Mexicali Cantina Grill

My family and I went to celebrate my little brother’s birthday on the 14th of June. Our waiter was the best. He was attentive and polite. He seemed happy whenever we asked for more tortillas. Me and my mom ordered molcajetes and it was amazing. Towards the end the waiter picked up our empty dishes to clear the table so that the staff could bring a surprise ice cream dish and a sombrero to celebrate my brother’s birthday.

I went and sat at the bar. Had to wait 25 minutes to get served. Ordered a drink and blanco enchiladas. Ended up taking the enchiladas to go because they took so long. When I got home, the enchiladas did not have any queso sauce. It was a horrible experience!

I went here recently with friends and had one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. Our server never introduced herself, just stared at us when she came to the table, and had an attitude the entire time. She brought out one friend’s food first, then made the rest of us wait several minutes for ours with no explanation. On top of that, she was unprofessional and tried to pressure us into tipping. The final straw was when my bill, which was $83, was later charged as $99 on my card. I wrote zero on the tip line, so there was no reason for that extra charge. That is completely unacceptable and feels dishonest. Between the unprofessional service and the overcharge because of the waitress taking out the tip when i put 0 i would not recommend this restaurant.

Great food, great atmosphere and amazing service. Guillermo made my sisters birthday so much fun. Highly recommend this place.

Absolutely terrible service. Waitress disappeared after taking my order. Had to go find her to bring me the guac that should have come with my food. Then waited and waited for her to bring my check.

Excellent food and service at a great price. This place is very welcoming to families with children. Highly recommended. Will definitely return soon.

We’re visiting from California and had an amazing time at Mexicalli at the Swampscott location. Our waiter, Guillermo, was fantastic—friendly, attentive, and made us feel right at home. He gave us great recommendations and made sure everything was perfect throughout our meal. The food was delicious, but Guillermo really made the experience memorable. Highly recommend this place, and definitely ask for Guillermo if you can!

My family and I came at 8:30, the waiter got our order and an hour later we still have not received our food, our waiter had to retake our order and we had to wait another 30 minutes. We were starving !!!!

My mom, sister and I got takeout for dinner. I selected the burrito bowl with grilled chicken. It came in a container that looked like one you'd get at Chipotle. The food and toppings were all in piles and had to be mixed up. My meal had absolutely no flavor. We asked for chips and salsa and they didn't include any salsa in our bag. I'm not a big Mexican food fan and wouldn't go out of my way to eat here again.

Love the good, margaritas and staff. It's so comfortable and a great place to watch a game.

i just had the steak and shrimp and they were really good. My only complaint would be the serving size. Im a big guy so i need a lil bit more than others. But overall, it was a good experience, definitely will come back agai.

My daughter and I met my friend on a Tuesday evening for 2$ tacos, they were good. My friend and I each had a margarita they were also good. My daughter had a Pina colada and chicken quesadilla which were also good. Feel like you are in a cute Mexican restaurant. Our server was good. I'd recommend I'd go back and try something different.

My folks had liked the food and not the service here but wanted to go back. We visited together and the service is truly awful and food only OK. We waited so long for service, even though servers kept walking by us. Eventually, a big party was seated nearby and they fell over themselves to serve that party. I ordered a smoky margarita and failed to find the smoke or the alcohol. Server didn't understand the difference between draught and bottled beer. Wings and chips and salsa were good. My chimichanga was fine but not as crisp as it should've been. It's a pretty place but not worth visiting.

My mom and I stopped in to get dinner. Unfortunately, our experience didn't go as expected. I ordered the Baja tacos which were fantastic and recommended by our waiter ! However, my mom ordered the chicken fajitas but the food server brought her chicken quesadillas. Instead of apologizing for the mistake my mom had to wait an additional 25 minutes in addition to the original 20 minute wait time. I had already eaten my meal and when my moms food finally arrived, she had lost her appetite, and asked for a To go box. The server or the manager we're not attentive and did not cater to our needs. Didn't even offer a complimentary dessert for the trouble. I do not recommend this place because the customer service was awful. Our experience was disappointing considering it was recommended by close pals.

Food is always delicious. Service is great. Ambiance is welcoming & friendly. Always feel like I'm back visiting Mexico when I'm there !!

