Pretty good, a little pricey, yummy margaritas. Better than the sh*t a$$ place that gave my girlfriend hemorrhoids. read more

The food is amazing! The queso here is a must have and it goes very well with the classic burrito. The restaurant itself is not the most spacious but it's still a great vibe. The service in the other hand is...not the best. Our server was quite rude to one of our friends who mentioned we had a birthday in the group. She also forgot to give us pens when we got the bill so maybe she was new? Nevertheless, we were never offered desert and we got nothing for my friend's birthday either, knowing Canteen gives out birthday treats. read more

Canteen - Classic Burrito with queso - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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I hadn't been here since it opened so it was time for a check in! Armed with a 7 pm reservation on a Friday night, my friend and I met for drinks and what we hoped would be a leisurely evening's dinner. Unfortunately, we weren't offered a second drink and were gently but firmly encouraged to leave to accommodate an 8:15 reservation at our table for 2. The food was fine and the server was friendly, I just wouldn't bother going back after that because it wouldn't be worth having to cut a dinner short. I had the burrito bowl with carnitas and thought the carnitas flavor was quite good, but the bowl was overwhelmed with a lot of refried black beans. The queso was good and I could have dipped chips in that all evening long, and the salsa trio was not bad either. I really enjoyed my mezcal cocktail and would have loved another. It's a small space but the tables feel fairly intimate. Clean and non-gender specific bathrooms. read more

I had the strawberry margarita which was delicious and strong. Then the queso and lamb tacos. The tacos were average. Honestly I enjoyed the margaritas and dip the most. Would be back for more read more

Canteen - Queso Dip & Chips Strawberry margarita - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Canteen is located just off the Square with a great view of the Capitol building. They start you off with a complementary order of chips topped with a spicy seasoning - not your typical chips and salsa, but definitely tasty! Every subsequent order is $1 extra. I ordered a Spicy Margarita. If you're a fan of sweet and spicy (Hello Tajin seasoning!) this is the Marg for you! We ordered several different tacos (they come in sets of twos) and an order of enchiladas. The service was adequate and the ambience is cute and colorful. Our food was lukewarm, however, which was a small downside to our experience! Their tortillas are made locally at Tortilleria Zepata, which is a definite plus! read more

Canteen - 12oz Spicy Margarita - Yum! - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Went here while in town for a conference with some people I work with on a Monday night. I can imagine on other days of the week it is busier, and spacing is a bit limited. The décor is vibrant, colorful, and fun. Instead of chips that many Mexican restaurants offer for free, Canteen has these fried wheels that are pretty unique. I enjoyed my Baja burrito (in bowl form, thanks for having a GF option!) and those in my party enjoyed tacos and margaritas. If I find myself in Madison, I will certainly come back! read more

CLEAN PLATE CLUB! sat here, heavily satiated! i got the lamb to start off which was divine. seriously i dont know what they're doing with that lamb, but hey, dont ask how the sausage gets made i guess! the server recommended i get the pork belly next due to 'popularity' yea, no. whoever made the pork belly tacos 'popular' probably also enjoys doing poppers in a dark room. they were below mid and that's saying something, considering i eat slim jim's on a daily basis. i'm not mad at the server though, she's gotta get her bag, and she was doing her best to appease the masses. i just happen to be the black sheep, maybe she couldn't tell that i just have elite taste so she recommended the f tier taco. I also had to knock this place, because we called in advance to get put in line, and were told it'd be an hour or more. low and behold, 20 minutes later and we have to haul ass there because the table is ready! it's fine, but i just don't look as good as i could if i had enough time to get ready. all in all i loved this place, and ill be back again soon. read more

This is my families go to spot when we are visiting Madison. The service is always phenomenal. The menu is diverse and everything on the menu is fresh and delicious. It is a cute space as well. I had the flank steak tacos and they were fantastic! read more

