Cantina Laredo

Friday Nights are special when we go here for dinner. Their assortment of Margaritas and other drinks are always tasty and at happy hour they offer a discount.
Many meals can be adjusted to a healthy alternative and the servers and bar tenders are always willing to adjust meals to any request. Love many of their meals, but last night I tried the Camaron Poblano Asada. Instead of the cheese, I substituted Mole Sauce. Very good!
Great meal for, what I would call, a reasonable price.

Terrible service. Sad it’s so bad because we used to love it. How hard can I t be to fill a water glass and bring some chips when you sit down. We waited for 30 minutes for somebody to see us.

The food is a little hit or miss. It’s either really great or really terrible. Service is also hit or miss. Too bad, because it could be good every time if they just tried a little harder. The enchiladas are great (when they are not too salty) and the salsas are great, too (when someone doesn’t make them super-​hot.)

Great sangria! Queso keeps us coming back. Spacious and nice dim lights make for a cozy mealtime.

Went here to redeem a groupon offer. Although it stated that alcohol was not included in the deal, the manager included our happy hour drinks in the coupon! Great service a delicious Mexican food!

Had a great dinner as usual and service was great too. I tried the shrimp and steak Pablano and it was delicious. Gotta love Chimmichurri!

I never liked this place. It’s just so overpriced for what it is. We found ourselves here because Grillsmith and Primebar had a long wait!
We ordered the chicken Veracruz and it was way too spicy. They brought us one with a different sauce and it was boring and bland.
This was a last resort, and it makes sense why. Hopefully we won’t be back! It’s a waste of money in my opinion.
Also the service takes a while, and there’s not too many people at the outside tables!

Been to this place several time but never give a formal review. It is due to undecided what to give this restaurant. Finally settle on the average of the review.
This restaurant located on the main entrance of the sawgrass mall. I have been here to wait for friend or a drink. It has a nice outdoor seating. It is very nice on the cool month.
The food is so so. It is actually not a wow factor nor bad. The service is good which keep this restaurant in business. But to compete with the two neighbor bar, they may need to step up on the menu or some signature drink.

I have been to this place 5 times and I have enjoyed my meals every time. Nice happy hour menu. I like their enchiladas and also their guacamole. Desserts are good too. The chips and salsa are always a premeal treat. I’ve brought friends and family here and they have always left satisfied.

Cantina Laredo:
Oh, Cantina. My review is over – ha! I just love stopping in, hate to leave. Ever since moving to this side of town, this has been our go-​to spot for watching the game at the bar, enjoying house margaritas, hot chips & 2 special salsas, happy hour food menu (ask for it when you’re sitting at the booths in the bar area or at the bar), and their decadent dessert! We love how the bar area is first come first serve, some days we want the booth some days we want to sit at the bar, but either way we get the same great deals. Their house margarita is awesome, but their mojito & pineapple infused tequila is almost better! I just sip on the tequila, it’s that smooth and sweet. Our favorite bartender has been Chris as he has introduced us to some other awesome drink made with ginger – I don’t even know what it’s called, but we just trust what’s in the glass! It’s fun to sit up at the bar for awhile, chat with the bartenders, do some serious people watching, and help close the place (:
For food, it may sound crazy, but their cheeseburger sliders on the bar menu are freaking amazing. I really don’t get it haha, but it’s a staple on our menu! We love their fajitas, tableside guacamole, tacos, and carnita sliders. On their regular dinner menu, I love the Carne Asada, it’s $ 19 but so worth it. For dining, there is a lot of seating both indoors and outdoors. The bathroom is always nice & clean. On busy nights they have a person designated to walk around making sure everyone’s chips & salsas are filled!
I think they may have a little competition with the new restaurant Señor T’s down the road, but there are big differences that’ll help you decide. Cantina has a bar menu with great deals, they both have a happy hour (Cantina also has weekend happy hour), and Cantina has amazing dessert & real, made from scratch guacamole (extra jalepeno please!). They both have great bartenders: Cantina has mainly men, Señor T’s are mainly ladies. Cantina is amongst lots of shopping in Wiregrass whereas Señor T’s sits alone. I like the chips & salsa better at Cantina, but for the house margarita: they’re tied! Cheers!

I had empanadas and cheeseburger sliders
Both were excellent
The fries with the fried japelo is very good
The margaritas were very tasty
I ate at the bar and Nick did a great job making sure I was well taken care of

Tonight my hubby and I went back to this restaurant and I must say we are totally impressed. Chris who is the manager, the young man with the arm sling who was the host and the wait staff did an oustanding job of welcoming us and correcting the hiccups that occurred in my previous review. As usual the food was impeccable. But I must say the service and the service time showed a huge improvement.
Thank you Chris and staff you ««ALL» outdid yourself. Looking forward to going back.

