great spot for a group dinner or a casual night out with friends. Come hungry you won’t leave disappointed!

This was one of the worst restaurant experiences I have ever had. The music was earsplitting and so everyone was screaming to talk to each other, making the entire space unbearably loud. Because of this we ordered our food to go. My server Ricardo said he would let me know an ETA and then never returned to the table. When I found him to ask about the food, he brought it out from the kitchen immediately. The tacos were so pathetically small that I actually thought they got the order wrong- the chicken taco pictured below cost over $5. We were then charged an 18% auto gratuity fee despite not having received any table service. When we tried the food after leaving, we were horribly disappointed. The tacos were not only tiny, but also cold and did not taste good. Overall, everything about this experience was abysmal- the atmosphere, service, and food. Again- this taco cost FIVE dollars + a 18% auto gratuity fee with no table service.

I love coming here because it’s always a 10/10 experience. Chris makes the best coconut margaritas in all of Manhattan. The fish tacos are AMAZING, and the vibes are always immaculate. Everyone who works here is sweet, friendly and a VIBE. Shout out to Ricky, Orlando, Sam, Pedro and Ricardo!

FIRST OFF MUSIC always good at both locations. This one is on 8th avenue . Came here after work this is my second time coming to this location . FROZEN rum punch 10/10 always . I had a meal off their special menu and it was BOMB portion size very well. Overall 10/10 . Bathroom huge . I didn’t take pics of the place some people don’t want to be in photos lol.

The food was good and the prices for Taco Tuesdays were very affordable. I recommend the fish, shrimp, and jerk chicken taco. However, I did not like the drinks. The margaritas were either too sweet or sour. I couldn't taste the liquor it was more mixer or juice. Paid $96 for small shots. Good for the food, not the drinks

Cool Mexican restaurant located on Harlem's restaurant row. They were formerly housed on a location on 7th Avenue and glad they moved in our street level because those stairs walking down to the prior establishment for deadly....lol A we popped in for happy hour and were pleasantly surprised with great drinks and an array of happy hour food options. We had a couple of tacos some beers a margarita and some shots. Definitely try the fish , shrimp, and jerked tacos.

What was supposed to be a quick bite with my sister turned into a night out! From the food to the music this place was such a vibe! The service was amazing! Especially from the bartender (chris) besides him being cute he was very attentive and made sure our night was going well. Definitely give this place a 10/10.

Amazing experience! Food was delicious, special highlight to the steak frites, their queso (get the chip sampler), and the street corn. Service is phenomenal and their music playlist was also really great. Also recommend their Mezcalita!

Ok, we are at Cantina's on 2099 Frédéric Douglas Blvd. We are at $3 Tacos and $9 Happy hour Margarita's... The FishTacos were good, and my frozen Rum Punch was on point. Our host JL was fantastic... funny and very attentive to all her people at the tables. The wings and fries were also good too. The vibe was good for a Tuesday night. It was getting crowded by 6ish, but all around, it was a good night. I was having a great time with me, job sis....long time friendship. We are family been friends over 30 years. The vibe for Cantina's was good. Music good, food good, host good...over all a good night!!! This review is for 2099 Frederick Blvd....JL get it gurllll**

My husband and I just left Cantina Taqueria & Tequila. Our server was Mega! He was amazing, very kind, and listened to what we each needed intently for our food and drinks. My husband is Mr. Long Island Ice tea, and they made it strong. we left a bit lit, and they're not going to lie. The food was wonderful. Everything was fresh and properly cooked. He had the Jerk chicken tacos, and I had the mushroom tacos. Both are so freaking good, and I love Mexican food. So I would tell the world if it wasn't worth the trip. It was quiet today as it's a rainy Sunday, but the vibe was great. Great music, drinks, food, and service. It's definitely worth the trip. we also had the mango habanero windows and fried sweet plantains, both yummy. The chef brought out our food every time. Such kind service. Forgot to take pics of taco but everything was very filling.

