The food and ambiance were fantastic! The service was super friendly and attentive. We had Kalei as a server and she was great! Ask about their Instagram room. It's a nice wall background to take pictures. I highly recommend Cantina to friends and family! Worth checking out. read more

Muy bonito con buen aire acondicionado buen ambiente pero no sé si fue por la hora que fuimos pero nos dieron que era por reservación aunque nos atendieron pero nos sentimos un poco discriminados no sé si era por los niños pero pedimos platos para tres adultos y dos niños el precio un poco alto ora la comida que nos sirvieron bueno por una orden de tostones que solo venían tres nos cobraron $6.00 y eran de congelador no frescos por lo otro estuvo bien read more

We went in the mid afternoon timeframe. It wasn't crowded and it was nice. The waitress was prompt and courteous. I got the quesadia's and my other got the taco salad. Both were more than we could eat. The quesadia's were very good while the taco salad was very full of everything a salad should be but was missing any dressing. We should have asked for some but just didn't. Our mistake there. In general, the food was great, helpings were plentiful, and cost was reasonable. Environment was very nice especially mid afternoon during the week. Enjoy. read more

Come check out Cantina it's great!! All you can eat taco Tuesday, Bingo nights Wednesday, Taco flight Thursday, Fajita special Fridays! Latin night every Saturday read more

Good Day I normally don't write reviews but I had to share my horrible "server" experience at this beautiful establishment. I was there this past Friday night (3/14) for a late dinner. When we arrived the hostess was wonderful and professional. When we got seated we met our server (I will not say her name "tattoo on her neck" according to her it was her first night working there) we shared a few laughs and everything was going well, UNTIL......... Our server took our drink order (1 beer, a shot and a virgin cocktail) - during this time a group of 4 sat right behind us - (literally) 25-30 mins has gone by and yet our server has not made it back to our table to give us an update on our drinks - then, we realized that the table behind us got there drinks before us (and they were seated 20 mins after we were seated) Now our server arrives and said that our drinks were comp due to the delay, but I only got my beer (NO Shot) and yes, we did receive our virgin cocktail. Now, the fun begins - our server takes our order (filet tip, yellow rice and a salad) the server mentioned that the kitchen ran out of yellow rice so I picked the cilantro rice - My guest ordered her meal with Mexican corn. Our food arrives and guess what, no cilantro rice, no salad let alone no Mexican corn - but as I look at my guests plate, she got yellow rice hmmm but I was just told there was no yellow rice - during this time our server has yet to come to our table to check on us - 20 mins later she arrives and I questioned what happened to my cilantro rice, my salad and my Mexican corn - her comment was, that she had no control over the kitchen (Boy....did I bite my tongue) At this time our server leaves again but returns 15-20 mins later with more excuses - but here is the punchline - our server comes back and says that the kitchen is closed and I wanted to tell her - why didn't you inform us that the kitchen was closed and at least give us other food options (WE got nothing....) then I get the bill and the drinks were comp but my food wasn't (I didn't get the rice, the salad nor the Mexican corn) I just wanted food options. Then we find out when I asked another server if the kitchen was closed and to my surprise the server informed me that the kitchen was serving a late night menu - which means I could've had options for not being served the cilantro rice, salad or Mexican corn. This server would have to be the worse server I've ever encounter in the restaurant business She never checked on us to make sure were okay, and as you can see - we weren't Love the restaurant and the atmosphere But this one server made for a horrible experience................ read more

We ate here about a year and a half ago shortly after they first opened. It was a sub-par experience, so we thought maybe it was because they were new. Nope. They are even worse. The food is so bland it is beige. Its is "Mexican" food for someone's grandmother in an old folks home who can't handle on bit of spice. This food lacks flavor in ways I never thought possible. Salsa with your chips??? Nope, that tastes just like tomato sauce straight out of the can? Tacos? Soggy taco shell and zero flavor. It could have been fried anything in that shell. On the plus side our waitress was very friendly. Will not ever bother to attempt to eat their bland food ever again. read more

Once again, I like to begin with the positive. In this case, the fajitas were quite tasty, with a solid amount of steak and three shrimp. Thankfully, we happened to visit on a Wednesday when fajitas are $10 off the rather outrageous normal price of $32 when you order two proteins instead of three. Now, to the rest. Service was very slow, indifferent and clueless, despite the fact the restaurant was only about 20% full. We ordered the queso and were given the bottom of the bag of chips - almost all crumbs. My wife ordered the tacos al pastor and while they had good flavor, they were room temperature. When we complained, the manager offered to have them redone. Ten minutes later, the replacement arrived - and it was the same temperature. We did appreciate that the manager comped our drinks and my wife's entree. read more

The food is so great! I had a sweet potato taco and it was amazing. the service is speedy and the scenery is gorgeous!

