Paradise Cantina

From what I’ve heard from people who have worked there, they don’t pay overtime to their employees, if their employees quit without giving a 2 weeks notice they won’t pay them, the kitchen staff are worked up to 14 hours a day and the bussers are supposed to wash dishes, bus tables, stock beer and dispense water. Given all this, the little «investors» they are are all douches. Waitresses suck too, I wouldn’t give them a q-​tip.
The booze is sub par, the margaritas are watered down and the food is awful. They think they have a good thing going but they are on their way out.

How is this place even in business!!! Nobody is ever there which is a dead giveaway that it is terrible. I’m pretty sure they don;t even have a kitchen but rather a back closet with a microwave… Hopefully this place is replaced soon, but it is dying a very slow death

In a great location, but food is not good and sometimes seem like something from «Kitchen Nightmares» where you’re eating oldish rice, beans, etc.
Great place to get drinks though.

Some friends and I decided to spend a Sunday afternoon here because they had tons of tvs with every football game on and an endless mimosa special. I wanted to keep tabs on my fantasy team (the best part about NFL) while watching the games, so I asked for the password for the network listed as «Paradise Cantina». Our server’s response? «Sorry, Wi-​fi isn’t for customers». Jesus, management could make it an invisible network to at least give the appearance that they don’t totally hate their customers. Later, my friend ordered her fifth mimosa on her endless mimosa tab. The server said they ran out. Seriously. There were less than ten people there. To make matters worse, my friend was charged for havng to substitute a cranberry vodka since their «unlimited» mimosas turned out, in fact, to be very limited.
It is with great honor that I bestow my rarely awarded «Fuck This Place» title to Paradise Cantina. Congratulations, you’ve earned it.

Awful. Please leave the neighborhood.
I asked for an Horchata and the waitress laughed out loud. The food is pretty god awful.

I wasn’t really in the market for getting a drink last Friday evening after work, but I was driving by and my brother’s girlfriend shouted out «BULLDOGS!!!» so what the hell… we parked and made our way in there.
Bulldogs for 12 bucks… SURE I’m in. It was a big drink and I caught a buzz. I would come back for another one. They also had some other pretty decent drink specials and we ended up staying until about 11 PM.
I asked for chips and salsa which I thought was complimentary type stuff at most places and they brought me out some lackluster salsa and some horrible neon green/​yellowish guacamole which was not that appetizing. It was $ 5.25. No thanks. Judging from that guacamole there is nothing on that menu I would probably want to consume.
Our waitress was very fun and attentive. My brother kept joking with her all night and she was giving it right back to him.
I would come back here just for drinks and sitting out on the patio, not food.

Go here on Tuesday for all you can eat tacos for 6.99 and 2 dollar coronas!!!
You also cannot beat their ten dollar enormous margaritas which are always great for a Friday after work!

In the words of my new fav band, «it gets better, it gets better, it gets better. will get better’ (FUN.)
So yeah, this place does not belong on this street or in this hood for that matter. The closest place I could see it ‘working’ in the city is that section of Clark between Belmont and Addison. Please leave our neat neighborhood alone!
Foods is overpriced and lackluster. service has been OK (since they fired this perv that used to jock the bar).
Marg’s are pretty good. I did catch a buzz so although they taste a bit sugary. the booze is in there.
Honestly, the reasons to go here are:
1. Its super nice out and you know big star, 50/​50, small bar, innjoy, Jerrie’s, that irish joint, and wherever else that seats outside will be much more slammed then Paradise. and you just cant handle waiting for a table.
2. Margs for 10 $ to get you a bit tipsy before moving on.
3. See 1 and 2.
I would give it a 2.3 and be back MAYBE for the reasons listed above.
Oh, and it does sadden me when I go here cause it used to be Aki Sushi, which was my joint. I miss my little Aki. :(

What a disaster. I think this place only does one thing well: margaritas. Combine that with the wall covered in TVs, and you’ve nailed the target demographic for this place. The food is an afterthought. I tried to order a «fajita sandwich» (a torta), and was told 20 minutes after I ordered it that they were «out of those.» So I switched my order to one of the two things on the menu the waitress recommended, a lame burrito drowned in enchilada sauce. I wouldn’t be surprised if you found a better burrito in Saskatchewan. Someone else at the table got wings, which was probably the best possible choice.
The drink special du jour was leftover green Miller Lite from St Patty’s day in an 80 oz tower. It was so flat I was surprised they would even consider selling it. It wasn’t even from a keg: I saw the bartender uncapping aluminum pints and pouring them into the tower. It was only $ 12, but it wasn’t even worth that.
At least Kansas beat the Buckeyes. (Basketball was the only reason we were there in the first place.)
If you want to drink and have Mexican, you’re better off going across the street to Picante and around the corner to Rainbo.

