Wicked Cantina St Pete — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

I'm rounding up to 4 stars, but really I'd give it closer to 3.5.

Husband and I stopped in for lunch since we live closeby. I'd been watching them renovate the building and was excited to have another Mexican place so close to home. The building is nice, bright, and cheery inside, and everyone we spoke to was warm and welcoming. Our server was super excited about the place and told us all about how they make their margaritas and guacamole. She went on a little long about it, but it was fine.

Started with the chips and salsa. Chips were hot and fresh and perfect, and the salsa had a nice spice to it that was more than you get in most red restaurant salsas but wasn't too much (I can't handle anything above a medium.) We got the guacamole and while it was clearly made fresh and tasted good, it was lacking salt and some of the avocado chunks were too large for the chips to handle. The lime stood out in the guac but wasn't overwhelming.

I got the cowboy brisket tacos and my hubby got the brisket bowl. The brisket was by far the star of the meal and what has me wanting to go back for more. It was smoky, tender, and flavorful. But unfortunately, and this is the reason for the 3.5 stars, we didn't get much of it. My tacos had skimpy amounts of brisket, and my hubs said his cowboy bowl was mostly slaw. The portions were just small for the price and made up mostly of the filler food - rice and beans, slaw, etc.

I will go back, though, mostly for the brisket and hot chips, and because I'd like to try their margaritas, which the server said were only tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. |

I've seen other reviews complaining about the paltry taco fillings, so hopefully management will see some of it and remedy that. It's the main thing that made the trip feel like we didn't get our money's worth.

Another super annoying thing is that even though their website says they're open for takeout, when you call to place an order the recorded message says they don't do phone takeout orders and to go to the website. But there is no place to order online for the St. Pete location. So eating in is the only option.

Update: We finally went back. This time I got the mix and match enchilada plate, and everything was very tasty. The enchilada fillings were still a bit stingy though. My group also got the chorizo tacos, shrimp/chicken fajitas, and a burger and all said it was excellent. We had great service once again, and the margaritas...

I am a huge fan and regular of their Bradenton location and was so excited to be getting a Cantina in the area. This was my first time here, and I will not ever return due to the way below average experience. The wicked rolls were soggy, not crispy like Bradenton’s, and their gringo burrito tasted completely off as if they had added sweet apples to it. (This is my favorite dish that I have reordered from their other location several times and it is not supposed to taste like this.) If it was just the food by itself, I would definitely be giving them another chance. But then I ordered a margarita to go (which I do every single time I go to the Bradenton location ) and the server came back with a regular, unsealed margarita cup without the sticker on it. I asked the bartender if they had stickers to seal the container, and he said that they were waiting to get them in. I told him, politely, that I did not feel comfortable taking an open container that was not sealed to go with me being the only driver, and asked to just return it and have it taken off the bill please, if they could not seal it as a to-go container. (Again, I’m driving.) He copped a major attitude at that point for no reason and said that ‘I could lose the attitude’ because I asked to have it taken off my tab and returned it. I spoke briefly with a manager about the interaction and thought all was well, but then realized after leaving that my server overcharged me and never took that drink off of my tab. I admittedly have a bad habit of not asking for my receipt after paying because I don’t like to question my servers integrity, but now understand it is instances like this why you need to. My bill was $57 and some change - without me leaving my 20% tip. All I had was one water, one fishbowl margarita ($17), One wicked roll ($12), and one gringo burrito with no add-ons ($17) - altogether should’ve totaled about $46 before tax. There is no reason my bill should’ve been $57, $68 after I added a 20% tip. So they overcharged me for the to-go drink that I returned, my server Liv said it was taken off, but there is no way for me to go back and dispute it now because I told her I did not need the receipt. But I am leaving this review to let you know that I absolutely know that you overcharged me. I will not be back. I stopped in on March 10...

Absolutely the worst service we’ve every had anywhere and we eat out often. Waitress did fantastic job with her disappearing act for the 2 hours it took from the moment we sat to the time we left so kudos to her, I applaud you!! Only saw you about 4/5 times! After ordering our food, it took OVER a hour to arrive. Ordered some queso and guacamole, Queso came out with no extra chips or our guacamole. They bring you a small basket of chips with salsa after you’re sat. That basket was halfway gone when our queso arrived. We, table of 4, asked for more chips and plates, sat there and finished the chips we had and continued to wait for more chips and our plates while our waitress took other orders and worked on her disappearing act because we never saw her walking around, hustling for her other tables (table next to us had to ask the bus boy for our waitress because all they needed was their check and she was a no show). By the time she came back to the table with no plates or chips, our queso was cold. Finally brought more chips and our guacamole but still, no plates. Drinks were refilled ONCE in the two hours we were there. This service and the time it took to get our food definitely makes us not want to try them again, because even the food was eh… the ground beef was on the verge of being too salty and I like salt. Never saw a manager walking around. Did express our issues to another server, no manager came to our table. We got there about 7:45 and had a wait, saw others who sat before and after us, eat and leave before we got our food. And if your a “big” person, those chairs are going to be the most uncomfortable thing you’ve ever sat in. Restaurants should not have chairs with arms and some weird angled back to them that hurts when...