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Polite & Quick Service from the wait staff, clean environment restaurant wise, and delicious food. We never used to come here cause we had bad takeout once YEARS ago, but we gave it a try last weekend and everything was delicious. Definitely going back soon to try more options: I like that the menu is based on local customer feedback of what we want to eat. (I remember the owner asking the community on Facebook - very cool)
First time eating anything from Carters. Everything looked and smelled great. I was underwhelmed by the cheesecake nachos. All the flavors were there, I just wanted way more cinnamon sugar and I thought the chips were a little over done. The enchiladas were good. The ground beef had a nice even flavor. I wouldn't order them the same way next time, simply because I prefer cheese enchiladas. The CYO burrito was HUGE and delicious! Steak fajitas had good flavor also. I LOVED the chips and salsa. Chips were thin and crispy, the salsa was bright and tomatoey. The side of rice also had nice flavor. I'd definitely return.
Serena is waiting on us. Ordered guacamole, chicken street tacos with fajita chicken (usually comes with pulled chicken), chicken flauta with corn tortillas, no sour cream sauce and all beans, no cheese and a pineapple Jarrito, that's the only flavor they have. $37.63. The spicy salsa and mild salsa are decent. The chips are greasy, but nice and crunchy. The guacamole isn't bad here. All of the salsas and guacamole is made in house. The flautas were okay, the pulled chicken is seasoned. The corn tortilla is definitely the best for the flautas. I am glad they were able to make the flautas with corn for me, since I am not greatly fond of them with flour much. The chicken tacos were better than expected. Pay at the counter. Service was all good. Food was better than average. They wouldn't give me a paper copy of my credit card receipt, that was a bit odd. I was only given the original tab was all, not what I was wanting. Oh well.
Heard a lot about this place on ELM and from locals. Had to come try it out. Watermelon Margarita was great. Salsa was VERY bland and very watery. Also, pass on the street corn appetizer dip. My shrimp tacos were flavorful & hearty. My friend got the combo plate and enjoyed it. Not too shabby. Wish they had different sauces you could try & put on your tacos. That would be great!
The restaurant was spotless, the service was wonderful. The food was absolutely delicious and worth everything hyped up I had previously heard, would absolutely go back again in a heartbeat.
"Stick a fork in it!" That's what my inner self said when I saw this meal. I ordered a BYOB - Big Burrito. Rather than checking for doneness, I wanted to see if the fork would reach through to the plate. I buried the fork tines and still hadn't bottomed out. Yes, it was that big! Let's back up a bit, shall we? I entered from the ample parking lot and chose to sit at a booth. My waitress came over and asked what I wanted to drink. Since the name of the restaurant included the word 'cantina', of course I requested a well-known beer. Sadly I must report, she told me that they didn't serve the beverage delivered by Clydesdale horses. I wanted to give her a dirty look, but she was very pleasant both in her demeanor and her good looks, so I 'turned my frown upside down' and simply smiled back at her. I changed my request to an Arnold Palmer and all was well. At this writing, I suggest that you refrain from ordering any beverages of the adult nature, as the tequila wagon hasn't arrived. So, with many items on the Mexican menu that met with my approval, I decided on the big burrito. I was hungry and it was calling my name (to be honest, I had to hold the menu close to my ear to hear my name called out). My waitress accommodated a last minute change-up and made it a wet burrito. My meal arrived in good measure and it didn't have time to get cold on my plate. As I mentioned previously, I was hungry and after giving thanks in a prayer, I dug right in. With just a few bites left, I remembered something about portion control. So I paused and pondered that thought. Then I reasoned that portion control probably starts in the kitchen. After coming to that conclusion, I simply transferred any guilty feelings to them and finished my meal. Since I am a proud member of the Clean Plate Club®, I did my best to finish my meal to the requirements of club rules. Plus, I learned a long time ago that if you come up a little short on cash at the end of a meal, the cleaner the plate, the easier it is to wash (grin!). From time to time, I forget to ask about military discounts that may be available to veterans. I didn't forget this time, and was awarded a discount when I went to pay with cash. Thank you. This is not a fancy restaurant with valet parking. It is located on the mile road side of a small strip mall in the northwest corner of 27 and Gratiot Avenue. In my humble opinion, it is the best Mexican restaurant in New Haven. I recommend!
Too bad wasn't with my wife for this meal, because she would've loved this place even more than I did. Nice friendly service. Clean and I even heard some country music playing over the speakers. Heck ya baby. Let's be honest, most of us would rather listen to country music instead of mariachi anyway. The Chimichanga was the best I've ever had.
