We thoroughly enjoyed our first time at the Cushnoc Catina in downtown Waterville. We had been many times to Cushnoc in Waterville and to the spot in Route 3, but had not been here yet. I was not sure what to expect with the "Mexican Cantina" venue. But the menu was really great and buried. The taco variations were amazing. And a cauliflower appetizer was great. They were so welcoming and the service was superb. It was a busy night, Friday in the summer in Maine, but still so calm and casual. There are so many things on the menu that I wanted to try, so we will definitely be back. read more

Modest selection of good beers and ciders. There was a special/seasonal watermelon salad: too little watermelon, too little salad, too much chunky cheese, too much money. House made seasoned tortilla chips have too much seasoning. Ordered the chips and salsa flight (house chips, pico, guacamole, salsa roja. The guac and salsa were pretty good, but the seasoning on the chips was overpowering. Ordered two taco, neither was very impressive. All together, the descriptions are far better than the food. The service was very friendly and excellent. The tables were nice, and it has a great view of activities on the street. A larger selection of beers and ciders, and better quality/value of the menu items would go a long way to making this a better place. read more

Delicious food. Delightful server. Cool vibe. Would definitely recommend if you're in the area.

We came strictly for the beer! Although the food looked good. Place looked clean and lively. They had a bar which we sat at. They also had outdoor seating. Service at the bar was great. They seemed to have a good flow going. read more

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Well... this is the type of place I would usually just move on, forget about, not review. But I had heard cushnoc was opening a cantina up the river and I've enjoyed their downriver establishment before, so I was excited enough to be slightly disappointed. It's still new, so there is still hope for them, but I don't think this place will last unless some things change. So here are my details... The prices are not very good, especially for the sizes. If they had counter service/seat yourself instead of table service, I might be able to get behind the prices, but with an added 20%+ expected tip, the experience didn't seem worth it. I can get better, bigger tacos for less money in cities that are typically more expensive like Portland. I can also get nice meals for reasonable prices right across the street here in Waterville. If I want to visit Cushnoc in particular, I would go to Augusta, where the establishment has a clear vibe, with better food, service, and prices. So realistically I don't see myself choosing Cushnoc Cantina again over other options. The atmosphere here was nice, decor was pleasant and clean, but didn't give an identity to the space. Cushnoc says this is NOT a Mexican restaurant, and I believe that after my visit. But then, what is it? But we were seated at a table placed directly where two benches came together, so I was seated on the lip of two benches, which was uncomfortable. It did not seem like the staff even realized things like this and other details about their space, their seating plan, etc. Our waitress was also clearly new to waitressing and was timid, which isn't a huge issue, but was indicative of a new establishment that has not found its groove. Now for the food, we had Cantina Tots, which was a favorite. The Tajin made them very salty, but the crisp tots with the fresh cotija cheese was great. I did notice cotija was not listed as an ingredient pf this item on the menu though, so not sure if this is what I would get each time. Next, we ordered the Esquites Caesar, which I was looking forward to because I have previously enjoyed the Caesar at Cushnoc in Augusta and I figured it would be a fun twist on that. Sadly, it was smaller for more $, the pork belly was chewy not crispy, it was dressed very lightly, and the flavor of the dressing was very light/bland. We also ordered several tacos. When I went to order fish tacos, the waitress apologized and said she forgot to let us know they were out of fish. They were able to make the taco with shrimp instead, which was nice, but we would have appreciated learning about this when seated rather than after selecting what we wanted to order. All the tacos were decent, though small. Many of the flavor profiles were innovative, with flavor profiles from cuisines other than typical Spanish/mexican influences. The carnitas was our favorite! We also liked the Beer-ia, but it was a bit cold. TLDR: they're new, haven't found their identity, and I'll be interested to see if they're able to last. I unfortunately am not planning to go back anytime soon. read more

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Ordered the walking nachos. $15 and 80% of this order was not eaten. Drowned in dressing and chips burnt Absolutely disgusting and through it in the trash Fish taco was dinky and for $9 it should have been 2 of them Complained to DoorDash read more

Cushnoc Cantina - Walking nachos we're disappointing to say the least and for $15, we expected better - Tacos Near Me - Waterville, Maine

Tots good but more sauce! Tacos tasty and interesting. Not cheap but what is really. I don't feel it was extraordinarily expensive. What was expensive was the cocktail ($15). Not even sure if there was any alcohol added. Diablo cake was good but could have been more bold in chocolate and cake. Service by bartender was attentive and friendly. Ambiance a little industrial but nice view of downtown. read more

