An Alabama original is back in business serving its popular food and drinks
Aimee and Jorge Castro are excited to bring Cantina Tortilla Grill back for longtime fans and new customers. (Michael Tomberlin / Alabama News Center)
Cantina is back.
Three simple words are bringing a whole lot of happiness to the Birmingham-area food community.
Cantina Tortilla Grill has been a hometown favorite for fresh, inventive Mexican food since it first opened in 2003 at Pepper Place in the Lakeview District. After a four-year hiatus, it’s back but in a different area – the highly walkable, family-friendly, currently trendy west Homewood entertainment district.
It’s very different, says Aimee Castro, who is a partner in Cantina with her husband, Jorge. But, she adds, it’s also perfect. “It’s a really great neighborhood. Really great people live here who walk, ride their bikes. There’s a park. We’re super excited. We’re really happy to find this spot.”
Jorge says, “We never quit with the idea of reopening Cantina. West Homewood is a really nice location. The area is beautiful, the people are awesome around here.”
But it’s interesting, Aimee says, how people remember things. “We had several locations at one point, with Pepper Place being the original one … the ‘OG Cantina.’ So, everyone compares! You remember things a little bit differently and fondly, of course, but, yeah, we have a really big job ahead of us to make sure that it is exactly how everyone remembers it.”
Of course, there’s no forgetting the Cantina key lime margarita and the prickly pear option, which the couple kept on the menu at their sister restaurant, Sol y Luna Tapas & Tequilas in Mountain Brook Village. The beloved fish tacos remain beloved. These and other uniquely crafted, made-fresh-daily menu items follow the recipes created by the restaurant’s founder, Guillermo Castro, whose love of travel and passion for his family’s culture changed the way Birmingham viewed – and consumed – Mexican food.
“We were one of the originals as far as ‘order at the counter,’” Aimee says. “It’s fast casual. You don’t have to come in and wait on a server. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s good for families and people on the go. But you can also come in and enjoy – just sit on our patio and enjoy a margarita.” The concept remains the same because it works. “It’s laid back; it’s fun and relaxing,” Jorge adds.
But hospitality is still key.
“It shouldn’t matter whether we’re ‘white tablecloth,’ whether we’re ‘order at the register’ or not,” Aimee says. “Everyone should feel comfortable. In this space, I want everyone to feel beautiful, comfortable and at home. The service should be impeccable. Always. Always.”
The familiar menu at Cantina will quickly remind people why they loved the place and why they’ve missed it. Jorge says they didn’t change much at all.
The garlic fries and truck fries (garlic fries with shredded chicken or tenderloin, cheese dip and pico de gallo) are still there. So are the old-school enchiladas; the fish burger with garlic fries; and the tasty Cuban sandwich with serrano ham, roasted pork, Manchego cheese, mustard, pickles and sour cream. The guacamole is still fresh and homemade and topped with bright, zesty pico de gallo; the creamy queso fundido still features bits of spicy chorizo.
There are “big plates” like corn tortilla-crusted tilapia with saffron rice and a chipotle butter cream sauce and zesty churrasco steak with saffron rice, refried beans, queso fresco and pico de gallo. And you’ll still find a variety of tacos (eight different ones), including Cuban, carnitas, shrimp and the bestselling fish taco.
Jorge says the fish taco was the reason Cantina was created in the first place.
“Guillermo had Sol y Luna, and he used to go to the farmers market in Pepper Place to do the cooking demo,” Jorge says. And one day he cooked fish tacos. “The week after, people came to Sol y Luna asking for the fish taco. Guillermo said, ‘Oh, we don’t have a fish taco.’ People kept coming and asking, so finally, he said, ‘We need to start a place where we can have tacos and the main thing is going to be the fish taco.’” This crisp, egg-washed tilapia filet with crunchy slaw, avocado, cilantro mayo and chile de arbol salsa has always been the most popular item on Cantina’s menu.
There’s also a brunch menu that includes chilaquiles con huevos, shrimp cocktail tostada, and egg and chorizo empanadas. There are dishes especially for kids on both the regular and the brunch menus.
