I give these guys 505! Excellent chicken tacos. Excellent service, great ambiance in the restaurant. Very flavorful. A really incredible staple of Toronto's downtown entertainment district. Well done La Carnita! read more

Good taco place, but the service is really crappy. Our server was friendly enough, but the orders are not taken carefully so be careful if you have allergies/restrictions because the food will end up coming out randomly on the same plate. My friend has a fish allergy so we weren't pleased about my cod taco ending up on her plate. All of their tacos are served individually, so it's a good opportunity to try multiple different ones, but be careful as the prices do add up. If you want to order more after the first try, good luck, because the servers practically disappear after serving you the first round. Their churros are delicious, served with a warm caramel sauce. Definitely the best part of the evening. read more

A classic Mexican joint that never disappoints. The tacos are always fresh and full of flavour. My personal favourite is the pollo and the fried fish - along with everyone else in Toronto lol. The grilled corn with all the works is a must order. For dessert, I highly suggest the churros with the dulce de leche dipping. The restaurant can get loud and busy at times, but I much rather prefer loud over it being quiet and dead. Overall - an amazing place and MUCH better than El Catrin (see my recent post about that one...) read more

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Pay almost 200 cad for take out tacos. And they forget tortillas and the portions is very poor. Never again.

La carnita has never disappointed me! I love coming here for their tacos. I had the lunch special with a few co workers. We started off with personalized appetizers- I had some guacamole that was absolutely delicious. I had baja fish tacos which always hit the spot! And finished with a palleta that was very creamy. We were really full after and felt it was great value for money. I will be returning soon. read more

Lunch time - Cod tacos. Chips with guacamole and crispy fried shrimp Cod looked under done and tasted very much like either fried in the same oil as the churos or used the same batter. It had a very strong churo taste. Pickles on top were nice. Chips are home made but very oily and fall apart when bitten into. And wasn't impressed with the taste either. Shrimps tasted great. Churos were ok Service is slow Overall presentation nice read more

I've been going to this place for a while now and I think it's one of the better taco places in the city. I like the vibe and the atmosphere, and the service is pretty good (especially at the bar upstairs). Their street corn is unbeaten, and they have some pretty creative tacos on the menu. Unfortunately, I can't give three stars because this restaurant is not the same place it was when I first started going. They are following the typical Toronto restaurant story: pay for a feature on blogto or narcity and then jack up prices after becoming more popular. read more

Went here a few nights ago before the Ontario restaurant shutdown of indoor dining. Really enjoyed our meal. Service was fairly average (but they were apologetic for delays) but I don't blame the restaurant as that's kind of expect 2 nights before a covid lockdown. The food was really quite delicious. Particularly the nachos. Sometimes these are a bit of an after-thought at Mexican cuisine places but the tortilla chips at La Carnita were really quite tasty even on their own. The carne asada (steak) were great, so were the two chicken tacos. Was pleasantly surprised by the place. I tent to think many restaurants in the entertainment district in downtown Toronto are overpriced and underwhelming but La Carnita was not that. I would gladly go back again. The only real piece of advice I would offer is if you are vegan and you order the vegan tacos with other people in your party ordering meat tacos - make sure you tell them to not plate them all on the same tray. The tacos come out not on individual plates but all on a platter so if you're vegan and sensitive to that ask for them to be separated. read more

I would rate the food a 3, however what upsets me and brings down the rating are the prices and popularity of this place. It's expensive, and considering the portions and quality of the food, it's a rip off. There are so many better Mexican places in the city that deserve your money, this isn't one of them. I feel like the focus is on making the food look pretty and Instagrammable, at the expense of taste. I'm not even asking for authentic food, just make it taste good! The positive: central location and cute, hipster interior. read more

This is one of the very few places that have brought me to enjoy Mexican food a bit more than before. I love the grilled corns! Must try I love how on Sundays a lot of drinks are 50% off, so I recommend that you guys go on Sundays! read more

A great place to go for fish tacos and corn! We went on Mother's Day and making a reservation was pretty easy. The John st location is attached to Sweet Jesus as well for dessert afterwards. read more

