Cantina Diablo’s

Place needs to fail already. It started out on point then
They kept changing the ingredients and cutting corners. It would of gotten a 5 star a few years ago. Its not even worth 1 now
Let’s not even talk about how bad the service is. Royal oak deserves a better restaurant at this corner.

Very disappointed in this visit. This was once a weekly stop for me, and has since gone south! After stomaching the 70s soundtrack, I found the queso dip to be a new updated and poor version of the previous. The entire atmosphere was more like an oldies bar… not my scene. I do not recommend this at all, and I was once a very happy regular. Something is very wrong here!
Totally great service, not at all her fault, just not happy with the atmosphere at all! A Boston song just came on… point validated…

My husband and I frequent this spot because it’s yummy and a great price. Especially during happy hour! Service has been great too!!!

Cantina Diablo’s is located downtown Royal Oak and is your modern type sports bar meets tex-​mex meets party Mexican restaurant. In the center of the restaurant are all high tops and then booths line the outer parts of the bar. TV’s are everywhere so this isn’t a bad spot to watch a game or a fight.
They offer several different types of margaritas ranging from $ 7-​$ 10 dollars. They also have infused margaritas which is my friend’s fav.
Now on to the most important part of a Mexican restaurant… the chips and salsa. They get two thumbs up. The salsa is good and the chips taste fresh. The portion of the chips and salsa is gracious and you can always ask for more.
Most of the time I come here just for the margaritas and chips and salsa, but I’ve had their tacos and they are great. They have around 6 – 7 different types of tacos you can chose from ranging from $ 3-​$ 5 a piece. The carnitas are delicious. I like their tacos don’t come with just the norm cheese and lettuce. The carnitas had a pineapple salsa and fried onion straws, yessss! You can also substitute the flour tortillas for corn.
Their Mexican rice is right up there with the best (the best being mexican town of course).
Service is so-​so but the staff is all pleasant. There is a paid parking lot and street parking making the restaurant accessible.
They may not stand out from the crowd but still a great spot if you’re in the area looking for Tex-​mex with either your family, significant other or friends.

They have a great deal on Groupon! We got drinks and an app for a great price, I think $ 12. The drinks were very strong. The nachos were delicious. Amazing salsa!

I can’t say I love this place. We came for an early dinner with my mom, sister, and son. The service was mediocre and I’ve had better food. I did like their décor and it was clean. I’m not from the area, and was just passing through, so I probably won’t stop there again.

We came in on a Monday night. And it was wonderful! Our server, John, suggested the Queso Flameado which exceeded our expectations of what melted cheese could be. Come here. Say hi to John, and get tequila!

We had a groupon and went for the first time. We had Stephanie, we were so happy with our service and delicious food we went back 2 days later and had the same server and she was so nice and the food was sooo good!!! Can’t wait to come back!!!

This is a meeting spot for me and a buddy I grew up with. I went here twice last week. Bartender remembered us and the second time we brought three more people. Miller lite tall drafts were on special which was good because we were there to watch football. We ordered the avocado rolls. They were yummy. The BBQ quesadilla was good as well. I like the southwest style they put on the Mexican food here. The guacamole here is the best choice for an appetizer. We will continue to meet here for games.

I’ve never had the food here, or even the drinks. In fact I’ve only been here twice and both times it was on a Saturday night, or Latin night. IT IS SO FUN! They play various Spanish language songs, from reggaeton to pop to salsa to more old fashioned music. There is a decently sized crowd, made up of professional ball room dancers to Hispanic people who grew up dancing to bachata to people with little to no idea what they’re doing (me). It’s pretty judgment-​free, you can get down whichever way you know how and observe the other dancers. I recommend unabashedly copying the salsa pros and with some practice (and drinks?) you’ll totally pick up a thing or two! Even if you somehow resist the catchy beats you’ll still have an epic night of people watching.
If you’re over of the trashy, tired club scene in MI and want something different and classier but still super fun, I recommend Diablo’s on weekends!

Weird food. Best part was the chips & salsa and drinks
Great service

Let me just be frank and up front. Royal oak is one of those «All American» cities with «All American» eats. They have «All American» bars and «All American» atmosphere. This is reflective of what’s being served in this restaurant. If you happen to be a Mexican food snoot, I suggest you turn on your «All American» mode for your taste buds to pretty much appreciate what they’re doing here.
I’m not knocking on their food, no sir, not at all. The food served here good. Big portion tacos for $ 4 — $ 5 each is a little hefty if you ask me. Yes the tacos stuffed with meat and it’s like biting into a big pile of meat. Flavors are there as well as the juicyness of these babies. This place is probably the one of the better restaurants in the strip. The only problem I see is the price. It’s a little more of what you wanna pay for tacos.
The service was on point, we sat, a server approached us, ordered our drinks, our drinks came, then ordered our food. Shortly after, our food arrives and then we eat, then we socialize. This spot is good, I would definitely come back and eat here again and again.
Weeeeeee!
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Better than when it was in Ferndale.
Food is ok but takes a when to get a sever, get an order placed, or finally get you food.
Overpriced for what you get. (for food and drink prices)
I do really like the Guacamole though.
Please improve, you have been in place for a while now and are in a great area so do better PLEASE !!!