I really wish I could give this place at least 3 stars but if I am rating fairly I would have to say that 2 stars is the best I can do. First let me start by saying that when I first visited this place a little over 2 years ago, I was not impressed. It was run down, dirty and the food was terrible, the service was even worse. Now, two years later, the place is updated, better decor, nicer staff, and slightly better food. I know that this place is highly rated but we are in a small town and I can only speculate that the only thing they have to compare this place too is Trini's down the road. Which in comparison it is WAY better. However, this place by no means makes me reminisce about taco trucks in Florida or makes me all nostalgic-craving cantina tacos. Now, although this place missed the mark for me, I do wish them great success and because of that, I hope that the owner Carter (which I happened to run into with his children when I recently went) takes my pointers into consideration. 1. Make sure that your staff is regularly washing their hands. I watched your cooks (there were 2 when I visited) lay corn tortillas down with bare hands and turn them with bare hands, then run to the back touch containers with meat came back and flip the tortillas barehanded without once washing their hands. 2. The wait staff was also touching money, debit cards, pens, taking orders, phones, and making drinks. I waited for quite some time, not once did wait staff wash their hands. 3. Cantina tacos come with onions yes small diced onions. The onions are diced far too large for a cantina taco. 4. The type of tortilla being used is too thick to double up like a traditional cantina taco, this makes for a very DRY taco and not enjoyable at all. There are places you can source them from, even have them homemade. 5. Consider offering carne asada just saying....this Latina prefers Asada and al pastor over ground beef and chicken and I believe that those visiting go for that authentic cantina taste you get when eating a taco al pastor!! 6. Sabor!! Where is the flavor? The beans, the rice, the chicken. Nothing I ordered had any flavor, not even the salsa. 7. Cover your chips and salsa. I am not sure why there was no netting or cover over your chips or salsa. Even if they are kept in the fridge they should be properly covered at all times. Anyone, staff, customer, or flies could contaminate by sneezing, coughing, etc. Extreme? Possibly, however, it is still a possibility. Overall, I am not running to this place on a regular basis. Especially, during taco truck season. However, since I have seen some improvements within the last two years, although it was a slow progress. I am hopeful that this place will make some strides and some much-needed hygiene changes. I am certain some would say this was a harsh review but when you grow up with a taco truck in every corner and you're Hispanic, the standard is a bit different. On my food order was 5 a la carte cantina tacos and a street tacos dinner which comes with 3 tacos and rice and beans. I ordered one of each of all of the meats to try and ended up with 2 doubles. There were 3 of us eating and for all of us, the most edible out of the 5, was the chicken and slow-roasted beef. As you can see even with 3 people we barely cleared a taco a piece. No shade to the cook but hit me up if you need some help in the kitchen I got you!!! I want to see this place succeed!!
So I've been a few times and have always had good experiences with fast and friendly service! You get free chips and salsa (super mild) and refills as needed. Menu has lots of options for whatever you are craving! I usually build my own burrito and you can build it however you want! Side salad was tasty with an amazing Mexican sour creamy ranch dressing! Family feel forsure a d I love supporting smaller businesses!
20 days ago
1 year ago
This is our first time trying this restaurant. The service is absolutely fantastic, very friendly and attentive. Unfortunately, the food was just OK. We tired to order a burrito but got a burrito bowl instead. It was just OK but wish we had the tortilla. The chips and salsa are standard and the season fries were undercooked. I guess we can give them another try as this was maybe an off day. It's a typical Mexican vibe restaurant and you have to go up to the register to pay when finished eating. Worth another try. read more
4 months ago
This is our go to place. Staff is always nice and food is always great. The dinning room is very cute and has a great ambiance. read more
8 months ago
Polite & Quick Service from the wait staff, clean environment restaurant wise, and delicious food. We never used to come here cause we had bad takeout once YEARS ago, but we gave it a try last weekend and everything was delicious. Definitely going back soon to try more options: I like that the menu is based on local customer feedback of what we want to eat. (I remember the owner asking the community on Facebook - very cool) read more
