Cabo Cantina

This place seriously has the shittiest service. Just bad. Our experience was specifically from being helped by Kandis. Just terrible. Bad attitude, and long wait for everything.

Geez. What can I say. Service was so slow. Orders didn’t come out in a timely manner and they were missing something or completely wrong. Aaayy. Our server tried and apologized but still. When I was 17 years old, I hustled and got orders and food served quickly. Servers need to step up and move faster.

Paulina is the most attentive waitress! Ever!!! She brought us our drinks 2 minutes after we ordered the food was on point! Her servers exceptional!!! Cudos to you

wow, please don’t go here! Just like the other reviews have said…
You will see the «2 for 1!» special and be drawn to go here. You will sit down, and your waitress will tell you that the big margarita is the way to go, as you will save the most money. Even if you just stopped by for a drink, get the bigger one with 4 shots of tequilla because its a better deal, according to the waitress! You question her intentions to your boyfriend («why is she suggesting a drink that will result in a smaller tip for her?»)
You will then drink your margarita, get the bill, and it will be double what you had expected. Your waitress points to a tiny white sign on the wall, across the room from you, saying that the «mega margaritas» that she suggested are not included. You ask for a manager. Some bro comes over that claims he is the «manager» of this establishment. He claims that he has adequately trained his staff, bro, and that they definitely would have told us about the special. He says he can’t do anything because «Bro, then my manager will think I’m not training my staff». You question why he came over in the first place? You never go back to Cabo Cantina… because you like to trust those that you do business with.
End of story, do not go here. They are terrible, don’t have good food, or good drink specials. The staff is scum and does what it takes to get more money from you.

Nothing fancy here. Huge Margaritas that won’t fit at the small tables if your party orders more than 3. The place is pretty dingy and divey all together. I ordered the Chicken Nachos which were actually very delicious. The toasty chips were piled high with fresh onions and tomotoes. A would prefer more quacamole and chicken on it to be honest. The Carne Asada fries were not as good. I appriciated the steak house fries which fit more of the toppings but the artificial yellow cheese was not appeasing. The texture was strange and the meat was very minimal. I could not finish the it because of the cheese taste which is rare because I love cheese. Skip that plate and get the nachos.

Came here for the first time today during happy hour. Sat for about 15 minutes upstairs without being acknowledged, so my friend went downstairs to order us some drinks. Bartender said he couldn’t, so I was forced to flag down the petite Asian waitress in our section. She completely ignored us, until she accidentally made eye contact and was forced to come over. Didn’t explain how the 2-​for-​1 worked, so we ended up with 4 drinks. We asked for the bill right away after our order, because we thought she wouldn’t come by again. We were right, she never did. I’m only giving this place 2 stars for the quality of their drinks, and price during happy hour.

The wait staff here is so so so rude. A customer said he didn’t want the second beer on the 2 for 1 special and the bartender (Zack) told him to leave. This customer was sober as he had just arrived and was not being troublesome, the bartender just had an ego problem. The bartenders continued to collectively talk badly about all the customers behind the bar for ALL the paying customers to hear. I dont think they realize that this a customer service industry and and when you disrespect your patrons you’re gonna wind up getting 3 stars on Unilocal.I was disgusted and will not be coming back here.

CABOOO CANTINAAAA. Great place to go for a night out, but you definitely have to watch out for your wallet here. They’re not really upfront about prices. Sometimes you’ll look at their menu and just think «Oh whatever, happy hour is BOGO deal so it can’t be too bad right?»
Yeah, no. Their large margaritas (the huge ones with like five straws in it) are $ 17.50 each. And you’ll end up ordering two or more, not realizing they’re not a part of the BOGO deal, which the servers conveniently forgot to mention as they upsold you from buying two normal sized margaritas for $ 12 – 14 to one large margarita for basically $ 18.
Don’t let that be you. If you’re unsure, ask for prices since everything isn’t printed on the menu! Side note: tequila shots are $ 9 + tip. Aw yeah, get your cuervo on everybody.
I’ve been here on numerous occasions, all of them during Taco Tuesdays which offers AYCE tacos for $ 6. The tacos are very filling, and your first order comes with rice and refried beans. Cabo closes at midnight and the kitchen closes at 11:15, so get there early to put your taco orders in! Good luck finding a table though because it’s a «seat yourself» establishment, and Taco Tuesdays get crazy packed.

