Marina Cantina
$ • Mexican Restaurant
Most Recent Reviews
Great place for fresh Mexican food. My husband and I shared the grouper ceviche (they were able to modify it so that it was GF) and it was delicious! I had the pork belly tacos, which were tasty and fresh. My husband had the chicken fajitas, which he said were very good. There were families with young kids there so it seemed great for all ages.
Celiac Beware: things are labeled GF on the menu that aren’t actually GF safe for us. For example, i wanted to get the seafood enchilada that was marked GF but luckily i asked and it’s fried in the same fryer as everything else. The corn chips also are. So beware of ANYTHING that contains the chips. I had the braised ribs which also had fried leeks - i said to exclude them assuming they’d also be fried with everything! I am now laying here with a stomach ache and unwell after everything so i still believe i unfortunately got cross contamination or had contact since their menu is unreliable.
We have been here a few days and this was one of our favorite and least expensive things we ate!! Truly a gem! I had the pork belly tacos with pineapple salsa and my hubby had the barbacoa quesidillas! I have celiac and Emily our server was so helpful!
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Items were clearly labeled and delicious! I had the red snapper and it was the absolute best. The atmosphere was great as well. Highly recommend!
We went here a few times and really enjoyed it! No dedicated fryer, but GF items clearly marked on the menu and our waitress was pretty knowledgeable about how the kitchen could modify certain dishes to make them safe. Good food and, most importantly, didn’t get sick afterwards.
Had a great meal! Many things marked gluten free and lots of options. The server was knowledgeable about cross contamination and told the kitchen as well. I had the seafood enchiladas and they were amazing. Some of the best Mexican I’ve had! Didn’t have anything that would’ve needed to be fried.
The fryer is shared, so the chips and any fried items are not GF, even though they are marked GF on the menu. Our server was knowledgeable and we were able to get a meal that was safe. But we were really disappointed that so many items were marked GF, but they were not.
While ordering, I informed the waiter that I have Celiac and was very specific to how sensitive I am. I was told I could have the plantains and they are even marked with a GF symbol. The waiter assured me everything would be safe to eat. After eating the first bite and wondering how they were made, the waiter let us know it was fried in the shared fryer so I was contaminated. Needless to say, be very careful if you have Celiac disease in dining here. Will probably not return.
My rating is solely based on I didn't care for the gluten free chicken tacos. Very bland little to no flavor. I have celiac and thankfully had 0 reaction. Beautiful view and atmosphere just didn't care for the taste of my meal at all. Maybe it was a bad night? Visiting the area otherwise I'd go back based on the atmosphere and try something else.
Loved the food & the view!! Many options marked on the menu, but chips are shared in the same fried (cross contamination) so avoid the chips con quest (which is marked as GF). We checked with our server before ordering and she was very knowledgeable about cross-con. and was mindful about who was celiac when we were ordering. Delicious food and unique from chains! Highly recommend but make sure you ask about what you are ordering!
Sat on the deck overlooking the marina and had a fantastic meal. Server was extremely helpful and knowledgeable about gluten and cross contamination. Excellent experience with food and great selection of margaritas. Would definitely return when we are in the area.
Servers are very aware of gluten free needs and cross contamination. The atmosphere and menu here are amazing. No separate GF menu but regular menu is clearly marked and servers are knowledgeable of substitutions. The server told us all of the margaritas were gluten free. The chips are not GF due to shared frier but they baked corn tortillas for me which was just as great if not better, almost like have a small mini taco every bite! Very happy with this restaurant.
Awesome view, but for Celiac the choices were numerous and the server Jordan went out of his way. to not only check the ingredients but googled the products. This is what a restaurant that cares about when addressing allergy issues. Way to print.
So the menu is marked for GF, but isn’t entirely accurate. For example, there’s a fish dish that is tortilla crusted, but when asking, the tortilla chips are made in the same fryer as everything else, and therefore they’re unsafe. I didn’t realize this until I had my dish (I wish my waiter caught this). Anyway, everything else was good. Street corn, plantains, fundito dip (ask for corn tortillas). Just be careful not to implicitly trust the menu without asking questions.
