Cantina 18

Staff was great, our waiter was very helpful! The food was great. We ordered soup and it never came out but we weren't charged for it so obviously we didn't mind. Will be coming again soon!

We stopped in for dinner with friends and had a fun time. I started off with a beer followed by the top shelf margarita. Our table started off with a few small orders of guacamole, we tried the goat cheese, pineapple-habanero and cantina 18. The pineapple-habanero was my favorite. For our meals it was the veggie burrito with black beans for my husband and the she crab soup and a spicy braised short rib taco with black beans for me. The soup is on a special limited menu that features a few of the favorite dishes that were served at 18 Seaboard. We both enjoyed our food and drinks. This is a good dining option in The Village District.

Such a cute spot in Cameron Village for some healthy Mexican food. Love the variety of options for tacos and quesadillas (was really eyeing the black bean quesadilla)! They have daily specials and, if you can drink, a tequila flight if you want to try different tequila types! The catfish tacos were okay. The fish itself was only the drier side and not very flavorful. The slaw was supposed to be spicy, according to the menu, but I did not taste any spice. And honestly, all the spice was in the salsa they provide you when you're seated. The cilantro crema was pretty tasty though! My hubby had the limited time birria tacos, and were disappointed when it did not come with the birria sauce. The tacos themselves were full of the flavor, but then the tacos became too soggy to hold together. Maybe another layer of taco to help? 7/10 - a good spot if you're in the mood for Mexican!

Full disclosure, this review is for an event held upstairs and not a regular dining experience (although we have eaten here before). Stopped in for a professional event on a weekday night and was pleasantly surprised to see the chef/owner welcoming people at the door. I was walked upstairs to their event space for our event. The restaurant provided apps and we went in the next room for drinks. The atmosphere was energetic and fun, and the apps were delicious. I remembered that they had a map in the downstairs dining room showing some of the local farms and purveyors that they get their food from, and on my way out I saw it was still there. Good stuff.

Got the calamari and quesadillas. Calamari was just okay but the quesadillas were amazing - well portioned, well priced, and unique. Service was great and the spot wasn't too crowded on a weekday dinner.

Rarely do I give a 5 Star Rating but the waitress won us over and the acknowledgment twice from the Chef or owner made it a win! Today heading home from church my daughters commented again on the cheese dip and it was so good! We are cheese dip lovers and this one is the best I have had in NC! My taco was Devine and the rosemary fries perfection. I'd like to go again, today! The price was even on point!

"Mexican-inspired food not far from NCSU"Came here on a Friday evening to give my son a break from on-campus dining. We arrived at around 5;15pm, and the place was already hopping-- I will note there was a group of people waiting for a table by the time we finished just after 6pm. We were keen to eat here given there are outdoor tables-- the interior area looked rather dark (in part since painted black even though quite open-air), but the outdoor tables were fully covered (good for sun or rain) and airy, even though a bit close to the cars parked in the parking lot.Our server was very friendly and SUPER attentive-- she checked on us many times even though the place was HOPPING by the end. I ordered the 2 Carolina catfish tacos with a side of purple southwest slaw. After eating dinner, we ordered and split bread pudding and one other cake-like dessert (I forget what it was since I didn't have any).The food came out pretty quickly, and it was delicious. The catfish tacos was many small battered pieces of catfish, slaw, a couple radish slices, and what looked like a creamy avocado salsa, all in soft flour tortillas. They were "appropriately" filled for eating-- not overfull such that they fell apart from biting, but not underfilled with just a bit of food. That was great. The southwest slaw had a little bit of a kick to it, which was lovely. And the bread pudding reminded me of a tasty cinnamon roll.It wasn't the cheapest Tex-Mex food by any means, but it was tasty, and a fair price for the quality and quantity of food we got. I'd happily go back.

It's definitely a smaller menu than I like at a Mexican restaurant. I'm certainly not authentic but if you like American Mexican, the quality was decent in the atmosphere is great.

Always an amazing experience at Cantina 18. Very knowledgeable and helpful staff. Hats off to this management team for having this restaurant dialed in. Love it

This is not Mexican food. This was better before Covid, like everything else. I had a small beef burrito with a half cooked tortilla. Not very tasty.There was not one Latino person in the front of the restaurant. Staff was friendly though.If you go to THE Village on Saturday, get there at 11am for good parking.Check out the wine store in back. Good prices.