Cantina Laredo Modern Mexican

Cantina Laredo Modern Mexican brings an upscale spin on Mexican cuisine to Grand Boulevard, the mixed-use dining and shopping district that anchors much of Miramar Beach’s restaurant scene. The restaurant built its name on modern preparations of classic dishes, tableside guacamole, and a bar program built around fresh squeezed margaritas, giving Emerald Coast visitors a step up from beachside taco stands without losing the casual energy that makes Mexican food fun to eat with a group.

The Sandestin area location sits in Grand Boulevard’s Building 585, Suite N-106, at 585 Grand Boulevard, Miramar Beach, FL 32550. Call 850-654-5649 for reservations or to check wait times before heading over, especially on weekend nights. Cantina Laredo is open Sunday through Wednesday from 11 AM to 9 PM and Thursday through Saturday from 11 AM to 10 PM, a schedule that covers both lunch and late dinner throughout the week.

Cantina Laredo’s kitchen leans into the modern Mexican label with dishes inspired by Mexico City rather than Tex-Mex standards. The tableside guacamole remains the signature opener, prepared fresh at the table and mashed to order to the guest’s preferred level of heat. Beyond the guacamole cart, the menu includes carnitas, barbacoa tacos, and pollo asado, along with grilled fish, chicken, and steak finished with distinctive sauces such as chipotle-wine and portobello mushroom, or sauteed artichoke heart with roasted red bell pepper. The bar’s award winning Casa Rita margarita, made with fresh lime juice and premium tequila, anchors a drink list built to match the kitchen’s brighter, more contemporary flavors.

The restaurant traces its history to 1984, when founder Gilbert Cuellar Jr. opened the first Cantina Laredo in Dallas, Texas, with a vision of elevating Mexican food beyond the combo plate format that dominated the category at the time. More than four decades later, the brand operates roughly a dozen restaurants across Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, and Virginia, split between company owned locations and franchise partners, all under the direction of parent company Consolidated Restaurant Operations. The Sandestin location gives Emerald Coast visitors access to that same concept without needing to travel to Dallas or one of Cantina Laredo’s airport outposts in Atlanta or Dallas Fort Worth.

Inside, the restaurant offers both a lively bar dining area and a quieter main dining room, giving guests the choice between watching a margarita get shaken at the bar or settling into a table for a full dinner. Private dining space is available for groups celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or family reunion during a Sandestin vacation, and the restaurant also handles catering orders for guests staying in nearby vacation rentals who want restaurant quality Mexican food delivered to a condo or beach house.

For visitors splitting a day between the beach and Grand Boulevard’s shops, Cantina Laredo works well as a mid afternoon lunch stop or an early dinner before a movie at the district’s cinema. The restaurant’s Grand Boulevard address puts it within walking distance of Anthropologie, Grimaldi’s, and Fleming’s, so a single parking spot can cover several stops on an Emerald Coast shopping and dining itinerary.