Front Street Cantina

Not a bad place for lunch on a weekend
Good selection of craft brews
Services was what you can expected
Cons: minimal outdoor seating

Not a fan of this place. I have been here multiple times hoping for a better experience but keep getting let down food wise. I always eat steak burritos, the problem here is their burritos are like eating soup, a drippy mess on your hands. 100 percent agree on the salsa from another reviewer, not good.

Very good food, good atmosphere, The salsa was good, can be worked on a tad. enjoyed having dinner there but, when the band comes inside with the way the walls are the sound is not good and if the band turns up the volume it is not good. But the food is very good.

Horrible, horrible, place to be! Me, and two of my friends went there awhile ago, around the championship games for basketball, and hockey. All the TV’s in the place were on hockey, so we asked the bartender if he could put the TV closest to us on the basketball game, and he got so upset, and started talking about the people there want to watch hockey, and he was actually upset! The waitress that was there had an attitude as well. He turned the TV after we said we were leaving to go to Potter’s place. He was swearing, and making smart remarks the entire time we were there. We were the only black people in there, but that’s all I’m going to say… Very rude, nasty, horrible staff, I’ll NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER go there as long as I live!!! Oh, did I mention horrible, rude, and nasty staff!!! I’m only giving one star, because you can’t post a review without giving a star rating… If it were up to me they wouldn’t get any stars…

Reviews are pretty accurate for this place. We were brought salsa (which wasn’t really salsa-​just some tomatoes, onions and I believe a bit of cilantro diced and blended) and chips. We ordered our food and it was literally out within five-​ten minutes max. I ordered the chicken burrito Suizo. I was very surprised to receive my food that quickly. When I tasted it, I understood why it came out so quickly. It was very bland, with no real flavors. Beans were not good and the rice was just okay. I wasn’t impressed with this place at all. I’ve had some pretty good Tex Mex and if you’re looking for that here then I’d say pass them up. We felt rushed from the time we sat down, even though the waitress was friendly, she seemed to want to be done with us rather quickly. Like many of the reviewers wrote, the ambiance and look of the place is nice but that’s about it. The food and service was very sub par. I don’t mind paying for good food and the prices here were average but I didn’t enjoy the experience nor the food at all. Left me with nothing to brag about.

Sadly I have to give a bad review, the service here was absolutely terrible! The server young woman with blonde hair was rude and unhelpful. All the servers sat in the corner of the room and talked and laughed the whole time. When our food came out I had no silver ware and had kindly asked the server for some silverware. We had a larger group of people and she looked at me and said «um there some at the other end of the table» I guess I was suppose to get up and get it myself. It was also a big deal to split the bill after getting a rude remark that she guesses she can split it.
The food was ok nothing too special. The margaritas were very good.
Will not be coming back here not a good impression and will NOT be recommending this place to anyone

The best part of this experience was the beer, which really wasn’t even that great. I got one of the combination platters (taco, tamale, and chile relleno) it was a dollar to make my taco a fish taco so I said why not? The food was fast I’ll give them that but it looked like I was being served jail food all crammed in on one tiny plate. My fish taco was so over fried I couldn’t even eat it, it tasted like they scrapped it off the corners of the deep fryer! The beans and rice had no taste to them at all and my tamale fell apart (not in a good way).The atmosphere was equally terrible; the staff talked horribly about another staff member stating that she made them feel better about their own lives and all the men she snap chatted with. Not what I want to hear about during my dinner. Needless to say probably won’t be back.

Yikes! Hopefully it was just an off day, or the server. Seated quickly, friendly… so far so good. Our server seemed to have extremely limited knowledge of the menu. My family is all vegetarian, so, yes, we know what questions to ask. I knew ahead of time that the refried beans were vegetarian and that the Spanish rice has chicken stock. We ordered appropriately — although the server had no clue about how to let me son order a chimichanga with no meat and just the things he wanted: beans, cheese, and onions – not so complicated it would seem.
I asked specifically if anything else, LIKE RICE, came on the plate with the meals Sever said no, nothing else.
Food comes out; everything has Spanish rice on the plate and on the food. Long story short, no one was too thrilled to eat our food after we had to scrape all the rice off. In addition, my kids waited LOOOOOONG time for lemonade refills and for more chips. We were comped the chili rellenos, but really so what.
What we did eat was pretty bland, with lots of cheese seeming to be the main «spice.»
Really a very disappointing experience, but fortunately for my family our very last visit.

Ok just ok. Nothing really fancy here. good food, good atmosphere, and good family environment just nothing special

Looks like a nice location and tables outside so I was disappointed to find out if you sat outside there was no liquor allowed to be served so I went inside. Had the tamales plate which was good with the black beans that I really enjoyed. I really liked the chips and picante sauce that they serve but the rice was bland and service spotty. I went to the ladies room to comeback and find my beer and plate gone! They did replace it but someone shuld pay attention. Nice for the price but typical American mexican food.