First time eating anything from Carters. Everything looked and smelled great. I was underwhelmed by the cheesecake nachos. All the flavors were there, I just wanted way more cinnamon sugar and I thought the chips were a little over done. The enchiladas were good. The ground beef had a nice even flavor. I wouldn't order them the same way next time, simply because I prefer cheese enchiladas. The CYO burrito was HUGE and delicious! Steak fajitas had good flavor also. I LOVED the chips and salsa. Chips were thin and crispy, the salsa was bright and tomatoey. The side of rice also had nice flavor. I'd definitely return. read more
5 months ago
11 months ago
7 months ago
1 year ago
1 year ago
Serena is waiting on us. Ordered guacamole, chicken street tacos with fajita chicken (usually comes with pulled chicken), chicken flauta with corn tortillas, no sour cream sauce and all beans, no cheese and a pineapple Jarrito, that's the only flavor they have. $37.63. The spicy salsa and mild salsa are decent. The chips are greasy, but nice and crunchy. The guacamole isn't bad here. All of the salsas and guacamole is made in house. The flautas were okay, the pulled chicken is seasoned. The corn tortilla is definitely the best for the flautas. I am glad they were able to make the flautas with corn for me, since I am not greatly fond of them with flour much. The chicken tacos were better than expected. Pay at the counter. Service was all good. Food was better than average. They wouldn't give me a paper copy of my credit card receipt, that was a bit odd. I was only given the original tab was all, not what I was wanting. Oh well. read more
3 years ago
Heard a lot about this place on ELM and from locals. Had to come try it out. Watermelon Margarita was great. Salsa was VERY bland and very watery. Also, pass on the street corn appetizer dip. My shrimp tacos were flavorful & hearty. My friend got the combo plate and enjoyed it. Not too shabby. Wish they had different sauces you could try & put on your tacos. That would be great! read more
3 years ago
The restaurant was spotless, the service was wonderful. The food was absolutely delicious and worth everything hyped up I had previously heard, would absolutely go back again in a heartbeat. read more
"Stick a fork in it!" That's what my inner self said when I saw this meal. I ordered a BYOB - Big Burrito. Rather than checking for doneness, I wanted to see if the fork would reach through to the plate. I buried the fork tines and still hadn't bottomed out. Yes, it was that big! Let's back up a bit, shall we? I entered from the ample parking lot and chose to sit at a booth. My waitress came over and asked what I wanted to drink. Since the name of the restaurant included the word 'cantina', of course I requested a well-known beer. Sadly I must report, she told me that they didn't serve the beverage delivered by Clydesdale horses. I wanted to give her a dirty look, but she was very pleasant both in her demeanor and her good looks, so I 'turned my frown upside down' and simply smiled back at her. I changed my request to an Arnold Palmer and all was well. At this writing, I suggest that you refrain from ordering any beverages of the adult nature, as the tequila wagon hasn't arrived. So, with many items on the Mexican menu that met with my approval, I decided on the big burrito. I was hungry and it was calling my name (to be honest, I had to hold the menu close to my ear to hear my name called out). My waitress accommodated a last minute change-up and made it a wet burrito. My meal arrived in good measure and it didn't have time to get cold on my plate. As I mentioned previously, I was hungry and after giving thanks in a prayer, I dug right in. With just a few bites left, I remembered something about portion control. So I paused and pondered that thought. Then I reasoned that portion control probably starts in the kitchen. After coming to that conclusion, I simply transferred any guilty feelings to them and finished my meal. Since I am a proud member of the Clean Plate Club®, I did my best to finish my meal to the requirements of club rules. Plus, I learned a long time ago that if you come up a little short on cash at the end of a meal, the cleaner the plate, the easier it is to wash (grin!). From time to time, I forget to ask about military discounts that may be available to veterans. I didn't forget this time, and was awarded a discount when I went to pay with cash. Thank you. This is not a fancy restaurant with valet parking. It is located on the mile road side of a small strip mall in the northwest corner of 27 and Gratiot Avenue. In my humble opinion, it is the best Mexican restaurant in New Haven. I recommend! read more
4 years ago
Too bad wasn't with my wife for this meal, because she would've loved this place even more than I did. Nice friendly service. Clean and I even heard some country music playing over the speakers. Heck ya baby. Let's be honest, most of us would rather listen to country music instead of mariachi anyway. The Chimichanga was the best I've ever had. read more
Business owner information
Dan C.
Thanks for the great review we appreciate it! Yeee haw!
