Cantina Locale

"Salud! It’s the best place to start— this spot is a gem in the rough for a quick happy hour, date night, girls meet up—- the margaritas are fabulous. I enjoyed the Coco— which was coconut x10 with a chili twist. My better half had the house margarita which was also great and $5 during happy hour! You can’t even get a decent car wash for under $15. The food was okay— I loved the twists and play on sweet, tropics, southern smoked and spicy— the execution isn’t great but that could be growing pains to hit it out of the park. I would do less “chicken fingers” topped with awesome sauces and more marinades— it’s so close that the food could be amazing! The atmosphere is trendy and full of all the vibes that Augusta is not. Located in a strip mall you’d never know it after you enter inside. A secret little gem in the rough— can’t wait to go back for their chips and salsa and another margarita!"

"This place…where do I start. The food is ok…compared to authentic Mexican food or even Tex mex, the food barely scratches the surface. I’m pretty sure all the guacamole and salsa come out of a bag or can. The chips are super salty (I guess it helps flavor the bland salsa) and the tacos are ok…but what can you expect from a place that has an 85 health score! I personally don’t eat at places lower than 95 so that’s my first mistake. This isn’t my first time there and the score has dropped significantly since my first time (I try places 3 times before X them off the list) The servers were nice. I will give them that. Now for my dining experience: A group of my friends and I were have dinner and discussion about mental health. We recorded some of the moments were we shared our struggles and how we over came them. We started at 7:30p. TWO HOURS LATER, the manager (and for the review I am going to indicate she is of Caucasian descent) comes over to our group (yes we are all of African descent) with a margarita in tow that she is drinking, dressed like she’s going to UGA homecoming and basically demands we stop recording videos. Stating that it’s posted in the restaurant not to record. I check every single wall and I saw no signs anywhere that say that(but that health score, I did find) She even said that they don’t allow FaceTime in the establishment. She also started touching our phones and tripods asking who they belonged and turning them down on the table. She was INCREDIBLY rude! Regardless is there was an issue with our meeting or us speaking too loud (we were outside and trying to speak over music after we were told the music wouldn’t be loud) her approach was so unprofessional. She came to our tables drinking and being very ignorant and not acting in the capacity of a manager at all! After that we all cancelled our orders and left and went to Vallartas down the street were they treated us with respect and kindness. Overall this was an ABSOLUTE horrible experience. I liked the vibe of, at best, this Instagramable place but I will NEVER step foot in here again. I try not to throw that “R” word around but the situation seemed very discriminatory. Y’all please support ACTUAL Mexican restaurants. Not this white washed poor excuse for “Tex-Mex”"

"Great after work happy hour stop. Shrimp bowl was decent, recommend queso on it. Pineapple jalapeno Rita is very good but not on happy hour menu. Revisited again. Great margarita! Fish tacos were okay. I don't recommend them. Farmer's market and shrimp tacos were good!"