Cantina Laredo

Sad to find out my favorite mexican restaurant has closed. Any suggestion on other texmex restaurants in Orlando?

Went here with my girlfriend about a week ago on a Thursday night, which is there ladies night. They start you off with house made tortilla chips and two kinds of fresh salsa. One of the salsas is warm and on the spicier side. The other salsa is cold, chunky and mild. We both had strawberry and mango margaritas that were half off. The drinks were well-​made and they were not stingy with the alcohol. For entrees I had the Mahi Mahi fish tacos and my friend had the chicken tacos. Both of the entrees were fresh, delicious and flavorful. We were very pleased with the prices and the gourmet-​style food we received. Also, we had great service all night and it is a very well-​kept, clean, ambient atmosphere. This facility also has a full bar. We will definitely be going back again, highly recommend this place!

My husband and I went to Cantina Laredo on a Friday night and were pleasantly surprised when we were seated right away. Our server, Bryan, was amazing. He offered great suggestions and everything came out in a timely manner.
We both ordered margaritas which were delicious. We ordered the guacamole as an appetizer and although the portion size was great, it was a little too bland for us because we usually like it spicy.
For dinner, I ordered the Chipotle Fajitas and my husband ordered the Camarones Escondidos. The fajitas were great but only came with two tortillas and the underneath the last tortilla was the package that they came in which left the presentation and idea of «fresh tortillas» much to be desired. My husbands dish had a delicious chipotle wine sauce on it but the entire dish only had 4 small pieces of shrimp in it which was disappointing considering it was a $ 20 meal. He enjoyed it, nonetheless.
The service continued to be wonderful throughout the evening and although we didn’t order dessert, the Mexican Apple Pie smelled absolutely amazing. Overall, we really enjoyed our service but the food didn’t seem to match the prices. We were especially shocked to find out when the bill came that on top of spending $ 80 on dinner and were charged extra for a one small side of sour cream.
To sum up our experience here, the service was great and we loved our drinks. Although the food was good, the presentation and prices were a little less than stellar.

The over saturated Mexican food businesses in this area is fierce with family friendly Chuy’s, loud yuppiefied Rocco’s Tacos, to the fast casual Tijuana flats, Moe’s, Chipotle, hell even Subway has a chicken enchilada melt; All I need to do is grow my moustache and start selling oranges off Sandlake and we all be happy.
Case in point all this competition has Cantina Laredo offering groupons. Is it a hail mary pass or clever advertisement? who knows but I took the deal. Like most grouponers I tend to simple move to the next voucher and never come back. But the funny part is that I’ve been here before when they first opened and I remembered it was good but overpriced but now it’s just overpriced. Me selling oranges probably would be more authentic Mexican. Ay Dios Mio!

The wait is a bit crazy and so was our waiter but it was a good experience overall. Fantastic tacos and chips and salsa are fresh and always available upon request. Happy hour is the way to go-​5 $ tacos, $ 4 drinks, and unlimited chips… sold!

Steak fajitas are amazing don’t forget about the guacamole as an appetizer to start off with. They make it fresh at your table and worth the money, you can add as much heat as you want to it or have it mild. They also have their own homemade salsa that is good with the right kick. After all that if you have room for dessert chocolate brownie is a must.
Don’t forget about the margaritas can’t go wrong with that they also have skinnyritas.

So two stars means «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» I think it sums up my experience.
Given they are in Dr Phillips, I did have the expectation of nice and upscale. The sign does say «Gourmet Mexican food». It sure does look the part, but the food and service wasn’t so stellar. I did come with a fairly large group. I usually dont command much service in these types of situations, but I at least should be able to flag someone down when I need them. Even when I did flag someone down, what I asked for wouldn’t show up for a while. Sometimes I felt like they forgot.
Food wise, I think they could have done much better. Mexican food is fairly simple. Its not really fancy stuff if you think about it. However, when its executed properly, you will know. I ordered Tacos Barbacoa and my wife ordered enchiladas Veracruz. The tacos were overstuffed, lacked the flavor profile I was expecting, but ok. They did at least put it on a corn tortilla. It was good but I had higher expectations for tacos that are basically 4 dollars per taco. My wife’s enchiladas were completely buried in some sort of cabbage, carrot, cucumber, tortilla garnish. She basically pushed it aside and ate around it. Are you supposed to eat the raw cabbage and tortilla chips? Not exactly appetizing I would say. We did share a ceviche which was poorly executed. It came on a plate, sliced avocado’s that didn’t look very fresh, sliced green olives that honestly looked like they came from a jar. The seafood didn’t have the characteristic tang that I expected.
Overall, I have experienced better. I wouldnt call it Gourmet Mexican. Its more of a modern spin on Mexican dishes. I believe if they think outside the tortilla such as as Mole, Menudo or Pozole, they might have a better chance at passing that as gourmet.

