Mission Cantina delivers the kind of Mexican food that reminds you why this cuisine became beloved in the first place. The flavors are clean, confident, and rooted in real tradition rather than the usual watered‑down "Tex‑Mex" shortcuts you find around here. Every dish arrives with purpose: bright acidity where it's needed, slow‑built depth where it counts, and seasoning that shows a kitchen paying attention. The ingredients taste fresh, the execution is consistent, and the plates have that unmistakable sense of pride -- the feeling that someone in the back actually cares about what they're sending out. In a region where "Mexican food" often means bland rice and tired tortillas, Mission Cantina stands out as the rare spot that gets it right. Easily the best in the area, and one of the few places worth going out of your way for. read more

New owners ruined this place. All the food is worse now. It's obvious they have cut corners on all their ingredients and jacked up prices too. Too bad. We used to go all the time. Now we stopped going forever. Another staple goes down the drain. Skip this place. There are many other real places to go. This ain't it. read more

Still love this place! Cool, dark, colorful interior. Lively, but not too loud. We had fresh and tasty tacos and enchiladas, and they do chips and guacamole right! Thin, salty, WARM chips and fresh guac. Service was great at the bar, and a pitcher of margaritas was just right. Around 3 drinks for $20, 1 1/2 each was perfect. The pitcher was filled with ice, as were our punt glasses, but there was probably 3 shots of tequila anyway. read more

Mission Cantina - TWO fish tacos, breaded, fried fish, no option for grilled, I don't . - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

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Food was terrible, also didn't get what we ordered, the quesadilla was soggy and the chicken was super dry and over cooked.the sloppily thrown into a pizza box nachos were also soggy, my husband's burrito looked like someone had thrown up into a inadequately sized take out container, it leaked sauce all over everything. They completely left out my burrito for which we paid 17 dollars. I ended up eating a couple of bites of the quesadilla but Gave up the guacamole was brown too. Ended up having a bowl of lucky charms for dinner which was much better than anything they actually gave us that we ordered. read more

Best tacos around the area. I ordered carnitas, spicy pork with pineapple and the grilled shrimp tacos! I totally recommend the shrimp taco! read more

Mission Cantina - assorted tacos - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

Everything is always very tasty! We love the nachos, tacos, quesadilla and cantina salad!

Ordered a salad on 2-3 separate occasions almost a decade ago, got dead and/or live bugs (plural) each time in my salad. Various social groups I was part of supported them throughout the pandemic, but they really need to be more meticulous about sanitation in their kitchen. Went again and ordered 3 swordfish tacos, got a chunk of raw meat (looked like a piece of raw swordfish) that I couldn't chew in one of my tacos, then was gaslighted by the server that it's a piece of tomato and definitely not raw meat. I know the tomato in their salsas are cut down finely to the point where there would never be a huge chunk like that, plus tomatoes are not light pink and whitish when cut. When I tried to explain that to her she continued to gaslight me further. What I couldn't chew was absolutely raw meat so I decided to finish the portion of the food that was cooked and pay for my check. Tipped the server anyways and contacted the manager, who was very defensive and rude, but told me to come in for a refund. Still haven't made it back there yet due to the traumatizing experience of being severely gaslighted. read more

Food is great. Atmosphere nice and chill. Please turn on the heat. It's freezing in here.

The tacos at Mission Cantina are executed with more finesse than many of its local competitors. However, everything else about this place leaves much to be desired. The staff are consistently rude, condescending, and openly discriminatory toward disabled patrons. The owner appears to have ongoing conflicts with both customers and neighboring businesses, even threatening to relocate -- frankly, that might be for the best. The inflated prices aren't justified by the quality, and the staff's pretentious attitude has driven away many patrons I've spoken with. Save yourself the frustration and head across the street, where you'll find a much more welcoming atmosphere and people who genuinely care about your experience. read more

This used to be my favorite restaurant and I would exclusively come here sure to their no seed oils policy and fantastic quality of food and drinks. The new owners have since changed the policy and the food quality has gone downhill as well. There's no email to formally submit a complaint about these issues. I will no longer be a customer unless the new owners go back to what made this restaurant the great establishment it used to be. -Signed by a very disgruntled regular. read more

Food is well prepared and served. Menu is sparse with few dinner selections. I find spending $10.17 not including tip outrageous. i may eat here once in awhile but absolutely forego alcoholic beverage. read more

Used to be the best but it was sold and went down a very bad road !!!wont be back--Was the favorite back when the original owner was running it ! The new owners cut the portions and raised prices ---Never going back ! read more

Food was great and on time. Ambiance was good, service was good as well. Food was hot!! Would buy from again and again!!!!