2.8
«We serve our tables in rounds, so we’ll get to you when we get to you» was what we were told after 15 minutes of nobody coming by and finally physically stopping a waitress asking her «when you get a chance, could you ask our waitress to come by.» After 30 minutes we still hadn’t been greeted, gotten water, or had our order taken. At 35 minutes my bf went to the bar and was helped by the wonderful Melissa, the saving grace of this bar.
Melissa was quick, nice and made good drinks, despite all of the crabby people that left their tables to order from her since the waitresses apparently weren’t helping anyone at all.
We ended up waiting another 20 minutes or so before returning to her to order our food as well. The food was decent and the bus boys were extremely helpful.
Listen, I know it was one of the first warm days of spring, and that it was probably busier than it had been in a long time, but there were three servers and 18 tables (I had a lot of free time since we weren’t being served). I just can’t give this place more than two stars since in the 2.5 hours we were there not a singer server came by. However! If the powers that be are reading this, Melissa is so wonderful. She apologized for the inconvenience without throwing her coworkers under the bus. She filled orders efficiently and actually came out from behind the bar at the end and took our plates and gave us a shot. I give this bar a 2 and Melissa a 5.

with an area as dense with bars as this, i wouldn’t recommend coming here. it’s not a terrible place but it’s pretty awful to be inside and have to look at the walls. i only got a chance to try the chips and salsa/​guac and the jalapeño poppers. the poppers were hot and good like you’d expect and the salsa and guac were terrible. just super super bland.
the beer buckets were really cheap, but you can only drink so much coors (about one). the plus side is that it’s a good place to go if you have a big group and maybe don’t want to be anywhere too crowded. though our waitress seemed pretty annoyed with us so maybe it’s not a good place for groups? i’ve heard good things about giant margaritas, but i don’t do tequila so i can’t say for sure.

Kind of disappointed with the food I had here. My friend ordered a burrito, and I had the chicken quesadilla. The food was soooo meh and it took forever and a day.
Service was so-​so.
I’d be surprised if they can sustain business on this busy strip like this.

I actually feel bad reviewing this place. It feels too easy. too obvious how bad this place is. All you have to do is LOOK at it to know everything there is to know about «Paradise» Cantina.
Friday night I walked by with my boyfriend and a friend. There was a woman on the street that practically begged us to come in (that should be a sign right there), and because my boyfriend is too nice for his own good, we were soon seated smack dab in the middle of their nearly empty outdoor patio. Oy.
We came in under the impression that this place would be hilariously ironic. Paradise Cantina looks like it belongs in the Wisconsin Dells or in a strip mall in the burbs. The tacky neon sign, the hula grass awning, the spring break crowd airbrushed onto the wall (seriously.), oh man. I could go on and on. We came in as a joke, but the joke was on us from the get-​go.
We were handed menus that had the strangest font. almost like you needed 3D glasses to read them. Prices weren’t listed for many (or any?) of the drinks, so that was obnoxious.
The waitress was so clueless, I felt bad for her. She didn’t know what the specials were and had to keep asking other people. After stumbling her way through that, the guys settled on a beer bucket, budweiser, and the waitress took the menus and left. Without ever asking me what I wanted. So right there they missed out on a $ 10 margarita order. Their loss. I decided to just have a beer out of the bucket.
Ten minutes after we ordered drinks, our Bud Lights came. Oh, what’s that? We ordered Budweisers? We didn’t even mention it because we didn’t feel like waiting another ten minutes. We just wanted to get out of there. The horrific music selection was starting to melt my brain. And I couldn’t possibly stand to sit there any longer, listening to the woman trying to wrangle people to come in, telling everyone «Hey, you look thirsty.» HOW. AWKWARD.
Bottom line: Don’t go here. Even as a joke.

