Tres Amigos Cantina — Restaurant in Florida

We've been going to Tres Amigos Cantina on and off since the day it opened. It's not the same as the Don Pablo's that was there before it, but it's still good. They did keep most of the décor as well as the tortilla making station. The restaurant that you see today is independently owned (it's not part of any chain) and local to Brandon. Just read the story on their website. I totally remember when Don Pablo's suddenly closed their locations and left their employees stunned the day after Christmas back in 2007. Fortunately, the property owner proposed a new beginning for the managers and employees. Tres Amigos Cantina was born from this partnership and has been a part of this community for about 15 years. It's a great story of survival and success.

Our most recent lunch visit was a good one. My husband likes to go there for the Tex-Mex. It's not the best we've ever had but it's pretty decent. Most people come for the freshly made flour tortillas and their margarita pitchers. They have a great bar area and an outdoor patio. The chips and salsa are complimentary with the meal. They have a bolder version of their salsa that I swear used to be spicier, but not so much during this last visit. I guess it depends on the produce. I've had their steak and veggie fajitas, poblano relleno, and sopapillas in the past. All were good. Their queso and blanco dip are both very good, but I didn't get that this time around. I decided to try the elotes and carne asada. The street corn was prepared very well. It had great texture and flavor. The 8 oz. carne asada (or skirt steak) was a good size for me. It was cooked medium rare and topped with an herb butter. The only negative was that it was a tad under seasoned. It could have used a little more salt. I added salt later when heating up my leftovers at home and it was perfect.

The entrees come with 2 sides as well as flour tortillas. I selected charro beans and the corn cake as my sides. It was all good. I honestly could eat those flour tortillas all day. Also, the corn cake was like a dessert at the end of the meal. My husband's combo appetizer platter was more than enough for him. He ate all of the chicken flautas and steak nachos. We always like their chicken flautas. He saved the quesadillas for later in the day. They reheat very well. He really likes the flour tortillas with their blend of pico de gallo and cheese.

Another bonus is that they give a military discount. It's 25% for active duty military. Retired military and dependents with a military ID also get a discount but it's not as high of a percentage. We got a 10% discount this last visit. I think it's great that they even offer one. They're very good with large groups of people. Just call ahead for availability because it can get busy at peak times. The prices are good and there's plenty of parking. It's a...

We decided to start coming to Tres Amigos about 2 months ago. Our first few visits were great! Aside from it always being freezing cold inside, so bring a jacket...

However, we went last week and were disappointed in the service. We arrived around 530pm. There were maybe 6 tables being used, it wasn't busy at all. The guy asked how many people in our party, I told him 7 and he wrote my name down and said he would call me soon...I looked around wondering what was different about the previous times when it was more crowded and we were sat immediately, but eh. Lol so I'm standing there for about 5 minutes when I realize, he is cleaning one of the round tables for us and I see him counting the chairs and scooting them closer together so he could fit a 7th chair. There was no way were were going to fit at that table and not be cramped, so I went to him and asked if we could have one of the many larger rectangle tables. He sat us at one and shortly later brought us our chips and salsa...except, they couldn't exactly pass for chips...they were literally all crumbs. Two baskets filled with chip crumbs..when the waitress finally came over to take our drink (and food order bc it had been a while) she did notice the chips and said she would bring new ones, which was very nice.

But everything was slow. It took forever for the new chips to come, the queso bowl had two pieces of hair in it and when we let the waitress know, she didn't seem too concerned, she did take it off the bill. We waited a lot for anything we needed. Refills, food, utensils...we never even got napkins, even after asking for some.

When we were given the bill, my husband was already ready with his card and she took it and immediately charged it, my husband got the notification as soon as it went through. Yet, it was another 10 minutes before she even returned with the card.

I was incredibly disappointed this go round and I wanted to come back today (because after rediscovering this establishment, we have been almost weekly.) But I just don't want to have another bad experience.

As far as our food: my kids always get the pancakes, they love them. This time, my daughter ended up feeling sick halfway through. My husband orders the breakfast burrito and loves that, it is a great size for the price. He also felt sick afterwards this time. I order plain tacos, because I come for the queso, those were delicious. My sister and her friend liked their food, but my sister ended up feeling sick afterwards also. My son ordered the cheese quesadilla but didn't eat it, since he filled up on chip crumbs and salsa.

I think next time we go back, we may request...

This was my first visit to this restaurant. But I had visited the location when it was Don Pablo's. The atmosphere could be better. I felt like I walked into a big open room with nothing interesting to catch my eye. If there was music, I couldn't hear it. It also felt unclean, it may be because the color scheme isn't vibrant and the lighting was poor.

The waitress provided good service and the food came out timely.

The menus felt sticky and the drink menu on the table had salsa residue. We cleaned the drink menu.

Almost every table was taken so I was hoping the food was good. I ordered a lime margarita, frozen. I couldn't taste the tequila. Because of that I didn't venture to try other drinks.

The chips didn't taste fresh. The salsa didn't have fresh tomatoes and the flavor was bland. We weren't offered more chips after the first basket. I asked for a spicy sauce, the waitress did tell me it wasn't very spicy, and she was right. But it was more flavorful.

I had the chicken street tacos. They were good but little meat. The tortilla tasted homemade but it broke with the weight of the filling. Recommend they put two tortillas to prevent that. I wish they had their own salsas to put on the tacos. There was cholula hot sauce at the table so I used that. The refried beans were tasty. The rice wasn't. The rice tasted like the seasonings came in a packet and then mixed into the rice while cooking.

I had the flan for dessert. The waitress told me they aren't prepared in-house. I like a more flavorful flan so I didn't like it. It was a good portion for one person.

I don't think I will be back unless a friend wanted to go badly. In that case, I would at least have the tacos to order. I would order them a la carte and a beer.

I didn't think this was authentic tex-mex food or authentic Mexican food. Knowing this may help with the...