I am a frequent patron of this establishment... today i ordered my regular order for myself and my daughter Mango habanero wings Wings naked (for her) Cheese quesadilla (for her) My wings her quesadilla were fine.. her wings were fine until i noticed pink inside after she had already tore thru most of them. My daughter is 6 and doesn't know to look for these things. I tell the waiter he gets the manager Prince. Prince came to me and said without even asking me anything "you ate most of the wings already" I had to stop him right there because it wasn't a case of money as I had already paid and tipped my waiter. Prince said to me to him they are done and harped on the fact that they were eaten already. Because i was with my daughter I did not take it where i should have and met Prince with the same energy he had for me. As we left I asked Prince for the owners name he said he didn't know. After asking him multiple times he said the owners name is mark and he works Tuesday's only. Then the security felt the need to walk to Prince and insert hisself into a rather civil situation and tell Prince he didnt need to give me any information. And things got a bit heated after that. This grown man trying to intimidate a woman with a kid (and smiling and laughing about it) really didn't need to take place. The security seem to be needing some action and was ready to ponce at any sign of conflict or he is just an abusive man. Prince got a kick out of his security inserting hisself in our conversation stating "he works for me" So I am asking the owner to contact me because the person they left in charge of their establishment doesn't seem to know what customer service means. I am extremely upset.

I have visited the other Cantinas in the area, but this one hands down is the best of the three. This doesn't mean that the other two locations are bad. Our server, "Niqua", was pretty awesome and made sure that we were well-taken care of. Overall, my three tacos were great.

Wednesday Salsa and Bachata night was fun! Good music! My favorite location of the 3! Open space! Frozen Rum punch is the #1 drink! Faisal was the only bartender; he did an amazing job. He was patient, friendly and checked on everyone while being extremely busy! I'll be back!

I wish I could give this place no stars!! Just rude!! Went in for a drink with a date and the bartender was just so unbelievably rude.. snappy and gave off the "I cannot be bothered" attitude. We only had a shot of tequila because we could not take her attitude and when we asked for the check she had the nerve to include gratuity... What a disappointment!! NEVER AGAIN

The delivery service is atrocious, but the food is good. On four different occasions, they have delivered the wrong food or missed HALF the order. No más. Never ordering from here again. What a shame.

Love, Love, Love this Place! It's Cute, the Food is Delicious and it's just what Harlem Need and Want!!! Thank you!!

Guac tasted like tv static (twice-apparentlt sign of fermentation) MARGS made with mix. And tacos were middle of the road. Not terrible but like not good lmao

12/29/2022 - I got food poisoning from Cantina. I'd like to mention, we had a server by the name of Rio and she was very kind to us. Service was great. However, my friend Ishar & I, both ordered one Baja Fish / Crispy fish taco and we were both terribly ill for 2-3 days. Please be careful at this establishment.

We were staying at an Air BnB around the corner and chanced upon this place for dinner. Fridays is live DJ night and inside is more like a club than a restaurant. We sat outside and had excellent service. The chips and guacamole were delicious. I had a watermelon margarita, truffle taco & crabcake taco. All were tasty. My husband had a regular margarita (really strong), truffle, steak & jerk chicken tacos. He liked them all. Our server was really nice. We would definitely come back next time we're in town.

Cantina is one of those spots that is always popping off on the weekends! Good vibes all around and the staff there is really nice and helpful. We ordered a bowl and the pan fried fish as our entrees. The fish was tender and well seasoned, it was great. The bowl was pretty basic to me, didn't taste much different then what you would get at chipotle. We had the jerk taco as an appetizer and it was also just ok, no pizazz and not much flavor. Nonetheless the experience was still really enjoyable and their happy hour drinks were spot on!

We ordered food from their other uptown locations and enjoyed our meals. We were very excited when they opened their Frederick Douglas location. The food is good and was what we expected. My favorite is the shrimp cocktail. My biggest issue is the noise. Indoors you can't hear a thing because music and voices bounce off the walls. Dining outside can get loud too especially when open streets are in effect. We will still eat here but we try to go when it's not crowded or busy outside so I can chat with my friends. Lastly, some days the food is amazing and other days just ok. The restaurant is not very consistent, but again, we still eat there. I will add another star if my next dinner is great.

I came here for my best friends birthday and the owner was so accommodating. I ordered the crab enchiladas and they were so good! This chef truly put a nice spin on a traditional enchilada. I was disappointed in the drinks. Even the top shelf drinks were poorly mixed. I definitely recommend coming for food but save your money on the drinks.

