Fenway Cantina

I went here during the Boston Beer Marathon right after we went to Gerry Remy’s to try it out. Being a New York out of towner I’m always down to go wherever in Boston. It’s not to far from my sister’s house so its convenient. Anyway its a small bar but has plenty of drink specials during the week. That night they had some house beer for $ 3-​$ 4 bucks. There were def a couple of slam pigs and beat dudes at this place, but I mean its prob. New York’s equivalent to a dive bar. I’m gonna give this place major props because i was able to purchase a Smirnoff ice and ice my friend, haha bad ass! Cheap drinks and not to crowded of a bar, I’ll give it a thumbs up!

Rumor on the street is the Cantina is closed. Me sad. :-(

Had dinner here a few nights ago. We were sat quickly but it took about 5 minutes for the server to come over and take our drink order. The place was pretty dead buy all the employees were running around like it was a full house.
The best thing about this place was the order of nachos that comes free with any pitcher of beer. The nachos were actually pretty good and is making up 1 of the stars in this review. The actual dinner was not so good. While I wouldn’t say it was bad, the food was all kind of dry and everything on the plate tasted the same. Even though I only gave this place 2 stars, I’ll probably be back for a quick order of nachos.

This place is just OK. I’ve had a few meals here and the only thing really worth ordering are the fish tacos, which they occasionally run out of. The spicy popcorn is good, too. Anything else I’ve had has been just average.
That said, it is a friendly and inexpensive place.

Horrible service! I went here with a friend after a Red Sox game. It took forever to get our drinks, took another long time to get our order taken, and then we sat and waited and waited and waited. The waiter stopped by once with some sort of lame excuse then tried to avoid eye contact with us. Finally we paid for the drinks and walked out. The hostess asked us if our meal was good and we told her we couldn’t answer since we never got it. We got the equivalent of a shoulder shrug in response. Would never bother to go here again.

Service is always kind of fluky at Fenway Cantina. Every time I came here, I’ve had to ask for a set of utensils and/​or some napkins. I find that pretty odd.
I hate the burritos here. Burritos come on a plate, seam down, haphazardly rolled, with cheese melted on top of the burrito. Basically, they’re served in such a manner that you cannot pick it up and eat it. The only option is to tear apart small bites with a fork and a knife, a highly unsatisfactory to eat it, IMHO.
Also, the veggie filling in all entrees (burrito, enchiladas, quesadillas) is pretty disappointing. It consists of nothing but green peppers and onions.
The enchiladas and tacos are quite delicious. But they taste pretty similar to the Old El Paso dinner kits, which are also quite delicious.
Bottom line: I would never proactively choose to come here, nor would I ever be thrilled about dining here. but I always find something ok to eat. Just stay away from those burritos.

Meh. It was ok. The service was pretty lousy, and the food was only ok. I honestly think I make better tacos at home. Not terrible, but not great either. There was no line after the Red Sox game, and now I understand why!

Lousy service. I mean waiting an hour for tacos? this isn’t frigging Peking Duck.
were they busy? slightly — but nothing like before a Sox game
does it matter? No. you open a place near Fenway, then you open a kitchen that can handle your tables being occupied.
Or you get an appropriate review.
FAIL

We ordered food to go (took under 20 min from calling in to picking up), so as far as service and atmosphere go I have no idea. Our food was pretty good and very affordable especially considering the close proximity to Fenway.
I got the taco salad and it was delicious with tons of fresh, green (not brown and mushy like some places) sliced avocado in it. I ordered a side of black beans to add to my salad and luckily I looked closely before dumping them on, since they were cooked with pork fat and I’m vegetarian.
Guacamole and chips came in a hearty portion and was better and cheaper than the $ 10 Guacamole I usually get at La Verdad.
My co-​worker ordered the fish tacos and said they were very good.
I work in this area, so I’m glad to know that there is decent, cheap new place on the block that can also satisfyingly accommodate my vegetarian needs.

Chicken Bones did Chicken Wings better than anything the Fenway Cantina does. That said, I like the Cantina better, but I wish they didn’t get rid of the skinless chicken strips, jumbo wings, and the great sauces which were hallmarks of the Chicken Bone. But the décor and ambiance of the Cantina are better… the bartenders are great… the varied menu is nice to see… the chips are very light and seem freshly fried, although the salsa itself is very boring and should be more varied in terms of options/flavors…the other food is decent… I have never eaten anything at the Cantina and said: «wow, that was amazing», but nothing has been bad, either. Around the corner, at Ken Oringer’s taqueria on Landsdowne Street, you do say that about most of the food, even the tacos.
Message to Cantina: bring back the best of the Bone and copy the best or La Verdad. Then do some of your own things and don’t look back. Make the Cantina a destination instead of a backup.

