Crave Cantina

I've come back here a couple of times since my previous review, including a recent visit. Friends wanted to go out for a last minute dinner, and I wanted to be able to make a reservation. Crave Cantina had openings, and booking online was easy. I was a little surprised to see how empty the restaurant was on a Saturday night at 7 pm. The bar was totally empty and maybe half of the tables were occupied. One big difference I noticed was that the drink menu was significantly reduced and a lot less interesting. However, the margarita and sangria I had were both good. We started with a large order of chips, the salsa trio, and a plain guacamole. This was outstanding. Everything tasted so fresh, and I appreciated that the salsas actually tasted different (a red smooth salsa; a chunky, black bean salsa; and a salsa verde). I was feeling pretty basic and ordered a quesadilla with steak and a side of refried beans. The quesadilla was what I wanted, the steak was tender, and it had great flavor from the chimichurri marinade. The beans were not good. They were made with meat and there were tons of stringy pieces of beef. Dry and not creamy. The quesadilla was so filling, though, that I actually didn't care.My biggest complaint this time around isn't related to anything that happened during our meal. I find it kind of off-putting that the taco menu just . . . doesn't change. While I appreciate that now you can get burritos or the aforementioned quesadilla, I wish there were more appealing choices. I'm from Louisiana and I'm just never going to order an alligator taco. Some of the combinations (like that one) seem wacky for the sake of it, and I feel that choice--while trend driven for sure--is feeling a bit dated in 2023. I will say, though, that I appreciate the amount of veg and vegan options.This most recent meal was probably the best over-all experience I've had at the cantina. Service had been an issue here before, but our server was great. The right balance of attentive but not smothering us (we enjoyed appetizers and drinks before ordering). This isn't my favorite restaurant, but we had a great experience, and that merits a new, better rating.

An interesting place. Clearly popular, the whole place was packed and loud. A little overstimulating, but usually that's a good sign that the food offerings are good.The menu is clearly Latin-inspired with a heavy emphasis on tacos, but they aren't afraid to stray from tradition and try unconventional combinations of ingredients. Some traditional options they have are Puerto Rican budin dessert, Peruvian chicha morada (purple corn drink - not my favorite, but worth trying if you've never had it - one of our party got it), and some aguas frescas, including passionfruit, which my wife opted for.There's a variety of salsas and guacamole. Fun for some, but if you're getting hangry and just want something fast, it can be a bit much. We also got some house margaritas for the table - not bad but nothing to write home about.I got three different tacos - the Great Lakes Beer Battered Walleye, which was nicely cooked, as well as the the Flank Steak Banh Mi and the Shrimp tacos, both of which were okay. Two folks in our group are vegetarian, and Crave offers a few vegetarian taco options like the vegan chorizo taco and Impossible burger, but you can swap out any meat for a plant-based one (there is an upcharge though).The bathrooms were clean, but kind of dim. The soap dispenser was positioned super high so my 7 year-old couldn't reach it to wash his hands and I imagine someone using a wheelchair couldn't either.Our waiter was nice, but sometimes disappeared for a long stretch. For as busy of a night as it was, I'm guessing that's to be expected. The prices are okay, but add-ons and variety of things to try means it can add up fast.

My husband and I had a date night here recently after not having visited in a few years. We sat at their beautiful bar area. The service from our bartender was very good. She was extremely friendly and attentive. She made the smallest error with our order and fixed it immediately once she was notified. My husband was pleased with the beer selection and I enjoyed my wine. Out of my husband's taco order, his favorite was the barbecue brisket taco, which I sampled and also thought was delicious. I thoroughly enjoyed my walleye taco. While these aren't incredible tacos, they are very good and didn't sit too heavy at all. We also loved the variety of creative tacos listed on the menu. While we like the idea of the trio of salsa, we didn't think it was that good and would not order it again. Overall, very good experience and planning a trip back soon!

