Paseo Cantiana

We have almost gone here several times, and finally tried it when the wait for PF Chang's was too long. I should have known better when I saw the small number of diners on a Saturday night. The food was OK. I would have been happy to pay 8 or 9 dollars for my plate, but the 17-dollar price tag was pretty insane for the low-cost ingredients and lack of creativity. I had very typical chicken enchiladas with rice and beans. Sodas are $3 each and they charge for refills. So I think we spent $9 on about 15 cents worth of soda--what a profit. Most importantly, the 8-piece mariachi is SO incredibly loud that we could not possibly share even a few words with each other. I've been to plenty of Mexican restaurants where the volume was kept at a tolerable level. The band is good, so it's quite shame. I just don't see the appeal of going out to dinner and staring at each other in silence. It seems like they are going for the atmosphere of a nightclub...where they just happen to serve food. Maybe they should ditch the menu and just offer drinks and music. Needless to say, I will never go back here. Pros: Good service, decent food Cons: Overpriced food, extremely loud more

It was a Saturday night and the place was empty. At first I thought,""It's the economy."" Then I realized, it's the food. The mole was horrible. I would describe it as ketchup with chocolate. Nothing tasted fresh. It all had a funky flavor to it. For a moment I wondered if my taste buds were off, maybe I was suffering from degenerative taste disorder and it come to a tipping point at Paseo Cantiana. Nope. Then I realized, it's the food. I've eaten food off street vendors in third world countries. I can eat anywhere. I'm cool. About five hours after this meal that calling it mediocre would be a compliment, I got sick. I'll spare you the details. This restaurant should be closed down. Pros: Don't have to go there again Cons: I got food poisoning more

nice food more

I ate at Paseo Cantina on June 8, 2009 and ordered their $6.95 buffet. I left a $1.00 tip at the table and paid with my credit card. When I received my credit card bill a $4.00 tip was added on dishonestly. I tried calling the manager 3x and he cut me off when I complained about this dishonest charge. Pros: food ok Cons: Dishonest charge on my credit card billo more

My family and I just enjoyed a great Sunday Brunch for my mom's birthday at this lovely restaurant and we will definitely come back again. At first I was a bit apprehensive because of all the bad reviews but I am happy to say that we all had a great time and had absolutely no complaints about ANYTHING! Sure the mariachi is a bit loud but then again, that's what an acoustic band of that size in an enclosed area will sound like. more

I've been to this restaurant several times and will continue coming back (smile) excellent food, service and drinks! Any time I have guests that come into town ...its a must to have dinner or brunch there - Wonderful experience from the entertainment (Mariachis are outstanding! Exceptional! Treat overall) food, service and Margaritas are divine ...Finally a Mexican restaurant in Pasadena that offers it all! more

I took my family on Sunday and couldn't be more disappointed. The food was horrible. The chile rellenos were raw the beans were cold like they were scooped out of the can and the rice was white salty and mushy. I grew up in a traditional Mexican neighborhood and worked in Mexico City for 5 years so trust me this was insulting. The Mariachi band was outstanding but the volume was in the 200 decible range so the server has to ask for you order several times. If this place is hoping to attract Latinos it won't last. I am at a loss for words to tell you how bad this place was. Never again. more

Only because i have to give it one star... it doesn't even deserve that. This place was expensive, and the food was horrible.... I didn't finish my dish. And they got our order wrong so my sister in law didn't even get her food till we were all done. Everyone at our table was unhappy with their meal, and we ended up visiting the Hat right after for some chili fries... Stay away from this restaurant, your better off with canned beans. Pros: the colors Cons: everything else. more

Mediocre food and SOME OF THE WORST SERVICE I have ever experienced. AND they billed my credit card for an extra $50 that was not on my receipt. [It was business travel, so I kept the receipt.] Very dodgy. Avoid at all costs. Cons: Fake billing. Terrible service. more

I recently went to the Paseo Cantina on Friday. I brought along my girlfriend, who is very Fine, and her sister. We all went there with the intention of having a great time, drinking and hearing the live mariachi band. The band was fantastic and the food was descent. My only complaint is that all three of us had 5 shots of tequila (Patron) within a two hour period, and none of us even had a slight buzz. On any other day 2 shots of tequila would have me on the floor drunk out of my mind. But for some reason these ""watered"" down shots of tequila didn't have any effect on me. So my advice to anybody that wants to have a great time with a good buzz, is to just order beer. Believe me! or else all you'll be drinking is some expensive water in a shot glass. more