The food was great, had the beef burrito and chicken tacos and both of those were pretty incredible. It was all a little pricy and the margaritas weren't the best, but definitely would recommend. read more

I will be happy to change this, should the situation change: I went in this Saturday evening to have a few drinks and some food. I go out to mingle or I bring a friend to hang out with. As I was out to mingle this night my only need is people. Mission Cantina had 1 man drinking a beer and a group of 4 colleagues just leaving as I came in. The bar was nearly empty, save for one other man and the bartender. I will try again next Friday / Saturday. read more

I came here back when I was a Smith student in '14 and loved it! Great food and service. I was in the area recently and decided to visit again. Boy, have things changed. My friend and I entered the establishment wearing masks and sat at the bar. The bartender who served us acted like she was annoyed with us the entire time. Not even a fake smile, which made our meal offputting to say the least. The food was great, but wouldn't come back based on this visit alone despite me visiting twice before. read more

This is very good Mexican food for the east coast. I got a chicken burrito and it was huge and delicious! I would recommend getting extra salsa on the side. The chicken was tender, the rice was perfectly cooked, and the beans were so flavorful! I wish there had been more salsa in the burrito, but overall it's very solid especially for being in western Massachusetts. Definitely the best Mexican food I've had in non-urban area. read more

When I say this is my favorite quesadilla that I've ever had, this is not an exaggeration. I cannot express this more vividly: I love this restaurant and everything it gives to humanity with every ounce of my being. I'm not sure if it's actually possible to have more savory, sumptuous, traditional and fat laden Mexican food unless you go south of the US border. I know it's Amherst, Massachusetts and you would never expect that town to get Mexican so right but oh my God, the mission DID IT. The mission's mission is accomplished. I will continue to drive an hour and 45 minutes from Boston year over year to taste this food. The braised beef quesadillas are five cheese goodness laden with the most savory, melt in your mouth beef you'll ever swallow. Most Mexican restaurants make you pay extra for sides like guac and sour cream, the mission delivers complementary guac and sour cream with every quesadilla. It comes right next to the plate. Not to mention the refried beans are everything you want in a refried bean. The beans are sweet, earthy, mashed and fried to perfection in pork fat. They drip with flavor. It's been three hours and my palate is still tripping on these beans. I will never be the same. The cantina salad is equally savory and delicious. It has a delicious bacon laden dressing that reminds you of a southwest cactus infested Mexican kitchen dive hut... whatever that means, I'm just word vomiting at this point. Like holy crap sign me up for this every single day of my life. The mission has so much character and style. Their bar is a big round inviting horseshoe that protrudes right into their front entrance. There are tables are painted like Mexican flags and their wait staff is friendly and always professional. We had the best waiter tonight, a guy who said he's been working there seven years. A UMASS alum. How is it possible to leave that place once you've tasted their food, of course he's been working there seven years. I started going here in college 10 years ago. They recently added an outdoor patio and it's opened up the restaurant a lot. there are two bars in the restaurant on either side of the restaurant separated by a wall. Just saying, you feel like you're in Texas but you're in Western Mass. Doesn't make any sense, but I highly recommend you see it for yourself. PSA: THE BIRRIA TACOS WHEN THEY HAVE THEM ON SPECIAL read more

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We were three of us on a Saturday evening for dinner. We got seated immediately by a friendly host and server. I ordered a Burrito and the other people went for Chicken Tacos. The portions were massive and I could not finish even half the burrito. It was tasty and the salsa that came with it was hot and flavorful, not the usual runny type served in Mexican restaurants. Extremely friendly service and great food! Well deserved 5 stars!!! read more

