Baja Cantina

I've gone to Baja Cantina a few times for drinks since it's not far from the office, so I figured I'd probably better blog about it. Unlike Sonora (my post from a couple of days ago), Baja Cantina is some downright dirty Mexican food, but boy it's still pretty good. First off, the atmosphere is kind of a mixed bag. The front room is supposed to look Mexican, but the fabric on the backs of the long booths outlining the room look like they came from a cafeteria for old people (I said Luby's but none of my California-native counterparts knew what that was, but I think it's about the same as Homestyle Buffet out here). The front room is also adorned with a tortilla booth and a little Mexican lady making nonstop tortillas in there. From the front room you can go two ways, to the back where there are two slender bars, hard rock, and a couple of tables, or to the patio. The patio is the much more sophisticated route and you'll find young urban professionals enjoying a beverage after work there on any week night, all huddled around the big outdoor fireplace. No matter where you sit you can get food. We all shared the nachos, quesadillas, chicken flautas, and a sampler plate with a taco, burrito, and tamale. They were all pretty good, definitely not the best Mexican food I've ever had, but for a bar, really not bad. The nachos were pretty standard with beans, cheese (duh), and jalapenos, topped with sour cream and guac. Much in the same fashion, the rest of the stuff we ordered was your standard Mexican fare, though the flautas (called Toothpicks on the menu) are about 15" long. Don't try to attempt eating this alone! Baja Cantina also does serve salads, some that aren't really even Mexican inspired, like a goat cheese salad. It's unexpected to say the least. Happy hour runs from 5-7PM nightly, but don't expect them to let you slide with happy hour prices a moment later. We got there around 7 and after waiting 10 minutes for our waitress to finally serve us, she removed the happy hour menus from the table saying "Happy hour is already over, so I'll take those." Service wasn't great, but the bar was definitely packed and seemed understaffed. Maybe they should have had the tortilla lady giving a helping hand. Luckily if you run out of chips, you can refill them yourself right by the front door. Happy hour prices are really decent for food and drinks, but once you cross over into normal hours expect to pay more than double those prices in some cases. Rita's are normally $6 (not bad) and most menu items range from about $8-15 each. If you are a sports fanatic, this is a great place to watch any game as they have TV's all over the place. If you like Guitar Hero, they've got that too, or at least they did on Thursday night, so I'd call the bar for details if you are interested. Parking seems like a toss up. About half of the crowd was able to find street parking, but me and another friend had to valet. If you're forced to valet, I wouldn't fret too much, it's only $3.50, but just make sure you take some cash with you (I've made that mistake before!). Baja's always been a great time and I'm sure we'll end up going back soon enough!

http://www.bajacantinavenice.com/