Classic Mexican restaurant. Great outdoor seating area, easy to spot. It is a fun place.

Went here while vacationing for my daughter's first birthday (Taco theme). Our server was so friendly and welcoming. Gave our birthday girl her first smoothie! Loved being able to sit outside. Margaritas and guacamole were good, pico de gallo was excellent. Main entrees were also good, would have liked a little more meat on the tacos and in spouse's burrito. All in all, we are happy we came! read more

Judging by the other reviews maybe we ordered the best thing on the menu but the pork fajitas were outstanding. We got the fajitas for two and were both stuffed with a box to take home for under 40 bucks. Would have been a 4 star but our douche bag waiter was terrible. In case you guys check the reviews, the douche with the frosted foot high spiky hair needs to be fired. He took our order and disappeared. The guy that was bussing tables ruled. We gave him a generous tip and left the douche bag nothing. He was on top of everything and tried to refuse a tip because he wasn't our waiter. Terrible, disrespectful service seems to be a theme for the whole island though. read more

Unlike other reviewers, Captiva Cantina is just fine. No, I am not saying that this is the best Mexican food ever - it is the best Mexican food on Sanibel and Captiva. The grilled fish tacos were darn tasty with a fresh salsa; the guac was fresh, but was just so-so - chances are that you do your own guac just as well. So, for a vacation spot, it will certainly fit the need for a cold Corona and some serivceable Tex-Mex. read more

We visited here on our recent trip to Captiva and the food was great! I had the tacos and we all shared a pitcher of margaritas! The service was spectacular and the homemade salsa was to die for! read more

This place would be good if their staff were educated on allergies, the food serve, and business etiquette. We have tried them twice and both times they have messed up our orders. I can understand a mess up here and there but to argue with your clientele is insane. I shouldnt have to have a yelling match with the server that we were served flower tortillas instead of corn (my wife has a gluten allergy). Then after i was right not one appology was given. Thanks. Oh and your welcome for me still leaving a tip. read more

Went for dinner group of 4a and 4c, service was great, food was fine, price was good, would go back very easy from south seas

We stopped here on our first night in Captiva. Great service from the start! These guys are hustling here making great food! We couldn't have been happier with our choices and we are both picky about Mexican. read more

Second time here. Both were at lunchtime. The food is great. I had the jalapeño poppers as an appetizer. They were good, but you can tell they don't make their own...definitely frozen, nevertheless tasty! For my entrée I decided on the chicken quesadilla. I wasn't blown away by them for the price. The meal was good, but I would recommend a different entrée. The last time I was there, I had the lime shrimp tacos...now, they were outstanding. My friend chose the nacho platter, and he even let me try them...I have to say, I wish I would have ordered the nachos!!! You definitely get a lot of food here and the prices, even though they are a little steep, considering that your on captiva...they aren't so bad! The service was wonderful. Never had to ask for a thing! I will be back for sure, with different menu options next time! Very quaint and comfortable atmosphere. read more

We were vacationing on Sanibel Island, FL and needed a Mex food fix. Our GPS took us to Captiva and a great hole in the wall Mex joint. It must be have a wild side judging by all the hundreds of dollar bills stuck to the wall but it was pretty quiet for lunch on a Tuesday in November. The salsa cruda that came with a basket of chips was beyond good, it was awesome. Fresh tomatoes, onions and some kind of seasoning I couldn't figure out. I ordered fish tacos and my wife went for a carnitas taco. Both really good. Another customer was working on what we thought was a tostada. It looked good too! Like to say I can't wait to come back but the northern tip of Sanibel Island is a little hard to get to. read more

Favorite meal on the island. My party devoured everything we ordered starting with the guacamole. All the kids couldn't eat it quickly enough. We tried a wide sampling of fajitas, burritos, and tacos and all were delicious. The lime margarita on the rocks was also very tasty. Fun and casual. Great atmosphere for kids too. read more

We started with the homemade guacamole and salsa with chips. Excellent. I had the tamales which were de-lish. My husband had steak tacos. Also delicious. We both said at the end of meal that this was the best Mexican we had had in a while...and I am not a big Mexican fan! read more

I had one of the best burritos I have ever ate. The homemade tortilla and tender steak were great. The waiter...whom I believe is also the owner was very attentive to our needs. Oh, almost forgot to mention the homemade salsa with fresh ingredients. ..almost like they picked the veggies from a garden out back. read more

Overall my experience here was pretty good. The service was average, we didn't really connect with our waiter but he got the job done in a timely fashion and everything was correct. The atmosphere was lacking, the place was too dark & did not have a welcoming feel. Food was good. Everyone enjoyed their meal. I had the guacamole appetizer for a meal and it was great. I was very impressed with the guacamole. This place is a good value and much cheaper than most of the other restaurants on the island. Would definitely come back. Oh and bring a dollar bill! read more

