Rose’s Cantina

Mexican Restaurant

Rose’s Cantina first opened its doors in 1980.
Hardly anybody in Holland knew anything about Mexican food.
With the idea coming from falling in love with Mexican food by travelling and living in the US and Mexico, we started with 4 enthusiastic people a little restaurant.
We had seven tables, a broken piano and a kitchen with secondhand equipment, and located then in a dark street, with no other bars or restaurants, but, in the centre of Amsterdam.
In the evenings it was quiet, maybe some passers by asking their way to the Leidseplein.
The opening was in November, typically Dutch weather, cold, grey clouds, rain.
There we were, working early mornings till late at night, for sometimes 2 guests, who sometimes only asked for coffee, or asked “do you have peanuts or pancakes?” “No, sorry, but we do have guacamole!” “Quaca what!!?
Then we did explain about our menu and Mexican food.
But we wanted to succeed, and wanted to be good.
The guests that came in did not get scared away from our Mexican menu and started to like our food.
They came back with friends, some of them 4 times a week, and so our little restaurant became popular after 4 months.
The old piano was banned by our guests, because a piano does not eat, and they wanted another table.
Thanks to our guests there started to be a unique atmosphere in our restaurant. Good food, sometimes too much, nice cocktails, often also too many, hot inside and everything was possible.
Slowly our street was developing into a “going out area”, these days there are 12 restaurants, 3 discotheques and 8 bars in the street.
Rose’s Cantina became a big restaurant serving over 60.000 guests a year, with a renovated look (2005), 200 seats inside, a front terrace and a garden patio for outside dining if the weather permits, which, however, is still Dutch.
We still serve the best quality food, and now go further than our well known delicious tacos, enchiladas and burritos. Mexican food has so much to offer, and we invite you to taste it! Don’t forget our great cocktails of the more than 20 kinds of tequilas.
Thanks to our many guests and hardworking staff, we maintain a good atmosphere, where everybody feels at home.