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The nachos were amazing! Hands down! Only bit of improvement I could give is making sure all of the chips are layered with cheese but besides that the service was great and food was great! 7/10 would recommend! Only real bad issue is the price of shots or drinks. I've drank plenty of highend liquor and never have I ever seen $40 for a $8.50 drink. Straight RIDICULOUS! read more

Cushnoc Cantina - Jalapeno smashbuger - Tacos Near Me - Waterville, Maine

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Our first time here was aurprisingly fresh and tasty! We had great service from Kayla. would definitely come back for the poke bowl and bang bang shrimp tacos! read more

We love the margaritas and the garnishes they use. My husband and I like to come downtown and enjoy a drink here and a light snack. It is nice to see them expand into something more than pizza. It's a good night out as a date night place. The servers are super accommodating too! read more

Over priced drinks, food not authentic Mexican, if I wanted Taco Bell this would be the place.

We got lobster tacos, baja fish tacos, cantina tacos, and the walking nachos with chicken. Hands down the best food i've had in a while. This is one of my new favorite spots. The atmosphere inside was so cute and cozy even though we did takeout, we will definitely be back to eat inside. The Nachos were absolutely delicious and a big portion, between me and my boyfriend we couldn't finish them without getting stuffed. The seasoning on the chips made them a 10/10 the best nachos ever eaten imo. The lobster taco was cooked perfect and tasted amazing. The baja fish tacos were so flavorful and juicy. And the meat in the cantina tacos were nice and soft and like melted in your mouth basically. The employees were very nice and had a chill vibe. 10/10 experience we will be back. (not pictured is the lobster taco because we couldn't wait to try it and ended up eating it all before we took a pic. same with the nachos... ) read more

Cushnoc Cantina - baja fish taco (the one with orange sauce) & cantina taco (the one with white sauce) - Tacos Near Me - Waterville, Maine

It had no options except for tacos and salad and the tater tots I make in my air fryer are better then these

Mango Habanero Marg was delicious w/a decent kick. That alone helped bump my review from a 3 star to 4 stars. A couple of the tacos had some high notes & misses - The kimchi was bright & delicious on the Bahni Mi, but both my friend & I found the hummus off-putting. While the pork belly was juicy - it lacked flavor. The latter was the same complaint on the KMD taco. The Bang Bang Shrimp taco was really yummy tho! Churros were meh. Fruit bowl was delicious but super skimpy on the fruit. Great atmosphere/interior design - not quite getting a "cantina" vibe... but I liked the style. They were busy, the drinks & food came fairly quickly, and the service was friendly, professional & the appropriate level of attentive... until toward the end where we were a bit rushed out the door... All in all I'd give it 4 stars, would go back for another round, as there's a few other tacos, apps & drinks I'd be interested in trying & see... I will say - while not all stellar on the flavor profile - the tacos weren't tiny as some are complaining... heck the tacos (without sides) at "Margaritas Restaurant" are no bigger & are similarly priced... these are standard legit taco size.... Drinks could be bigger/a more standard margarita size for $15... but at least they were delicious & relatively strong. read more

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Nice atmosphere I sat at the bar with one other couple that were cashing out. It took 16 minutes before I could order a $15 short cocktail with little or no alcohol that required another 12 minutes to receive. Ordered chips and salsa (never got) 3 different tacos. Baja shrimp nice spicy flavor but couldn't tell I was eating shrimp until the lingering fishy aftertaste. Carnitas dry as a bone. Chicharron feeble attempt. The beer was good but I would never eat here again. read more

Came here on Saturday night around 8. There was only a few tables but it still took a while for our food. I ordered one ground beef taco thinking they'd be a decent size since they're $5 each. Nope. It was a street taco. The tortilla was cold and the meat was barely warm. My boyfriend got the same thing on corn and his were cold as well. They don't offer crispy tacos at all and the menu is small. Taco Bell is warmer and they taste about the same. The waitress never asked how our food was even when she noticed we didn't finish our small meal. They don't care and they're overpriced. We won't be back. Save yourself a high bill for mediocre food, at best, and go to the other cantina in town. read more

Food was good, very very small portions for the price. Ordered two different tacos and a soda - with tip $20 and then I went home and ate again because portions were so small. Could be great if they would do some platters or meals vs individual items. Just too pricey read more

Fantastic food even as takeaway. The presentation was great, and the flavor was spot on. The chicken poke salad was incredible, and I can't wait to try some of the tacos! read more

