Round Corner Cantina

I visited here two times since the summer season and have had two of the worst margaritas I’ve ever tasted. Two different bartenders both they made consistently bad, like try tasting your drinks.
Margaritas —
There’s something wrong with their mix they use. The color isn’t right. I felt ill from drinking these. I asked if we were getting top shelf tequila both times but I don’t believe that’s what we were served.
Moscow Muel–
It would have been a great drink but there was entirely too much lime juice. I gagged on the lime burn.
Corona– (can)
You think this would impossible to screw up. They put a lime on top and it’s so dry it’s falling apart in chunks while I’m trying to drink my beer.
Overall it seems like a fun atmosphere but they’re a Mexican bar and they can’t make a signature drink correctly… or any drinks for that matter.

I love this place!!! We stopped in for a snack and went up on the outside deck and stayed for hours! The house made margaritas were great! Served in mason jars with fresh lime slices and salty rims.
We started off with the queso fundido which was very tasty, great chips and spicy cheese. We then had the fries that were served liked nachos!!! Wow they were so good with fresh quac and salsa and fresh jalapeños slices.
Such a cool vibe, good music great food cool atmosphere.
Next time you’re in Larry-​vile, stop in!

I went here for the first time last night and I wasn’t particularly impressed. The server took away our chips and salsa without even asking if we were done. Jeez. Hipsters should understand the notion of eating every last broken chip and letting nothing go to waste. The two tacos you get are tiny for the price, but they have a lot of flavor. Just make sure you eat something beforehand or else splurge on four tacos. La Esposa margarita was good but also pricey. I wasn’t asked if I wanted salt on the rim, but my friend who got a plain margarita got salt on his. Overall, it wasn’t a bad experience but I’ve had more successful experiences at other similar restaurants so I’ll probably stick to those.

Outdoor patio is a enjoyable experience – day or night! Drink menu is incredible. Great ambience & playlist. Service could be better. Overall, positive experience!

Stopped in for drinks last weekend and was very pleased! I love the dark, moody feel of the place. Perfect spot to have a few drinks. The mezcal Manhattan was one of the best cocktails I’ve had in Pittsburgh. The classic Manhattan is one of my favorite drinks, so I wasn’t sure how I would feel about one made in a Mexican restaurant with mezcal. It was delightful. Fresh and homemade ingredients made for a refreshing, but strong cocktail. The bartender gladly shook in a few extra dashes of bitters at my request. When I ordered a beer for my second round, he actually said «are you sure I don’t mind making you another Manhattan.» I was very impressed by the friendly service.
Really looking forward to stopping back to try their grub, but honestly I would come back just for late night drinks. Well done, Mr. Bartender.

Not the best food in town but definitely a cute little place worth checking out. There’s multiple areas to sit including the bar, a section of tables and booths, and an outdoor patio. It definitely gives off a vibe that it’s a good place to just come and hang out with a group of friends.
The food itself isn’t that spectacular. I got the carnitas tacos and I was a little disappointed. They weren’t very flavorful. My friends also ordered the queso, corn, soup, and a burrito. The queso was very good and soup were very good. The corn could have used more toppings all around rather than just piling everything on top of 1 side. The burrito looked like it was going to be very good but the verde sauce on top was very dense and flavorless. Tasted nothing like verde sauce in my opinion. I also think some of the food is a little overpriced. The amount of queso you get for $ 8 is not much at all.
As for the drinks we go michaladas and margaritas. The michaladas I was not impressed with. I think if they added the tajin seasoning as a rim it could be a lot better. The margaritas I wasn’t all that impressed with either. They were good but they also had a weird taste.
Ambiance: 4
Food/​Drink quality: 3
Presentation: 3
Price: 3
Overall: 3

I really enjoy Cantina! However, I’m not one of those people who views food as an art and the only questions I ask at restaurants are, «does this have dairy in it» and «where are your restrooms?» So I’m not great at critiquing like other users are.
I will say that the drinks are fantastic. I love the Michelada drinks which are just Bloody Mary’s made with beer. Yum! I also am a fan of their Sangria & Margaritas.
Their fresh tortilla chips are on point, you guys — especially when they are right out of the fryer. Their guac is so green and delicious. It’s different than the usual restaurant guacamole — avocado, cilantro, like and big slices of jalapeño.
Admittedly, I’ve only gotten tacos once there as I usually live off of chips, guac, and a drink. Their taco salad is pretty delicious if I do say so myself.
They have a great brunch. I am in love with their deep fried French Toast that is the perfect combination of sweet and spicy.
The atmosphere is really neat. There are two different and unique seating areas in the building, and then an amazing back patio. The back patio is such a fun place to sit around and catch up with friends. It’s right down the street from me, so it’s pretty much a weekly destination spot for me.
My only issue is that the staff can come off disinterested sometimes. I even read some of their responses on Facebook from management and, as a Social Media Manager, bad replies really stress me out. Obviously, this won’t stop me from going there, but I do think finding better staff is something they could work on.

