Excellent Mexican. They hardly ever have people and we always wonder how they stay open but the food is excellent

Try the el pastor street tacos and the queso dip with meat. Both are too good! The margaritas are delicious too. I love this Mexican restaurant.

Grand Cantina hits the marks. It's a nice sized restaurant with more seating than you might expect It offers two dining areas, a full bar and can certainly accommodate large parties. Ambiance is fine. Not a traditional style for a Mexican restaurant but is bright and clean. Service here was friendly and staff were willing to accommodate the requests that we had without any issue. The menu is large with a lot of traditional entrees to choose from. For an appetizer we had queso with beef - really good. Much bigger than expected, I would definitely order this again. The staff brought a big basket of chips which was great as we didn't run out while enjoying our appetizer. Each person at our table was brought their own bowl of salsa and they provided a bowl for each person for the queso. Little differences like this made the dining experience better - I appreciated it. Entrees were very good. Served with rice and beans which were "typical" but the entrees themselves were loaded with meat and had great flavor. Prices here are very reasonable and I thought a great value for the quantity provided. Overall a satisfying dining experience on all fronts and I would not hesitate to recommended to anyone looking for American-Mexican food.

Our go-to Mexican restaurants are off Hwy 31 in Vestavia Hills, but we happened to be in the neighborhood, so we thought we would drop by Grand Cantina. They serve you the usual chips and salsa, and I enjoyed that the chips were lighter and thinner. The burrito that I ordered was a good size, but I was disappointed that sides did not come with it. The service was good. This is definitely a place I would like to try again.

Bienvenia al barrio! I was leaving Dunkin Donuts the other day and noticed a new Grand Cantina had opened up in the strip mall next door. I called up my dinner pals and we headed over last night. There was some kind of fiesta taking place when I walked in. Several tables had been pushed together for whatever party was taking place. It was LOUD! When asked whether I preferred a table or booth, I saw all the empty booths in Party Central and said, "Table, please." I was led to the back of the restaurant, through an arch into an separate room where it was much quieter. We could still hear the music and merriment from the main dining room, but we could also hear our conversation. We skipped the appetizers. I didn't go the traditional Mexican route but ordered from the Pirate's Specials (where the seafood dishes are): the Grand Seafood Plate, a combination of grilled shrimp, imitation crab meat, grilled fish, steamed veggies, house sauce, cheese sauce and rice. Pal #1 ordered the Grand Plate Dinner (non Pirate version) which is so grand it comes on two plate: a taco, an enchilada, a burrito, a chalupa, a tamale, rice, beans, and a partridge in a pear tree. Diner # 3 was more reasonable and ordered just an fajita quesadilla. Or maybe it was the quesadilla fajita. Whatever it was, it, too, was enormous. There was a bit of a mix up when the food arrived. Instead of the Pirate's Grand Seafood Plate, they brought me the Pirate's Grand Plate, (which looked delicious and I almost accepted it). When the error was pointed out the server apologized and whisked away the wrong pirate and within just a few minutes the correct dish was brought out. I don't know why, but I expected the plate to be compartmentalized---grilled shrimp over here, grill fish over there, fake crab sitting in between them, etc., but nope, everything was chopped and mixed together, like I'd expect at a Chinese restaurant. Regardless of what it looked like it, and despite the crab being imitation, it was very good. It was far more food than I could eat and I ended up leaving a good third of it behind. I bonus for me, which seems silly, but I was really happy to see Diet Dr. Pepper on the menu. One thing that was a little annoying. Every five minutes someone else came by to ask if everything was okay. I suppose that's better than being ignored while our glasses are empty, but once every fifteen minutes or so would be just fine. To be sure, I think two of us liked Grand Cantina more than the one of us did, but even that one didn't dislike, she just wasn't as impressed as the other two of us were. I certainly plan on going back. The location is perfect, the prices are VERY reasonable. I doubt they'll be having those big parties every night so the noise level should be just fine, even if we sit in the main dining room. And I still need to try the more traditional Mexican fare.