We went for lunch on a weekday and sat outside. Service was great. We had nacho’s grande, chimichanga’s and the Wed. special. Everything was wonderful, good portions and good prices. I don’t get why they don’t have better reviews. We will definitely go back.

After we were seated, the waiter brought out chips & salsa. It was NOT salsa at all, it was coarsely chopped tomato with onion and jalapeño. I just nibbled on the chips. I ordered the shrimp fajita which was okay. The dish had very few shrimp, but they were spicy which helped.
The only reason I’m giving it 2 stars is because of the outdoor patio. My friend paid for lunch otherwise I’d be really pissed off.

3 stars (the current average) is quite accurate for this place. The food won’t wow you, but nothing is bad either, just ok. My husband, in-​laws and I went through a few pitchers of their margaritas so I can say with confidence that those were good. Service is pretty good here too. Always greeted promptly, seated quickly and checked on regularly but not too much.

Great customer service excellent atmosphere authentic and tex mex I love it. Not to mention great chips and salsa and a nice big full far with daily lunch and dinner specials is def come back

Meh. Strongly mediocre with no wow factor. Solid, easy menu but nothing that makes me want to add this place to our rotation of restaurants we need to visit again. Location easy in downtown Naperville but the ambiance reminds me of the Mexican restaurant at Epcot center sans the indoor temple of doom. Lots of families with small children on the Saturday afternoon we had lunch, not sure if it transitions to any kind of date night well.

I live in one of the Mexican food capitol of the country so it may be unfair to try to eat it in the midwest. Front Street Cantina didn’t really scratch the itch I had for the flavors of home. I sat at the bar since i was dining solo and the bartender wasn’t the most chatty. Everyone is different though. The inside was pretty okay and the bussers/​food runners seemed to be working hard, which is always admirable. I ordered the veggie burrito, no cheese. It came out incorrect the first time, but the fixed it right away and it was absolutely not an inconvenience. I wasn’t really in a hurry and the bartender bought my beer because of it. The burrito was small and wrapped terribly. Maybe something else would have been better? Overall, I would rather go down the street to Potter’s place.

There is probably a reason I’ve only dined at Front Street Cantina 3, maybe 4 times in the nearly 17 years I’ve lived in Naperville. As much as I love Tex Mex and Mexican food, as much as my wife, and now 2 boys like it as well, but a recent trip reminded me why I have and will avoid coming back.
We went on a recent Sunday early afternoon and none of us enjoyed the food. The chips were fine, salsa was bland. The guacamole tasted like it came out of a packet.
Entrees were no better-​the kids burrito was covered in green onion and was simply a small burrito, no rice, beans, and the drink was separate as well. Steak quesadillas for $ 11.50 were tiny and the combo dinners that my wife and I had were poor as well. Meat had no flavor at all. The bill was $ 67.50 for the above meals, the guac appetizer, and 4 soft drinks before tip.
Can’t think of much that was positive-​there are other places in the areas worth trying for this type of food-​even Chipotle is much better.

Front Street Cantina on a Summer night is just nice. Downtown Naperville has a great vibe. –Just minutes from my house but always feels like a vacation destination. I love eating out on the sidewalk. It makes me feel like I’m in one of my favorite European cities. I really wish America would catch onto more of this lifestyle dining. We certainly need more of that!
As far as the food… It’s not bad. I never come here during the cooler months because it’s just not worth it to me if I’m not eating out on the sidewalk. But the chips and salsa are pretty good. –salsa tastes fresh. And I rather like the «tacos on the beach».
I’ve had some entrees that are drowning in oil. –no bueno! But, if you eat outside and stick to what you know you like, it’s a nice evening.

I went to college at North Central, so Front Street was always the spot for Mexican food. Potters has horrible food and service to match, so this was a great place to dine for Mexican. After graduating, we didn’t visit for several years, and I made a return just recently. My first thoughts after ordering were…“What happened!!!”
The «chihuahua» cheese is definitely not, the «chorizo» is ground beef and everything was bland. SO disappointing. I’m fairly certain the food changed, but perhaps I’ve just had so much better that this ranks too low now.
If you HAVE to have Mexican, within walking distance in downtown Naperville, I recommend here over Potter’s. But Chipotle is much, much tastier and fresher (though you won’t get the dine-​in experience). If you can do without it, just pass on Mexican food in downtown Naperville altogether.

The good: complimentary salsa and chips, attentive waitress, didn’t wait too long for food, good location, and reasonable prices.
The bad: complimentary salsa tasted like bland diced up tomatoes, beer battered cod had no flavor, did not like the beans they served
Basically found this place to be unauthentic Mexican food. No flavor in any of the dishes, quite disappointed.