Cantina Calafia

The service was questionable. I asked specifically if an app could be made gf and was told everything on the menu was gf, however things are very clearly marked for dietary restrictions, so that didn't make sense to me. I was frustrated when the app I ordered after being told this came with mexican saltines - definitely not gf and could have made me very sick if I were new to celiac's and overly trusting of restaurant servers. The food was good, but each dish was just a bit off; unpleasantly spicy, a bit too sour, a bit too salty. The cocktails were delicious and the atmosphere is intimate and upscale but not pretentious.

We had a great meal experience at Calafia. We enjoy eating at the bar and had Ryan for our server. He was INCREDIBLE. The dining format is tapas and he was super helpful describing each item on the menu. We started out with the Mango #5 and the Ron y Tammy drinks. Really great and different from anywhere in town. Highly recommended!! During the drinks, we went for the “ chips n dip”. While another reviewer was down on the dish due to how the salsa was presented, we loved the Verde sauce but had reservations on the Rojas and Macha sauce. For this dish, we hoped the tortillas were a little thinner. We then moved on to the mushroom and beans and cheese plate huarache de honto. This is a serious keeper. While gluten free and vegetarian, ANYONE who can appreciate great mushrooms will love this plate. For our “main course” we chose the Aguachile dishes—both the scallops and the mackerel. If you can only do one, I’d suggest going with the mackerel. But the scallops were tasty as well with a mix of cilantro and cucumbers but watch for the halepeno peppers as they have a kick! ( you can easily move them to the side to avoid eating). Although y wife and I enjoyed these dishes, I’ll admit it just didn’t fit it “flavor profile “ and for scallops, well, I just prefer garlic and butter and pan seared. In both the Agiachile dishes, the fish is raw like sushi but in the flavorful sauce. We ordered another Mango #5 to share (it was so good!) Even after lots of discussions with the owner Justin and our server Ryan, we were almost full but couldn’t resist ordering the Flan for dessert. This is NOT TO BE MISSED. It was simply the BEST flan my wife and I had ever tasted. I dare you to say otherwise! All in all, we really enjoyed chatting with the staff and know it’s going to be a highly successful neighborhood restaurant so you want to arrive earlier than six if you don’t want to have a bit of a wait. We’re hoping Justin and Dominique listen to their patrons and adjust accordingly as they have all the necessary foundations for a knock out but I think they need to expand the flavors in their sauces and I know we’ll be back in the summer.