Anita’s Mexican Restaurant & Cantina

We were seated at a table that had food on one of the bench seat (Booth) and when we told the lady that seated us, she left and came back with a wet cloth and handed it to us to clean it ourselves. They took forever getting the food ordered (we went through 4 orders of chips and salsa). When the food did come, they got 2 of 4 people’s orders wrong. Getting a refill on our drinks seemed to be an inconvenience and when they finally came to refill our drinks, the stupid waitress pours it without touching the glass and spills the whole thing all over our table and all over the sleeve of my shirt. We love their salsa so we ordered some to go and since we were there, we ordered some chips as well. CAUTION: They charged us $ 17.00 for a paper bag of chips.

Went here after hearing great reviews from friends! I was excited to try a locally owned Mexican place. We ordered two margaritas and they had zero tequila in them. My mom has a very low tolerance for alcohol and she was completely sober after drinking the entire thing. At $ 9 each this was completely unacceptable. I ordered fajitas and they gave me the wrong tortillas and charged me for flour (the kind I originally ordered). Then, I asked for another side or tortillas because they only gave me 2 and they charged me for another side. My husbands soda barely got refilled and the overall experience was awful. I would rather go to Chevys any day. Sadly, we won’t be returning.

We used to frequent this place when we lived in the Area. Today we were extremely disappointed. The service was awful. It took a very long time to just have our drink order taken and then another long wait to have our food order taken. Due to being a party of eight, we had an automatic 18% service charge added to our bill. In that they were already making such percentage, it appeared they felt they didn’t need to service our table. They never asked if we wanted drink refills. The Oaxaca enchiladas were disgusting. The sauce on the regular enchiladas was decent. We will never be returning. We wouldn’t have minded the 18% if our table had been taken care of. The restaurant was not very busy at the time either.

Decided to check out Anitas even though some reviews were not stellar. Went at lunch time during the week. Was greeted as soon as I came in and was seated right away. They took my order when I was ready and the food was good. chips and salsa are good. I recommend their crispy chicken tacos. Very good!

This place is gross! Our menus were sticky and the place just looked dirty. I ordered carne asada and it was literally a slab of meat with no seasoning whatsoever, not even salt and pepper. It was kinda tough to bite into. The rice and beans were meh. It was like they were intentionally not seasoning anything, it was so bland. I guess the only good thing to say is that the salsa is okay, and the guacamole was pretty decent. But overall, it was pretty bland and tasteless. My other party that I was with did not like their food either. Not worth the money.

the only worse restuarant is El ranchero in vista
Anitas-​laziest restuarant in town
dirty menus takes a minute to get a CLEAN rag and clean them. Practically no cost
The open sewer smell in the bathroom that makes you wonder – wtf really?
foul. I should have taken that as an early sign as to what i was in for. I hate wasting money when food sucks. Especially sucking just from laziness. I wish i would have went to del taco.
and I’m sorry but beans and rice is the cheapest food to make so why serve it under a warmer?
you can make it fresh everyday, if not, get out the food game, anita.
salsa had gigantic pieces of weird cut caldo sized onions. Rice had skins in it. LAZY.
mexican food is simple food cooked right, thats that. Generations have been doing it forever. get someone in there who knows whats up.
one thing i will say is the street tacos were good– they must have had em flown in.

We walked in and the sign said wait to be seated by hostess, there was no hostess present. A waitress walked passed us and did not acknowledge us (the place was empty). Finally the hostess came out of the kitchen and seated us. The Cadillac margarita was ok. The Anita Margarita with fresh juice was delicious. The service was slow and inattentive. The food was average. the wait for the food was way longer than expected, especially when we were one of just two tables in the restaurant.
The one thing that was awesome about the Restuarant was when we asked what kind of ingredients they used in their micheladas the bartender came out to explain it himself.

Loved this place the last few times I Went in (over 6months) went in on Saturday… It took us over 10 to be seated and there were Several tables open. We finally sat down at a both and next to us on the window ledge was a TON of bugs dead and alive … Yuck we asked to be moved and pointed out the problem. We were moved to another booth by a window same bug issue. Disgusting!!! WE WONT BE BACK!

Hands down, amazing! Our server Moses was absolutely amazing! He was such a genuine person– definitely a great asset to Anita’s. I had a mojito and a michelada that were perfect. The food was amazing. We will be returning!

First of all, the food is delicious. The only reason why I’m rating 4 stars is because of their combinations. My torta came with French fries which is not Mexican anymore.
My bf asked for carne asada and the carne was fem cious except that it didn’t taste like traditional carne asada.
Chips and salsa are delicious.
My mojito was heavy so it may get u tipsy.
I would totally recommend it.