I love the Cantina chains , been to all of them in the past . Yesterday was my first visit to this newer location. When we first sat down the vibes were great . The moment we ordered a staple cantina item , that's when it all went downhill . Too many inconsistencies with the new waiter , and raised voice by the condescending manager. Will not visit this location again .

Amazing hosts and great food! Music adds to the overall great time as well! The margaritas are very good and they dont skimp on the alcohol! I got mine with the strawberry flavor and it was delicious. The rice wasnt my favorite but still good, beans were pretty good as well. I recommend coming here!

Will not charge you for the correct amount for your bill. All they care about is making their money. They do not pay attention to their customers and will charge you a higher amount to get their bill. I am disgusted. It's probably because i am a black woman.

Tried this place again after having the single worst classic margarita of my life the first time. "You only had one margarita, one time," I told myself. "One bad night for one bartender shouldn't ruin it forever." This second time, I ordered a "frozen" margarita that was just a weird, saccharine slush. If there was booze, I didn't taste it. If there was lime, I didn't taste it. If there was even margarita mix from a pouch, I didn't taste it. And with very little ice in it, it looked like mop water within minutes of arriving. The drink would sit there untouched, without anyone asking about it, for the rest of the meal. Disappointed, I ordered one of my favorite beers--Dos Equis Amber. "Can't mess that up," I thought. The beer arrived just above room temperature. Not a drop of perspiration ever even accumulated on the bottle. "OK," I thought, "So now I know they just really don't do margs, and their fridge might be having trouble." Then the food came. All of it. At once. Three appetizers, both entrees (we were a party of two), and a side. There wasn't enough room at the table for all of this food, and the wait staff looked at us, puzzled. "Not sure what to tell you," we shrugged. They then put half of our meal at another table, I guess so we could eat it later? "Well, do we let the nachos get soggy, do we let the wings get cold, or do we let the tacos get soggy?" Not really a decision we wanted to make. In the end, it wouldn't matter. The tortilla chips seemed straight from a bag, the nacho cheese already cold and congealing, straight from a can. The tacos (fish, carnitas, octupus, al pastor) all tasted like pure salt to the point of being inedible. The wings suffered from the same problem: all salt, zero spice. These actually had the look and texture of microwaved frozen wings from Costco, except I can't imagine store-bought frozen wings being this salty. So, do with that what you will. Let me be really clear: I'm no food snob. For me, Mexican food and margaritas are the kinds of food and drink that, even when they're bad, they're still good. Somehow this place couldn't even meet that standard. We felt pretty terrible watching the bussers dump this $150+ meal into the trash. Servers were very friendly, though.

Guacamole $10.50 pic attached -- need I say more. How about the lame fish taco with no actual fish. We loved this place 2 years ago, but now, under new management, it's merely meh.

This place is okay. There's another one around the block which is a lot better. This one's a lot bigger and it seems like the sense of quality has gone down together with the increase in size. I went there one night, both me and my wife, and we both disliked what we ordered. And we are both not picking eaters in the least. The veggie burrito had lettuce in it--never a good idea. The texture of cooked lettuce just doesn't work for a burrito. No, cooked lettuce hardly works for anything. Lettuce was also not cut, so they're very long pieces of lettuce that that were distributed throughout the whole burrito ensuring that the whole burrito fell apart just as we began to dig in. Bottom line, lettuce should not be in a burrito, and vegetables like peppers, onions, and mushrooms--vegetables that still retain a crunch after being cooked--shouldbe reserved for it. The chicken burrito was extremely salty, to the extent of excess. No, interestingly, the vegetables that they have that you can burrito you're not include lettuce, and that's what they should have for all the burritos. They need to step up their game if they want patrons to keep returning.

The service is slow and the food is MEH! The drinks were okay. The menu was limited. We ended up down the street. We will not return.

my gf and i went to pick up the food and thought it would be amazing considering i've had it in the past. while my gf was eating the steak tacos, she found a hair.. not once BUT TWICE. i was disappointed that this was not a good food trip for us.

Just came here for the first time wings were amazing and the outdoor seating was the best! Staff was so nice can't wait to come here again.

ordered takeout. waited. no food for close to 25 minutes. wrong order when we got home. poor service but server stood over me to get a tip. poorly organized wait staff and kitchen. tacos were a mess. chips were stale and tasted of dishwashing detergent.