I have never left a review on any business in my life but today is the day. The food was terrible. My carne asada tacos were cold and literally had NO flavor. My son's burger bun was dried out and hard. The shrimp quesadilla seemed like it had maybe a "half of one"shrimp diced up and placed in and again tasteless. The pizza tasted as though they dumped some generic Walmart brand canned tomato sauce on it. Cigarette smoke was coming into the restaurant from some outside service window they have. Finally, the server seemed like he did not want to be there at all, and delivered with subpar service. I'm really not a complainer at all, but this place was crazy bad. I can only imagine the people that gave it positive reviews, gave it to them because they were drunk or enjoyed the ambience which is decent.Either that or I showed up on an off day for the restaurant. I'll never go back again, so beware. read more

I have always wanted to try this place. I love Mexican food, and it's located in downtown Ocala. Whenever, I've asked about this place, it's mostly a bad response so I avoided it. I wanted to go to the Ivy house because I know the food will be good, but they had an hour wait so we decided to try the Cantina finally. Surprisingly it was not busy. We hurried in to get out of the cold only to discover it was just as cold inside. Took forever to get the chips and they taste stale and old grease. Yuck. I'm sad to say the food was not good for me. I did not eat mine and the waitress never came back until everyone was almost finished. My husband enjoyed his chimichanga, but he was out of tea most of his dinner, so the poor service made the experience even worse. She even tried to charge us for my plate of food that I didn't eat. Sadly, this is not worthy of a spot downtown. read more

I'll say this up front; perhaps we caught them at a bad time. Would 2:30pm on a Saturday be a bad time? There is a service problem here apparently, based on others reviews and my own experience. You be the judge if the things I'll mention matter to you. We asked to be seated outside and were escorted to our table. Our waitress arrived promptly and greeted us pleasantly whereupon we ordered a couple of beers and our food order. Chips and salsa were promptly brought to our table with a bottle of water and no glasses. Another person other than our waitress brought us our beer, Modelo Negra. Again, no glasses. Just bottles of beer. A darker beer must be drank out of a class in my opinion. We asked for glasses, at least for the water and girl questioned it; "Like, regular glasses?". Yes, you know, to drink water from! A little while later another person brought my wife her salad that came with her meal. The salad came on this tiny plate that once started to be picked out, it all overflowed off the little plate. Oh, I forgot to mention that before that we wait an extremely long time for someone, anyone, to come around to the table so that we can ask for the neglected napkins and utensils. I got up and went inside to get someone's attention to ask for them. Couldn't find anyone available so, I took a setting off a table and went back outside. Meal finally came and we asked for salt and pepper (wasn't on the table) and for ketchup as my meal came with fries. The young man came back with the ketchup and when I lifted it, I could tell it was empty. Original waitress finally came back and we asked for a ketchup bottle with some in it and a couple more beers. Then the unforgivable happened. The waitress removed my wife's beer from the table.....while there was still a sip in it!!!! Ohhh nooooooooo. That cannot happen. Felt like no one knows what should go with a meal. Utensils? Anyway, the food was ok. I'll give them another try. But, be warned about service. I took pictures but somehow, they disappeared. The visit was jinxed. read more

Currently here for brunch, and the place is practically empty--yet the service is painfully slow. Our waitress seems more interested in hanging out in the back than checking on our table. If you're not interested in serving guests, why work in the service industry? Disappointed. read more

Good food and service. Nice band . Go early. Beat the crowds . Get the guacamole We did and loved it read more

We ordered: Chips and Queso - Menu price $12.00 - Charged $12.48 Hot & Smoky Mezcal - Menu price $12.00 - Charged $12.48 Diet Coke - Menu Price - $3.50 - Charged $3.64 Enchiladas- Menu Price - $16.00 - Charged $16.64 Fijitas - Menu price - $22.00 - Charged $23.92 We had a $50.00 certificate that we had purchased the day before from NCFL Deals. Both meals indicate that they come with choice of soup or salad. We did not get this nor were we offered it. The enchiladas were supposed to come with rice and black beans. We did not get that either. The waiter did offer to get it to go after we asked about it. The enchiladas were lukewarm at best. The fajitas were not by any means served sizzling. Both meals were bland in taste. Basically the only good things were the drinks. The Mezcal was served in about an 8 ounce glass. Pretty chintzy for a $12.00 drink. Another this is we fought a fly or flies the whole time we were there. So we were overcharged on everything we ordered. The waiter could not get their computer to honor the certificate or adjust the price. There was not a manager in the restaurant. The waiter and hostess both texted with the manager and he told them to get our phone number and he would call us to fix the issue. That was at approximately 12:30 p.m. We called the restaurant at 6:30 p.m. and was told he was in the restaurant, but he would not come to the phone. Consider this a one and done for us! Food is not good and customer service even worse! read more