This place is dirty and gross. We were sitting having lunch when my husband quietly told me to move to the next table. Looked up and there was a sharp knife in the rafters. We told the manager but she didn’t seem surprised or concerned

Decided to try Anita’s today chips and salsa were good but when we were ready to order waitress was no where to be seen got tired of waiting so decided to go look for her well she was chatting away with a group of lady’s at a table (eyes rolling) ordered food and never she once offered if we needed refills or more chips and salsa … Food was great and at this point I had to ask for a refill
I don’t think I’ll be back here and the only reason I gave this place even 2 stars was because the food was really great

Food was pretty good. Had the fish tacos with rice and beans. Would’ve been nice to have 2 corn tortillas because the 1 small tortilla they make the tacos with rip easily making it hard to eat.
3 stars because there was a lack of friendly service. Had to get up twice to look for someone because nobody came to check on us. The lady up front who seats you needs to say «your server will be with you shortly» because she led us to a table, put down a menu and continued walking away… we were like um… is this where we’re sitting? Ok then! And when she asked if we’d like more chips we said yes and she never came back… a gentleman came 10 minutes later at the same time he brought our food. Some proper customer service training is needed!

I used to love this place back in the early 2000’s when it was in the 24hr fitness center. I would order the 2 taco plate with beans with some regularity. They started to substitute Gran Gala for Grand Mariner, which is why I stopped going. Gran Gala is cheaper, and does not taste as good.
Ive been to the new location twice just to check it out.
As far as fine Mexican cuisine goes, there is one restaurant in Oceanside that I prefer,(I wont name it because it is not well known and rarely crowded) and several in other cities.

We come here often.
The food and ambience is good. Every time we come in we are served by the same person. I would recommend this place.

I hate to say it but the best they have to eat is the salsa.
I ordered the burrito suprema. The tortilla tasted like cardboard and was thick as cardboard.
I ll never eat there again. If you want great Mexican food go to Davina’s on Mission.
Their super burrito is to die for! Their salsa is also the best.
Live and learn I say!

The décor was a typical Mexican restaurant with brightly colored flags hanging everywhere. Nothing special.
The service was ok. We asked when the happy hour was and no one seemed to know. I had to ask each time for a water refill.
Free chips and salsa are served promptly when we sat down. They were tasty. We also ordered a pitcher of Margarita and it was only $ 15.95. The chips were light and crispy and the salsa was actually a tad spicy. Quite good. The crab taquitos app was nothing special. I ordered the Pollo de la Parilla plate when stated it was a grilled chicken breast with whole beans and rice. The chicken was VERY thin and dry and they plated it with refried beans instead of the whole beans as stated on the menu. My date ordered the El Supremo burrito and he didn’t finish it. I was shocked he’s usually a human garbage disposal. He said it wasn’t very good. It came with a dark chipotle looking sauce on the side that was very gross. It tasted like smokey Lysol.
Best part was the chip and salsa and the pitcher of margarita. If there’s a next time I think I’ll just sit at the bar and skip the entrees. I could have had better food at a taco shop for much less.

I was skeptical at first to come here because of all the recent reviews and pictures but I am sooooooo glad I came and tried it out. This place is awesome and super packed on a Friday night during dinner/​happy hour time. The salsa that came with the free chips and salsa was so delicious. And the chips were super fresh too, nice and hot and crunchy. The happy hour menu is legit, you can order two tacos for $ 4 or get 6 rolled tacos for $ 5. Everything here was really good. The atmosphere was fun and energetic. The servers were great and really nice. But don’t wait last minute to go to dinner here, it was seriously a full house by the time my group had left. I am definitely coming back here whenever I have a group outing.

I swear they moved and the food changed! I grew up going here and just seems different to me.
The staff were great! We had 4 kids and 4 adults and the kids were loud, messy, and hungry and the server was calm, helpful and so friendly.
I just adore the salsa I could drink it, I love it so much I actually considered trying to get some to take home.
Still a great place, I will still return, but I just feel like maybe I could make the same thing if not better at my own house.

FINALLY ate at this place a few weeks back. It was surprisingly good. Ordered a chicken chimi and a combo plate with a taco, enchilada, and a chili relleno. All were good but the relleno — which was extremely under cooked.
Prices were very reasonable and service was excellent.
Best part… the salsa is divine! I bought some for home.
Will go back at some point for sure.