Cantina Captiva

Food poisoning!
My wife and I split the chicken nachos, and became deathly ill for 48 hours. It completely ruined our vacation. Steer clear of this place!

Oh, not good at all. Very unorganized waitstaff. Our waiter had tables all over the place — inside and out. He deliver our food and we didn’t see him again until he dropped off the check. Problem was a member of our party did not get what she ordered. Wasted night out for her. I had a buffalo chicken sandwhich. A mess. Could never have been eaten as a sandwhich. Chicken much too spicy. No manager in sight. Will not return.

Unless you need linen table cloth, over-​priced food and pretentious servers, then skip this place. But, if you are looking for a fun restaurant with great home-​made Mexican food and excellent service, then this is the place to visit. Been here three times in two years while in Captiva for vacation, and will go again. As to the poor reviews about their food … geez, they must think Taco-​B is the real deal!

Went here recently, Horrible quality food and what kind of mexican/​hispanic restaurant doesn’t have hot sauce!!!

Do not go here. Very dirty. Sat at the bar and my arms stuck to it. The ceiling fans were covered in dirt. Bartender took a dirty island oasis pitcher out that had remnants of a previous daiquiri on it to make one for a guest. Then had made wrong flavor so re-​made it without rinsing again, even though a different flavor! Dollar bills all over the joint, feels cheap. Shelves in kitchen had dirty liners on them. Disappointed because I love Mexican food.

Wow! Not sure why anyone would give the food a bad review– if you don’t want boring food, don’t order boring entrées! Guacamole was absolutely as good as mine, salsa was fresh, homemade, & too spicy for me :). My husband’s shrimp wraps were «fresh, crisp, & delicious» (his words). Tamales were also homemade and outstanding! My soft pork tacos were boring– but I’m a Southern Lady, not a gringa, and I’m rarely adventurous when ordering Mexican food :)
Pricey? A bit. Stuffed? Yes — won’t eat for a week! Tons of food, great service! We’ll be back!

We were vacationing on Sanibel Island, FL and needed a Mex food fix. Our GPS took us to Captiva and a great hole in the wall Mex joint. It must be have a wild side judging by all the hundreds of dollar bills stuck to the wall but it was pretty quiet for lunch on a Tuesday in November. The salsa cruda that came with a basket of chips was beyond good, it was awesome. Fresh tomatoes, onions and some kind of seasoning I couldn’t figure out. I ordered fish tacos and my wife went for a carnitas taco. Both really good. Another customer was working on what we thought was a tostada. It looked good too! Like to say I can’t wait to come back but the northern tip of Sanibel Island is a little hard to get to.

Second time here. Both were at lunchtime. The food is great. I had the jalapeño poppers as an appetizer. They were good, but you can tell they don’t make their own… definitely frozen, nevertheless tasty! For my entrée I decided on the chicken quesadilla. I wasn’t blown away by them for the price. The meal was good, but I would recommend a different entrée. The last time I was there, I had the lime shrimp tacos… now, they were outstanding. My friend chose the nacho platter, and he even let me try them… I have to say, I wish I would have ordered the nachos!!! You definitely get a lot of food here and the prices, even though they are a little steep, considering that your on captiva… they aren’t so bad! The service was wonderful. Never had to ask for a thing! I will be back for sure, with different menu options next time! Very quaint and comfortable atmosphere.

Delicious food! The veggie burrito is tasty, the queso blanco is great too. We went about 530 for dinner and the place was empty, which made for great service. My husband had the enchiladas and said they were fantastic. The food tasted fresh and was out to our table in a hurry. A hidden gem!

This place has great ambiance, great friendly staff and cool décor with all the dollar bills on the wall; I like the Bob Marley posters. However the food lacked in freshness, authenticity and taste. It’s easy to add separate ingredients together to get what a «traditional taco» should be, however this place would be a lot better if the ingredients were fresh and made with a bit more TRUE cultural flare in mind and that is FRESHNESS. Being Latino myself and familiar with Mexican/​Latin food, you can tell when the food being served is made with good quality and pride in mind. Canned/​packaged foods– Eh… Good for tourists that are not familiar with authentic Mexican cuisine I guess. Overall good place for a quick bite, good beer, good service and cool atmosphere.