Menu was marked with GF options. Quite a few options, particularly in the taco section. Wouldn’t recommend the pork belly taco; very little flavor. Street corn was ok. My boyfriend ordered the grouper taco (not gf) and would rate it 4/5, so that gives me hope that the other tacos are better than the pork belly.
The nachos were delicious. No GF breakfast items. A lot of the tacos were GF.
Great wait staff all 3 times I went! Was informed not to trust the gluten free menu due to some of the items being deep fried in a shared fryer. However, they all went above and beyond to make sure cross contamination wasn’t an issue. The queso and guac come with chips deep fried so they baked them in the oven for me and gave me corn soft shells!
We had the queso with chorizo appetizer. It was delicious! The waitress said the chips were fried with all the other foods, but offered to bring me corn tortillas which I used to dip into the queso. I got the tacos al pastor. Fresh and excellent flavors. I tried a handful for the chips that my husband had. They were lime flavored and yummy. I didn’t feel sick at all.
Wow!! AMAZING! I wanted to eat everything on the menu. We had So many choices! The ever and kitchen staff were so knowledgeable. The hostess told me when I called ahead that they have 8 fryers and 2 are for tortilla chips and strictly gluten free. My family has 2 celiacs. We had the pineapple mojo chicken skewers, chips and award winning salsa plus queso fundido to start. The GF entrees we tried were the Stuffed Grouper, Seafood Enchiladas, Pork Belly Tacos and Cantina Bowl. Everything we ate had us oohing and ahhing. For dessert our waitress went to the sister restaurant below to get my son the flourless chocolate cake with icecream. He was thrilled to have dessert! The atmosphere (second story) rooftop above the marina was so fun. Could not recommend this place more!
Excellent choice of gluten free foods on the menu that do not even require adjustments in the kitchen. Our waiter Richard was also excellent.
I ordered the corn bread(labeled gluten free on menu) and server returned back shortly after and said it wasn’t gluten free and wasn’t sure why it was labeled as such. Chips are still labeled gluten free but still made in shared fryer.
Great drink menu and the staff was knowledgeable about GF needs. Plenty to choose from!!
Just posted chips were gluten free because a waitress told my daughter they were. God i wish people understood how serious this is for people with celiac
Awesome atmosphere, fresh food. Shared fryer so no chips but waitress knew that it was cc. Lots of great options
Had the best meal here with my husband for our anniversary. The waitress was very helpful and gave amazing recommendations, and the menu was clearly marked which TONS of gluten free options. The Ahi Tuna Toastada was incredible!
Probably the best meal we’ve had so far in Clearwater! So many gf option and labelled clearly on the main menu which is great when trying to decide where to go.
Amazing!! Truly great food, tons of Gf options listed right on the menu! Including jalapeño skillet cornbread!! I questioned that one and they said it’s made with corn starch. No tortilla chips - contaminated frier - which is too bad but there was so much to try I actually didn’t miss them for once! We ordered a few things and shared and everything was just delicious - sautéed plantains (amazing!), cornbread (amazing!), chili pineapple chicken skewers, pulled pork tacos (delish!), spicy beans, rice (just ok), mashed sweet potatoes (awesome!), grilled mahi mahi (over cooked but surprisingly still delicious). The server was very knowledgeable, accommodating, and assured us the kitchen would take extra care for an allergy. For a fancy Mexican restaurant in a tourist area it was actually quite reasonably priced as well. We had a great time! Highly recommend!!
Knowledgeable staff and spectacular food. Highly recommend. Chips are not gf due to shared fryer.
Their gluten free menu is really just a regular menu written on with the adjustments. They have nachos listed as gf but the chips are in a common frier. That being said, if you ask the standard questions you should have a rather pleasant experience. My family all loved their food!!!
