Yelp Reviews: El Tri Cantina vs. La Scaloneta — Two 2026 World Cup Dining Experiences, Honestly Rated
Mexico's El Tri Cantina (2.1 stars, 847 reviews, zero World Cup wins against Argentina, Ochoa's 6th World Cup shrine in the back) vs. Argentina's La Scaloneta (4.9 stars, 847 reviews, a 38-year-old tasting menu called Messi, four consecutive championships). Every review is brutally honest. Mexico has not scored against Argentina since 2015. The empanadas look incredible. #MatchRewritten
Editor's Note
Category: Soccer-Themed World Cup Eateries | Location: North America, Summer 2026
El Tri Cantina ⭐⭐ (2.1 / 5 stars) — 847 reviews
La Scaloneta Argentine Grill ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.9 / 5 stars) — 847 reviews
El Tri Cantina
📍 Azteca Stadium District, Mexico City | Group A, Host City Row
Cuisine: Traditional CONCACAF Comfort Food | Founded: 1930
Price Range: $$ | Good for: Festive ambiance, crying in groups
Parking: Yes, but you will not be advancing to the next block
Recent reviews
⭐⭐ "The vibes were IMMACULATE. The food sent us home."
— AngryTacoFan2026, Mexico City
OK so I'll start by saying the decor is genuinely incredible. The green-white-red color scheme, the eagle logo on every napkin, the shrine to Guillermo Ochoa in the back room (this is his sixth World Cup, they made a whole SHRINE). I wept. I wept before the appetizers arrived.
But here's the thing: we've been ordering from this restaurant for 17 consecutive years and they have never once made it past the same table. Every time. They seat you with South Africa, South Korea, and the Czech Republic, and somehow there is always a nervous energy in the kitchen by round three.
The menu says "Quarterfinal" but this is aspirational. The menu has always said "Quarterfinal." The menu will always say "Quarterfinal."
Santiago Giménez (AC Milan striker, the new centerpiece entrée) looks absolutely gorgeous on the menu and genuinely tastes excellent so far in training meals. I am scared for him to be cooked under pressure. I have been burned before.
Ochoa is literally going to his sixth World Cup. I need you to sit with that. Six. That's not a career, that's an institution. He has seen things.
Would I return? I will always return. Do I have hope? I have the specific kind of hope that Mexico fans have, which is its own emotional category not available in most countries.
3/5 service, 2/5 results history, 5/5 atmosphere, 4/5 crying space.
⭐ "Ordered the 'Advance to R16' special. Was not available."
— QuintoPartido_Believer, Guadalajara
Every. Single. Time.
We placed our order in 1994. We have never finished the meal. The waiter (Javier Aguirre, who has somehow been our waiter three separate times) keeps explaining it's the fault of the kitchen staff, then the kitchen staff changes, then Javier comes back.
I want to speak to a manager who is NOT Javier Aguirre.
The Edson Álvarez entrée (captain's cut, defensive mid, currently at Fenerbahçe) is genuinely one of the best things on the menu and everyone in the building knows it. The problem is the rest of the menu has not caught up to the Álvarez entrée.
Also: I was told there would be goals against Argentina. I have been told this many times. Mexico has not scored a single goal against Argentina since 2015. I ordered the "Score One On Them, Just One, Please" appetizer and it did not arrive.
The one thing this restaurant absolutely has:
A home crowd. Mexico is a co-host. Sixty thousand people are going to be screaming in Spanish inside Estadio Azteca when this kitchen fires up. The pressure of playing in your own restaurant with your neighbors watching is either going to transform this menu or destroy it in spectacular fashion on international television.
Either way, the reviews will be interesting.
⭐⭐⭐ "Showed up, love the idea of the restaurant, execution TBD."
— MexicoOptimist, Los Angeles
I'm going to say what no one wants to say: this is actually a good squad. Raúl Jiménez (Fulham, still finishing, still useful at 34), young talent in midfield with Obed Vargas at Atlético Madrid, the electric Gilberto Mora making his first World Cup appearance at 19, and Santiago Giménez at AC Milan doing things that genuinely scare defenders.
The problem is not the ingredients. The problem is that at some point Argentina walks in.