Cabo Cantina is a pretty affordable and fun place to be if you’re in the heart of the Santa Monica 3^rd Street Promenade. This area can get pretty busy depending on what time you go. They offer 2 for 1 drinks from 4 — 8 PM and 10:30 PM and onward pretty much throughout the entire week. I usually enjoy the Patrón Margaritas, and their Carne Asada fries are also pretty decent. My favorite time to go is usually on a Sunday afternoon since it doesn’t get too crowded on weekend nights.
Overall, I would recommend Cabo Cantina for a nice chill out spot!

walked in here like this place looks a little meh
Had a margarita and some carne Asada fries and OKAY
had another margarita and ALRIGHT!
Had two for one shots and OMG YUH!
And the waitress was kinda the shit.
Girl power
go eat here.

My original review: «BIG MARGARITA. BIG FOOD. BIG GOOD.»
I’ll correct it now, and just say my previous entry was probably a reflection of the size of the margaritas. If you go here, please, don’t drive. Those are potent drinks. The food itself is meh, typical crispy, cheesy bar food. I got the nachos which were not amazing, but they certainly hit the spot. They’re huuuuge though, multi-​layered, and could feed 2 – 3 people.
If you go, you gotta get the large margarita. It’s comically large, and it’s delicious. There are tons of TV if you want to watch the game. The staff is very friendly, and flexible if you want to move outside (tee hee). I think I’d go back for the margaritas!

Whelp I’ve been here many times now so I think it’s safe to write my review.
This place is 21+ first come first serve seating. The drink menu is large and so is the food.
I’ll start with the food.
I’ve had many things here from nachos, to tacos, to salad to basic sides.
One thing that stood out to me is their nachos. Normally you’d figure… nachos are just nachos. But theirs are not.
The nachos they serve here are done right. Layered with cheese, black beans, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, jarred jalapenos, monterey jack and cheddar cheese,
The nachos are cooked to perfection with fresh tortilla chips and proper amount of layering. Most Mexican food places have nachos and we’ve all been there and done that. But these are done right. I’m not saying they’re the BEST but they are VERY good and VERY filling. The amount they give you is easily enough for two people.
Their drinks. I’ve had many. The margaritas are good and not to sweet. The classic is where it’s at though if you just want a simple margarita. They also have an option for a larger version instead of the two for one during happy hour.
Staff is nice. My food and drink order has always came out right and not incorrect. Which surprises me considering the amount of times I’ve been here. Usually someones going to get it wrong eventually. But they have not.
Overall this place is LOUD and it is a bit hectic. But you’d except it at a bar like this so you can’t really complain about that.
The design I can complain about though. It definitely needs to be remodeled and updated. It’s very old feeling and dirty looking (when it isn’t) place is clean. Would I recommend you come here? yes. For happy hour you can’t go wrong and the Mexican food isn’t bad either, definitely get the nachos!
Food: Slightly above average.
Décor: Needs work. Very outdated.
Staff/​Customer service: Amazing, fast and professional. No complaints.
Cleanliness: Dirty looking because it’s old. But it isn’t dirty
Bathrooms: N/​A haven’t used it before.

I’m actually sitting here at the restaurant for the first time writing this because I’m waiting on my food and convinced I’m never coming back.
Me and my coworker came here to eat and when we got in we took a seat. Place was fairly empty so we were in plain sight.
Our waitress was at a table having the longest conversation in history. Ourselves along with others waiting for her were becoming very impatient as she socialized with her foot up comfortably on a stool next to this table of guests.
This went on for about 10minutes. Which is too long to ignore customers who are seated and waiting for at least water. I got up and walked to the bar to see if maybe we could get another waitress, one who was working for the day.
The woman at the bar (who I’m later told was the manager) told me she was the only waitress today, so I told her «Well me and my coworker are still at work, can we get service because the other waitress is talking too much at that table»…
This «manager» responded «yeah well thats her job»…Really? Her job is to socialize about everything under the sun while ignoring guests clearly waiting for her? Thats her job? Clearly no one here has any concern about how guest feel. Rude management condoning rude waiters here. Once a month I give one waiter a $ 50 tip… to think I was prepared to do that at this place… pfft! No way!
Our waitress then had an attitude, got our order wrong and rushed us to pay tab because she had to go to her second job. The food is good, but if you want good service this is NOT THE PLACE!!!
PLEASE READ THIS PART!!!
So after about two months I decided to give this place another shot today. It’s simply just close to work.
Guess what? Service from hell all over again!!! I don’t know if me and my friend are being stereotyped or what the issue is but we are both women of color who work in corporate America. We are well dressed and well mannered!!! What is wrong with the people here???
The first thing my waitress said to me was «please get your foot off the stool»…sorry but her tone was super rude as if I was her child, in addition she told me and my friend «next time don’t put two tables together, you can both sit at one table» FYI the tables are pretty small, it was pretty empty and we simply wanted to sit where there was back support, the cushion area.
Like are you trying to not get a tip??? This was the very first two things said to us after «hello». It’s super unprofessional to speak to guests like this is someone’s house and I have my foot on your couch. She told me my shoes would ruin the stool??? My foot weighs about 120lbs less than the average butts that sit on the stool, not to mention I’m not jamming my foot into the stool. My shoes aren’t made of real alligator that’s going to chew the stool into pieces while I eat… like wtf? It was propped up because I just had a procedure done under my foot!!!
Seriously. This place is a nightmare. I’m officially done with this place. I can’t go back without catching a charge. No thanks.