Our favorite Mexican restaurant!!!! It might be a little on the expensive side and the portions are not large, but the food is delicious. Great margaritas - we didn't try it, but they do have a $45 margarita - the regular and fruit margaritas are great. The Mexican orchestra is fantastic. We have never seen a Mexican orchestra with a harp. Very talented musicians - not too loud and played great music that people know and have heard before. Excellent, attentive service in a very well run restaurant. Totally unlike almost any other Mexican restaurant, very classy. This is a place you want to bring your out of town guests, very clean, neat, freshly decorated - even the orchestra's outfits were fresh and new. This is a great restaurant! Pros: Great food and drinks, very clean & neat Cons: Hard to find more

This restaurant tries way too hard.. The food is very mediocre and even worse, the service was bad and they were very unfriendly since I came with my baby. They claimed they could not find a booster for what appeared to be a very long time.. The waitress took too long and the food was very average quality.. Cons: Very Expensive, Too big.. not cozy, lousy service more

4-30-08As we entered there was a live Mariachi playing and the restaurant had a real Mexican folklore feel to it. I was excited about eating at this place, but all that excitement quickly came to an end. As we sat at our table, I was missing some utensils. When the waiter came to take our order he recommended a margarita, which I would say was quite delicious. He also recommended the Guacamole which we said we would think about getting but didn't. A little later, a server came to our table ready to make the guacamole. We told him we had not ordered it. He talked to the waiter and we made it clear to the waiter that we didn't order it. When our food arrived, the orders were all wrong. We had ordered the 2 carnitas tacos suaves with rice and beans, taquitos, and the chicken enchiladas. They brought us the taquitos, 1 carnitas taco and 1 steak taco (no rice and beans), and albondiga soup. We told the server we didn't order the soup and that I had ordered the rice and beans with the tacos. I noticed the meat looked different on my tacos and i tasted a piece of meat from each taco and realized one was carnitas and one was steak. He checked the order and said that's what the waiter ordered. He called the waiter over and they realized the food they brought to us was for the party two tables away from ours. They took our plates and took them to the other party. I was in disbelief, the food had been sitting on our table for a long time plus i had tasted the meat on the tacos and they went ahead and served them to somebody else anyway...GROSS!!! Our correct order finally came and the food was not that great. To make things worse it took forever for us to pay our bill. This place has the worst service I have ever experienced. For a great dinner and Mariachi show, I would recommend ""Cielito Lindo"" in El Monte (Great music, food, and service). I would recommend you don't come to this place, unless you want to risk getting food that was picked on by someone else and BAD service. Pros: Margaritas Cons: FOOD, SERVICE, more

On May 18th, I took my father to Paseo Cantina to celebrate his 87th birthday. He is an avid mariachi music lover and I am a Mexican food aficionado. The restaurant had been highly recommended by friends. We love the restaurant! Paseo Cantina has the BEST Mexican food in all of Los Angeles County. The restaurant was serving Sunday brunch when we arrived and the selections and quantities of food offered were simply outstanding. When the mariachi show began at 2:00 p.m., I and everyone else in my family were quite impressed with the talent and skill level of the musicians and dancers, something rarely experienced in restaurants and more akin to what you would enjoy at a professional concert where a hefty admission price is commanded. We found the service to be excellent and the margaritas perfectly prepared. Everyone in our family decided that this restaurant would become our new favorite Mexican restaurant. We are looking forward to going back again soon. more

I just went there this past weekend and it was great! We planned a small gathering for 60 people (family and friends) and the service was good. My guests only had to wait about a half an hour for food, but mean while they had bite size quesadillas, tortilla chips, green salsa, and red salsa and their drinks. We had only three waiters for all of us and they did an excellent job. Our waiters names were Hector, Omar, and Ismael. They were all terrific and happy to be of service to our party. They were very attentive. The entertainment was awesome. They had a mariachi band and ballet folklorico dancing which had everyones attention. The show is for an hour and my guests really enjoyed it. The costumes were beautiful. The food was great! We gave our guests a choice of Tacos Suaves, Chile Rellenos, Enchiladas, Chicken and Steak Fajitas, and Pollo en Chipotle. Nobody had any complaints. The house margaritas are great!!!!! The house margarita is $7.50 and it comes with an extra shot of tequila on the side. Prices are reasonable rage from $14.95 - $21.95. Shelli a manager who coordinated our gathering was great and made sure that all was running smoothly. We would definitely go again! Great location, nice decor, good restaurant for a date of for a gathering. Loved it!!!! Pros: Great Service, Two thumbs up!!!! Cons: Went on a really hot day a bit stuffy more

