La Mexicana Cantina & Grill

If there was a way to give zero stars, I would. I ordered chicken tacos and received a plate with a lump of guacamole and 3 corn tortillas with little strips of chicken. That’s it. That’s all. I sent it back and asked for chicken enchiladas. Guess what? The enchiladas were just the tacos I’d sent back covered in salsa Verde and cheese.
Oh, I forgot to mention the wait time. Sat at the bar and waited at least 10 minutes before I got water and was able to place my order.
Needless to say, I will never return nor suggest this place to anyone.

Amazing food and ambience! The service staff is an addition to the restaurant. Great job guys!

Free margarita with purchase on an entrée! Yes please! Large portions were awesome and it was great getting to sit outside. Service was great! I will def go back again to enjoy those great maths and yummy shrimp tacos!

This place serves great Mexican food that is more authentic than most local places. We sat outside and they have tvs playing sports. The inside has a large bar area and regular dining tables.
Service was okay, which is the reason for 4 stars instead of 5 starts. We had to ask for drink refills and for more chips instead of them just bringing them.
The chips are thick and fried fresh. Salsa has good fresh flavor and no tomato chunks in it.
You get a FREE margarita with Unilocal checkin and purchase of an entrée.
We ordered the Fiesta Platter ($ 24). It is enough for 3 – 4 people to share. You get three tacos, three flautas, full quesadilla, nachos. Everything was delicious. The cheese used in the quesadilla is amazing. Others at our table had a chicken quesadilla and a chimichunga. The chimichunga was lite on the chicken. They brought my friend a crème brulee for her birthday. Thought that was interesting since it is a Mexican restaurant. It was creamy buttery and tasty.
Overall, the food was great but the service was okay. I will definitely be returning.

So this place is pretty good! I’ve ordered from here once and the delivery took way too long but I did come here twice for dinner. It’s got a sports bar feel, and is in brickell right next to segafreddo.
The staff is very friendly! My hubby wanted the NHL game to be played and they changed on of the screens on the bar for us, right there they gained their extra star for customary service.
They have a decent menu with soups, salads, appy’s, enchiladas’ tacos and main plates.
We ordered the queso fundido– this was so tasty and a huge portion with alot of chorizo. Def. order this if you’re looking to indulge!
I ordered the chicken fajita– it was okay seasoned, but tender, huge portion, and they did bring out all the hot sauces I asked for. It came with rice, beans, cheese, crema, and fixins.
Hubby got the fish tacos– deep fried and flavored well. He really loved these.
The churros were tasty! a bit slightly overfried, but tasty chocolate and condensed milk with it and 4 pieces accompanied it.
Overall, very friendly staff, decent food, and really good experience. I did not give this a 4+ because if I had to rate JUST the food, it is slightly americanized and I know there are places that if we were just rating the food, would have more of an authentic feel.
Never the less, this place is A-​Okay, and we’ll def come back if we want a change of scenery while watching the game!

Service was excellent, our server was very polite and fast with our order. Food is good but not great, potions are small. The deco is very nice

Our experience here was very mixed.
The service at first was non existent. It took 10 min to get water. Then once they realized that we had 3 people taking care of us and the service was over the top. Our waiter refused to take a tip. I have never seen that before.
The great: Pork tacos were excellent.
The good: Enchiladas verdes. Very good. Not the best. But still very good.
Chips were great and tasted homemade /​fresh
Better elsewhere:
Guacamole — if this is what you are craving both rosa Mexicano (same price) and My Ceviche (half the price) have better and are within blocks of this place
Margaritas — these were sickly sweet — like the kind of margarita you would get at a TGI Fridays as opposed to a Mexican restaurant.
The verdict: We might come back if it was just for tacos and beer. However, if we are craving tacos and beer, we would probably choose Jacalito over this place.

Came in with 5 friends on ⁷⁄₃₁ after checking into One Broadway next door. The service started out poor and we almost walked out but I’m soooo glad we didn’t. The food is absolutely delicious our server/​bartender was excellent and the chips and salsa were mouth watering. I will be returning before we leave Miami.

«I don’t like Tacos» said no Juan ever. Well, actually I don’t — and burritos neither. So its a tough one for me to review this place as I don’t really eat tacos or burritos. Since the office is closeby, we often stop by for happy hour or lunch. The happy hour is great. You get a drink two for 1. The margaritas are huge. I ordered the sangria and almost got an entire bottle. Not too shabby. I really like the food items that I ordered — tortilla soup, salad and bowl. My coworkers love the tacos.