4 years ago
7 years ago
I really wish I could give this place at least 3 stars but if I am rating fairly I would have to say that 2 stars is the best I can do. First let me start by saying that when I first visited this place a little over 2 years ago, I was not impressed. It was run down, dirty and the food was terrible, the service was even worse. Now, two years later, the place is updated, better decor, nicer staff, and slightly better food. I know that this place is highly rated but we are in a small town and I can only speculate that the only thing they have to compare this place too is Trini's down the road. Which in comparison it is WAY better. However, this place by no means makes me reminisce about taco trucks in Florida or makes me all nostalgic-craving cantina tacos. Now, although this place missed the mark for me, I do wish them great success and because of that, I hope that the owner Carter (which I happened to run into with his children when I recently went) takes my pointers into consideration. 1. Make sure that your staff is regularly washing their hands. I watched your cooks (there were 2 when I visited) lay corn tortillas down with bare hands and turn them with bare hands, then run to the back touch containers with meat came back and flip the tortillas barehanded without once washing their hands. 2. The wait staff was also touching money, debit cards, pens, taking orders, phones, and making drinks. I waited for quite some time, not once did wait staff wash their hands. 3. Cantina tacos come with onions yes small diced onions. The onions are diced far too large for a cantina taco. 4. The type of tortilla being used is too thick to double up like a traditional cantina taco, this makes for a very DRY taco and not enjoyable at all. There are places you can source them from, even have them homemade. 5. Consider offering carne asada just saying....this Latina prefers Asada and al pastor over ground beef and chicken and I believe that those visiting go for that authentic cantina taste you get when eating a taco al pastor!! 6. Sabor!! Where is the flavor? The beans, the rice, the chicken. Nothing I ordered had any flavor, not even the salsa. 7. Cover your chips and salsa. I am not sure why there was no netting or cover over your chips or salsa. Even if they are kept in the fridge they should be properly covered at all times. Anyone, staff, customer, or flies could contaminate by sneezing, coughing, etc. Extreme? Possibly, however, it is still a possibility. Overall, I am not running to this place on a regular basis. Especially, during taco truck season. However, since I have seen some improvements within the last two years, although it was a slow progress. I am hopeful that this place will make some strides and some much-needed hygiene changes. I am certain some would say this was a harsh review but when you grow up with a taco truck in every corner and you're Hispanic, the standard is a bit different. On my food order was 5 a la carte cantina tacos and a street tacos dinner which comes with 3 tacos and rice and beans. I ordered one of each of all of the meats to try and ended up with 2 doubles. There were 3 of us eating and for all of us, the most edible out of the 5, was the chicken and slow-roasted beef. As you can see even with 3 people we barely cleared a taco a piece. No shade to the cook but hit me up if you need some help in the kitchen I got you!!! I want to see this place succeed!! read more
3 years ago
5 years ago
So I've been a few times and have always had good experiences with fast and friendly service! You get free chips and salsa (super mild) and refills as needed. Menu has lots of options for whatever you are craving! I usually build my own burrito and you can build it however you want! Side salad was tasty with an amazing Mexican sour creamy ranch dressing! Family feel forsure a d I love supporting smaller businesses! read more
7 years ago
Stopped in for a carry out one evening and I was very pleased/surprised to find this Amazing place! Food was excellent freshly prepared and delish! The service was exceptional staff very very friendly Everything was in my carry out THANK YOU FOR THAT!! Seriously I can't tell you how often something is missing at other locations. So yes I appreciate getting all I paid for! I will be back again and again!! read more
Business owner information
Dan C.
Thanks so much for the awesome review. Food looks great. Hope to see…
3 years ago
5 years ago
Sat down chips and salsa. The salsa was okay but the chips are fantastic. Staff kept the basket full. I ordered the chimichanga and the shell was light and nicley crisp. Beef inside was flavorful and not heavy with oil. The suce on top was a bit plain but the guacamole was amazing fresh and lively citrus flavors. Rice was al dente and very tasty with side of beans. Friendly staff! read more
4 years ago
4 years ago
Business owner information
Dan C.
Thanks for the review! We appreciate the kind words .
Since I have not been able to get back to California. We got an urge to try some Mexican food while here in the Midwest enjoying the corona lockdown. So we went on Yelp And we found Carter's Cantina Sounded good. So we decided to give them a try. I would like to tell you we are very happy we did. Everything we ordered was absolutely Amazing and Authentic from the refried beans which were cooked perfectly. To the seasoned rice also perfect, the chicken enchiladas tender moist pieces of chicken wrapped in a delicious tortilla Wow. How about the chimichanga it also was delicious very tender and packed with beef. We also got a few Tostadas they were perfect They were crispy, Tasty and the tortillas were nice and crunchy Wow. They even threw in salsa and hot sauce thank you Carter's Cantina. CC is our new Mexican go to place. If you're looking for authentic, and I mean authentic Mexican food Head out to Carter's Cantina. You will not be sorry you did. See you soon. Carter's Cantina. read more
4 years ago
4 years ago
3 years ago
5 years ago
Norm H. New in town, came here on recommendation from a friend. Glad I did, staff was friendly and food was amazing! This is truly authentic Mexican! read more
5 years ago
5 years ago
5 years ago
7 years ago
A hidden gem.... Tucked away in a strip mall in New Haven this place delivers some top notch Mexican cuisine.... I had the canita street tacos and my wife enjoyed the Mexican pizza((pictured), both were phenomenal as were the Margaritas.... The service was great too.... My new favorite!!! read more
Great authentic Mexican food. The service was great and the food was delicious. The bathroom could be cleaned up a little better so if they read this maybe they will work on that. I got the burrito and you pretty much pick what you want inside of it. It was huge and it came with rice and beans on the side. My friend got the combo plate and he really enjoyed his food too. We both took carry out boxes. The salsa offered was mild and hot. We got both. The hot wasn't as hot as I like it, but it was still very tasty. read more
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More info about Carter's Cantina
59063 Gratiot Ave
New Haven, MI 48048
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(586) 646-1160
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http://carterscantina.com
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