OMG. We had talked about for MONTHS what our first meal back out would be and weren't sure. We went on a hike near Holyoke in August and were of course starving by the time we finished. We needed some water so we drove to nearby Amherst to get some drinks. Across the street we spot Mission Cantina. Yum, that sounded amazing. We saw super spread out picnic tables and figured we'd go check it out to see if they did take out. When we got there another couple was waiting and told us they opened at 4. They had margaritas. Could it be?! We waited in our car and then ordered. Loved that it was take out and seat yourself at a spread out freshly cleaned table. Minimal people contact. Best part was the fresh watermelon margarita which was what I had dreamed of first time out. My tacos were amazing and the chips and salsa were unreal. This is on our must come back when in the area!! Safe and amazing! read more

Mission Cantina is a really solid Mexican place in Amherst. If it were a little more accessible via pvta, I would have come here more often. I really like their atmosphere and how it is very dia de los muertos kinda vibe. It is usually packed with people too! I have always gotten their tacos since I have a major craving for them at school. Umass tacos arent the most authentic unfortunately. I always get the spicy pork & pineapple loaded taco ($4.00) and the grilled shrimp taco ($4.50). The pork is full of flavor and really juicy. The grilled shrimp is perfectly cooked and it is meaty! Both fillings have amazing smoky flavor. I also liked that they have hot sauce varying in terms of flavor and spice level. The only downside is that these tacos are quite expensive. Even famous taco places around Boston dont cost quite as much unless its an "upscale" place like Citrus and Salt or Bartaco. Despite the price, Mission Cantina does an amazing job serving great and authentic Mexican food in the PV area. If Bueno is more of American-Mexican fusion, Mission Cantina is more of classic taqueria. read more

Mission Cantina - Spicy Pork and Pineapple (top) and Grilled Shrimp Taco (Bottom) - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

I used to go here a lot, but I stopped a long time ago, I was really disappointed on how downhill they went, the food is amazing But honestly there's not a time that went by where they didn't mess up my order , I recommend the food But the mess-up's ruin it all. I wish I couldn't put such a low review , but it was honestly really frustrating. read more

Taking my review down one star because we just drove over an hour to get here, had friends meet us from an hour another direction and they're closed when the hours say they should be open. Second update: tons of cars pulling in and leaving.. while we were figuring out where else to go a guy who placed an online order asked us how to get in... they didn't even turn off their online ordering when deciding to not open. While I hope there wasn't some kind of emergency and this was just a bad decision because it's Super Bowl Sunday, this is wild... read more

Absolutely delicious, friendly service, and they got 5 stars from me officially (which might have been a 4- just bc the menu is a limited and they don't allow any modifications- that's tough with kids and allergies) because I had to offset the stupidity of a previous reviewer who gave one star- because he was lonely and there weren't enough other customers there to entertain him. It's a restaurant not a support group! Will definitely be back! Portions were large, I was moved to leave a review after enjoying the yummy leftovers for lunch. read more

Clean, takes reservations, quick service, food was good and hot. Only drawback is the limited menu

If you are feeling a bit peckish, and what you want are tacos, prepared well and at reasonable prices, maybe some chips and guacamole, and a beer to wash it all down, while sitting in a fun room with a spot on 80s and 90s juke-a-box, you would do well to curtail your walpoling activities and head on over to Mission Cantina forthwith! read more

The food is fantastic, the service is excellent and it has a great vibe. Always happy and satisfied with each visit!

The mole enchiladas are my absolute favorite. Large portions allow me to have leftovers for lunch every time. The guava mojito is appropriately strong and delicious. Super friendly staff. Love this place. read more

I love Mission Catina, but I just noticed they raised their prices again! $5 for one taco? Before COVID I could order a taco plate that included 3 tacos, rice and beans for ~$12. Now, it's $5 each taco, $2 for rice, $2 for beans. No more taco plates. That's a big increase. Still awesome food. It's just too much. read more

Came here on a weekend evening with some friends and had a great experience. The restaurant is small and there was a 45-60 minute wait, but we did not mind at all because there were servers who came up to those waiting on a regular basis and so we ordered drinks while we waited which made the wait time feel really short. Everyone was incredibly friendly and attentive. We ordered queso which was delicious and unique. We also ordered the chicken mole and the carne asada taco platter special which were both phenomenal! The specialty margaritas were delicious! Tres alarms, highly recommended! I look forward to coming here again, and it was well worth the 35 minute drive! read more