I absolutely adore this place from the cool vibe to its semi-​romantic 1000 bulb lit ceiling. I’m not really sure it has 1000 bulbs but you can count them when you visit and let me know.
The first thing I have to say is that the waiter was amazing and he joked with us all night. She ordered the shrimp tacos and I ordered the Veggie ones. In addition, to start we had the Guacamole which was delicious but at $ 14 I think it should have had some gold slivers in it. The chips were perfect although we desperately tried to avoid having too many of them.
The only down side is that the kitchen put cream on her tacos when we specifically asked them not to but they promptly made a new batch and had it out in 5 minutes. All around this is a solid choice, with great ambiance in a great location and I will definitely come back for more. On a final note, it would be a failing to not mention the great outdoor seating although on this occasion we opted for indoors.

Came here because service next door at Havana 1957 was horrible. We sat at the bar. Bartender was immediately accommodating and helpful. Service was great. Queso Fundido was perfect, margaritas tasty and Arrachera was excellent. I would come here over next door any day.

I went to La Mexicana Cantina & Grill about 2 months ago…
I had purchased a Groupon voucher for a Kitchen Hop event that was going on in Brickell. I missed the deadline and so was not able to use the voucher, but the vouchers are still worth what I initially paid for, and that value never expires. I emailed Groupon to see how I could redeem the initial purchase value of the Groupons and they told me that they can be redeemed at La Mexicana Cantina & Grill.
So I head over to La Mexicana Cantina & Grill and try to redeem the vouchers. My vouchers were mistakenly marked as redeemed (not sure if I marked them as such by accident or what), so Jose one of the owners told me he could not redeem it because it was marked as redeemed. This makes total sense, Jose told me to speak to Groupon to get it fixed and then I can return and there would be no problem redeeming them.
So I contact Groupon and they get the situation fixed and my Groupons are marked as not yet redeemed. I go back to La Mexicana Cantina & Grill and ask for Jose, but he is not there that day. There is a manager who is left in charge. We explain the situation as we did to Jose about a week or two before. The manager needs to contact one of the owners to see what action he should take. He speaks to a second owner, not Jose, and the owner said to redeem the vouchers… So we sit down at a table and the manager takes a photo of the voucher. We begin looking at the menu and are about ready to order when the manager comes back and says that he sent the picture of the voucher to the owner and he says that he will not redeem that voucher because it is not his responsibly to do so.
Either Groupon has made a mistake about who has the responsibility to redeem the voucher, or the second owner is mistaken about his responsibility… My guess is that the owner was mistaken…
It was extremely infuriating to have to go through this entire ordeal just to redeem some damn vouchers. Their value was like $ 30… what a cheapo. La Mexicana Cantina & Grill has horrible ownership/​management based on my experience. To add insult to injury, we were already sitting down about ready to place an order and the manager comes over and says forget it we can’t redeem the vouchers?!?
What a nice touch by the owner to decide to go back on his word AFTER having sat down customers who are expecting to eat at his establishment.
Obviously…Can’t comment on the food…

Pros:
(****) 4 Star for the Tacos! — Now here is a very strong area for this restaurant! La Mexicana Cantina and Grill makes awesome tacos! I have tried them all! and they are all delicious. Also a must try… the Guacamole & homemade chips!
Cons:
(**) 2 Star for the Cesar Salad — Definitely not the cantina’s strong point! Nice story about how the italian Chef Caesar Cardini invented the Caesar Salad in Tijuana-​Mexico 1924 in the menu… My suggestion is focus on the Tacos!
Conclusion: Put your money on the Tacos and drinks!

Food sucked, coffee was weak but okay. the server was bad. He overcharged and then suddenly lost the money we gave him. Never again! Gratuity included in the bill no matter how the service is.

This place is amazing!!! Great happy hour great service!!!
Rainier is the best great customer service and awesomeness!
Super bowl wings and beer special delicious!

Ok so I think people are being a little harsh about this place. Service is fine, I found the waiters very friendly. Ambience is fine. If you don’t like Brickell then don’t eat in Brickell. They play loud music, so what? It’s a bar-​restaurant after all.
I am reviewing the food. I lived in Mexico so I’m always a big critic on Mexican food. This place is not Tex-​Mex. However, that being said. It’s not full on Mexican either. The chips are freshly fried before being served, and are thick and crunchy– the way they should be! Cantina chips thank god! Salsa was also smoky spicy, very good.
I always order queso fundido with the chips cantinas serve. To my dismay, Cantina la Mexicana serves their queso fundido with Monterrey jack cheese. And this just sucks. It should be queso de Oaxaca. :(don’t tell me it’s too expensive! Here, I did a 5 second Google search and found 8oz for 12.99…
And I’m sure cheese distributors offer discounts for bulk orders. Maybe also get some better cotija cheese, as the stuff on top of my flautas (which were very good) disintegrated like Parmesan cheese that’s been in the fridge for 5 years.
So, flautas were good and crunchy, chicken a bit burnt on the ends like I like it.
Also. salsa Valentina on the table so major points there.
I ordered a dos Equis but come on. No tecate? No sol? No Bohemia? Where’s the orgullo?!
All in all. 3 stars. Get better cheeses, better cervezas, and some chile seco and you’ve got 5 stars and a regular customer.
Salud gueyes

