La Cantina Bar & Grille

We finally checked this place out last Friday Night Date Night. I have wondered about it, because everytime I’ve passed it, it seems busy, and I pass it a lot due to being an Über driver. We got there for Happy Hour which is always appreciated. The staff was short, so the waiters (no females?) were running around frantically and service was slow. Got them to make a custom drink for me and they complied… kudos. The food prices were lower than other medium fare places we’ve frequented, so that was nice. Ordered from the Pick Two menu, and chose Burrito and Chile Relleno. Dish was served hot and had nice sides of beans and rice. Burrito was just aight, but I really didn’t care for the Relleno. Cheese tasted almost stale or spoiled, but you never know with cheese. Didn’t finish it either though. So I’d go back for another try to see if the service improved as well as trying another dish. Worth a shot, but I wondered how it warranted such business.

Holy crap. The margaritas taste like Mountain Dew and toilet bowl cleaner. Food was sub par, and service was eh. Then again, theres not much competition for Mexican in CR, have to go to IC for that (try La Regia Taqueria (was called la michoacana) or Los Banditos if you go to IC!)

Not sure about previous comments but I had a great experience tonight. Chips and salsa were included with my meal and I ordered the fajitas. Fajitas were great the rice and beans were decent. I will come back next time I am in town.

This was a good restaurant. There were a lot of options on the menu and the food was good. The house margaritas didn’t look like a Margarita but they were actually really good. Our large group totally overwhelmed them and service was slow but they worked really hard.

Service is terrible, food is sub par at best and no free chips and salsa with out purchase of Entrée!

I really liked the chips & salsa, but the rest of the meal was gross. T-​Bell does a better job of seasoning their food and attempting decent quality. Very disappointing for a post wedding lunch.

I had read some of the reviews and I knew this was going to be questionable at best, but since we wanted to go to the concert and have a little buzz before shelling out $$$ for US Cellular Center beer, we stopped.
Décor: Tijuana meets warehouse chic. High ceilings and exposed duct work and bad tex-​mex decorations. It really cheapened the look. The booths didn’t look too comfortable either. We sat at the bar and it look really cluttered and not laid out to help the bartender.
Drinks: The average cheap margarita. The glass my husband had was missing a big chip, which he notice after cutting his lip. It had been hidden by the salted rim.
The bartender quickly got him a new one.
Chips and Salsa: good
Food: I had the steak fajita and husband had the Chile Verde. The fajita meat was overcooked and in looking at the meat’s cut, I’m guessing the meat comes in pre cut and because it is in such small pieces it overcooks quickly. I have never seen a steak cooked as a whole piece cut that small and be so tough.
Husband’s Chile Verde was not very good. The pork was cooked separately from the green chile sauce because it didn’t have the flavor of the chiles. Also, the sauce appeared to be from a can and didn’t have much of a punch.
I will say the beans were some of the better I have had at other local Mexican restaurants. They weren’t blended into bean purée and there were recognizable chunks.
Service: The brightest spot was watching the bartender work. She was a hard worker and sure didn’t get any assistance from anyone. She needs a bar back to fill her ice, stock beer and change kegs. We did witness other servers coming back and grabbing their own drinks when she was swamped. Helpful, but I can imagine that there were lots of drinks not getting rang up and the servers padding their tips by giving free drinks. (this happens a lot in restaurants. Bad for business)
I won’t be hurrying back, there are much better options around town and better places to pick downtown.

We are actually at the new one in Marion. Carnitas are good, beans are runny, rice doesn’t have much flavor. My son had ground beef tacos and liked them. Prices are reasonable, the waitress was very nice.

Compliment sandwich: the atmosphere and service needs a 180 degree change. The margs are pretty darn good. Overpriced and overall sub par.

We were looking for a place to eat, after finishing up at Penguins Comedy Club. This place was right around the corner.
Great menu. Not your typical Tex Mex.
I’ve spent some time eating in Mexico so I was happy to see things like Mole Chicken & Tacos Al Pastor.
Chips & salsa were spot on.
Our food was very good.
The service was excellent.
I’m from out of town but when I come back?
I’ll come here again.

I only give 2 stars due to their tasty margs. Although when we stopped in to the Marion restaurant we were robbed of $ 10 dollars by the waitress… whom still works there after we proved she forges fake tip amounts on credit card receipts. Her name is jessica. Buyer beware. .bring cash only!

Me and my boyfriend visited here on a Saturday night after an event at the theatre. First, they have a DJ. The DJ I would give 5 stars. As a bar, I would also give this place 4 stars as the drinks were strong enough and the prices reasonable. As a restaurant, I give them 3 stars. Food was salty though the menu had a decent amount of options. I wouldn’t revisit for the food but would come back just for the DJ and drinks.

La cantina is a very good Mexican place.
Tortilla chips and salsa is very good.
My personal favorite is the lunchtime steak fajita.

I went their last night and got the Enchiladas de Mole. They were fabulous! Queso was great as well. Our waitress was very courteous and stopped by an appropriate amount of times — didn’t stop by too much or too little. Overall great experience and I’ll definitely go there again!

I ate here while on business in town. Margarita kinda prefab mix tasting but food was simple and good. I had the tacos with pork and pineapple. Tasty and different then the usual fare. Chips and salsa ok. Service was friendly. I’d stop in again.

This place shouldn’t even get a star! Seafood enchilada plater says there was shrimp and crab. When it arrived had only crab but the menu failed to mention it was imitation crab. No shrimp was even on the plate. After asking the waiter he had no clue what was even in the dish. No apologies were giving the whole time. He marked it down 20% which eating only rice and beans on the plate is not worth $ 8. Our cups were empty with no refills offered I mean it’s only water. All the menus had dried food all over. Horrible customer service! Would never return. Stay away! Not worth wasting a dime here!

The Grande salade is excellent. Parking can be a problem. The lenton specials are great. My wife and I ordered different entrees and we were both very pleased.

First things first; their marg’s are very good. If you’re in downtown CR and looking for a place to sit down and have a drink — you’re all good.
Their food, however, is maybe the worst Mexican food I’ve had. I took one bit of my enchilada and had to push the plate away. The food came out crazy fast, and tasted like it was warmed in a microwave. The wait staff is terrible.

La Cantina’s margaritas are fantastic– the jumbo is generous and a nice treat if someone else is driving! The staff is kind and personable, and food is delivered piping hot in a short amount of time.
It’s a gem in downtown Cedar Rapids.

We finally made it down to La Cantina for lunch today. Great downtown location: I love the exposed brick, high ceilings, many windows and especially the outdoor seating — something badly needed in downtown CR. I had the Speedy Gonzales and the wife had the steak fajitas. My rice, taco and enchilada were good although not particularly remarkable. The fajita was just awful. It was VERY salty and the steak was tough. I used to think you could never go wrong with fajitas, but alas, there are ways to screw it up and they found a way. As mentioned by other posters, the menu says they charge for a second basket of chips however our server brought out a second basket without prompting and didn’t charge us for it. Our server was attentive the gave good service.
Since I work downtown now, I bought two $ 15 coupons on Here’s the Deal so I could use them for lunch. However our server said they aren’t good for lunch. The fine print says they are valid after 5 PM. I wasn’t too happy about that especially since I’ve purchased several online deals and have never come across that restriction. The really should have noted «Not valid for lunch» rather than hiding it in the dates. Just my 2 cents.