Was visiting OC a few days ago and came in here for dinner with a friend. Â We stood at the door for five minutes while waitresses passed us by and ignored us. Â A couple came in after us (obvious friends with staff) and were seating immediately. Â We finally went over to the bar and explained to the bartender that we weren't being seated and took up there.
We both ordered drinks (El Toro and Frozen Strawberry Margarita) to start while we checked out the menu.  The frozen margarita came out of a drink machine and was so sweet and barely cold - definitely not frozen.  The El Toro was also way too sweet and just a strange combination (peach schnapps and red bull?).  Partly my fault for choosing it but I think it could have been made better - it tasted like 100%schnapps.  Moving forward, we ordered some queso and chips.  The dip was pale and bland with lil flecks of we're not sure in it...but it didn't matter because it had no flavor.  For an entrée I chose a combo dish of chicken chimi/bean enchilada/beef taco.  The chimi had barely any chicken and was mostly black beans and tons more queso.  I thought it was strange they asked me what kind of beans I wanted in it.  I've only had a lil refried beans before in a chimi and I thought it was more for sealing together the edges.  They crammed this more like a burrito and warmed it in the oven - not fried.  Both our places were scalding hot (which they did warn) because they brought them straight from the oven.  The enchilada and taco were okay but the beef a bit greasy.  All and all - the food was mediocre at best. Â
One bartender was nice and attentive but he was really the only one that acknowledged us. Â We weren't alone in this poor treatment tho. Â A couple that came in while we were eating was simply directed by a waitress (sitting down at a booth on her cell phone) who pointed at them to just take a seat where ever. Â The rest of the staff walked around avoiding eye contact and looking busy. Â No friendly vibes here...
Personally, I figured if the service wasn't that great that the food would make up for it based on the reviews here. Â Unfortunately, the food and service were a total let down. Â Not that I'll find myself back in this area any time soon but I can cross this "authentic dive" off my list and never head back. Â Sorry guys - just wasn't feeling any part of it.
Ocean City can be very challending if you are a vegetarian. Luckily Mother's Cantina has plenty of veggie friendly options and the food is quite good.
Highly recommend cheese quesadillas and portabello fajitas. The portabello mushroom seasoning is not for the faint-hearted though so beware. Â
The decor is fairly low-key and it can get crowded at times, but the staff seemed friendly and efficient. Very late evenings there seems to be a bouncer at the door so if you're looking to dine with a child or a teen it's best to get take out.
All and all it's a good choice.
My friends and I had found out through Yelp that Mother's had $2 tacos for happy hour and we were sold on saving a few bucks and having an early dinner while on vacation. I ordered 3 tacos (chicken, fish and chorizo) and a margarita all for about $10. The tacos were a little greasy but I wasn't expecting fine dining for $2 a pop. They have different flavored margaritas but only the traditional is featured at the happy hour price of $3.50.
I also got a side of chips a guacamole and salsa. The salsa was good but the guacamole was just okay. The guacamole was just avocado and tomatoes with cheddar cheese on top. First of all, you don't put cheese on guacamole. Second, there was no cilantro, lime, onion or pepper which are the traditional ingredients that are used in guacamole.
During happy hour the place was crowded.. I was thankful our friends had gotten there earlier and saved us a table. Get there early for the happy hour, there are only a handful of tables available. I believe happy hour is from 4-7. Â Next time I am in OCMD I would not go out of my way to eat here, but I also would not be completely opposed to it.
Came here for happy hour and we loved it.. We came right at the beginning of happy hour and we luckily got a table... They have a variety of tacos for around $2 each- I love the portabella, fish, and chicken tacos. The chorizo is grounded- wasn't a fan... 1.50 drafts and 3.50 margaritas... Service was quick and friendly..
My water did taste a bit weird though... It happened to 2 of my waters.. almost tasted like there were chemicals in it...
Try this happy hour out!
This was our favorite restaurant in OC! Great, quality food at good prices! Happy hour is everyday from 4-7 featuring $3.50 margaritas and $1 tacos. Great place to both sit at the bar with friends and to grab a table with the family and sit down to order some entrees. Wish I lived near Mothers Cantina it was sooo good!
Review Source:A wonderful choice if you need a break from all the seafood. We love Mexican and I would definitely recommend mother's to anyone else who does. The dining area is small and they don't take reservations, but definitely call ahead to get on the list before you get there. Also, the portions are a very good size so if you're in a group it might be fun to order several items and share... Of course, I had the mother's burrito with chicken, and good luck to anyone trying to pry it out of my hands.