Came here on a Sunday night for a quick dinner date with my girlfriend. We're both not really into Mexican food, but I was really in deep in the world of Yelp, as one does, and I've heard a lot of great things about Mission Cantina. The claims are not unfounded. First of all, the Sangria is delicious. It's pricey, so only get it if you have are feeling frisky. It's got a good amount of alcohol, but they mask it so well with the flavor of the drink. I'm not a fan of the alcoholic taste, but it really just tasted like a delicious juice. That's scary. I got the Chicken Mole, and our server warned us that it may take a bit of time to cook. I appreciated the honesty, but was rewarded with a great tasting meal. The Chicken Mole tasted really fresh. I loved how you could wrap your own tortilla, and add any kind of sauce you want. I'm a spicy foods kind of guy, so I loved the fact that they had about 5 different hot sauces you could choose from on the side. Lastly, the atmosphere of this place is amazing! It's totally great for a date, for a hangout with a few friends, or to just chill at the bar. Mission Cantina gets all the checkmarks, and has renewed my faith in Mexican food. read more

Mission Cantina - Our view from our table. This is the cool side of the restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

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Wow, for someone who is not a big fan of Mexican food, I love this place! When you enter the restaurant, it is pretty dark and has a very mellow atmosphere. There is a bar up front and booths all around the place. According to another review, we were recommended to order the chicken mole (takes 30 minutes to cook). It was $16 so my boyfriend and I split that and 3 tacos. I filled one taco with crispy fish, another with spicy pork with pineapple, and a combo taco. When we finally had our food it was delicious! The chicken mole melted in my mouth and was so juicy with an incredible sauce. It was so filling that if we ordered just that dish, we would've been satisfied already. The tacos were probably the best I ever had. They were so unique, filling, and so savory. I also heard the drinks are great at this place, but I ordered only a sangria which was so yummy(: read more

Mission Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

Mission Cantina is a hidden gem! When looking for a new spot to check out, I ran across this restaurant and was absolutely blown away by the reviews! I came here for lunch on a Saturday with my boyfriend and although the restaurant was busy, we were immediately led away to a table. The atmosphere was very intimate, dimly lit with homey decorations everywhere. The staff was very helpful and had in-depth responses for all of our questions. We each ended up ordering taco plate, which comes with two tacos with fillings of your choice, beans, and rice. I got the crispy fish taco and the carnitas taco. Both were absolutely DELICIOUS. Honestly some of the best Mexican food I've ever had. My boyfriend got the crispy fish and shrimp tacos and also was blown away. I also ordered a mimosa, which was amazing - I almost finished it before my food came. Despite our big appetites neither of us could finish all the food on our plates and we left the restaurant full and ready for a food coma. We really wanted to try the chicken mole but we were told that unfortunately on Saturdays, that dish isn't available until dinner service. That just means that we'll have to come back again! read more

Fun place Generous portions 10x better then Garcia's Fish TacosLoaded TacosGrilled Chicken Burrito read more

I. Can't. Even. I've been hearing about this place for YEARS, but never made the trip. Until tonight. Forget about best Mexican food in the valley. This is the best Mexican food on the whole east coast. It's seriously that good. It's a little place tucked off the edge of a little town in western Ma, but it's always super packed. For all that, they handle it well. They clearly communicate, and they turn over the table and bar space as best they can. We were told 45 minutes, but that it would likely be shorter than that. (Ended up being about half an hour, but one group ahead of us decided to leave. Their loss.) The menu is limited, but perfect. A great range of choices and not overwhelming. The options are all made fresh with many of the components being made right in the restaurant from real ingredients. I seriously don't drink often. But being seated at the bar with a bartender with incredibly personality won is over. We ordered the Sangria, which was a special made with apples and pears and spices. It was smooth, and fruity, and fresh, and dangerous due to the low tang of alcohol. Very deceptive. And having watched the bartender make a Cadillac Margarita.... I had to. And it was exquisite. The grand marnier splash adds a delightful taste to the drink. We ordered the chips and 3 salsa and a side of guacamole. The salsas were all tasty. The guacamole was the best I've ever had at a restaurant. The totopas were light and crisp and served warm. They were clearly hand cut. For our entrees I got the chicken mole, and my partner got the spicy shrimp tinga. I love a good mole, and the bartender warned me that this dish takes a bit of extra time to cook. It. Was. Worth. It. Both dishes were superb. The spicy shrimp tinga had a great spiciness. I would say it was spicier than the mole, which, while flavorful, was not as potent as I generally expect from a mole. The beans and rice were also perfect. I loved the touch of the 3 corn tortillas in the tinfoil served with the meal. It was great to make my own little tacos from my dish. There was no dessert menu that we saw.. (which is probably for the best, honestly. Tho it was a late birthday dinner from my partner. All told, 2 drinks. A basket of chips, some guacamole and salsa. And two fabulous entees cost around $60. And it was worth every dime. Go. You will NOT regret it. Oh. And they're opening a BBQ place in Hadley tomorrow, and another Mexican place in Easthampton. read more

