L'Estancia serves as a dedicated destination for authentic Latin American culinary traditions, emphasizing the bold profiles characteristic of Mexican street food culture. The menu features a comprehensive selection of tacos prepared with house-made tortillas and a variety of slow-cooked proteins seasoned with traditional spice blends. Diners encounter a focused environment where the preparation methods prioritize the raw quality of ingredients and regional cooking techniques. Fresh salsas and carefully curated garnishes complement each plate, ensuring a consistent sensory experience for every patron. The atmosphere remains informal and functional, stripping away unnecessary embellishments to allow the food to remain the primary focus. This establishment operates with a commitment to maintaining the core flavor profiles that define the culinary identity of this specific regional heritage.
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We accept: Master Card, Visa, Interac, Mobile Payment, Contactless Payment
L'Estancia receives widespread praise for offering authentic, flavorful Mexican cuisine with particularly high acclaim for its birria, chilaquiles, and generously portioned tacos. Many guests highlight the friendly and attentive service, cozy atmosphere, and impressive drink selection, including large margaritas and refreshing aguas frescas. While the majority of visitors have an excellent experience, some note occasional inconsistencies regarding food temperature, flavor balance, or wait times during peak hours. Overall, the restaurant is frequently recommended as a standout destination in Montreal for those seeking a genuine and welcoming Mexican dining experience.
About a month ago, I visited L'Estancia & left a very positive review because I genuinely had a wonderful experience. This time, however, my experience was a bit different.
We decided to come back to celebrate Father's Day & brought some friends along because of how much we had enjoyed our first visit. Unfortunately, things didn't go quite as smoothly this time. Our server (I'm not sure if she was the same one from our previous visit) was very serious & somewhat distant. She didn't check on our table very often, & we had to remind her several times about items that had been forgotten, including a coffee that had been ordered right at the beginning of the meal.
We also had children with us, who usually just order pancakes for breakfast, but unfortunately pancakes were not available that day, so they had to settle for waffles instead.
For my meal, I ordered the'Brunch de la Jefa,' which comes with red & green chilaquiles & allows you to add a protein. I chose chicken, but as soon as the dish arrived, I noticed an unpleasant smell coming from the chicken. I couldn't really tell whether it was simply reheated chicken that had been stored for some time or something else, but the smell was strong enough to make me lose my appetite. I didn't want to complain, so I simply removed the chicken from my plate & ate the rest of the dish. The chilaquiles themselves were very flavorful, & both sauces were delicious. The bacon served on the side was tasty as well, although the portion consisted of only two strips, & I think three would have felt more appropriate.
We also ordered horchata, but compared to our previous visit, it seemed to lack flavor & wasn't nearly as enjoyable as I remembered.
Overall, this visit didn't live up to the excellent first impression we had. I still believe L'Estancia has potential because our first experience was fantastic, but I hope this was just an off day, as consistency is what keeps customers coming back.
S+ tier! It deserves more than it's current 4.5 star rating.
This place serves up some of the best birria tacos in Montreal, & the sauces that they have in the side are perfect. There's a really spicy one, & I just wanted to keep eating more & more of it. The sauces pair really well with the tacos - my mouth is watering as I am typing this review.
The tres leches cake was also served with really generous portions. I loved it. Honestly, if I wasn't at a restaurant & I was at home I'd be licking that plate clean like a dog. 😆 Their playlist is also really nice too.
The service was good, but the food was disappointing. I went there for the all you can eat on Tuesday & Wednesday, & the tacos were very dry. There was no sauce except when we ordered chicken tacos for the first time. However, the second time we ordered chicken tacos there was no sauce. It's unfortunate because there's a lot of good reviews & I had high hopes, but it looks like from other reviews some clients that came for the all you can eat had a similar experience
Jun 4, 2026
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I ate there this week. First impressions when walking in was the smell in there. It was not good, but I had decided to eat there & looking at the positive reviews on here I went ahead. I was surprised that they have a table service since I was more expecting ordering at the counter, & maybe it was because this place used to be a Subway. I got the seat I asked for since it was not busy. Service was not attentive, but at the same time nothing I can complain about. I ordered the chicken burrito. It didn't take too long to be served, but what a disappointment. It was basically a rice filled tortilla with few small pieces of chicken & some cheese. They definitely try to make it look nice with some freshly fried tortilla chips, guacamole & pico de gallo which was served on the plate. Lathered in sour cream & some mayo sauce didn't help. The best part of the plate was the guacamole.
Table was not cleared when I finished eating & asked to pay. I could also see that when the waiter cleared the tables around me after other customers that he didn't clean it with any product, just replaced the cutlery with clean glasses & pushed whatever was left on the table on to the floor with his fingers.
I'm happy to see a restaurant in my neighbourhood being replaced by a chain like Subway which I don't want in my area, but I will never go to this place again.
Both of my friends ordered the all you can eat chicken tacos.
Both of them felt sick after eating their plate
I believe the chicken was undercooked as it had no firmness to itself.
One of my friends vomitted in front of the restaurant because of how sick she was.
We had to exit the restaurant fast because of how sick they felt & how hot the store is (everyone is very close to each other, no circulation of air)
After explaining the situation to multiple servers, we received no compensation or even empathy. They refused to assume accountability when they both felt great coming in the restaurant & felt sick after eating their chicken.
Lucky for me I had ordered a different thing.
Or was I lucky? The side of chips that is supposed to be complimentary to your 22$ 3 tacos plate is basically 8 chips as you can see in the picture.
Very poor service (no water served before asking mid dinner, no sauces on table before asking)
Anyways, asking clients that just threw up your whole food in front of the place to pay is honestly ridiculous.
Also, we called to make a reservation days before, they told us it wasn't needed because they'll have place & we ended up waiting 20 minutes in a cramp place where everyone goes in & out & servers passes so you got a squeeze in left & right for a good 20 minutes to be seated.
Viande trop cuite & pas assez d'ananas dans le tacos al pastor & pas assez de coriandre. Plus le fait que j'ai pris 4 tacos comme sur le menu & ils en ont mis seulement 3 & m'ont dit que c'était le menu qui arrivait bientôt? lol Come on! Une des sauces rouge était très salé, immangeable. Le porc effiloché est vraiment meilleur avec le tacos al pastor que ce porc sec & froid. Never again! & les tortillas presque cru pas assez cuit.
My boyfriend & I went for our weekly date night since we had saw this from an influencers advertisement. Super excited to see an all you can eat. Unfortunately, we found bones in our chicken tacos, & the service was poor. we kept having to ask for things that weren't placed on our table such as water, utensils & sauces. Thankfully by the bartender that night we were given half price on our drinks which only came at the end of our meals :/ hopefully next time itll be bette
Très bon endroit où manger des tacos! La viande, les tortillas & les sauces (salsa roja, salsa verde, salsa de mole) sont excellentes. La promotion'tacos à volonté' les mardis & les mercredis en vaut vraiment la peine!
Enchiladas with super sour green sauce, probably from a can, & red sauce, not bad, 6/10. Tacos al pastor, not much meat for the price, & the menu says 4 but I got 3, but the flavor was pretty good, 10/10. Quesadilla 8/10, the tortilla was too brown & not fresh. Huarache was really good, generous, & tasty 10/10, & their Mexican bread was awesome, just like at home. The downside is that, like in Mexico, they use a lot of vegetable oil or margarine. I'll be back for sure, hope will be better next time
