A good taco spot in downtown Guelph. I came here for a lunch with some friends and the service was great! We tried: - the the guac & chips - Fire Roasted Street Corn Dip - Birria Tacos - Spicy Shrimp Tacos - Seared Halloumi Tacos Overall, the service was pretty good, and the food was delicious. The next time I'm in Guelph, I will definitely consider coming back to this place! read more

Enjoyed a light late lunch with a view on a nice summer afternoon. The friendly and steady service enhanced the experience. We ordered the duo taco orders for both the Al Pastor (featuring pork & charred pineapple) and Baja fish (featuring battered haddock with mayo and lime) . To complement our taco snacks a refreshing cold beer hit the spot . This restaurant has a key corner location downtown, great decor inside and a spacious patio . Tacos are decent and varied and there's plenty more I'd like to check out on their menu in future read more

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I love La Reina! I don't know how authentically Mexican this is but the drinks are fire, the tacos blazing, and the server are friendly and helpful. The setting is very romantic (and casual as well!) so you van really choose what kind of vibe you're going for that night. Evenings is the prime time to go there and since it is located downtown, there will be many bars and places you can visit after. read more

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We had an amazing experience at La Reina! The food was outstanding -- full of flavour, perfectly spicy, and truly some of the best Mexican food in Guelph. The spicy margaritas were incredible as well. One of our drinks came out slightly different than ordered, but it still tasted great. A small note: although the hostess was very kind, she seemed unsure about how to accommodate guests waiting for a table and appeared quite willing to turn customers away. Had we not been persistent, we probably would have left -- and we noticed others leaving as well. We were perfectly fine waiting at the bar (even with only one chair for the three of us), and once we settled in, everything went smoothly. To our surprise, a table opened up within about 10-15 minutes -- much quicker than the estimated 30 minutes to an hour -- and from that point on, the experience was fantastic. Great food, great drinks, great atmosphere. The Patrón margarita tower was delicious and such a fun feature! We're very glad we stayed and will definitely be back! read more

We loved eating outside on the patio but the inside is very fun and colorful as well. The shrimp tacos were good but SPICY! We appreciated the spice rating on the menu. Our favorite was the corn dip, it honestly could be scooped as a side dish. We tried the espresso martini and were disappointed that the other versions of the espresso martini were not available. Service was a bit slow, though it was a busy night on a holiday weekend. A few items on the food menu were not available as well. read more

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Overpriced for the quality and quantity. Cold and old rice, lukewarm and dry pork. Decent place for drinks and appetizers, mains were extremely disappointing. read more

Ordered guacamole as a starter (no photo) and that was fantastic. Lots of chips and they are so flavourful. The chicken tacos were fabulous and again so flavourful. The mango salsa that comes with it is great. The service was super slow as the waiter was working by himself, not really his fault. The vibes of the restaurant are enjoyable. read more

La Reina - Los Pollo (chicken) tacos - Mexican Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

We came here on a sunny Saturday for cocktails and appetizers. Fun menu with funky modern vibes. read more

La Reina - Huh? If you don't care, maybe keep that to yourselves. Weird. - Mexican Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

We came here during a visit to Guelph, and generally enjoyed it. Service was friendly and helpful, although the kitchen messed up one of our four taco orders (they quickly corrected the error, and we didn't have to wait long for the revised order). The tacos were okay, not exceptional. The highlight was the flank steak beef taco, with the lowlight being Al Pastor (the pork was tough and not minced as usual). I found all the tacos to be overly saucy, which probably wasn't necessary. The cocktails are exorbitant - I'm not sure any cocktail in a taco place is worth $18.50 plus tax! It was an enjoyable meal, but not my favourite tacos in the world. read more

