Cantina 46

Eh…
Was ok.

This place is close

Most people have mentioned that they have stumbled upon this place, probably because of its location; I must have walked by this place a hundred times before noticing it! Glad we finally dined here though.
Located right off the bustling Mag Mile, this was a nice little getaway with some solid Mexican food options with small servings so you could also dine tapas style. I however opted to go for a full entrée.
Food
The taste of the salsa that comes with the free chips is always a solid indicator of the main food to come and I was impressed. The salsa was very flavorful with just the right amount of spice. Needless to say, we devoured those quickly.
The enchiladas rojas were really tasty, topped with chipotle sauce and Chihuahua cheese. I went with the chicken and they were really good. Sometimes shredded chicken can be really dry but not the case at Cantina. Loved how they had several filling options such as poblano peppers & cheese, spicy picadillo and even carne asada. Can’t wait to be back to try out the other options!
Service
We went after work on a Thursday night and it was pretty empty. Our waitress was extremely friendly and service was very fast. We liked that one of the managers was walking around & checked in with us to make sure everything was OK. They have really great weekly specials too. My husband ordered some $ 1 tacos and they were really good; they also have good drink specials.
Ambiance
Dark and rustic, this place really does have the look and feel of a cantina. Small bar with a TV and ample seating including booths make this a great spot for a date or a medium-​sized group. There is a really cute patio out front which I’m sure is great to sit out on during the warm months. Great location, especially when you need a food/​drink break from shopping.

This is a really small restaurant, but a good atmosphere. It was our first time dining here and the drinks were not that good. I ordered the Cantina Margarita and it was extremely tart and lemony with little tequila. I then asked for a different drink the Mojito and it lacked alcohol as well. Another person in my party ordered a pumpkin martini and had to ask for more alcohol to be added as well.
The food was ok, nothing to rave about just decent. I asked my server if the salsa was spicy and she said no. Well it was extremely spicy causing me to choke and cough. While I’m having this coughing episode she continues to ask the rest of my party for drink orders, standing next to me. It was not a good experience since I’m not suppose to eat spicy foods. All she could say was do you want something else like pico de gallo, which I’m charging you an extra $ 5 for.

Wonderful menu! Awesome service!
A bit of advice: You HAVE to try the butternut squash tacos. Trust me. #Heaven
I will be back to try other items on the menu.

The enchiladas rojas were some of the best I’ve had in the city. Wifey got fajitas, which were good as well. We sat outside as it was a nice summer evening and it definitely added to the relaxed atmosphere.
I definitely want to go back and try something else, if I can resist getting the enchiladas again!

This review dates back to the beginning of June 2012
We were a group of 4 people and we sit in the outdoor patio, on the sidewalk.
A couple of us order dinner, while me and my other friend had just drinks, guacamole and chips.
I had a couple of margaritas and they were nice and refreshing. Not the best margaritas I have ever had, but they were really good.
The guacamole and chips were quite good too, and it was nice to have a couple of drinks al fresco.
The service was attentive but not intrusive.
Unfortunately, we had to leave at 11:15 pm, because of the stupid ordinance from the city of Chicago that forces bars and restaurant to close the outdoors patios after 11pm, which is ridiculous in a city with only 3 months of nice weather a year.

I went here recently, and they have killer tacos! I got the carne asada and the lamb taco, both were amazing. Good guac as well, but it’s a little pricey at $ 8… It’s definitely enough for 4 people to enjoy though so I guess it’s $ 2 per person…
This place is awesome for drinking since they have a decent size outdoor patio with pitchers of Margaritas and Sangria. It’s weird that they don’t give you free chips and salsa, but I think the reason for that is because their chips are high quality, they arn’t those flimsy chips that break off as soon as you dip them in salsa.
The only reason it’s not 5 stars was because of the service speed. Great waitress, and I felt bad for her, but the kitchen really needs to get their act together… It took over 1 hour to get 4 tacos, and about 45 minutes for the guac to come out. We thought we would be there for 1 hour max, we actually spent 2 hours because the service was so slow. Also we never got refills on our water, and didn’t even bother to ask since we could tell that would be take another 30 minutes.
All in all though I would recommend going to place as long as its not crowded, since I don’t think they have the staff ramped up yet to handle a crowded night. I’ll be back for sure, and hopefully I can change my rating to 5 stars!

Wow.
I waited tables for years and am extremely sympathetic to a disorganized waitstaff, but this was seriously the worst service I’ve ever had. We didn’t even complain and were apologized to at least a dozen times.
I could go on and on about getting seated out of order, asking twice for cutlery after our food arrived, sickly-​sweet margaritas, or having to go inside and track down the manager for our check.
The best part, though, was when our host (we only met our server when she came by to offer an unsolicited apology, the host waited on us the whole time) asked repeatedly how our food was. My husband finally told him his tacos were cold and his response…“Yeah, I know… sorry about that.” If you knew our service had been rough so far, don’t ADMIT that you knowingly served us cold food!