La Carnita - Mexican Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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The tacos here were good. I got the pollo taco and the chorizo taco and both were pretty tasty. My issue was the service was pretty terrible, it was super hot in the location they put us in, and it smelled like puke where we were sitting, even though it was right by the window. I'd recommend either take out or one of their other locations if you want to try this place out. There's so many great taco places so I likely won't give this one another chance. read more

This location definitely did not live up to the experience I had at their other spot. Biggest complaint was that it was soooooo hot in there. For beginning of June, it was hot, stuffy and smelt of puke. I had the Polo taco which was good and would recommend. But the cod taco was too salty. Any way, the heat in there killed the experience for the group of 5 of us, and I just wanted to eat and go, as opposed to staying for a few drinks. read more

It was my first time at LaCarnita.The taste was ok. Nothing special but the price was too expensive for something so mundane. read more

La Carnita - Mexican Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Would leave 0 stars if I could. Went In with one other person for lunch last Saturday. Got seated at a tiny bar along the stairs. Waitresses and hostesses were standing at the front desk talking and texting on their phones. Sat there with my guest for 40 mins, and all was brought to us was some water. No one came by to check in, it even take a drink order. Walked right out the front door. Walked by people waiting in line out front and let them know the experience. 3 other parties left as well. Will never go back read more

If you're looking for a very cool vibe and amazing food La Carnita is the right place to stop at. The menu is very small which means you know everything you order has been perfected. I always go with the Mexican Street Corn. It's a must. They load it with chili powder and cheese. Yes, it's messy but it's so worth it. Their tacos are also incredible. My favorite so far is the Crispy Cotija. It's fried cheese so of course it's great. Every day they have a different taco of the day which is very cool. Now on to dessert. They have these churros here. They are life altering churros. I cannot express to you how important these churros are so please come here and order them. I dream about them, they are the perfect churros. read more

Coming from Chicago, you know my expectations are high for some tacos. The place was kinda easy to pass up if you arent from the area and not paying attention (or it couldve been the edible id had prior to going lol) once we got in, we thought thered be a wait but we were able to get a seat at the bar. The music was great the food was also great and so was the ambiance which is really what did it for me. We had a pitcher of margaritas that we're actually really good at first. o wait! and their tres leches desert. OOOOMG! i wanted a second one sooo bad lol read more

Fun place in the heart of downtown. Ordered the chips and guac and four tacos, which were all great! read more

La Carnita - Mexican Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Heart about this restaurant and wanna try it out today. Came at 7 and and met a server with a unwelcome face. Still lot of tables but they said was booked. Ok!! Had my name down on the wait list and wait one and half hour and never received anything??? Wtf is wrong with this restaurant??? Never recommend to anyone. read more

Came on a Saturday for a 6:00 p.m. reservation - it was very crowded by then, so I would recommend making a reservation. Next, I'll be taco-ing about tacos! APPETIZER: Tortilla Chips with Guacamole Dip This was absolutely delicious! While some of the chips were smothered in black pepper, the rest were well-seasoned, and the guacamole itself was flavourful and fresh! TACO #1: Achiote Chicken *Recommend* This taco had a grilled jerk-chicken kind of flavour - it certainly had a kick to it (in terms of spice); the pineapple salsa however complemented it well to soothe my burning tongue. Also, the cojita cheese gave a different smooth, creamy texture to the taco, contrasting with the small, crispy shallots. TACO #2: Mushroom Tostada The mushrooms were plentiful on this lovely little taco, which was placed across a flat hard shell. Although I wasn't able to taste the chipotle, the mushrooms themselves were well-seasoned, making the overall bite quite appetizing! SERVICE: It seemed that was our server was quite busy that day, as it took us a while to wave him down to order our food. Nevertheless, he was courteous when he did finally come to our table. read more

