Cantina — Restaurant in City of Saratoga Springs

This review may prove especially useful for persons of color who may be considering this restaurant. Read on to learn why your background may be relevant (fellow POC, you may find the sound of this experience all too familiar and should be aware of this risk should you choose to eat here). Without further ado...

Our first stop was the rooftop bar before our reservation. It's a nice set up and the hostess was polite and helpful. However our experience soured once we endeavored to order drinks. We waited patiently for several patrons ahead of us to place and receive their order. However even when they were finished we received no acknowledgment from the bartender, despite our close proximity. After waiting a bit longer with not so much as a glance in our direction (altogether about ten minutes) my sister spoke up and asked if we could order. She received an affirmative nod in reply only to have him then turn and ask another group (who indicated their desire to order after us) what they would like to drink.

Annoyed that we were obviously being ignored, I curtly asked to order drinks but my sister decided to just forget it and said let's go. As we were turning to leave he finally addressed us, and asked to ID every person in our party---a request not made of a single one of the seven or eight other people served before us. Mind you, I'm middle aged, every member of our party is creeping up on 40, and though we'd all love to believe otherwise we know we look our respective ages. Nevertheless my sister and I complied, retrieving the IDs of the other members of our party who lingered elsewhere in the crowd, only to return and have the bartender tell us everyone had to personally appear in front of him to verify their identities.

Again, this was not a request made of anyone else who preceded us. I suppose some credit is due to the bartender for being creative enough to employ the covert method of mistreatment known as selective rule enforcement---if called on this behavior he could simply claim to be following the law. In any event, we finally received our drinks and moved on with our evening dinner plans without incident (the tacos, margaritas and waitress were great).

All in all I'm sure this is a great place to come for drinks if you are white. However, I would advise you to think twice if you find yourself outside of...

For over 50 years my family has been coming to Saratoga Springs. Today was my first experience dining at Cantina for lunch upon the recommendation of my wife. My server was lovely and was focused on me and my wife's needs. Sorry, I don't recall her name.

We ordered their wings, Birria Tacos, salad, fried brussel sprouts, and fried ice-cream. The food was delivered timely and was hot. The wings were excellently fried with a flavorful sweet sauce. The brussel sprouts were outstandingly crisp and taste consistency was spot on, served with a slightly spicy dipping sauce. The tacos, w/au jus, were VERY VERY small with not much flavor (I was expecting regular size). The salad...she took home. The fried ice-cream was ok. The coating was not desirable. It tasted like the coating was in the freezer too long. So the MEAL ONLY was an overall 4 rating; 5 without the tacos and ice-cream and.......................here's the kicker...

My wife chose outside seating since there was lots of sunshine and not too hot outside. Unfortunately, after we sat down, new people sat outside WITH THEIR DOGS!!!! One person had 3 medium sized dogs. Another had 1 big dog. And another had 1 medium sized dog. We were ambushed. We were so busy counting the hairs flying through the air landing on our table and in our food that it completely took away from our enjoyment of our meal. One of the dogs kept coming behind me as if he was going to ask for a fork! VERY BAD!

I love dogs. I had plenty of them growing up. I just do not feel that it would make sense to have something in place to prevent these things from happening...namely floating hair in my food. It is enough to have to deal with potential human hair or any other miscellaneous particles but pet hair?? Maybe the restaurant should make it clear to its guests that if they would prefer not to be exposed to potential animals...please sit inside at a decent distance away? Maybe the pet should be fully covered? Whatever the solution, it should be all inclusive without subjecting me and my wife to eating dog hairs in our tacos or water served...and it can't be me not coming there or relocating to another table or just getting a discounted meal or reimbursement for the meal. The focus is for all of us to have an experience we all appreciate.

Just...

Restaurant has a more upscale feeling than what the crowd inside lets on, very bumping for dinner time, noisy on a level that makes talking at less than a shout hard, and we noticed the upper levels were closed off due to a private event.

The menu was levels of Mexican, from the common to the more exotic. However the selection isn't enormous, it's just enough.

Service was fast, friendly, and good on communication. Our waitress Candice was quick on order taking and refills, and a very bright light. Nice girl.

We ordered ice tea, soda, chicken chimichangas, fish tacos, spicy calamari, nachos, fried ice cream, and a tres-leches cake.

The chicken chimichanga was great. Crispy fried exterior, filling and meaty chicken insides, a delicious flavor, and was oddly easy on an empty stomach. The included rice was spicy but a but on the dry side, and there was also a side of beans but we ended up foisting them off on one of our party who took them home.

Free chips and salsa were also served, both of which tasted homemade. Very crispy, thick, and plain chips. The salsa had an abundance of flavor, and paired perfectly with the more plain chips. Pretty addictive.

The "spicy" calamari was anything but, with the only spice being the sliced jalapenos. The calamari itself was not quite as crispy as we hoped, and was a little too oily. However the nachos made up for it, being cheesy and filling. Although be warned, they are covered in cilantro, so make sure to pay attention if you have an aversion to the flavor of the greens.

The fried ice cream went a bit too heavy with the breading, but it did have a great flavor. And while the tres-leches cake was good, the party agreed it didn't have the same "rumy" punch some homemade versions we have created.

Overall a pleasant experience, a bit too noisy, but the service and food was great. The bathrooms were also very nice, clean, large,...