Mateo's Taco & Cantina — Restaurant in East Hampton

I’m 5 months pregnant and was craving some good gringo tacos. I googled places and this place popped up. I’m so glad it did. We drove 45 minutes to get there and it was worth every minute. The tacos were amazing, all the appetizers we had were delicious and the smores pizza dessert was literal perfection. The only suggestion I have is that the food came out with extra plates. The plates themselves are a little small (not the food. The food has exceptional serving sizes, but a little too big for the plate.) Our server was also amazing. I think her name was Kara. She was super friendly, attentive and knowledgeable. I also really liked the ambiance. As a self proclaimed hipster, I highly enjoy darker settings and it was perfect for my love for the dive bar feel. (Definitely not a dive bar though) After we left we stumbled across some live music next door…..is East...

Was very hopeful about this place but we ended up being pretty disappointed. We each tried several different tacos but nothing really blew me away and the shells weren't heated at all. The cilantro rice was not very flavorful. The swordfish tacos were really gamey and didn't have much to balance out that flavor. The plates and glasses were very smudged and greasy. Our appetizer came out at the same time as our meal so there wasn't much room on the table. The overall lighting and ambiance wasn't great. I have enjoyed other food from Jessica's and Burger Heaven very much but I didn't have that experience here. I'm all for small businesses over chains but it seems like the owners are taking on too many endeavors and the quality...

The birria tacos and beef tacos were very good. We also had the hard shell gringo tacos and they need a little work. May I suggest heating your shells in the oven first for a few minutes so they get that crunchy bite and not that fresh from the package chewy crunch. I also suggest completely eliminating the crushed tomatoes over the meat, it masks the meat flavor and in my opinion didn't mesh well. I've eaten tacos in many countries and never had one with that tomato mix you use. Salsa would be much better if your looking to add something on top of the lettuce. I look forward to coming back and seeing...