Cantina on Madison

I've been here a few times. It's not spectacular but not awful either. The chips, salsa, enchilada plates are solid. However, the queso is literally nacho cheese (yuck). The house margaritas are not good at all. They taste like pre-mixed sweet and sour with artificial lime flavor (or whatever flavor you chose). I haven't had any other margarita here, so maybe there are some good ones.

My friends & I do a trip to Chicago every year and last year we had gotten a margarita at Cantina on Madison and loved it! We loved it so much we planned a trip to go back this year and do a full lunch! When we arrived we ordered food and drinks right away and thats when the disapointment began. It took over 20 minutes to get our drinks, we had to ask for our own chips and salsa, the food took an HOUR AND 20 MINS to come out! And it was cold! We recognize this was on a busy weekend, but this was probably the worst service we had ever recieved in the city. On top of that they added 20% gratutity automatically for our group of 5. Definitley disappointed and won't be back here.

If I've said it once, I'll say it again: Well-made guacamole gets five stars every time! What I love most about Cantina's guac is that they leave some nice little avocado chunks in it. It's also not too salty. I walked into this place on a random Tuesday afternoon during lunch. There weren't a lot of patrons. Even still, the service was a bit slower than I expected. Especially for our drinks. However, once the drinks arrived... OH YEAH! It's been a long time since I felt a buzz from a sangria! LOL! Everything here is traditional Mexican style. From the colorful Mexican art on the walls to the types of tacos they sell. Speaking of tacos, they were the BOMB! If I didn't have a meeting to get two and dinner planned for later on, I could have easily downed 6-7 of them! I recommend the shredded pork and pulled beef! Yum! They're a few dollars pricier than I expected, so be sure to take advantage of the taco Tuesdays and lunch specials!

Shout out to the former RUDY'S! This place is fantastic! I love that they kept the crazy neon from the previous restaurant. In this area, it's hard to find a bar/resto that is open LATE. Come to Cantina! I've been here again now a couple of times when other stuff was closed! The usual array of Mexican beers, and seltzer.I'm a huge fan of the mini quesadillas with steak. I've had them twice now, and yum - they are juicy and delicious. Enough for two to share, or for one if you're hungry! My friend got the Torta al Pastor, and that was enough for two meals!Big fan!

Giving 2 stars because the carne asada meat and burger was decent but the service was HORRIBLE . We literally had to get up and get our own plates and napkins and yet they included 20% gratuity at the end!!! Drinks are not good and extremely over price . Do not recommend this place

Tacos and guacamole were very good. Margarita very syrupy and no tequila as far as I could tell. Service was slow.

Horrible bartend experience, waited minimum 15-20 minutes while it was slow to be greeted and have an order taken. The bartender then proceeded to make numerous sexually harassing comments towards both me and my party, such as "drinks are free if you show t*tty in front of everyone", "on the rocks because you're rock hard right now?". Not only did he conduct himself in a highly inappropriate manner, he then proceeded to let numerous guests at the counter stick their straws and fingers inside of other people's drinks while making them so they could taste test it. This was the most disgusting service I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing and I highly believe it's in this establishment's best interest to terminate him.

Food was not good and service was terrible. It took forever for them to seat us even though the place was nearly empty. The worst was our waiter. We had to get our own plates, napkins, and silverware after food came out as he was busy sitting at the table behind us chatting to customers. He was obviously on some kind of drug and in the guise of joking, proceeded to insult and offend us. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

stopped in with my friends for a quick drink around 4pm on a sunday. sat at the bar, took forever for the bartender to come up to us - but that's fine, i get it it's busy and we're patient. he did not take his eyes OFF of my chest. as i tell him my order, he says "it's free if you show titty." after my friends and i tried to laugh it off, i said no and he replied with "yeah i knew you wouldn't". i order my drink frozen, my friend then orders his on the rocks. the bartender says "oh rock hard like your dick?" we again try to just laugh and say "haha no..." he keeps going with the joke and says "what you can't get hard?" after he walks away with our orders, we see him making our drinks down the bar. as my frozen drink is in the blender, he lets two customers stick their straws into the blender, along with their fingers, to try the drink. he then blends it and puts it in the glass, ready to be served. we got up and left.

Great food and great people. We had the ceviche, steak burrito & Al pastor burrito. Every bit as good as the food I get in California or Mexico... Give them a shot!