Our group had chicken tacos, tamales, chicken quesadilla, guacamole, salsa and chips. Those who had chicken dishes thought the chicken tasted odd. The tamales were just ok. The salsa is odd in that it is made with large diced tomatoes - not what I'm accustomed to in my salsa. Not the best food we've had while on Captiva. Skip this and go to the Bubble Room or Keylime Bistro instead. read more

Food was delicious. Atmosphere was tropical. Wait staff seemed a little over worked, it took them awhile to do refills on drinks and chips. They where very friendly. We sat outside, the no see-ums we bad. Remember bug spray. read more

See all

Delicious food! The veggie burrito is tasty, the queso blanco is great too. We went about 530 for dinner and the place was empty, which made for great service. My husband had the enchiladas and said they were fantastic. The food tasted fresh and was out to our table in a hurry. A hidden gem! read more

Do not go here. Very dirty. Sat at the bar and my arms stuck to it. The ceiling fans were covered in dirt. Bartender took a dirty island oasis pitcher out that had remnants of a previous daiquiri on it to make one for a guest. Then had made wrong flavor so re-made it without rinsing again, even though a different flavor! Dollar bills all over the joint, feels cheap. Shelves in kitchen had dirty liners on them. Disappointed because I love Mexican food. read more

Oh, not good at all. Very unorganized waitstaff. Our waiter had tables all over the place - inside and out. He deliver our food and we didn't see him again until he dropped off the check. Problem was a member of our party did not get what she ordered. Wasted night out for her. I had a buffalo chicken sandwhich. A mess. Could never have been eaten as a sandwhich. Chicken much too spicy. No manager in sight. Will not return. read more

Nice little place with inexpensive mexican cuisine. Decorated with one dollar bills with signatures. Quick service.

Order the burritos wet- you won't regret! My awesome boyfriend ordered the Acapulco surf n turf burrito and I got the chicken burrito both wet (wet is with enchilada sauce and queso blanco). Fabulous! I'm an Arizona girl and I definitely got my Mexican food fix while visiting Sanabel. Also posted a dollar on the ceiling for our 3rd year anniversary- what a fun touch! We will be back again!! read more

My food was actually pretty good (shrimp tacos, fresh salsa). The 2 star rating is due to my observation of the place being filthy (floors, etc). If you decide to eat here, do yourself a favor and sit outside. read more

Great place for lunch. We enjoyed the pork nacho. It's on the appetizer menu but easily feeds two people. The serves was great ! read more

Cantina Captiva - Pork Nachos!! - Mexican Near Me - Captiva, Florida

A gimmicky place with very poor service and bland food. We stayed on Sanibel for a couple of nights and drove up to Captiva to find a place to eat. We came upon this little mexican restaurant covered in dollar bills that had outdoor seating and wanted to try it as last time we visited the island the place was closed. As we entered into the restaurant we were not greeted and stood there waiting to be seated. The place only had a few people inside and there were two ppl sitting at a table wrapping silverware, talking amongst themselves just oblivious to anything that was going on around them. Another guy came out and seated us rather abruptly and just put menus on the table. He came back a few minutes later and asked if we were ready to order. There was zero conversation or suggestions. He took our orders never wrote them down then had to repeat our orders back to us to ensure he got it right and still got it wrong! He walked away then quickly came back slid some chips & salsa on the table and darted off again. We'd asked for water and lemon but ended up ordering drinks because the water tasted like dirty well water - yuck! We ordered the mini chicken burritos ($14 + $4 upcharge for grilled instead of pulled chicken) and they were mini. The size of two small egg rolls with some shredded lettuce and a couple of pieces of tomato on the side. We also ordered the chicken & steak fajitas ($18) a little better than the burritos but both were just bland, edible food. If you're starving and want to pay for overpriced, medicore, bland edible food delivered by poor service then this is your place. The gimmicky dollar bills plastered all over the restaurant was the only conversation piece but nowhere nearly enough to redeem it. Needless to say I will never be back. read more

I can't believe we haven't stopped here before. The service was exceptional the food over the top delicious. From now on every time in captiva we will be here read more

WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR STEAK? We have been going to Captiva for over 20 yrs and have eaten happily at this restaurant since it opened. Recently we went for lunch with family, ordered steak fajitas, steak quesadilla and steak tacos among other things. The most shocking was the fajitas, it was 95% peppers and 5% steak. Also, the pieces of steak were itty bitty tiny, no more than 1/4" size!! It took forever just to fill one tortilla because you couldn't find the meat! Not to mention the little meat didn't even taste like meat, it was just over seasoned to hide the fact it was so small. It was the same tiny pieces in the quesadilla and tacos!! WOW talk about going cheap on products, they used to have excellent steak. Only positive was they still have good chips with queso, guac and salsa. read more