Best guacamole, salads had no flavor, but the terrace outside is very nice, good place to sit after a long day shopping.

Not so bad, not fantastic. The chips were yummy, as was the guacamole. We are vegetarians, and for the first time ever found it hard to find a decent selection at a Mexican restaurant. Our options were pretty much limited to enchiladas. There wasn’t even a «side order» menu were we could have mixed an matched items as our meal. We ended up getting one spinach enchilada and one avocado enchilada. The spinach one lacked flavor desperately. The avocado one was pretty good. Other than that there’s nothing spectacular to mention. We don’t live close by, and we don’t see ourselves driving the distance to revisit.

It has been a while since I reviewed Cantina Laredo. I have been to Cantina Laredo twice since I have last reviewed it. Cantina Laredo has one of the nicest spaces on Wiregrass. I’m betting that’s why the prices are so high.
This review is for happy hour this time. It is a great price during this time. Casa margaritas are $ 5 — on the rocks or frozen with options like Strawberry, Lime, Mango, Pomegranate, and Watermelon, as well as skinny ‘ritas.
They also have a bunch of appetizers as well for half price. We had the pork sopes & shrimp and chorizo empanadas. The empanadas were my favorite and the sauce complimented it well.
What sucks is the happy hour is only inside at the bar. Not at the dining area, and not outside. They have a great outside area, and Wiregrass Mall is super dog friendly. I would like to have happy hour with my doggie with me.
Service was suckie at first, and I really thought they were ignoring us because Happy Hour was almost done. U know if you aren’t in the middle of the bar, and sitting at the way end, there’s no looking at the end of the bar. The service did get better.
I forgot, I also had a birthday coupon, but forgot to use it. So sign up for it on their website.

Typical mex chain restaurant — some highs, some lows.
Highs — chips, guac, and dessert
Chips are light and delicious, salsas very good (‘hot’ had a nice chipotle flavor; mild was somewhat chunky with fresh cilantro)
Table side guacamole was really good and had a nice flavor (cumin and lime ratio was purrfect)
Brownie dessert was AWESOME — huge chunk of tall moist brownie served on a hot skillet (like fajita’s), topped with scoop of ice cream and covered with an awesome brandy butter sauce that caramelized on the skillet — num!)
Server was very friendly
Lows — entrees
Pricey, bland, and small portion sizes
I ordered enchiladas — got 1 Veracruz (chicken, spinach, cheese with tomatillo sauce) and 1 chicken Mole. The mole was very thick and dark brown but oddly had very little flavor — no chocolate, no cinnamon, no chili — just thick brown sauce. The tomatillo was also very flavor-​less and there was barely any on the enchilada. Bonus points for white chicken meat. These 2 small bland enchiladas, ¼ cup of not good mex rice, and ¼ cup of sauteed zuchini for $ 14.50. Way too expensive for portion size and taste.
BF ordered Barbacoa Tacos — 3 very small tacos with a few pieces of super bland mushy barbacoa and mushy cooked onions — blech — served with ½ cup of over-​salted black beans and ¼ cup of the same yucko mex rice for $ 14.50.

Extremely fresh Mexican with a wide range of offerings. The Fajitas Tres
Chicken and beef fajitas with bacon-​wrapped shrimp filled with monterey jack cheese and jalapeño was the bomb — especially the bacon-​wrapped shrimp, wish they had this on the menu by itself!
The atmosphere leads itself very well to a great date night suggestion.
And like most places, a decent HH offering.

I have been to this establishment for happy hour on a few other occasions and while in the area I decided to stop by to use one of my birthday freebies for a free dessert. Well it just so happened that I got off work early and had not had lunch so I was hungry and ready for some good food. Since I timed it perfectly for happy hour I also was feenin’ for their signature margarita and it was my lucky day because Thursdays happen to be ladies night so I got a full size margarita for $ 4 instead of the mini I was anticipating on the happy hour menu for $ 3. If you know me at all happy hours make me happy because I am able to get good food and drink at a good price so I was in heaven and I had just walked in the door.
I started with the margarita and complimentary chips and salsa. The chips were fresh and the salsa was flavorful. The margarita was as good as I remembered and perfectly hit the spot. I chose the frozen margarita so the the cold beverage was refreshing after being in the heat. During happy hour several items on the bar menu including tacos are half off. It was difficult making decisions because so many of the items looked good. The bartender was no help because he confirmed my impression by stating all of the items I was considering were some of his favorites too. He was suppose to help me decide not make it harder, thanks for nothing. In that moment I was wishing I had been dining with friends so I could’ve just ordered and tried them all.
Eventually I decided on the sopes which is a corn cake topped with the carnita, goat cheese and jalapeño. It’s a tapa so its served with three mini cakes but since I was dining alone it was sufficient as a meal. I also planned to eat dessert anyway so it was essential I not be too stuffed. The sopes were delicious. The carnita was very flavorful. The cornmeal cakes were a bit dense and I wouldn’t eat them alone but they were good in the composed dish. This was a great recommendation.
As I mentioned I completed my visit with dessert. I ordered the brownie a la mode. The brownie was served on a hot skillet with a hot caramel sauce poured over it table side. The ice cream on top melted atop the sizzling hot brownie. The presentation was so impressive that many other guests inquired about it and even ordered it themselves. Although beautiful in appearance i thought the brownie was just ok. It was very dry actually with the exclusion of the places moistened by the sauce. The flavor was not a rich as I prefer and was only desirable when eaten with the sauce and ice cream in concert.
The most disappointing part of my experience was the service. Although the bartender was polite and helpful, the service was very slow. They definitely should have had more assistance as he was bartending for the whole bar and serving the tables in the bar area which included running the food from the kitchen himself. I spent over 2 hours in the restaurant and I had 1 drink, 1 appetizer and dessert. This is ok if that was my desire but just wanted to grab a quick bite and a drink after work.
Despite the weaknesses in service I’m anxious to go back with friends to try more of the menu.