If I could leave zero stars I would. Every single time I have ordered from this restaurant whether it is takeout or dine-in the service is appalling and the care taken to prepare the food is worse. At this point after making excuses and giving this particular restaurant which is part of a multi location chain the benefit of the doubt countless times I would rather go hungry than patronize this restaurant. While it may be convenient there is absolutely no management or supervision and the inmates are running the asylum. There are too many better options then to waste your time or money at Mexicali in Swampscott.

We stopped in on a random weeknight to try our Mexicali for the first time. I was super excited because I had seen some excitement around this place in a food group for the area on Facebook. We started with the guacamole. In my opinion, it was super fresh but the flavor was a bit bland. For dinner, we had the chicken & chorizo burrito, ranchero salad and "the duo" of a beef burrito & chicken chimichanga. I had the duo and it was good, but surprised me with a red sauce on the burrito & chimichanga. I enjoyed the versatility of the dish, but can't say I left impressed or would order it again. As for the other two dishes, both people really enjoyed them and said they'd definitely order them again. Maybe I just didn't pick out the right thing but would definitely be down to try it again!

Extremely SLOW poor service. Waiter no where to be found. Never came to check on table. Quesadilla not prepared as requested and is now half the size. NEVER TO RETURN

I'm trying to contact the restaurant @(339) 440-5818. I am told there is no manager or supervisor on duty's, only a "head server". And female who answered the phone , refused to give her name and hung up on @7:40pm. I called right back, they let it ring, and finally picked up to immediately hang-up... OK, bad bad bad, professionalism! Now, I literally just ordered 3 days ago, (7/13/24) and it was fantastic! I left my first "10" review, on a GrubHub food order. So, today, you can definitely tell the difference, in who was and wasn't working from the 13th and today, the 16th. Food was packed messy, orders were smaller and not appealing at all! In addition, they forgot my "FLAN" desert! And the delivery bag was not sealed at all, where anyone can do anything to the food! I am not sure if I'll ever order from this restaurant again and I'm definitely leaving -10, 0 star on review for food and staff from today! Not a happy, unsatisfied, paying customer!

They took our fave burrito off the menu, I tried a different one and it was not as described on the menu, the barbacoa had giant chunks, there were potato chunks, and no sour cream nor guac. I like going in person because the food is better and the cold draft beer is a win. But I am done with take-out from there and really want the fiesta burrito back.

Horrible customer service the waitress with curly hair was very rude and brought us soda with no ice purposely. And the ice machine was not broken because everybody else had ice in their drink except for us. Walked out and left.

Don't waste your time or money here. Awful service, mediocre food at best. I took my kids here...we were the 4th occupied table and I had to go get the waitress or waive my arms like I was trying to fly just to get a napkin. Honestly I've had more authentic Mexican food in Asia.

Clean, great service but the SMALLEST, most expensive street burrito I have seen in my life. $32 for two burritos. No sides. Family of four $64 for just burritos I'm not even Mexican and make a better street burrito. Go to a place in Lynn. You will get sides too. Half the price.

I walked in this afternoon to a fairly empty restaurant and sat at the bar. I sat there for a good 15 minutes and the only person to acknowledge me was the gentleman who gave me chips. 15 minutes later I asked a server if anyone was working at the bar and told her I had been sitting there a while and she VERY rudely asked me "what do you want". To which I responded "a menu". As she stomped away to get it I told her I was all set and walked out.

Nice hot chips and the salsa is delicious.nice crowd for Wednesday night. We enjoyed ourselves. Margaritas were yummy I ordered the Mexico City tacos and tiny bits of beef were braised crispy. Would have been nice if meat was more substantial. I think we ordered chimichanga a and seafood soupa. we were cared for, fed so well and happy with the service!

I love coming here to get the real Mexican fajitas very delicious food is nice and spicy like I like it good clean restaurant

We tried Mexicali Cantina Grill for the first time this week. We were very happy with our order! Everything was fresh tasting and nicely presented. The Tamales with tomatillo sauce was very tasty and a huge portion. My husband's burrito was also very good. We were curious and just had to order the Al Pastor tacos. The tacos were very good and the pork was rendered nicely. It wasn't what we were used to (Al Pastor we've had usually has a marinade) but it was a really good taco! We'll definitely order again!

