Rosalita’s Cantina

The food in his place is terrible as usual. The food is lackluster Mexican food and the best part about this place is their drinks. I ordered a single ground beef taco and a taco was overloaded with spices and lacked any real flavor other than the spices I tasted. This place serves tourists and people from the county.

Very nice server but house margaritas are pre-​made, very weak. Very slow service so don’t come starving and the food is super bland.
Nice atmosphere outside but go only for drinks.
The bartender was very rude and didn’t want to give us glasses after ordering a $ 28 pitcher

Guacamole … soo good!!! The steak quesadilla was huge and delicious — definitely would recommend if you are hungry!

Anyone visiting or working near Washington Avenue for almost any length of time will encounter Rosalita’s in some fashion. Whether it’s by being close enough to hear the music from its often open doors or by joining a conversation about a Happy Hour there (just past or soon to come), the cantina is a staple of the Wash Ave scene and has been for some time. Only a handful of restaurants on the street predate 2010 anymore, veritably making this place part of the old guard.
Never one to claim an understanding of Tex-​Mex authenticity, my preferred adjective for «Mexican» food is ‘flavorful’. To this end, I’ve usually been satisfied with the cantina’s burritos and enchiladas, both of which are nicely portioned and can be prepared with a little customization. The sauces, especially the chipotle-​infused enchilada option, are good supports to their respective dishes and the corn masita, a bonus included with a number of plates, is a welcome in-​meal treat. Much, much lighter and crispier than most, I’m even a fan of the house tortilla chips.
Both the price (very much in line with other lunch and dinner options along Wash Ave) and décor (festive and relaxed on the outdoor patio, or intimate and intriguing in the spacious interior) leave little room for want. Whether for a night out with friends or a quick bite after work (or catering during work…), Rosalita’s isn’t a bad bet.
…except that you should accept that there’s a good chance that something’s going to be missing. It might be that your server seems to skip past empty drinks repeatedly or, despite being relatively close to the Convention Center (and one of the larger restaurants on the block), group service is decidedly mixed. Perhaps that bit of delicious masita is missing from your plate with no notice given and no substitution offered.
While it’s easy to recommend for lunch, dinner or as a place to just hang out for the most part, Rosalita’s is not an unequivocal sí.

5÷26÷16
Very simple review. It applies only to the service. Take this for what it is:
Came to eat and sat outside at the patio. Waited for 10 minutes. Absolutely no service and tried to flag someone down and got ignored. Left and no one noticed.

We were in St. Louis for a conference. We made the short hike up the street to Rosalita’s and were not disappointed.
First, Happy Hour was until 7:00 (excellent!) so the prices were great. $ 4 margaritas– how can you go wrong. The guacamole was also great and another Happy Hour special.
For dinner I had Paella Mexicana (AMAZING). It was loaded with shrimp, scallops, chorizo, chicken, poblano peppers, Spanish rice, and even some tequila for an extra zing.
The atmosphere was laid back and fun. And our server– was a hoot! I wish I could remember her name, but she knew the menu, had great suggestions, and quickly fixed little inconsistencies with service from food runners.
I highly recommend

We had the most fantastic waiter, Kellen. He was so good. There were about 12 of us who showed up at around 8PM on a Thursday night. We were attending a convention in St. Louis. We were totally taken care of throughout our time at Rosalita’s. Everything was delicious and accurate! The bills were split accordingly and everything was done with a smile. Top notch service. I had the nachos and they were awesome. The chips were so addicting. As was the guac and queso. If I am ever in St. Louis again, I’ll be back!

I was surprised at the happy hour specials. The margaritas for $ 4 were very tasty. The sizer of the appetizer guacamole was enormous! B.T.W. very tasty

I’ve been here on a few occasions and this is a good Mexican restaurant that sets itself apart with several quality additions to the standard fare.
I’m not a fan of guacamole, but everyone whose eaten it has given it rave reviews. They have empanadas, which equate to really good Mexican raviolis. Fajitas are top notch and all the meats are great.
Also have good drink specials if you’re a fan of margaritas.

Very good food but wear your parka even in the summer. Make sure you have a sweatshirt or more at all times of the year. It is an ice box in there at all times. Caddilac fajitas are awesome and feeds four.

Rosalind must’ve been that greasy granny we heard about as kids because everything I just ate was oozing with grease.
The complimentary chips glistened with a sheen of oil as if they had been working as extras in the play Grease 2. I then moved on to a very simple order of veggie fajitas. The poor vegetables came out drowning in a pool of oil that would’ve made George Bush want to invade it.

I really enjoy the overall experience at Rosalitas everytime I go. The ambiance is perfect because it is much nicer than the average Mexican restaurant, but you can still party there. The food is exceptional and the prices are great. High quality meat and portions, and there are even great happy hour specials.
A great place for food and drinks any time for any occasion.