Need a taco in the middle of the night? Want to sit in the «almost outdoors» and eat it? Then Paradise Cantina is your place.
We wandered in after hitting a number of bars on Division (like every other patron there, I’m sure!) and took a seat at a high top near the front. Made us feel like we were outside– even though we weren’t.
The service was quick, the margaritas were not bad (but that might have been because they were our last drinks of the night!) and the food came up quickly and was also okay. Although– how bad could a basic taco actually get?
We were in and out with barely enough time to take a look at the cheesy graphics on the wall or to spend any time in bathrooms that smelled like they were located in a bus station. Probably the best move we made all night.
Don’t expect much and you won’t be disappointed. I was actually surprised at how pleasant and perky our server was at this time of night. She alone got this place an extra star!

Bummer, dude.
The BF and I went there for our second trip this weekend for dinner after waiting over an hour for a seat at Big Star. We had dined in before on the fourth of July… once again after not being able to get a seat at Big Star. (see the trend?)
We were sat quickly outside at a very wobbly table. Our sever was very nice and the wait for food was not long at all. Positives.
Here’s the negatives.
–I go to mexican restaurants so I can gorge on free chips and salsa. Well, not here. Chips, salsa, and guac will run you $ 6. They give you a healthy amount, which I appreciate, but I still go to have some complimentary or super cheap ones.
–The food is crazy crazy crazy expensive. For three fish tacos (because you HAVE to get three… no ordering taco by taco at this place), it will run you almost ten bucks. The fish tacos are incredibly tasty, I will give them that. Fried tilapia, cabbage, salsa, plus this great ranch sauce. But man. I can’t eat that much and I don’t want to spend that much.
–The giant margs are 10 bucks… fair price, yes. And they let us split one which was cool. But they are some of the most sour margs I’ve ever had. I wish I could taste more alcohol in them, especially when they give you a marg guzzling straw.
For the two of us the bill was $ 40 for one drink, some chips, and some fish tacos. That’s outta control.
If we can’t get sat at Big Star next time… we’re going to Tecalitian.

I am kind of surprised to see all the not so great reviews of this place. I headed there last night to meet some friends and it was absolutely perfect for what we wanted. They had ample outdoor seating and we got a great spot where we could watch the soccer game but still enjoy the great summer night. They also had very large $ 10 margaritas and $ 10 buckets of beer. The service was good and the atmosphere was really nice for a summer night. I would definitely go back.

One stall bathrooms? REALLY? I’m sure the fact that it was Do Division didn’t help, but the lines were ridiculous. Friends of mine had to pee in the alley. Also it was super loud.
This is a cranky review, sorry. But the bathroom situation was horrible. I’m not sure how any bar thinks it’s okay to have only one toilet per gender.

The only reason they got ONE star is because I had to put in something.
My boyfriend and I wanted to try somewhere new last weekend for dinner, and figured we’d hit Paradise Cantina since it’d just opened up. I was fairly excited for a piña colada (to go with the BEAUTIFUL weather!) and he just wanted some food, beer, and to relax.
I wish we could say we got any of those things.
We sat for 15 minutes without any acknowledgment. The server walked by countless times and we tried to flag her down to no avail. People AROUND us (one group of which came in after) got served. Nope, not us.
We figured we’d give her the benefit of the doubt. It was pretty busy, she looked like the only one. I managed to count 2 others before we said screw it and went somewhere else.
I agree with everyone else about the décor and the smell. Wish I could give a comment about the food…

Oh how I wanted so much more from you! Being 2 blocks away, I thought this might be the start of something beautiful. Your chips and salsa were decent but you committed a nasty sin: your guacamole was pre-​frozen. Bleh. Sadness.
Side note: TVs galore.

This place is tacky as all get out.
It’s like a Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville. Loud music, lots of tvs and scantily clad airbrushed spring breakers cartoons on the walls. Because that’s a thing– if it were still 1980 and this was Miami, not Ukranian Village.
But, $ 10 domestic bottle buckets and $ 10 huge margaritas. So there’s that.