Delicious! Very nice staff. We got the cantina tots, carnitas taco, beer-ia bowl, the walking nachos and a chaos chicken taco. Everything was delicious! The jalapeno ranch sauce, wow! We also got margaritas! Very good as well. Giving 4 stars instead of 5 only because of the price. Overpriced. Especially the margaritas. Thought the size was a bit small for $15 each. They also charged for a small side of the jalapeno ranch. read more

Atmosphere and food was Amazing! Highly recommend the avocado fries - they are delicious! We also did the chips and salsa flight...they were great! Drinks were unique and tasted amazing! Would have given a 5 but service started out slow. Server came over and said I will give you a few minutes and then disappeared....for about 10 minutes. We were just about to go up to the bar to sit when she finally came back to take our order. After that she was a little more attentive. Would def go back because it had a cool vibe and great food! read more

Cushnoc Cantina - Sweet Potato, black bean, corn and other veggies taco - Tacos Near Me - Waterville, Maine

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Outstanding service and atmosphere! Clean and cheerful! Food looks fabulous and service is at is best! I think it is going to be a great experience and restaurant/bar For downtown Waterville.Maine! read more

I was pretty excited to try this place out because cushnoc does so well with their pizza. However, I don't think I'll be back until at least a year so they can work out the kinks. The flavor of the tacos is delicious.. but the size is tiny and they came out cold. I also think having a deal of some kind (3 for 15..etc) is something to look into. The drink tasted like chemicals. I drank it but never again. The best part was the churros. Those are hard to mess up. Service was decent for something just starting out. Sadly, after nearly paying $100 for the experience, my husband and I left hungry and second guessing our decision. We will try it again though after some time. read more

We went in for lunch yesterday excited to try the new taco spot. The service was excellent. Staff were very friendly, professional and accommodating. The ambiance was fine. Nothing of a turnoff there. The tacos though were disappointing. A semi bland and sparse offering served on a dried out flower tortilla. Not a lot of filling, not a lot of flavor and quite dry. We prefer corn tacos, walked across the grill just prior to being filled and served. Mexican fair should have a little zest in my opinion and tacos are an easy opportunity for great presentation. So disappointing . Frankly we make better tacos at home. read more

Wanted to try this place since I love the food at their Augusta location. The location is nice the atmosphere is great! As others have said, it's pretty loud in there, I mean loud.... The service was slow and while the waitress was very nice, she kept forgetting things. The tacos them selves were very small but tasted decent. I know it's not a Mexican restaurant but they dint even have hot sauce on the table. When I eat mexican food, I like things spicy. Not a horrible experience but I'm not too excited about going back. read more

I've been dying for this place to open. With so few good choices in the area and my love for tacos and good beer, this was right up my alley. It was disappointing in a few ways, but I am hoping this review will help with improvement. I'm not going to talk about service too much, it's just not fair in the first 6 months of the opening of a new place. Everyone that dealt with us tonight was wonderful under these new and chaotic circumstances. It was a super busy Monday in the first week or so of opening, but we could not get over how LOUD it was. It was a struggle to hear each other and our server. The food we had tasted great, but the portions were a bit laughable. At first I thought, 5-7$ for a single taco was not bad at all, but these were super tiny. We ordered the tater tot app and it was not more than 12 tots with a drizzle of sauce. The drinks were nice but SUPER weak. I get how hard it is to make a profit in the restaurant business, especially these days, and I will go back after a month or two but they definitely need to improve if they intend to make in this town. read more

Cushnoc Cantina is a great new addition to downtown Waterville. They serve inventive original tacos that are truly delicious! The house made chips and salsa are really fresh. Great drink options and, of course, the Cushnoc beer! It was busy when we were there and the service was excellent! read more

Do not go here if you are hungry, the owners are trying to take advantage of the area and cheat people out good food. I thought that $15 - $20 for a single person should fill me up, boy was I wrong! A very crowded place and the service was slow. When was the last time you went to a bar and the bartender was reading how to make your drink? They should stay in Augusta and make pizza, Waterville is a little to classy for them. read more

I don't understand these rave reviews. Are we talking about the same place? I read the ones that complained about the ridiculously small tacos that were without any sides and seriously overpriced. My wife and I agree. Also the place is loud and cold. I had 3 tiny tacos ($15!) without any sides. My wife had 1 and decided to not order another so we called it a night and went home. So we had 4 petite tacos without much flavor, 2 beers, and with tip spent over $40. That's not acceptable. read more