Cantina Lounge

Their Sunday Brunch is one of the best I’ve had… little loud during football season… but well worth it.

We were here for taco tuesday, it was my first time at the Cantina. Service was a little bit slow, the waitress in the bar looked like she was by herself at 6pm. We ordered chicken, steak and carnitas tacos and they came out fairly quickly. We they arrived they were plain, no dressings or toppings. I saw that there was a ‘toppings’ table to our left so I tried the green salsa, cabbage & pico that were there, I opted not to try the pickled onions or red salsa. The tacos were good, nothing extraordinary, Tim thought that the chicken was the most tasty while I thought it was the steak. They were slightly dry but it might’ve just been our batch. For the price, definitely decent but expect the size to be small like other reviewers have also stated. I’m sure that we’ll try Cantina again maybe for dinner or lunch but will stick to our favorites for taco tuesday.

This place is alright. It has decent food, it has decent deals, it has a decent environment. The one thing that makes it good is the location — right across from a university it naturally becomes a hub for study breaks and afternoon get togethers (what’s college without happy hour?). If you go to school, it’s a nice place to take a break — but not something you would go out of your way for.

I came here tonight with a girlfriend for taco Tuesday so this was my first experience in the bar.
The waitress was nice although she didn’t write anything down and seemed to forget to place our orders with the back or the bartender. I kept having to flag her down and ask /​remind her about order (s), new drinks, etc. But heck, it is happy hour pricing, so it isn’t like she was making bank in tips.
My one complaint was that as it got later and the bar got fuller, someone was CRANKING up the volume on the TV set. We were sitting next to each other, but had to resort to yelling at one another to hear each other over the TV sets. We finally left because we were tired of yelling.
Tacos are tiny, but I will say that the tortillas are moist and the chicken and pork are pretty tasty (beef not so much.) Salsa needs some help.

Its nice to have a bar to go to after a long day of school. Their happy hour wasn’t bad but I never order from it. After midterms and projects, its nice to have a glass of whiskey to relax to while I watched sports on their many TVs. From the food I’ve tried, it’s nothing great that would have me coming back.

A strong 3 stars for this place. The food is pretty good the enchiladas for lunch is a great deal and cones out super hot!
I ordered the Ranchero Steak Salad. Nothing special here. The steak was cold and well done. I didn’t happen to bring my floss but I sent it back because I didn’t want to replenish the steak sand in between my teeth. No bueno. The only thing that saved this from four to two stars was our wonderful server Leanndra (sp?) Shes pretty cool with everything and didn’t give us any hassle then Tamra the manager came up and handed us (my mom and I) some taco coupons and wings. Then chef Romano came out and chatted with us and personally apologized for the food. Great customer service!
Taco special for happy hour is great on Tuesday’s! I’ll be redeeming these then!

This place is all hype. I like the fact it’s right across the street from CSUF campus but that’s it.
I want to give thanks to the waitress who brought us chips but forgot to bring the salsa.
Oh and thanks to the other waitress who left our beers at the bar and was shocked to find out that we wanted our beers cold.
By the way, all the salsas suck and have no flavor at all. Overall, not a good place to go.

Cantina lounge has been my go to spot the last year and a half during school. Honestly I’m not sure why people rip this place up-it’s a college watering hole, and a damned good one indeed.
I almost always sit in the bar area, and almost always find a table easily. The ladies who work in the bar have ALWAYS served me with respect, care, and prompt service. They remember who I am when i return, proving how they exceptionally care about their customers.
I have events here for a club I assisted on campus, and they are always accommodating when I need tables reserved in the bar. And they don’t give me any shit when my students only want to order waters-​something highly uncommon in most bars.
Now the food: a year ago before they changed the menu, the food was crap. It was overpriced and under quality. However, they’ve recently changed the menu, and the food is now, in my opinion, pretty awesome. The food on the happy hour menu itself is very well made and well tasting. I’ve tried everything from the flaunta bites, street tacos, pork fries, nachos, churro… I’ve had the tacos americanos on the main menu as well-​super good.
The manager has even served me and checked in with me during my visits. He is always polite, helping the servers out.
Now I only usually go here weeknights and have not attended the dj/​dance nights, so my experience on evenings m-​f has been outstanding.
So there ya go: I am a regular here and praise their service. I never have a bad experience, and I don’t predict to in the future.

