Bravo’s Mexican Bistro & Cantina

Come see Marisol and she will hook you up w good grub and delicious drinks!!! Had the fajita burrito and the watermelon margarita and they were awesome! Definitely coming back!

Fish tacos were great! 2 $ on Thursday, problem is we got our food and finished it way before we got our drinks, the bartender was slow on a slow afternoon, our waitress was great, now if the bartenders could keep up with her!

Worst service I’ve ever experienced. The restaurant seemed cool, it was my first time there. Went for taco Tuesday. Everyone seemed to be accommodating — except for our server. Wish I knew her name, but it’s likely she didn’t even introduce herself. Short blonde hair. Terrible attitude the entire time. I ordered 2 tacos and when the order came out there were 3 on the plate. Not a big deal — most restaurants would just say it was on the house. I let the server know just so I could be sure I wasn’t charged for the third. She took the plate from me, threw out the taco and then put the plate back in front of me. Just strange. Everyone else seemed awesome, but unfortunately this ruined my whole experience.

Hit or miss with the food. The wait can sometimes take foreverrr but if you’re not in a hurry, it shouldn’t bother you. It’s nice that they have a self service salsa bar otherwise I don’t think I’d ever see more salsa brought to our table. The last time we went, I had a margarita that made my stomach turn… probably won’t order another in the future. Words of advice: don’t be in a rush and the faster you know what you want, well, it probably won’t make a difference how fast you get it.

sooo delicious we got the adobada nacho supreme definitely enough for 2 ppl and only 11 $ we’re full! and the margs are good but they don’t have a blender but still worth it i got the skinny marg and pat got the house, the house came in a fancy marg glass mines more simple but it makes it fun all and all great service and delicious! will be coming back! and we definitely recommend the adobada so tender and yummy, don’t forget to hit the salsa bar! lotsa fun flavors to try, we like the pico de gallo with mango!

The «fresh margarita» was sooo good and my friend loved the hibiscus margarita. Yummy chips and salsa. Looking forward to more margaritas and trying their food.

I’m from Texas, so maybe I expect too much from places claiming to be «Mexican», because I’m used to Tex-​Mex. Either way, I wasn’t very impressed with this joint. It was a good location in Ocean Beach, walking distance from the beach, and nice décor. Service was fine, but I was a bit put-​out that they have frozen margarita’s on the menu, but when I tried to order one they responded «we haven’t had those in a long time». Please update your menu then, because my friend and I specifically chose this place because I wanted a frozen margarita!
Food was decent– large servings with the two tacos I ordered– there’s a photo of them both that I added. Unless you are really, REALLY hungry I would recommend just getting one taco, as two was more food than I could handle. I wasn’t a fan of the chips and salsa, either, but then again the style is different than I’m used to (Texas chips and salsa are, in my opinion, much better), but no real complaints other than the texture and weight of the food was a bit heavier than I was hoping.

The margaritas here the best in town, in my opinion. They don’t leave you with a headache and sugar filled belly, which is good.
The food here is sometimes not my favorite. It can be hit or miss… probably because they are always so busy.
The staff is nice and they try hard to make sure everyones needs are met but this place is always packed so service can run a little slow sometimes.

This review is based on my customer experience, not the food (since we didn’t eat).
Went here last night on Cinco de Mayo with my wife and a friend, mainly because it was the only place open past 8:00. They were fairly busy, but nothing crazy… most tables were full so we sat at the bar. The bar only seats maybe 10 – 15 people and there were two bartenders, and there was no crowd of people standing trying to order from the bar. In other words, the bar wasn’t busy.
We sat for at least five minutes before being served, during which we were given the «I’ll be right with you» opening line a few times. Finally, I ordered the «fresh» margarita and the other two ordered a beer. The margarita was small, served in an 8 oz glass and overflowing with ice. After literally 8 small sips, it was gone… and of course, it cost $ 9.50. It was average tasting at best, and even though I already knew I didn’t want to give them any more of our money, I pushed my very empty glass to the far side of the bar top, just to see what would happen.
As expected, we sat for another 10 minutes without either bartender checking up on us, asking if I wanted another drink etc. etc. Essentially, we were ignored. It then took us another few minutes to flag one of the bartenders down to ask for our bill. When we finally did, the short female bartender gave us attitude. We paid, left a very small tip that was reflective of our experience, and left.
I guess the only bright side was that the chips and salsa were tasty, and free. Although sure enough we had to ask for chips multiple times before the bartender finally brought them. All in all, a terrible first impressive and we likely won’t be back until it’s for some cheap Taco Tuesday eats.

A huge variety of great and creative margaritas! A small, but an awesome salsa bar! Great food, and large portions. Would definitely recommend this place! They have great specials and awesome tacos! Can’t wait to come back

My favorite place in OB. Super cool restaurant with amazing tacos and bean dip! My entire family (6 years old and up) voted it their favorite.
Chicken tacos: amazing
Mahi: very good
Carnitas: very good
Perfect place to stop for a taco and a beer while bumming around or at the beach.

