Chano’s Cantina

Chano’s Cantina connects its Mexican cooking with its owner’s path from Guerrero to restaurant work in New York. Chano describes beginning as a dishwasher, moving through bar and management jobs, and opening his own cantina in April 2019. His account singles out flautas and flan as personal reference points: crisp tacos remembered from his hometown and the first dessert he learned to make. Those details give the restaurant a story expressed through dishes the diner can actually order, rather than through a generalized promise of authenticity.

The flautas use rolled corn tortillas filled with chicken, accompanied by chipotle aioli, guacamole, black beans, lettuce, fresh cheese and pico de gallo. Grilled shrimp with sweet plantains offer another shared starter, while the esquite combines corn kernels, mayonnaise, lime, cheese and chile. An opening order can focus on the owner’s flautas or move toward shrimp and vegetables, leaving room for a more substantial main instead of treating every appetizer as an obligation.

The dinner tacos cover pork al pastor with grilled pineapple, carnitas, and fish or shrimp with chipotle aioli and cabbage slaw. Larger dishes include enchiladas with a choice of red or green sauce, fajitas with vegetables or different proteins, and a molcajete served on hot stone with shrimp, steak, chicken, chorizo, cactus and cheese. The latter turns several preparations into a shared centerpiece, accompanied by tortillas, rice and beans. It calls for a different appetite and table plan from a few individually chosen tacos.

Chano’s menu also makes room for dishes such as shrimp pasta and mofongo, so the cantina’s range is broader than a narrowly regional Mexican repertoire. The clearest reason to recommend it is the accessible connection between a personal restaurant story and recognizable dishes, particularly the flautas and Mexican flan. It suits friends who want a flexible cantina meal, with room for both tacos and a fuller shared order. The diner can keep that meal focused by choosing a main direction and letting the owner’s personal references supply its beginning or ending.

Sources: Chano’s Cantina: restaurant, hours and contact · Chano’s Cantina: owner’s story · Chano’s Cantina: current dinner menu · Chano’s Cantina: Google Maps listing