Photo by James Short
The contemporary Mexican restaurant opens for full-time hours this week.
It’s a new location. It’s a new community. But the staples you’ve come to love are still there. Cantina Feliz recently opened its doors in Ambler, having moved from its Fort Washington home. Cantina Feliz owner Brian Sirhal said that the move had a few unexpected motivations.
“I actually wasn’t looking to move when this opportunity came about,” said Sirhal. “We were in a great place in Fort Washington. We’d just done some cosmetic renovations earlier in the year.”
Sirhal said that they had come to love their Fort Washington space.
“We had a supportive landlord who took great care of the building,” said the restaurant owner.
Photo courtesy of Cantina Feliz“In the spring of 2023, I ran into Chad Rosenthal, the owner of the Lucky Well, where we are now located,” said Sirhal. “We were catching up and talking about what we each had going on.”
As the conversation went on, the two discovered they may be able to help each other out, finding sometimes the best discoveries happen when you weren’t even looking.
“I was saying how great the vibe is in Ambler, with so many restaurants along with the festivals and such,” said Sirhal. “And Chad mentioned he was looking to scale back on the barbecue and take on some new projects.”
An open space was one thing, but when Sirhal found he may also be able to own the building his restaurant was in, he was more than intrigued.
“Along with that, he said they were looking to sell the building, and if I had any interest to give him a call,” said Sirhal. “Long story short, a little over a year later, and here we are.”
The inspiration for his move was not to do with any negative issue in Fort Washington, but rather a lucky set of coincidental circumstances.
“I guess you could say that the inspiration was the opportunity to buy the building, along with an opportunity to join such a great community.”
When it came to naming his new restaurant, Sirhal said he wanted the environment to be friendly and upbeat, and he sought a name that reflected that.
“We’re the happy cantina,” he said. “After a lot of brainstorming, Cantina Feliz became the one, and we knew it as soon as it was spoken.”
Photo courtesy of Cantina Feliz“The second location is in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia,” said Sirhal. “We really liked that part of the city and had actually flirted with the space prior to opening up Fort Washington, but the owner wasn’t looking to move at that time.”
Not too far down the road, Sirhal returned to the option with the then-owner of the space, and this time, he had a different outcome.
“We ended up revisiting the space about six months after we opened Fort Washington, just to let the owner know that we’d be interested down the road,” said Sirhal. “It turned out that, at that point, he was ready to get out.”
Sirhal wasn’t sure he was prepared for that second space but decided to dive into the possibilities.
“We weren’t really ready to open a second location, since we were still getting our feet under us in Fort Washington,” he said. “But it turned out to be such a great opportunity that we decided to move forward, and fortunately it worked out for us.”
Sirhal opened the Fort Washington space in 2011, and after 13 years in the location, he is excited for the new, suburban home. Starting this week, Cantina Feliz in Ambler will be open with its fulltime hours. Lunch and dinner seven days a week is offered from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for your mid-day meals, and dinner kicking off with a daily Happy Hour from 4 to 6 p.m. on Monday through Friday.
“We do happy hour Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. that includes both food and beverage offerings, and we also do Taco Tuesday, where we offer $3 off all tacos,” said Sirhal. There is also a weekend brunch menu for each location.
While there are so many options for a diner to choose, nachos is one of Sirhal’s personal favorites.
Photo courtesy of Cantina FelizHe added that the tacos may be a close second.
“The baja fish tacos are fantastic, along with our carnitas tacos (pulled pork),” said Sirhal. “I actually love our ‘Chick-Feliz’ tacos, which were inspired by my love of Chick-fil-A.”
Sirhal said the Chick-Feliz taco includes small, breaded pieces of chicken that sit atop a specially created Chick-Feliz sauce and a pickle pico de gallo.
“For entrees, we have a dish called Black Bass, which is a filet of bass served over a bed of creamy poblano corn rice, with jumbo lump crab meat folded in,” said Sirhal. “We also specialize in gluten-free breading, and our fryer is gluten-free.”
Sirhal said that he is excited to become a part of the Ambler community.
“We hope to provide Ambler diners with a great, consistent dining experience with friendly service,” said the owner. “We’ve had the longevity we’ve had for so many years because we’ve been able to maintain the high standards that we set for ourselves. We intend to work hard to keep it going for the greater Ambler community.”
The Cantina Feliz in Ambler is located at 111 E. Butler Ave., Ambler. For more information on that location, call 215-646-1320 or make a reservation here. You can also order online from the Ambler location by clicking here.
Cantina Feliz – Fairmount is located at 2321 Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia. To phone the city location, dial 215-787-9930 or make your reservation here. You can order online from the Fairmount location here.
Both locations also offer an assortment of catering options.
“We have a variety of unique options that can be customized for groups dining in our restaurants, or we can bring the fiesta right to your home or office with our offsite catering options,” said the Cantina Feliz website.
In-house family-style lunch and dinner options are available for those dining in the restaurant, while offsite catering menus provide a wide variety of options, including “stress-free planning, customized menus, delivery, and staffing.”
For more information on all things Cantina Feliz, visit https://www.cantinafeliz.com/.
