La Carnita (Yonge & Eglinton) — Restaurant in Toronto

I’ll start off by saying this review is not at all directed at the waiting staff or chefs!

This place was very aesthetic and had a great ambience, however, be prepared to wait a little longer than usual, especially on a Friday or Saturday night. It seems that this spot is a little understaffed, but very popular, which of course can cause some problems.

We stopped in around 7:30 and had about an hour before we had to be somewhere else. We did not have a reservation but were able to be seated, which was great.

We were interested in the half price premium tequila that was on the menu, but when we asked our waiter about it, he mentioned that they don’t have this deal at this location. This was confusing for us and I’m sure, many others- why not just make a separate menu for this location, especially if it’s just a QR code? Does it not get annoying for the wait staff to have to explain to every person that asks every time that they don’t offer that deal?

Instead, we opted for the mule and Paloma. The Paloma was really good, I love sour flavours so it was delicious for me. The mule was good but tasted more like a jalapeño margarita rather than those flavours in a mule (we couldn’t really taste any of the strong ginger flavour that normally comes with a mule).

Despite having ordered our dinner right away, it took almost an hour for it to arrive, to which we had to ask the waiter if it was almost ready (we debated leaving as we were almost late and were thinking of just paying and leaving, and maybe even getting a quick bite from somewhere else on the way). Again, not anyone’s fault, but there definitely needs to be more staff/chefs to accommodate the busy nights, especially when they also do takeout/Uber orders too.

We literally inhaled our food so we wouldn’t be late. We ordered 2 pork belly tacos, and 2 cod tacos. They were very tasty, but we felt the pork belly was on the drier side, and the cod taco could’ve used a bit more flavour (it was a lot better with the lime squeeze but maybe could’ve had some more spices incorporated into it). In addition, it would’ve been nice if the tortilla was maybe fried on a pan a bit, or if something else was added to it just to take it to the next level/elevate it.

Despite this, the staff looked very busy but they were all very kind, lovely, patient, and friendly. I am definitely willing to give this place another try, but I would like to try their other menu items to see if they’re better or if the trends with the tacos are consistent even on a more...

I went to La Carnita around 2 years ago, and it was alright. The service and food was decent enough to try to give them another chance. I decided to give it another try because me and my boyfriend were craving Tacos and it was his birthday. To begin with, the service was decent. As the night went on, our server barely checked in with us and forgot our additional chicken for our Taco Tuesday Tacos. Firstly, the lettuce and cheese looked like it was literally bought from the grocery store. It was soggy iceberg lettuce and some bagged shredded cheese. The guac, salsa and meat were not that bad. The server did not come let us know how long the chicken would take and I think the manager saw us sitting there looking around and came and let us know, which we appreciated. We then waited up to 20 minutes for our chicken and they brought us 5 extra tortillas. Our server then forgot about us and disappeared. We had to ask the bus boy to bring us extra toppings to finish our tacos. Our food kept getting colder and did not look appetizing. He then left for a bit and came back 10 minutes later and asked what topping we wanted. We then sat there waiting AGAIN and the toppings never came. Then our server finally came over and asked us how everything was and we expressed our concerns. The manager came over and he decided to give us 20 dollars off. They at least tried to make up for their lack of good service, but overall it was disappointing. If the service was good, the overall experience would have been much better. I expected more from La Carnita since they are very popular and well known in the city, I seriously do not understand the hype about this place.. I regret giving them one...

I've been here one other time before but didnt leave a review. I felt compelled to write one after re-visiting last night, I arrived around 7 pm and the place was already quiet busy. Lively music , great atmosphere my only comment would be that the music not be so loud in the dining room , people are trying to talk over their meals and engage it's a bit difficult to do that if you have to be yelling across the table.

I wasn't there for a full on meal, just afew cocaktails which btw are FAB and potent. I had the Savage mule it it really hot the spot. I ordered the following:

Totilla Chips with Black Bean Sesame Dip- you can get a choice of 3 or just one, the dip was packed some serious flavour and had a bit of a bite to it. I would definetly next time upgrade to have a 3 dips, chips were great ( made in house) nicely salted but not too salty just wish they came to the table warm...makes a difference.

Mushroom Toastada- Feremented Chili Creama, mushrooms, Pea shoots, pickled Chili, Cojita Cheese and Crisy Shallots- WOW!! I cant even beleive I was debating about ordereing this as I wanted somthing light and meatless, this dish packs a serious punch, it's a flavour bomb with so many great textures, and that light drizzle of balasmic just ties ot all together.

This a great spot to come and have drinks and or light bites. I do have point out that the tacos are like small bite not very big at all, but they are stacked inside , sure a little on the pricy side but Im ok with comiig here...