Lakeside Restaurant & Cantina

Great area, next to Canyon lake, great views, outside seating available, lake views inside and out, staff was super nice. I dined with 2 clients who are from different countries overseas for lunch. We had buffalo shrimp, chicken tenders, tortilla soup and Philadelphia chicken subs. All the food was tasty and cooked to perfection. The service was right on. We didn’t wait long to order and getting our check. I will be back.

Stopped here after a 9 mile hike in the Superstitions. We were greeted and seated immediately. We had our choice of inside or outside seating and opted for the shady outside deck with a beautiful view of the lake. The pot roast burger was delicious and the fries really hit the spot!

Worst dining experience we’ve ever had. The food was awful and the server was the worst. She was rude and demanding and made us pay for a steak that was prepared wrong twice, she asked if we had a dog we wanted to take it home to. DO NOT bother with this place, highly disappointing. Pack a picnic and take in the other beautiful sights. Oh and the outdoor bathrooms were also disgusting.

A great stop along an amazing drive. Quick beer and snack for the little one and lady. What a view! Great for birthday songs too lol.

This is still my husband’s & my favorite place to eat & relax… we are very happy regulars! We ate there approximately 3 weeks ago (we’re overdue for another visit!). While we dined, the owners weren’t present-​we always like to visit with them as they’re so hospitable, kind & make you feel so welcome. The food, as usual, was delicious– fresh, hot & homemade. I just read a «review» done on 5÷18÷15 by a «Christina Y» & I feel strongly compelled to comment. I happened to see this «reviewer» the day we dined @ the restaurant– she was an employee, NOT a restaurant patron. I observed her with her employee uniform on, sitting at a table, not working the whole time we were there. Having said that, her «review» that she wrote shortly thereafter was obviously written by a now former disgruntled employee. My husband & I are appalled by that review as we know this restaurant very well-​nothing she said has any truth in it whatsoever. You can view the menu on-​line to know the food is not overpriced, you can read all of my reviews I’ve done over the past 2 years right here– each time I mention how hospitable the owners are & how the food is delicious & home-​made. Never have the owners «told customers off all day long.» The most striking thing I had to comment on was the lack of knowledge this former disgruntled employee has regarding stringent state health codes & laws governing restaurants! Sewage is never dumped in a lake or in front of a restaurant anywhere…& certainly not within the Tonto National Forest! Lastly, I’m a RN & acutely aware of restaurant hygiene, food safety & public health. Never have I seen «food with dirt» @ Lakeside Restaurant & Cantina. It is an extremely clean & very hygienic restaurant which serves delicious food. We LOVE this restaurant! Don’t listen to a former disgruntled employee!

All their food is frozen and not fresh. Over priced and the dolly unloads their sewage right in front of the place! Service can be iffy depending on server and management is terrible. Tells customers off all day long. And food had dirt in it… never will I waste money on them again.

This is one of my top favorite restaurants. Food, service, view, and we love to buy the ‘fish food’ bags to feed the birds and huge carp. A totally lovely experience all the way around. RE: The food is always great. We always sit out on the balcony to fully enjoy the view.

HAIR in our FOOD and I was told by waitress «IT HAPPENS !» Really !!!
We are very disappointed with our experience here, first our waitress was pushy, we felt like we were being rushed. She reminded us that the Dolly was leaving in an hour and we told we were not taking the tour just for the view. Yet somehow we still felt like she was trying to hurry us.
Our food came out slow it took 45 mins to from order to getting to our table. There was 5 in our party and my husband had the crispy chicken salad and lettuce was wilted like it was days old and bonus he found HAIR !
I wouldn’t have given any stars but Unilocal insist so that’s why they even got one star

My husband and I and another couple spent an overnight camping at the campground at Canyon Lake this past Saturday and figured why bother with cooking and all that with the restaurant right there. I’m glad we did. Yeah, the service is a little slow, but we didn’t mind, the views are so pretty from the patio. We ate there three times and each time our server was so friendly. I think the one on Saturday was Teresa or Vicki (sorry bad with names) but we had her twice that day and she was so friendly. And in the morning for breakfast we had Adrienne and she was a sweetheart too. My breakfast was delicious, had bisquits and gravy, eggs and homefries. Yummy! I ate basic things the day before, hamburger, fries, dinner was club sandwich and it was all good. And I read in a response to another review about how they aren’t in town so if they are short staffed, it’s a little hard to fill the jobs and that has to be so difficult. I for one would not want to make that drive at night on that windy road to come home from work there. So yeah, you might wait a little bit for your order, but they make up for that in their friendliness and humor. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and plan to do it again.