Canteen - Dinner area - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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This rather small venue was very crowded at 6pm on a Saturday. We were able to get a table with no wait which was good since there is very little room to wait when the bar is full. We discovered that it was so full because they have Happy Hour everyday 2-5pm with 1/2 price tacos and 1/2 price margaritas. Next time we will come early! I ordered a strawberry margarita which was good but a bit too sour for me. We liked the complimentary bag of lightly spicy wagon wheels to start off - since this was our first visit these were new to us. I ordered the chorizo tacos, they come two to an order - they are small but very good. I also ordered the cheese dip which was tasty but a bit too runny and the amount of chips too small for the amount of cheese. The chicken enchiladas were very good as was the side dish combo of black beans, rice, corn, and salsa. Our server did a nice job keeping us well watered. We will return for their happy hour pricing. read more

Their regular and late night happy hours are amazing for both drink and food deals. You usually need a reservation for the late night happy hour, especially for more than two people. The tacos and margaritas are always good. The interior is small but cute. A negative is that service can be slow when the patio is open and busy. read more

Alright well holy cow, I've traveled a lot- and I'm pretty stingy but this is test another place in Madison that is excellent... it's crazy, I've been to a lot of Mexican places in my life- my favorite food- and this is too notch!! Outdoor seating is fantastic location is great, options are endless and so lunch liquor to choose from read more

This place was great (especially during happy hour!). Me and my partner very much enjoyed the complimentary Duritos. We also got the Mexican street corn. I enjoyed it but partner LOVED it. The sauce on it was yummy :) for tacos we got the carnitas, fish, and barbacoa. All were good, but fish and carnitas were the most vibrant and yummy! Service was good and the vibes were great. Would recommend as happy hour date night! read more

Canteen - Duritos - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Second time here while visiting Madison and honestly it seems to have gone downhill. They have a nice outside seating area which is where I was seated fairly quickly. It took around 10 mins to even be greeted once I was at my table however, at which point I already had my drink, app, and food order figured out. Mezcal marg, chips and salsa, and cauliflower tacos. The salsa came out fairly quickly and decent portion, but I wouldn't get it again; it was just okay and something to snack on. The restaurant also has these chips that are complementary and seemed to be handed out automatically by other servers, however I didn't get any, and requested later on for them. I appreciated the crunchiness and seasoning on those. Skip the chips and salsa these are better. I ended up getting my mezcal margarita the same time I got my tacos. I would have liked to get it earlier in my meal to sip on while waiting. Drinks usually come out first so something was off about the timing. I also couldn't really taste the mezcal in here, which is surprising because mezcal usually has a very distinct flavor. I would not get this again, I didn't even finish it. The only thing I really liked was the cauliflower tacos. They had good spice and crunch. It was rather filling. Pricing is fair. read more

Canteen - Fried Cauliflower Tacos - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

The manager on duty,Madison, was not helpful at all when we told her my food was hard, burnt and crunchy. I told her, don't want a free dinner, but instead that same dish made. When I had asked where my dish and our chips and dip were, she said the kitchen was closed. We did get the chips and dip but denied fixing the issue and continued to let me know that I had "yelled" at her. No, I just think this young, untitled staff doesn't know how to handle fixing a simple request! read more

I love happy hours and I wanted to try their happy hour so a friend I met up on Thanksgiving Eve. The happy hour ends at 5 and our waiter was very accommodating because we came 10 minutes before the happy hour ended. At first I did not like that you couldn't order a single taco but it was actually nice. I ordered the Canteen and El Jefe Margarita, Barbacoa Beef Brisket, Shrimp Diablo, and Carne Fresco. The margaritas were great but I liked the Canteen Margarita better. All the tacos were amazing but my favorites were the Shrimp Diablo and Carne Fresco. My only complaint was there wasn't chips and salsa but fried wheels which I did not like but everything else were great. I recommend visiting for happy hour to get more bang for your buck. read more