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Food was horrible , i had shrimp tacos , it was mayo, lettus , and three shrimp , my wife had the taco bowl it was mostly lettus, it was the worst Mexican I have ever ate it's more or less a place to hang out and have a few drinks don't go for food. read more

We've been here twice, once a year ago and once a few days ago. Both times everything was bad. Service, speed, order accuracy, and the taste of food. Would not recommend. read more

went to happy hour on friday and cristina provided the best service wever. will be going back soon. Thanks again cristina :)

Very disappointing. The shrimp tacos were terrible. The soft shells were not heated or cooked at all. They fell completely apart when I picked them up. Guacamole was also disappointing. Over baring lime taste The menu is small & limited to begin with and several dishes listed on the menu were " not available". Gave this restaurant two tries. Will not be returning again. It's a fairly pricey restaurant that does not, in my opinion, warrant the price read more

Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Ocala, Florida

The inside of Cantina is so unique and the wall art is captivating! This restaurant is on the corner of the downtown square. We had the chips and salsa, fresh guacamole and the queso as appetizers (and a margarita). The guacamole was not spicy at all even though we asked for it to be spicy so I recommend just double checking with the server if you are picky about that. I ordered the steak salad (not a fan of the dressing tbh) but immediately wished I went with the enchilada or tacos after trying my husband and kids' dishes haha they were so good! We finished the meal off with espresso martinis (strong in the best way!) Overall had a very good experience. read more

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Really bad service, the waitress was very disrespectful when she took our drinks order, then She leaved us waiting for 40 minutes and never took our food order. read more

Quesadilla & burrito were solid entree choices, would eat again! Our server Chris was great read more

Cantina - Tres leches - Mexican Near Me - Ocala, Florida

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I'll keep it short. Drinks took about 30 minutes. Food was faster than the drinks. They did say they were short staffed, and we did have a new waiter. The food had no flavor at all. The salsa was the best thing on the table. We asked for hot sauce...never got it. Drinks were decent...but not something I would run back for. read more

the food was bad.. we was waiting almost 2hrs for the food.. if you have another option to go to for dinner go there instead don't go to this restaurant if you read more

What a disappointing night, came in and sat down right away only (foreshadowing how NOT busy they were) to wait 20 minutes to even have a server come over to us to order drinks, followed by another 20 minutes before we even received our drinks. Also asked the waitress for the price of the house whiskey and she told us $5-$7, once receiving the bill it was $17.some change. We put in food orders but decided after waiting 40 minutes for just drinks to forgo dinner and just get the bill. No manager came to apologize nothing, do not go here. And unfortunately it doesn't look like management reads reviews so I don't see this establishment changing anytime soon... wish I would've checked the reviews before coming. read more

First of all, the place is very pretty inside. However, in the evening we went there, it was so dimly lit we had to ask for a lamp because it was just too dark. I had the fajitas and my husband had the pork with pineapple tacos. Both dishes lacked flavor. Plus the steak was so chewy and grisly I couldn't eat it. At least the chicken was tender and moist, but under seasoned. The margaritas were just fair. We probably won't return. Too bad... read more

extremely slow service, Bloody Mary was very sweet. Taco Slada tasted like it was made the day before. Would not recommen. Will not try again. read more

Fun for taco tuesdays for late night . Bartenders are funny Food is good Many tequila choices Good key lime pie read more

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We came, but they couldn't seat us because they are brand new and don't have enough cooks in the kitchen or servers, so we were turned away. Make reservations if you want to eat here. read more

Beautiful location and decor and the drinks are pretty good. The service however is very slow and the food unbelievably bland. Went for $20 all you can eat tacos. The time for your first taco is so long, and then between tacos, it gets worse that you leave out of frustration, not because you're full. I've eaten at 6 other Mexican restaurants in Ocala. None looked as good, but all had way better food. read more

Great ambiance and vibe, and kudos to the team for a beautiful remodel of the bank (not an easy task!) Really enjoyed the drinks and can't wait to come back again for dinner. 10/10! read more

Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Ocala, Florida

Not sure if it was just an off day, or what. We went for lunch on Satutday, about 30 minutes after they opened. we were the 3rd table to sit. It took a while for the server to come over and even longer for the food to come out. I ordered 2 carnitas tacos and 1 el tejano taco. You can read the description of the tacos in the attached picture. There was a ton of meat on all 3 tacos, and some cheese. That's it. No salsas, sauces or veg at all. The pork was really good, but there was just nothing else. The ground beef was gross, like a cheap sloppy joe flavor. I should have just gone through taco bell. read more