It's in a strip mall so you.might dismiss it, but don't! The salsa here is so fresh, it's the best I've ever had, especially if you like cilantro. I got the avocado salad with chicken (can't remember name) and this was the freshest salad I've ever had. The chix was very tasty and tasted freshly grilled and the avocado was just the right ripeness. A lot of places usually serve avocado that is under ripe and there's no taste. I had leftovers and I are them 3 days later (!!) and the lettuce was still crunchy!! Service is very friendly and fast. Got nachos with steak my second time and they were great. A little heavy on the onions so I might hold those next time. Steak delicious. This is a new gem!

Ridiculous unprofessional service. Ordered from here last week. Placed order online. Gives pickup time. Get to resturant and they say it'll be another 15 min. That's fine. The 15 minutes turns into an additional 45min. All the while other people are ordering after me and getting their food first. They refused to move the ticket up after they acknowledged they had screwed up. I doubt they were making folks walking in the door wait 45 minutes for their food. Wow....really thinking of not ordering from here again. Just the week before they totally screwed up my order. Ordered no rice just beans, they ignored the order and just made it anyway. When I politely told them I thought it would be an easy fix,however took almost 20minutes.

This is not Mexican food. It tastes like it's bought at BJ's frozen and baked in the oven we were 6 people and we were all very disappointed with the food, we waited so long for the food and the food was terrible, I will never go for Mexican food to this place again. Also the server put one of the plates on the wrong person and he started to eat and the server just took it out and gave it to the other person without any apology with all this pandemic that we are experiencing is incredible

New spot in 4he Vinnan Sq. Mall wife wanted to check it out. Nice space,well decorated,got seated near the bar. Kept expectations low because it was a chain restaurant bit was pleasantly surprised that both the food and service was above average. Got the chicken tortilla soup and shared. I thought it was a little watery but the flavor was spot on. I got the pulled pork street tacos and the wife got the fish tacos (cod) and asked to have it grilled instead of fried. No problemo. Both were very generous and tasty (3 to an order). We both figured that we were going to have one leftover each. No dice. We ate everything. Looking forward to going again.

This place is shit ain't no real Mexican food the utensils is dirty and the toilet got dodo stains

A very long wait for drinks and food just not enough help for the amount of people there on a Friday night. The food was just Ok but not what we expected. The chips were fresh and the guacamole was excellent. The drinks were not that great, the Margaritas were loaded with ice and watered down . The wait staff were friendly but definitely in need of more help. I hope the restaurant finds more help and the bartender learns how to not put so much ice in the Margaritas.

My wife and I enjoyed The youCantina and Grill we got the nacho supreme with the ground beef it was perfect to House margaritas on the rocks with salt it was a perfect lazy Saturday afternoon we went back on July 16 it was good to have a margarita after the lockdown my wife got the nachos again and I just cited on the south west QuesadillaNo rush we just lounged around and enjoy each other's company the waitress was fine the bartender was excellent

Service can be spotty based on who is working along with quality of cocktails. Food is consistently good yet not really amazing. There is better Mexican, yet this is convenient and good consistency. They are very helpful and supportive of you have any troubles with your order.

Started off ok, when we arrived the place was more than half empty. Bar tender brought our drinks. He forgot salt on my margarita so he fixed it. Flat out spilled my BF's margarita across the bar, so had to make another after cleaning up the mess. Chips are not fresh, salsa is So soupy. Order dinner, came out fairly quick. I got chimichuri steak tacos. Steak was over cooked but good other than that. Black beans were good too, not over cooked. BF got a chimichanga w chorizo, after eating half felt like he was having a slight reaction to peanuts. But at this point bar tender never comes back to check on us or refill our drinks, or offe water. My meal was finished, plate cleared away and his was half finished but he had fork down and pushEd it away a long time ago... still no one comes. Tried 3 times to get someone's attention just to get the check and couldn't. Finally got another bar tender who tells us we aren't on his tab so he can't help. Our bar tender comes back w the check... boarding now on 20 mins of empty glasses and cleared plates. Doesn't apologize fOr the disappearing act, drops check and walks off. Collects my cc card and brings back someone else's signed check along with mine and appears to laugh at us with his co bartender since we were pissed about the service. The part that really gets me is they knew something was wrong and didn't care to fix it. If you don't want to take care of your customers, find another job

