Tempo Cantina — Restaurant in Brea

Tempo Cantina (formerly Tempo Urban Kitchen) has a club vibe with bumping music and graffiti artwork on the walls throughout the restaurant. It matches the vibe of the restaurant.

We came on a Wednesday night and seated very quickly. Surprisingly for a Wednesday night, it got busier as the tables filled up.

It seems great for the younger crowd. We almost felt a little out of place lol The lights are really dim and their menu is with a QR code. It was slow to load the menu and they brought an iPad to the table. I’d suggest looking at the menu beforehand. The music is quite loud so it’s a bit hard to have conversation.

As someone who does take foodie pictures, I wish it wasn’t so dim. It’s great for the dishes/drinks that comes to the table with sparklers though. We’re all kids at heart, right? Very fun!! It seemed like many tables ordered something that came with sparklers 🎇

Take note that they have a 90 minute time limit. They are constantly taking away dishes throughout your meal if they think you’re done with something. It kind of gives you that feeling of being rushed.

The chips and dip comes on a wood block. I like that touch. The guacamole was good. The chips were thick and crunchy. The salsa had some spice but not too spicy. The little bowl of salsa is kind of small though.

The Margarita flight came with a sparkler, which was cool. I have a feeling that’s why it’s a popular thing to order. The flavors were a little weak though.

They have a lot of different food and drink options. I did like their presentation.

We ordered the Korean Tacos, which was very tasty 🌮 Roasted pork belly w/ chile-soy sauce, serrano sauce, topped w/ red cabbage slaw, chopped mango and lime crema. It was very delicious but greasy so make sure to ask for plenty of napkins. It comes with 3 good size tacos. I’d skip the rice and beans next time. They were okay and a little bland.

The sushi boat comes with 3 sparklers. So cool when it comes to the table. Very fun presentation with that wow factor!

The Strawberry blended margarita was good.

The Margarita flight came with a sparkler, which was cool. I have a feeling that’s why it’s a popular thing to order. The flavors were a little weak though. Not sure if cucumber works in a margarita. Not a favorite.

Overall, we enjoyed our evening.

Tip: be quick with your pictures and videos. The sparklers...

This was my 2nd time going to this place. I really loved coming here the first time which was already late being 10pm and it was slower but the lady server was great and recommend green sauce on my wet burrito which hands down is my favorite wet burrito place. The chips and salsa was really good im a big chips and salsa person so I enjoyed it alot. The wet burrito was HUGE with ALOT of sauce on the plate, it was very delicious that I had to come back again weeks later and I bragged to family and friends about the place. I came back and it was alot busier being around 7pm and we got seated. The chips and salsa were still really good but when I got my 2nd batch it felt like the chips were not as fresh as the first one which isnt the end of the world. I ordered the exact same wet burrito with the green sauce again excited to enjoy the food but when it came out the burrito was smaller in size and less sauce this time. I did feel disappointed to see this but I try not to pay much attention and assume since its busier that they couldn't focus on quailty however eating into the burrito it was barley warm and not hot like the first time which made my experience more sour. I was laughing because the plate was hotter than the burrito I dont think i ever had that experience before. It made me think my burrito was either sitting for awhile and they just made the plate hotter to make it seem like it was gonna keep it hot. Overall I think I will give them a 3rd chance again in the future and update my review but it seems quality will take a hit when its more busy. It makes me want to come later in the night again so it guaranteeds quailty. Im also aware different cooks can be at fault but for an establishment I hope they train all the cooks for the same quailty of food because if my 2nd visit was my first time going than 100% I would've never felt the need to drive an hour away to comeback because it was a disappointment. I would like to also add my watermelon Agua fresca was a little water down compared to my first time so I hope they focus on quality in the drinks as well. I will show photo difference between first and 2nd visit,...

I love Tempos, and am a huge fan of Mr. Tempo, Jorge Cuevas but it was a different experience today. It was not reflective of his management style at all. We asked to be seated inside and waited about forty minutes for it. We were never called. After seeing groups come in and out I asked if we could wait in the shade as we had waited forty minutes in the sun. They agreed and asked if we wanted to order drinks while we waited. I said I rather have them check for seats if possible. The attendant checked and said I found seats, I was relieved. When I went in I was surprised to see over a dozen tables available! I was confused when we were guided to a tiny corner that was even hard to get into. I asked the waiter if we could be seated otherwise considering there was over a dozen tables readily available and instead he made things awkward by asking the table next to it to stand up and move over for us. I was in awe. We waited over twenty minutes after that with no one coming to take our order. We had to speak over each other loudly as we were literally sharing spaces, just inches away from the table next to us and it was awkward after he had asked them to move over scooting them over to squeeze into the table next to them all while 12-15 empty tables remained behind us as visible In the photo image I provided. When time elapsed I asked the female who appeared to be in charge if she knew if anyone was assigned to our table. She said I’ll check (with no apology). About fifteen minutes later We got helped and service was decent after that. The tables behind and around us remained empty the whole time while we shared our eating space with the couple that had been forced to get up so that we can squeeze in. Other times we had met our 90 min max each time. This time we couldn’t get out quick enough. I was bummed by the experience to say the least since I rave about Mr. Tempos to friends and family. I’m hoping it was just that they were understaffed, but I can’t explain cramming all the tables together while the center tables remained empty. I just...