Cantina by Cascabel (CLOSED)

So happy this place opened on the UES. Great food, great prices and great service. Had a wonderful brunch and will be back soon.

Last night, after a long day of work, I came home late and decided to order Mexican food in. I went to menu pages and after looking over some of the Mexican restaurant reviews for the UES 80's location, I decided to take a leap of faith and chose this one-from this site, it seemed to offer the best value (highest rating for one of the more decent price ranges). However, what I received was inedible. My burrito tasted nothing like a burrito and on top of that, the flavor was nauseating. I took one bite, could not swallow and had to spit my bite into the garbage. It is unacceptable to offer this to paying customers. I should have called and asked for my money back. I have never posted on a website about a restaurant before, but because this was so poor, I feel a moral obligation to notify others of my experience. Beware!

Casual, breezy atmosphere and laid back, but attentive staff. Dishes are unusual and, having gone four times now, never fail to tantalize this palate. The Chef takes great care in bringing historical authenticity and top of the line ingredients to everyone of his creations, be it soft shell crab empanadas, fresh calamari, beef brisket burritos, and the fantastic yuka fries.

I came here, thinking it was the same as the mexican restaurant next door, but was happily surprised. They have more latin american inspired food and only serve small plates, but all of the food i had was delicious. I definitely recommend the scallop and fluke ceviche and the octopus pincho which was served with a mini tabletop grill so that you ha the option to cook it for longer or blacken it (which I love to do). I definitely cant wait to go back; I started raving more octopus and ceviche as soon as I left. One thing I wasn't pleased with was the service. The food came quickly, but it took them a while to clear the table or to get the waitresses attention, which got very frustrating when the smoke from the mini grill kept getting into my eyes. Overall, I'd go back despite the bad service just for the delicious food.

Happy opening Cantina! Don't arrive at this place mistaking it for the real Cascabel two doors down the block. That's what we did today. Even after repeated questions to the hostess about "where are the tacos?", "didn't there used to be a taco place by the same name on this block?", and "did you guys remodel?", she still failed to mention we were at the wrong place, even though they are owned by the same company. Besides this miscommunication, we still managed to stay for a light dinner and drinks. The food was subpar to say the least. Everything is small-plates style. As in, overpriced for the amount of food that is served and the lack of flavor that is included in the food. The guacamole, served in a petri-sized dish, only tasted slightly better than the out-of-a-bag variety. This came with a few miniature tortillas for your dipping pleasure. Oh, and the margaritas. The "blood-orange" frozen margarita, served with a not-a-blood-orange garnish and who-knows-what-this-red-syrup-is-anyway arrived in a neat little 8-ounce glass. Perfect for knocking back that teaspoon of tequila they threw in for good measure. Eat here if you generally enjoy lighting your cigarettes with flaming $50 bills or if you would like to make a charitable donation to the Cascabel company. Otherwise, head on down to the real deal just south of this establishment. We, of course, will never make that mistake again.