I would definitely not waste my time here again. Everytime I’ve come I’ve left with a whatever feeling, which says a lot considering how much I’d had to drink.
The most recent time I came we ordered the nachos, which were nothing special, but it’s bar food so we weren’t expecting much. The margaritas are huge (around $ 18 I think), and they have a generous amount of alcohol in them.
The place is extremely dirty and not well kept at all and the service is horrible. The waitresses always seem like they are hammered and when they aren’t ignoring you, then they are somewhat rude. Usually I would excuse that sort of thing, but this place is too boring anyway to come back.

Lots of fun, decent quality food.
Came here with the fiancé after a hot yoga class at CorePower Yoga since it was walking distance and looked fun, and plus, it was Taco Tuesday!
Fun place, a great place to hang out with friends and grab some drinks and tacos. Taco Tuesday’s was $ 5.95 unlimited tacos with choices of carne asada, beef, veggie or chicken, and also includes Spanish rice and beans. Not bad. The quality of the food was okay, definitely have tried better… but at least it wasn’t bad. Our favorite was actually the veggie taco… and we were craving meat that night too! Lol.
Drinks were good! We got a huge watermelon mixed drinks, blended… it was about $ 16. During happy hour, small drinks are BOGO, but the waitress told us the bigger drinks were equivalent to 3 drinks, so we stuck with that.
Loud crowd. More towards the college crowd… looks like a lot of UCLA students. Everyone’s drinking and having a good time. Multiple tv screens to watch sports and games. Seating is family style. There is a bar, high tables and booths. Dark inside, lots of colorful lights, and loud music.
Overall, it was a fun place. If you are looking for delicious tacos, I would rather find another place… but if you are looking to just have some fun and enjoy some food and drinks, why not. You can also do valet parking here and you can also walk around afterwards as there is a lot to see on the same block too :)

Right off the bat the waitress tried to up sell me. The happy hour margaritas are buy one get one (BOGO). We came here specifically for this but we were asked whether we want to switch that to regular margaritas for $ 17, not BOGO.
She tried to upsell us by telling us that the BOGO margaritas only have 1 or so shots, while the regular one has 4. So we ignored what she said and still went with the BOGO. Whether she was lying or not, those BOGO margaritas still packs a punch. I felt a little buzzed after the first one, so don’t listen to upselling waiters/​waitresses!
Next I tried to get a bill from 2 different waitresses while mine was busy covering both the outside, the inside (where I was) and also the second floor. Both time I got rejected and completely ignored by the waitresses because they don’t benefit from helping me at all. After all I am not their customer.
But I’m just trying to pay and leave at least have the decency to grab my check upon TWO separate requests. When I was able to flag down my waitress it still took an additional 10 minutes to get my tab.
What a bad experience.

The nachos are good but I wouldn’t have ordered food if I had seen the bathrooms first. It’s bad when you’d rather pee in the sink than the toilet. I didn’t pee in the sink for the record ;)
The service wasn’t up to par. My friend had to ask for a drink refill three different times. When the waitress brought our bill she circled the suggested tip. In my opinion that is just rude! Especially when she did not provide exceptional service.

Greatest happy hour deal in the city!!!
Drinks buy 1 get 1 free
Tacos — bottomless keep them coming; veggie & carne asada all you can eat
Taste wise: you get what you pay for aka not my favorite
And, if you want a cheap drink this is your spot
Always a fun crowd without breaking the bank

Somehow managed to spend $ 40 on nachos and two drinks. This during happy hour.
Do not get the drink doubles as you’re basically getting a more concentrated drink with less volume.
Would only return with a much larger group and waitress with clearer understanding /​ability to explain the drink specials.

I came here last weekend before I went to a few other bars and was kind of disappointed. I have been to other Cabo Cantina locations but the staff here was kind of rude. I asked for water and was told that I could serve myself some water on the side, next to the bar. It isn’t like we were standing at the bar… we had a table and were ordering with a waitress!
The drinks here are cheap during happy hour so I would definitely recommend coming here if you want a large margarita or some 2 for 1 shots.