Maybe you went to Distrito once with your parents, or maybe you went for your roommate's birthday. And maybe you loved it, but you don't think about it much now because, hey, $40 dinners add up. We understand. But what if we told you there was a place just like it where a $10 bill would get you a plate of mouth-watering gourmet tacos, a glass of cold Tecate with lime (a brand of Mexican beer for all you cocktail wimps — but don’t worry, they have those too), and paper change? The Cantina at Distrito, which now occupies the entire first floor of Distrito, is such a place.
Though the Cantina menu doesn’t feature quite as much breadth as the regular Distrito menu, there are a few crossovers and many flavorful surprises. For starters, both the Salsa Mexicana ($5) and the guacamole ($5 small, $10 large) were standouts by virtue of their freshness; in the salsa, each individual flavor asserted itself without distracting from the overall taste.
The colorful and generously-sized Nachos Ignacio were also memorable, in part due to the prized house chile de arbol sauce and the staying power of the chips’ crispness. In the entrée division, the tacos dominated. They come in threes and are heaped with the meat of your choice (portabella is also an option) and topped with pickled onion salad, radish and salsa verde. This deceivingly simple dish was by far my favorite in its pulled-pork incarnation ($6), though the tongue ($7) was also excellent.
One of our party ordered the chicken quesadilla, which was seasoned curiously with what we determined was nutmeg. While she pronounced it good, we all found the unexpected bite from the spice slightly distracting. Our only other complaint was that the deliciously creamy jumbo lump crab enchilada ($8) was disproportionately small and only had crab in the middle.
Nitpicking aside, we were equally delighted with the Cantina’s selection of cocktails. Even vodka haters may suspend their dislike when offered the Jugando Tea ($6), whose touch of passion fruit masks all traces of alcohol. For a cheerful pick-me-up, try the Se a Cabo, a tropical concoction of coconut rum, melon liquor, and pineapple. Then there are the aforementioned beers, which, at $2 (Tecate) and $3 (Modelo Especial), are alone enough of a reason to walk the extra block.
You can even catch the game while you’re tossing them back, since the Cantina now features several flat screen TV’s. Or, if dancing's your thing, bust your moves on DJ nights every Wednesday from 9 p.m. to midnight. Whatever your preference, balling on a budget just got easier.
