Spicy Cantina

Horrible is an understatement! Chips were stale. We had the veggie enchiladas and chicken fajitas. Not much taste and horribly overpriced. They advertise the fresh Sangria, but the bartender pours it from a large bottle and the put an orange slice on your rim. Hey at least I did not get sick…

Loved coming here and drinking coronaritas on our vacation. The staff was nice, the service was good, the views were awesome because you are higher up on the boardwalk. I would definitely return next time I am at seaside heights!

Terrible food, but beautiful view and fun atmosphere. The chips were stale and the dull chicken tacos were outrageously overpriced.

The manager refused to serve my friend who does not have a drivers license but instead had a state issued ID and multiple other credit cards all with the same name on them. The manager then said he cannot use the state issued IDs but it had to be a drivers license so basically saying if you don’t have a drivers license you cannot drink there. He then asked for either a birth certificate or passport which obviously no one brings to the beach. Everyone there had a poor attitude about it and they were acting very unprofessional.

I’ve been coming to this bar since 2006, but today was my last visit. They used to have really nice margaritas where one was enough for a girl and one with a floater was good enough for me to start playing those wacky games on the boardwalk. Today my margarita felt like it had homeopathic amount of tequila, like none, and I expected a strong drink. Second problem they changed menu, I used to love digging into the nachos and rarely had to order extra food. Today my nachos were really skippy on the meat, cheese, had no guac or salsa, but came loaded with sourcream and lettuce. I do not recall a single place in my life that dared to have Mexican theme and yet served lettuce on any of the dishes.
I will not come back, not even for those views. Also I think it would be nice to send inspector to check their bottles to see how much water they contain.

Food was horrible but over all experience was fun. If it wasn’t for the entertainment the place would of been terrible. 1 out of the 3 bartenders were experienced most of the girls spent more time playing with their phones instead of checking for empty drinks, but they did have a fun crowd

Windy night, decided to grab lay dinner here. Not good. Arrived late & upstairs was closed. My boys loved the music & strobe lights down stairs. That & the friendly staff was the best part. Food was lousy. Pizza — lousy. Old dough. Fries soggy & burger was so –so. Off season, maybe that’s why.

3.5 stars.
Our bike club rode down on a beautiful sunny, Saturday. There was a HOG festival and BBQ festival so the area was jumping.
We managed to grab a table for 7 easily outside on the balcony. Our server took our drink orders and nobody ordered apps.
Me: lettuce wraps with shrimp (5 medium shrimp, would have liked a few more)
Wife: chicken fajitas (Refried beans very bland)
Others: 2 pulled pork sammies, 2 beef burritos and a beef taco order.
We had waters, soda, a couple of margaritas and a shot.
All in all not bad. We’ll probably return next year and I’ll order something different.

Ugh. It is SUCH a shame as this place literally has the best view in town.
Arrived for lunch on a Thurs and given uncomfortable picnic bench seats upstairs, asked to be moved but were told the table we wanted to move to was for «parties of 6 or more». Promptly greeted by a bored waitress who acted like we were doing us a favor. My mother ordered a regular margarita which tasted like it had no tequila in it at all. Called the waitress over and told her that the margarita was weak. She said «the bartender makes it in the morning and puts a whole handle of tequila in the Tupperware.» Firstly — we like freshly made to order margaritas, thanks. Secondly, how big is the Tupperware? Exchanged for a light beer.
Next: the way overpriced, poor quality food. $ 14 for two fish tacos? Fish was actually decent but nowhere near enough chipotle sauce and no value for money. Veggie enchiladas were watery and the cheese was so clearly out of a bag /​barely melted. Serving rice and refried beans with meals? Is this 1997? They were straight out a boxed mix /​can. How about some fresh salad, avocado, fresh made salsa? The food seemed like it was an afterthought, and the waitress seemed like she knew it.
The view cant save this monstrosity. Considering the amazingness that is Surf Taco everywhere down the Shore, it’s a shame Spicy’s is hogging prime real estate with their half-​assed, overpriced slop.
Free chips tho. Just wish they were freshly fried…

I came here for lunch, enticed by the promise of a lobster roll and oysters.
While there was nothing spectacular about the customer service, the dining area was clean and there was more than enough seating. I ordered a lobster roll and a combination platter of shrimp, clams, and oysters.
I was very unimpressed with the actual ‘roll.’ They took a hot dog bun and flattened it… not even bothering to toast it. Seriously? Are you sure you know what a lobster roll looks like? However, I never verbalized this complaint because then they proceeded to place a GIANT helping of lobster meat on top of the bun. I’m talking a HUGE portion. Complaint abolished.
There were chunks of meat bigger than quarters in the mixture… which was 98% lobster and 2% sauce/​flavoring. That’s what I’m talking about!!!
The oysters, clams, and shrimp were good. I can’t say much, because I’ve only ever had inland oysters… so these certainly tasted much better to me.
I ended up spending $ 30 for the two plates. Not a bad price for everything I received. I would definitely come back again for a lobster roll… or two.