This is a review of the bar, not the restaurant. My hubby and I have made Cantina our «go-​to» bar. It’s in the Wiregrass Mall and has stiff competition. We used to frequent the Brass Tap right next door, but Cantina has an excellent happy hour and a wider selection of drinks. We go to GrillSmith sometimes too, but usually wind up here.
First, the Margaritas. They will knock you on your ass. Very tasty and very strong. $ 5 all day Monday, 4−7pm all other weekdays and Saturday 11 – 5. On Sunday it’s Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s for $ 2. I mean, c’mon. You can’t beat this.
Oh, and did I mention the unlimited free chips and salsa? I love the chips. They are very thin and crispy, not chewy like in some places. Two different salsas: one hot and one mild. Both are tasty.
The bar menu is great. Absolutely excellent Guacamole, made to order at the bar (and table in the restaurant). We usually order the flatbreads or the Tuna tacos. Both are very good though the taco order a bit small.
The bar staff is friendly and knows their stuff. Maddy was great but has since moved. Randall is a ball of fire. Moves so fast he’s almost a blur. Always has a smile for everyone. Rachel is also very nice.
These folks know how to keep their customers happy. And we’ll keep going back!

As part of our post-​Holiday shopping extravaganza (OMG It’s a SALE!!!), I made the drive up to the Shops at Wiregrass for an afternoon of walking, laughing, and spending money. This outdoor mall has a different collection of shops from what we normally see in Tampa, and so it was definitely worth the drive to go somewhere new.
Unfortunately the mall has a number of uninspiring chain eateries, so we were glad to spot Cantina Laredo as a place for lunch. Now to be fair, Cantina Laredo is also a part of a family of Modern Mexican restaurants based in Dallas, however there are only four locations in Florida, and this is the only one in the Tampa area. Yay for justifications! :-)
Cantina Laredo specializes in Mexico City-​style cuisine which includes grilled seafood, chicken, and steaks complimented by specialty sauces such as chipotle-​wine with Portobello mushrooms, or sautéed artichoke hearts and roasted red bell peppers. The menu looked high-​end with a number of choices not normally seen in traditional Mexican places.
You can choose to sit outdoors on the private patio, or move it inside to the air conditioned comfort. The restaurant and lounge were very sleek and modern, and spotlessly-​clean. Our server was quick to deliver a silver serving dish of warm tortilla chips and two signature dipping sauces. One was a salsa made from roasted tomatoes and peppers for a rich, earthy flavor. The other salsa was kicked up by the addition of several different peppers to give a very tasty flavor profile before you broke out in a sweat. Also on our table was a silver dish holding an avocado and a lime, and a little tent card describing their tableside guacamole preparation. Oh yes, bring it on!
In addition to the traditional tacos and enchiladas, you’ll find a number of vegetarian and gluten-​free options, and some new specialty dishes including a spinach — mushroom enchilada served with Jack cheese, an avocado — artichoke enchilada served with spinach, or a taco filled with grilled Portobello mushrooms in a balsamic glaze with goat cheese and roasted red peppers. Sure you’ll pay a bit more for this type of healthy eating, but I doubt that you’ll be making a «run for the border» later in the afternoon. *coughs delicately*
I tried the lump crabmeat enchilada with spicy chili de arbol cream sauce on a bed of marinated vegetables, and declared this dish a big success. I was told that they make a kick-​a$$ margarita with top-​shelf tequila, but since I needed to keep an eye on my charge cards I decided to stay with ice water.
Cantina Laredo has a more extensive dinner menu with seasoned and grilled meats and seafood. They also have a Sunday Brunch from 11am — 3pm, and a special New Year’s Eve menu which will include mucho tequila and Mexican yumminess.
This was a big hit, and a welcome change from typical mall food.