Iztac Mexican Cantina — Restaurant in Virginia

My husband and I stopped in for a late lunch one Saturday afternoon. We used to frequent the previous establishment that was in this building, so we were pleasantly surprised to see it remained pretty much the same, but freshened up and brighter. We were seated immediately and told our server would be right with us. There were about 5 other tables with diners at them at any given time, so it wasn't a busy time. We were met by our server who took our drink order and brought chips and salsa to the table. The salsa was amazing, the chips were very greasy and lacked salt (coming from someone who does not usually salt her food). My husband ordered the Birria burrito and I ordered the San Diego. I did ask for the fries to be left out of the burrito and our server assured us no problem they would serve them on the side. He asked if I wanted it wrapped in grilled queso which I thought sounded great and agreed! The food came out and I was presented with a plate that had a burrito on it, with fries inside and not wrapped. Someone quickly came back and said, we forgot to wrap this and took my plate away. A short time later, my food came out, and the fries were on the side as I requested and the burrito (huge) was wrapped in queso. It didn't look very appealing, but let me tell you, it was amazing. Both of our burritos were packed with filling and we had to take half home. You definitely get your money's worth here. I've read the other reviews raving about the service and I've got to think maybe we just visited on an off day or weird time. It seemed the one server, was waiting on almost all the tables while about 4 or 5 others were standing out by the area where they pour the drinks. We had been finished with our meal for a good 15 minutes before our server finally came to the table. Our napkins were on the table, our plates pushed away and my husband was checking something on his phone. One of the girls standing back there kept peeking over at our table. Our server seemed to be extremely busy waiting on all the other tables with guests and making drinks at the bar, like he was a one-man operation. I understand servers each get their own stations or tables, but it just didn't make sense to me that this one guy had all the tables and they obviously had other people working there. Eventually he came and we asked for a couple of boxes and our check. That took another 10 minutes. As soon as we got up to leave one of the girls was right at our table cleaning it up. Everyone was pleasant and friendly and the food was wonderful. We do plan to visit again because the food was...

Edited: I decided to give them another try with the margaritas. And you can see when they are making the drinks they don't grab a tequila bottle off the shelf like you know, a normal bartender would do.... I saw them take a weird tea jug that I'm guessing has tequila in it. And poured the over the "margarita" they were making. Cause I went to pick up my togo food and decided I'd give them one more try with their margs. I tried it right there. Couldn't taste the tequila. I said something to the bartender and called him out about me not seeing him pour tequila in there. All he has was excuses about flavor profiles... Headed to the ABC store to buy tequila to put in our margaritas for home... Don't get me wrong I like the food. Just won't ever be getting a drink from there again. The Togo margs were $30 for 2 mediums.

Wanted to go due to my interest in the margarita flights. We chose to be sat outside since it was nice weather. We were sat and didn't get any water until ten minutes later. I had to ask a few times for a drink menu. I get it was a Saturday, but I didn't believe that restaurant to be huge, unless maybe they were down a server or something. I was pretty sure I saw at least 3. Anywho, I order queso to start. It was okay, I've had better. I was intrigued by the birria quesadilla. Called quesabirria on the menu. It was absolutely wonderful. Once I got my margaritas after almost finishing my food.. I dive in. I got the watermelon, blueberry, guava and peach. These flavors were so delicious. The problem.. lack of tequila. I literally couldn't taste any. Just tasted like it was the mixer. I even ordered another full size pomegranate margarita. Still didn't taste anything. They graciously took off my pom margarita. But I wanted to really taste a marg after my long work week so I told the nice lady to please charge me for a shot of tequila so I can throw it in there. Once I did it actually tasted like a margarita! And I know there wasn't even really any tequila in there.. because I didn't get a buzz whatsoever-- Until after I got home since I had added a shot to my last full size marg. I would definitely order take out from this place or dine in for food, but questioning if I should try the margaritas again. I did order birria tacos for my boyfriend to go, and he did love...

My husband and I have visited twice, trying different items, and for me the food is average, but the prices are reasonable and the customer service and atmosphere were awesome.

Mole tots: The mole was too sweet for our taste and made the tots soggy Queso with chorizo: Queso was too runny, which made it hard to scoop with the chorizo. Poblano burrito: It wasn't bad, but it was a little bland and needed something to break up the flavors. They all melded together until they were indistinguishable from each other. Tacos Al Pastor: Hubby said they were sweeter than he prefers Birria tacos: I know many people like these, but they were not my cup of tea. The tortillas were soggy and greasy. I very much enjoy birria tacos, and while they were not bad, there are much better options in the area in my opinion. Carne asada: Hubby said this really needed more seasoning Carnitas tacos: Hubby enjoyed these Chocoflan: I had this during both visits. The first visit it was round when it came out and had a traditional caramel-type sauce. It was absolutely delicious. The second time it was in a slab and bumpy, which was visually much less appealing, but the taste was what got me. It was smothered in what tasted like Hersheys syrup, which completely robbed the entire dish of its taste and replaced it with the artificial, burning sweetness of the chocolate syrup. I couldn't finish it and I was disappointed because I was really looking forward to it after the first visit.

The service was phenomenal for both trips. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Atmosphere was warm and welcoming. Food and drinks came out...