Taco Cantina

This is a tough review. I waffled between 3 and 4 stars, based solely on the tacos. The place is nice, drinks (beer and wine) are insanely cheap, which definitely helped their score. The tacos were good. Not great but not bad. The tortillas were bought, not homemade. The meats tasted well cooked and spiced. Not sure if I can put my finger on what’s missing, but I’ve had better tacos at places on Buford Highway or Cheshire Bridge. Bottom line, it’s a solid place with decent tacos and super cheap drinks.

This place is amazing. Very fresh, tasty Mexican food. Try a torta… seriously. Smyrna needs more places like this — high quality non chain restaurants. I’ve been here many times and great each time. Go here.

This little hole in the wall will knock your socks off! And that doesn’t happen that often around Smyrna! Try the Cuban Torta! Try the Barbacoa Torta! Try Everything!
The Barbacoa is marinated for days, then cooked slowly for hours. Then it’s piled generously on the freshly baked bread from right down the street. Then they add pepper jack cheese, chipotle mayo, pico and pickled onions YUM! And the salsa bar was wonderful.
As I was eating my Cuban at lunch last week I watched people walk right past this place on their way to Subway, which is two doors down. I wanted to go out and grab ‘em and tell ‘em how good this place really is! The owner has had 20+ years of experience in upscale food in Buckhead. He knows what he’s doing! Now you no longer have to go to Buford Highway for a great Cuban sandwich… Thank you Taco Cantina!

Soooooooooo much flavor in that Chorizo torta. But, for the sandwich and a can of Coke, I spent over $ 9.00 (before tip). No bueno. But, the dude at the counter was super friendly. The salsa bar had everything that I wanted. I liked the music that was playing while I was there. I would return to try something else. But, that torta is PRICEY.

This is our new go-​to local taco place. The tacos are smallish, but delicious. They’re under $ 2 apiece, so it’s not expensive to get 3 and have a variety. So far, my favorites are the Chorizo, Barbacoa and the Al Pastor. The Cantina special is also a good deal and gives you sides of rice and beans. The guacamole is very tasty. too. We’ll be back to work our way through the menu.

It’s nice to see new, local joints popping up in Smryna. Even though this place didn’t thrill me, I’m happy to see that so many people are enjoying it. But, it wasn’t for me.
Small tacos, which isn’t surprising based on the price. I was a little surprised, though, that even the «special» tacos are so small. The fillings are okay, the brisket probably being the best one I tried.
The queso had potential, with a very nice consistency. But I found it to be very bland. We also bought an order of the chips and salsa… which ends up just being a larger (but still small) container of the salsa off the free salsa bar, and chips. So you’re spending the money for the chips. But the chips are also not that good. So unless you need chips, I would hold off.
The salsa bar was my favorite. So many great salsas!
Polite staff, quick service.

I retract my previous review. Owner acts nice to your face, then talks about you in Spanish to coworkers. Rude.

Food was awesome! Very authentic Mexican cooking. Only downside was that we had a large group and its a fairly small restaurant and they don’t serve margaritas! The wait staff was very accommodating with our large group. Usually you order at counter and they bring out your food, but they came to our table and got our order from us. If your looking for a fast Mexican meal… this is your place! Things I tasted were the Cuban sandwich and chicken quesadilla… Both excellent. Good kid meal options too!

Absolutely love this new place! Have had enchiladas, a speciality taco, and quesadilla. Love the quality of the food and the staff is very friendly and helpful. Can’t wait to go back on the weekend for tamales! Highly recommend!

Finished my hair appointment and was in the mood for tacos. Found Taco Cantina on my trusty Unilocal app and discovered it was two minutes away. Now, when I said I wanted tacos I guess what I really wanted was margaritas, so I was totally bummed to find they do not serve alcohol of any kind. Still, I needed to eat so I stayed.
The tacos were good. I’m not a fan of corn tortillas, but the meat was well seasoned, so it was fine. The tacos come out with just meat, nothign else. You have to take your food to the bar to add your own salsas, onions, etc. I don’t really like that setup. I want my food to come out ready to eat.
There was a salsa verde on the bar that was really good. I would have loved to have more, but the little condiment cups that come out are tiny and I didn’t feel like getting back up.
Rice and beans were forgettable and not worth the carbs.
While the tacos are good, but not memorable, the torta we had was great. We had the torta cubano and it was delicioso! I would stop in for that again. It went great with an ice cold coke.
Girl at the counter was friendly. Prices were fair.