I’ve been past Spicy Cantina many many times in my many years visiting Seaside, but I’d never been inside until this year. And after all this time, the result? Meh.
The food was good. It wasn’t spectacular, and reminded me a lot of On The Border but a tiny bit worse. Everything was really expensive, which I guess is to be expected on the Boardwalk, but $ 15 for an enchilada is pushing ridiculous. That, plus $ 14.50 for tableside guacamole that was made from two avocados (Read, each in our nine person party got about a tablespoon and a half), and $ 12.50 for an (admittedly large, but WEAK) margarita, and you’ve got exploitation.
The guacamole was pretty good, but I’ve had better for $ 2 at Chipotle. The chips at the table weren’t salted enough, which left me wanting. The margarita was weird. It was a pineapple margarita, which is a weird enough choice already, but I couldn’t figure out whether it was supposed to be sweet or sour, and the salted rim (when I asked for sugar) made it all the more confusing. It also gave me the worse brain (and stomach) freeze of my life as I had to take a big gulp two minutes after getting it as it was melting and dripping out of the glass.
I got and enjoyed the chicken enchilada, that came with rice and beans. It needed something, though. The sauce it came with was a start, but it didn’t have any character. It tasted like I could have made it at home. Considering that my cut of the check was $ 35, I expected more.
They got one of our party’s orders wrong, and fixed it when he pointed it out. Our waitress was fine. The view is pretty good, even from the side, and where we were seated let us hear the live band playing downstairs and have a conversation at the same time.
I don’t think I’ll be back, but it wasn’t a bad experience.

Great drinking spot, fun music, several areas to order a drink. They have special cups for Jäger Bombs!

Good atmosphere, good food.
My only complaint was when our clams on the half shell took over an hour to be served. I asked the waitress nicely to cancel the order, since we were done with our meals.
She responded a bit snotty, «they were just delivered and will be ready in 2 minutes» and walked away. (Ok… guess she is not going to cancel my order??)
15 minutes later they were finally served fresh and warm. YUM!
I was too tired and beat down to complain between my 2 kids, mom, and husband. Luckily my husband is a garbage can when it comes to food and sucked down almost 2 dozen warm clams. He saved the day!

The Story: Boyfriend and I decided to go to the beach and we stopped here for lunch. I mean… Mexican food has flavor in it and yummy correct?
Food: I honestly don’t remember what I ordered because the food was so bland. (Theres pictures go look at it!) I remember our piña colada (which they screwed up on the 2^nd drink) and the shrimp cocktail… Yep, I am not impressed about the food at all…
Price: Considering this was on the Seaside Heights Broadwalk… it was pricey for Mexican food. We spent about $ 80.00 between two people for LUNCH.
Décor: Nothing impressive, on the 2^nd floor on a bar. Theres a bar area and dining area. We sat on the outside — so the view is beautiful!
Service: Actually, after being sat — we had to wait maybe 15 — 20 minutes before our waitress came to us and she didn’t even get us water. (and that is AFTER I flagged down the hostess to ask «who is our waitress»).
Parking & Finding the Place: We just wandered into it. But if you are going here for the food then parking is about $ 15-​$ 20…
Additional Thoughts: Such a shame because view is lovely…

It’s hard to miss Spicy Cantina on the Seaside boardwalk. I can rate it on 2 levels the food on the restaurant and the bar.
Restaurant located upstairs — 3:
Seating is offered both inside and outside. Service was friendly. The menu includes a nice variety of appetizers and some standard Mexican entrees. The apps were definitely the star of the meal. The tequila wings, the quesadilla and queso dip were all delicious and enjoyable. The fish taco entrée, was kind of blah, the fish, refried beans and rice none of which had much flavor. The sangria is a no-​no, but the margaritas were great. If you eat there and want to come back to hang in the bar later, ask one of the security guys for a bracelet before you go.
Bar — 4:
While we waited for a table we hung out at the bar downstairs and enjoyed the Rich Meyer Show. He uses music, comedy and some audience participation to entertain the crowd. Later that night there was live music, a DJ, dancing and a fun crowd! We were there on a Sunday night and got to see the Nine Deez Band; they were fabulous! All 90’s tunes and they did a fantastic job with connecting with the crowd and putting on a fun show; no to mention great music to dance to. After they signed off a DJ took over and continued to play some great dancing music.

August at the Jersey Shore definitely consists of a night out at the Seaside Heights Boardwalk!!! Last night my husband and I went to the Spicy Cantina which was on the boardwalk, upper floor. Since there was a wait (30 min) for the balcony tables overlooking the ocean and Boardwalk we opted for a seat at the bar since it was just the two of us and we were still able to have a nice view of the ocean.
The food was just ok– we just got apps. We got queso which was quite bland, table side guacamole, and lettuce wraps with chicken and veggies, nothing outstanding there. The tortilla chips also tasted a bit stale… Best bet would be to hang at the bar, forget the food and have yummy drinks…
You’re paying for the view which was beautiful and we don’t mind «restoring the shore» and helping out a local business.

The original Margarita was fantastic. I think if I ordered another one I would have forgotten how mediocre the food was. Ordered the Camarones Diablo. It came with a little salsa tossed on a bed of lettuce, shrimp smothered in Chipotle southwest sauce and a mound of rice. I found that the food lacked originality and flavor. My hubby ordered the burger. He referred to it as «decent.» If you eat here, order drinks late at night with tableside guacamole and nothing else.
The service is attentive and the staff are genuinely warm and friendly.
My favorite part of this restaurant was the upstairs outdoor seating. The view is beautiful of the ocean and boardwalk.
May have to head over to Tom’s River to find some good food tonight!!!

Had a great lunch on a Saturday in July. Diana P. was our server and she was great.
We were expecting more tourist food since the restaurant is on the boardwalk, but this was a surprise. Definitely a notch or two above our expectations.
Wife had crab cake sandwich and was very impressed. I had the chimichanga which was as good as any I’ve had. We’ve paid much more for much worse.
We’ll be back the next time we’re in town.

Love it here! When we come to visit this is a must! I crave the lobster bisque all year long! Chips and salsa is great… Great view from the deck! Wonderful bar downstairs!

This place is a very nice hangout spot in seaside heights. We had a nice afternoon drinking and talking to others. The service is really good and the cruzan voodoo buckets are a must!!!
We will prob stay for dinner here! Should visit