Review Source:Wonderful Mexican food! Great drinks and atmosphere!
We ordered Fajitas that were plentiful and the Two Taco combo which was also very tasty. Â Their chips and wings were on point and they had the best tasting Traditional Margarita I've had. Â At other places it's very heavy on the sour mix and Mothers is very well balanced.
Go here with a large appetite.
If you are in OCMD, you need to go to this place. Especially during the happy hour, I believe it Mon-Fri, 4-7. Tacos are $1.64 during happy hour. $3 margaritas and $2 Dos Equis. Food in OCMD is generally pricey, but not here during the happy hour. Fish and chorizo tacos are my personal favorites !!!
Review Source:I wanted to like this place so badly. It was a fun atmosphere. The guy who I presume was the chef was totally nice and helpful and friendly. I ordered the portabello fajitas (I'm vegan, fyi) and when they came out looking like strips of steak, I was optimistically curious. But in my opinion, they were over seasoned and it didn't even taste like a Mexican seasoning - mostly peppercorn, I think. The salsa was good. My husband's veggie burger was OK. I think I would try it again, maybe just request less seasoning on the fajitas. I'm not over you yet, Mother's Cantina, but I will cautiously try again some year. Hopefully it will be better.
Review Source:Came down to OC for a bachelor party. After driving down the strip and seeing nothing but crab shack after crab shack I found Mother's Cantina. It's not easy being  vegan and on vacation. Mother's Cantina had great options and even Daiya cheese. Burritos were great and the prices were too.
Review Source:Ryan, the chef and owner, is not a vegetarian, but he's a dude committed to an idea that everyone should enjoy his food.
On two, separate occasions he's prepared vegan meals for me that were just, plain dynamite.
I would definitely go again.
And the margaritas... They'll put hair on your chest.
Great tacos & Enchiladas! Â I went to Mother's during memorial weekend, so it was super crowded. Â They have excellent deals on the tacos during their happy hour. Â Regular menu prices are around $15. Â I ordered the combination that came with a chicken enchilada, cheese chile relleno, and a beef taco. Â The food was good. Â My only problem was that they didn't have steak tacos, and the guacamole seemed kinda greasy...like it had mayonnaise in it. Â Other than that, I will return when I get back to OC.
3.5 Stars!
Ocean City is a tough place for a vegan to find delicious, fresh food to eat. We usually find a hotel with a kitchen, but we found this charming restaurant for dinner on Yelp and wanted to go back for lunch the next day! There were a couple of vegetarian options, but I loved the grilled portabella fajita. Our waitress was a 10-year vegetarian and when I asked for no-cheese, she offered us vegan cheese. I still declined, but  liked when she clarified that it was Daiya. My cousin had a chicken burrito which she loved and my mom raved about the chips and salsa. The atmosphere was intimate, the service excellent, and everybody in the restaurant seemed to be having a wonderful time as a variety of music from Prince to Johnny Cash played throughout the restaurant.
Review Source:Update: I came back after the owners notified me they had switch to fresh fish instead of frozen some time back. Â Today's visit had Mahi and seared spicy tuna tacos on the specials menu. Â I decided to do the tuna tacos. Â They were very good. Â A bit pricey at 17$ but there was plenty of tuna in the tacos. Â
Have to say like others have said it's a nice change to see on the menu items you don't see in every other tex-mex. Â I really wanted to try the queso dip too but just too much $$ to do that and the tacos. Â Maybe next time.
Upgraded from 3 stars to 4.
This place was a totally random find. In Ocean city in February (an interesting experience) and hungry for refried beans at 9:30 pm on a Saturday, we found this place using the yelp app. It had decent reviews and was actually open (unlike 4/5's of OC) so we thought we'd check it out.
Upon having our ID's checked at the door, we were a little worried as to what we had gotten ourselves into. Â There was a live UFC ppv event on (the owner is a big MMA fan) and the bar was pretty full and rowdy. There was a little confusion with the door guy as to how to get a seat and menus, but once that was cleared up by the host, we got a table in a mostly empty and nice and quiet dining room (with tv's also showing the UFC event).