Freshest tacos around! If your into tortas, aka Mexican sandwiches/​panini, this is the place to go!

Oh My & WOW! So good!
A fun surprise find.
I ordered a Chicken Quesadilla for lunch, it was so large I had the rest for dinner.
Delicious flavors.

Wow! I came here for cheap date night with the BF this weekend, and we have found our new Taco place!
It’s a very small place, but everyone that works here is so friendly and they have great recommendations.
The tacos come without any toppings, they have a whole bar full of everything you could possibly want on a taco.
The meat is so flavorful and fresh and the tortillas are warm and delicious.
We ordered Pulled pork, beef and Chicken tika tacos, so amazing! You definitely get your money’s worth the whole meal was $ 16 for both of us! Dang!
Definitely come here for your next taco craving!

Taco Cantina has great Tacos!!! My personal favorite is the marinated pork taco, its fully loaded with flavor. We also ordered the chicken, steak and brisket taco. All very yummy!!! This was my first experience with the brisket, and I must say that I may have been sleeping on the pork. As you can see, the tacos came underdressed, they do have a full salsa bar so that you can dress them the way you like them. Our order came with rice & blacks beans, pretty tasty after I mixed them together and added a little salsa. They have $ 1 can sodas. They also sale Ice cream, which is a nice little addition.
Prices were reasonable, and service was great. The restaurant was extremely clean, but seating is limited… all & all it’s the cutest little restaurant on spring street… lots of character. They don’t offer table services but on this particular day we were able to get a little help, the owners sons were there and the youngest helped us out with clearing the table after we were done eating, I also witnessed him sweeping and cleaning other tables… cutest little waiters ever, of course I had to tip him. We will definitely return.

Excellent, authentic Mexican place in the already-​crowded Smyrna taco market.
One thing that will benefit them over some of the other locations (la villa, taco t, etc.) is that they are located very close to several of the bigger companies in the area (Home Depot and RaceTrac HQ right around the corner).
Anyway, back to the food. Everything was incredibly fresh. The salsas (I tried both labeled roja) were some of the best I’ve had from a salsa bar. Great roasted tomato and garlic flavor.
I ordered:
4 tacos (Barbacoa, Chicken Tinga, Carne Asada, Camaron ala Diabla)
1 tamale (chicken with red sauce)
Rice and beans
I think the highlights for me were the Barbacoa and the Camaron ala Diabla tacos. The Barbacoa was juicy and flavorful. The shrimp taco was slightly spicy and went well with the chile de arbol slaw on top. The only taco that was «meh» to me was the carne Asada; however, after doctoring it up with the condiment bar it was pretty darn good.
Overall, this is a great place to come get a quick cheap lunch, or to come have a couple of beers and tacos with friends before going out (once they get their already-​approved license in). If you get a chance, talk to the owner. He’s a truly genuine guy and was very open to me about his business and what he’s poured into it! Made me wanna give them 5 stars, but hey, I gotta have some integrity here!

