Campechano College — Restaurant in Toronto

If you’ve feeling mildly adventurous for somewhere “ethnic” but have no clue what Mexican food is, this is the place for you.

For context, I grew up in nyc in a Hispanic area. My mother lived in South America for 7 years. I can make Latin food. Eaten Latin food across the America’s from north to south.

My long time date (it’s complicated) wanted to come here because her friend recommended and Google had rave reviews (I now have zero trust in people who wrote these reviews or her friend).

First thing we ordered — Ceviche. I get they want me to order lots of drinks but holy was the fish salty. It was like licking a Himalayan salt stone. Then it was acidic. I will say they were generous on the fish and the ingredients looked good. So close but missed the mark on this one.

Drinks were ok. The same as anywhere. No points added or deducted.

Every taco place needs to have some form of a hot sauce or even salsa verde. They had this house made chili flake garlic (you won’t taste either of these ingredients) oil. All I got was this oily mouth numbing sensation. It’s not hot or spicy. It’s the kind that makes you cough your lungs out cuz it’s trapped in your throat. Maybe another tactic to order more drinks? It worked. I ordered more drinks. At least our mouth wasn’t salty anymore.

If the hot sauce didn’t make you cry, the price of the tacos will — an eye watering $9. I have never in my life or known anyone who has paid that much for ONE taco. I thought it would come with two or three. I had to ask why such a premium price. Dude tells me it’s fair price and insinuates I can’t afford to eat at this grungy joint but maybe I read too much into that one. I gotta give credit to him though. He had this false confidence making the food sound so authentic with this ethnically raised kosher farm animals or something. Like how would you even prove that and who is going to challenge you? It’s ok I can appreciate good BS. We ordered all the protein tacos. They had nice ingredients on it but no flavor profile except for the al pastor and steak. Texture was ok. The green sauce was nice. I think it was the salsa crudo or something. All the protein was moist but I don’t get why they shredded all the protein. Like yes I know you’re giving me less this way versus whole pieces but I am paying $9 :/

I settled up our $150 bill which wasn’t bad but we were both still hungry. I couldn’t sleep that night. Not be cause of the food but I had a nightmare the staff at Campechano laughing it up that I paid and tipped on a $9 taco. Those owners better be doing some form of...

I was invited here by my Colombian friend as they highly spoke about this place. My review is a neutral on AS IS basis. Honestly when I went to this place, the looks of it were a regular hangout place with high prices. Nothing really stood out to me as I think I observe a lot. The menu is limited so it's straightforward and not overwhelming.

We had ordered 2 pitchers of spicy jalapeno margarita to start off with. I joined in afterwards although.

Tacos: I started with their fish taco which our server seconded as a good start & that taco was the only taco well worth my buy in my opinion.

I then ordered the chicken & pineapple and the pulled pork - My group also said these tacos were extra salty for them too (this can be one off instance for that day)

Tacos were delicious (minus the saltiness) & ingredients indeed seemed fresh.

The jalapeno margarita pitcher was around $75 bucks I believe and I spent like $30 bucks on it as divided by 3 people which I think is super expensive.

One taco is $10 and my total came to about $70 + tips. About $80 bucks for 3 tacos & 1 small glass of drink is a lot I believe.

Our friend had the Tres Leches and they said it was really really good.

Just a heads up, this restaurant does caters to a certain income group and definitely is not a place for everyone.

Vibe was cozy but after a point the music was extremely loud for my taste. It reminded me of Yonge Street Warehouse and Mademoiselle immediately. If you want to make conversations you have to raise your voice & risk losing it or may be break into a dance number lol!

The table and chairs are pretty tiny and wooden I guess so you have hardly any space to fit in (Unless you're thin)

Overall this place, for me, seemed like another average Toronto place with hyped reviews. I believe it can be done without.

The food was definitely nicer but at what cost?

My partner was about to join me but I'm glad...

We had made reservations 3wks ahead of time. When we arrived at the restaurant, we saw our friends there who said they had just decided to go that morning. The restaurant host was a tall light brown haired person with pale skin who looked male. The restaurant was totally empty bc we got there right at opening. We asked the host if it were possible to have us seated together and he said NO. We said thats ok, and he seated us at 2 completely separate tables. The host then came to both tables separately and told us “we’ll be charging you mandatory service charge because you know those people at that other table”. I was like, “you refused to seat us at the same table, we’re now sitting at separate tables of 4. U cant charge us mandatory gratuity for that!” He said thats how it is “bc u guys know each other even if ure at separate tables”! So we sat at 2 separate tables, away from our friends, and the entire dinner felt so uncomfortable since he told us that we’d have to pay mandatory gratuity. We were all upset during the meal. The host forcing the large party tip onto our small party of 4 when they would not even allow us to sit with our friends! Forcing mandatory gratuity onto us was uncalled for and unconventional and made us feel like they were trying to gouge us. The food was good, but service was NOT. Our water wasnt even refilled when it was empty til we asked. Happened 4x. At the end of the dinner, the host gave us the bill and told us he didn't add the mandatory gratuity. However, he gave us NO APOLOGY for upsetting us, ruining the atmosphere and our appetites. So be careful if u see anyone u know at the restaurant, don’t tell the host bc he will try to charge u mandatory gratuity for both tables even if you are NOT sitting together. Even though the food was pretty good, we left with a bad taste...