Horrendous service. Went with the purpose of having lunch. Started with drinks. They came. When they came I ordered an app (was still waiting on my guest). Said I would order food when my guest arrived. A kitchen helper brought the app and didn't ask about anything else. Once the app was dropped off NOBODY came to our table. Not to check on us, not to see if we wanted more drinks or food. I ended up having to go in to the restaurant (we were in the patio) to request my bill. When I explained the issue with service I got an apology, nothing else. There were two staff in. One couple in the restaurant and three tables on the patio. I will never go back. read more

Best Mexican food I've had in Canada! And we just spent 10 days in Meixco. The guacamole and tortilla chips were the best I've had. Tacos were super delicious. Proffered the chicken. Huevos rancheros was super amazing. read more

I've come twice - both times wasn't hard to get a table. Great selection of tequilas and cocktails are good. I don't love the food. I have had better tacos and churros elsewhere. Menu offers variety. Their tortilla chips are very good though. The atmosphere/decor is good - upscale but still that "day of the dead vibe". Tip- weekends after 10 they usually have a DJ read more

This is the most disgusting place I've ever been in in so long I'm sure at one time when they did have some people who were from Mexico, who established that menu knew what they were doing this nobody knows what they're doing the person in charge the food, head, waiter or manager whatever he was had an attitude that he just didn't care aboutjust horrible food the sausage tasted like a strain through some sweaty socks. The place smelled it's dirty nothing gets done or cleaned. I can tell. Yeah pretty disappointing. read more

We visited La Reina following our engagement photo shoot in nearby Rockwood. Unfortunately, we were overall disappointed and somewhat confused at our dining experience. We had high hopes walking into the restaurant. La Reina is decorated beautifully and the hostess who seated us was super sweet. We were very overdressed having just done our photo shoot and she complimented us on our attire/asked us where we had just come from. The hostess brought us to a nice booth and we sat down, excited to try their food and drinks. Our server stopped by a few minutes afterwards to pour our waters and I requested sparkling instead. The request seemed to throw her off a bit (not sure why?). She disappeared for a few minutes and finally came back to take our order. My fiance asked what beers she had on tap, she said they had Space Fairy by nearby Elora brewing. When he asked her what style of beer it was (ie IPA, wheat beer, etc) she said she didn't know and would go to find out. The bar was visible to both of us and we saw her go over to start chatting with the bartender. Not sure if it was because she was the only server that evening but she again disappeared this time for about 10 minutes. When she finally came back, she said still didn't know what style of beer it was so my fiance gave up and ordered something else. To start we opted for their guacamole, chips, and salsa. The salsas and guac were tasty, no complaints there at all. Bae ordered the chicken flautas (which I did not try). He said they were ok, but on the greasy side. For our mains, we decided to try a few different tacos. This is where the wheels really fell off. I chose the vegan mushroom (?) taco and it was just ok, didn't really have much flavour to it at all. The fried fish taco I ordered was not good at all - super overloaded with mayo and tasted hella fishy when I took my first bite. Boo, major turnoff. My fiance had ordered their rib eye taco and it arrived so greasy and not pleasant looking, he took one small bite and turned up his nose. When we called our server over to explain, she was super offended and rather nonchalant about the poor quality of the food. She did remove the items we did not enjoy from our bill however she did not offer to bring or let us order anything else. Overall, it was a bit of an odd experience and the food was a super big let down. Perhaps we visited on an off night but given the negative experience we had, I would not return again. Hopefully the owner(s) read this review and take my honest, sincere feedback to heart then implement some changes in the kitchen/staffing/menu as I believe this place has potential. read more

We ordered 5 boxes of tacos tonight and were disappointed and hungry. The tacos had very little filling and were sloppily assembled. One box of tacos looked like a salad it was so jumbled up, it must have been shaken as the other 4 boxes were mostly assembled. I ordered over an hour in advance and waited over 10 minutes past my pickup time as they started making my order when I arrived to pick it up. Somehow the taco fillings were still cold. Both pork and brisket had bites with gristle and the fish was tough, and the portions were paltry. I regret tipping 20% in advance. I was sorely disappointed and feel ripped off. I've had good tacos from La Reina previously but felt ripped off tonight and after 3 tacos am still very hungry. read more