My friends and I came here for restaurant week. I was excited to try their rabbit pozole. Unfortunately, it was pretty disappointing. They didn’t give us enough meat and garnishes. It was mostly soup, which I may have been fine with any other days but I was starving.
The house margarita was also so-​so. I had just returned from a business trip where I had good margarita, so I was really disappointed. One sip of it, and I thought I’d get a hangover the next morning. Not good at all.
Only their tacos were good. I liked the calabacita taco (butternut squash, mushrooms, watercress, queso cojita, pickled red onion). I also tried their pescado (fish) taco, which was just okay.
I was also surprised that they didn’t have a prix fixe menu for their restaurant. Or, they did… but they didn’t enforce it. We can pick items from the prix fixe menu (w/​o getting the prix fixe deal) and other items off the regular menu. It was a very confusing process to me. Perhaps they’d be better organized next year.
I’d come back for lunch one day to try the rest of the tacos, but they’re not opened for lunch during the weekdays so nevermind.

I’d say 3.5 stars for a last minute dinner decision with a friend. Actually, we came by on a good night. The special that day was one free pork shoulder (with pineapple escabeche, and black beans) taco with a purchase of a drink. Score one for that. We both went with the mighty strong house margarita which we got right away. I say strong as in strong for my weakling self. As we were munching away on those tacos and chips and salsa, also free with a Foursquare check-​in, we decided on some additional tacos.
The other tacos we ordered were:
— Carne asada, which is usually a safe order for me and probably my favorite one. Meat was cooked perfectly and you could taste the juice just oozing out onto the onions and salsa verde.
— Chicken included pieces of bacon, picante mayo, pickled pepper, cilantro, and avocado. Out of the ones I ate, this was my least favorite. I removed the peppers because I’m sort of a wimp when it comes to spicy things.
— Butternut squash and mushrooms and other things I can’t remember.
— Pork belly and queso fresco.
I should note that I got full pretty quickly and didn’t actually order the squash and pork belly for myself. I did take a bite of my friend’s order and thought those two were pretty good too. Damn me for filling up on the other tacos and chips and salsa so quickly.
Service was great that night. We were checked on frequently, and water was re-​filled more times than I can remember. They have decent outdoor seating. However, when it’s windy, things do fly off the table or are knocked over (i.e. glasses). It’s not a bad option for tacos in the area and for having so as many specials as they seem to offer.

Cantina does well at what it does.
It is mostly a lounge place for small taco bites. So you can pair your drinks with a single taco, or mix and match your own taco dinner. I just had a huge craving for M&M tacos and Cantina 46 is the place to be! They have a wide variety of choices:
— beef taco the good old favorite
— lamb neck taco I’m ecstatic to find a place with my favorite park of the lamb cooked just right wrapped in a soft shell!
— vegetarian taco colorful Mexican veggies artfully cooked. Solid!
My friends and I sampled different Magaritas and were all happy with our choices.
On the down side though, unlike Perez, Catina doesn’t offer other entrée choices, b/​c it is really shooting for a lounge feeling.
Well, it would earn 5 stars if it offers more choices, or if it get rid of the wide screen TV which tend to attract loud beerheads
Still, I am a fan and would go back when I have the next taco craving!

We came here before a play at The Lookingglass. I was intrigued by their menu and looked forward to ordering multiple tacos.
When we arrived we were the only people in the place. Awkward… I suppose that is what happens when you eat dinner around the same time as the «Early Bird Special» :) Luckily our waitress was super friendly and eventually some others filled in.
I ordered an array of tacos: calamari, pork belly, fish, and the vegetarian. The calamari was the best of the four. I really liked the mango salsa and I appreciated that the calamari were not rubbery. The pork belly was ok, but I have not gotten over melty bacon fat as a meat. I had two bites of the vegetarian. I didn’t love the cinnamon flavor it had going on with the butternut squash. The fish taco was inedible. I typically adore fish tacos but this had an overly fishy flavor and was impossible to enjoy.
I like the concept and it was close to the theater. It is just too bad that the flavor combinations weren’t there.

Where to go before out 7:30 play, let’s try a new Mexican place!
First terrific aspect — the valet parking attendant was completely fine with us keeping the car there for the whole night. Yay, no need to repark.
I also liked that they let us pick out own table — we arrived around 5:00 and no one else was there. Our server was super friendly. We ordered ceviche but it wasn’t ready yet. Boo. We substituted Guacamole and it was hands down the best guacamole I have ever had.
I then ordered three tacos starting with the lobster which they were out of. Boo again! I got the pork belly, lamb neck and calamari. The lamb was out of this world fabulous, I could have just eaten that and been happy. The pork belly was completely delicious. The calamari was ok. The beans and jicama salad came free with three tacos and were worth exactly what we paid for them.
Kind of an up and down night which made it really hard to choose a rating. It’s a pretty weak four but the lamb taco, the guacamole and the service are what carried the day.
Would I go back? I might, their patio sounds pretty cool and there is that lamb, calling my name.

