Tijuana Cantina & Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Carmel

Some reviews claim that this place is "authentic", however, that's not even close. They (the restaurant) must assume that most people don't know any better. There are far better places than this one. The food here is mediocre at best. There is another location on Rt. 6, near the lake, that in my opinion, is far superior than this place, but I'll leave that up to other reviewers. I won't disclose what took place during our experience, but I will state that it was my second time coming here in quite some time because other reviews have made claim how good they are. I'm sorry to say this but, those that have made such a claim, are incorrect, and even may not have had the experience of good, true Mexican cuisine. However, in time, you'll discover that this place can not hold a candle to others. I don't want to come to a restaurant to drop $100+ and not get what I was expecting due to the claim of other reviewers. This restaurant needs to step their game up, especially for what they're charging. I had a few tequilas, straight up, and they charged me $15 each. GTFOH!!!! I could have bought the whole bottle for just under $40. You want to hit me with $10, I get it, but $15!?!?! Things are not getting any better out here, and places like this take the joy of going out. To other patrons, choose wisely!! For those that like to get ripped off, and have ok food at best; knock yourself out!! It's your...

Two of us were there last night -- and it will likely be a very long time before we return, though we like Tijuana and eat there ... when we can.

Last night we ordered one bar drink, one soft drink, one ceviche appetizer, two entrees, and one fried ice cream dessert which btw came to $120 with tip.

Why will we likely not return soon?

Their ceviche is very good and a favorite ... but this $12-15 appetizer was served with only 3 mini-size Ritz brand crackers!

OK ... maybe they ran out of mini-size Ritz crackers. It happens. Being resourceful (and hungry), we used the chips that came with the salsa on which to spoon the ceviche. Seeing what was happening, our server asked if we wanted more chips (meaning another/second basket).

Yes, thank you ... and how else to eat the ceviche?!

After dinner, when the bill came -- we were charged $5 more for the extra chips.

Really?

I'm not going to fight with you because I'm there to enjoy dinner with my partner. However, this sort of thing may explain why so few people were there. It will certainly play into whether I bring business clients for lunch, or...

Update: the service was pretty much horrible but the food was some of the best in the area. Food quality bumped from 1 to 3 stars

If you aren't equipped to handle online orders don't accept them.

Went to pick up an order that GrubHub confirmed the restaurant had and said was ready for pickup.

I arrived and was told there was no order and unless grub hub confirmed the restaurant received the order (which they did), I shouldn't just come down.

It has now been 25 minutes of me standing in their doorway waiting for my order that was either never made and marked as ready anyway or which was handed off to someone else.

Haven't even tried the food yet because getting food in your hands is apparently more than they can manage.

When I arrived someone else was also waiting on an order and stood with me for almost 20 minutes waiting on theirs.

Quick update, good the food at the...