I have very mixed feelings about the Cantina. My roommates and I frequent Round Corner, especially in the summertime, and we’ve had both positive and negative experiences there.
Cantina has the opportunity to be one of the coolest restaurants around in my opinion; the location is absolutely on point right in the heart of Lawrenceville, not to mention the fact that they have one of the best patios in the ‘burgh for hanging out in the summertime. At the end of the day though, my review has to be more based on the food and the service than on the location. The food is good, but not great. Mexican is one of my favorite genres of food, and I have never been overly impressed with the food quality here. The guacamole and chips are very good if you are lucky to get them fresh — on a few occasions, we’ve had stale chips, which is a huge let down. The tacos are mediocre at best. I usually get the pollo tacos, which are good in a pinch but I’m not rushing back for them, especially when Smoke is a short walk away. In all honesty, I come to Cantina more for the great atmosphere than for the quality of the food.
The real reason why I give Cantina three stars instead of four is due to the service. Rarely have I had a positive experience with the wait staff at Cantina. The employees do not seem to have a high level of knowledge about the menu, and most of them have a snippy demeanor. You usually seat yourself at Cantina, especially on the patio, and I find that we often have to wait at least ten minutes for an employee to notice us and come over with menus. Also, I have now had two experiences at Cantina where items were listed incorrectly on the menu price-​wise and I was charged more money on my bill than anticipated. When I mentioned this to my waitress, she apologized that the menu was wrong and assured me they would update the menu but did not change the amount on my bill, which seemed strange to me.
All of that being said, I still like to come to Cantina for happy hours and for the patio. I really hope Cantina steps up their service, because if they did they could easily gain another star in my book. At this point, in spite of the hip atmosphere, I can’t go above three stars.

I didn’t dislike this place, but I would not go out of my way to return either. On the upside, it’s open on Monday, unlike many of its neighbors in the Lawrenceville area. The service was good as well, which is always appreciated. The place was clean enough with a definite hipster vibe. The music was definitely more hipster dance/​rap than Mexican restaurant.
The food is really what didn’t do it for me. We had the mahi tacos, the brisket tacos, and two of the bacon hog dog appetizers. The $ 7 apiece hot dogs were pretty good overall, but I didn’t feel the tacos delivered at all. Two very small tacos for $ 9 and $ 10 with no side or anything. And on all of the dishes, the pico was very onion heavy, which sort of overpowered what flavor the items had. All in all, I’d pay an extra couple of bucks and be WAY more satisfied with the offerings at Tako.

This is not a foodie review as I did not visit Round Corner Cantina to dine. I came to vibe to good music and DANCE! Last night was an inaugural get down that will occur every Friday from 10 pm to 2 am. In addition, the dj paid homage to Maurice White, founder of Earth Wind & Fire, who recently passed away.
Selecta, my absolute favorite DJ, held down the 1s and 2s offering a nice mix of EWF, house, soul, hip hop, and world (what genre is Fela Kuti? Whatever it is, it was awesomness). The vibe from the crowd was equally diverse and amazing. There was plenty of space to move around and the staff did a great job of clearing glasses from the tables throughout the night. There was no cover charge, by the way. Don’t know if that will change.
It was a feel good time and I’ll definitely return. Granted, I’m not as young as I used to be, so I take a nap beforehand. I need some day parties in my life.

Cantina is one of my favorite places in the summertime. Their back patio area is awesome. It’s filled with high top tables, a covered bar area with stools, and a little place to lounge at the end of the bar with a couch and table.
My favorite time to go is during happy hour and get pitchers of sangria. I also enjoy their queso and guacamole.
Honestly, the staff can be hit or miss. Sometimes we’ve had great experiences with the waitstaff and other times they have not been friendly at all. The vibe inside the restaurant is kinda dark and trendy and hipster. The front room is the bar area with a couple two person high top tables, then the back room has larger high tables if you care to go for dinner. I’ve ordered their tacos on multiple occasions and they are decent. I’ve definitely had better tacos but if we are hitting up happy hour we generally order tacos too.
If you’re going through lawrenceville it’s definitely a cool place to at least try once (especially in the summer) if you’re looking for neat place for a drink.

