El Cardenal Cantina

A great bar with live music. Good selection of beers, good service and options for food. The waiter was very helpful in selecting the best tequila!

Recent renovations (paving over the gravel in the outdoor space, bathroom upgrades, etc) have only served to enhance this favorite spot of ours. We often go with friends to enjoy the music (easier to talk outdoors) and the consistently attentive service. Neither fancy or fresa, this place is very welcoming to all: co-workers having a drink after work; adult families; friends and even date nights. Our overall feeling is that they are genuinely happy to welcome customers—new and regular alike. Good value for the hospitality and experience.

The service here was very friendly and attentive. The atmosphere was upbeat and welcoming. Great daytime beer promotions with free sample food!

This is my new favorite place! First night I walked in there was a metal cover band. Great drinks and empanadas. During the day you get free appetizers too. Love it here! Good prices too

Nice patio area. We love the bar here as well but the real fun is when you go to the back for the live music and fun! We love the food here as well. We’ve been about 3-4 times and we always bring our family here when they visit because it’s a nice intro to cantinas!

Cozy and local place, but the food is average. I feel more like to just grab something to drink. Drinks as well are not the best but it’s cheap place, so maybe don’t expect much? Great michelada.

Great specials on beer during week days

5 stara for very good live music, every day something different. My boyfriend and I have been 3 times and we enjoyed it a lot! Well priced caguamas and other drinks. Food was acceptable, not great, burrito much better than mix yucataneo.

This place was right near when I stayed; a wonderful local cantina with a bar area, and also a separate large dining area. We got a mix of Yucatán finger food platter, local beer, and hibiscus drink. Hibiscus drink a bit too sweet for my taste, but the local beer was delicious. The platter was all fried, was good, but I ended up longing for something more fresh. The service was good, the servers all seemed a bit frazzled (even though there weren't many customers). We got treated to a live band playing at the cantina so that was nice.

We went to this cantina on a Tuesday night for their 2 for 1 wing special. Once seated you can get a large Carte Clara beer for 49 pesos. Just guessing it was at least 32 ounces of beer. Nice set up of a covered area and an outdoor area. We sat outside with fans keeping us cool. We started with guacamole and chips. Pretty good. We then ordered bbq and buffalo style wings. They were fried nicely but had to much sauce. A plate of fries came by that looked good so ordered some along with just buffalo wings. My wife in Spanish told our waiter no sauce just fried and sauce on the side. Wings arrived with even more sauce and very spicy. Each order had 16 wings. The jazz band was great and the atmosphere good. Try to make it back again.

Can here last night with my boyfriend. He said it had a lot of good reviews on Trip Advisor. I'm not much of a Trip Advisor fan (obviously since I'm here) but I figured I'd give it a shot. We got in at around 9pm and it was busy, but not slammed. There's an "outdoor" area and a section that's inside. The outdoor section (basically there was no roof and some trees around) was full, so we sat indoors. We started off with two jumbo mojitos. I was interested as to how this would play out because a mojito isn't something one would normally get as Jumbo. But I have it a shot to see what it was like. We got the Mojitos and there was absolutely no liquor in either of them. Disappointed we ended up getting two shots of tequila and used the "mojitos" as chasers. I decided to get some food in hopes it might save my review. Unfortunately, it did not. We got empanadas and they were just Ok. They came with a side of Campbell's tomato soup. Haha. That's honestly exactly what their sauce tasted like-canned tomato soup. In this places defense, it's a bar, so one shouldn't expect any amazing food. It's definitely what it looks like. A hole in the wall, NOT a hidden gem. You come here for the atmosphere and to drink. Still don't get why it had so many good reviews on Trip Advisor. Again, that's why I typically don't use that platform. But hey! We have it a shot!

Good food, great prices, live music--abs a real neighborhood pub. Love this place, especially the ojo rojo and the shrimp ceviche

Nice light jazz/blues on Tuesday, cocktails good but very sweet, good nachos and quesadilla. Excellent pizza, bartender Kelly was super accommodating

Great locals place with a chill vibe for drinks. Our water spoke decent English, was very friendly, and was quick with our drinks. There was live music inside but we decided to sit in the outdoor area. We were brought some free botanas and ordered a combo plate of Yucatan specialties which was more then enough for two people to share. Defiantly recommended if you are staying in the Santiago/San Sebastian area

Friendly staff, great food, and fun ambiance! The live music was entertaining and our group enjoyed our time there

Probably our favorite bar in the Santiago area. Very welcoming, great beer specials, and live music! Got a free hat as part of the beer special too!

This place is just a few blocks off the tourist path and a world apart. A local hangout for food minded folks, you'll find affordable and delicious drinks and food here. A cantina that serves drinking snacks, the only danger is that you'll get full on less money than you expected. They serve local microbrews, cocktails, and plain cheap beer if you want it. Also, if you go there Tuesday through Sunday ask for Carlos (or as they call him here Pista - pronounced pea-stuh). The dude will hook you up and is one of the loveliest people I've met in Mexico. We've been here for weeks and hadn't found a spot we loved until we tried this place. Part hipster, part foodie, entirely Mexican. It's clean. It's cheap. It's delicious. It's local! Go and enjoy yourself while supporting a local family - because we sure did!

This is a nice cantina in the Santiago neighborhood. Apparently, it's one of the oldest in Merida. It looks rather unassuming from outside. But the environment is good. It has an open area behind the front entrance. There is love music. Drink and food are cheap. Food quality is not of the highest standard but not bad. It is a bar after all and not a high end one. We were satisfied with the food.

Based on blog and local reviews, we stopped in on a Tuesday evening for dinner and drinks. The bartender, Jorge, wouldn't have a job in the U.S. with his terrible customer service and poor attitude. As if that wasn't bad enough (he was the only bartender), the food was bland and one of our meals was cold when it reached us (even though we sat right at the bar). To add insult to injury, I ordered a margarita, and got a HALF drink in a small rocks glass. 3.5 oz. glass should never be served half full for a mixed drink (not a shot). When horrible Jorge finally stopped ignoring us, I asked for a full margarita. I was told I had to order a jumbo just to get the other half of my 3.5 oz drink. For double the price. Unreal! We've been to many Merida establishments this week, and this not normal. We never had these issues anywhere else. The drinks were good, but the half drink thing is just ridiculous. But by far, the service from Jorge will keep us from ever going back.