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| - As a former LA resident, it probably goes without saying that I love Mexican food. I was excited to hear that this place had opened in my hood and gave it some time to "settle in" before visiting. My bf and I stopped in on a Saturday afternoon and after a few minutes were greeted by someone who asked if we had "rezos". Since we didn't we were offered seats at the bar, which was fine by us. The bartender promptly gave us some menus and we both ordered tacos, El Pescador for my bf and Pollo al Carbon for me. The bartender asked if we wanted rice, and although I said yes, none ever came. Bf ordered the house made cream soda which took forever for the super slow bartender to make, and turned out to be just club soda with some syrup. Later I ordered a "Round Here we Call That Sheer" cocktail which sounded like an amazing mix of all my favourite flavours, but tasted like nothing more than cucumber and alcohol.
The decor at this place gets high marks, as does the overall ambience, but I'm afraid that's where it ends. There was a ridiculous number of staff both on the floor and in the kitchen (which is open to the restaurant). They appeared to be nearly equal to the number of customers in the place, and yet the service is lacklustre and inattentive. While the food came in a reasonable amount of time and had great presentation, we had to ask for napkins/cutlery. The tacos themselves were okay. You could tell that the ingredients were fresh, and mine had pretty nice heat, but for the price you're paying you're looking for something exceptional, not just ok. $50 for 6 tacos, 1 alcoholic drink and 1 non-alcoholic drink? The tacos we had at Barque (a BBQ joint on Roncy) a month or two ago were quite frankly much better, and it's not even their thing. Playa Cabana Cantina is trying too hard, and it's not working. Won't be back.
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