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I wish Yelp would put a set of stars for service and set of stars for food. Because some places have fantastic food and terrible service, or vice versa. Which is at the fault of either the front house or the back house, not entirely the whole restaurant. On to the review. I've been to La Carnita before but not at this location. This was my second time coming in at lunch on a Friday only to have an issue. Last year a group of friends and I decided to make reservations but they did not pick up their phone, so we decided to walk over and be told it's packed. ( which it was not, unless people were coming later from reso ) Based on this experience, Thursday night we decided to make a reservation and was told we can't do 12:30 for 5 but she can do 12:45 for 5. Which is fine. We decided to come in to be told that the reservation was for 4, which is completely wrong and we had called to have that changed. The girl unwillingly stared at us as if we were the one at fault and proceed to tell us that we booked for four when clearly there is five of us still standing there. She then says that she can give us a table for four and slide in the fifth chair which should've been the first comment instead of telling us twice that we booked incorrectly. Other than that our waitress was amazing, she tried to get our food in right away and for a table of five that is easier said than done. I got the Ceviche, Carne Asada, and Cod taco, in a prix fix lunch special with one Mexican corn, and key lime popsicle. (16.99) The ceviche was tuna with an avocado spread and it was stacked and absolutely amazing. Recommend eating it with a fork, due to my tortilla being crispy which I am unsure was it's purpose. Carne asada you cant go wrong with steak. Cod, if you like anything that has to do with fish and chips this is an amazing taco for you. Mexican corn, messy but worth if you enjoy cheese or corn or both! Shared dip, enough for four people to share but anything more (a friend did not want) may not be enough dip. Nevertheless an amazing place for food. Try to book way in advance and double check that it's correct with the restaurant so you don't run into any issues! read more

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I'll start off by saying the food was excellent. We had the tacos with the chicken, the steak, chorizo and ceviche and they were all delicious. The ceviche one was especially good. Why the 2 stars? The service was absolutely garbage. Even though it was St Patrick's day, the place really wasn't that busy. It took forever for the server to come over and take our drink order. We gave our food order at the same time since we were afraid he wouldn't come back anytime soon. The food came pretty fast but the server never once checked on us. When we asked for the bill he said okay and then was nowhere to be found. We sat there for a good 20 minutes before I flagged down another server. I think I'd rather go somewhere else for my fancy tacos from now on read more

Come here every week. Corn, pollo fritto and carne asada. Crave these tacos every week . Since Yelp won't accept my short 5 star review, here is my in-depth look at these tacos. The pollo frito, large piece of freshly fried chicken with an added sweetness along with fresh coleslaw. My favourite taco. The carne asada comes in close second. Tender steak cuts with creamy avocado. La Carnita for life. read more

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Came here this past Sunday evening and wanted a table for four. We saw it was busy and understandably we'd have to wait quite some time. What's weird and upsetting was the tone in which the hostess stressed to us the wait time. Even after I told her waiting was no problem, she then began to mention that it can take 40 minutes to which I said it was no problem again. Clearly she didn't understand that we wouldn't mind waiting, bc she then proceeded to tell us we'd have to wait 40 min or more.. Once again, I told her this was no problem and I guess it takes her 3 times to understand something bc she then took down my name and number. Way to make someone feel welcome and that you want them there.. About 20 min later, as we were strolling the neighbourhood she gives me a call and tells me there's a table available but I'd have to be out in an hour (I CAN'T EVEN.) .. After contemplating the offer she so generously presented to us, we declined to which again she stressed we'd have to wait.. Bc clearly I had not already been waiting this whole time and I needed her to remind me that I'd have to wait on a table I was already waiting for. Most people probably would've just said f it at this point, but I was just so determined to get my table.. Lol. Putting that complete mess behind me and fast forwarding to my experience. The waitress, like the previous servers I've had here was friendly, helpful and she checked in here and there to see if we were doing okay. A+ service. The menu has slightly been revamped and they no longer have the "la carnita" taco, but it's okay bc the "carne asada" is utterly delectable. The ribs special for Sunday were absolutely amazing as well. They were succulent and the marinade was delicious. We also got the pitcher of rosé sangria (another Sunday special) and it was alright.. I wouldn't get that again. Anyways now that my rant is over, despite the poor service received from the hostess, my prior experiences here have been nothing but great. Looking forward to the next time I make a trip here! read more

