El Tiempo Cantina — Restaurant in Stafford

I work very close to this location, and watched the construction with interest. I've been to several of the other Cantinas and wondered how this would differ. It is suburban feeling, but vibrant and well-run.

I have now been twice. The first time was on the Memorial Day weekend after their opening. The place was packed. We were placed on the list, and you can track your progress via the Yelp app. Since I dislike Yelp, this was a negative for me. If you yourself like it, you will be happy.

One puzzling thing is that we asked for bar area or outdoor seating. The bar high tops are managed by the list, while the bar stools are not. That's OK, but from where we sat we could see three empty tables outside. I guess they were staff-constrained? If so, they could place diners near the door to make the open seats not visible.

We eventually sat at the bar and cancelled our table request. DIdn't matter, because we could order the full menu there. We had margaritas (quite delicious) and a small guacamole. This comes "de-constructed" so can mix what you like into your guac. I tried the minced garlic--I thought it was something else--and wow it was garlicky. Good stuff right there. The green salsa is good enough with the chips, but the guac is special.

The next time we went, I had the Lunch Special Burrito (Carnitas). It was phenomenal. SUPER big, but I managed to cram every tasty bite down. We again had the guac, which was even better since I avoided eating pure minced garlic this time. ;-) We again had margaritas because we could. Our server was excellent, officious but not overbearing. Even the busboy was terrific.

One interesting thing is that they deploy the hostesses to discretely spy on the guests to track dining progress. I expect this is to update how long a wait will be. How many people are nearly finished that sort of thing. I saw one about every 5 minutes, more or less. Just know their wait times are probably accurate.

If you got all the way down here, this is my synopsis: good food, great staff, excellent drinks. They are expensive for Tex-Mex, but sometimes this represents a value, and I believe this to be the case at El Tiempo...

A Trifecta of Terrible: Avoid El Tiempo Cantina My recent visit to El Tiempo Cantina was, to put it mildly, a deeply unpleasant experience from start to finish. I had hoped for a vibrant Tex-Mex meal but instead encountered a restaurant that failed on multiple fundamental levels. Firstly, the waitstaff was a masterclass in apathy. After a significant wait to even be acknowledged, our server was virtually non-existent. When they did deign to appear, requests were met with indifference, if not outright sighs. Getting a drink refill felt like a monumental task, and any questions about the menu were met with vague, unhelpful responses. We felt less like valued guests and more like an inconvenient interruption to their evening. Secondly, the atmosphere and lighting were abysmal. The lighting was harsh in some areas and depressingly dim in others, creating a generally uncomfortable and unwelcoming environment. It was impossible to get a good look at our food or even read the menu properly without straining. The overall ambiance was chaotic and loud, with no sense of intimacy or even basic dining comfort. It felt more like a poorly lit cafeteria than a restaurant aiming for an enjoyable dining experience. But the most egregious offense was the food itself, specifically the smell. Before even taking a bite, an unsettling, vaguely off-putting odor emanated from several of our dishes. My companion's fajitas had a strange, almost stale smell, and my own enchiladas carried a disconcerting scent that immediately killed any appetite I might have had. This wasn't the robust, appetizing aroma one expects from Tex-Mex; it was genuinely worrying and made us question the freshness and quality of the ingredients. Needless to say, the taste did not redeem the smell. In conclusion, El Tiempo Cantina delivered a truly horrible dining experience. With shockingly poor service, a terrible atmosphere, and food that smelled questionable at best, I can not in good conscience recommend this establishment to anyone. Save your money and your appetite for a place that actually values its customers and the quality...

We are regulars at the Fountains for different businesses and have been watching the new place as it was built and noticed it was very crowded.

We decided to go on a Sunday night and wait for the crowd to die down and when we got in we were told we only had 10 minutes to order. As she told us that she literally walked away and didn't even take drink orders despite telling us they were almost closing.

When she did come back I ordered a margarita, she walked away to put in the drink order and brought the drink back, my husband ordered a water she walked away and brought a water and then we gave my son's drink order. If you're closing soon why are you taking drink orders for a table of three one at a time instead of taking them all at once and bringing all the drinks out at once? Even if you're not closing soon, who does that?

The bill was around $90, keeping in mind one of the people was a child and ordered off the child's menu. The margarita was small and underwhelming as was the food and the service was terrible.

I burped the food up all night long and so that tells me it's low quality oil or low quality ingredients or both.

Since our waitress did not come back to check on us or refill our drinks we got a refill for my son on the way out and we waited around for literally 5 minutes or more, for a fountain drink refill!! We started to walk out before they brought his to-go cup with a refill.

We were excited to try this place given how crowded it was but all I can think is either the people that go there don't know good food or most of the people are going for the bar.

We will definitely not be returning.

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