Lupe's Cantina — Restaurant in Leeds

Here is my review for Lupe's Cantina! I won't charge you for reading it because I'm generally a good egg.

The stars aligned, which meant I and my closest acquaintances (O, A-J and Swigs) had the time to go somewhere to eat together. We've all been wanting to go here for years, so O booked us a table for 8pm on a Fridididay. Me, O and A-J each had a bottle of cider before we arrived.

However, when we got there, we were told there was no available tables for us, and that we had to wait an additional 10 minutes. We waited patiently outside, as it is a small restaurant and we didn't want to put the other customers off by staring in their general direction (my acquaintances anyway; people will literally pay me to look at them).

When we were seated, we told that they had a power cut earlier in the evening so they were kinda backed up. Damn utilities!

The food was incredible, and the timing of the courses was pretty much perfect. We ate tacos, enfrijoladas, prawns, flautas, the lamb dish and, of course, tortilla chips with the best tasting guac J has ever had . I ain't normally one of those fish-eating folk, but the tacos ensenada was the perfect blend of spice, crunch, crisp and flave. There is a real focus on freshness to the ingredients, and you really notice it. We all decided that the prawns were the MVP of the night though, highly recommended!

The staff were excellent throughout the evening, they informed us that the cocktails were a 15 minute wait (worth it for the Tommy's Mezcal Marg) and the young lad who took our extensive order nailed it first time. They also deserve extra J-praise because working in such a confined restaurant must require excellent spatial awareness, and as far as I know, no-one was wearing their meal. BOOYAH.

The only downside was that I was there with the acquaintance crew, I'd prefer it if they didn't come next time (but by all means, pay for my...

Unfortunately, Lupe's Cantina not only failed to live up to the expectations from its glowing reviews, but the expectations were shattered. On a positive note, though, the atmosphere was vibrant and inviting, and the food was reasonably priced in most cases.

The menu offered a variety on paper, but in reality we found a majority of the dishes had a consistent lack of something special; go here for pleasant food, not to be blown away. The most significant impact on our experience was the service. Our table was not ready when we arrived at the time offered to us - understandable on a busy evening, but made no better by failure to get any service while we sat at the bar for more than fifteen minutes.

Our drinks were forgotten; then the drinks delivered were wrong, and then finally, one hour into our visit, we received the correct drinks (thankfully, they were brilliant). When we needed to clarify what food had been delivered to us, our server helped greatly with their response of, "I'm not sure".

To finish our evening, we were presented the bill without requesting it, immediately after we finished our mains - not after ten minutes, not after dessert was offered as it was for another table who finished after us, but immediately after we stopped eating.

I hope our experience was unique, but I can safely say that even on food itself, Lupe's Cantina...

Have been meaning to come here for months and it lived up to, if not exceeded, expectations!

Firstly the food: between two of us, we started with the tortilla chips and salsas which were gorgeous. I particularly liked the green salsa, to the point where we ordered an extra pot of it to have our mains with. The tortilla chips were authentic and so much nicer than store bought. We then got the tacos ensenada (fish tacos), tacos vegetarianos (veggie tacos) and enchiladas de championoñes (mushroom enchiladas) to share between us. All were beautiful, but I’d say the veggie tacos and mushroom enchiladas were probably tastier, although you did get more in the fish tacos than the veggie tacos. We really enjoyed all the dishes and they left us feeling full at the end.

Drinks-wise, I had the Mangorita and Lupe’s Spicy Marg cocktails and I absolutely loved both but would recommend the Mangorita the most, it was like a mango smoothie with a kick of tequila!

We were also impressed with the prices, particularly because we normally eat and drink in the city centre where it is generally pricier. I thought £7.50 for the cocktails given how nice they were was quite reasonable, and my boyfriend had a large glass of wine for about £6. The food is also really reasonable.

Overall really impressed and absolutely will be...