Urban Cantina
2.5 stars
200 East Madison St., Tampa, 813-221-8226 or urbancantina.com
Some new restaurants — and often it's the simplest and most straightforward types — call for an oddly philosophical exploration into the very nature of the dining scene that seems well beyond the scope of what's on the plate, what it costs and how it's served. My recent visit to Urban Cantina, a simple neo-Mex joint in downtown Tampa, kicked me into that sort of navel-gazing reverie.
Like most restaurants, Urban Cantina has problems. The hefty chairs are out of place in a decor that strives for sleek, dark and modern. The food is decidedly pedestrian, Tex- and Baja-Mex standards stripped down to the basics and presented with little fuss or excitement. The restaurant's ranchero chicken is dry enough to have come from a frozen dinner and the "shrimp cocktail" consists of tiny shellfish swimming in a cloyingly sweet tomato and citrus soup.
And, like most restaurants, Urban Cantina has high points. The appetizer tacos — topped with seasoned meat, shredded cheese and hunks of iceberg lettuce — are built on a surprisingly toasty and flavorful corn tortilla. That foundation works even better in entree tacos that forego the lettuce for cilantro and onions. Tender hunks of pork and rich beans are paired with a bright burst of chile in Urban Cantina's burrito, a seriously filling and satisfying plate of food for $10.
Meh.