I love this place. It kills me that it is a chain, but the food is great and the service continues to be good.
I have visited locations in Orlando and Little Rock and both were very good. A little pricey, but great Tex Mex. No doubt the highlight of the place is the guacamole dip made table side. Fresh and fantastic.
Take a drive by and stop into the location. Across from Starbucks at the corner of Markham and University.

I was headed to Dragonfly, but ended up here. They make great margaritas, only 4 bucks at happy hour. We sampled many items and all were good.

Food was pretty good. Atmosphere is really nice, and beautiful fountain in the patio outside in the back. I had the picadillo tacos… which were very tasty. The table side Guac was good, but was missing some salt, garlic and lime… or maybe didn’t have enough. It also wasn’t chopped as finely as I tend to like my Guac. The chips and salsa were good. I didn’t care for the black beans at all, and was frankly disappointed. Absolutely zero seasoning on them, not even a little white vinegar. If you’re a black beans person like me, I wouldn’t recommend them here. Other local restaurants… one in particular in this area, does an outstanding job with their black beans. That just makes the meal. I would definitely come back and try some of the chipotle dishes. It was very difficult to make a decision on the menu, which is always a sign of a good selection at a restaurant.

Meh. It was OK. My coworkers and I had a dinner there recently. The service was decent, and the food was…
What I’d expect for that area of Orlando.
Not really authentic. My coworker ordered mole enchiladas and said the mole was OK but nothing to write home about. (Maybe from a package?) and I for one was wholly unimpressed by the chips and salsa. For the price scale of this place, I’d expect chips not from a bag and salsa that did not taste like it was out of a jar.
That being said, I liked my (non-​authentic) dish. A lot. I got the spinach and artichoke enchiladas… I think that’s what they were called. They were pretty out of this world. Light, served on a light cabbage salad.
Note: is this place a chain? It had a chain feel to it.
The servers were nice, but they ignored me (the one person at the table who was drinking Pelligrino, not margaritas.) I got one glass of sparkling water and after that I was ignored. They were wonderful with the rest of the people though and I don’t doubt they got a great (and deserved) tip for it.
I won’t be coming back here by choice, but if I absolutely had to, I wouldn’t put my foot down.

To quote a member of our dining party–
«A great meal… You can always judge a Mexican restaurant by whether or not they put shredded lettuce on the food»
Catina Laredo is not about shredded lettuce! The food was fresh, the guacamole is a must– made table side– and the adult beverage menu is extensive and intriguing. From a variety of margaritas and sangrias…
Our table of eight received impeccable service and our special orders. I would recommend not eating at all during the day so that you have room for several baskets of the thin, crispy chips and your meal.

Great happy hour menu! Enjoyed a great ladies night with the girls here. Excellent service and atmosphere. Will definitely be back.

Pretty stellar service all the way around.
We came here for Happy Hour at the last minute after being turned away from Dragonfly due to a private function. From beginning to end, we were taken care of. It was Thursday which just happened to be Ladies night so all margaritas were $ 4. We all started with the house casa rita (typical margarita) on the rocks.
The bar area was packed so we ended up getting a booth in the dining area and they still ended up honoring the bar menu and Happy Hour prices (½ off bar menu items until 7pm)! Suh-​weeet! We ordered a ton of items off the menu to share. The chicken tacos (3 to an order) were delicious as were the chicken nachos with sides of guac, sour cream and jalapeño slices. The complimentary chips with salsa were always refilled and were essentially bottomless!
Armando took great care of us. Always checking in on us and never rushing us out. For dessert, we decided to split the Mexican brownie with cinnamon ice cream. Words cannot do this dessert justice! Perfect end to a fabulous night.
The atmosphere is rather laid back. Lighting was dim. I will say that this is the perfect place for single ladies to congregate. There were several tables of groups of guys… I can’t promise they were from the area but they were there! :)