So, I went on a bit of a taco tour y’all! I got the idea from the folks over at Buzzfeed which is seemingly the most fun place to work on the planet! A group of Buzz-​feeders decided to go on a tour around their city eating their weight in tacos. It made me so hungry for tacos that I decided to do the same thing. Of course I started on Unilocal and visited some of the highest rated Taquerias around the city. Yum! This was an assignment I could really sink my teeth into and it’s inspired me to do this every so often, experimenting with various genres and specific dishes. If anyone wants to join me, just let me know! :) **
Okay, Taco Cantina wins! They may have slightly surpassed Taco La Villa as the favorite spot on my taco tour so far. This is an assuming little joint but I’ve come to realize that all the best ones are. The menu wasn’t substantial by any means (I know they just opened not too long ago). But that was okay since I just order… well…Tacos on my taco tour so I ordered my usual three tacos with rice and beans and a Mexican soda.
Here’s what first stands out about Taco Cantina… they serve white rice and black beans! What? I thought I’d stepped into Chipotle for a second! I’m so used to the orange-​y colored rice and the glob of texture-​less refried beans that every Mexican restaurant serves but I was pleasantly surprised.
The second thing that stood out? Their pork taco comes with PINEAPPLE! I was a little skeptical about seeing pineapple on my plate of Mexican food but when I tasted it I was blown away by the flavor, it added something special to the dish. I thought the pineapple perfectly complimented the pork and I enjoyed every bite. My other tacos were GREAT too, they obviously know what they’re doing here. My tummy was so happy and of course nothing beats washing tacos down with those syrupy sweet Mexican sodas that I swear contain cra** (an addictive drug lol). Okay, just kidding, Margaritas are the best thing to chase down tacos but Taco Cantina doesn’t serve those so… next best thing. ;)
The restaurant, including the bathroom, was clean, the service was friendly and I can’t wait try Taco Cantina again. :)

I went here for the first time last week. It was pretty good. Although Taco T es mi número uno taco joint, Taco Cantina has liquid cheese (aka queso, cheese dip, etc). This is very important. They also have a salsa back so you can customize your taco toppings. This is great for a picky eater such as myself.
Tacos– I will say I didn’t love the selection I got. The carne asada was pretty bland and the Asian taco was a little to heavy on the salt. But my husband got the chorizo and barbacoa, which were absolutely amazing. The chorizo also had potatoes which is delicious. And the barbacoa was so unique. I can’t tell if it had cinnamon or allspice, but it really was a beautiful pairing. So I will definitely be going back to get those next time!

You need to read my other review today to realize I wasn’t in the mood for more Mexican. I stopped to check out Jamaica Mi Krazy and had to park near Taco Cantina, so I decided to walk in and check out the menu before ordering from JMK — Wow, what a stroke of fortune.
the Hostess talked with me at length about the menu and recommended the weekend-​only tamales, which included banana leaf tamales tonight.
I stuck to my procedures and got a menu before walking down to JMK. The Curry, Rice and Peas, etc. we’re enticing, but I needed to have a great tamale (or two) and taco to cleanse my palate from the earlier disaster. I’ll go back to JMK later.
When I returned to Taco Cantina I ordered two Banana Leaf Tamales (Verde and Rojo) and a Taco Barbacoa to go (recommended by the Hostess). They were LEO friendly so the total was under $ 6.
All I can say is — OUTSTANDING! The taco was succulent and tasty; the tamales were tender and flavorful. The Owner even indulged my request for more sauce for the tamales (see my earlier review of another local establishment) though I later figured out I could’ve added the sauces from the Salsa Bar (my bad)…always nice to not have my ignorance exposed though I would’ve taken it in stride. The only hiccup was a bone and bit of fat in my Rojo Tamale, but even that wasn’t enough to deter a five star rating.
This isn’t a Taco Hut with cooks serving Mexican fare. It’s a hangout with Chefs crafting quality Mexican Classics. In case you’re wondering — I’m a fan!
⁸⁄₂₉ — Here again. Tamales again. Outstanding! I added a Mole Taco. Very complex taste.
I learned — 10% discount with Social Media Checkin and $ 1 Tacos Mon — Fri from 3 – 5 pm

This food is SOLID!
I had Asada, chicken Tinga, Barbacoa tacos with black bean sides. Everything was QUALITY, FRESH and NOT greasy! Their prices are reasonable… my order was ~$ 7.
They have a condiment bar that is kept cool with a lid.
They are definitely a welcome addition to the area.
I’ll be back to try their nachos and tamales… and more tacos.
They are planning to offer delivery (yay) in about a month or so.
For you seafood lovers: they offer spicy shrimp, calamari and fish tacos.

I’ve been waiting for this place to open ever since I moved to vinings and decided to stop in due to my serious love for Mexican food. Decided to give it a try once I saw it was open and… It was absolutely delicious! I had the nachos, and ordered the tacos and quesadillas for my family. Portion sizes were good, the meats had great flavor and the fixings were fresh. This spot has just become my new favorite place to eat!