Belair Cantina

Ok this is my new favorite taco place in Madison! Located on the square with a perfect view of the Capitol. Love the friendly vibe of this place. We went in on a Sunday night and were promptly seated. Chips and salsa arrived quickly and each of the three kinds of salsa were soooo good!!! I couldn’t stop eating finally I had to move the bowls away from me. Love the options on the menu, I like that they have so many vegetarian options. They also have a nice selection of margaritas and they also make virgin margaritas. I had the mango margarita (virgin) and it was so refreshing. In the apps we ordered the quesadilla (spicy pollo) and los tres amigos. All three dips, queso fundido, black bean and guac were amazing. Even the quesadilla was so tasty. We then ordered the shrimp bowl, spicy pollo bowl, tostada salad , mix & match tacos. The tacos were splendid. The Korean inspired beef taco , zihuatanejo shrimp taco, and tempura shishito tacos are a must try. I love that that the mix and match tacos come with rice and beans. Everything we ordered tasted incredible. Great food, service, and location . Check it out!!

We came with low expectations because all other Capitol restaurants had a long wait time except this one. We were able to be seated outside within 5 minutes. Interior decor and cleanliness could use some work. Our server was amazing! Margarita was good but a little too sweet. Food was better than we expected. Definitely pay the $2 for the chips and salsa. It’s worth it! The soy chorizo vegan tacos were pretty good but missing the crunch of the fried potatoes. Also - staff should be trained that if someone orders the one vegan taco option that they DON’T want the pinto beans that contain animal fat. Always offer them black beans instead. Churros were ok, not worth the price and for some reason took 20 minutes to make? Server said a cook left and the ticket got missed and they were removed from our bill fortunately. I would come back on another spontaneous night out without a reservation.

Everything was delicious but the chips and queso was the most incredible I’ve ever had! I also got the Korean Inspired Beef Bowl which was pretty good. The meat melted in your mouth and had great flavor but the rest of the bowl was pretty ordinary. I’m definitely going back but I’m excited to try other things on the menu.

I’ve worked in food service for 15 years and I’ve never seen service like this, as a server or as a customer. And looking through the other reviews, it makes me think this is a frequent experience. We got there and were told there’s a 20 minute wait, but there were only about 10 tables already sat, and 3 or 4 servers. So, while we waited, we sat at the bar but it took over 10 minutes to be acknowledged by the bartender despite the bar also being basically empty. We finally got our table and after a few minutes our server takes our order. That’s the last she even glanced towards our table for 40 minutes (we couldn’t even get her attention when she went to another table 4 times, while ignoring her two tables in the corner). After those 40 minutes, she comes over and finally tells me they don’t have the tacos I wanted, but doesn’t even apologize, just that she had meant to tell me a long time before that. That’s also the moment that we’re finally able to ask about the chips and salsa we ordered that never came. The food came out exactly an hour after we ordered. Let me emphasize that the restaurant is still pretty empty at this point and our table only ordered 6 tacos total. In total, we spent more than an hour and a half for a meal that should’ve been maybe 40 minutes. Finally, the food has changed quite a bit. I used to order delivery from here in the early months of the pandemic, but the food was nothing like how I remember. The tortilla was rubbery, there was barely any chicken and way too much red cabbage. My first and last time dining in here. Ways to improve: -have servers introduce themselves by name -check on tables more frequently, even if it’s the quick “you doing okay over here?” without even stopping -if something is going to take significantly longer than expected, communicate that to the customer

Absolutely terrible. 10 employees having drinks made for them by the bartender. We are the only customers at the bar-have a bottle in the cage and getting absolutely NO service. Three people standing at the host station with no service as the employees giggle. Sydney (sp) has been great-deserves a raise.

The place is too loud for casual table talk and the waiting staff are slow and distracted. We waited at least 10 minutes to be asked about drinks and appetizers, which came piece by piece leaving most of the table waiting. It took about an hour after that for our main courses to arrive. The dishes were incredibly mediocre and we were bored and finished with the atmosphere long before anyone had cleared their plate. I would recommend taking your friends and family elsewhere. At least until the staff here have a serious meeting about efficiency and service.