Stopped by to grab a quick bite. Inside is quite dark. We ordered chips and guacamole, which were fantastic. Guacamole was extremely fresh and garnished with cilantro and jalapeño peppers. We also split a Tijuana Dog, which is basically a dressed-​up hot dog. I found the hot dog a bit greasy and overwhelming. I can imagine this place to be quite fun on a night out with friends, but as a dining place, the experience was alright.

When in Lawrenceville, Round Corners has always provided me with satisfactory experience. The drinks are well made, tacos are awesome and the home made chips and dips are to die for. Unfortunately sometimes it can get a little bit cramped on a Saturday day, but that is to be expected.
For their recent NYE’s party they gave you cute accessories and champagne for the midnight toast. They now have a sweet little outdoor hut with a separate bar which was neat, however I wasn’t thrilled that the people at the other end of the bar were blatantly smoking pot from a vape. I don’t care if you do it, I just don’t want to smell it.
Either way, great place to come for a good moscow mule and from food. Definitely will be back.

Round Corner has always been a favorite watering hole after I first discovered it while waiting out the queue at Piccolo Forno. Their Fuego Flaca drink is a must for anyone who likes things spicy! The chorizo tacos are always my go-​to, and on my most recent visit I also tried the mahi tacos. The fish was plentiful and fried to perfection and these tacos might make it a little harder for me to decide on my meal during my next visit!
Fun fact: they have FREE chips and salsa on Tuesday evenings with your meal. What more could you ask for? If you do need another suggestion for snackage, the queso with chorizo (sorry, the name eludes me at the moment) is
.
I guess based on my recommendations in this review, you could say that Round Corner is the place to go if you’re looking to spice things up! Heh heh.

This was the 3^rd time I was here. The service this time was actually good. That’s surprising because the last two times the service was appalling. It was so bad the second time the server gave me free guacamole & apologized for her awful service.
The only reason we went back was the food is very good. Last time I had the chorizo tacos & they were delicious. This time I had carne Asada & they were also very good. My husband had carnitas (pork) & he really enjoyed them too. I tried the house margarita & it was terrible. The taste was disgusting. Not sure what their other drinks are like.
In the past they had elote (Mexican street corn), but no longer have it. Too bad! It was delicious.
The guacamole is expensive, but delicious.

While the food here is good, the service is subpar. After we ordered our drinks, out of 3 people behind the bar, not one came back over to check on us and we were waiting to order more drinks and appetizers. The bartenders seemed more interested in hanging out and chatting with their buddies that were drinking there than customer service. When we were ready to leave, it took a while just to get someone’s attention to get our check.
As far as atmosphere, not quite sure how I feel about it. Club music, skull later and dim lighting made for a strange place.
Not sure if I’d go back again.

Round Corner has always gotten mixed reviews when I’ve brought it up in conversation. I would be lying if I said that I’ve heard too many good comments regarding the food. I’ve always loved their bloody marias but only recently tried the food.
A friend and I went the other week for brunch and the menu seemed interesting enough. I ordered French toast with a chipotle butter and ancho syrup. Overall, it wasn’t bad. I never order sweet breakfast food but the chipotle and ancho balanced out the sweetness of the toast. I do gave a few gripes about the meal though. The amount of butter given saturated the toast so much so that half way through, I couldn’t bring myself to finish the meal. The meal also was just French toast. It didn’t feel complete. I understand that some places are a la carte but my friend ordered the hash and his order seemed a lot more complete. It was more than enough food for me but it just would have felt like more of a meal if it had maybe a slice less and maybe a compote of sorts. I will go back but maybe just stick to the drinks!

I’ve been going to Round Corner occasionally for drinks since earlier this year (love the Bloody Maria), but only just got around to trying the food yesterday.
My friend and I went for Sunday brunch shortly after they opened (11AM), and had no trouble grabbing seats right away at the bar. We started, of course, with Bloody Marias while looking over the menu – they’re on special for $ 4 during brunch hours, which is a great deal.
I eventually settled on the Brisket Hash. I love savory breakfasts and this seemed like a solid choice. The dish consisted of soft, salty potatoes topped with tender and flavorful brisket, bacon, a fried egg, onions, and cilantro. I added a dash of hot sauce for some spice, but overall the dish was packed with flavor. The portion size was perfect for the price ($ 9) and left me satisfied but not uncomfortably full as brunches so often do.
I’ve always been happy with the drinks here, and now that I’ve enjoyed the brunch, I need to make it back to try the regular menu sometime soon.

