Cantina Louie (Melbourne, FL) — Restaurant in West Melbourne

I had been wanting to visit Cantina Louie since I saw the building. When my nephew came to visit from California I took him there for dinner. It was later (after 9pm on a weekday) and so the restaurant was relatively quiet. We were seated immediately and opted for an outdoor high-top (the evening was quite pleasant). Chips and salsa came very quickly and I was impressed: the chips were hot and fresh, and the salsa was great! I almost always need to ask for more salsa but our server wisely brought a good-size container. We ate most of it!

The menu is colorful and fun to read. I downloaded it so I could peruse it at my leisure for next time, but we were quite hungry. I ordered a draft beer and my nephew had a mango margarita. The drinks came out very quickly and we were ready to order at that time. My nephew had the Quesabirria Tacos and I had the Grouper Tacos. We both agreed that the food was amazing and we proceeded to devour every bite.

A quick word about the grouper tacos: Grouper is my favorite fish, so whenever I see it on a menu I'm interested. This dish sounded unique (Peruvian sauce? Bread and butter jalapeños and onions?) I had never heard of Peruvian sauce so I asked for it on the side -- and it's AMAZING! It complemented the bread and butter peppers & onions, and all the flavors came together perfectly.

Our only leftovers were some salsa and a small amount of the Peruvian sauce. I asked to take both home: the salsa was perfect with eggs the next day, and the Peruvian sauce is good on rice, veggies, and chicken -- and then I ran out. I would buy a bottle of that sauce if they had it (I didn't think to ask but I will next visit).

I hope everyone in the area with a love of Mexican food will come try it out. The location has historically been a loser for some reason; one reviewer mentioned a parking issue but as I said we were there late on a weeknight so that wasn't the case for us. I really want this place to succeed! It's so cool to have a Mexican restaurant with a unique and varied menu. I'll be back...

Wow what a disappointment. You see 4.6 stars and you read the reviews and you expect quite a bit. We arrived and thought the place looked really nice. The restaurant was pretty full and we had to wait which isn't that problem and led to that belief that this was some place you really were going to enjoy going to. When we were seated and got a chance to look at the menus, the first thing I noticed was the price, very very reasonable. A lot of the restaurants around have prices bordering $20 and up and here Cantina Louie had dishes there were between 12 and $15. I ordered carnitas and my wife got enchilada suprema. I always get carnitas my first time and a Mexican restaurant because I have found it is a great way to go ahead and determine how well they season the food. This is based upon experience having eaten at numerous restaurants in the Caribbean, Guatemala, and Mexico. Our food arrived and the plates were quite full. There was a very nice portion of pork sitting on my plate. Beyond that became a disappointing meal. The pork, though well cooked, was moist and plentiful, but really had no flavor. My wife's chicken enchilada was the same way, moist meat but no flavor. The ground beef in one enchilada had the slightest hint of chilies. The refried beans are also very soupy like they just went through the blender one too many times. The way it's staff, or in particular our server Taylor, was very friendly came to the table to make sure that we were doing okay and if we needed anything. I did ask her to bring some red sauce for the pork and it helped a little bit but not much. Overall, you get a lot of food, it's not a bad place to spend time eating, but the main reason you go to a restaurant is for the way the food tastes. And for that reason, I don't think we'll be...

Just got home to write my review of my experience and I see 4 other reviews all from tonight as well with similar experiences- ALL KICKED OUT just because they ate their food and paid. Main take away- Try not to talk or get comfy. Eat, pay, and GET OUT! This was my second experience coming since they opened. First time was great service, good food. Tonight was appalling. I came with some friends, we were sat promptly but we were immediately hurried to place our drink and food orders; we didn't even get a second to look at the menu. Our waitress stood there until we made up our minds, even though we asked for a minute to look. Waters were never refilled. Our waitress brought boxes when people were still in the middle of eating their meals. Our waitress brought our checks and stood over us until we got our cards out to pay. This whole experience was only just over an hour, we bought food and drinks and would’ve bought more had we not been rushed. We chalked it up to maybe not being a good night for her, but then a few minutes later another man (maybe a food runner or waiter) came and sat down at an empty seat at our table and told us since we had paid, we had to leave so they could keep their wait list moving. Two of my friends had just gotten new drinks and hadn’t gotten to drink them yet. We weren’t done with what we paid for since we’d been rushed the whole time! The table right next to us and behind us where both open and had been. I’m still in shock. And seeing 4 other reviews left from today too shows they’re doing this to many many people. Maybe they got too much business too quick, but if they’re asking people to leave then they don’t want any of our...