I stopped in here yesterday and I have to say I really like the ambiance of this place. Their tacos were excellent, I’m a sucker for shrimp tacos and these did not disappoint.
The prices are extremely reasonable for the area. The waitress was attentive and after speaking with the owner I’m excited for some of the unique concepts they are implementing during the week. I can see definitely see myself come back here frequently.

I enjoyed this place and will go back. We had dinner here on a warm Tuesday in October and had a great meal outside. Our server was very friendly and attentive and the busser was constantly filling up my water (I tend to drink a lot of water at dinner, and this is huge for me).
We had the beef short rib nachos to start (only $ 5 on Tuesday), and we loved it. A good portion for two, but not too much. We ordered a suizo (sp?) burrito and short rib enchiladas as entrees. Both were fantastic, and we were well satisfied after the meal. I really cannot say anything bad about the food or service. Both were worthy of 5 stars in my book.
I did take one star off however, I know. This may be a little unfair but I took off one star because the place was empty. It’s always weird eating at a spot that is empty during dinner hours… it feels like everyone knows about something that I don’t. Oh well– the restaurant business is tough though, and it was Tuesday after all. The décor inside was great though.
All in all, I would recommend this to my friends. The prices are very reasonable as well for the neighborhood.
To the owner — throw up a foursquare special. It might help.

I had a late lunch/​early dinner here with some friends while I was attending a conference in August 2011. The food was decent, the margaritas a tad tart, but overall I wasn’t disappointed.
When I returned home from my trip, I realized that they had overcharged my credit card by an even $ 20. No big deal; I called up and asked for a refund. The manager promised to do it the next day. I waited a few days, and saw nothing. I called back and left a message for the manager, who never returned my call. A few days later I called back and spoke to the owner, who also promised to take care of it as soon as possible. I waited a week, and saw nothing on my credit card statement.
In the end, I disputed the transaction with my credit card company, and they credited my account.
I wouldn’t be upset at all if they had actually taken care of the problem. Mistakes happen. Unfortunately, they gave me the run around instead, all over $ 20.

I have to say I had a very mixed evening at Cantina 46, but it was more bad than good.
We started with a pitcher of Sangria. Just ok. They dropped off some chips and salsa. Chips were a little stale, but the salsa was actually really good.
We moved on to have an order of the guacamole and the queso. As for the guac– I might as well have been eating plain avocado. It had no flavor. A little salt would have gone a long way. The queso was weird. It had this really strange initial taste that wasn’t hot or spicy– it was just, well, gross.
So we weren’t off to the best start and I didn’t expect much in terms on entrees.
I ordered the poblano enchiladas. And I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. They were actually pretty good, and the presentation was nice too. Two of my fellow diners had the beef short rib enchiladas and one had the steak burrito, and everyone agreed that the entrees should have been in a completely different restaurant than the appetizers. It was strange.
After sangria, two of us had margaritas and two had mojitos. The margaritas were way too heavy on the sour mix. The mojitos were way too heavy on the simple syrup. They were way too sweet.
To top it off, service wasn’t great. Our waitress would walk up to our table, take half the tables order and then walk away. We had to call her back a few times, It was busy for a Friday night after work, but the place is pretty small, so busy is a relative word. I wouldn’t return.

This place is pretty good. The service was very attentive and the food was good (but not awesome). I thought their rice was odd — it has peas in it and is sort of bland. I know they’re new and they definitely care about how they’re doing. They even have comment cards for you to fill out.
My one major complaint is the bar area. It’s a small space in general, and to get to the restroom I had to shove my way through a group of snotty bar-​goers who looked at me like I was ruining their night by being there. Their snottiness isn’t the restaurant’s fault, but the fact that they were standing there was. That was the only path to the restrooms because the tables are so close.
Still I would go there again and I think overall it shows plenty of potential.

Ok I give them an A for effort but it should have been there to begin with… not after the fact that they were short staffed and realized they were in over there heads on a long weekend.
We were a party of 5 looking to sit outside. at first things seemed ok… we were easily accommodated and appreciated the attention.
Once seated we attempted to order guacamole and chips… well what can I say points deducted for stale chips and the fact that the restaurant ran out of guacomole??? Not sure how you run out of an iconic mexican appetizer that I can make at home? The manager was apologetic and we ordered the quesso fundito… which turned out to be greasy oily and slightly curdled… not a fan
we moved on to order dinner and were brought out someone else’s plates at first… the manager was trying really hard not to disappoint but was failing left and right. when our food came out he came by and apologized for the mix up and took care of paying for the queso fundido and our one entrée mix up. Once the food did arrive it was pretty average. I had the poblano cheese enchiladas and they had nothing memorable about them. My fellow foodies didn’t have any impressive remarks of the food or the pitcher of skinny margaritas we got.
To end the night we were given churros and hot milk chocolate dipping sauce as a generous peace offering! The churros were the best part of the night and sadly I’m not even sure if they are on the menu!
I say give this place some time but honestly I won’t be back for a second round of disaster.