The Cantina Grill, Bar & Lounge

Columbus, United States

1.9

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

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Telephone:
+1 706-320-4520
Address:
1030 Broadway, Columbus, GA, 31901
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Music
Background
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Full Bar
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Wed, Fri, Sat
Smoking
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No

Today

Today 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
11:00 pm – 3:00 am
Open now
Local time (Columbus) 15:56 Saturday, 21 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
11:00 pm – 3:00 am
Saturday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
11:00 pm – 3:00 am
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Located in the heart of downtown, our specialty is serving fresh Mexican food with a twist. Voted the «Best Margarita» (2011) in Columbus through the Ledger Enquirer, we also offer the largest tequila bar in Columbus and offer a great selection of draft beer such as Ranger IPA, Yuengling, Guinness, and Dos XX. Enjoy $ 4.75 flavored margaritas daily and other food and drink specials every night.

We offer a variety on our menu from fajitas to burgers, fresh seafood, steaks, soups and salads. Make sure to try our Locos Queso al Fuego, Ceviche de Camaron, Chicken Noodle Soup, Cantina Surf & Turf, Burrito Ranchero and Banana Changa for a sweet treat.

We also offer a semi-​private room in the back for up to 20 people which can be reserved for birthday parties, office luncheons, and more.

On Friday and Saturday nights after 11PM, the Cantina turns into a Latin night club offering the best selection of Salsa, Merengue, Bachatta, and Reggeton.

We hope you enjoy your experience with us!

History

Established in 2003.

We opened The Cantina Grill, Bar & Lounge with the intention of melding traditional Mexican cuisine with a touch of Southern flavors. Our focus is providing a quality experience for every guest, whether they join us for a business lunch, dinner date or fun night out with friends in our lounge. We look forward to welcoming you to The Cantina Grill, Bar & Lounge and being your choice for every occasion.

Meet the Business Owner

Marlene L.

Business Owner

My parents opened their first establishment in 1983 here in Columbus, GA. My mentor is my mom, and I had the opportunity to observe her love of cooking and hard work.

I graduated from Salem College with a degree in Business in 1997. In 2003, I decided to open a Mexican restaurant establishment with my business partner, David Serrato. We wanted to keep the food semi traditional and have a few dishes that I would consider authentic, but we also wanted to introduce different selections for our customers such as burgers, wings and jalapeño corn grits. As a Mexican-​Ecuadorean American, I would like to introduce a wide range of flavors. We are here to prepare fresh food daily and give you the best customer service possible.

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20 reviews of The Cantina Grill, Bar & Lounge

