Alley Cantina

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Reviews

1. Mary ★☆☆☆☆

   Honestly hate to have to say this because we had high hopes and our server was super nice and understanding but this was the worst food we have ever had in our lives. And definitely not Mexican food. Unbelievable what they even served! It was heart breaking to see food go to waste. The rice tasted stale (maybe like 4 days old left out and then reheated in a microwave) and unflavoured. The menu is misleading as it said the chimichangas had refried beans (it didn’t - only a few black beans) and couldn’t see any cheese. Barely any meat either. Basically just awful rice. The churros (that we were gifted for the awful experience) were also awful - chewy and tough (stuck to our teeth and bland). Didn’t finish my bite. The black beans were super weirdly sweet (like drenched/soaked in sugar) but other than that no flavour. The worst part was the “enchiladas” which were just chewy tortillas with half a teaspoon of shredded chicken inside. Where’s the cheese? The sauce? Any flavour?! The chips we ordered as an appetizer were coated in SUGAR! I thought/think they must have mistaken salt for sugar because I’ve never had spicy yet sugary fried tortillas before! They definitely weren’t authentic (corn) chips! Also both of these were their large portions. And definitely not like the other meals they used to serve from looking back on previous reviews after the fact. Something has gone terribly wrong here. If you cant tell, DO NOT go here. And if you still decide to, please know this is not Mexican food and is a true disgrace to Mexican food.

   almost 2 years ago
2. Heather Girvan ★★★★★

   They are FANTASTIC. The service is 11/10 and the food is wonderful with great lively atmosphere. Chef took unnecessary and infinitely kind care to make our starters without butter as he noticed we had a vegan at our table. So kind and so warm. 100% recommend! Plus they have amazing margaritas :)) Also so so affordable it’s ridiculous. Vast vegan menu :)

   almost 2 years ago
3. Rikki Gibb ★☆☆☆☆

   Do you like inauthentic cuisine? Do you like chewing on cardboard? Do you like being the victim of a bait N’ switch? Well this is the place for you. Recently I made the choice to take my family here after talking it up thinking of fond past memories, but to my surprise after ordering from what appeared to be an identical menu to the one I’ve ordered from countless times before the food that arrived to our table was not only inflated in price but also vastly inferior. For starters we ordered the corn chips with Guacamole which have always been made in house but when they arrived they were obviously poured out of a bag which actually made me speechless. I considered that perhaps this was my fault and maybe i’d misread the menu but after looking at an online menu I was able to see the exact same items but with minor phrasing changes and original pricing. Next came out mains and my heart sank. Historically this has been my favourite restaurant in Dunedin but now it’s just a cheap, inauthentic impersonation. When it came time to pay I was asked if everything was okay to which I respectfully informed them that “no, everything was not okay” and after explaining I was given “well we have a new chef” and nothing more. Were there no recipes left by the previous chef? Maybe you should rebrand if you cannot meet the standards of the previous one? I walked away not only disappointed but as if myself and my family had fallen victim to a bait N’ switch scam. I will never return and recommend you do the same.

   almost 2 years ago

1. Ally Leong ★☆☆☆☆

   Highly disappointed. We always go there for my birthday and my partner's. We went there again for my birthday tonight. Firstly many items on the menu are not available, food was not good (rice wasn't cooked, small portion, no flavour, and swapped capsicum to celery in fajitas?!). They did offer another plate of fajitas after I told them the rice wasn't cooked, however my partner already finished his meal, and the rice of the next plate was just sloppy and wet. The only posotive thing about the whole dinner was the nice and friendly waitress. Sad :(

   almost 2 years ago
2. Hayley Griffiths ★☆☆☆☆

   Hugely Disappointing! Went to alley Catina over the weekend and after waiting for over an hour for our food we were told that multiple items weren’t available! Surely they knew they were getting low on these items after taking our order and the fact we had to wait an hour and a half to be made aware of this was ridiculous. Left hungry & felt sick after the drinks we ordered while waiting for the food we never got. The cocktails we ordered tasted nothing like the real thing. We weren’t even given a discount on these drinks after being disappointed about no food.

   almost 2 years ago
3. Zorko Sostaric ★★★☆☆

   First, my rating would be 3.5 but I can't do that. I really liked the ambient, decoration and feel of the place. Having an early dinner there was no crowd but I imagine it may be popular place. The foood was ok and that is my biggest disappointment. Salad was overdressed and not spicy or hot and that's what I was expecting. Staff was friendly and served me promptly.

   almost 5 years ago

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