Very uncomfortable dining experience and customer service was lacking to say the least. I had been to this restaurant for Sunday Champagne Brunch and it seemed that the AC wasn't working. People were sweating and after making the manager aware of the situation, he said the AC was on (so basically too bad). You only get one cup of champagne, just in case you thought it was gonna keep on coming. The best thing was the Mariachi and for that reason I gave it a second chance. On that day I made reservations to come back on my graduation. I asked what time the Mariachi was going to perform and the host told me at 6:30pm. I made my reservation at 5pm knowing we were still going to be there for the show. On my graduation day the restaurant was a sauna and the owner lied by saying it was ""in full blast."" After more complaints they oppened the doors...hours later they announcced the AC didn't work. We had to beg for water and the ice was melting rapidly. My plate was $25 and it didn't taste like it was worth it. We were a party of 15 very dissastisfied people. On both occassions that I visited this establishement I found that customer service was lacking. They took long to bring water. They took long to take orders. They weren't attentive and the tip was $70 on the bill. For a lousy service I don't think so! When we were paying our our bill we finally were approached by a different manager that apologized for everything and we finally felt some empathy. Too bad he wasn't there earlier. By the way, at 6:15 we asked if the Mariachi was almost arriving and they said that ""Not until 7 or 7:30, I don't know who told you at 6:30."" Another dissapointment! Pros: Entertainment Cons: Owner's attitude, no AC, food isn't great. more

I made reservasations two weeks in advance for twenty three people for ""mothers day"" and as soon as we got there the hostess showed us our table she was very polite and at that time they were very busy! The food was great! The waiter was ""AWESOME"" The mariachi was Wonderful. I would definitely go there again Loved it Thanks!!! more

I called on a Friday a week and 2 days before Mother's Day to inquire if they were taking reservations for Mother's Day. The hostess that answered the phone told me that they in fact were not taking reservations and it was first come first serve. I was a little skeptical but I took her for her word. A few days later my coversation with the hostess wasn't sitting right, so I called back and spoke to the general manager. I again asked the same question I asked the hostess a few days prior. I then was told that they had been taking reservation earlier in the week however, they were now full for the day. I told him that I had called last week and was told it was first come first serve, he then said that the person I spoke with was wrong and they have been full since Tuesday. I replied that I had called on Friday and was told you were not taking reservations. His answer to that was well come in when we open (@ 9am) and he might be able to get me in. I told him I wanted to take my mother and grandmother who was well into her 80's so I didn't want to have her sitting around and then not be able to get a table. His answer was ""then there is nothing I can do for you."" At that time I asked to speak with his boss who happened to be the owner. He said he wasn't there to call back in a few hours. I called back about 2 hrs later then was told that the owner was on the other line and if I left my name and number he would get back to me. It's been a week now and I still haven't heard from him. I honestly can't tell you about the food but I will tell you this, any establishment that treats their clients with such disrespect will never get a dollar from me. Pros: n/a Cons: management and customer service. more

I was raised in Pasadena and left for college for a few years, only to return and find that the Paseo has become overrun with Commercial restaurants and yuppie locals. Although there is now a truly authentic taste of delcious Mexican entrees that joins them: Paseo Cantina. This place is so GOOD! I had a great time with my coworkers, and brought my husband back on the weekend and he loved it as well. He was born and raised in Mexico city and said this place made him feel like home! It doesn't get more authnetic than that. We were offered great drinks and specials, with a live Mariachi & dance show, all at an affordable ""fine dining"" price (if you want fine dining don't expect to be cheap!) Pros: Delicious food & good service Cons: That people expect that to be cheap more

We just came back from there for lunch. The buffet entrees were limited, confused by the chicken mushroom? entree. Trays always seemed empty. No pastries or sweets were offered. The iced tea was lukewarm and not much ice was offered. Overall disappointment. more