Mission Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

Mission is really good Mexican. It's a small menu but it doesn't matter because I always get the same thing: beef brisket enchiladas with red sauce and double beans. The beef is soooo tender. A cool thing about mission is that you get to pick your filling for any dish and they have a lot. Beef brisket, carnitas, pork with pineapple, shrimp, fish, chicken, etc. The bf likes their quesadillas. This time we got nachos with carnitas on top and mmmm so fresh. We've also gotten the jalepeno poppers, guac, and salsa. The only reason I'm taking off a star is because they do NOT have unlimited chips and salsa...you have to buy it as an app. The guac serving is also not that much, but it is delicious guac. I have also always liked their drinks. I get their mojitos sometimes but also margs. The blood orange marg is particularly strong and unique...it's the bf's favorite! I got a mango marg here. All in all, pay mission a visit...this is one of our favorite spots in the area! read more

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Fantastic all around! The food and drinks were all excellent, and our bartender Irene was perfect--very friendly and helpful and made the evening a blast for our whole party. read more

Mission Cantina - Carnitas & Verde Enchiladas - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

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Updated review: As you can see from previous experiences at MC, service has always been an issue: their response to Covid was a revised menu, asking for no modifications, and take out only. That's fair and clear. What is egregious is to then take the phone off the hook. Take out only but no way to call or place an order? After driving to MC to place our order assuming the problem was unknown, we reported the problem with their phone line. Their response? We're too busy to take phone orders. Wait. What? Take out only, but come to the restaurant to place the order? Wait time for the order we drove to the restaurant to place was 90 minutes. An hour and a half of waiting in the parking lot on a Saturday night at 7:30pm. The lack of respect for customers has always been an issue. This demonstrates how little they value their customers or have concerns for customer health. MC has been open for nearly a decade and their commitment to customers has always been questionable. It's downright disrespectful now. Then: Happy to say things have gotten better. The food is (as expected) good. Specials are yummy (whether it's the lamb tacos, tamales, etc) or they're doing an app like taquitos or the bar has a special cocktail going. We are esp fond of the fish and shrimp tacos as well as the braised beef enchiladas. Service has gotten better. Here's hoping they can maintain it. read more

I've literally never heard of this place until my girlfriend mentioned it when I kept bugging her to come up with a place to go to for lunch. She said her friends really enjoyed the chicken masala so we were really looking forward to that HOWEVER they don't serve chicken masala during the lunch period. So instead of that, we both got a taco plate which comes with two tacos with a side of rice and salad. I decided to be extra fat that day so I got an extra taco in addition to the plate. The three choices of meat I decided to get on my tacos were beef brisket, grilled shrimp and fried fish. My favorite was the fried fish. We also got some chips and guac as a starter which was surprisingly very good. read more

Mission Cantina - taco plates and chips and guac - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts

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Another great meal here plus the jalapeño app was delicious, almost a meal with black bean avocado and salsa I ordered Shrimp tinga with spicy mango sauce. Fantastic spicy dish balanced with green rice and black beans. Flavor was unique and just spicy enough. Beautiful fresh shrimp. Oh and yes the chips with a trio of fresh salsa varieties is worth $5. Chips were warm and crispy. It's a great place and they get extraordinarily busy, fast. Go at opening to avoid the wait read more

Mission Cantina - Mexican Near Me - Amherst, Massachusetts