It's unfortunate to say that we had a bad experience at Crave Cantina. We went in, were seated after a short wait, and then waited for what felt like a while before we were brought some waters. The waitress kind of just put the water down and said I'll be back. No worries. We looked through the menu and opted for the queso, salsa, and chips. Another while goes by and our waitress is nowhere in sight. She then walks by a few times and doesn't acknowledge us. At this point we had already been sitting there for about 15-20 minutes. The person I was dining with asked what a drink on the menu was and she said "it's that. It's like all of that. I don't know they make it at the bar it's like a mocktail." We finally put our order in and our waitress just wrote it down and walked away. Didn't confirm our order, didn't ask if we needed anything else, didn't let us know she was going to put our order in, nothing. At some point she sees us without waters and she brings us our own bottle which was very nice, but then disappeared again. Our chips, queso, and salsa come out maybe 45 minutes after we had sat down. They were great and our waitress refilled our chips while we waited for our food. And waited. And waited... other tables who were seated after us got their food and we continued to wait. Another 45 minutes later we got our food and our order was wrong. We ordered a shrimp burrito, a couple of tacos, and a chimichurri steak skewers, which oddly enough didn't actually have chimichurri, seems a little misleading. The steak was tough and lacking flavor, even with the curry sauce that was drizzled on top. Overall between the poor service and the subpar food, I can't say Crave was my cup of tea or that I would recommend it to anyone.

This is a group review as none of us had ever been here. There are only 3 slight knocks on this place. The guacamole didn't have any salt in it, which it needs a little to boost the flavor. Also, the water inside the tequila bottles tastes like water straight from a plastic water hose. Some like it, and some dont. The wings, while very good, seemed heavily sauced, and we wished the sauce had been baked on a little bit. The Cubano was fantastic. The chips were good. We all really loved the salsas, especially the Verde. The chicken, shrimp, steak, and vegan chorizo street tacos were all very good. The service was great, considering they were pretty busy.

Wanted to go to a restaurant on a random weekday evening and grab something vegan and found this place on yelp and was pleasantly surprised we got a Vegan Chorizo Taco, vegan burrito, and vegan quesadilla. Everything was delicious! Even the cheese and sour cream pictured was vegan which I appreciated because most restaurants aren't as thorough. Our server was even vegan and shared recommendations!

Bad bad bad. Came in at 8:25 on a Saturday and found the place absolutely emptied with the exception of a very loud friend group at the bar making homophobic remarks. Bartender had some loud remark about selling foot pictures- appetizing! (not.) Extremely quiet music played with nothing to drown the noise out- just bad. Portions were so awful given the ridiculous price per taco, and it seems clear that they are lacking the money to keep this place open. Guacamole was worse than bad and my taco was measly for $6. Do not waste your money on this place for any reason other than alcohol. Should've taken it as a warning when the most recent review was 5 months old. My glass of water had lipstick marks from a previous user (I dined without any makeup.) Picture provided- absolutely disgusting. Owner needs to cut his losses and shut this place down.

I was really disappointed here. I went last a few years ago and it was great- this time was gross. There was a hair in my margarita, (I didn't even take 1 sip the hair came out of the drink when I took the mixing straw out) and when I asked the waitress for a new one she said "oh... okay", took it to the bartender who looked very confused. No one ever apologized. Both of our water glasses were cracked at the bottom, and leaking. The chefs in the kitchen weren't wearing any hair nets. One was wearing a beanie but he had a long beard with no cover. The other male had no net, and rubber gloves on which I saw him run his nose with the back of his hand many times. The food was way expensive for small portions.

Not sure what happened to this place. It's been a while since we've been, and thought the food was both creative and tasty in the past. Popped in last night to revisit, and the food was underwhelming, not bad, but nowhere where it used to be. That in itself is not terrible, but the restrooms (men and ladies) were filthy. I went to turn on the light and realized it was already on, just very dark, dirty and smelly. You get the point. Does not take much to clean, and certainly sends a bad message. The Crave downtown Akron is a jewel, the Cantina would make one hesitant to visit if they did not know better. A bucket, soap, cleanser, etc, makes one wonder about the kitchen.

Like the creative tacos and guacamole. Casual. Like to support small business and Front Street.