Red Mesa Cantina

Red Mesa Cantina was St. EATersburg's sophomore effort in downtown St. Pete. One of us had enjoyed the restaurant previously for a very pleasant business lunch. As we were soon to find out, one doesn't go to RMC on a Saturday night for the food, one goes for the bachelorette parties.

Before we even met our server, we saw two gaggles of gurlz in matching prom dresses, one lucky lady sporting a crown and the other a rather vulgar necklace. We promptly ordered this















to calm our nerves. Weak and a bit cloying after your 4th glass, but a great deal at $24.

We started off with the Totopos ($8), tortilla chips with three dips: "Christy's spicy chili cheese dip," black bean chorizo and guac. We're not sure who Christy is, but she sure likes Cheese Whiz. Don't get us wrong, it was yummy, but you could get the same stuff at a skating rink for your 11th birthday. The black bean chorizo was the best of the three, with a nice smoky depth of flavor. The guac was absolutely tasteless. Oh yeah, the tortillas were okay.
















We spied the 8th bachelorette party of the evening just as our Bombas ($7) arrived. These were fried potato balls filled with shrimp, chihuahua cheese and Mexican chorizo. The crispy pork bits inside were juicy, but the Bombas were quite sweet with no acidic or spicy counterbalance, so pretty soon they just tasted like meat candy.















Last came the tacos, a study in contrasts. The duck ($4) was clearly the worst thing we'd eaten all evening, while the shrimp ($3.75) was far and away the best. According to the menu, the duck comes with pineapple, goat cheese and red chile jelly, which tasted identical to Smuckers' trademark Seedless Red Raspberry flavor. Gross. The shrimp, on the other hand, was delightful. Several big, juicy shrimp were piled on fresh cabbage slaw and topped with habanero aioli and pico de gallo. Yum. We wish we had just ordered a half dozen of these.
















While this wasn't the best meal we've had in St. Pete, or even in the past 24 hours, we'll surely be back, as there are definitely some winners on the menu. And it's three blocks from our apartment. Congrats to St. Pete's newlyweds!

Red Mesa Cantina
128 3rd St S
St Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 896-6372