Cantina Laredo

Yuck! Ordered the fajita tres the chicken and beef were flavorless, the bacon wrapped shrimp was flavorful but they left a toothpick inside the shrimp so when I bit into it ouch. It comes with rice which tasted like tomato sauce and rice. The sides of guacamole, sour cream, and pico de gallo sat on the fajita plate and continued to cook. I burnt my tongue on the guacamole. I don’t think we will be returning.

Pretty decent place from Texas. Saw this place at the Houston airport last time I was in Texas and decided to give it a try in Scottsdale. The food overall was decent, but nothing spectacular. Ambiance is nice, however if you like Tex-​Mex you need to give Abuelo’s in Chandler a try. Way better food and is similarly priced.

Billed as a gourmet Mexican restaurant, I think of this place not so much as having Mexican food, as having a Southwest /​Mexican oriented menu with food items that appeal to meat-​loving Americans.
Where else can you get Fajitas Tres — which consists of chicken and beef marinated fajitas style, but also deep-​fried bacon wrapped shrimp? They know their market well — nominally Mexican, but tilting toward suburban Americans. That said, the dish was good — just not «authentically Mexican» in any part of Mexico I’ve visited.
The carne asada was a disappointment — good tasting marinade, but overly salty — and a really poor cut of beef. Flank steak isn’t always prime quality, but you can do better than this. The tortilla chips were thin and bland — but the two salsas were non-​standard, one spicy and quite good, the other black-​bean oriented and not so good. The flan was tasty if not smooth (almost gritty in texture), but still worth having. The green rice was fine but nothing special, the black beans pretty standard. The service was indifferent, and I didn’t appreciate the attempt to up-​sell every time the waiter came buy.
Despite the shortcomings, I enjoy this place, and it has a nice atmosphere — but it is not gourmet, it is not authentic Mexican, and it is part of a chain. Think suburban tastes and a pleasant Mexican-​themed architecture.

Loved this place. Got the fish tacos. Not only the presentation but the flavor was fantastic. Chips and salsa were great and we LOVED the Mexican Apple Pie with cinnamon ice cream — insane. In the four days we were there, this was one of two of the best meals we had. The other being at Dominick’s.

We came here on Cinco de Drinko and had a good time! The décor/​vibe is very nice, but overall our experience was just o-​kay, nothing spectacular. There was a DJ dropping some Latin tunes, though, which was cool.
The waiters didn’t seem to know what was going on haha, albeit annoying, it was almost comical. Our patio table was super wobbly so we had to stuff napkins under it. The patio mister’s water was getting caught on their hanging flags and spewing large water droplets all over the place creating quite a puddle. Rather than fix it, people just couldn’t sit there. The food was good, nothing spesh. Kind of pricey, too.
It also seemed that they had some regular specials on Thursday’s that weren’t going on because of Cinco de Mayo, which is kind of backwards.
It wasn’t memorable for me and isn’t somewhere I’d rave about, but If I’m in the mood for Mexican again I’ll give them another shot. Olé!

Our waitress was nice, albeit a little slow. The chips and salsas (2 served) were very good but the entrees were average at best. My husband and I ordered steak enchiladas and fajitas. Beware… the enchiladas were very spicy. I love spicy foods but my husband does not. We were both sweating and sniffling after just a few bites. They were good but order something else if you don’t like spicy. The fajitas were bland and tasteless as were the black beans, the refried beans and another bean… maybe pinto? I don’t think the chef used any spices at all to prepare the chicken in the fajitas. We left more than half our food and neither my husband nor I wanted the left overs. I’m sure there are better places around.
1^st time visitor from Illinois

This place has always had the worst waiters; lazy, rude, incompetent.
You need to ask for refills of drinks, chips for dips and usually at least twice for a glass of water. That’s once your waiter actually arrives, having made you wait for 15 minutes first.
And the food is bland, mediocre at best
I know that going in.
Tonight was the last straw and I’ll never go back
The nasty Mexican hostess, the one with the braces, seated a party of 8 and a party of 2 before coming back to get myself and my dining companion.
I asked for a booth, as I could see that there were 5 empty ones in the back.
She said, «there’s a fifteen minute wait.»
Mind you, my dining companion and I were the only two waiting and it’s not the type of place that gives beepers out so that you can roam around. There’s no place to roam.
So I said, «fine, we’ll sit anywhere.» As there were at least 12 empty tables in the main dining room. 5 empty tables on the outdoor patio and the bar was COMPLETELY empty
«It’s still 15 minutes,» she said, laughing.
So I laughed back at her and said, «I’m not waiting 15 seconds since there are 30 empty tables in the restaurant,» and proceeded to walk out and drive 15 minutes away to a different type of restaurant, just out of principle.
And will NEVER GO BACK.
And I wish there was a way to give NEGATIVE stars.

The food was great, I had the enchilada veracruz which was full of flavor, wife had the enchiladas DE avacado which she claims were to die for, but she scarf fed them down so fast I didn’t get a taste. Was however a tad pricey, but over all good.

