#45) Dessert First, My Friends ~ Cantina Louie

How can you walk into a place decked out like this and not have a good time?

Folks, you’ve got to get yourselves on down to Cantina Louie. Located on Atlantic Boulevard in the small coastal town of Atlantic Beach, Florida, Cantina Louie is consistently one of my favorite and quick go-to restaurants around, any time. But whenever we have a taste for Mexican, we usually end up here.

The food is always good, and the atmosphere is always fun. Really, I personally enjoy all the murals on the wall and the fun lighting and decor flowing throughout. But then again, I do like the food just as much as the art within.

So if you’re looking for a friendly and casual place to dine while in The Beaches area of Jacksonville, this is the place.

Besides, any day is a good day for Mexican food… says anyone and everyone who is put face to face with a platter of tortilla chips and salsa - right? And this place is generous with their chips and salsa. My goodness… it’s the best around, always fresh, and the salsa is absolutely nothing other than addicting. And did I mention that it’s endless? All I can say is - Arrive. Hungry.

And then, after you’ve munched away on the best chips and salsa in town, you’ll need to look down at your stomach, and give it a fair warning.

Brace yourself.
Says you to your tummy.
Because here comes your entree!
I hope your tummy heard you.

For $9.99 I was presented with all of this darn good food!

I almost always order the combo platter, hardly ever deviating from that selection. With a choice of chicken or ground beef, the platter comes with two tacos and a side of rice and beans.

And this is where the tummy really needs that fair warning. Have you ever seen a ‘side’ of retried beans and rice like this? It’s enormous. It’s huge. It’s beans and rice.

Any time you’re sitting at home and quietly contemplating where you should go out to dinner that weekend… just ask your stomach. He or she will remind you of Cantina Louie and my guess is you’ll be back for another go round.

Hubby got the chicken fajitas with a steak taco. He usually also orders a regular margarita with salt while we’re there. And I always go for the pink lemonade.

So yeah, um… Who else here is a pink lemonade fan? I can’t be the only one, right? Cantina Louie is one of the only places around I can find pink lemonade. Metro Diner has it, and I always order it there, but the list of places is short - very short. So any time I am at Cantina Louie the pink lemonade is a must for me. Such a treat.

And speaking of treats, the answer here is no. I have never had dessert here for the very simple reason that we are always just too full after our meal, every single time. So the meal is the treat. The chips and salsa are the treat... It’s goes sorta like this:

As a wise woman once said,

“Dessert first - my friends.”

Spoken by that wise woman.

If it was up to me where you decide to go to dinner I’d say go wherever you darn well please, but if you ask my tummy for its recommendation, I’d say, get yourself on down to Cantina Louie. Sit outside and play bags on the outdoor patio. Or sit inside under the blowing air conditioning when it’s 105 degrees and you want to cool off with a margarita and some freshly made crunchy chips. Just come; and sit. And have a pink lemonade for me while you’re there, if merely to help keep the supply and demand going for the next time I visit.~

Check out some of my visits to other Jax Beaches area restaurants here!
5] The Reef On SR A1A: Worth Pulling Over For
11] Eleven South Bistro & Bar ~~ Supper Club Of The South
15] V Pizza ~ The Very Best Pizza In Jax Beach!
*Part of ~ Bean’s Best ~ Award Winner 2019
35] Happiest Of Holidays @ Hawkers Asian Street Fare
40] Visiting The Florida Cracker Kitchen ~ Jacksonville

Have you been to Cantina Louie in Atlantic Beach? Do you love pink lemonade as much as I do? What other restaurants serve pink lemonade that I need to know of? Let me know in the comments down below:

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‘Glowing’

Author:

Christine Pieper is an Artist and Lifestyle Blogger, living, writing, and painting in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, with her hubby and eight year old puppy. She made a major life change in 2017 by uprooting and moving from Illinois to the Sunshine State, and has been living her best life in Florida since - detailing all her many and varied adventures living and traveling the Deep South to share with you. Her mission is to help you live YOUR best life - by getting out there, going for it, and making that big change you always dreamed of. Christine will inspire you to get over yourself, show up for yourself, and get out of your own way. The only one stopping you - is YOU.

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