Terrible and rude service! In lobby (if that's what you call it) for over 5 minutes without a greeting. Finally someone showed up, didn't say hello, didn't greet us, just said "these tables are reserved what do you want". Asked for a table "well I don't know, maybe 15 minutes". With all of the great places in the area, do not go here! read more

Took a day trip to Sanibel/Captive Island with the family from Cape Coral. Towards the end of our trip, we decided to stop for dinner at Cantina Captive...NEVER AGAIN. Two of us ordered the three cheese enchiladas with refried beans and white rice. The enchiladas where made with flour tortilla instead of corn, so they were thick, doughy and not much cheese. The beans lacked any flavor. Seriously needed spices. The only decent item on the dish was the white rice. Another family member ordered soft original burrito. It was so tuff, he had trouble cutting it. It looked like he needed a saw. :-( We've never been to a Mexican Resturant that didn't have the option of A La Carte for those who don't want the beans and rice with their meal. This resturant only offeres that option for their tacos. WEIRD! We've been lucky to find really good Mexican food until now. The food is terrible and the kids in the kitchen need some serious training in cooking simple dishes. Making cheese enchiladas with corn tortillas is the proper way to make them and taste so much better. Refried beans are plain and tasteless without seasoning. It's Simple Cooking 101. read more

We were freaked about the reviews, but we walked right in at 6:30, got a seat immediately (even though there was a pretty large party already seated). Drinks and chips/salsa came out very quickly, and it only looked like 3 guys were holding down the fort in the whole place. As someone else wrote, the Guacamole is solid, we'd highly recommend it. Food came quickly, was plentiful, and we all enjoyed our meal and left with a full stomach. We got a takeout order and it was timed perfectly and was accurate. Not much more you can ask for when the wait staff and kitchen are humping at top speed. Decor is interesting with dollar bills stapled over every square inch of the place... In short, would definitely eat there again. Could perhaps use some "deep cleaning". read more

We stayed on Captiva last week and had a great meal with the kids here. I will stress that this is a great place to eat with the kids. Kind of a dive and the food was solid. Not authentic by any means, but I'm not complaining. The real benefit of this place was that the kids could run amok (we went early so we weren't bothering anyone) and it had food that they loved and that we loved at a decent price (for the island). Kind of a crazy anything goes atmosphere where nothing is going to get broken. By all means, take the kids. And if you are staying at South Seas, this is right near the entrance and would be a great option for late night takeout. As for the food, grouper tacos were great as was the chips, salsa, guac and cold beer. We weren't looking for gourmet and couldn't have asked for anything more. read more

Great Mexican food! Good variety of Mexican bottled beer. Started with the salsa and guacamole. Ended with a good size burrito. I look forward to my next meal at Cantina Captiva! read more

We are there 2 nights ago and was the PERFECT date night experience!! Atmosphere is very fun and relaxing, food was excellent, we had the enchiladas and steak tacos and queso for appetizer! All delicious and excellent friendly service! Highly recommend! read more

Went here recently, Horrible quality food and what kind of mexican/hispanic restaurant doesn't have hot sauce!?!?!?!?!

We were here for lunch on a Thursday afternoon. We are outside on the patio, we were seated right away and waitress was on it with our drinks and food order. Very good food, good service, good atmosphere. I would definitely come back! read more

I definitely feel this place deserves more than 3 stars.I loved the atmosphere.The food was really good,we had a great time.Nice tropical feel,very laid back.Best value and the most fun out of the restaurants we went to.All of the staff was very attentive and friendly.This was my most favorite spot in Captiva.I had dinner and went back for lunch next day before leaving. read more

Our server was very accommodating to our order. We are vegan and he made sure to check to make sure there was no dairy it what we eating which was very nice. The food was okay, we got the veggie fajitas. Not the best Mexican food I've ever had but the server was really nice and on an island full of seafood and meat heavy restaurants it was refreshing that they had veggie options. read more

Really dirty restaurant with bad food and drinks for a lot of money. Our daughters lemonade tasted as if it were laced with a chemical of some kind and the sangria had no flavor. There is an inch of dust on the dirty dollars that's cover every inch of the place. Health inspector clearly doesn't know this place exists. read more

Read mixed reviews and decided to try it out for ourselves. Very happy! Chunky delicious gauc and salsa. Attentive service. Margs good and Pacifico on draft! . We will definitely go back and suggest you try it out for yourself. Yummy! read more

The service was fast & friendly. The atmosphere was a TRUE ISLAND ATMOSPHERE! SUPER ORIGINAL & AMAZING! Super small interior but I LOVED it! The food was GREAT! The prices are high & they add 18% gratuity to your check. I would definitly go back!!!! read more

Make certain that you leave a dollar on the wall! A lot of fun. The food is very authentic and yummie! We had a large group and everyone enjoyed the food and superb tequila drinks. OLE! read more