Cantina Laredo

Reviews 4

TA

Taryn Wyatt

I had some fairly high hopes for this place since it seemed to be a good match in price and ambiance to my favorite Mexican restaurant in Toronto, unfortunately, there were several weak points that I feel overall contributed to an overwhelming feeling of disappointment. Firstly, there were a couple small items that had they been fresh, could have been much better. For a restaurant which advertises an exceptional level of freshness, and does indeed make fresh guacamole right at your table, I was disappointed to note that the tortilla chips were cut from prepackaged tortillas rather than made fresh on site, yes this does make a difference, and was horrified at the taste of what was obviously canned beans in their refritos. Refried beans can be truly the most delicious thing ever, this was miserable. I may have overlooked these and given a higher rating had the entrees been good. My boyfriend enjoyed his fajitas tres, which was really just grilled meat, it was ok but was accompanied by those horrible beans and nothing to add balance to the salt. I ordered the enchiladas barbacoa and the meat was way over seasoned. I had ordered it with the rancheras sauce on the side and an extra side of mole sauce in order to try their mole, the rancheras was ok but not adequate to balance the salt of the meat. Let me point out here that Im well known in my family as a salt fiend, so you get an idea of just how over seasoned this stuff was... The mole sauce was overly sweet, so I actually used a touch of it to balance the salt. For dessert I ordered the churros, they were a little on the tough side but I was more disappointed in the caramel. Im not sure precisely what was off about it, perhaps it just needed a touch of butter, but it lacked richness. All in all I found the balance of flavors in these dishes to be woefully lacking in elegance, there was nothing refined about this food, and for the prices they charge, this is unforgivable. I guarantee you can find more elegant mexican food for dirt floor prices at your local dingy joint. I wish Id done that in stead. If youre ever in Toronto, dine at Milagro Cantinas and you might understand wheIre Im coming from.

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Michelle Daniels

My 32nd Birthday on July 26th on a Wednesday . Me and a group of my friends came to this Resturant to celebrate with me. When my sister and I first entered the Resturant we were not greeted. Then a hostess came to the host stand said nothing then look at us with an attitude and gave us a look as if for us to speak to her first. I told her I had a reservation under my name and she just started walking. When the rest of my party arrived it took a while for our food order to be taken. Once our food order was entered we waited a long time for ours meals and when they arrived most of my guest had cold food and my meal came late. I ordered The Carne Asada and was never asked how I would like my meat cooked. I received my order and my sisters order was mistaken for steak instead of Salmon which apparently only served at certain time. My sister spoke with the Manager Eric and he did not correct any of the horrible customer service and continued to find no fault with how we were being served. Also some of my guest had to leave early due to other commitments and Eric was seen apparently following two of my guest to their cars as though they were leaving and not paying which is beyond ridiculous. After our meal no dessert was offered, no Happy Birthday dessert was sent over which was clearly being placed on other tables for other guest. Now I dont want to play the race card but Im a black woman andmost of my guest were black. We were not loud or disrespectful but we were not treated with respect. It was as if we were just there to pay for what they wanted to serve and to get out. I will never return to this establishment or spend my money here ever again. DEPUTY SHERRIFF DANIELS

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Anisha Patel

.5 Star for their service and 3.5 Stars for their food... Overall: There are cheaper and better serviced Mexican restaurants in River North - Do NOT waste your time here! The details: Not a great experience from the beginning... Had a reservation for 5 which was given away to another party...I didnt think too much into it considering I have a popular last name. Only had to wait 5 min for another table but what was frustrating was that the ladies at the front desk were quite rude and seemed annoyed at us. Onto getting a table...We waited atleast 15 minutes to get water and had to glad down several waiters who were walking around to put in drink orders. All of them said our table was not theirs so they would go find our waiter. Then another waiters comes along and says "I guess ill take you guys for now then". After getting our drink orders in we waited about another 15 min to get chips and salsa and were struggling again to flag down our waiter to put in a food order. Got our food about 45 min after that. Had the guacamole beforehand...which is supposed to be an "experience" but the woman who was putting it together seemed like she could care less if we were watching. Only 2/5 people at the table could even see what she was doing which I think defeats the experience to "tableside Guac". Anyway, I could go on about the poor service, including us talking to a manager and him giving us attitude...but ill move onto the food. The one thing ill say is their food IS good. Nothing mind-blowing but still good mexican food. I wouldnt say its very "authentic" though. Its a shame because Ive been to the Cantina Laredo in London and their service and food would get 4 stars.

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Anuj Sahni

This is a great location and theyve done a great job with the place. Im surprised that Ive never been here in the year and half or so that this place has been around. Unfortunately though, CL didnt deliver on the service and the food was hit or miss. Our server was a bit snooty. I mean, he would do what wed ask, but I felt like there was a bit of unnecessary attitude. Also, there were long gaps between stops to our table. Like between the time we finished eating to when he checked in with us next. Then he didnt ask about dessert - I brought it up myself. Admittedly, some of these are nits... Now for the food. The chips and salsa were fine. The cheese enchiladas were really good. The avocado ones on the other hand were kind of meh... We also asked if they could do some veggie tacos and they sort of put veggies on there which I didnt want. I wouldve rather had beans, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, etc. Like a regular taco, but just with beans instead of meat. Id say overall the beans and rice were rather flavorless. Lastly, the mango tres leches was awesome. Really fresh tasting mango bits and a super-moist cake with this delicious mango sauce on top of the whole thing. If it werent for the cheese enchilada and this cake, this place would definitely have been a 1 or 2 star place. Even with those two food items, I dont think it a place going back for lunch or dinner. There are just so many better food options around. On the other hand, I do think Id come back here to hang for some drinks or what not.