I love coming here every time!!! Delicious tex-​mex, great margaritas, great atmosphere. Make reservations on weekends; it can get pretty crowded. Service is top notch and the workers are great to interact with. Great for a date or a girl’s night out.

Great margaritas, delicious food and a perfect downtown location. Rosalita’s has great outdoor seating. I love going here in the summertime. I always get each of their tamales that they offer as appetizers and it makes an excellent meal. House guacamole is very chunky and super good. The street tacos were incredibly good, the fajitas were scrumptious and the staff was very courteous.

O… I am in love with this place. The best mexican restaurant, I have been in US or India. When I was not in St Louis for couple of years, I missed going to this place and went to this place as soon as I came to St Louis.
Yes, due to huge demand. you might have to wait a bit if going for weekend dinner… but trust me, all this wait is totally worth!!!

Great value $ 8 meal, very large portion. Great service!
We got seated in a booth, a bit small for 4 adults but it was a nice setting. Once seated we got chips and salsa right away! 2 buckets of chips we had originally thought cost money but they are complimentary! I got the lunch special we get to pick from a list of Mexican items such as tacos, flautas (taquitos), rellano (stuffed pepper), quesadilla, etc.
I got the rellano and chicken flatas. The lunch specials also come with a side of beans, rice and corn dessert.
Portions huge! The rellano was too cheesy for me. The green pepper was hard to chew. But the chicken flatas was good. The quesadilla was great too.

I love this place because the tableside guac & the cadillac fajitas are AMAZING every time! I also love the strawberry margaritas! I’ve always gotten the fajitas and split them with a friend, but today I was alone. I got the appetizer of guacamole — and it was great! Not as great at the fresh tableside but no complaints! Since I had no one to split the fajitas with I got the Shrimp&Mango Street Tacos. SAVE YOUR MONEY! 3 tacos for $ 12 and a total of 5 shrimp — disappointing! The mango salsa — watery and not good. Next time, I’ll stick to my favorite and take the leftovers home!

Love this place! Great location, awesome service and the food is authentic and fresh. Fresh lime margaritas are top of the line as well. Again, service is amazing… very accommodating and friendly. Oh and the guacamole is some of the best we’ve ever had. Only down side of this place is the noise level.

Got the guacamole and 3 street tacos. The guac came out really fast, felt like it was already premade or something. I like my guac to be chunky so that I get whole avocado pieces in my bites. This one was too smooth like the store bought ones. It wasn’t as green as when I make it at home either, which makes me think they make a ton of it in big batches before dinner, and just scoop it out when someone orders it. I mean that’s not a deal breaker since it was only $ 2 and you do get a generous portion of it. I got the traditional, which doesn’t come with cilantro, onions, and jalapenos? Now that I think about it, I’m not sure what I ate.
The street tacos were indeed tasty, but hardly worth what they cost. I think my shrimp taco came with only 1 shrimp in it! At $ 4 a piece, I know it’s not breaking the bank, but they should at least plate them nicer so that it looks better than 3 one-​dollar tacos from taco bell. The best for me was the Al Pastor. Maybe because I really like pineapples though.
Habanero mango salsa is yuck. It was cold, and slimy, and only tasted like mango/​orange purée only. Did they forget to put the habanero in it?

I like so much this place Good foot food músic and i like the decoration típico .
Muy bello lugar rica comida, linda música y buena decoración

Came here for drinks with a few friends a little while back and I’ve got to say — great spot! I wish I had found it a lot sooner. We came out for drinks and I really loved this spot. I ordered a margarita and I highly recommend them. My friends and I also split an order of their quesadillas. We had such a fun time here, I cannot wait to come back here again. Definitely recommend this spot if you’re downtown.

Whats not to love? Happy hour is great prices, but they get your food so fast, you dont get to really partake! :) 4 dollar margaritas? Delicious queso? Great tacos, burritos, and fajitas? All great! Im fact, im having my fajita leftovers from last night! 12 bucks and im gonna get 3 meals out of it!

I had such high hopes for this place. Came here once for lunch and even then that was too many times. I was shocked at how horrendous the service was. It took 10 minutes just to see someone to get our drink order then waited a bit to get our drinks, btw these were not alcoholic drinks.
Then once we ordered and got our food my one friend who said no guacamole or bean and my other friend who said no guacamole had received just what they did not order which was beans and guacamole.
If you like Tex mex and like spending 12 dollars on an entrée don’t go here it is awful.

Rosalita’s Cantina has a prime location in the heart of the downtown Washington Ave district. The food and margaritas here are good but a little on the pricey side. I’ve only been here twice and got the chicken quesadillas both times. It tastes good and is a large portion. The service is average, not bad but not the best. The outdoor seating is nice.