I get really frustrated when I go out to eat, and I know I could make my meal better at home. This was exactly what happened at Fenway Cantina.
I was really excited to see a new place open in the neighborhood, but unfortunately after my first experience, I’ll never go back. The shrimp fajitas came with about 8 non-​seasoned shrimp, some greasy peppers and onions, ice berg lettuce, terrible salsa and sour cream. I thought that was a poor excuse for «fajitas.» Where’s the guac, the beans, the flavor?!
We also ordered the chicken and cheese quesadillas which I would think are pretty easy not to screw up. I mean any bar and pub can whip these up successfully. Well these were also a huge disappointment. They were greasy — not like the yummy greasy bubbling cheesey goodness, but the soggy and wet type of greasy.
When I think Mexican, I think cilantro and lime and all sorts of delicious ingredients. These lacked none of them. If you’re thinking about going here, I’d recommend walking two more blocks to Shaws to buy your own ingredients and go home. Or if you want to eat out, go to La Verdad on Lansdown — now that’s yummy!

So their mole, isn’t quite mole… and their queso dip isn’t really quite queso dip… and their chips well are just chips…
But for a Mexican bar near Fenway Park, I really don’t think you could expect much more than that. The one major bonus is this place is pretty cheap. You do get unlimited free chips and salsa (and yes, their salsa is just regular salsa too) but most of their entrees are about $ 7 – 8 which is a steal, especially for the fenway area. I got chicken enchiladas mole with rice and beans for $ 8 and Matt J. got their fish tacos with rice beans for the same price, which is just nuts. And this isn’t one of those places where the sides are small, they are normally sized portions, and we were plenty full after this cheap mexican outing.
They also have quite the tasty selection of semi pricey margaritas too. Pomegranate margaritas are something that everyone should get here, because it is sweet fun and definitely a festive way to start off your meal in a place where other than the food options and the margaritas just looks like any other bar you would go to. Not really sure why they call it a cantina when it really has no mexican décor at all ha ha
But for Boston this place is decent and cheap and their drinks are strong, well at least those margaritas definitely pack a punch that is masked pretty well through all of the pomegranate!

Gotta give 5 stars because I consider myself a Cantina regular. In fact, my friends and I have been regulars since it was the restaurant formerly known as the Chicken Bone. The manager, Mike, and Jenna the bartender are extremely friendly and hook it up from time to time.
The bar still has a divey feel (which I like) but the menu and the overall ambiance has been upgraded big time since the Chix Bone days. The Tex-​Mex food is the best bang for your buck in the Fenway area. Since Jerry Remy’s opened the Cantina has benefited from the long lines and the extremely pricey menu across the street.
I recommend Cantina for a pre and post Sox game or just a low key Friday night. No waits or crowds by the bar, great 90’s music (I think they play the Lithium station from Sirius) and best of all they have a shuffleboard table which is the only bar in Boston that I’ve encountered that has this key feature.

I have to partialy agree with the Fenwickian as I so badly wanted to love this place since I live around the corner and love Mexican food. I don’t drink so I can’t say anything bad about the drinks and I am certain they are great and well received. I also do love the table shuffle board they have however the food is terrible. The chicken tacos where bland, dry and not even seasoned. The salsa, I swear is store bought. I think the food is pre-​packaged. I will go back to test to see if this was a fluke, because I so badly want them to succeed.

You would think that any restaurant within two blocks of one of the United States’ most historic ballparks would capitalize on its proximity to America’s favorite pastime. You would then visit Fenway Cantina and realize you were wrong.
After being apprised of the hour-​long wait for a table at Jerry Remy’s across the street, we ambled into nearly-​empty Fenway Cantina. We thought we’d stumbled across some kind of undiscovered gem, but then realized the reason ball fans weren’t hanging out there was because Fenway Cantina has NO hint whatsoever of any orientation to baseball. No sports décor, no menu items with silly baseball-​related names, not even sports on the TV. It was kind of odd, really.
I personally had good luck with FC’s menu, but unfortunately I can’t say the same for the others in my party. My Caesar salad with cornbread croutons and cotija cheese was unique and quite tasty, and the habanero spiced popcorn left a pleasant bit of heat on the tongue. Quesadillas, however, received poor marks and the buffalo wings were proclaimed dry and flavorless. Cocktails similarly disappointed, and my black cherry mojito tasted like cough syrup on ice. Our group did reach general agreement that the complimentary chips and salsa were were good, and we we thus went through a few baskets.
Our hard-​working server kept food and drink on the table and didn’t pitch a fit over the use of multiple credit cards for payment. I suppose if you don’t need to be surrounded by Red Sox fans while gearing up for a game, Fenway Cantina is an acceptable option for pre-​contest beer. And a Caesar salad.