@la_carnita #YELPTO #TACO #LCXO #MEXICANFOOD Where El Caballito excels, La Carnita fails: 1. Atmosphere --- El Caballito has this super cool vibe, and is hands down the place to be after work. It's full everytime I've been, but you always receive a warm welcome, and you always get seated somewhere nice and cozy in the crowd, yet far from it. La Carnita has this superficial cool vibe on the outside, the hostesses and servers imbibe too-cool-for-school personas and good luck having anyone greet you. Full of "bourgie" people and there's little personal space between seating. 2. Tacos --- The tacos are small and fall apart within a bite at La Carnita, and they are not filling either. You're better off ordering $6-$8 tacos at El Caballito. 3. Service --- To get a server is always a painful experience, whether you're in a group or not. They'll usually have 2 very inefficient servers per floor. The food is usually slapped down on the table without any cutlery for the messiness. Ugh, the less I talk about this the better. I went to La Carnita in a group recently, although I really just wanted to skip this place for what it is. The group I was with complained that the pitchers were expensive at like $40-$50. That's usually how much I pay for pitchers so it's not something I mind. I didn't have anything to drink in my recent visit but in my past visit, there was little memorable about the drinks. read more

Food was good. It tasted the same as the College location. The service to take our order was slow, even though it wasn't that busy, but once we put our orders through, the food and drinks came under 10min...maybe even under 5. I dropped my rating to 2 stars, only because it was sooo HOT inside! Not fun hot, not spicy hot, but just horrible temperature hot. This place has terrible air circulation, my friend and I were fanning ourselves with the menus (that our server kindly did not take away) to cope with the heath. I don't think I will be going back to this location only for that fact...I don't enjoy paying to sweat while eating. Please invest in a proper air cooling system. read more

Last time I placed a take out order for street corn and two burritos. The street corn was awful. Had a burnt taste and the corn wasn't good and then I found a piece of plastic in my burrito that was incorrectly labeled. I called the restaurant and left a voicemail to let them know and no one ever bothered to return my call. Worst customer service. Done with this restaurant. read more

Went there for date night on Saturday and had a great time! They took down our number and called us when our table was ready. The food and drinks were really good, but the portions were a bit small. I found the music to be a bit too loud and the place to be dimly lit, but I guess they're going with a clubby vibe. Overall for $60 we both got 3 tacos, an app and 2 drinks so fairly priced. Definitely go back if you're in the area and want something fun and quick! read more

So unhappy with my visit at La Carnita. The venue is nice, the food was OK if still somewhat forgettable but the service, oh goodness have I not been served that badly in ages. There was 11 of us and we reserved in advance. We are told there would be a 18% gratuity and we were fine with that. The first drink orders were taken and served promptly. When came the time to order we were ready to do it separately and we were told flatly no. It would be one order and they would be delivered at different random times. Now I understand that formula can work up to like 4 or 6 people but 11, seriously? So whenever the food was coming we had to yell over the music to dispatch the food ourselves. Fun times. Some of the food we ordered was missing and some other orders were delivered twice. When came the time to pay it was oh so pleasant. Firstly they overcharged us for some tacos we never ordered. We had to argue back and forth to take them off. It took an awful long time for them to process all our payments. On top of it one of the waiter told us we should be happy they took away some items from the bill. With an attitude. Please. The washrooms were also quite dirty. There was a lot or paper towels scattered all over the floor of the two boots I've been into. Now, I never wished I'd give a one star, especially coming from the service industry but if the manager is reading the comments he or she should seriously review their team customer service skills, because it felt like they were doing whatever they wanted and could not care less. Much less attitude and some decent professionalism please. read more

Ordered the crispy shrimp burrito for delivery tonight, it was really good however I think they wrapped my burrito the wrong way. Rather than having a bit of everything in every bite, each ingredient was layered within in. Like a mouthful of rice, then lettuce, etc....I enjoyed it but that's why it's only 3 stars read more

