Cantina Laredo

After moving to South Florida from Texas more than five years ago, I have finally found a Mexican food restaurant worth writing about. Indeed, Cantina Laredo has become one of (if not THE) my favorite restaurants for me.

Definitely more upscale the the typical Mexican food joint… I was expecting bland, over designed, sissy Mexican food. I was wrong. So far, every dish I’ve tried has simply been outstanding. My favorite so far was the sea bass (a special one night… can’t remember the exact name of the dish) which just might have been the best fish I’ve ever eaten. PERFECTLY prepared… lightly crunchy on the outside… light and flaky on the inside… with a jalapeno based sauce that had plenty of character without overwhelming the fish.

The steak nachos are awesome…tender, lots of beef and BIG. A tremendous choice for sitting at the bar having a few margaritas… also nicely prepared and decently priced. Pretty good choice of tequila too.

As mundane as it may sound, the best part of the place for me is the salsa… of which there are two choices… traditional red or the smoky variety, served warm with nice, thin tortilla chips, perfectly salted. Truly, this is the ONLY restaurant in south Florida that has decent salsa. The salsa one usually finds is like diced, off season tomatoes in a watery bath… just horrible. The salsa at Cantina has character! … I especially crave the smoky variety… lots of character, with a little kick without making your brow sweat. Perfect.

I usually sit at the bar, but have had dinner several times… the service is friendly and prompt and upon request, the waiters make guacamole right at your table… usually delicious, but it can be a little inconsistent depending on the skill of the particular waiter.

All in all, terrific. Check it out.

Pricey for Mexican food but service and food were good. We ordered the Guacamole which they make for you table side. It tasted very fresh and we liked it but it was expensive at almost $10. We went with a group of 4 and we all ordered something different. One person ordered chilean sea bass in a garlic type sauce and it was delicious but again pricey at $25 but sea bass is expensive. The enchiladas were very good and reasonable at $11 but their beans black and refried were very salty. The have an E-club you can sign up for and ever so often they send a coupon for free guacamole and a free desert on your birhtday.