Had dinner over the weekend and really enjoyed our time at Canteen. They had both indoor and outdoor seating available. We got together with some friends that we haven't seen in years and the staff was really patient with us (took us a while to order since we were talking so much). Food was great! We ordered queso, guac, tacos, enchiladas, and the Churros which meant that we got to try a little bit of everything. We also ordered a pitcher of the El Jefe Margaritas and they were delicious! read more

Canteen - Enchiladas - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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We got the breakfast burrito bowl, carne fresco taco and pork belly tacos. Absolutely out of the world food! Will definitely come back here! We also got the strawberry and the el jefe margarita and those were really good too. Ended up paying $65 for the brunch but definitely worth the money. Lovely food! read more

Best vibes ever. Love the margs and tacos!!! Shrimp tacos are to die for. Also great hh deals read more

Canteen - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Went here for lunch on a Thursday and was very happy that we could enjoy the outdoor patio section in the sun! There was a solid crowd outdoors, but tables were spaced appropriately. I will say it seems like they are also understaffed however, as it was a little longer than expected between waitress/waiter visits and delivering the food. I ended up ordering the baja burrito with grilled fish. It was packed full of slaw, had some nice slices of avocado, and had more fish than I was expecting. It was also nice that the burrito was cut so you could get some of everything in each bite. The salsa on the side was also a welcome light, fresh flavor. Overall, it was pretty tasty, but I will say that it felt like the burrito was a little small for the price, or should have came with some sort of side. Just thinking to other restaurants of this style, you usually receive a little more food. Our group also ordered the guacamole and chips. We were kind of surprised when it came out and there was only one small bag of chips with it. We could have used more for our group of 6, and one of our waitresses said that she would bring more, but they never showed up. I think she may have just forgot as she did have quite a few other tables to keep track of. Also as a comment, the one member of our party said that she would pay for the guac, but when the bills came, it was distributed evenly on all of ours. Not really what we asked for, but we each paid it because we needed to get back to work and didn't want to wait to ask to change it. Overall, the food has always been pretty good here, but I will say you can tell they are a little understaffed. The lunch took a little longer than we would have hoped, and I think overall we had 4 or 5 different people serving us or checking in on us. Hopefully, they along with all of the other restaurants will be able to get back to staffing capacities. read more

Canteen - Baja burrito with grilled fish - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

We were sadly underwhelmed by this place due to both service and food quality. The atmosphere is decent and could be fun especially for drinks, but that's only if your server knows how to interact with customers. I don't usually write negative reviews, but I'm still thinking about how our server made me feel even hours later, so here's the scoop. Our server made me and our whole table uncomfortable with his demeanor. He chastised me for a comment I made about being "white girls" taking pictures of our food in front of several tables. He ruined the rest of our night by being subsequently curt and avoiding our whole table. Then we spent the next 20 minutes waiting for him to return, which he seemed to refuse to. He even made a joke and laughed about leaving us to wait even longer -- I have no idea why he would do that. He wouldn't look me in the eye and everything was awkward for the rest of the dinner. But looking around, we saw other unhappy tables clearly neglected too; he didn't visit people for 20-30 minutes at a time. We also saw him flip a plate into another lady's lap, but I know that was an accident. He didn't ask us for dessert, abruptly asked if we wanted our checks and then did not split them the way we wanted. He brought us all separate checks instead of splitting it by couples how we asked. Then he dropped the checks down and left without saying thank you or have a good night or anything. Honestly, it might have been the worst restaurant service I've ever had. Food: after hearing rave reviews about the street corn, imagine our surprise when it arrived cold clearly poured from the can into the bowl. I can't believe I paid $4.00 for each serving. The chicken in the taco salad was dry and some pieces were even hard and tasted reheated. The burritos were excellent and the sweet potato tacos were also good. The margaritas were average and the server didn't check if I wanted salt, but if I had sent it back, I might have never seen it again. It is my understanding that things have changed for the worse compared to their first two years in business. I won't return to this restaurant. read more