Due to its convenient location across the street from Cal State Fullerton, I enjoy coming to Cantina for their happy hour after a long week of school, at most twice a month. The bartender is pretty nice and usually knows what to expect from my group that I go with and lets us sample and gives good recommendations. I like the beers on tap and for $ 3.50, I cannot complain. I’ve seen the food on their happy hour menu and it looks appetizing, my friends seem to really like it. My next favorite are the tv’s and the variety of sports they put on each tv. When I want my basketball highlights or view lakers tv, I can switch from one tv to the next.
I’d like to see how busy it gets when it’s night time or when games are on. Why the 3 stars? The crowd is. well just see for yourself. Don’t expect some upscale classy bar. It did turn into a club for ages 18+ at some point… haha. I wish we had a better bar by school.

oh Cantina lounge you used to be my favorite place to gO. My boyfriend and i have been coming here for over 3 yrs to have dinner while we enjoy the UFC fight. we usually stay for the open bar .
apparently the only way you can reserve a table is through there manager, the day before the fight. they don’t accept any reservations the day of the fight.
during dinner our rude /​no personality waitress informed us that they no longer accept passports as Id’s. I went up to ask the bouncers and they said Yes the do. until the old bald «owner» I’m assuming rudely yelled «No No passports”“unless your 30 yrs» don’t understand what the age differences has to do with anything. there was no reason for him to be rude i was simply asking a question .
ITS FINE WE ARE NOT COMING BACK. LEARN HOW TO TREAT YOUR CUSTOMERS AND TEACH YOUR SERVERS TO DO THE SAME!!!

I’ve gone here for taco Tuesday’s and thursday night club
Taco Tuesday pretty awesome! 1 dollar tacos and 2.50 margaritas!
Thursday club
It’s ok if youre too lazy to drive to hollywood and most of your friends aren’t 21 yet. the line gets long but the crowd isn’t ghetto, mostly Asian. Music is top 40 leaning toward more rap music.

There’s something to be said about establishments that really try to improve their performance, especially when they heed customer feedback. Cantina Lounge has definitely done this, and my co-​worker and I were definitely impressed.
Since we were craving another round of shanghai tacos (per Tamara’s recommendation previously), my co-​worker and I stopped in yesterday. The tacos were just as good as the first time we had them, and we also tried the Rosarito fries (definitely with the dipping sauce!). Our margaritas were juuuust right, and we were never short on water.
Service was awesome, we were definitely happy to have Carolina be our server again. In fact, she even remembered us and where we sat.
Thanks Cantina Lounge, see you next week!

4stars after 10pm
2stars before 10pm
I LOVEE cantina lounge when it turns into a little mini club with music & dance floors after 10pm. They play hip hop & edm music. 5 $ cover charge. There’s a patio in the back to smoke & just chill. The crowd tuesdays is my fav. 21+. wouldn’t go any other day. but it’s 18+ on thursdays.
Now let’s talk about the food. I tried eating here once for dinner. Before it turns into a night club. The food was whatevers, not nasty & not good. Ordered Chips & Salsa, Chicken Lettuce Wrap, Jalepeno Poppers. Everything was mediocre.

Can’t review this place on food or drinks because I just came in here to say hi to a friend and catch up while she was in town (this was after I had dinner at Bruxie and a latte from Coffee Bean).
What I can comment on, however, is how much the place has changed since the good old days of the Off Campus Pub. We used to have fraternity rush events here, not only because it was wicked close to campus but also because it was a great place to socialize and was big enough to house us and everyone else. I think it would still be an ok place to do stuff like that these days, but there wouldn’t be much to do (as far as games, like darts, go). the décor and ambiance inside is great. It’s lit low and comfortably. the service, from what I could tell, was friendly and good. I’ll have to come back for an update, but for now I’m happy.

So we came here for a b-​day party but before that decided to have dinner. More for the reason I hate paying cover for anything. The hostess wasn’t that friendly when she seated us. In fact there were crumbs on my seat and she just stood there and watched while I cleaned it myself. The server didn’t really introduce himself and took us a second to realize he was our server. Then when we told him it was our first time there he didn’t seem to care and when we asked what was good he says everything… Really?
For the appetizer we got the flautas one chicken and one beef. The beef was good I wasn’t a big fan of the chicken it was a little dry. Then for dinner I ordered the shrimp fajitas… eh I have had better, the rice was good but the beans were tasteless. I am looking forward to maybe trying the happy hours but I think they are a little over priced for the quality of food. Then after dinner the «lounge» turns into a club. The staff bouncers are really friendly and the club part was pretty cool. The crowd was a mix but the dj would play a good song change it and then play one that didn’t match. I guess not too bad. There was a mix and variety of what he played.
Maybe wing wed will be better.

