{"id":290741,"date":"2026-05-31T09:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T09:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/290741\/"},"modified":"2026-05-31T09:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T09:18:08","slug":"cantina-leon-mexican-restaurant-opens-at-plaza-coral-gables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/290741\/","title":{"rendered":"Cantina Leon Mexican restaurant opens at Plaza Coral Gables"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The interior of Cantina Leon, now open at The Plaza Coral Gables.<\/p>\n

Alejo Chavarria<\/p>\n

The Plaza Coral Gables, already home to restaurants like the Riviera-inspired Mika, Mottai Japanese restaurant from Brazil<\/a> and local favorite Sanguich, has a new Mexican neighbor.<\/p>\n

Cantina Leon, from The Rabbit Group LLC, is now open at The Plaza, with an eye toward replicating the community-first feeling of (no surprise here) the lively cantinas of Mexico.<\/p>\n

The restaurant is two levels, filling 7,500 square feet, with a central bar and main dining room on the first floor. Upstairs, there\u2019s a VIP area and private event space, plus a tequila and mezcal tasting room and lounge.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s even a smaller sister caf\u00e9, Mercadito Cantina Leon, which serves breakfast, coffee and tea, tacos and other casual grab-and-go items.<\/p>\n

\"A A view of the dining room from the second floor at Cantina Leon in Coral Gables. Alejo Chavarria <\/p>\n

Mexican-born owner and chef Gerardo B. De Negri, who has worked in kitchens in Paris and Mexico City, created the menu with chef de cuisine Jorge Delgadillo from Hildalgo, Mexico. The menu not only leans on tradition, with classics like enchiladas, tacos and quesadillas, but also serves up dishes like wood-grilled meat, seafood and specialties from the raw bar.<\/p>\n

The seafood portion of the menu includes shrimp aguachile tatemado, tuna tostadas, ceviche and a seafood tower with shrimp, octopus, tuna and avocado. You can order grilled fish, too, like the whole grilled red snapper or opt for the giant black tiger prawns that your server will flambee tableside with mezcal and garlic.<\/p>\n

The restaurant doesn\u2019t let meat lovers suffer, offering a 24-ounce Tomahawk and a flaming filet flaming courtesy of tequila.<\/p>\n

\"Mercadito Mercadito Cantina Leon serves more casual and to-go fare. Cantina Leon <\/p>\n

As you may have guessed, the cocktail menu delves heavily into tequila and mezcal, offering classics like margaritas and the carajillo, a blend of Licor 43 and espresso. If you want to try something a little different, there\u2019s the Oaxacan Jarrito, shaken with 400 Conejos Joven, tamarind Jarritos, agave nectar and lime.<\/p>\n

What Negri hopes to achieve with Cantina Leon is to bring the people of Coral Gables (and beyond) together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis restaurant is deeply personal to me because it reflects the way I grew up experiencing food in Mexico, around family, friends, music, conversation and celebration,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want guests to feel the warmth and soul of Mexico in every part of the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Some Some of the menu items and cocktails at Cantina Leon in Coral Gables. Cantina Leon Cantina Leon<\/p>\n

Where: The Plaza Coral Gables, 2955 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Unite 134, Coral Gables<\/p>\n

Dining room hours: Noon-10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; noon-11 p.m.Thursday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. brunch, 4-10 p.m. dinner Sunday<\/p>\n

Mercadito hours: 9 a.m.-noon Monday-Saturday; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday<\/p>\n

Reservations and more information: www.cantinaleon.com or 786-391-2265<\/p>\n

Connie Ogle loves wine, books and the Miami Heat. Please don\u2019t make her eat a mango.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The interior of Cantina Leon, now open at The Plaza Coral Gables. Alejo Chavarria The Plaza Coral Gables,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-290741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}