La Carnita is a fun and trendy Mexican restaurant. The restaurant has a gritty, urban aesthetic with the use of stylized skulls and neon lights. The service is friendly and attentive. It is a great spot for pre-theatre drinks or dinner or after work drinks. To start, we enjoyed the tortilla chips with dips (Guacamole, Corn Salsa, Spicy Bean and Smoked Queso). The tortilla chips and the dips taste fresh. During the summer, I would order the tortilla chips and a drink and ask to be seated on the patio with my colleagues after work. While I enjoy most of the dishes at La Carnitas, the signature dishes are the tacos. My favourite tacos are "In Code We Trust", "Pollo Frito" and "Carne Asada". The tacos maintain the street-food vibe of the restaurant - fresh and unpretentious. Ensure you leave room for dessert. The churros and tres leches cake are sinfully delicious. read more

Food is really tasty but service is TERRIBLE. We came here late after going to the CN Tower so we didn't have reservations. Ended up sitting on the patio, which we weren't mad about because it was a nice day. I got the purple haze and my husband got the Paloma which were both quite good. Issue is, we waited about 30 minutes to get them. Finished off the water in that time and had to ask twice to get more. Our food took over an hour to come out and in that time, our waiter didn't check on us once. We called him over to ask for more water and he didn't ask if he could get us anything else (like more drinks). When our food finally came out, he dropped it off and apologized for the kitchen being slow but again, walked away before we could order anything else. The food was delicious but I don't know if it's because I was so hungry at that point that anything would taste good. We got churros at the end as an apology but after being there over 2 hours, I was just ready to go home. I get that the kitchen can be slow and it's not the waiter's fault, but if you keep the customers comfortable (like by making sure they have water or getting their drink orders) then the wait seems more doable. read more

So this is the new hot spot? Went for lunch just before Christmas with a friend. I like the decor and the place has good energy but the food ranged from meh to good. Ordered the chicken wings. Meh... at best. Then came the meatballs. A little overcooked but good flavour with a little kick. Finished with the daily taco special - a shrimp taco. It was good. This wouldn't be my first choice the next time I feel like Mexican. Really like their logo though... read more

Arrived at 11:45 for lunch with a large party of 10 without a reservation. We were promptly accomodated and seated. Place became packed within 20 minutes! Orderes the kunch special for 15.99, and was happy to see vegetarian options on the menu. The combo included an appetizer, two tacos and dessert. Ordered the chips with guac, cod taco, crispy cotija ( cheese and cauliflower) taco, and of course churros for dessert. The cauliflower bean and cheese taco was BOMB! Everything else was also very yummy. Highly recommend the lunch menu. The only reason I took off a star was because of the volume of the music. Not sure if we were close to the speakers but it was VERY loud and it was hard to have a conversation with people. Imagine trying to have a convo at a club, it was basically like that. read more

La Carnita - Lunch special. Chips and guac. Cod taco and vegetarian taco (cheese, cauliflower, beans, pickled carrot) - Mexican Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Over rated wanna be Mexican food. Unless you just got back from Cuba and need something better then Cuba all inclusive resort food. I won't step in there. read more

La Carnita - Mexican Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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I love this spot. Of all the taco spots popping up, this is my favorite. They do a great job of putting diverse flavors in such small dishes. If you love tacos, you'll love la carnita. If you hate tacos, go somewhere else. read more

The John street location is a good spot for lunch, however, we've been consistently disappointed with the quality of this location. The tacos don't ever taste fresh, the tortillas often taste dry and old. But the cocktails and apps are consistently good! read more