Came here on a Monday night and the place seemed empty, but only because they didn’t seat any tables in the middle of the restaurant but most of the booths were full. We ended up getting the guacomole as an appetizer, the nachos with pulled pork, and 3 tacos (pulled pork, beef cheeks, and buffalo shrimp). When the guacomole came out it was a very small helping which lacked salt. We put on salt like no other, but thank god they even had a salt grinder on the table. Everything tasted pretty good in my opinion save the guacomole. A good solid place to go if you want something slightly more upscale than qdoba. No authentic mexican here, which I’m ok with and they have some good interesting drinks on the menu other than your margarita. Looks like Tuesdays is taco Tuesday where all the tacos are $ 2. Our server was really nice and courteous and checked up on us regularly.
We’ve passed this place by on a Tuesday night and it also looks like they might have karaōke. So if you’re looking for something to do that night come here.

I don’t like to give bad reviews but this was one of my worst experiences ever. First, hour and a half wait… not their fault they are busy. But for what??! The service was very slow, our poor waitress… I think she was the only waitress there! Music was deafening, and the food was not good at all. My fish tacos were not edible, the queso dip tasted like melted velveeta cheese mixed with salsa, and the quesadilla had so much cheese in it, it was sticking to my gums. Only thing I kind of enjoyed and ate was the guacamole. The people dancing were a lot of fun to watch and be entertained, and my cousin finally snapped when she had asked for the bill twenty minutes before hand. Puts a shame to Mexican or Texan food.

Meh. Probably won’t be back.
The chips and salsa is why they get two stars; the thin chips laden with sea salt are my preference so I happily ate them. The salsa is unremarkable-​be sure to ask for hot sauce to add some flavor!
The mahi-​mahi tacos I ordered were fishy, and left a fishy after-​taste so I didn’t finish them. The Mexican rice was okay, and a very small portion. If you are used to big portions that you normally get at any Mexican restaurant you will be thoroughly disappointed here.

Cantina Diablo’s has the fourth-​best Mexican food in Royal oak behind the now closed Monterrey Cantina, Taco Bell and Tequilla Blue.
Let’s start with the chips and salsa. Chips are overly thing and overly greasy, even by free tortilla chip standards. The salsa is unremarkable. The food is the same way, and almost as bad as the British food from the upstairs pub.
Drinks are overpriced because they are trying to be this family-​type, cool, Mexican place where people go. But really it is more like a crappy TGI Fridays. Still crowded on the weekends and therefore not a good place to watch a game. There is also a singer/​loud music sometimes near the main dinning area which also makes it hard to talk, eat, watch sports, concentrate, not want to kill yourself.
I’d suggest avoiding this place like I do.

I am not a frequent diner or drinker in the Royal Oak scene but I can tell you from my years of random happy hours experiences that Diablo has great food and drinks. Especially in comparison to a northern neighbor down by the railroad tracks that might contain a color in its name.
Deal: Happy Hour is M-​F, 4−6pm and includes house, fruit, and frozen margaritas for $ 5, all tacos for $ 2.
Food: California taco (mahi mahi, spicy mayo, slaw, garden salsa) is a must. I’ve had this both during HH and also as an entrée during a previous visit in 2013 and it’s not only been delicious but consistent both times. Don’t come in expecting street tacos because they’re not — they’re grilled small flour tortilla shells stuffed with goodness as opposed to small double corn tortilla shelled. The free chips & salsa are a bonus and complement their margaritas perfectly.
Drink: their house margarita isn’t some electric greenish yellow color. It’s light and a bit more natural looking. I am not a huge consumer of tequila to know for sure but the house margarita probably contained some bottom shelf tequila as expected.
Service: We sat near the bar and had friendly, accomodating service. It’s probably not her fault that she had to take care of the entire bar area with several tables of 5+ while the other staff was socializing with each in clusters by the service station and entrance. They seemed to be well staffed but only 2 or 3 servers were hustling about. Probably a management issue as opposed to individuals… but it cheeses me off to see employed adults completely oblivious to catering to the needs of their customers being in the service industry and all.

I don’t know what Cantina Diablo did to Unilocal but a 2 star rating is not deserved. I’d normally give this place a really strong 4 star but with all the horrific reviews I’m cutting them some slack.
Pros: The food is really good!
–good happy hour
–taco Tuesday’s (2 dollar tacos all day)
–drinks are good.
Cons– I didn’t see any glaring cons. It took a really long time to cash out but it was because our waitress was all over the place, whereas a lot of others were chatting it up by the service station
Happy Hour runs from 4 to 6. Not the biggest window of opportunity but try to get in there for it. All tacos are two dollars and margaritas are under 5.
I had the California taco, which is made with mahi mahi, spicy chipotle mayo, and a garden salsa. It was fantastic.
I also had the brisket taco and it was even better. Tasty brisket with a rosemary aioli and garden salsa. This one really hit it out of the park as it successfully merged my two favorite flavors.
Chips and salsa come with the meal and they are also great. Excellent salsa and chips seemed fresh.
I’ve dined here in the past and ordered the burrito and it was also good but that was quite a while ago.
In closing, it’s not the best tex mex I’ve had but it is still really really good. I recently got back from LA and San Diego and the tacos were on the same level!

Second time here. Their menu has changed to promote fresh smoked meats — which means my previous order of shredded beef nachos was off the menu.
I went with the Clint Eastwood burger as a replacement and it came with a lettuce/​spinach/​greens not advertised on the menu which I had to sloppily scrape off. The burger was okay, but I’ve had better versions of the Cowboy/​Backyard burger. The fries were good but heavily salted.
We got a free appetizer, thanks to Unilocal,and got the Chile Con Queso. That was a generous portion of both chips and queso. Thumbs up!
We probably won’t be back as their menu is complicated with extras on each menu item that leaves the dish undesirable. The menu is meant for a limited desired taste instead of catering to a more general population.
We were seated right away and the prices were fair for what we got. Service was great and our waitress was very nice.