We found this restaurant while shopping one afternoon in down town Charlevoix Michigan. What a delightful find! We have returned twice since to enjoy several different tacos and refreshing cocktails. Colleen, our server suggested the BBQ pork tacos, steak tacos, vegetarian tacos and quesadia. She was right on as each of our tacos were fresh and perfectly seasoned. We had the option of shells for our tacos, and we both chose the crunchy corn shell. Our cocktails were perfect and Colleen's service friendly and attentive. We appreciate good food and service and have returned twice. This resturant is under new management and deserves over 5 stars. A charming, spot to enjoy great food, in a clean and delightful atmosphere. Highly recommend. I am craving it again! read more

I understand that they are under new ownership now. We had a great time today. Great service. Colleen was great. Great food. Great drinks. Give this place a try and ignore the older reviews. Sitting on the patio was awesome. read more

Various taco options, delicious rice and beans, margaritas. Fried elote nuggets were fun to try

Great food and our waiter was amazing! No bad vibes, and our waiter got a water bowl for our dog and at the end, she got our dog a peanut butter treat! I really recommend The Cantina for all! read more

Since they changed their menu, I enjoy it more. The atmosphere is fun and inviting, their staff is great and their drinks are amazing!!

Hidden location off the main drag, this gem brings good mexican fare to Charlevoix. Outdoor and indoor seating cozy firepit area we had the nachos and fish tacos see pics, delicious! read more

The Cantina - Tacos & Tequila - Mexican Near Me - Charlevoix, Michigan

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Not real friendly. We irritated them by pulling 2 4 tops together apparently that's against the rules, according to the MOD. OK fast-forward we order some margaritas and some beers some appetizers and a bunch of tacos and it was good. Not great and it wasn't cheap. I'm from the south and this is Michigan Mexican at best. Plenty of business, but running it shorthanded and the employees have overworked attitude. Bathrooms were acceptable, but not clean. It's In The Alley and not as popular as the restaurants on the street so take your chances. I would never go back if it was free . read more

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I'm hoping management and owner will see my recommendations. 1. Cushions for outdoor chairs 2. If your charging for chips make sure they warm and not stale. Ours were cold and exposed to air which started to make them stale. 3. No Elote on the menu which should be at least seasonal with MI local corn Service was good and she was nice. Overall, I give you 3 starts which could easily improve to a 4/5 if you tweet a few things. read more

The chips are amazing, finally a restaurant that puts the right amount of salt on the tortilla chips. The two tacos we got were very good as well. Chicken and the cheeseburger taco. The service was great, the atmosphere is very good. Definitely a place to come to when in Charlevoix. The margaritas are great too, but seems like you need to order an extra shot of tequila to add to it to make it perfect. Maybe that's just me, I don't know. Oh, and I accidentally spilled my extra shot and the waitress brought me an another one, no charge. read more

The Cantina - Tacos & Tequila - Outside seating - Mexican Near Me - Charlevoix, Michigan

Terrible $$$$ mexican food. Bland, nothing special. 2 margaritas, 2 taco dishes (3 tacos each with cheap rice and beans). $76 dollars. + $14 tip because the server was nice and not her fault the food was bad... Never in my life did I think inexpensive mexican food would cost me $90 bucks... Was $5 dollars worth of food, and margaritas are not expensive either. Pro Tip? Skip this place read more

This is a really cool spot down the Van Pelt alley. The hostess talked about how in the summer the patio is packed with people enjoy their tasting margaritas. I must admit even in March the patio with the stringed up lights looked awesome. They had a Taco Tuesday special 3 for $12 and they were small, but I must admit they load them up to the point you can't fold them (which I love) and they were so good. The tortillas held up to all the yummy salsa and meat juice (weird term). Serious the taste and flavors were pure delight. They have many tacos to choose from so I'm sure you'll find one you enjoy. The service was good and locals even came on their walk home from work to pick up a margarita, so apparently they are crazy good. They have drink and food specials everyday so be on the look out. I'd like to come back here on a summer night and just relax on their patio and enjoy the great North Michigan weather. Check this place out, it's a keeper!! read more