La Reina - Fish tacos - Mexican Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

I came back to Guelph after being away for a couple years. Just off of the train in the renewed downtown I saw a funky looking Mexican restaurant. It had delicious food to back up the cool look: I had the Pastor taco ( pork and pineapple) that my server (owner) recommended and was very happy with the quality and flavour. As well as that main dish the lunch special came with a small side of great guacamole and chips. I enjoyed it all with the classic margarita that really balanced the sour, sweet and salt to my tastes. I like my soup extra spicy and I was brought a series of hot sauces including a very spicy "Salsa Negra" that is black and made from charred jalapeños if I recall correctly. It was awesome because even very hot it had flavour rather than the chemical burn with no taste. I recommend checking it out, perhaps on one of the live DJ nights. It sounds like they are planning on continuing to add and change things going forward so I know I will plan on coming back soon. read more

Really loved the atmosphere of this place! It's like gothic meets day of the dead. We got there with one minute to spare but the waitress let us still get the lunch menu. My friend so I enjoyed ourselves but there were a couple things to be noted. For the lunch, it comes with the smallest amount of guacamole and an excess in chips. Also we just wanted a side plate of fresh veggies, like carrots and celery, and were told the kitchen could not do that for us. Which we were very confused with. We also offered to pay extra on top of that, but still no. Other than that, the food and drinks were absolutely delicious! read more

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We recently had a delicious dinner at La Reina. The quality of the food was fantastic. My only complaint is that the gluten-free options were limited, BUT what I ordered was fabulous and also gluten-free. I highly recommend the tacos and street corn. So fresh and authentic! read more

I really wanted to like this place, but unfortunately I just can't! I think what bugs me the most about this place is that it does not make authentic Mexican food and that the price is absolute robbery. The first time I visited this restaurant was pre-covid. The service was good. We were given a good table in the corner and the ambiance was great because there wasn't really a lot of people there so overall, the environment was conducive to my small family get together. But the food was just so disappointing. I've had actual authentic Mexican food and this just isn't close to it. After living in Toronto for about 20 years, I unfortunately visited so many pretentious "Mexican" restaurants that gained cult like following. In reality, the food isn't even really authentic and they charge an exhorrberent amount of money for their food. And unfortunately, La Reina is doing the same thing. Wanting to support local businesses, I tried ordering delivery from this place during Covid. I got the ISO Meal for 2 and was even more disappointed than I was the first time around. They need to replace their current picture for this on the Uber Eats app because the portion size is much different than what you actually get in real life. The "sides" I got, were no bigger than a half a cup portion. For a meal that's supposed to be for 2 people, I think this is just ridiculous. They gave me extra sauces which were about 1/8 cup in size. The picture on UE is just so different to what you get in real life. Considering the final total came to about $60, this entire meal was just not worth it whatsoever. I order takeout from restaurants in Guelph at least 3 times a week. I truly want to support them. And I was so hesitant to write this review, but it came down to two things. The first, is that hard earned money that customers spend in this restaurant could really be going to somewhere else instead. I'd rather it go to another local restaurant that needs the help. After comparing what I got vs what I paid for, I really feel taken advantage of. There are other restaurants in Guelph that would give you so much more value for what you pay for. Secondly, while I understand that these businesses are in a tough situation, so are many paying customers. We don't have to order out especially considering many of our financial situations, but we do to support small businesses-especially in Guelph. So when I feel like what a restaurant is advertising on Uber Eats isn't at all what I actually get, then that's when I feel taken advantage of. Whether you're a customer or the actual restaurant, the bottom line is that no one should be taken advantage of. They need to either reduce the price of the ISO Meal OR replace the picture with am accurate one. read more

La Reina - Mexican Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

Originally when I came here I gave it a four. However, I've been here a couple times sense and I think the food is going downhill. The last time I visited I had a burrito and it basically just tasted like salty meat and beans. The guac on the plate was probably the only saving grace. The one thing that I will say it still good here is the churros. Otherwise I would prefer not to eat here. read more

