Cantina 1511 Restaurant

Restaurant: Cantina 1511
Location: 1511 East Blvd Charlotte, NC 28203
Click here for Google Maps (simply fill in your address)
Website: Link
Telephone: 704.331.9222
Food Selection: Mexican
Health Score; 96.5, A
Hours:
Mon-Wed 11am-10pm, Thu-Sat 11am-11pm, Sun 11am-10pm, Sunday Brunch 11am-2pm

The Initial Walk-In:

Mexican Food. There are so many avenues in this genre of food. You can go cheap and grungy or you can go upscale and take it all in. It so happens we have a fantastic moderately priced Mexican restaurant right in the Dilworth area on East Blvd.

First of all, parking is awful. Yes, they have complimentary valet, but if you decide to forgo that luxury, parking is not immediate. You will end up parking on a side street walking, which isn't bad. Heck, we all need to walk more anyways. And that my friends is pretty much all that is wrong with Cantina 1511, minus one detail, which I will enlighten you all with later.

When you walk into the restaurant, the bar, patio, and main dining areas are all on your left. They have an outdoor patio and a quasi-outdoor patio that line East Blvd. Cantina 1511 is a cool place.

Course of Meals:

We had a party of 12 people, so we were putting our server to the test and I had the opportunity to see a variety of foods being served.

As all Mexican restaurants do, they provide chips and salsa. They have two types of salsa. The technical names are red and green. This is some of the best complimentary salsa I have ever had. It is moderately spicy, but the big thumbs up is on the lime aftertaste/flavoring this salsa provides. Wow, subtle, yet it makes its presence.

For my beverage, I select their standard margarita. This is the only other downside to Cantina 1511 aside from the parking. Seriously, it was awful. It tasted like the Poor Man's Hi-C Ecto Cooler. Do not try this. The drink had a dull bitter and burnt taste.

I perused the menu and looked at their options: burritos, salads, quesadillas, tacos, soups, and enchiladas. For my meal, I honed in on the Enchiladas Tradicionales. It consists of fancy sounding ingredients; chicken, Oaxaca cheese, guajillo ranchero, cotija cheese, Mexican crema with rice and refried beans.

As the dishes were being served to everyone, I must commend the food presentation. While it is Mexican food, the dishes are prepared to look somewhat trendy. Some of the portion sizes are huge I must say.

My meal was amazing. The sauces were delicious. The Mexican crema (sour cream) was sprightly. It is probably the best sour cream I have ever had. The flavorings were superb, light, and moist. The tomato sauces blended very well with the sour cream. The rice was moist, smooth, and not too heavy. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the tortillas were great.

Atmosphere/Ambiance:

This is place is great. I could tell they put time into their music selections. At times I wanted to get up and salsa dance. It certainly adds to the atmosphere. They have fiesta lights all along the windows and rooms. The lighting is well done. Some may find it slightly too dim, but on the whole, classically done. The female presence is also very niiice. (I mean it's in Dilworth, so that's a given).

Server/Staff:
Everyone is so friendly! The entire staff says hi to you when they pass you. Whether you are outside or moving through out the restaurant they smile and say hi. Our server was great. She handled all 12 of us with ease and she knew the menu and provided recommendations and interacted with us very well. The owners have done a very nice job selecting their employees.

My Complaints:

*Parking
*The Basic Margarita

What's Special about Cantina 1511 Restaurant:

*Atmosphere
*Food and its presentation
*Music
*Staff
*Salsa

Closing Everything Out:

I spent about $26 for dinner and two drinks. Cantina 1511 is a little higher priced than other Mexican restaurants, but it is well worth it. The staff and atmosphere are great. As you eat you can easily chat or you can simply enjoy the flavorful food while listening to some great music. Check this place out. I look forward to going back!

~the RESTAURANT GUY