La Carnita - Jerk chicken taco and carne asada taco. - Mexican Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Wifey and hubby were craving Mexican while introducing downtown to the then-7-month-old Porkiebun. Luckily the place wasn't busy when the trio came in early Sunday for lunch and were promptly seated. Hubby and wifey both opted for the lunch prix fixe option that was available at that time. You get a personal sized tortilla chips and a choice of dip. Hubby tried the corn salsa while wifey got the spicy bean and smoked queso. Corn salsa was delicious and tasted so fresh and was enjoyed by both. The bean and queso dip was just too too too spicy even for the wifey who grew up eating spicy food. Wifey and hubby also ordered their popular Mexican street corn and was not disappointed by all the hype. You then get to pick two of their tacos. Between hubby and wifey, they got to try the cod, chicken, steak and tuna. They were all pretty good, well-seasoned and everything in each taco tasted well together, however, portion is on the tiny side. For dessert, wifey got the churros with cajeta (Mexican syrup) and hubby got the Cookie Monster paleta (from sweet Jesus, which was just next door) and could've been better (see reason below). Overall, food alone would have earned them a 4 star, however, service was lacking. The server was not personable at all. They also brought out all our food within 5 minutes of each other. Hubs and wifey were still eating appetizer when the tacos came and the dessert came immediately soon after. With the porkiebun in tow, wifey and hubby are pretty fast eaters but still felt too rushed and by the time hubby got to his paleta it was already melting and churro was not warm and fresh anymore. read more

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I recently came here for the second time, mostly because I adore corn so wanted to try their amazing looking Mexican street corn. Did the corn live up to my expectations? I would say YES. Believe me, I have eaten a LOT of corn during my lifetime, but I will say never with flavours like this. Topped with Mexican crema, queso anejo, arbol & ancho chili powder, each bite is just bursting with these wonderful flavours. Even though I found it to be too spicy with the chili powder, I had to continue eating because it still tasted so good. As for the main feature, the tacos, I can say with certainty that they are quite good, but not the best I've had. Most recently I had the beef cheek, the special of the day (Thursday - duck) and crispy cotija which is a vegetarian one with cauliflower and beans. I can't complain about them, because I thought they were all flavourful and tasty. I have to say I like the soft taco shells at Campechano (https://www.yelp.ca/biz/campechano-taquer%C3%ADa-toronto?osq=campechanos) more though, they just tasted fresher and full of corny goodness. I also couldn't resist trying some of their desserts this time! The churros came out hot and fresh - the order comes with 3 and they are pretty big. Taste just like the tiny tom cinnamon donuts mmm. I also tried the tres leches cake - it comes in a pretty sizeable portion in a little glass jar. The cake part is light and fluffy, but topped with many many layers of cream which really fill you up. I really liked the large coconut flakes at the very top - if you like coconut things then you'll enjoy this because the flavour is really strong. I couldn't finish this in the end because I got too full, perhaps share this with another person. In terms of the ambiance, it's a bit hit or miss for me. It feels hip and trendy and lively, and I like that. Both times I came, the music was on point, great hiphop/urban jams. The downside to all that is that it gets super loud and rowdy - if you're looking for a place to relax after work and chat with your friends then I would not recommend coming here, you'll just be shouting at each other. Also it is incredibly dim in there, to the point where you can hardly even read the menu. I think in general I've had more enjoyable dining experiences at other places - I remember at Campechano I was able to really focus on all the tacos I had and all of the flavours in each one, but at La Carnita I just get so overwhelmed by all the activity and sensory overload that the actual taco flavours take a back seat. In the end, my friend and I each had three tacos, a cob of corn each, and shared the desserts, and left feeling super stuffed. Prices here are reasonable, we each threw down $35 and called it a night. I will be coming back in the future, the corn has captured my heart and I've heard the Mexican meatballs are also a must-try item. read more

I don't understand the lack of 5 star reviews for La Carnita, clearly these people have not tried the Mexican street corn because it's absolutely incredible! We came on Saturday afternoon and after waiting for roughly 15 minutes for a table, we were seated. After indulging in the greatness that was the Mexican street corn, I ate my delicious Pollo Frito taco. The Pollo Frito taco is a fried chicken taco with Peanut sauce, cabbage, and a few other things I'm drawing a blank on. Overall, this place has an awesome atmosphere, good service, and a great menu. I will most certainly be coming back here in the future (mostly to eat more of the street corn). read more