To be honest, we were not expecting much from this place. The menu was surprisingly large and with lots of interesting and welcomed departures from your standard tex-mex type place. After much deliberation, we started with a maragarita (on the rocks, pretty standard) a rum runner (who orders frozen drinks in february?? this one was pretty good) and a large guacamole.
Those things came out and were pretty good, and by then we had made up our minds. Our server was really friendly and attentive and didn't lose his enthusiasm even after the 3rd time we told him, "Still haven't made up our minds yet!"
One thing we both really liked about the menu here was the wide assortment of vegetarian options. They had all the meats you could wan here, but were also thoughtful to offer many different vegetarian options. Lots of options for "fillings" for your burrito, taco, etc like black beans, refried beans, sauteed vegetables, all sorts of stuff. Even the tasty spanish rice was vegetarian which is a rarity.
Another thing of note, there was an awesome selection of hot sauces at the table including 2 squeeze bottles of home made stuff. Have you ever seen sriracha or franks red hot at a tex-mex place? I tried almost all of them...
We had a very nice dinner albeit a little more expensive than we usually pay for tex-mex. Â Even though we weren't really MMA fans, we found ourselves drawn in to the excitement of watching the live event with the energy of the bar in the other room seeping into the dining room.
Throughout our entire time there, lots of staff members checked in on us and were really friendly. Â Towards the end of our meal, one staff member said "Go Skins!" as he walked away in response to my Redskins hat. I gave him a fist pump and when he saw i was into it, he rushed back over to the table to give me an update on RG3's knee rehab. Turns out this guy owns the place and is a huge redskins fan. Â It seems Ocean City has turned into a Ravens town, so having a place (year round) to come and get your Redskin love on is a welcomed discovery. Â The owner told us about how he has season tickets and regularly gives them away in a raffle on Sundays during games.
All around great experience. Great food, great service, cheap natty bohs, UFC on the TV, life was good. We never expected this place to be one we'd return to, but we had a great time and will be back.
GO SKINS!!!!
Decided to spend one evening in Ocean City during a road trip on a cold winter weekend. We kinda underestimated how dead this place will be around that time of the year. Apparently all the restaurants, bars and hotels are shut for the season.
Mother's Cantina was one of the very few places that was open and we could see why. The place has decent margaritas and they serve hot chips that must be had with their three pepper queso dip. Had a goat cheese flash fried entree that was unique and brilliant. Their red hot burrito was extremely hot and worth sharing. The service is very friendly.
My friend had a sword fish tacos that was not priced on the specials - great but expensive. Will be back here for a bite if I am down these parts.
Mother!! What a find!! A group of us came to OC to enjoy a fun filled weekend which we had a mothers was a great addition!!
When we first drove down, we were hungry and ready to start the weekend with a couple drinks and maybe some food. A couple was already waiting for us at Mothers. How they found mothers, chance...but its like we won the lottery! We joined our friends at Mothers, thinking oh man this is a dark dingy place where the food sucks, service is worse and the beer just dulls the pain. Boy was our first impression wrong.
First off the food... holy toledo the food awesome! From the chicken tacos, to the portabello and black bean tacos! Everything we had was awesome! Heck we came here twice for dinner, TWICE in 4 days! Also their happy hour prices are great. Its like your stealing food! Where can you get 4 beers, 1 margarita, and 6 tacos for less than 30 bucks!! Where and I'm there!
Next up, service, it was good, nothing to write home about but your drink was always full and no one was nagging you if you were done yet, so i would chalk it up to good service.
Overall, Mothers was a great find and I would highly recommend it to anyone who needs solid food and doesnt want to break the bank. They also have a decent number of TV's so Sunday Game days are great there!
So enjoy and make sure you clean up after yourself... dont' want mother getting angry!
Cheers Mates!
My boyfriend and I were craving Mexican on our visit to OC this weekend, and I'm SO glad I found this place through Yelp. Was a little skeptical after reading several mixed reviews, but this place is awesome!!
First of all, the queso dip appetizer is crack. We couldn't stop eating it!!
Also ordered the beef quesadilla and chicken fajitas and they were FANTASTIC. For dessert, I recommend trying the fried cheesecake. Its delightfully crisp and creamy.
Service was great! Really relaxed bar atmosphere, happy hour from 4-7 with $3.50 margaritas. Yay!
GO GO GO!!
Great hole-in-the-wall place. We started out with the queso dip which was great. I had the goat cheese chimichanga, which was surprisingly light and crisp. My wife had the "fish of the day" which was sautéed flounder, also delicious. The rice and beans were good.  We got chicken tacos for our 2 boys, and they plowed right threw them. If you want a great meal at an affordable price then GO GO GO here.