I Love Taco Tuesday =}
Came here with a group of friends for there Happy Hour. The place was really layed back and not too over crowded.
Love there Happy Hour prices.
I got a lil excited and ordered too much, but I’m not complaining.
Kalbi & Lobster Tacos for $ 3.00
Carne Asada, Carnita & Chicken Tacos for $ 1.50
Bacon wrap Hot Dogs & Sweet Potatoe fries $ 5.00
Carrot Cake 5.95
My part of the billl came out to $ 20 and that included tax & tip…
Everything I ordered was Delish, seriously. Portion size was good, the food tasted fresh and service was great. Can’t wait to come back to Cantina Lounge!

I’ve often wondered about this joint when I exit the 57 on Nutwood/​Chapman. It’s changed a few different owners and names in the last couple of years but Cantina Lounge seems to have lasted longer than the others. The place is huge!
When you first walk it, there is a small lobby area where the hostess greets you. Our party of 3 was promptly seated and as we walked in I was surprised at how large it was. It’s a huge space with high ceilings so everything feels very spacious. The tables/​chairs are arranged a bit strangely… I’m not sure how to pinpoint it but there is something that is not cohesive or inviting about this place as a restaurant. It is, however, ideal for a lounge/​club that it turns into later in the night.
The food was… nothing special and a few of the dishes we tried went unfinished. It was taco tuesday so we opted for 3 of each: chicken, beef & pork. The chicken tortilla soup was not good. It tasted like a thai soup base with the sour lime/​lemon grass flavors. Definitely not at all expected for that soup. The salad was served without dressing so we had to ask for it afterwards. I got a cup of hot water and our server brought it out in a styrofoam cup. with a straw in it!!!
When we finally finished up we had to order dessert (we came here because my gf had a
coupon and we had to spend $ 50 in order to use it). The desserts were decent. The sundae was good, and big. Can’t go wrong when you combine oreo cookies and ice cream. Then we also had some type of deep fried cheesecake which was not exciting at all.
Overall the service was patchy, the food was subpar, and the venue was confusing; however, everyone was very friendly.
I don’t think I will be back.

Wow. I’m amazed Cantina Lounge has almost 4 stars. I had a horrible experience with them, just recently. I had dinner here for my friends birthday.
First, the batch of salsa given to us was extremely salty. Server was kind enough to bring out a new one, which was okay. Down to the business, I ordered the Carne Asada plate and she ordered the Enchilada Suiza. The food was VERY BLAND! No taste at all. I knew the salty salsa would come in handy, as I took the first bite of my food. Beans had no taste whatsoever. So I put salsa on them, which made it a little better. The rice was super dry! Half of it was bland the other half salty. They are extremely lucky I was super hungry; I did not bother to complain about my meal. But you best believe we left a our comments on the comment card given with our check.
So to end this long rant about how horrible the food is, just come here for happy hour. Order drinks instead of food.

So I went here for the first time on a Thursday night recently because it was 2 of my friends last night in California. The only problem was that the two of them, our other friend and my brother weren’t 21 yet and there weren’t any 18+ clubs that were crackin’ for us to take them. Luckily for them, my cousin and I remembered that this place is 18+ on Thursday nights.
It’s actually surprisingly busy on Thursday nights. Not going to lie though, too many underagers — as in too many kids between the ages of 18 – 20. Since it’s 18+ on Thursday nights, the security guards are real quick to jump on kids who are drinking and aren’t wearing the 21+ bands on the dance floor. The security guards are definitely roaming around to ensure that there’s no underage drinking. Tons of cute boys to dance with, but not many of them were 21 yet. I like my guys able to stand by and buy me alcohol at the bar, thank you very much.
So anyways, still a fan of this place, just a bigger fan of their Tuesday nights much more than their 18+ Thursday nights.

Never been here for the food or happy hour. Only came here to dance the night away with my amigas a few times.
Decent drink prices and bartenders make em strong!
Place gets über packed with fellow Asians and Hispanics of the OC… typical.
Great DJ’s on both dancefloors… I especially like the Reggaeton they bump on the 2^nd dancefloor once awhile cuz apparently I’m only one of the few Asians out there that can swing her hips like Shakira. My hips and lips don’t lie baby.
Restrooms get packed sorta packed but the line moves quickly, you can typically rush in, squat over one of the toilet seats, stumble out cuz ya buzzed, wash your hands and get handed a nice clean, paper towel from one of the Club Bathroom Attendants aka Señora del Baño. You’re seriously in and out quite quickly! Yayness for that. :)
Definitely may swing by this spot again with the homies sometime in the future.