Fenway Cantina is kick azz. The bar is large and comfortable, and the place is brand spanking newly renovated, with ALOT of seating. My friends and I checked it out last week for pregame around Landsdowne Street and since I live in the area. The bar area was definately full of new folks and some regulars, and some old fans of the previous Chix Bone place they had before it seems.
Though the menu was a little limited, they did have awesomely fresh tortilla chips and salsa free with our order, a really large beer list, a shuffle board! and the waitress was really nice. I would recommend the guasadillas and the taco salad=tastes amazing!
This place looks like a great spot for Red Sox folks during the season, could work on improving entertainment a bit though. Nice job.:)

There’s nothing that will ever replace your favorite dive bar that you went to in college, but that doesn’t mean you won’t spend a lot of effort trying.
In my case, our favorite bar had a shufflepuck table, which we basically owned every wednesday and saturday night. For years we googled bars in the Boston area to find one, and were left with New Hampshire and a sketchy dive bar in Providence as options (Note: we’re all detestable thirtysomethings, many of whom have kids now).
So imagine my surprise when i find out that not only is there a shufflepuck table coming to Boston, but that it’s right down the street from my house.
So far it seems to be a pretty well-​kept secret. The Chicken Bone never really seemed to be busy, and neither is the Fenway Cantina so far; we walked in at 6:30 on a Friday and were the only people in there, so we were able to take command of the table rather easily. The waitress was very friendly, even if we seemed to be training her on their (very decent) beer selection and the nuances of the game.
We chowed down on appetizers for a good long while, all of which were tasty. The free chips and salsa were definitely good, too. The wings are apparently the same well-​regarded ones from the predecessor, and aren’t cheap or massive in quantity, but very good. The nachos are decent. They have quality beers (Victory Hop Devil was our favorite that evening) in pitchers. In general, as one might expect of a fledgling establishment, they seemed glad to have our party there. Even as it got busier (though empty tables abounded), and some friends started drinking the hot sauce and trying to hit on one of the other waitresses (shot down ignominiously), they were still attentive and happy to keep bringing us more beer and yummy food. And we’re pretty sure they were either bad at math or didn’t charge us for some of it.
Now i just have to get good at shufflepuck again.

The food is much better than any of the other restaurants in the area (game on, beer works, cask, jillians, etc.). Everything we have tried has been great and so has the service. Also, the only shuffleboard table I have ever seen in Boston.
So far, since they have moved in, it has been pretty empty when I have walked by. Hopefully once they officially get the licensing to be «Fenway Cantina» they will do some marketing and people will start to hear how good it is.
Definitely worth checking out!

Well I was very saddened when I saw them taking down the awning for the Chicken Bone. I knew they were renovating, and was surprised to see a nameless awning up and lights on tonight… so despite my diet my stomach led me inside.
To my surprise the Chicken Bone was now a tex-​mex cantina. They have expanded their beer menu, and it is very nice now. I was overjoyed to hear they still had their amazing buffalo wings on the menu… and yes they are still baked then fried, and delicious. And as usual my wife asked for ranch instead of blue cheese for wings. They did not have regular ranch, but they did have some awesome homemade chili-​ranch concoction that was amazing.
As for entrees I had the grilled steak quesidilla, and my wife had the chicken tacos (she subbed the soft tortillas… which had that great authentic taste). My steak was grilled to perfection where there were deliciously charred edges with a soft and tender center. My wife dish was also delicious.
Oh yeah I almost forgot before the meal was served they brought out warm chips and a nice salsa.
There was a lot more on the menu I want to try (I am dying to try the pork «wings»). We sat with the bartender Jenna who is sweet as pie and was very helpful in choosing beers and menu items. I whole-​heatedly recommend this place, and will definitely be hitting it up before sox games :)

When we got there it was kinda hard to find considering they don’t yet have a sign up. On the way in, I noticed the large deck area that will be nice in the spring. The interior is spacious and well designed. It was dead for a Saturday night but probably because they have not really done any press yet. It worked to our advantage, the staff was very attentive and friendly (and hot).
I was a little disappointed to learn they only had a beer/​wine license, but impressed what the bar tender could do with the super sweet cordials. The shots of Soco were chilled and perfectly mixed with the hit of lime. But we got a scorpion bowl that tasted like melted Gummy bears — girls might like it –but for me it desperately needed vodka. To make up for the so-​so cocktail selection is the vast array of good beers (which I immediately switched to), 20 on tap.
And then there is the food… I had little to no expectations for a new place but I was pleasantly surprised at how well executed everything was. I lived in Arizona for five years and have not found a place in Boston that holds a candle to real thing, but this Tex-​Mex was as good, if not better. The Menu was huge and varied with classic ball park type beer food –fish tacos, quesadillas, and even fresh popcorn with habanero salt. The larger courses made me want to come back and try them all, especially after trying the Pork wings in a chili BBQ sauce blended with mango — The pork was perfectly cooked so it almost fell of the bone (not really sure what bone it was, maybe the humerus thus the «wing»), whatever it was the contrast of the most perfect meat with the crispy outer layer of chuceron (pork skin) blending with the spicy sweet sauce was amazing.
This place has a lot of potential, I will be back. Especially when it warms up and the Sox are back in season.