Austin Cantina

07/21/2008 Posted by ballardfoodie

I love Ballard, and want to do everything I can to support the town, and most of all it's restaurants. Austin Cantina woudl be no exception. The service was excellent, the atmosphere was great, but the food was awful...my dinnner partner and I tried to find redemption in any of it, and sadly could not. The gucamole was bland, and tasteless...not even several shakes of salt could help it...the multi colored chips, although festive, were stale. I had the potroast enchilada, and it had no flavor, needed salt, and was dry. The beans were pinto type beans with a bland taste and the rice, although a nice texture was falvorless as well. I also orderd a classic margarita...that was thin (no a blend of flavors) tasting, little or no booze and exceptionally sour with a lemon taste instead of more of a lime flavor. My friend commented that his bottle fo beer was good! My dinner companion had the taco with pulled pork, and his response was...dry, lacking flavor. Worst of all was the prices, exceptionally high, and at least for those prices the food could be unique and tasty...it was not..we wished we were at Oxaca, Senor Moose, or even Azteca! Please Austin Cantina...get your act together and ifnd someone there who can go throught your menu and capitalize on taste to match your descriptions...PLEASE! In the meantime, as much as I hate to say it...don't waste your time, money or palate on Austin Cantina.

Pros: great location, easy parking, friendly staff and atmosphere

Cons: bland food, expensive, and lacking authenticity of any tex mex flavors

07/06/2008 Posted by slartybarty

Like another reviewer, I checked this place out because I live round the corner. I ordered a margarita (weak to the point of comedy) mole (bland) and my friend had a steak (tough, overdone). The sides were poor too, and the staff, while friendly enough, were vague on the orders. For $30 a head I expect substantially better. I won't be going again, and I can't recommend it to anyone. Too bad, as Dandelion it was a great little place - but it's not now.

Pros: Location

Cons: Food, drinks, service, prices...

06/07/2008 Posted by jeliza

I love tex-mex but get tired of having to excavate through inches of cheese and lard-y beans to get to my main course. I was *incredibly* pleased with the dinner I had at Austin Cantina, which transmute the spirit of austin-style tex-mex with fresh, local ingredients and an eye towards fusion. The pulled pork and apple chutney quesedilla appetizer was mouthwateringly good, and with a side of beans and rice, made a lovely dinner. My companions were equally pleased with their enchiladas (pulled pork for one and pollo en mole for another). The pomegranete margarita was sweet and tart, and clearly made with fresh juices. The service was warm and friendly; the chef made a point of stopping in for a brief chat with pretty much every table that I could see. I may never go to Azteca again.

06/03/2008 Posted by BrotherGreg

We drove 60 miles to check 'em out based on the City Search reviews. We have a shortage of good Tex Mex up in Skagit County and were on our way to SeaTac to drop off a traveller. We went on a Sunday evening and were seated right away. The house margaritas were good - the slice of fresh orange added a nice twist and there wasn't a hint of the dreaded corn-syrup heavy mix trashing the tequila flavor. We tried every version of the enchilladas. The calibacitas ordered by the vegetarian in the group were very good. I had one potroast and one chicken mole enchilada. I think there was a $1 charge to mix 'em, but it was well worth it. The mole was well balanced and not too sweet or too laced with cinnamon. My son had the pulled pork, which was also very nice. The black beans and red rice were exceptional and made the whole combination hum. We all left feeling happy and well fed and we had enough late night leftovers. We'll go back the next time we're in town. The kitchen and wait staff were completely friendly and made us feel right at home. Give these guys a shot. You'll dig it and they'll earn your return business. Don't forget the guacamole and the salsa, too. You pay for 'em, but they're both very good.

04/07/2008 Posted by Selbias

I live right down the street from Austin Cantina, so I came in really hoping to have at least a decent meal here. Also, it somehow came recommended from several friends, even though they had never actually eaten there. When my girlfriend and I arrived, we noticed that the people leaving were all VERY drunk, so figured hey at least the margaritas might be strong. Not the case. We started off with the drink special, a tequila/ginger ale drink that was weak and, at $9.95, as pricey as any classed up drink in Belltown. Then the food. First of all, the nopalitos salsa was bland and the guacamole spent a few too many minutes on high in the blender. Then, my steak- which was supposed to be medium rare- came chewy and well done. I had to drive back home to floss my teeth after dinner. To top it off, my girlfriend ordered enchiladas and was confused when the waitress came with tacos. Apparently, the cook decided to make something else, and we didn't have a say in this. The waitress said she would knock "a couple bucks off", which is literally what she did. No consolation for an order of tacos that my girlfriend did not enjoy AND, at $15.95, didn't even order! Also, the sides were not good. In general, the food was over-flavored (pairing too many disparate ingredients, like apples and chilis) and poorly cooked. The chips sucked. I could go on, but you probably get the point. We left feeling robbed, and still hungry.