Canteen - This is quite literally canned corn with a dollop of mayo. It was gross. - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Where do I start?! Happy Hour: why is it from 2pm-5pm?! Visiting Madison for business, I was enthralled to partake in "Taco Tuesday" and enjoy a discounted margarita but to my surprise HH ended at 5pm the same time I ended my work day; hanging around until 9pm for the late night happy hour wasn't an option, FIX IT! Nonetheless, I still went and ordered a Reposado Tequila flight, well I was met with disappointment again as every tequila I selected they were "out" of or it wasn't included in the flight, which was NOT mentioned on the menu. I ordered carne fresco tacos and a side of Mexican Street Corn (elote), both were mid and wouldn't recommend. Yes I saved it for last, customer service: customer service is important when your business depends on the customers you serve, no one acknowledged the fact that I was standing there for about 7 mins. (They weren't busy, remember HH ended at 5pm). Do better Canteen, I won't be back but for the next person, please do better!! read more

Canteen - Reposado Flight - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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Got the pork belly tacos, shrimp diablo tacos, taco salad, and churros. All very tasty, shrimp diablo tacos were the winner followed by the taco salad. read more

We went to Canteen tonight after the Wisconsin/Minnesota game. I'm from Los Angeles and I should have known better. My husband and I ordered the taco salad. It was awful . There was barely any lettuce in the dish. We ordered it with ground beef as the protein. The meat was in a heavy sauce. It definitely is not like a true Taco salad and the taste of the meat was not good. Our mistake read more

Wanted to love it. But when I bit into my fish burrito it strangely tasted like meat. The package was labeled fish burrito. And it was swapped with my sons beef burrito. Been several years since I've eaten meat. That's not how I wanted it to go. They also left out napkins. The chips and guacamole were very good but mixing up fish with meat is a major problem. Once I got my fish burrito it was very wet. I just wanted to eat it quickly and get it over with. My boys were not thrilled about the beans and Spanish rice inside their burritos. Old school burrito. read more

Yum! I can't believe this is the first time i've tried Canteen since living in Madison, it did not disappoint! We made a reservation and were seated right away. We ordered a pitcher of margaritas which were super refreshing and delicious. We ordered enchiladas and a smothered burrito with chicken and we LOVED the smother burrito. You have to get it smothered with cheese it's so worth it. read more

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This was my first Canteen experience ! There's no better way to celebrate a friend's last night in Madison than with tacos. Canteen is doing window ordering with outdoor seating and offers delivery or curbside pick up. We ordered at the window and sat at a shady table with a beautiful view of the capital. The ordering process was simple and all staff wore masks too. I ordered chicken pastor tacos and a side of refried black beans sans queso fresco. The beans were tasty and had a nice touch of green onions on top. I'm not sure I was brought the right tacos because there was no pineapple and there was no indication cheese would be on them. Nonetheless, the tacos were fresh tasting with good flavors! Their menu offers more than tacos like burritos, brunch on the weekend, frozen margs, and of course chips and guacamole. I recommend giving canteen a try for your next taco craving! read more

Canteen - Chicken Pastor - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

We went for happy hour. The margs are priced well during happy hour- definitely okay with this The Baja bowl was not good, literally all cabbage slaw. I got grilled fish and it was cold. I didn't enjoy it. The queso wasn't great either. I won't come back, but the servers were all kind read more

The space is cute, but a bit awkward in terms of layout. The tequila selection is pretty good, but the bartenders are inexperienced. Service is meh. Food is meh. Meh. read more

First time ordering lunch for take-out from here: Chorizo Taco Salad (2/5), extra side of spicy salsa and Mex Street Corn (1/5). PROS: Loved interior decor, service was great, chorizo packed separately from salad, salad portion was hefty and fresh CONS: Lacked flavor in both orders, to-go containers were flimsy, street corn portion literally four bites for $4 Overall, there are better taco salad options around the square. If you're looking for both muted flavors and authenticity, this might be your spot! Other than that, it's hip and service is good. I would give them another try, but what they consider a spicy salsa, and have done to the street corn and chorizo, have me questioning my return. read more