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amazing food, great service, and the patio is beautiful. good music too and i believe it's only walk in during covid, no reservations. the sweet corn appetizer is amazing! shared it with three of us. would definitely go again. read more

La Reina - view from the patio - Mexican Near Me - Guelph, Ontario

If you're into Mexican food (read spicy), this is a good place to visit. Everything looks brand new (I think the place is brand new), the prices are reasonable, the beer selection is quite nice - overall a winning combination. If you're not into spicy food, please note that even their so called non-spicy dishes ARE spicy - I had issues with my kids, and while I've enjoyed the food, I would not recommend taking children there, at least not to eat. read more

Wow!!! Amazing.. best cocktails, very delicious foods and salads. Portions are not huge but they taste incredibly perfect. We finished with very crunchy and fresh churros . Definitely will come back read more

Our experience was definitely mixed. The Good: La Reina is quite a beautiful spot with some interesting menu items. Not a lot of choice for vegetarians but I don't hold that against it. We had the corn on the cob and it was really intriguing. The red rice dish was also very good. The Bad: Price was high for what you get. The vegetarian taco, despite what is described on the menu, was basically big hunks of parsnips on a smear of refried beans. None of us could eat them as served. We commented that the tacos were barely edible, and the server did nothing for us. The Ugly: Despite a poster saying 3 tacos for $10 on Sunday, we were charged full price: $16. We commented on it and the server seemed baffled. After researching his own promotion, he let us know that the $10 price was only for after 8 pm, but the sign didn't say so. I assumed that they would honour the sale price but... nope. We walked out knowing we wouldn't walk in again. read more

Authentic my ass. The food here is bland. It's Mexican food with no spice. The chicken was plain.The tortillas are not fresh. The beans taste like they came straight out of a can. The prices are outrageous - way too expensive. If you visit during the summer please note there is no air conditioning. If you are looking for an authentic Mexican food experience please don't bother visiting this restaurant. The only thing worth mentioning is the coffee, which was good. I visited this establishment on August 10th 2018. read more

I give this place an ok or average rating as it is an interesting place with a dawn of the dead feel, but the food i thought was a little dissapointing, We had a decent size party and got seated right away, seeing as it was a Monday night, we figured it would be quiet so no issues there. First thing i noticed was how hot it was, not food wise or bar wise, but temperature wise. I can't enjoy a meal if i am sitting in a place with no ventilation or when the manager decides the outside temperature is cool enough to open all the doors and window's but it humid as hell, so lets switch off the AC. Server was pleasant and the selection of tequila's was immense, but it was a Monday so i stuck to beer. We ordered a variety of taco's, i found the meats to be chewy in the beef/pork taco's, the shrimp was delicious, but the chicken was the worst. The tortilla chips were salty and crisp, the salsa was a little thin and disappointing. Not sure i'd go back and eat, but i'd go for a drink and sit outside (if it was cool enough!) read more

Food used to be good not any more... server didn't pay attention to the table and ended overcharged. I used to recommend this place but now I will say no don't go. read more

I really wanted to like this restaurant! Gave La Reina a second chance last night but for the second time it massively disappoints. It starts with the guacamole which you think would be so easy. It tasted like the avocados were frozen. Nothing says freshness like ice cold gauc. Not to mention the chips definitely taste like they are from a bag. The tacos follow the same trend, boring, flat definite lack of freshness. There were six of us out for dinner and I don't think one of us enjoyed what we ordered. Not a good sign when you leave hungry. Unfortunately, will not be back for third time. This restaurant needs a complete overhaul. read more

The patio is very nice, staff was great, and the food was decent. A little on the pricier end(14 for 2 tacos), but nevertheless would probably come back at some point. We also got a cocktail which tasted a little weird. still good tho read more