Review Source:We are visiting from out of town and wanted Mexican food for dinner. While the wait was a bit long they comped our drinks due to the wait (a margarita and a beer) which was nice. Â The hostess was extremely apologetic and kept us in the loop as to what was going on (there were 6 of us total--my husband and I and 4 kids) as to the table situation, which wasn't their fault, as the people at the larger table were done their food but kept ordering beers.
For an app we ordered the chips and salsa with a side of guacamole. The chips came out warm which was a nice touch, and the salsa was good--it had a nice subtle kick to it. The guacamole was very creamy--not what I was expecting but tasted delicious nonetheless.
For dinner I ordered three chicken tacos and my husband ordered a fish taco, chorizo taco and beef taco. Â We both agreed they were some of the best tacos we've ever had--very full and filling. Also their salsa verde was delicious.
We also ordered an a la carte chile rellano, which we loved. It was easily the favorite part of our meals--it was filled with cheese and chorizo and absolutely delicious!
For dessert we split a fried ice cream, which again was good.
Overall we loved this place. The wait staff and food were both great. We just wish we lived closer so we could visit this place more often!
The food was good, a lot of high quality ingredients, though it was far from authentic Mexican food. Â The queso was decent (husband liked it more than I did), the salsa had excellent flavor. Â Liked the chicken tacos & enchiladas, chile relleno (with goat cheese) was good, spinach enchiladas were ok.
Definitely go on a Thursday! Â With half price entrees, it was definitely worth it. Â If I had gone there on another day I would have rated it lower because of the expense. Â
We don't drink, so didn't qualify for the happy hour food prices (4-7pm daily) but those were good deals as well.
REVIEW FOR A NIGHT IN THE BAR ONLY,!
Spent 5 hours here on Thursday night and had a great time. It's March, still the off season, but this place had a few groups of regulars in and out during the night. It's cute, kitschy without looking dumb. The drinks are priced well: we were drinking cheapo Natty Boh at $1.75. All shots were 1/2 off, so we tried some of the better tequila they offered. The bartenders were VERY friendly, real nice, not "I'm paid to be nice to you" nice. I wish I was here long enough to try the food, if I do and it's good, I'll be able to give this place a full 5 stars.
 5 hours and we spent about $65 on beers AND a good amount of shots. We did spend another $25 on the jukebox, though...and it was worth it to play, "Who can pick the strangest/most forgotten/funniest song".
WOW WOW WOW! Future trips to Ocean City will always include Mother's Cantina! My family and I stopped by for lunch on day 1 and happy hour on day 2. Both experiences were awesome! Here's why:
Lunch: The food was FANTASTIC yum out of this world. Best Mexican/Tex Mex ever. The free chips (big, thick and crunchy) and salsa (fresh, spicy and chunky) were so incredible that I filled up on them before I received my entree (3 baskets later), a spicy, flavorful, crunchy and delicious chorizo chimichanga with great spiced mixed rice, and refried beans. I still managed to eat half of it!! My mom ordered the CHILES RELLENOS. OMG. I give those chiles rellenos a 10/10!!!! Goat cheese gives this an incredible flavor. If you order anything here, order the Chiles Rellenos!!!!!! My entire family tasted them (Me, Dad, Brother, Brother's Friend, and Wayne) and everyone agreed this was hands down awesome. MMM! I can't wait to go back next year and get one all to myself!
Happy Hour: $3.50 margaritas, $1.75 fish tacos, $1.00 chicken tacos. 23 tacos, 3 margaritas, and 5 yuenglings later for $56?! Â Um yes please. Mom and I each had 3 very tasty margaritas and were DONE for the night. They were way too strong to call themselves happy hour margaritas (but this is a good thing, right?!) and they didn't taste strong in the least. Dangerous and delicious! Mom only ate 2 tacos (WIMP!) but Wayne, Dad and I managed to consume the very delicious 21 remaining. The tacos were great! I loved the fried fish, but the sauteed were great too. The chorizo tacos were SPICY! and flavorful, the chicken were so yummy, and the beef was probably the very best of them all. My belly was full and my spirits were high when we departed!