Canteen - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

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I waited for quite awhile just to be sat. It seemed like I was supposed to wait but every server that walked by just kind of smiled and walked away; they weren't busy either. I finally was given a seat and honestly the whole experience was just kind of off. Servers seemed angry and the food was not what I ordered. Queso was great but my taco order was wrong and didn't taste very good. Hoping for a better experience if I come back. read more

Great food and atmosphere. This is one of the best restaurants near the capitol. My family and I all love enchiladas and canteen did not disappoint! The verde sauce on the enchiladas is fantastic. I also recommend ordering their churros after dinner. Really great place with a good value. Very small restaurant. read more

Canteen - Enchiladas, Shrimp Diablo and Mexican Street Corn - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

canteen tacos are so amazing and so is the guac but the queso is so bad it tastes like cheese whiz :( I wish they would make a new queso read more

Canteen - Bacon & Egg Tacos - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Great food! Homemade and fresh nacho chips and handmade guacamole. It's family and professional environment. read more

Canteen - Home nacho chips and guacamole - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

One of my faves! So glad I found this place on Yelp. So far, my favorite spot in Madison, which is full of good restaurants already. Cauliflower taco is hard to describe and the title probably doesn't entice, so you have to trust the menu, and other Yelpers. It's excellent. Strongly advise El jefe if you're choosing from the margarita menu: worth the extra dollar. ( still worth the up charge even during happy hour) Great service. Great vibe. read more

Canteen - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin

Wonderful fresh tacos, bowls & salads. Yummy drinks. Great service and prices. Indoor and outdoor seating offered but small amount of both.

Best happy hour in madison right here!! I LOVE the pork belly tacos and you can best the $2 tecate beers...also the margs are out of this world. I haven't had the caritas taco but I've heard it's also incredible. Really a perfect taco place if you ask me. read more

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After reading the reviews I was really excited to eat here. It took an hour to get our food. The nachos were probably the worst I've ever had. My daughter ordered chicken enchiladas and they to were cold. I couldn't leave fast enough. read more

Unfortunately the Canteen does not accommodate people either accessibility issues in their outdoor space. This could be solved with a short ram and some table re-arranging. dMI has. produced an excellent video as to how to make outdoor seating accessible. I was unable to eat there last night. I live in the neighborhood. read more

Food was pretty good overall. But service could be much better. Keeping it short and to the point. Taco salad drenched in dressing. Fried broccoli taco interesting. Churros surprisingly good especially with the chocolate sauce. Gotta burn off all those calories afterwards though. You've been warned. read more

Highlights and Lowlights 1) great food 2) friendly service 3) excellent location A craft Mexican restaurant in downtown Madison?! FINALLY you are here. This little place, in the old Nostrano spot, is so cute! But, it's little. You are almost guaranteed a wait on the weekend as there are probably only 10 tables inside. We tried last Friday (granted it was Cinco de Mayo) and the wait was a casual 3 hours. Came back on a weeknight and ate at the bar with no waiting! We were served by the bartender who was very friendly and super knowledgeable of the craft cocktails and food. I was impressed as this place had only been open for about 6 days at this point. The craft cocktails and margaritas were excellent. We ordered chips and guacamole. Chips were good and come in cute little bags, guacamole was ok. You get free "duh-ritos" which is a fun spin, but that does mean you are paying for chips and salsa. They have a ton of gluten-sensitive items labeled on the menu (they said they technically can't say gluten free because the fryers are shared). We got the fried fish, farmers cheese, brisket, and chicken tacos on corn tortillas. So so so good! Can't wait to come back! read more

Canteen - "Appy" Hour - Tacos Near Me - Madison, Wisconsin