Tony's Cantina mexican Grill — Restaurant in Jacksonville

The wait was about 45 minutes from 7:30pm. The ambiance is nice as well as the decor, definitely picture worthy! Getting the waitress attention was difficult, she would disappear at times but I assumed that was due to the full house, she also never asked to refill our water.

I got the carne asada with black beans and Mexican rice. I also had the margarita flight which was good as well. The food was good and flavorful however the carne asada was rare in some places. I sent it back and they put the exact same meat (which I know from my restaurant working experience…you aren’t supposed to do) back on the grill and handed it back. The meat was still pink, I’m a medium kinda girl but this pink was more than I was comfortable with. So I sent it back a second time. They again placed the same meat on the grill that I’ve now touched twice and handed it back. Everything was cooked…too cooked! The meat was basically burnt from being placed on the grill too many times after some parts were already done. So the cook saw the burnt food and still handed it to me and walked away. I didn’t think I was asking for too much when I asked it to be evenly cooked the first time.

So basically I’ve been waiting 2 hours to eat my food (counting from the wait time). I ended up having to ask them to remake it and taking it to go which kinda sucks considering I was starving when I came. I couldn’t really enjoy the restaurant because I was too worried about the food.

I added pics of how it looked. When I first got it, how it looked when I cut into it, and how it looked after the 2nd time they brought it back.

Oh yea and they never got someone to speak to me or offer to take it...

Integrity is an important thing, especially in a chef. We have been pretty frequent customers. Most of the time we go out, we ended up here. Last night was a different experience than we have had in the past. I watched servers walk food to the wrong tables at least 5 times as I was waiting for my server to take my drink order. There were no check ins to see if we needed anything. We had a toddler with us and we asked for napkins. They brought one per person. We asked for more once we used those. We never got more. I could’ve just brought the wipes in if I knew it was bring your own napkin. Now, the main issue I am about to mention, where integrity comes in… I ordered Hawaiian tacos. The first one was good. I went to grab my second one and saw what looked like a silicone piece of a spatula in my food. Unsure if that’s what it was, we bit into it, we tried cutting it and it was hard to cut…. Some sort of plastic. When asked, the server told us the chef claimed it was fried garlic. Now, we keep fried garlic in our home at all times. We cook with it. I’m a big girl, I know what garlic tastes like. There was no garlic in my food. I lost my appetite and did not eat two of my three tacos. I did not push the matter where I know my food should’ve been deducted from the bill. No apologies, no offer for different food, nothing. I lost my appetite and left hungry, with $20 less than what should have been. They lost a loyal customer because they have zero integrity. Poor service and I see why this place won’t last. They’re choosing food cost over napkins and plastic foreign material over...

Overall 7.5/10

This was a nice first time coming to this place.

When we first entered, we had to wait about 10-15 minutes to be seen. There was no hostess or anyone upfront to help us to be seated. The ambiance is nice and feels more like a mixture of a tapas place and night lounge. We got seated and it was nice. But we weren’t seen until 10 minutes later for water. And then another 10 minutes later for our drinks to be taken and then about another 20 minutes later for our food to be ordered with our drinks finally provided.

The margaritas were two for 1 and they were slightly watery and salty if that made sense so we give that a 6.5/10

The food was just okay. Nothing to run for. The temperature of the food was okay but the taste of the food was just ok. For we had the steak and mushrooms and it was more onions and 5 pieces of good sized shrimps and a flat skirt steak that was cooked well but underlay seasoned. The black beans were nasty! Slightly crunchy but tasted like they reheated them up and watered them down. Was not worth it for the black beans. Don’t order it! 6/10

The appetizers were meh! 2/10

Overall, the customer service was 7.5/10 the lady was friendly and nice but wasn’t able to see us a lot. Wasn’t a lot of people when we went. But she wasn’t available to say hey can we get some more water or hey can we get our check. She wasn’t available but she was pleasant and very presentable.

question of the day! Would we try this place again?

Absolutely! But this time in groups and alone to see what it’s really like.

The wait times is long but...