Mother's Cantina is my new fave restaurant in OC! Lunch was a nice, relaxing quiet event while happy hour was busy and fun! The service was much faster during lunch but a bit slow during happy hour (there was a big wait after 6)! The servers were great and friendly, the bus boy helped out when the servers were busy.
I can't speak highly enough of Mother's :-)
I spent 4 days in Ocean City last weekend. Â I ate out for most meals. Â The only memorable dining experience I had was Mother's Cantina.
I'm picky about Tex-Mex. Â The majority of restaurants that claim to serve it just offer grease-drowned, flavorless meals. Â Mother's is different.
First, mother's ingredients are fresh, and you'll notice when you take your first bite. Â The home made pico de gallo is delicious, and the chips are well-made, sturdy enough to hold the chunky goodness.
Next, Mother's is original. Â I can't understand why no other restaurant seems to have figured out that something good with meat will probably also taste delicious with veggies. Â Mother's understands this. Â Nearly every dish comes with at least two vegetarian options by simply offering filling options of portabella mushrooms or grilled veggies. Â I tried a portebella taco, and it was delicious! I also ate a chicken burrito, and it was equally tasty.
Mother's makes homemade hot sauce that is INCREDIBLE! Â I love hot sauce. Â I love spicy flavor profiles. Â Mother's makes a homemade hot sauce that I wish I could buy by the bottle. Â It is extremely hot, but bursting with flavor. Â I was amazed! I brought some back to DC in a take-out container so I could share it with my coworkers.
Last but not least, our server was friendly and helpful, the margaritas were delicious, and the atmosphere was great fun (the men's restroom  walls are covered with a blackboard so you can leave messages for fellow travelers during the night).
After living for four years in DC, I can say that Mother's Cantina is the first Tex-Mex restaurant on the East Coast I can heartily recommend. Â Hopefully, they'll decide to expand to the District!
Five reasons I loved Mother's Cantina:
1. The salsa
2. The multiple choices for non-meat eaters
3. The amazing happy hour offering
4. A GREAT cheese enchilada
5. A delicious portobello taco
6. The helpful and friendly staff
7. The spicy hot flavors
Yes, I can count but I apparently can't stop raving about Mother's Cantina.
@Mother's Cantina: PLEASE come to DC.
Now, this place. This place was great. The food was excellent and the margaritas were delicious. What more could you want?!
Note to travelers: This is definitely a bar feel with restaurant seating (booths near the bar and tables away from the bar towards the front). My brother was a little shocked (he's 7) to walk into a bar, but it worked out just fine.
My sister, mom, and I are all vegetarians and there were plenty of options (lots of portabello tacos, black bean burritos or quesadillas, etc).
I try not to comment on service unless it was outstanding or incredibly bad. But I will say that given how busy they were it was hard to stop our server from time to time, which made us end up sitting there a lot longer than we should have after we had finished our meal. But I think that's pretty fixable.
Again, it was my best meal in Ocean City and if I ever return I would definitely make a stop here.
I've gone to Mothers Cantina on several occasions at different times of the day. The food is always good and I like the atmosphere. Half the wait staff has tattoos and it's very casual. I would give it 5 stars if it were not for waiting. 1 time it took 30 minutes just for the waiter to take my order. Another time I sat myself and everyone kept passing by like I was invisible. More wait staff and general awareness would fix this issue. I usually sit at the bar as service is much faster. I'll still eat there. Just have in mind that you may have to wait a bit.
Love the tacos, chicken fingers, fries and Magic Hat beer.
Would give 4 stars for the casual/fun atmoshphere, but only 2 stars for the food . . . Thus 3 stars.
Sometimes its not all about the food but here goes . . .
Chips were warm, fresh and nicely salted. Â Loved them. Â The guacamole that we got with them was just ok, although it too was obviously made fresh and served quirkily in a half avocado shell.
Also tried the Chili, as they seemed very proud of their recipe but I found it way too sweet. Â Whatever happened to chili that actually had some CHILES in it. Â Don't know but would not get this again.
The burrito was ok, though my wife didn't take more than a bite or two, as she really didn't care for it.
Jalapeno poppers were good even if only the typical preparation/presentation.
In any case, I'd go definitely go back! Â Cheap beer prices, raucous bar and rock music. Â Friendly staff despite rough looking interior and food, is very reasonably priced, and probably awesome after about 6 beers.
Note: Â There are typically quite a few "specials" that seem to promise more than this kitchen can deliver but may be worth a look merely for curiousity.
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