We stopped here on our first night in Captiva. Great service from the start! These guys are hustling here making great food! We couldn’t have been happier with our choices and we are both picky about Mexican.

Absolutely one of the best Mexican restaurants you will ever try, we have eaten there on multiple occasions and never leave hungry or unimpressed
We have traveled to Mexico on many occasions and have yet to find a better more authentic restaurant, our most recent stop was with a party of six over Labor Day weekend and their service was excellent
We are planning on a visit again this weekend so stay tuned for an update!!!

Wasn’t expecting to be blown away, but really one of the best casual meals I’ve had in Captiva. I had the steak tacos and my friends had everything else. Nobody was disappointed!!! The shrimp al mojo de ajo was the best!

Really really really terribly bad food but I love the dollar wall (hence the two stars and not one)

This is a super nice place with good atmosphere. $ 1 bills hanging all over. The food is top notch. I got an original burrito with chicken. One of the best I have tasted. However, there was very noise and laud talk, but it’s typical Americans.

Look, everything on the island is average when it comes to restaurant food AND service is usually at its lowest. But, it’s island life, so I’m not looking for much other than decent food and vibe.
I’m not a Mexican Food aficionado, but I love quality Mexican food. The food was suprisingly good. Mexican City Tacos & Chicken Enchiladas. Chips & salsa were actually great which is a must for me.
Service sucked (long waits), but everything was served correct and with a smile. Try it. And don’t complain about prices. Cheapest bill we’ve received in 4 yrs here on the island.

Never Unilocaled but compelled to. Sat down, no drink order for 20 minutes… finally get drinks and ⁴⁄₈ were incorrect. Also ordered cheese dip for an appetizer, never came. Ordered food and waited 45 minutes… and of course they forgot mine. Everything we asked them was in one ear out the other — silverware request, waters, anything — we couldn’t get. The absolute WORST service I’ve ever had. Not to mention once we finally were finished with this terrible place, we waited another 20 minutes for our check to come back!
We will never be back and I hope anyone reading this never wastes their time at this dump. Total waste of time, and on top of that, very below average Americanized non authentic shit Mexican crap food. I’d have rather had chipotle, would’ve been much tastier and worth my time

Mexican food is sort of my thing. I eat it, I cook it, I grew up around tamale pots and enchilada pans. So I consider myself to be a good judge of both flavor and authenticity and I was more than satisfied with Captiva Cantina. With a more yucatan, island influence, it’s definitely not the street tacos I grew up on in LA, but make no mistake, this place is good stuff. The tamales come served in banana leaves as opposed to the corn husks so many land dwelling Mexicans have come accustomed to. The beans and rice are far from bland and the margaritas are pretty damn good (wine strength only, so order a double). Definitely on our Captiva culinary map for the future.

We were not expecting to come here… Walking to the Bubble Room for appetizers, bubble bread and orange crunch cake… Smelled this place, and we stopped in!
Prompt, attentive service. Yummy queso and homemade salsa and a tasty enchilada plate. We’ll be back if we crave some Mexican!

One of the few mexican places on Sanibel and Captiva. We ate in the open air outside patio, which I thought was lovely enough to persevere thru some passing sprinkles. The inside looked sort of dark and dingy to me — but maybe being on vacation and wanting to be in the sunshine made it less appealing than usual. They let you decorate and hang dollar bills everywhere which gives it a fun look and kids love it.
As for the food, I liked the chips and salsa a lot — very fresh and spicy. I had the tamales, which were good but different than I’m used to — huge and wrapped in banana leaves instead of corn husks. Big chunks of pulled chicken inside with an interesting, almost mole-​like sauce. The rice and beans was delicious — my toddler made an entire meal of them, sharing some from each of the adult’s meals. Others in my party enjoyed the shrimp enchiladas and shrimp fajitas. The house margarita got a just OK review from my husband — but I enjoyed my draft dos equis! My four year old had a bean and cheese burrito which was just the right size (initially declared to be too small, but then barely able to finish) and came with the choice of applesauce, fries or beans/​rice.
I’d definitely recommend this place if you are in the mood for mexican on the islands. Check out the various coupon books around the shops — I scored a 10% off coupon which helps offset the island pricing :)