Cantina la Martina — Restaurant in Philadelphia

I need to preface this by saying that we came as a party of 7 to celebrate a birthday, so I can empathize that trying to deliver exceptional service in this situation can be difficult. That being said, we had a very poor experience. Came here expecting big things from a James Beard nominee and we're very disappointed.

The food was very underwhelming. We had started with the guacamole trio and an aguachiles. The guac was fine, but the aguachile was under seasoned and needed both acid and salt. We then moved onto entrees. 3 of our party had ordered the Tlayuda Oaxaqueña, a $40 entree that sounded incredible as it was written on the menu. However, the dish was far from it. 2 of the dishes were barely warm and one was cold as if it had been sitting for a long time. The bone marrow atop was undercooked, and everything felt underseasoned. One of our party ordered the Bistec medium rare; and while it was definitely tender, felt again underseasoned and was overcooked. The fiesta de Los moles was visually stunning and indeed a "feast", but the Cornish hens that came on it were dry and bland. The sauces were ok but did little to help the overcooked, barely warm hens.

Our service was especially slow and lackluster. Our server took our drink order, and while we could see our drinks at the bar completed for 15 minutes, our server was no where to be found. We also had to flag down our server to get a 2nd round of drinks as she was inattentive and did not check on us once during our meal. The food took a very long time to come out as well and was cold (as previously stated). After we waited for boxes to take our bones home for our dogs, we again waited for an obscene amount of time before flagging our server at the bar for the check. That's when they had added a 20% gratuity to our bill. All of us worked in the industry before and understand and support auto grat for large parties, but 20% for near nonexistent service was discouraging.

The restaurant itself is beautiful and sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of Kensington. But the plates were all chipped and made the $30-40 entrees all seem less valuable by comparison.

Overall, underwhelming food, nonexistent service, chipped plates, old brown limes in our drinks, no where near worth the $80 per person we spent...

I would like to start saying that the food and drinks were fantastic! I went to Cantina La Martina with my friend for dinner, despite what I read below the service was great and attentive and our server gave us plenty of recommendations, from drinks, to appetizer to desserts. The food is a mix between traditional and modern Mexican. We ordered 2 starters: the guacamole most likely is made upon order because it really seemed very fresh, we also a ceviche with strawberries that was very particular and tasty. Together with what illustrated in the pictures we also had a main dish, a goat meat dish with cactus and other veggies with a side of plantains. All absolutely delicious. To pair with our dinner we were recommended a drink with infused chamomile and a drink with tequila, mezcal, lemon and some spices, both great and perfect for our meal. We ended our dinner with a dessert, a 3 leches with lavender. Another great suggestion from our server. We spent definitely a good night. The place is very nicely decorated and the outdoor space is very big, there are picnic tables, string lights and to accompany the cute outdoor a typical philly mural art. There is only one problem, the location. Unfortunately like I read below it’s a hidden gem and once you go outside the door you see the worst of Kensington, people using all over, walking high on the street and once the sun goes down it feels very unsafe. The food is worth the ride and the place has a lot of potential but I’m not sure how many people would feel comfortable enough to get there. I really wish good luck to the chef and owner, I’m not sure what brought him to this particular location but I do hope that with the right advertising, the reputation of the chef and the friendship with many others famous philly chefs and or restaurant entrepreneurs (Steven Starr, Mike Solomonov, ecc) people will be brave enough to get up there because it is really worth it and I wish you good luck. Who knows between us in the close neighbors supporting this business and the reputation of the business itself this area will...

Updating after today's brunch... Ate with a party of 4, 11:30am on a Saturday, walk in. Started with the house coffee, cafe de olla, a lightly sweetened, cinnamon infused mild brew. Brought an 8yo to try the kids' options. From the kid menu, avacado fries served wit, crunchy in the outside, cool on the inside, and who doesn't heart wiz for dipping. Fluffy scratch pancakes with chocolate whipped cream and agave syrup. Oxacan take on eggs Benedict with morcilla sausage, crunchy tostones, and spicy Hollandaise. Fried eggs over tortillas and braised beef. Ripe plantains fried and served with fresh cheese, and refried beans to round out the dishes. Cold horchata, margaritas and Michelinas for drinks. A Michelina is a Modelo especial with spicy tomato juice and a spicy salt rim, a happy stand-in for the usual bloody Mary. The horchata is house-made with a little coconut milk in the mix. Service was friendly and professional, and the place is spotless. Taco truck was open in the side yard for patrons dining al fresco.

From dinner the prior week: Amazingly, absurdly good food. We had a party of 8, we ordered almost everything on the Dinner menu, finished with everything on the dessert menu. Service was friendly, efficient, helpful. Rich flavors, beautiful presentation on hand painted ceramic dishes. Well-made house cocktails, including a variety of margaritas. Ceviche de Coco was delicious and typical of the care with which flavors and textures were combined and presented. We ate inside, but the outside yard is spacious and attractive with tables and umbrellas, surrounded by a colorful tall stockade fence. The taco truck in the yard takes care of your...