The restaurant is very attractive. The service is attentive, though not all servers are fluent English speakers. In fact, our server got my order wrong. I ordered Baja fish tacos, fried. What I got was grilled or steamed. When inquiring about the restroom, I had to ask for "el bano." The salsa was watered down which made dipping difficult. All of the food which arrived at the table was well-prepared but seriously under-seasoned. Reach for the hot sauce, folks! Bland food is not what you want when you go to a Mexican restaurant. It's new in Swampscott, but because it's part of a functioning chain, they should know their way around. Will I return to give them another chance? Of course I will....and I'm hoping that they'll get everything worked out. For now, though, I'm a little disappointed to have to say, "MEH."

Very surprised upon walking in. Really spacious beautiful (and clean!) restaurant, attentive service, food was good as were the Mrgaritas. Nice place. Stay local!

Love this place! Best burritos and great staff! Shout out to Ozzie who tends bar, waits table and aces the customer service. If you haven't found this place yet- it's really great!! . Food and drinks are so good you will come back

Our new favorite spot! Food is so authentic, delicious, and has great drinks! We will be frequent customers! Big fans over here!!!

This is not Mexican food yah'll. It tastes like it was bought from Costco frozen and baked in the Oven.

This place is very good. I love eating at Mexican restaurants and this place is my favorite. I used to drive to the location 114 in Danvers but now I only visit this one in Swampscott. The staff in Swampscott really friendly and they always do a good job. If you love Mexican food, make sure you check it out. It's in the strip mall next to Marshall's in Vinnin Sq. I recommend the enchiladas rojas!

My family is visiting Mass from Southern Califorinia and we came bere because we were missing good Mexican food. My brother and his family say they always go to Mexicali so they wanted to see what we thought. Boy, did we enjoy the food and atmosphere at Mexicali last night. It reminded me of our local spot back home. The food was really authentic and the drinks were awesome. My boys loved the burritos and already want to go back. I personally loved the salsa and queso along with the homemade chips!

1st time there all went well with food and service. Love the atmosphere there. 2nd time there for lunch could have been better. Chips and sauce was good but my friends meal had a hair in before she even touched the plate. We sent it back and asked for a completely new meal but friend wasn't sure if it were or not. My meal was not hot, it was barely warm. Dessert was good tho. Also no one was at desk to greet or seat us so we sat ourselves. Would I go back ? Yes I'd give it another try

Went here for lunch over the weekend with family and the food was decent. Tonight, we ordered takeout for my mother's birthday. They missed one of the orders completely (my sister had to drive back there and pick up the item) and while she was gone, I realized the chicken on top of my taco salad was completely undercooked (see attached pic). We spent a lot of money on a large order so this was pretty disappointing that two out of 7 of us didn't get meals.

The newest Mexican restaurant in salem has great service great food and a friendly warm atmosphere. We went there to give it a try the other day. Our server Jeana was very pleasant and warm. It was her first day and she did great. The food was prepared in short order delivered by the cook?? What we ordered was what we got. The food good not the best but value of the food was there.. The marguirita we both had was refreshing. We had time to speak with the Manger on duty and she was more than pleasant and helpful to our needs. I can't be happier with this new restraunt in town. Keep up the good work and it should be a huge success. One other thing bar is big with many TV sets to make it a good bar to watch sport games..

Great food, and a perfect place for take-out right now! Lots of vegetarian options too!

Hate to rate them this low because we had one other decent takeout during Covid-19 rules. This time I ordered a steak burrito bowl. I literally could not chew the steak. It was inedible. Plus when I came to pick up the order they repeated the order but did not include the nachos we ordered. They told me it was their mistake and either they would make it for me - but it would take a long time because the kitchen was backed up. So I said, " if I wait, everything else would be cold ". They said yes. Offered to take it off my bill, which I accepted. Got home and found not only were the nachos missing, but the steak burrito was also missing. We got one out of the three dishes we ordered. So I returned to the restaurant to complain. When they saw me they said "Oh, your order was here the whole time. It was in two bags. Here it is. ". No apologies, no offer of a refund. Got the food home. The nachos were like cold wet noodles. Totally disgusting. And my steak was inedible. I will probably give them one more try eventually but they totally destroyed my dinner (Cinco de Mayo) and totally inconvenienced me with not so much as an apology.