La Cantina Grill, another south loop dissapointment.

So I stopped into the La Cantina Grill, which is a few blocks from where I live, and with this area severely lacking any decent food options was very excited to try it out. I had a steak burrito for 10 bucks, and it was one of the worst burritos I've ever had the misfortune of having. The tortilla was folded over so many times I felt that was all I was eating, the meat was salty and the salsa was uninspiring, I could have made a better burrito at home with firesale expiring skirt steak from jewel and some lousisana hot sauce! I ordered a side of guac, it was fresh but lacked any zip, anyhow I don't think I'll bother to try this place again since all the entries seem to be 3-4 bucks more expensive than they need to be. This place will do ok since the bar seemed lively and the interior was very festive, not to mention we have nothing in this area! (southern south loop) I REALLY wanted to like this place but any foodie will most likely be severely dissapointed. When your tex/mex grill makes me long for chipotle or even burrito king you know you are sad! So anyhow the south loop continues to be starving for some decent grub and relief seems far away...


La Cantina Grill
1911 S. Michigan Ave.
312-842-1911

This is THE absolute worst mexican food I've ever had the misfortune of trying. Went in for lunch on a quiet Wednesday afternoon with my girlfriend and a couple of friends. The chips were decent but the salsa was definitely straight out of a can. It had that highly acidic tinned tomato taste. Ordered the guacomole which was seasoned alright but had the color, texture, and refrigerated flavor of something made a day or two ago. I had the grilled skirt steak which was waved over a gas grill, finished in the oven, and seasoned with a vile "steak seasoning" rub. The rice and beans were out of a box and a can respectively. My girlfriend's chicken tacos were so inedibley dry she couldn't finish half of the three. I know I may sound overly critical, but it was really that bad.! Oh yeah, the bill was over a hundred with 4 drinks, entrees, and an order of guacamole. Not a bad tab for an average restaurant, but a travesty at this overpriced downtrodden mock taqueria.

Lo siento mucho.

Amata and I got a hold of one of their menus sometime back and I was intending to post an alert -- even without eating there, one could guess from the menu that this would be some bad sh*t. Even were it good, the prices are laughably, absurdly, gringotesquely high. And the owners (or chef) are surely not Mexican, but rather Peruvian. That doesn't mean they couldn't produce decent basic Mexican fare but, let's face it, the South Loop is the new land of economic oportunity. And this looks like pure business, no passion.

Es gibt da viel Geld zu verdienen...

Antonius

Those of you who have had the pleasure of dining at La Cantina Grill might enjoy the page on their website which gives the family history of their chef, "El Famoso".

http://www.lacantinagrill.com/id31.html

(Me, I'd head to 18th St, 26th St, 47th St, etc etc etc....)

Antonius wrote:And the owners (or chef) are surely not Mexican, but rather Peruvian.

Of course...the website clearly states that the descendants of "El Famoso" traveled to such foreign lands as Italy and Peru.

Aaron Deacon wrote:

Antonius wrote:And the owners (or chef) are surely not Mexican, but rather Peruvian.

Of course...the website clearly states that the descendants of "El Famoso" traveled to such foreign lands as Italy and Peru.

Well, I wrote that on the basis of the fact that the menu includes a few specialties that are Peruvian -- I hadn't seen the website or read of 'El Famoso' until Amata showed me it this morning.

The conceit is that they started out in the 'rigid' mountains of Mexico... then, after el Famoso invented dishes later to become identified with Peruvian cuisine, they wandered around the world until they arrived in the South Loop... The reality seems to be that these are some people from Peru who landed here without the slightest clue of how to cook and in particular no more knowledge of Mexican food than of Lithuanian food but, given the business possibilities, they developed a strategy to try to fleece the good burghers of the South Loop.

I've avoided mentioning this place, as sparse as restaurants are in this area I'd just as soon not rip on any of them. Or maybe it's trying to wipe the one visit clean from the memory banks. But yeah - since everyone is piling on why not? This La Cantina has some incredibly bad Mexican food - right down to the chopped iceberg lettuce and unripe tomatoes they load on the tacos and the cloyingly sweet nuclear green margaritas.

Maybe it's a deliberately ironic retro thing - bringing back some old school pre-Frontera gringo Mexican to Chicago. If that's the intent they've succeeded

la cantina is getting a real bad rap here, i really don't know why. i go there all the time and the food, drinks and service are fantastic. it's changed for the better in the year they've been open. i think zapatista is really bad, and nuevo leon is dirty. la cantina's food is authentic as ur gonna get. i been all over the city for mexican and everyone has their own spin, but this place doesn't mess around, it's hardy and tasty, and the price is cheap for where they're at. i don't know, i just went Friday and they were jammed and it was great. compared to lalo's, zapatista, nuevo leon or even frontera grill, i really like the food. everyone i know love the flavor of there meat now that they char it and its marinated and the margaritas are great. i have a hard time believing we're all commenting on the same place. if i go north in the city or south and i'm talking mexican food with people and i mention la cantina grill, people recognize it and alway say great htings about it, it's pretty well known.

I think it's pretty obvious that G9 is somehow affiliated with this slophouse.

actually i'm not affiliated with the place, i like what they offer and i don't think what is being posted is fare nor true. makes me second guess what kind of people i'm chatting with. all i'm saying is the place has good food, service and drinks. i've been to mexico and i've dinned out in chicago, and know what good mexican food is. for example you can't get better mole sauce in chicago, than at that place. as a customer i dont think its fare to beat a place up that is actually really good. how can the place be busy all the time and it not be good.