I ate dinner here a few weeks ago with a large group for a surprise birthday party. The atmosphere is pretty & the party room was nice. The staff set up the tables however we wanted and did a great job with a large group. I had a mexican salad with chicken that was delicious. One of the best that I have had at a restaurant like this. The chips, queso, and guacamole are superb. However the guacamole is crazy overpriced. ($ 9.99)

I am so impressed with Cantina Loredo. more so that its a chain! I typically don’t eat at chain restaurants, but this was recommend by our friends (Thanks Jackie B and Steve B).
A group of 5 of us came here for lunch on a Saturday (including Jackie and Steve), and to our surprise, found out that they were doing happy hour at that time. Score! This is the first time I went to a place that has happy hour on a Saturday, and in the afternoon to boot! There is a select menu with half off appetizers and drinks.
I think we ordered 4 to share as well as the made to order table side guacamole. I had the house Margarita. OK, 3 of them, and they were the bomb. They actually use decent tequila. Everything was fantastic and super fresh. Our bartender/​waiter Pedro, was great and very attentive.
I definitely recomend giving them a shot, even if you are adverse to chains. they seem to have differnt daily specials and offer excellent «gourmet» Mexican!
#Yelp100

I have been here a couple of times now and I think the food is fantastic. I have to give them a alot of credit for making the food taste very fresh. This is not your typical Mexican/​Texmex style food. the Guac is made fresh at your table side and the portions are generous.
The staff has always been friendly with a great attitude and deciation to thier craft. The Happy hour cannot be beat either. They have a ton of food on thier happy hour menu and even though they are called appetizers the portions are large even at normal prices.
I was surprised to learn this is actually a chain but they really do a great job of making you think this is a one of a kind treat. You must come here when you are in the area.

Not authentic Mexican. awful. Our waiter was nice, but the food still sucked. The chips and salsa was the best part of the meal.
I hear that this is a good restaurant, I think I’ll give it a try and try it in Austin TX

I recommend you sort out reviews by «date.» You’ll find that most recently, the reviews have been good. Again, and based on reviews from 2011 that had less than 3 stars, I must have dodged another «…this place sucks the big one» bullet! While there have been some dissatisfied clients over the past year… I’m not one of them.
CANTINA LAREDO PLATTER… which includes Oaxaca cheese chile relleno, a tamale, chicken enchilada, fajita beef taco al carbon, all for ($ 17.79). That’s what I ordered last Friday evening after closing our booth at the International Sign Show. And that’s what followed our short time wait at the bar, where I had a surprisingly tasty slushy-​no salt-​mango margarita, along with chips and Laredo’s interesting salsa dip. And yes, we ordered the «made at the table» guacamole. I always order «guac» for my chips prior to entrée service. Oh… we sat outside, facing the large fountain. Very nice choice for a cool Orlando evening.
While this isn’t the cheapest Mexican restaurant I’ve ever visited, I personally think it meets the expectations of those expecting upgraded ambiance, good menu choices, and, in my humble opinion, one of the hotest Latina bartendresses I’ve seen in a while. (and this from a happily married man!) I can look, right? And no… even if the bartendress had been a «hunchback with a large wart below her mustache»… I still would recommend this place. (although, come to think of it… maybe it was after my third double-​margarita that I realized her awesome beauty??!)
Good food, good service, and prices that were in line for an upscale Latin cuisine night spot. I’d definitely revisit «Bartendress Laredo»… uh, I mean… Cantina Laredo… when in Orlando. :-)

They make the guac AT YOUR TABLE!
This place is just awesome. It is a more upscale Mexican place and I completely love it. The décor is gorgeous and everyone was so nice who was waiting on us.
The drinks… WOW… I started with the mojito, SO GOOD! I was done in about a min and moved onto the top shelf margaritas. WOW! So delicious. The chips and salsa were so fresh. The chips were even hot and each time they were running low, they were replaced on the table.
I had a main dish with the freshest hot shrimp I have ever tasted in my life. It was delicious. Between the shrimp and guacamole experience alone, I suggest checking this place out. It would be a lovely date night or a great night for girls night out.
I will be checking back very, very soon to try many more of their dishes. I was very impressed!
I can’t wait to check out the seating outside in the back near the fountain.