I was SO excited for Bel Air Cantina and was practically counting down the days until it opened. However, I was sorely disappointed in encountering the worst tacos I've ever had in the Madison area (and probably my entire life).
Let's start from the top. We walked in and got seated instantly. The place was bustling and all of the staff were very friendly and upbeat, but the interior kind of makes you feel like you're eating inside of a too-brightly-lit Hollister store. It's definitely not an intimate atmosphere, so keep that in mind when you're planning date night.
I loved that we got three different salsas and they were all AMAZING. My favorite was the salsa verde. We ordered "margaritas", but they're basically just cocktails made with tequila. I got the Fresa Fresca, which was sweet but not too sweet. My boyfriend got the Madtown, which was awesome. However, we both ordered a Madtown for the second round and it tasted completely different the second time.
I was still excited at this point.... and then our food arrived. To be fair, we got our food mere MINUTES after ordering (I'm talking single digits here, people). However, I'd rather have waited a while and gotten some halfway decent tacos.
I ordered the carne asada, the gringo, and the pollo verde. I was disappointed with all three. They were all dry and tasteless. The carne asada was the most disappointing. The meat looked more like ground beef, definitely not what I think of when I read "grilled steak" on the menu. It also seemed to have absolutely no seasoning on it. STEER CLEAR of the carne asada tacos, you WILL be disappointed.
All in all, the service was awesome and the chips and salsa were great, but there were consistency issues with the margs and the tacos were terrible. I'll be giving it another shot, but I certainly won't be ordering tacos here ever again.