G9 and Chef -

Welcome to LTHForum, and thank you both for posting. We have to be careful (myself included) about jumping to conclusions about a poster's affiliations, and to the experience level of other posters. The board is busier than ever, and new members are joining every day, often spurred on by a vigorous discussion of one of their own favorite neighborhood spots.

When outing "obviously" restaurant-affiliated posters, we've been burned in the past (see the Pannekoeken thread right next to this one for examples). By the same token, new members sometimes don't realize how they come across. If everyone gives everyone the benefit of the doubt, this place runs a lot smoother.

My hero Roger Ebert often paraphrases Jean-Luc Godard in saying "the best way to criticize a movie is to make another movie." A good way to illuminate the problems - or the triumphs - of a particular restaurant is to cite other examples you love. Chef, which restaurants in Chicago do a great job for you?

G9, which specific dishes have you liked in particular at La Cantina, especially those you've enjoyed more than the other restaurants you mentioned? Where were your favorite spots in Mexico? (I'll catch some flak for it here, but I agree on Nuevo Leon. I've been underwhelmed there every time except for the chilaquiles.)

Post your thoughts here, look for other threads, or start your own. The forum will welcome every recommendation we get. Happy posting!

G9 wrote:how can the place be busy all the time and it not be good.

Have you never seen the line at the cheesecake factory? For that matter, Nuevo Leon is always busy, but you don't like it.

I've never been to this place, but I do want to say that it's always fair for a poster to express their opinion, whether positive or negative. This section of LTH would be useless without critical discussion of the merits of restaurants.

That said, welcome to LTH. I hope you stick around, because diverse perspectives are always welcome.

hey good point guys, lets just enjoy ourselves the best we can, good or bad, it is what it is. thanks.

I ended up at Cantina Grill last night and let me add my voice to the disappointed side, despite what appears to be a large new menu. In fact, I wouldn't really call what I had Mexican food. The meat was unseasoned and over-cooked. The chicken was essentially tasteless. It reminded me of chicken that has been used to make chicken broth - simmered for hours until all taste has been leached out of it. Great for the broth, but not for the chicken. Shrimp were OK. Beans tasted like they came out of can. Rice had once again no seasoning. The whole meal was topped with a pile of cold raw carrots and green peppers. I felt that they weren't even making an effort to put together a decent meal. Compared to a meal at Zapatista a month ago, La Cantina Grill doesn't even compare. To say nothing of our meal at Salpicon last week. Honestly, even Uncle Julio's Hacienda on North Ave puts this place to shame. The only thing to recommend this place is the cheap beer.

Place is the pits. Rape of cuisine.

chefmcone76 wrote:Place is the pits. Rape of cuisine.

Interesting turn of phrase, but not very informative. Care to elaborate.

Also, which place, there are a number of restaurants discussed in the thread.

Thanks,
Gary

Interesting turn of phrase, but not very informative. Care to elaborate.

Refer to the second post in this thread

Refer to the second post in this thread

Went back there again just to make sure that this place blows since I live down the street and was hoping it improved or something,... NOPE IT STILL DOES BLOW! As many people have said the beans seem straight from the can, the meat is flavorless and dry, and even the salsa's have hardly any bite, I can find better mexican at chipotle for gods sake! I will not shed a tear if this place goes under, it is a disgrace to mexican food. What is funny is if you go to metromix.com and look this place up (la cantina south mi location) you will see TONS of rave reviews obviously posted by the owners or friends of the owners, however any of the not so perfect reviews totally TRASH this joint. I dare anyone who has gone here to list what item or items that ascended beyond edible!

What is funny is if you go to metromix.com and look this place up (la cantina south mi location) you will see TONS of rave reviews obviously posted by the owners or friends of the owners

Thanks for the heads-up, and a fun read for anyone interested in identifying the traits of a shill campaign (actually it looks as if there may be only one or two writers doing the shilling, perhaps others from a script).

Note particularly the constant repetition of the word "place," often paired with the adjective "nice" or "great," the survey of almost the entire menu, drinks included throughout the campaign (also paired with the adjectives "nice," "great," "awesome," and that all time favorite "to-die-for"), the occasional disparagement of easily fixed items ("lighting could be brighter"), a few hot buttons here and there ("Michael Jordan spotted at the bar" lots of "hot guys"), and the disparagement of local competition (Cuatro, Zapatista's, etc.). Ah, the perils of metromix.

jbw wrote:Note particularly the constant repetition of the word "place," often paired with the adjective "nice" or "great,"

the place has good food, service and drinks.... for example you can't get better mole sauce in chicago, than at that place. as a customer i dont think its fare to beat a place up that is actually really good. how can the place be busy all the time and it not be good.

jbw wrote:the survey of almost the entire menu, drinks included throughout the campaign (also paired with the adjectives "nice," "great," "awesome,"

the margaritas are great.

jbw wrote:the occasional disparagement of easily fixed items ("lighting could be brighter")

it's changed for the better in the year they've been open.

jbw wrote:and the disparagement of local competition (Cuatro, Zapatista's, etc.).

i think zapatista is really bad, and nuevo leon is dirty.... compared to lalo's, zapatista, nuevo leon or even frontera grill, i really like the food.

jbw wrote:Ah, the perils of metromix.

Indeed.