Tried this place for the first time today with my husband. I had never been up to Canyon Lake at all and was in love with the views. Since it was a weekday, it was very quiet, and nearly empty. The owner (gentleman; cannot remember his name) was extremely helpful and polite. They honored my
gift certificate even though they said they asked the site not to sell them anymore. Good air conditioning inside, and seemed fairly clean. My food was extra hot, so I did burn my mouth, that is the only thing that bothered me out of the whole visit. Even then, I was still pretty impressed. Our waitress also seemed nice. Didn’t over-​bother us but was still attentive. I had the Chicken Cordon Bleu sandwhich, and my husband had the Bacon Cheeseburger. Both were very good and reasonably priced. We also had signed up for their VIP program before we went there, so whatever money I had to pay after my gift certificate was added on to that account for credit. We will be returning!

I just got back from a month long trip to Seattle and the first thing I wanted to do was head to the Cantina in Canyon Lake to get a prickly pear margarita. We were immediately seated and drink orders taken. The margarita did not disappoint! I get it every time I go there and it’s hands down the best drink on the menu. Then we ordered some appetizers to share and they were hot and delicious. The waitress even suggested an odd combination of dipping our sweet potato fries in a sweet chili sauce and it was actually pretty good! The owner even came over and chatted with us for a while before we headed out. The entire wait staff was friendly, happy, and fast.
Every time we go to Canyon Lake we go to the Cantina and have always had an excellent experience. I recommend it to anyone who’s had a long day in the heat and needs some good ol comfort food.

I love this place! The view is great, the food is wonderful and the people are always really friendly. Their prickly pear margaritas are definitely their signature item and it’s why I like going there. For being a local, independent business, they do really well and i highly recommend them to anyone in the area. They are never really busy and you’ll always get great service with even better food!

Well we had guest from Texas in so v we tool them to the lake to see the area. We stop to eat and waited for 20 minutes for someone to seat us. They would look and just go with there own selfs. I ask should we sit down and was told no. Well finally I said that’s it we left and drove 2 miles to tortilla flats and was seated right away and they were packed. Never agian will I go to canyon lake to eat.

The food is usually pretty good here, except this last time I ordered a patty melt, and it literally came out with the fixins of a regular hamburger on rye bread??? The only buzz kill here is sometime the serivce gets slow when they are busy, they cannot handle a rush nor a full house.

The WORST service ever! Save your time and money and bring a P&J sandwich!
This place is chronically understaffed, and the few employees are apathetic. Your «15 – 20 minute wait» to be seated will be 40 – 45 minutes. Then you’ll wait an additional 10 – 15 minutes for a waitress to take your drink order. Give the food another 30 minutes.
Never again will I go (or take any out-​of-​town visitors) to this place!

We have a boat docked here and have eaten at the restraunt several times. Every time we look at each other and say «why»?
Well because if you’re willing to put up with flat out horrific service the food is pretty good. Very homey. Better than big chain food. Not amazing. And the view of the lake is nice.
But seriously… The service is sooo bad. You wait to be seated while staff walk by you avoiding eye contact. Eventually the woman who owns or manages it… Not sure which will say. «Be right with you». Not true.
Then she’ll seat you with a «your server will be right with you» also not true. One time we sat and watched servers sit and eat when there were two tables in the restraunt and no one even looked at us. I went to the register where the manager was doing something and asked «can we get coffee» and got a snippy «your server will be right with you»
What? You can’t get coffee? The two stars are the food and view otherwise a one star.

The WORST Service AND Food I have ever experienced! The owner nearly forced a member of our family to drink a bloody mary that was way under par and when she kindly sent it back the owner argued that it was what she ordered and so she should drink it! We were ultimately charged for the drink! With slow service we finally received our food and the Fish Fry was awful: luke warm and chewy!!!
Canyon lake is beautiful and the cantina has a great view but NOT Worth the agony that owner or staff put us through.

The Pot Roast burger is tremendous!!! Peach piña colada tasty but not much of a buzz. Atmosphere is great, alternatives are non-​existent.
Seriously… I’d go back for the Pot Roast burger. I have never had anything quite like it.

3.5 Stars
After hiking the Boulder Creek Trail we needed something to eat and take abreak before heading back. The parking for the hiking is in the same area as the boat dock and Lakeside. It’s the only thing for miles in any direction near the lake and a nice place to hang out. The two ladies working that Sunday were very nice, the beer was cold, and the food was pretty good. I had the grilled cheese on wheat. It wasn’t the best I have ever had, but it went well with my beer. As others have noted the view from the deck is pretty awesome and relaxing.
If you are in the area hiking, boating, whatever it’s work a stop to check it out.

A group of us stopped in for lunch after the Dolly Steamboat nature tour. We we all starving so we devoured our food. Our waitress was pleasant, attentive and helpful. We were practically the only people in the restaurant so we had great service.
I can’t remember what I ordered other than sweet potato fries that were delicious, but I think it involved chicken. All I know as it disappeared in three bites.
I’m coming back for the Friday fish fry!