Cantina Mexicana — Restaurant in Stamford

Growing up in Southern California, I was lucky to enjoy incredible Mexican cuisine, and cheese enchiladas have always been my favorite dish. Since moving to Stamford, Connecticut, I was excited to find Cantina Mexicana, a local spot within walking distance from my home. I've visited a few times and had mixed experiences.

The restaurant boasts an inviting atmosphere, complete with a warm and colorful Mexican vibe, lively music, and friendly, attentive service. They've also made notable improvements in reducing wait times for seating and food delivery, which is always a plus.

On my most recent visit, the experience started on a decent note. The complimentary chips were fine, though the accompanying salsa left much to be desired—it was watery and lacked the robust flavor and chunky texture I prefer.

The real disappointment, however, came with the main course: the Enchiladas Cantina. While the dish looked beautifully presented, the refried beans were soupy and lacked the consistency I expect. The rice, on the other hand, was fluffy and fresh, which offered a bit of redemption.

The biggest letdown was the enchiladas themselves. I opted for the cheese and vegetable stuffing, expecting to cut into a gooey, melty combination of cheese and vegetables. Instead, there was no cheese inside at all—just sautéed vegetables. The only cheese on the plate was the crumbled Cotija cheese on top. For someone who considers cheese enchiladas a must-have, this was a major letdown and left the dish feeling incomplete.

Despite the restaurant's lovely ambiance and improved service, I don’t see myself returning to Cantina Mexicana. The absence of proper cheese enchiladas is a dealbreaker for me, and I also prefer my beans thicker and my salsa chunkier. While there are elements to appreciate here, the food simply didn’t meet my...

Aside from a slew of credit card issues, they'd get 4 stars.

I had a nice review posted, but today is the 2nd charge issue I've had, a few friends have also had issues and refuse to go back. This time, a bill had been split half - I tipped in cash while my friend tipped with credit, though we were both charged a tip on our cards. Other times include a bill about double what was expected, a deactivated card from too many swipes, round-outs instead of itemized receipts, incorrect items on receipts, small incorrect charges, double charges, the major ones which have or will be fixed, but take hours out of my day to correct, with thus far no compensation for time spent correcting the charges.

The food is great, they give endless warm nachos with house salsa, and their flavored margaritas can be great. Sometimes the margarita is hardly alcoholic, even if you pay $2 or $3 more for better tequila. The wrong bartender will also dilute the juice with mix, which of course takes away not only the flavor but the thick, fleshy, satisfying consistency. A good flavored margarita will just be the juice, a few ounces of tequila, and ice - enough tequila to sanitize the salt sponge please.

Happy hour specials are competitive with surrounding restaurants, though Barcelona for their quality and stiffness of cocktails and variety of food is just down the street, if there's space... However, for mexican food, even with the card issues, this still takes the cake IF the bartender is okay pissing the boss off and making a few solid flavored margaritas (try raspberry, mango, or strawberry, if it's your first, and Delirio is a good shelf choice for $2 or $3 more - my itemized receipt didn't spell out which shelf tequilas were one or the other, so idk if Delirio was...

My girlfriend went to this restaurant today. This is what she had to say about it when she woke me up from an 11 hour shift last night:

"I would rate this ZERO stars if I could. I had a terrible- if not the worst- experience anyone could have in a restaurant. I ordered a seafood soup with my sister today and for starters it had very little fish. This didn’t bother me too much, I chalked it up to luck of the draw and continued to eat. The waiter asked my sister about her food and as I tried to eat a clam I noticed a LONG STRAND OF HAIR LODGED INTO IT!!! The waiter saw and promised to handle the situation. He went to the back for what felt like 15 minutes with the receipt and nothing changed, no cancelled order, no discount-nothing! The manager said the hair did not come from them and blamed my child and niece, refused to apologize, and laughed off my threat to report to the department of health. Money was not the issue I have no problem paying for a meal. But when a restaurant makes an obvious health scare and act so indifferent about it is an insult to injury. Who in their right mind decides to blame a patrons children, and refuse to apologize???? Unfortunately for the other patrons, I argued back and forth with the manager as he hid in the kitchen and refused to come to me directly. I am reporting this incident to the department of health and will do whatever I can to make sure that no one experiences anything like this !!!"

I am disgusted and trying to comfort her from such a...