Cantina Tex Mex Tequila Bar — Restaurant in Ocala

Just arrived in town and took family to dinner to celebrate a birthday. The restaurant across the street we wanted to go to had a lengthy wait, so we walked across the street and there was no wait at the Cantina Tex-Mex and Tequila bar, so we took a table. We would soon find out why tables were so available.

Waitress wasn't sure what drinks were available and had to ask the bartender. She then wasn't sure what certain items on the menu were, and had to go back and ask the kitchen. After taking the order for our table of five, she returned 20 minutes later to let us know that one of the selections was unavailable due to not having the ingredients, but by that time, all the other meals were already being served, so the person who ordered the unavailable meal had make another selection and didn't receive his meal until 15 minutes later when everyone else at the table had finished. We had also originally ordered one additional meal that we told the waitress not to have made until the end of our meal, as we would be taking it to go and wanted it to be fresh. 5 minutes after telling her that, we canceled that order, long before any of our meals were prepared or brought to the table, but the waitress said that meal had already been prepared and delivered it to our table. Even though it sat on the table for a while before our meals were brought out, she told us not to worry about it and we could just keep it and would not be charged. At the end of the evening, she brought our check and, you guessed it, the canceled meal, which she told us would be removed from the bill, was charged. Additionally, we had mentioned to her that one of our family members was celebrating a birthday, but didn't ask her to do anything special. However, she did bring out a slice of cake on a plate that had happy birthday written in chocolate. This would normally be appreciated as a kind gesture from the restaurant, but when we received the bill, we were also charged for the slice of cake that we never ordered (which I ultimately just decided to pay for).

After informing her that the mistaken to-go meal was charged, she took the check away, and came back with a corrected check, but also said she would be taking the meal back to the kitchen. This was perfectly fine and reasonable, except for the fact that she had already told us we could just keep that meal and there would be no charge and then later told us as she was taking it away that it was just going to be thrown away in the back, but the manager didn't want us to have it (seemingly implying that we may be trying to scam them).

Also, only brought a minimum amount of chips and salsa for a table of five, and we had to ask for extra, which took about 10 minutes to get and even then was minimal. While some of our meals were fine, a couple others weren't very tasty at all, and as far as Mexican food is concerned, we've had much better and would probably rate it overall a 4 out of 10.

Definitely would not recommend this restaurant to others, which is something the locals seem to already know, given how few people were in the restaurant.

This is unfortunate, as I was really hoping that we had found some place with some good Mexican food that we could...

So first off what a beautiful place to eat dinner. Our server Heather was absolutely the highlight of our dining we couldn't have asked for a better customer experience. Here's the hard part and probably the most important the food. First off you can usually tell something about a Mexican restaurant by its salsa & chips. Well I should have stopped there because my dinner became this weird twisted trip through the unexplainable and in turn was completely from start to finish inedible. We will start of with meal. Fajitas. The sides to choose from is a creamy potato soup, a Mexican salad or lastly a cesar salad. All very strange options because you have this large portion of lettuce & spinach on your side plate with all your fajitas toppings. So I chose the cesar.... and it was wonky at best. I have no Idea what the thought process is when you bite into that salad. It's covered in these pickled onions that in no way compliment parmesan cheese or cesar dressing. It was undoubtedly the strangest and the most not well thought out salad that I've ever had. I can't stop there. My Fajitas catapulted in this maze of way to ambitious with very little skill. The chef who cooked & cut this for presentation and taste was in my opinion totally clueless. Chunks of chicken so dry that you couldn't tell it was chicken. The steak so charred on one side that it was completely black. The shrimp I will give a pass on it was the only edible thing on my plate. There was a full head of garlic which was very strange, half of a lime in one solid chunk and the normal onions and peppers were there but just barely. On the side plate huge chunks of lettuce and lots of spinach. A little pico, a little cheese, a slice of Avocado and a few other normal things. Again a fajita is meant to be put together rather easily and this was anything but. I am not trying to mean this is just the cold hard facts. We were told that they have a new chef and so I am going to give him the chance to learn and grow. I see the ambition the chef has but the ambition just doesn't transend into the food. It was tough from start to finish to find tidbits that were edible. The restaurant compensated me for my meal but no manager came over to apologize or acknowledge the issue. Again it was left to my server to deal with. I didn't want to say anything but looking at my plate she could already see what I was experiencing. A plate full of beyond dry and very over cooked chicken along with the skirt steak that was so overcooked it resembled jerky. I know this place will do better... it has to. That kind of food in this kind of small town well undoubtedly put this owner and it's staff out of business in no time. Hands down one of the worst Mexican dining experiences in all my 54 years. I would have loved to give this restaurant 5 stars but I just couldn't. Based on my meal alone I had to fight to...

Extremely Disappointing Experience – Poor Service & Unprofessionalism

Our visit to Cantina Tex-Mex Cantina Bar was nothing short of frustrating due to the extremely poor service we received. From the moment our waitress, Tiffany, introduced herself by stating, "It’s my first day," we were understanding and patient. However, as the night progressed, the service went from bad to worse.

First, we ordered our drinks, and after 35 minutes, we were still waiting. When we brought it to Tiffany’s attention, she blamed the bar. Yet, just 10 minutes later, the table behind us—who had arrived after us—received their drinks. That was the first red flag.

When placing our food order, we were told that yellow rice was unavailable and would be substituted with cilantro lime rice. My partner’s meal was also supposed to include a salad. Additionally, we ordered a side of their special corn. When our food finally arrived, our drinks were still missing, and to make matters worse, the order was incorrect.

My partner’s meal did not include the rice or salad as promised. I, however, did receive yellow rice, despite being told there was none available. Our special corn was missing. When we asked about the missing items, Tiffany abruptly told us the kitchen was closed, yet food was clearly still being served to other tables. Her demeanor became dismissive and defensive, offering excuse after excuse instead of trying to make things right. At this point, it became evident that we were not going to receive even the bare minimum level of customer service.

The entire experience left a bitter taste, making it impossible to enjoy our meal. What was supposed to be a pleasant date night turned into a frustrating ordeal. It truly felt as if we were being disregarded while other tables were receiving proper service.

I will be bringing this matter to upper management in the hopes that they train their “new” employees in basic hospitality and customer service. This level of neglect and unprofessionalism is unacceptable, and unless significant improvements are made, I do not recommend...