After spending a few previous outings with our friends Vicki and Justin, Eileen and I decided to invite them out to a non-stressful/athletic night. – (past events of ours have included sandbagging in Fargo, moving, and Wii boxing)

Last time we were at MOA, I had noticed signs all over for a place called Cantina #1, and figured it was a typical Corona bar tucked up in one of the locations empty since 2007 when Bloomington enacted the smoking ban at the same time the contracts renewals for the MOA entertainment had the prices jacked up, and subsequently non-renewed their leases.

We arrived about 6:30 and walked right in to be seated at a hi-top in the bar to wait for Vicki and Justin. The bar area is decorated a bit like a tiki bar with fake-palms all over, music playing and bamboo themed seating. There is an entire dining area on the other end of the location, separated off by the main entrance/shop with a variety of Corona merchandise. Overall, a pretty inviting place. There appeared to be a DJ booth in the bar as well, which I could only assume meant music and/or karaoke at some point during the weekend.

I decided to splurge and order the Cadillac Margarita to start with, because we were planning on going over to Moose Mountain for mini-golf after supper (ok, so I guess that’s kinda athletic, but not compared to sandbagging right?) Eileen got the Cherry Limeade, which was good, but strong, but not too strong, as she quickly found the bottom of the glass. My drink, I sipped a bit slower, as I knew there was tequila in it, but it was pretty smooth as it didn’t turn my nose up when I got it.

Vicki and Justin arrived and they ordered drinks, and we decided on our meals. Vicki ended up ordering something in a bowl, what I think was an enchilada bowl, but it was hard to see over what I’ll describe shortly as the large f**king burrito I’ve ever seen. Yes, we ordered what was called the ‘Maximus Burrito’ with steak, rice, beans, etc, all the trimmings in it (but I opted for no beans, ick!) In the menu, they looked like a good sized meal, and for the price of $15.00, they sure better be a good burrito.

Our waiter (who I forget the name of, but a great server) snapped up our orders and headed off to the kitchen, and returned about 15 minutes later, with as I said above, three of the most ginormous burritos I have ever seen in my life. The three of us, must have had a least a YARD of burrito between us, if not more. These were monsters. You cannot compare these to any other burrito I’ve seen or eaten, not from Ol’ Mexico, Don Pablos, Chipotle, nothing.. The thing was as long as my forearm and as big around as my bicep in the middle.

We dig into these things, and wow, were they good. Filled with steak, wow, just an amazing burrito to try and plow my way thru. Now, Vicki, who ordered something different, which I wasn’t able to see over my burrito, said it was good, but a bit spicy, not a bad dish though. Sadly, I was able to finish my burrito, which means I eat too damn much, but wholly crap it was GOOD. This thing would have fed a family of 4, I cannot explain how large this thing was, you could wrap it up and say it’s your newborn, yes it’s THAT BIG.

I happen to spot an another friend getting supper there as well, but didn’t feel like disrupting their evening to get a food review, so I used the next best option, Facebook!

I ordered the Swiss Enchiladas. It came with verde sauce or green sauce that just didn’t have a good flavor and all in all somewhat bland in taste. My stepmom got the shrimp tacos and she was unhappy with hers as well. Basically a fried shrimp thrown in a tortilla shell and call it a taco. Not sure what she was expecting though…. These two things were also listed as their “Signature” items I believe she said. Sangria was tasty and 4 people had the burrito (split it of course) and they loved it. ~ Courtesy of A.H.

So, I guess you can see the mixed reviews on how they liked the food. Our table was 75% happy, and the other table had mixed reviews on different parts of the meals. It seemed that the drink menu came back with 100% favorable results, while the dinner menu was on both sides of the fence.

After we stuffed ourselves on food, we stammered over to Moose Mountain for some mini-golf, which was actually pretty fun. I thought it would be a random thing to do, and even more fun after a few drinks, and it was just that! The course had some really plain holes, and some that were a little more challenging. A few had random sound effects, like horses and other animals that after awhile became comical, or the 17th hold that was an outhouse – Key is to hit the middle hole to make it ‘flush’

I think, the 4 of us spent around $80 total for the evening including big meals, two drinks each, and 4 rounds of mini-golf. Granted, it’s a chunk of change on paper, but we had a good few hours out together, and it was a great time.

Cantina #1
406 E Broadway
Bloomington, MN 55425
(952) 854-6500‎