Rosalita’s is… available. That’s about it. The food here isn’t Tex Mex, it isn’t Mexican, it’s just available. This is probably the worst place I’ve ever had ‘Mexican’ food throughout the US. It definitely survives by being the only Mexican restaurant in the downtown area. Every time I’ve been here, the chicken is rubbery and dry, the shrimp are overcooked, and the chips are greasy. This last time really took the cake though. My significant other got a taco salad, which was about as dry as a 2×4. She asked for a side of the avocado ranch to make it not so dry. To our surprise, the server went to the kiosk and charged us $.75 for more ranch… uh. Next time, if there is a next time, I’ll just send the entire salad back and tell them to make it right. Way to treat your customers when you screw up your food.

I could not imagine a better interior of a Mexican restaurant. The décor and ambiance are truly incredible.
Extremely enjoyable and interesting menu with very solid food.
Horrendous service. Absolutely horrendous. Restaurant was practically empty but waitress continually walked by and asked to clear our plates, which we were actively eating from. She dropped the check within minutes of bringing us the food. We were drinking and planned on ordering more drinks. A lot more drinks. We ordered another round and she reprinted the check and brought it with the round, not asking if it was the last round. It was uncomfortable how much she rushed our table and how little she cared about our experience.
This restaurant could be amazing. Seriously. With even modest improvements in service, this restaurant could be next level, in my opinion. And I will for sure be back. (Although I’m sorry– «off day» cannot be an excuse for the service we received– more like lack of standards and training.)

Summary: I love it when I find slightly different ways that food is prepared and presented and Rosalita’s does it.
Let’s start with what’s unique — the queso sauce. This isn’t exactly a strange sauce to the menu of a Mexican restaurant, but I find most queso sauces overly thick in both texture and filling. Rosalita’s seem to make their queso dip with more cream, given it a more flow-​y consistency. I think it works well — it lightens the dip while making it less likely to solidify over time.
The restaurant serves very thin chips, which is amazing with the salsa. The salsa has a smooth consistency (not chunky).
I ordered the Pollo Cancun, which has grilled chicken and prawns served over a bed of rice and smothered with queso sauce. On the side is a lettuce salad with a heaping helping of guacamole. The grilled chicken is well marinated and tender. The prawns are cooked well with a nice crunch while retaining the taste of the seafood. The queso sauce pairs well with this, giving a silky finish to the heat of the meat.
The weak link may be the service. Given the amount of employees, it was surprising how average the service was. Staff was content huddled together and chatting rather than checking up on tables.
I don’t have a problem recommending this place and would whole-​heartedly recommend getting the queso if you do visit. I think I need to visit a few more times to be convinced this deserves a fourth star.

This was my 2^nd time being here and it was really good experience I had! I got the steak quesadilla which was 4 huge pieces that comes with sour cream, lettuce, pico, and guacamole! Everything was just super tasty and my gf got the chicken fajitas which were sizzling hot like they should be! Rosalita’s is a great Mexican restaurant to eat definitely one of my favorites in St. Louis! Rosalita’s is located on wash ave you have a great view of the downtown!
I would definitely recommend this place to people who want to enjoy good Mexican experience plus the service was fast and pleasant! The atmosphere at the restaurant was great also!!!

The food was great and portions were large. In hindsight we could have split a meal. The kids received large tacos for their meals. Great salsa and endless bowls of that and chips.
Loft area and bar. Restaurant is nice inside and decorated well.
We received our food and had to ask for and wait for silverware/​napkins. Looked like they normally set them on the table, but we just happened to be seated without them. That was my only complaint. Service was a little slow but I think that must be a St. Louis thing, because we seem to find that everywhere.

The chicken quesadilla was dry and had no flavor. I went in starving and left hungry because I didn’t bother finishing the meal. I ordered the quesadilla because it is what the waitress recommended.
We ordered the queso for an appetizer and the waitress never put the order in so we received our food before we realized that she had forgotten
Chips and salsa are free but the salsa tastes like the marinara sauce from a lunchables pizza.
The only reason I’m giving some stars is because the sitting and ambience of the place was nice, the food just sucked. Also, my sister ordered the chicken fajita and that was slightly enjoyable.
Waitress was aloof and seemed distracted and occupied even though we were one of two tables in the restaurant. Was relieved to get the check finally and able to get out.
Will not be returning.

I was in STL for work and was directed to Rosalita’s for dinner by a high school friend who attended St. Louis University. Apparently the Billikens were all about Rosalita’s, and given their happy hour, I can absolutely see why.
The star deduction is due to some hefty rudeness from the wait staff. Beyond that, everything regarding the meal was great. My server was incredibly nice, and gave me plenty of attention despite me dining alone. The seafood paella was tasty and I had plenty of leftovers, plus my El Captain margarita was fantastic. It isn’t the most authentic Mexican or Tex-​Mex, but when you’re several hundred miles from the border, I give some leeway.
If only it had been 70 degrees instead of 50, I hands down would have posted up on their patio.