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Grand Prairie, TX
Absolutely amazing food! We are from Texas and my family and I are from Mexico so we are very picky about our Mexican food. This place blew me out out of the water I couldn’t believe how good it was. Very authentic and the place is pretty cool. Their house margaritas are also huge and pretty tasty. I will definitely go back anytime I’m in the area.
Place rating: 4
North Augusta, SC
I live local and enjoy eating/​drinking here on many occasions. To put this in perspective, this town is a budding college town that hires college students just trying to earn some extra beer money. Service can vary great to mediocre.
The food is good to great, but not Amazing. There is a strong hint of Mexican with practical «locally procured ingredients» thrown in. I’ve been here a dozen times and I’d give it a solid 3.5 star rating.
Place rating: 1
Phoenix, AZ
I would like to start out by saying that I think even a one star review is generous but since that is the only option that allows me to write a review I will go with it.
My husband and I are in town on business. Military business that is. We decided to venture down town and had a taste for Mexican food. The reviews were not great but I can’t say I always agree with the reviews. Trust me when I say you shouldn’t waste your time or money.
My first complaint was with the frozen strawberry Margarita I ordered. I could taste nothing but a mystery carbonated beverage in it. When I asked the waitress what it was she said she had no clue and that her manager mixes it during the week and pours it into the machine. Mind you that it is now Saturday evening. I’m going to speculate that they use beer instead of tequila to cut costs.
My second complaint was with the food. I ordered a combination plate with a burrito and a ground beef taco. The ground beef did not taste like beef at all and the whole meal tasted old and poorly microwaved since it was barely luke warm.
Lastly, the waitress did not say anything when I commented on how horribly it all tasted or the fact that I left my whole plate and Margarita. We paid the full bill and left to eat somewhere else.
I would highly recommend going anywhere else.
Place rating: 1
Columbus, GA
The food is overpriced and the portions are tiny. No servers knew the specials. The sauce on the enchiladas was so over-​peppered my fiancé couldn’t eat it and the rice tasted like it came out of a box. This has to be the worst excuse for Mexican food I’ve ever had.
Place rating: 1
Brandon, Tampa Bay, FL
The service was poor, my margarita came in a plastic cup (indoors!) and our food was lackluster. The guacamole had way too much lime juice which overpowered each bite.
I’ll go to The Social for margaritas and tacos when I’m downtown from now on. The service is better, the food is better and the drinks are much better!
Place rating: 3
Nashville, TN
Food was tasty and relatively cheap. No grenadine put a halt to my hampering for shirley temples lol!
The service was pretty slow, there was only one server for hostess and bartender which probably contributed to the molasses service.
The free queso was nice tho
Place rating: 1
Columbus, GA
So I was walking down Board Walk on Saturday morning and I see they have tamales for $ 2 so I’m like okay I’ll bite. Trying to promote their food how bad can it be?
They gave me a nice hot tamale with cute plastic plate and offered green sauce too.
So I get to my car and open this thing up my first impression is «WTF!?» The tamale is oily, and mushy, not firm. I keep touching it and pick at it but its soft and crumbling as I touch it.
I expected a nice firm tamale not a crappy pile of goo.
AVOID AT ALL COST YE HAS BEEN WARNED.
Place rating: 1
Woodland, AL
Probably one of the worst restaurants I’ve been to. Our server didn’t refill my drinks once and was never there, and our food was terrible. It was a very disappointing experience
Place rating: 1
Decatur, GA
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!
This place has all the visible signs of lazy management and cutting corners terrible food and no customer service.
Should I continue or are you convinced?
We were seated outside on a wobbly table. The first 5 things I ordered from the menu. Finally ordered a burrito and water with lemon. The server didn’t know what the soup of the day was. I was served water with no lemon, ice cold burrito on a hot plate without any silverware. (had to ask 3 tiimes for it). Since they didn’t have habanero sauce, I was given a bottle of hot sauce with a dried up crusty top and a broken cap.
–Mil
Place rating: 4
Columbus, GA
Although not as popular as El Carrizzo or El Vaquero, The Cantina has a very nice and relaxing atmosphere in the heart of downtown on Broadway. The food and service have improved drastically over the years, and now deserves the 4 stars I’m giving in this review.
I’m probably not the best person to judge authentic Mexican cuisine, but the Cantina has great food that is more on the savory and spicy side compared to other Mexican restaurants. The burritos, enchiladas, and quesadillas are quite excellent. I need to try their fajitas as they look absolutely scrumptious.
Now the important part of going out to eat Mexican food. The Cantina has the best frozen margaritas of any that I have sampled in Columbus. They’re always genuinely frozen and the alcohol is very strong. Quite a few times I’ve stood up from dinner and my legs have gone out from under my like they’re made of rubber.
If you’re downtown and want Mexican, go to the Cantina. If you’re in Columbus at all and want Mexican, still go to the Cantina. If it’s nice outside, ask to sit on the sidewalk!
Place rating: 1
Cumming, GA
Went with a group of 6 on a not so busy night and our service was horrible. Our waiter disappeared on us so much we ended up having to ask another waiter for a lot of things that we needed for example… refills on drinks. My food order actually came out wrong and the server told me I was wrong. Also the bar was directly behind me and the bartender sprayed me with a drink, I think just water, but still. She laughed it off and didn’t apologize, and the manager brought me some napkins and said sorry. I don’t see myself ever going back here and I’m not even a difficult customer.
Place rating: 2
Memphis, TN
Skip this place. I try every Latin cuisine opportunity available. Food is mediocre at best and the service in neither fast nor friendly. Give this great spot downtown up to someone else. Needs a lot of improvement.
Place rating: 2
Kailua-Kona, HI
Meh. It’s okay. Service is extremely slow, which was a bummer considering it was almost empty over Saturday lunch hour. Food: just okay. Mostly out of a can, definitely not house made. Was tolerable, but not something I’d go out of my way to get. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to find any good Mexican food in the South.
Place rating: 1
Columbus, GA
The only Mexican place downtown. Limited seating outside. Extremely slow service and untrained staff. Food is super bland. Expensive bar drinks unless you get the premixed mystery margarita. I have tried it several times hoping it will get better… I recommend you go elsewhere.
Place rating: 1
New Port Richey, FL
Server incredibly rude, we came in and got an appetizer and margarita and immediately felt like we weren’t wanted there. Undeterred, I got the beef chimichanga and my date the chicken. Incredibly dry meat, the beans and chips were alright. Margarita was more mix than I thought possible, but got me willing to say something about the chimichanga.
I mentioned the beef was dry and I was unhappy with it, our waitress rounded on me saying customers had been eating it all day without issues. She basically forced me (I’m too intimidated by this point to say no let alone ask it to be comped) to wait for them to make me a chicken chimichanga instead, and I was too afraid to even eat it after how upset she was that I had the nerve to say the food wasn’t great.
Place rating: 4
Atlanta, GA
If you have never seen a polar bear, then you can see one here. I know weird for a Mexican resturant to have one, but hey why not? The atmosphere is fun, casual and comfy. If your lucky and it is a nice side outside then you can sit on the sidewalk.
We had the queso with veggie’s and chorizo on the side and it was delic! For my drink I had a yum and strong margarita. The entrée was the shrimp enchiladas. It was filled with tons of shrimp! I picked Spanish rice as my side and added black beans so I could drizzled them on the enchiladas and I was very happy I did. We topped the visit off with a pic of us and the polar bear.
Place rating: 1
North Fort Myers, FL
Can I give zero stars? Lunch of Zupa Azteca was worse than a can of Campbells. Service was weak. Had to go find hot sause myself. Bill was wrong. Was charged for orange juice. I had soda water but was told price was the same, then told it was cheaper (still came out to $ 2.15). The small bowl of weak soup with scant chicken or avacado was $ 8. Chips were soggy. Other local tex mex in Columbus is much better and cheaper. I assume location keeps this place afloat. For the owner or chef please check out
. What you served today for lunch was embarrassing – for both of us.
Place rating: 1
Smyrna, GA
I did not enjoy the food or poor service and don’t plan to return. Poor value. Had chicken fajitas, check said «steak fajitas».Waiter said they are same price. Whatever. Food did not taste fresh.
Place rating: 2
Columbus, GA
Stumbled upon this place when hanging out downtown. I was disappointed but the reviews of this place speak for itself. The food was gross and the epitome of «you get what you pay for.» The drinks were syrupy, weak, but again– cheap. The staff was ok… I personally would never eat here again. I would rather Taco Bell which is sad lol
Place rating: 1
Peachtree City, GA
Young crowd, pre made bagged guacamole and boxed rice so; there you go.