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Off the beaten culinary path, this restaurant is a hidden gem. A half block and in an alley behind the busy main drag of Charlevoix, we only found it because of a friend's recommendation. The menu is not extensive, but it's evident that thoughtful individual preparation goes into every tasty bite. Our server, Nathaniel, was one of the stars of our visit. His gregarious demeanor, million dollar smile and enthusiastic explanations of each menu item made us feel like he "owned" his job and took it seriously. There were four of us and for an appetizer, Nathaniel recommended the Cantina Sampler which was salted tortilla chips with four different dipping options: fresh guacamole, tomatillo sauce, queso dip and a zesty salsa mole. The chips were fresh and crunchy and the various dips tasty. The ladies each ordered the Four Cheese Quesadillas. They only come with cheese and all other additions are an up charge. The guys each had two tacos. I had the cod taco and a carnitas taco. The fish taco was outstanding. The carnitas taco was a bit on the dry side. There is a full bar, nice outdoor dining options, pet friendly patio and of course, there's Nathaniel! read more

Where to start? The waitress was clearly coming down from Venetian- she was rude. When I asked for more line for my water, she said she already gave me three and that should have lasted (others clearly had some of them in their water). When we spilled my water, cleaned the mess with our 3 napkins (there were 6 of us), and put them garbage in my glass. She demanded that my friend remove the garbage so that she could just refill my glass. When my friend refused, I got a water with one lime and no ice. My water refills were warm with no ice throughout the meal. Avoid the $12 margarita served in the same small plastic cup as the water and using the worst mixer - this from the 3 folks who had them. The guacamole was fine though a bit bland. The cheese dip was the consistency of soup and tasteless. More than half of the tortillas were stale. We were all starving, so we ate them. The tacos (pork, chicken, and hamburger) were small, on soggy corn tortillas and flavorless. The best part of my meal was the Harry's hot sauce. The quesadilla with cheese and brisket was, according to the person who had it, good, so stick with that. read more

The Cantina - Tacos & Tequila - Harry's yummy hot sauce - Mexican Near Me - Charlevoix, Michigan

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I got the ground beef quesadilla - super solid, nicely toasted, good beef to cheese ratio. Would order again. Person I was with got the ground beef burrito and enjoyed it. Slight spice to the ground beef and rice. Nice, dog friendly patio, good location. Super quick service. read more

The Cantina - Tacos & Tequila - Ground beef quesadilla - Mexican Near Me - Charlevoix, Michigan

This place is excellent! My wife and I have been coming here for over 2 years and love the ambiance, food, and drinks! The service is great and the staff are very friendly. Yelp states that this location is closed; however, it is under new ownership as of 6 months ago. We ate here on 6/1/2025 and they are very much open and ready to serve you! read more

I'm not one to be that harsh, but it was a rather disappointing experience on a few fronts. Service - very slow. To the point that we wondered if they knew we had been seated. Then not being acknowledged by a single server walking by. It wasn't very busy, there were several tables open inside and out. Prices - the margarita was $2 per sip. For the same price and flavor, I could get a fish bowl any where else. Food - impossibly salty. We couldn't finish the two tacos we ordered. Brisket and carnitas. Paid extra for the guac and cojita, a sin to leave on the plate but the meat was inedible. Was really looking forward to the evening out sans kid with my husband. read more

We had a great dinner. The family loved the queso and 3 burritos (steak, chicken and beef)...all delicious and way bigger than they appeared. Top shelf margarita and The Mexican Mule were amazing. Great patio! read more