Guiso de Pollo is the chicken and tomatillo stew. It is a gluten free option of which there are many here. The chips they serve are corn based and also GF. The prices are very moderate and range from 15 – 30 dollars. I got what I expected from Cantina Laredo. The food was well made, reasonably priced and there is a wide selection of menu choices. You will certainly find the typical Mexican fare, but also some unique dishes that add some variety. My server, Ryan did a nice job of making sure my experience was a positive one.

Excellent food and service! Victor was an outstanding waiter and really listened to our requests. We had the Veracruz with sour cream sauce as we can’t eat very spicy food. We also
loved the Mexican apple pie with cinnamon ice cream and brandy butter sauce poured over it.
Highly recommend!

Fairly priced for very good food, get the guacamole also highly recommended is the tacos de barbacoa.

Excellent food! Margaritas delicious! Servers very attentive and informative. Nice atmosphere! Loved chips and guacamole made table side

We sat in the bar during Happy Hour so we were able to take advantage of their $ 5 margarita special and ½ price bar menu.
They immediately bring to the table a large bowl of fresh tortillas chips with some decent salsas. We ordered the margarita special and some pollo and pescado tacos.
The server was overworked thus not too attentive. The margaritas were not too bad. The fish tacos were fabulous but the chicken tacos were dreadful. Only dumping a generous amount of salsa on the chicken taco could provide enough moisture and flavor to the chicken to make them palatable.
Overall, if you are hitting Cantina Laredo before 7 PM you won’t do too badly if you sit in the bar and order off the bar menu.

Fine, fine food but nothing too exciting. I’d rather get traditional, non-​fancy Mexican food than the froufrou fare here. My carne asada had wonderful flavor but was extremely fatty. My 10-​year-​old hated her quesadilla and didn’t eat much.

The ambiance of this restaurant is perfect for a romantic evening. It is not your traditional Mexican cuisine, rather a fusion restaurant. Their dishes are perfectly seasoned, and the presentation is impeccable. The servers are both patient and friendly. This is one of the finer, and more affordable, date spots for north Scottsdale.

This is a nice place, with a good happy hour.
For happy hour, from 4 PM till 7 PM, they have five dollar margaritas and half off of their bar menu food items. A good deal!
They serve you free chips and salsa, and the salsa was spicy and the chips were freshly made. The food, from the bar menu, is good. The bar menu includes queso dip’s, tacos, sliders, etc.
The service is good, and it was not too packed up on a Monday night.
They have a nice bar, and a large restaurant. Overall it’s decent Mexican food with a good happy hour.

Still awesome!
WE ****LOVE**** the guacamole that they make at the table, and the apple pie at the table.
The pineapple margarita wasn’t my favorite.
We have gone for lunch several times, and love the happy hour too.

Although Cantina Laredo books itself as «gourmet Mexican», it really serves mainly the usual staples — enchiladas or tacos with rice and beans, etc. So why the «gourmet»? Maybe it’s because the portions are a little smaller or the prices a little higher than your neighborhood favorites.
So how come the four stars? It’s mainly because the food is a cut above the ordinary. The tacos had so much meat that they were really a handful; even the salsa with the perfect thin crispy chips was different — a tasty tomatillo salsa if I’m not mistaken. The chicken enchilada was full of flavor but the beef enchilada was just overly hot (almost inedible).
Cantina Laredo likes to serve its entrees on plates that are just barely big enough to hold the food. This makes it feel like you are getting small plates although actually the portions are quite filling. Maybe that’s why I probably won’t go back — it’s just a feeling I get when eating here. The ambiance, service and the cuisine don’t quite match up and it makes me uneasy. In the final analysis, we often return to restaurants just because they feel right, and for me Cantina Laredo doesn’t make the grade. But you might react differently — worth a try.

I’ve always seen Cantina Laredo but never had the chance to visit until tonight. Walking in on a rainy night not sure what to expect but it didn’t look like a Mexican Restaurant. It looked like a modern western theme restaurant. Very clean looking.
Anyways, sat down at our table and before we could breathe they bought us our chips and salsa. He even explained which one was mild and spicy. Very nice. By the time we turned around then our waiter was there to greet us with water cups and asking for our drink orders. Really nice for a change.
I ordered the Mahi Mahi tacos. Came with three tacos, rice and black beans. I got the chipotle sauce on the side. Really spicy and glad it was on the side. Tacos were very good but small. The rice didn’t have lots of taste and the black beans were pretty good.
My wife had the chicken tacos. This also came with three taco, rice and black beans. She wasn’t a fan of her meal. The chicken was pretty dry but okay.
My son had the fajitas tres which came with beef, chicken, and bacon wrapped shrimp. I tried the beef and it was insanely tender and tasty. The chicken was nice and moist with a pretty good taste. Didn’t get to taste the bacon wrapped shrimp cause he gobbled them up. He really enjoyed his fajitas. Very good and tasty.
The chips were so good. Light and not to greasy. We could tell they were freshly made. As I said before, the service was great. Always filling up our glasses and the serve filled up our chips basket when it was empty. Our server was friendly and helpful.
So we had a good meal. Great service, good to ok food with a nice ambiance. My wife even said this wasn’t a typical Mexican restaurant cause the food wasn’t greasy at all. Enjoy

AUTHENTIC Mexican. Loved it.
Enjoyed the guacamole prepared table-​side.
All 3 of us loved our meals.
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