Rosa Cantina — Restaurant in Longmont

Wow, first time trying Rosa Cantina. Four stars for exceeding expectations. Most of the Mexican style restaurants in town are virtual carbon copies of each other and I would generally give a 'Fine' rating. The place was packed on a Thursday. Given this odd location, that was a really good sign, if not annoying, because there's little to no sound mitigation in that very loud space.

I had three items: Trad marg. I'll give this a 'Fine+' rating. Seemed pretty light on the alcohol, but I'll give it a pass because it wasn't too acidic with the lime juice.

Chips and salsa. Chips: A+, freshly fried, not too thin, not too thick blue corn tortilla, goldilocks. Green salsa. I'll give this a, "if there's nothing else on the table to eat, I guess I'll have some". Relatively bland and not super flavorful. Red salsa. I'll give this a "Nope". Smokiness like chipotle pepper is enjoyable, ash try flavor is not.

Enchiladas Divorciadas. The main really shined. The problem with enchiladas generally is that they're typically drowning in a combo of enchilada sauce, cheese, and sour cream. Sometimes even more sauces on top where every bite is a mono texture, can't taste the meat adventure in the most boring culinary event ever. This is what passes as 'Fine' usually. The execution on this dish solved most, if not all the usual problems with enchiladas. They sparingly sauced the plate and dish with sauce. Cheese and sour cream were used sparingly and the tortillas themselves were slightly crisped on the edges. Also, I almost forgot! There were crispy tortilla strips on top. But the best part was I could actually taste the meat, and it was actually pretty great. Execution is A+ solving texture and flavor issues that plague this dish at basically every place I've ever been.

I wonder if the places that smother their meat enchiladas are trying to cover up bad meat flavor? It's a conspiracy of the darkest sort! But seriously, check this place out, I don't want it to close. Just do it at weird times, I'd like it a little quieter...

My first experience at this restaurant was absolutely infuriating. After waiting 15 minutes for an outdoor table, we were finally brought to one, only to find it was shoved awkwardly next to the door, where we’d be bumped by servers all night, and right next to the loud interior we were trying to avoid in the first place.

I pointed out a much better table just a few feet away they was quiet, pleasant, and clearly unoccupied. Instead of seating us there, the hostess told us she had to ask the people behind us if they wanted it… because they had a dog. Are you serious? We waited longer. We were next. But instead of being seated like customers who matter, we were made to stand there while she literally asked the guests behind us if they preferred the nicer table—and of course, they took it.

She came back and told us, flat-out, that the other party was getting the better table and we weren’t. No apology. No explanation. Just “too bad.”

Why were we treated as second-class customers? Why was a dog given more consideration than two paying humans? And I have to ask: was it because the other party was a pair of white women and I’m Latina? Because that’s sure as hell how it felt. The message was loud and clear: some people get priority, and it’s not you.

This place clearly doesn’t respect its customers or believe in basic fairness. I won’t be coming back, and I’ll be telling everyone I know to avoid this place too. This restaurant is...

I am so glad we came here. We arrived here on a Saturday about 3pm. They had a few tables, and we were seated quickly. Maybe 2 minutes upon sitting out, the waiter came out with water. I want to say that the glass cups were a huge plus( most mexican restaurants have old plastic cups). He gave us a few minutes to go over the drink selection we decided on the 6margarita flight and a victoria michelada. The michelada was flavorful. But the margaritas are amazing, refreshing, and sweet. Next, we wanted to try a few things we decided on the empanadas de camaron. I was a little surprised that they were made of purple masa,which didn't take away from the flavor the spicy mayo and the oil chili were the perfect addition. We also ordered a callo de acha tostada and a red agua Chile tostada. The red one was good, but the callo de hacha had an amazing flavorful spicy green sauce. The coctel de camaron is good. You get a lot of shrimp. We wanted to try the tacos. We had a tijuana one and a pork belly. The tijuana was my favorite. The meat was cooked perfectly. The addition of the queso fresco was the cherry on top. The pork belly was delicious. The pork was fatty, and the roasted corn was really good. Lastly, we could not leave without trying the desserts we had the flan really good portion creamy and not overly sweet. The tamal de elote was soft, moist, and perfectly flavored. Omg I almost forgot the staff is amazingly helpful...