Cantina - taco description - Mexican Near Me - Ocala, Florida

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Hello so we went for dinner last night. We were not impressed at all. Food drinks and ambiance ok. Food was out quick that was impressive since my date ordered fish. You need some work with your service I had to ask the waitress if they offered chips and salsa she said oh yes let me get that. they taste stale and a bit salty. When ever we asked or said thank you to her, her response was a-hum. Please teach your waiters to use their words. Couple next to us left because they brought out their water no one ever came back to them. By the time the waitress came with chips they were gone, don't blame them at all. They were friendly to us they said goodnight and told us to enjoy our evening. We left went to a very nice little ice cream shop Ocala Choc Confctns, Loved it very friendly gave us some Ocala history we enjoyed our time there more than your establishment. For such limited options in this area you should have outstanding service. Sorry not happy nor empresses. read more

This place it looks great but there is nothing authentic about it! From the chips and salsa to everything else, very mediocre. My first drink supposed to be Paloma and had flavor of soda water with a touch of grapefruit. Terrible! The salsa from the jar would be better than what they serve. The tacos Al pastor had no flavor, you couldn't tell if it was chicken, pork or any other meet. The fish tacos again, no taste at all! The serve it was ok but you could tell they were short on staff. Two starts because the yuca was delish. Resuming don't waste your money and time coming here. Go next door. read more

Bad service. Waiter only came by after food was served to deliver the check (no drink refills, checking in, etc.). The server also did not really understand the menu and wasn't able to answer some basic questions we had. They also neglected to ask us about some meals that came with options/sides so everyone received some semi-random food. My burrito was okay at best, very light on meat (literally zero meat in one of the two halves) and not particularly well seasoned. Save your money and dine elsewhere in downtown Ocala. read more

This place is a nice place to go and chill. The food is good. They have a bartender named Ray D. Ray and a lady named Shey are not only great bartenders but they are pleasant and engaging with the customers. My wife and I check to see if Ray and or Shey is working before we come. It takes more than just food or a drink. It takes pleasantness and being good at what you do and that is Ray D and Shey. They are a huge asset to this restaurant. read more

This restaurant is amazeballs! We went there twice during this most recent visit to Ocala. I am not sure what they do to make those flautas so good but they are the best I have ever put in my mouth! The peach and the mango margaritas are great and they have tajin!!! The taco salad is the bomb! I will go there everytime we go out to visit my mom. read more

Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Ocala, Florida

Ordered a steak burrito and half of it was full of rice. I didn't order a rice burrito. I ordered a steak burrito and it was super small for $14.00, manager apologized brought out another one, same thing full of rice more than 3/4 and no carnitas meat. Ambiance is amazing and entertainment, but the food needs to be what you pay for. read more

Cantina - Carnitas burrito full of rice and no Carnitas - Mexican Near Me - Ocala, Florida

My husband and I really hoped that this new downtown Ocala restaurant would be good - it's not. We went there last night for the first time and were very disappointed. They started by bringing us chips and salsa, the chips were cold and the salsa was the consistency of water without much more flavor than water. As we are tequila drinkers,we ordered a tasting flight of tequila shots, supposedly their speciality. They only serve 4 small shots of tequila in their $15 sampler, and all were low quality, harsh, and terrible tasting. I ordered a sangria, which they touted as being all home made and a house specialty, it tasted like overly sugared Kool aid. If there was brandy in the sangria, or fresh juice, you would never know it. We happen to be there on a Taco Tuesday night. We ordered one order of the AUCE taco special. This ended up being only a choice of minced chicken over loaded with a sour cream sauce, and minced beef. Both were unimpressive, we didn't even order more. I ordered their shrimp dish that was a chef's special of the night. The shrimp was over cooked and the sauce did nothing for the flavor. The rice and beans was a small portion and similarly mediocre. We didn't even bother with dessert after being so disappointed with the food. The restaurant looks great, but can't seem to figure out the audience they are targeting. It's decore, location, and pricing are aimed at adults with money to spend on a nice dinner out. However, it's food and management seem to be targeting college kids. The live mariachi band just looked disheartened. Forget this place and just go to Latinos y Mas - far superior food and half the price. read more

Came here with a friend during a quick vacation. It had a great atmosphere, Our guacamole was made right infront of us and they asked us if there was anything we did not want in it. Everything was absolutely delicious! Our server, I said cannot remember his name, but he was the lead server. He was great! I'd definitely come back read more

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Awful experience unfortunately, because the place is very cute. This is my second time here having a lackluster experience. This time was shockingly inappropriate, as my party were told that we need to leave the table we were instructed to sit at. The manager came over who severely lacked professionalism, and gave us a joke of a response to how poorly we were treated. We gracefully left, and will not ever consider being patrons again. We were a party of African American women, at that. Questionable. read more