Small spot down Van Pelt alley. We ordered the sampler ($14) with double guacamole, less queso. Our waitress, Abbey is called a taco slinger, cool title. She's nice, attentive too. We also ordered 4 chicken tacos, 1 Buffalo chicken sans blue cheese and one sweet potato taco less cotija cheese. The corn chips are really salt, super salty in fact. They are pre-made here, there is no way to get unsalted chips. They did make us a second batch without salt though, sweet. Misspoke, second batch is almost as salty as the first, would have better with no salt on them at all. The green verde salsa is slightly sweet and has a bit of kick, it's quite tasty. The roasted salsa is smokey but doesn't have as much flavor as the verde. Tastes like there's cherries in it, quite sweet. The guacamole isn't bad, better with the pico de Gallo added to it. The pico is super mild and doesn't have a ton of flavor to it. The chicken tacos are all good, we liked the 4 between us. The sweet potato was different for sure, cream sauce, forgot to omit that one, the tequila drowned cherries and the pesto were all an interesting combination, neither of us were super fond of the flavor combos though. The buffalo chicken tacos were pretty good, I am sure the blue cheese would make this taco even better. Extra chip basket of salty chips were an additional $1. I would not get the sweet potato again, the regular chicken and the Buffalo chicken tacos are the way to go here. If you aren't fond of salty chips much, like me, scrape them off or knock off some of the excess salt on the chips. Service is good and the sampler is quite good. read more

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The black beans severed by the previous owner were far better then the refried beans now being served. Tortilla chips and salsa were on the table without being requested. And most of all, start grilling the fish for the fish tacos. The grill is what made the Cantina special. read more

Ordered corn tortillas, served flour because they had a 16 person order, full price, no apologies, you get what you get here.

This place has reopened and we decided to ignore the reviews and give them a shot... it was awful. The food was terrible. I had the taco salad and it was probably lower quality than Taco Bell except it was $16. Ordered the mini street corn things for the table and they were horrible, drowned in salt. Service was as good as it gets for 1 server taking care of the entire restaurant. The ambiance was solid, decent location, but I don't know how you mess up Mexican food this bad. I'd highly recommend you avoid. read more

It's ok. I think if the weather was better and outside seating was available, the overall experience would be better. But the good news is that it was open on this dreary, wet fall evening. The service was good, though the server did wear her mask below her nose. Tables were 10-12 feet apart which felt safe for our first indoor meal during covid. The Godzilla burrito was more of a grilled burrito sandwich. It was pretty decent but could use more of a kick. The two tacos we got to share weren't as good. The chicken was more like warm than hot. Kinda disappointing. The chips and salsa were pretty basic. Anyway, as I said they were open and we needed dinner. Wouldn't rush back. But might try someday again, if outside eating/drinking was open on a sunny day/evening. read more

The Cantina - Tacos & Tequila - a close up of a plate of food - Mexican Near Me - Charlevoix, Michigan

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Not the friendliest place in town. 2 margaritas were 40.00. The beef tacos were very salty and frankly not good. Chips were very good as well as the queso. Eat at Mexican restaurants all the time and can't remember ever having an 80.00 plus bill For 2 people. read more

Hidden down a small alley off the main road downtown Charlevoix. We waiting about an hour and a half for a table and were happy to get a table outside. There isn't anything very appealing to look at outside but it was still great to enjoy the patio. The menu is definitely on the pricier side but this is a small tourist town. The margarita was $14 and I believe each taco was about $4. Our bill ended up being almost $90, after a tip. We had 1 margarita, the salsa platter, a burrito, and 4 "amped" tacos. I believe "amping" your taco adds to the cost but added some toppings. Overall, we enjoyed our meal but it was by far the most expensive part of our weekend up north, which seemed funny. Our waitress was very friendly and she did a great job. I loved all of my tacos and thought each one of full of flavor. Don't skip this hidden gem. read more

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Went with the fish tacos on a warm summer day. Friendly and helpful service. Tacos were light enough to not be holding one down, fresh fuel for trudging through Venetian Days and tasty. read more

Stopped through on the way back to Traverse City. Called to see if they had space and when we got there a table was already set for our party of 5. Chips and cheese dip were yummy but not too spicy. Chips were nicely salted. We tried the chicken taco, the papas taco, carnitas taco, carne asada and a few others. Meat was seasoned well and the tortillas were very yummy. Service was great, restaurant was clean. Super cute little patio as well. read more

