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| - ZERO STARS.
I actually ACTUALLY cannot comprehend how this place has an average of FOUR STARS, barring fake reviews.
This is my third time going... and you know what, I'll admit it, SHAME ON ME. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. But along with that admission, here comes my scathing review, broken down into paragraphs for easy reference (ordered from good to bad to ugly):
SERVICE
no complaints. hostess was friendly, promptly seated, table service was perfectly and absolutely a-ok.
AMBIENCE
I will have to disagree with the yelper below who said: "This isn't your hole in the wall Mexican restaurant... definitely a little fancier and the restaurant has a nice atmosphere." I would much prefer a hole in the wall restaurant than a chain restaurant with fabricated pieces of flair... the only thing "fancier" about this place are the prices. Another downside: the live "music." The first time I was assaulted by the live music was my first time at Cantina for brunch. We were on the patio and the speakers/musician were literally 5 feet away. What makes a mediocre breakfast burrito worse? A too-loud, too-close, too-American Idol rendition of Yellow by Coldplay. Tonight was no better. We were seated inside, but unfortunately, the musician was set up indoors, as well. And again, the music was too-loud, too-close, and just not really... good. But, to make matters worse, mariachi music was blaring from the restaurant speakers, competing with the live music. What the actual hell. Could nobody else hear what was happening?
FOOD
oh boy, here we go. Like I mentioned before, I've been here three times. Each time I told myself two things: (1) the chips and salsa are really good; and (2) I just ordered the wrong thing. At this point, I've tried enough things to know that someone (everyone?) in the kitchen does not know what's going on. As referenced under AMBIENCE, my first time here was for brunch. I got to try the breakfast burrito and the huevos rancheros. How bland and unimpressive both these dishes were... I feel that someone has to be trying to make the food taste bad for these things to taste as bad as they did. Second time was for lunch: some "mexican" salad and quesadilla. Again, how someone was able to take the ingredients and make them taste this bad is incomprehensible. How do you make a quesadilla taste bad? I'm actually asking. What do you have to do to a tortilla and melted cheese to make it taste bad? I want to know so I can do this in the future for someone I HATE.
final nail in coffin: dinner tonight. We got a pitcher of house margs and ordered an assortment of tacos. six in total: shrimp, fried shrimp, duck, "catch of the day," chicken, and brisket. Margs: too sweet and too weak. On to the bulk of my complaint... the food was disgusting and certainly not fresh. As soon as our plates were set down, we were both overwhelmed by a wave of rank-ass fish odor. Ok, fine, whatever, we were still going to give them a fair tasting. I'm such an inner fatkid and even I couldn't finish my food. The shrimp, chicken, and brisket were edible. EDIBLE. no more, no less. merely. edible. The duck made my friend gag -- I watched as a grown man struggled not to barf in the middle of a restaurant. It was overly gamey and did not belong in a taco (his words: "it tasted like the duck was fed poop its whole life"). The "catch of the day" could not have been less fresh. It was mushy, fishy, and tasteless -- 1.5 bites were had... between the both of us... I had to spit out half my bite.
needless to say, we barely touched our entrees and what was eaten was a struggle to swallow. I am flabbergasted as to how this restaurant is still in business. with FOUR STARS. I get that Charlotte isn't known for its mexican food, but... what? WHAT?!
TL;DR -- after giving this place more than a fair chance, I made a pinky promise tonight to never ever EVER come here again. sure, it's convenient. sure, they have good chips and salsa. but, no. just NO.
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