Homemade guacamole + fresh margarita + salsa bar + friendly service (Anne) + people watching along Newport Ave = awesome experience! There’s even a couple of food options to keep this vegan happy. Highly recommended.

Hands down the best fried fish tacos in San Deigo. The tacos are huge, the batter is light and crispy, the home made salsas are relish. $ 2 taco Tuesday, $ 2 draft beer and $ 2 tequila shots. You can get tipsy and full for $ 10. One of my favorite spots in San Diego

It saddens me to not give this small local OB restaurant 5 stars, simply because their food is soooooo good (try the chicken tortilla soup! Omg! Or the Lobster tacos!), but the young female bartender working Taco Tuesdays blew it. Perhaps she simply hates working Taco Tuesday and is tired of telling people that they HAVE to order food to sit AT THE BAR (wtf?!), but a simple greeting as small as a smile goes a long way…
A word of advice from a long standing bartender who has roots in this awesome beach community of OB: Perhaps it’s time to change professions. Or maybe you could just simply tell a customer what brand your «house» tequila is when we ask instead of being a dick and only telling us flatly that we HAVE to order food. Jerk.

First off, the service was excellent. Marisol was our server and despite being the only server/​bartender in a packed house she was still able to provide top notch service.
My gf and I shared the bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers (bomb!) then had the chicken enchilada and the wet bravo burrito. Highly recommended and we will be back!

First time eat. I had the enchiladas with Mole, my wife loved the chicken fajita. The Mole sause was darker and stronger than I’m used to but was very good, I just ordered some sour cream to blend with it. No real complaints, fresh, hot and good service, would eat there again.

I came in her for my second time and I must say the food is to die for! When first looking at the menu the «taco shop» prices are what stand out… but you are going to get Mexican restaurant quality plates (for the cheap price).
This place can get rather busy on a Saturday night but for coming in on a Friday evening it was quite dead and that was fine by me! (I did not want to wait in that hodads line).
Was immediately greeted and got a seat and was taken care of right away.
The complimentary chips are delicious and the guac (while I wish it was a larger portion for the price) was so tasty!
I got really excited that they had so many options on the menu, and was looking forward to trying the «potato rolled tacos» along with the California burrito! Both entrees came out within 12 minutes and were delicious!
I also tried the Miami vice drink and it was tasty! Overall the prices are cheap, the staff is friendly (Johnny was really nice!) and the ambiance is super cute, will be back!

I’ve been eyeing this super cute restaurant for such a long time and I’m glad I finally went in. We went in on a Wednesday and they had $ 5 margaritas and $ 2 (or $ 1.50? something cheap!) street tacos. My boyfriend had the carne asada taco which he said was good and then we tried the seafood bucket which I would highly recommend. The seafood bucket was more than enough for two people and very affordable for what you got. We got 4 lobster tails and I believe 6 shrimp, a ton of sauteed veggies, tortillas, rice, and beans — delicious! What I absolutely love about this restaurant was the salsa bar because they have so many good ones that perfectly complimented our meal. I came back and had the potato rolled tacos which I’d highly recommend!
We sat at the bar and the bartender serving us was very personable. It was a little slow due to issues with their ordering system, but they did their best to make up for it. It seemed like sitting at a table might have resulted in slower service, so I’d definitely recommend the bar.
At a subsequent visit we had the worst service ever. We were the last group at the bar and had to get our check from the waitress hiding behind the salsa bar. Unacceptable!
Love the décor (although only about 50% of the lights were lit!).

I’ve been here numerous times and I’ll continue to go here, just be aware of what you’re getting… You’re getting good service, awesome atmosphere, good street views and cheap food and drinks. The only «bad» part is the food isn’t very good. The chips and salsa are pretty damn good but the burritos are ehhh. kinda bland. BUT there really isn’t too many other choices for good Mexican food in OB. All of them are pretty mediocre.
The food gets 3 stars but everything else gets 4.

3.5
Our second stop on our OB Taco Tuesday tour.
Yay for the salsa bar! I enjoyed the green salsa and the fruit salsa, and the hot carrots had a nice flavor and good heat. Complimentary chips and salsa to start!
We ordered one of each of their $ 2 Taco Tuesday tacos:
Adobada — Tender meat, nice seasoning if not a little too much.
Fish — A little underwhelming.
BRISKET — OMG. So tender! I might come back for this one.
I would have liked some additional toppings on the tacos, not just meat, cilantro, and onions, but overall satisfactory for the price.
Dem brisket tacos though…

Lugar simples, mas comida excelente. Tudo que pedimos estava acima da nossa expectativa. Vale a pena!