Went here on a whim on a Friday night. I had heard about their very good happy hour but didn’t make it on time.
The ambience is definitely festive with loud music, attractive décor, and music videos playing on a big screen inside.
The food was truly phenomenal. I had the chicken tacos and they are not kidding when they say it is pulled WHITE MEAT! it was sooooooo good. I hate the chicken tacos that have the mashed up chicken meat that they drown in a sauce so you don’t know what you’re getting. These were fresh, big, and absolutely delicious.
My better half had the pulled pork tacos and they were really good as well. We ordered a pitcher of Corona and my only complaint here was that they had run out of plastic bags so we couldn’t get an ice bag for it but no worries, we downed it so fast it didn’t matter.
I will definitely be back. I’m actually planning on going today to try out their happy hour so I’ll update this review soon!

My friends say I may as well have a Mexican citizenship, since I am there ALL the time. So, if there is anyone who can critique the food, I guess its me.
Went with some friends from LA who had never been to Brickell. They were in the mood for some Mexican, so we hit up this new spot.
What impressed me the MOST about this place is their cocktail menu. What I love? They have some of the best Tequila around. I was super exited to see my all time favorite on deck, Don Julio, Blanco. My friends had some beers and tried their margaritas. The Margaritas are so good. We tried the traditional & the Ocean, which was very tasty. But I stuck to my Don on the rocks, splash of water and lots of lime.
It’s bikini season, so I tried to swear off the Guac & chips, but just could not. The Guacamole is on fire. It gives Rosa Mexican’s major competition, and for much less.
For my meal, I ordered the Fish:
Fish Fillet Veracruzana
8 oz. Pan seared Corvina, topped
with an olives, tomato, onions
and cilantro sauce
I had them substitute the ice & beans for sautéed veggies and they were super accommodating to that. The fish was SOOOO good– you forget you’re actually eating healthy. It was perfectly cooked, and seasoned to perfection.
My friends ordered these other two plates & we all shared:

Enchiladas Verdes
Filled with pulled chicken,
topped with salsa verde, melted
monterey jack cheese, sour cream
and cotija cheese.
Pork Taco, Cochinita
Pulled pork shoulder, slow
cooked with achiote, tomato and
chipotle, served with pickled red
onions.
For dessert we ordered the Mago Crème Brulee. It was the perfect ending to a delicious meal.
The place is also really pretty inside. very modern and colorful feel inside, though we opted to sit outside because it was nice out. They have beautiful brightly colored chairs & tables, and its great for people watching. They have a huge screen TV outside, so its perfect for Heat games also.
The service was great– servers were very attentive and the food came out quick and the orders were perfect.
I will def come back next time I’m craving Mexican, which is pretty much all the time.

We stumbled upon this place while walking around during cinco de mayo. It was, of course, extremely busy that day but we managed to find a table. The service was a little slow due to the numerous people in the restaurant, but otherwise they were ok. The food was amazing, though. We ordered a snacking platter and it had some of the best quesadillas I’ve had.
The drinks weren’t really worth the money. They were served in the little Dixie cups and were priced pretty high.

Ordered La Mexicana Cantina & Grill for delivery therefore did not get to experience the service that most Unilocalers seem to complain about. I guess this would allow for a more foodie based review with no service fails to affect.
So I had a simple order of the chicken tinga tacos with only chicken, cheese and sour cream. My tacos were good, tasted authentic although I did not taste nor see any sour cream. I noticed also that while many mexican restaurants use the shredded cheese you associate with mexican tacos, they actually use what I would assume is more authentic…“queso fresco.” All in all, the tacos were flavored well and tasted good. In additdion to the three tacos they put a little scoop of guacamole so you may add to your taco if preferred.
We also ordered chips and guacamole along with some salsa. The guac was not my fave however the salsa seemed to be made from scratch and was very good. Chips a little greasy!
For dessert, it was churros and chocolate along with condensed milk. Yum! I almost forgot to take my Unilocal pic as i inhaled it. Overall the condensed milk was the favorite dipping sauce for this.
Looking forward to trying out this place for a full review. Hopefully they’ve worked out their kinks and are able to deliver something worthy to the area. As far as my delivery experience/food…no complaints.