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Restaurant Review: River and Rail Cantina in Cranford

December 28, 2015 newjerseyisntboring

I recently got a chance to check out River and Rail Cantina, a new restaurant and tequila bar in downtown Cranford.

First impressions of the restaurant was the detail to decor. They had a beautiful bar, with crates on the walls filled with tequila. The bar and bar stools are hand crafted and unique. One of my favorite pieces on the bar is a fire hose that was transformed into an American Flag.

Their lighting is absolutely beautiful. The fixtures are handmade and there are several hanging in the restaurant. I wish that I could own of these myself, but something tells me I wouldn’t be able to personally afford it. Oh well. At least I can admire them!

They even have these detailed tables as well. Everything was made just for the restaurant, and it’s really impressive. Overall, there is definitely a lot to see and take in when you go to eat there.

But on to the food…

We were hungry so we were happy when we saw a very big helping of chips and salsa arrive at the table.

We were also very thirsty so margaritas were in order! They run a really great happy hour deal (2 for 1 Margaritas, $6 Wines & $4 Drafts) so we decided to take advantage of the deal and get margaritas. I got a River-and-Rail-a-Rita on the rocks with salt.

Their house margarita is made with Zarco premium 100% blue agave tequila. I stuck with a classic lime margarita but they have plenty of flavors to add in. My husband got the Senor Swanky which is a top shelf margarita with Sauza Ultra Premium blue agave Anejo tequila, Cointreau, Grand Marnier and fresh squeezed lime juice. These margaritas come in big glasses and are super delicious!

After oogling their menu for a while, we started with two appetizers: Street Corn and Empanadas de Mama.

The street corn is fire-roasted corn on the cob slathered in chipolte aioli and topped with Cojita cheese. It was really good, but probably can’t be shared with more than 2 people. I personally loved the chipolte aioli.

The empanadas are homemade and come with three different types; chicken, beef and cheese. I love empanadas and love that you have three to try. All three of them were delicious, so if you decide to split them with another person(like I did) be sure to split each empanada so you can taste all three. The empanadas also come with salsa verde on the side, which I took to use with the rest of my meal. It was that good.

Since everything on the menu looked so good, we decided to split our entrees as well.

We split two awesome and very filling entrees; a chicken and shrimp fajita and the chimichurri steak.

This was a massive fajita! Usually if you get a combo there’s like 4 shrimp, but this was easily a 50/50 split. The meat sat a top delicious caramelized onions and came with a side of rice, beans, cheese, pico di gallo, sour cream, and guacamole. We could have easily just split the fajita and have been full.

But…

We didn’t split the fajita, we also got the ChimmiChurri Steak which was served with shoe string fries and roasted corn. It was SO much food, but it was so worth it. The leftovers were enough to split into two lunches the next day.

Whether you go there for the food(which you should) or just go there to grab a drink (which you should), there is plenty to choose from at this great new restaurant. Their menu consists of their spin on classic Mexican dishes, burritos, burgers, sandwiches, tacos, soups, salads and more.

Their drink menu is HUGE! There is so much to choose from:

Additionally, the restaurant has a really nice outdoor area, so I’d like to go back when I can eat outside.

AND they also own a catering hall called Cranford Social which can accommodate events from 20 to 150 guests.

Definitely visit downtown Cranford and check out this amazing restaurant. I loved everything I ate and look forward to going back and trying something new.

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