Many reviews describe Amaranto as a local Mexican gem with authentic flavors and welcoming service. Birria tacos stand out, along with tacos al pastor, fish tacos, and brisket soft tacos, complemented by shrimp quesadilla, guacamole, pico de gallo with fresh cilantro, nachos, churros, horchata, and homemade tortilla chips. Margaritas are noted as effective. The ambiance is generally pleasant and not too noisy, and the staff and owners are praised for warmth and attentiveness. Portions vary by dish with some described as generous while others feel small for the price. Service can be fast but on busy nights it can be slow and occasionally disorganized, with moments of waiting for the bill. A few practical concerns include a heavy door that is hard to pull and some menu items that were slightly dry or underseasoned, although the overall impression emphasizes authenticity and consistency. The restaurant is described as a local Mexican gem and many plan to return to try additional selections, including after the move to Monkland where the atmosphere and quality are said to be better than before.
Came for lunch with my friends; had a wonderful experience. The place was not too crowded & the one person was able to man the whole place down.
The food was amazing: tasty & full of flabor. The chips were to die for! The lunch menu was amazing: for 20$ you get 3 tacos, a small guac & chips, & a churro (no picture). The chip & salsa is complementary.
Great experience. We visited because the decor caught our eye when we were walking by. Service team was helpful & attentive. We felt the portions were generous & I liked the food. I recommend the ceviche!
Oct 23, 2025
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I went with a friend around 6pm on a Friday. I recommend getting there early because it's gets very busy. By the time we left there was a line of people waiting for a table. The servers were great but since they were so slammed it did take them a while to come back around to us & then get us the bill. We ordered the guacamole & the beef & pork tacos. Food was great. We spent around $30 each.
the owner the sweetest person ever if you're ever looking for a good mexican place to eat this is the perfect place. big quality, the bad selection was big & the ambiance was a 10/10 HIGHLY APPRECIATED & RECOMMENDED
Je vais souvent manger chez Amaranto, car c'est comme le Mexique, j'ai essayé presque tous les restos mexicains en ville & Amaranto est de loin le meilleur au goût vraiment traditionnel. il n'est pas le plus chic mais il est le plus autentique. Les proprietaires (qui sont d'ailleurs les cuisiniers) tient à coeur la qualité, la fresheur & l'higiène des aliments, aucun conserve ou aliment processé vous sera servi. Je le recommende sans hesiter si vous êtes ouvert à découvrir la vrai cuisine mexicaine & que vous n'attendez pas à manger du tex-mex (burritos o fajitas)
Oct 6, 2017
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Run by a delightful couple from Mexico City, the food is high quality, authentic, & well proportioned - 4 tortillas & you're full! Excellent service, good price point & a nice diversity. The only good Mexican & it's not TexMex thankfully! Also do takeout but not their specialty. Reliably good & always welcoming...regularly take friends fom out of town & never had a bad experience in more the many years we've been going. Highly recommend!
I would definitely recommend trying this place out simply because the food was phenomenal. The tacos with sausage = pure heaven. We're talking authentic mexican food here. The service was pretty good & there's even a section where you can buy some of their ingredients like hot sauces & etc. They didn't have alcohol, but they make up for it by having amazing specialty drinks. The decor wasn't super beautiful, but do not let that fool you. It's a great place. I will definitely come back here.
I cant imagine i was visiting the same restaurant as the other reviewers here.
Upon arrival, we were struck by the..ahem..barren decor? & that there was only 1 other couple there.
The waitress seemed barely able to crack a smile or greet us, & told us to sit anywhere.
We sat, received our menu, & were told there was no more of the daily special, but the guacamole was recommended, without a price mentioned (8$ for a small bowl) but we ordered it anyway. It was decent, thank goodness, otherwise we would have ended up starving, as our dishes were basically inedible. I had the chicken tacos, which were incredibly dry, flavorless & unseasoned, with some lettuce & cheesish sour cream. Thankfully we had salsa, so i dipped for some flavor. I never received a knife. My bf had the chicken enchiladas, which were soggy, unseasoned, & unpleasant. The rice was, no exaggeration, the worst i have ever tasted in my life, vomity mush. We were as you can imagine, severely disappointed. The waitress never asked us how we were doing, took away our plates without asking how they were, didn't offer us dessert, more drinks, or our bill, all while acting like we were putting her out for being there.
A fail across the board.
Ho my god... do you copy/past your comments on every websites? I was only looking around for that restaurant and I saw that same message more than once. https://plus.google.com/114190324344404533226/about?gl=ca&hl=en
If you want to try traditional meals, maybe you should be a little bit open mind, and less arrogant. For sure you don't know avocat's price, do you? And i guess you don't know anything about traditional mexican food, You can't eat 'tacos dorados de pollo' whit a knife!