I visited Round Corner Cantina with my cousin last Sat. We were looking for a place to have dinner, so I looked through my pack of City Dining Cards. Based on the options available, my cousin and I both decided on Round Corner, so we headed over to Lawrenceville to check it out.
At the time of our visit, it had just finished raining, so almost all of the tables on the patio were empty. We decided to hedge our bets by sitting at the outdoor bar, which had partly covered seats. Fortunately, it didn’t rain any more, and the rest of the tables on the patio filled up during the time of our visit. To get to the patio, when you walk in the front door, proceed to the doorway at the far end of the bar and you’ll see another doorway leading to it right after that (this wasn’t clear to us upon first entering!). I highly recommend sitting on the patio if possible, since it’s quite nice, whereas the indoor rooms are dark and stuffy.
Once seated, we started off by ordering chips and guacamole ($ 7), which came out in about 5 min. The chips were underseasoned and had a bit of a waxy texture, and the dip was fresh (containing avocado chunks) but wasn’t super flavorful. Nevertheless, they served their purpose as an appetizer by giving us something to munch on while awaiting the rest of our order. This was a good thing, since the rest of our order took 30 min. to come out, which the bartender said was due to the printer in the kitchen breaking.
For our entrees, my cousin ordered the pescado (fish) tacos ($ 9), and I ordered the carnitas (pork) tacos ($ 9). We each exchanged a taco with one another so that we could both try both different types of tacos. I found the tacos mediocre in flavor and composition, esp. for the price. The fish was the better of the two – the shell of the pork taco fell apart while I ate it due to grease, and the meat was a bit chewy. We also ordered the elote (Mexican street corn; $ 5) as a side item. This was by far the best part of the meal – the cotija cheese topping was quite delicious. Even so, the corn was a bit mushy, which detracted from the overall effect.
Overall, I was less than impressed with the quality of the food at Round Corner, esp. for the price (fortunately, we didn’t pay full price thanks to the City Dining Card). And, needless to say, I wasn’t exactly pleased with having to wait so long for the main order, esp. after the initial order was fulfilled so quickly. However, the patio provides a nice environment, and our service from the bartender was good, notwithstanding the kitchen delay. If you’re looking for great traditional tacos, I suggest Las Palmas in Oakland or Edgar’s in the Strip, and if you’re looking for delicious upscale tacos, I recommend Tako downtown. In general, I’d suggest sticking to drinks and apps at Round Corner, and giving most of the food a pass. 2.5 stars.

Wanted to explore some place new after work tonight, so did a little research (and Unilocaling, of course!) and chose the Round Corner Cantina to satisfy some post work munchies. I had really REALLY high expectations for this place, and while I wouldn’t say I was let down, there were a couple things that didn’t quite sit right with me, ergo my 3 star rating.
First, I called earlier this evening to ask a quick question, and not only did no one answer, but their voicemail was full. not ok for a business in my opinion. Second, when we got there, the bartenders were really super unhelpful. When you first walk in, you step right into the bar area. it’s small, dark, and kinda cramped. kinda divey, which is not an issue, but if you’re unfamiliar with the place, as we were, it can be kinda hard to find your way around. and when the bartenders offer no help whatsoever, it makes it that much more awkward. So we finally found our way to the back patio, which is really super awesome. We sit down at the bar, only to be told that this bar has just closed. ugh! So we grab a table, which was fine, just not what we had in mind.
From that point, the service was prompt and decent. Our server was friendly and helpful, and our food came out super fast. We got the queso as an appetizer and it was AMAZING. Seriously the best queso I’ve ever had anywhere. So good! I got the Shrimp Tacos as my meal, and they were good. no super amazing queso, but good. My white sangria was decent. Again, nothing special but I enjoyed it.
By the time we left, we both agreed that we were happy we tried it and we’ll be going back soon I’m sure. I would definitely recommend the back patio, it’s a really cool place with a great atmosphere. On a warm summer night, I can imagine that it’s the place to be!