Instagram alerts diners to specials like game-day mix-and-match buckets of beer and reminds fans of popular items like cilantro-marinated grilled chicken sprinkled with fresh cilantro and roasted corn; grilled shrimp tacos with cilantro mayo, poblano pepper, corn, cherry tomatoes, red onions, avocado and mango salsa; chocolate caliente French toast with bacon for brunch; and regularly scheduled Taco Tuesdays. Go ahead and follow @cantina_tortilla_grill.
Desserts include smooth vanilla flan made with Kahlua, crispy churros topped with chocolate sauce and a tangy and rich lemon-infused tres leches cake.
The drinks menu features the locally famous key lime Cantina margarita; the pretty, pink-hued prickly pear version; a guava margarita and a mango one (look for seasonal margaritas soon, as well as a spicy kind). You’ll find a variety of imported and local craft beers on ice and on tap and prosecco on tap, too. There are mimosa and margarita carafes during Sunday brunch.
Cantina’s ingredients set it apart from other fast-casual places, Aimee says. “It’s what we put into our food and our drink. All of our margaritas are going to be 100% blue agave. We don’t serve anything less than that. All of our ingredients are fresh. I think that’s what really sets us apart. … It’s Mexican with a twist.”
The space at the new Cantina is fresh and unique in a way that complements the homemade dishes, many based on family recipes.
The light-filled restaurant is painted in the beautiful, soft hues of a Mexican landscape – desert, mountain, sea and sky. Abstract murals by Amanda Blake brighten the entrance and the bar. The Castros relied upon Ben Strout – the architect and designer of the Sol y Luna location – and local interior designer and lighting specialist Tonia Trotter Price to transform what had been the Little London Kitchen site. “It’s very different from the original Cantinas, which were bright, primary colors,” Aimee says. “This is Cantina 2.0.”
They’ve made great use of the expansive, breezy, covered patio. And they tucked a quiet Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) memorial into an alcove in the back of the dining room. “It’s a spot where we can create an altar – an ofrenda area – for people to remember loved ones throughout the year,” Aimee says. This space, like the one at Sol y Luna, is open to the community.
Visitors will notice a portrait of Guillermo near the bar. (In 2011, Guillermo died of a heart attack and the Birmingham food community still mourns this loss.) As at Sol y Luna, the portrait placement is intentional. That’s where he would be if he were still here, Aimee says, looking at who’s visiting, making sure they are welcomed, taking care of them.
Happy to have Cantina back, Jorge says reopening the restaurant allows them to continue the tradition of sharing his family’s culture at the table. “We are keeping the family tradition of trying to welcome our friends, our customers,” he says, with the idea of helping them have fun in the moment.
“We are trying to perfect our food the most that we can. … But really the best thing we have at this Cantina is that Aimee is going to be here one hundred percent of the time. That’s going to be the best thing.”
And the idea is to keep getting better.
“My job is my work, but more than everything I really enjoy it,” Jorge says. “My satisfaction is to see the people happy. … When I come in and check tables and I see the plate is completely clean, that means something. And also when the people come in and say, ‘Man, we had a really good dinner. Thank you. Thank you for reopening.’ That’s the main thing. Those are the comments that make me get up every day and try to make it better for those people and for the people who don’t know about Cantina. We can offer a different experience from other places.”
“I’m proud that we’re continuing Guillermo’s legacy,” Aimee says. “He started Sol y Luna in 1998 and then Cantina in 2003, and they were just different.” Those two restaurants, along with a third concept called Los Angeles, introduced Birmingham to a novel kind of Mexican cuisine; they were unique and ahead of their time, Aimee adds. “I think I’m most proud of being one of the original restaurants in Birmingham.”
162 Oxmoor Road, Homewood, AL 35209
205-834-8557
https://www.cantinabirmingham.com/
Instagram: @cantina_tortilla_grill
Hours
Monday – CLOSED
Tuesday to Friday – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m.
Saturday – 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Sunday brunch – 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Susan Swagler has written about food and restaurants for more than three decades, much of that time as a trusted restaurant critic. She shares food, books, travel and more at www.savor.blog. Susan is a founding member and past president of the Birmingham chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, a philanthropic organization of women leaders in food, wine and hospitality whose members are among Birmingham’s top women in food.
