RED O CANTINA — Restaurant in Santa Monica

Let's start out by saying management is fantastic! My one star review has NO reflection on management at this establishment whatsoever. As far as our waitress I wish I could click a 0 star option! We flew in from out of State for a girl's trip, special weekend! We missed flights, our car reservation was a mess but we managed to make it to Cali. We assured mom this was going to be the BEST trip ever with great food, drinks and loads of R&R! My mom was turning 60 and for her special night out she was craving Mexican food. As we stayed at the Shore hotel we would walk past here frequently so mom said it looked yummy and wanted to try their food. Horrible and I mean horrible experience! Our waitress was in lala land 90% of the time. We ordered cocktails, she had to be flagged down by other staff to inform her to get our drinks to us. As she was in deep conversation with the table next to us, we were ignored! Luckily the manager brought us our drinks after discovering we had been waiting as she chated. We ordered 3 meals and chips and salsa. One meal was a to go order yet she brought it out with our meals so my sister's meal was cold once she finally got it. Our waitress never refilled our water, asked if we'd like additional drinks etc. I ordered my mom a birthday treat off the dessert menu. Again we waited and waited for this to come out.... finally I went to the manager and he made sure her dessert came right away! We were still polite to our waitress but ready to get the heck out of this restaurant. Final straw was waiting for the bill. As my frustration set in, our waitress was nowhere to be found, the manager checked us out as well. If I could give the manager a 5 star review and my waitress 0 I would! Dinning here at night, looking at the ocean should have been magical! Unfortunately it was everything but magical. Please keep in mind when you decide have diner here your waitress/waiter can make or break your experience! This is the 1st review I've ever left an established in 40 year's! Extremely disappointing...

I had dined in at this location before and have always had a positive experience, however, my gratitude and love for this place has grown exponentially since having a private event here in May 2024.

My now-husband and I decided to have an intimate dinner to celebrate getting married and started this process in February 2024. Initially our plan was to bring our guests to Red O after a courthouse ceremony, however, our preferences changed a bit, and after working closely with Tanya, the current manager, we were excited to have our entire event at Red O. We greatly appreciated that Tanya was willing to work with us with such a tight timeline for our 45-guest event.

Tanya and her team were super attentive and personal in all the planning leading up to our big day, answering all of my questions and accommodating my requests. Tanya even created an off-the-menu signature drink special for our event and we LOVED IT (it’s called the Honey I Do and incorporated everything we asked for, especially the mezcal).

The day-of, my family was tasked with setting up a little ceremony space for us in the outdoor patio right outside of Red O and Tanya and her team went above and beyond to help create a welcoming, vibrant environment where we were able to exchange vows and take photos with our guests. We felt so taken care of the entire evening; cups/plates were frequently cleared and everyone who wanted a drink in their hand consistently had one. We had many family members who had never been to Red O and they spoke so highly of the food and drinks they consumed; we couldn’t have asked for anything better.

We had a buffet-style dinner with chicken enchiladas, carnitas, rice, beans, Mexican corn, though resoundingly, the favorite was the short rib enchiladas!

Thank you to Tanya and her team for making our big day so memorable and fun; we would definitely do...

My visit was on Friday, June the 14th, 2024 at around 3pm.

Had a horrid experience with the manager in charge at the time “Ray” and the nasty hostess at the time “Addison” or “Allison”. A blonde girl with colored eyes, hair was back in a ponytail.

The hostess was unpleasantly rude and stubborn about seating us at a booth in the corner by the window. My boyfriend needs a bench seat because he has a bad back and I explained that to the rude hostess. She was so mean and tried to stick us at a small table that was surrounded by someone’s children running around. Mind you, the section was basically empty. The accommodation effort was ZERO from the hostess. The hostess then lied and said there were confirmed reservations at tables that never showed up while we were there. Finally, Ray sat us at the 6 top in the corner. She and 3 other employees were relentless about letting us know that the next reservation would be there at 4:30 pm. It made things so awkward, stressful and uncomfortable.

The waitress Daniela was also rude at first about pricing and plate accommodations. She instantly shot me down when I asked for a fresh lemonade. I asked if they had lime juice , agave and soda water? Then yes, you can make a fresh lemonade. It was all around a terrible experience. The food was good at least but the service was atrocious : (

At the end of our meal closer to 4:20 pm, the waitress and Ray came over to our table to rudely rush us out. These girls were literally pulling cups and utensils out of our hands while we were trying to wrap up.

Also, our bill came out to over 60 dollars for one $10 app, one enchilada plate and 2 lemonades. We didn’t get a chance to fully look at our bill since we were being forcefully pushed out.

The experience was awful and...