Carmelitas Mexican Grill & Cantina

Service was good, ambiance is interesting... love the inside, lots of wood, and seating is decent. Food was good... chile rellenos, beans and rice... I enjoyed it. Chips and salsa were excellent also.

I ordered 2 street tacos-the carnitas was phenomenal but the sauce on the shrimp taco was god awful. I told the server this and did not eat it but he did not take it off our bill. The atmosphere is old and tired, which is probably why there were only 2 tables of guests present on a Saturday.We wanted to try it again as locals but it hasn't gotten any better.

I won't be rushing back here the next time I'm craving Mexican unfortunately. I've always heard great things about it on the neighborhood social media pages, but my experience was disappointing. Myself and two friends stopped in around 6pm on a Friday. The place was definitely popular with only a few empty booths, but we were seated within five minutes of arriving. Our waitress was a bit off with her timing; she was quick to get our drinks but then took quite some time to take our orders, was checking in our food quality before they finished putting it on the table, and then took forever to wave down to get our check. We had asked for three separate checks but she only brought one and stepped away again, so we just went ahead with the one check.Now onto the food. I opted for the avocado salad, one friend got the taco salad (admittedly with a lot of substitutions as she has a lot of food restrictions), and my other friend got the steak quesadillas. We also had the chips and salsa, and an order of queso. The chip basket was small, maybe enough for two people but it went quick with three. I did like that they provide a separate salsa cup for each person at the table though. We had the chips gone before the queso even came out, and there was no offer/ask about additional chips at any point. Two out of our three meals were also a flop. The taco salad was the success. My avocado salad, while well topped, came with the avocado pit. Not even part of the pit accidentally sliced off with the avocado, but the whole pit itself, just plopped in the bowl and buried under the corn and beans. Very peculiar, and besides that the onions were way too much; the salad was nearly 50% onion. As for the steak quesadilla, my friend said the texture of the meat was off; far too tough and chewy to enjoy.Maybe it was just an off night all around, but this place will not be on my list to return to.

Not a fan. Food was mediocre but service was okIt says something that they weren't busy on Taco Tuesday!

Great food, guacamole spectacular, awesome service and very clean! I had the chimichangas shredded beef and they don't miss! I want to try the Mexican pizza because they pretty much had one at every table but it was too big for just me! Salsa - mix a lil spicy in with reg salsa and it's the BEST!

It's been a year since I ate at Carmelitas, so I decided to go back yesterday with my friend; it was her first time. We had excellent service by Charles. We started with delicious complimentary salsa and chips. We ordered some delicious white queso to go with it. I had two house margaritas and had the Special Combo. For $18.99 I chose pulled chicken for my meats and the dish came with an Enchilada, homemade chile relleno, mini chimi. For sides I chose charro beans and rice. It was an enormous portion and it could have fed me well over 2 days! It was really tasty! My friend had flautas and really enjoyed her meal. The ambiance/ restaurant interior is a little dated (reason for 4/5 stars), but everything was delicious. We would def go back!

At one time I would highly recommended this place.... That time is long gone. I called in an order for carry out on Sunday 3/10. First off the girl answering must of had a visit from her friend... "Flo" cause she was definitely not friendly at all. I repeated my order very clearly.... 3 times. It was 2 del ray combos & an order of chips & salsa... very simple. She said 20-25 minutes. Ok.... It was OVER AN HOUR!!! Then, it was not even accurate. We were missing sauces, condiments, utensils, etc. the chips were stale & the entree' were lacking their sauces as well. The only thing they did correctly was put the taco in a separate box to keep it crunchy. Of course the taco was broken & put into another shell which was odd. For this crap service & inaccurate order that we waited over an hour for, we paid $53..... Taco Bell is much better..... when we asked what was taking so long she said "idk I guess maybe they are short handed" maybe? Maybe this restaurant needs competent management so their turnover rate isn't as bad. Then, maybe they would operate on schedule. Sadly, I don't even see them lasting much longer. This was a great place pre Covid. Since Covid they've drastically declined & no longer deserve patronizing. Run.... There are many other options in this area.

I must say this restaurant is a definite hidden gem ( or so we thought!). We had eaten here a while back and it was very good and we were in the mood for Mexican food. They did not disappoint. We sat in a booth on the bar side. Krystal was the barmaid with a great personality. From the delicious salsa with plenty of chips it was very, very good! We shared a combo chicken and steak and it was plenty for two people. By the way, it was kind of quiet when we walked it. This place that I thought was hidden, it's not! It was packed by the time we left. Be sure to give it a try. You won't be sorry!

EDIT: This appears to have been a one-off problem. Ordered the white queso, yesterday, and it was back to perfect. Will try a full meal, soon. Original post: Don't know what happened. Been coming here since they opened. White queso was the best. Now, the recipe has changed. It's mediocre. Food has no seasoning, either. Probably cost cutting. Sad, really. We used to come in on Tuesdays just to get white queso and chips to go. New recipes are not good. Chips are unsalted and stale. What happened?

Carmelita's food is lack luster at best. I hate to leave a negative review. But the qeuso is starchy and bland, the guacamole taste processed. And ALL the food was under seasoned. Even the chips had no salt. I spent 50$ expecting great food and was disappointed. I Hope they pull it together in the future!