I was so excited to try this spot - first date night at a restaurant in ages! For drinks I got a margarita- Pineapple Express. I would rate 2/5 stars very weak and the flavors were not balanced. Had Guacamole and chips as an appetizer I would give 3.5/5 stars. Nothing special and some of the chips were stale. Main course I chose the Enchiladas- I would rate 2.5/5 maybe a 3. The flavor was okay but nothing really jumped out - it was very mushy and just meh. The portion was small considering the price ($25!!) Wouldn't eat here again especially considering the prices. Disappointed. read more

Amazing food, service, and venue. Had the burrito which was the best burrito I've ever had! Also ordered the winter Margarita, and I will definitely be getting that again. Overall, a delicious experience. read more

6.50$ for one taco. No blended margaritas because, "They don't do that in Mexico." But, no mole or tamales.

As a ex employee and local of Guelph, I have been to La Reina many times. I am sad to see that the menu has gone downhill since COVID. I have been 3+ times over the past year and every single time I have been disappointed. Drinks were mediocre, food was overpriced and low quality, and worst of all the service was rushed. I felt like their was no experience. We had Julia today, and was not impressed. As a long time server in the industry, I will not be back. read more

Food was great, margaritas great. Service - not good at all. While the wait staff was friendly and apologetic, it didn't fix the problem. The service was so slow. Waiting 10+ min for water, a chance to order drinks..and then another 15 to get our drinks. Bummer. read more

Servers need to be trained more. Brought all our tacos together then told us to figure it out. Said she didn't want to check receipts. Don't advertise five dollar tacos and margaritas on Sundays if the deal starts at 8pm and you close at ten. Rude service. Food was good but expensive. read more

I wish there was a 0 star option just for this business. The worst service I've ever had in my life, TWICE. I went back after the NYE fiasco (false advertising as NOTHING was what was advertised) once because I couldn't believe somewhere could suck so much but it did. Sat at the bar for 25 minutes before anyone looked at me. The girls were busy chatting even though they kept making eye contact with me. I'm not exaggerating either. 25 minutes. I haven't had (the opportunity to have) the food (because nobody came around with a menu) so this is just a review on the service, which is awful. read more

Certainly NOT an authentic Mexican restaurant. Ridiculous prices for such micro portions, and tasteless food. And I know what "Authentic" Mexican food tastes like. Not very many people actually know the true taste of Mexican cuisine! La Reina certainly does not deliver on authenticity. Never coming back here again! If I want cheap Mexican food I'll go to Taco Bell. At least I'll actually have eaten some dinner! read more

Excellent service. And great tacos!! Shrimp tacos amazing, margaritas made from scratch and worth the price.

We were visiting Guelph for a couple of days and this place had just opened (Spring- Summer 2018) and people in town were talking about it. Being a Mexican food lovers, me and my partner didn't hesitate to give this a try. What a disappointment! The service was terrible, the waitress was just "polite enough", and we waited too long for everything including the bill... Authentic Mexican? Hahahaha no... I'm sorry but no... I'm all for "Mexican interpretations, variations and fusions" if they are delicious, but food was just ok and the prices absolutely outrageous - way too expensive and way too small portions. Have this people actually been to Mexico? I had a couple of tacos (small, bland, not good) and the esquites (something hard to find in Canada and such a good memory of Mexico I was too excited to find.... The smallest esquites I have ever had... it was the size of a sample... literally one spoon....) We were so disappointed and angry that it's taken me this long to write a review. Decor is gorgeous, too bad everything else doesn't match... read more

I don't think people reviewing this place negatively understand what good food is. This is a tapas style restaurant, so expect to order a few smaller portioned plates with the intention of sharing - as this is how tapas works. Portions are not like your typical Kelsey's or East Side Mario's, but thats kind of the point... better quality, smaller portions. The tacos are not greasy, the tortillas are homemade from what I can tell, and the salsas / toppings are all always fresh. I've been to this restaurant over 25 times and I have never had a bad experience. If you're a student or looking for value, visit Tuesday's during their taco Tuesday promotion. read more