Pros: Close to my house

Cons: Everything else

01/22/2008 Posted by pattapit

This place... This place. If you haven't been here, please don't go. I wont be able to get a table if you do. Food is great, service is WOW, environment & drinks are amazing! It will just be far to busy if ya'll show up!!!! My wife and I have been a couple times and between us we have tried the chicken fried steak, skirt steak, chipotle mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, TX caviar, Chili, etc. Portions GREAT Flavor GREAT You just can't go wrong. I cannot think of anything bad to say about any of it except the TX caviar could use more corn and the Chicken fried steak didn't set itself apart from others I've had (but how can you it's chicken fried steak) the skirt steak and the sides are just absolutely to die for. My wife loves to drink the BlooYouReallyCantTypeThisWordd Orange Margaritas, and we sat next to a lady that just had to try it cause she kept hearing Chrissy rave about it. I always just order a shiner cuasethey don't have lonestar... yet Service, Jeffe you are an experience and as the old saying goes... great people flock together. Your staff compliments your friendly, beautiful personality, and we have had nothing but raves about our service. From the entering to the goodbye, there is always good conversation and a friendly hello, and for that I thank you. We really appreciate everything. We were gonna wait till valentines day before we went back (newly graduated and newly-weds leave a budget constraint) but I just cannot stop thinking about it and think we'll go tonight! pros: everything cons: nothing

Pros: everything

Cons: the tables are a little close together.... but not bad (i'm reaching for anything bad at all)

01/15/2008 Posted by rynkat

We hated the Austin Cantina before we ever ate there simply because it replaced one of our local favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurants, Dandelion. Boy, was our hate unfounded. I have no idea what happened to Dandelion, but the informal, friendly, Tex Mex cantina that replaced it in its formal locale, has actually managed to replace it in our hearts. The bottom line: the food is fresh, tasty, simple yet so satisfying on a variety of levels. I had the special: the pecan crusted chicken, served with a mild pickled beet, onion and carrot salad and smoky pepper mashed potatoes, and my husband had the enchilads stuffed with southwestern pork with a side of rice and beans. His guacamole was filled with bright, fresh flavor; the rice and beans were addictive and somehow not laden with the usual lard-y heaviness of this southwestern side dish. Our server was cheerful and genuinely friendly. They boast of Southern hospitality, and they deliver. Bonus: they serve alcohol! I had the drink special: a margartia made with bloo- (somehow, citysearch won't let me write the "d" on that word?) oranges. Definitely going back. Also going to try the brunch on Saturdays and Sundays 10-2. Would highly recommend to those seeking good, unpretentious Tex Mex fare.

Pros: Friendly service, good food

Cons: Not a "fine" dining experience (but who cares w/ food and service this good)

01/05/2008 Posted by happydining

I visited Austin Cantina yesterday with 3 friends. Every few weeks we try a different type of cuisine. One of the group liked Mexican food which I normally wasn't crazy about. I checked out city search and other sources and found since Austin Cantina was just opened in July 07 and that there weren't many reviews about it. So far I have a perfect track record in picking restaurants and didn't want to pick a bad one. The menu looked good on the website and since it is near my mailbox service I stopped in to check it out before I took my friends there. I had a super bowl of chili excellent taste good portion size and happy friendly service. So I made the recommendation on Friday night we got there at 6:00 PM and the Austin Cantina was starting to fill up. The service was just great - they were really proactive about it. We were really pleased with that. I better get to talking about the food at this point. We started out with fried calamari which was just great. Chips and salsa were super and we added the guacamole and we got lots of it too. On to the main courses. Diner 1 has the short ribs which are made from grass fed cattle no preservatives or antibiotics which is standard for Austin Cuchina. At the end of the meal he just about had his head in the bowl. Diner 2 ordered camarones mojo de ajo which for us gringos is sauteed good sized shrimp with garlic mashed and veggies which also disappeared quickly. Diner 3 and I ordered the tacos especial one portion with the mole and the other with pulled pork. Both were really flavorful as was everything else. We swapped portions of each dish around so we could taste everything. Fantastic. Finally after about 2 hours of stuffing ourselves we left. By now the place was packed and people were starting to eyeball us for our table so we left. For what you get it is really reasonably priced. Go there immediately. I'll be back in the near future.

Pros: Food was really flavorful made with quality ingredients

Cons: Nothing I can think of...