This review is mainly for the service, but the tacos (cheeseburger one was so good) were great too! We had Nathanial the Great, and he was truly that! Sat us down quickly, made recommendations based off of what we mentioned to him, and was extremely attentive and cheerful! We were in town for the weekend and it was definitely the most memorable customer service we had read more

Went today and ordered tacos (carnitas, fish,) I was very disappointed. The tacos had no flavor and the tortillas were not cooked all the way. The staff was very nice but that doesn't help the taste of the food. I will not be going back I would rather go to mi tequila in petoskey. Anyone who reads this review can go and try it out yourself but if I was you I would drive another 15-20 min to mi tequila in petoskey. Ps the fish was very mushy and not Christy at all. I heard mixed reviews going in but I figured I'll give it a shot. And as a Latino I was very disappointed. I would say it's one step below Taco Bell when it comes to flavor. read more

Trendy little place with delicious food. Classic tacos but with unique flavors. Great place for a date night. Seemed like a great place to have a party and eat with friends, when we're able to do those things again. read more

The Cantina - Tacos & Tequila - Small but delicious! - Mexican Near Me - Charlevoix, Michigan

This is the hidden gem of Charlevoix!! I grew up in Texas with a heavy influence of both Tex-mex and authentic Mexican food. This place was a great combo of both. The queso was fire, flavorful, and tex-mex styled. & The tacos were authentic and dressed with so many flavors, homemade corn tortillas too! If you're in town- this is the place to go to. Good food, drinks, and the staff is friendly!! read more

I was looking for a place for lunch as my beloved lunch spot on the beach was closed on Tuesdays and stumbled upon this place. Its hard to believe a beachside place has good food but it does. I really wanted fish tacos. I was glad to find this restaurant. It was tucked away off the main street so a bit hard to find. It was very good and surprising. I had the fish tacos and they were pretty good. My son had burritos are both were quite filling. read more

A bit over priced taco was small but food was good Charged $1 for a tablespoon of salsa. read more

Cute little Mexican place in an alley behind Charlevoix's main downtown area. I got the 5-cheese quesadilla with pork and it was a couple steps above your average quesadilla. One if the cheeses was cotija and it gave it a nice flavor. The pork was delicious. The place was hopping and it was about an hour until close on a Monday night. We waited about 30 minutes. The service was good. They also have margaritas and alcoholic drinks and beers like Dos Equis. Nice, clean place. read more

Tried to right myself but I'm sure you know by now, not much can rein me in! We love the Cantina! Best jalapeño margarita for miles and lord knows, I know! If you want your armpits to sweat garlic but your tastebuds to be in heaven, the Rojo Salsa is to die for! Need a salty chip? Always order the queso! And can we talk about the jalapeño purée! Holy whack-a-mole! Might be a half block off the beaten path but I assure you the six extra steps are worth the effort. read more

The reviews are misleading. This place has THE BEST tacos I've ever eaten. It's a simple place but the food is crazy good. Our waitress was super sweet and we offered to kidnap the chef. Would definitely come back read more

This is my favorite place to visit while in Charlevoix and we are in the area regularly! First let me say that their Margs are the best I've ever had! Fresh squeezed lime juice and not a mix. I am smitten with their Pork Nachos but have had their tacos and they are amazing! I just like to nibble on their nachos and sip Margs versus feed like my husband. We always leave happy! Excellent & friendly service! The farm to table aspect is important to me. Go! Grab a pitcher of Margaritas and enjoy! read more

small restaurant/bar tucked off the main drag.... went during off season, so, we were the only customers in the place. sat at the bar - bartender was attentive. I got the squash taco YUM and the fish taco (liked the squash one better). VERY filling. would go again. read more

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The worst tacos I've ever had. Cold, soggy and bland. Everything was great other than the food.

Really bad food. Stale. Sour. Horrible. I would definitely avoid. The place was empty so we should've known. Our server was nice.

THE BEST Margs around! Our first night in town we got margaritas to go and they were amazing! The second night we came back for food and more margaritas. Our server becky was phenomenal! She even let us mix Marg flavors and they were so good! The atmosphere is so nice with it being off the main strip. We ended up going back each night of our vacation! read more