And when Argentina walks in, historically, Mexico's kitchen just... stops working. Four World Cup meetings. Four Argentine wins. The most recent was Qatar 2022, when a man who is 38 years old, technically retired from international football before coming back, and plays for a team called Inter Miami, scored in the first half and then did a celebration that the internet still has not fully processed.
The chef's name is Lionel Messi. He is coming back. He turns 39 in June.
I gave three stars because the Azteca is genuinely one of the most intimidating dining environments in world football history and I want to respect that. Three stars. Cautious hope. I've been here before.
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La Scaloneta Argentine Grill
📍 Group J Corridor, Champions Row | Formerly: Albiceleste Classics
Cuisine: South American championship dining | Founded: 1902
Price Range: $$$ | Good for: Defending your title, celebrating, crying but in a good way
Parking: Qatar 2022 trophies displayed at entrance. You will notice them.
Recent reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Came for dinner. Stayed for history. Would defend the title again."
— CopaAmérica_Regular, Buenos Aires
I've been eating here for 22 years and I want to tell you what it feels like to finally eat at a restaurant that is good AND keeps winning things.
The Lionel Messi tasting menu is technically retired from international dinners but has agreed to come back for the 2026 tasting season. He is 38 years old. He plays for Inter Miami. He will absolutely score on you if you leave him any space, look at your phone, breathe incorrectly, or allow the ball to arrive in his vicinity.
The Messi menu is accompanied by Julián Álvarez (Atlético Madrid, 24, the co-star who has fully arrived), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea, deep creative mid), and Alexis Mac Allister (Liverpool, the metronome). This is a restaurant that has figured out how to cook without depending entirely on the tasting menu. That's new. That's mature. That's genuinely impressive.
Coach Lionel Scaloni built this kitchen and somehow everyone gets along. I don't understand it. I'm not asking questions.
Their Group J booking (Algeria, Austria, Jordan) looks very manageable, and their bracket path puts them in the same half of the building as Brazil — so expect a mid-rounds confrontation between the two most theatrical restaurants in South America, probably around the Round of 16.
One concern: Messi is 38. The kitchen has been told to rest him strategically. I don't fully trust the kitchen to actually rest him strategically. Neither does Messi.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "They are 4-0 vs Mexico at World Cups. The menu never changes. Mexico never scores."
— PastaBoy_BuenosAires
Quick review because I don't want to pile on.
Argentina vs. Mexico at World Cups: 1930 (6–3, group stage), 2006 (2–1, Round of 16, Maxi Rodríguez extra time goal, all-timer), 2010 (3–1, Round of 16, Tévez and Higuaín before the handball, depending who you ask), 2022 (2–0, group stage, Messi goal and then the famous celebration).
Mexico's total goals in those four matches: 3. All in 1930. Before anyone currently playing was born. Before Ochoa was born. Before multiple Ochoa generations were born.
The last time Mexico scored against Argentina in any competitive match: there isn't one in recent memory. The last time Mexico scored against Argentina in any match at all: 2015. That is eleven years ago.
This is not a rivalry. This is a dinner reservation that Mexico keeps making in the hopes that something will be different this time. The restaurant respects this. La Scaloneta has genuinely told the kitchen to keep a table warm for El Tri, always.
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⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "I came for the Messi tasting menu. I stayed because Argentina also has like six other incredible dishes now."
— SinMessi_Todavía, Rosario
The thing people don't fully appreciate about La Scaloneta in 2026 is that they've actually developed a real team around the main event.
Yes, Messi is the draw. He's always the draw. He's literally on the logo. But Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan, clinical, genuinely terrifying in the box), Enzo Fernández (Chelsea, 24, gets better every month), and the supporting cast from the 2021 Copa América and 2022 World Cup cycles have all returned with another two years of elite club football in their legs.
This restaurant won the 2021 Copa América. Then the 2022 World Cup. Then the 2024 Copa América. The kitchen has been in a championship mindset for five consecutive years.
The only real question is whether the defending champions show up flat, the way defending champions occasionally do, or whether Scaloni has kept them hungry. Given that their qualification was slightly bumpy and Argentina has been reminded that Messi will not play forever, my read is they are going to be very, very motivated.
Prediction: La Scaloneta does not lose to El Tri at this World Cup. The historical record is 4–0. The recent record is zero Mexico goals in eleven years. At some point this stops being a review and becomes a support group.
A very good support group. With very good empanadas.
Side-by-side comparison
| Category | 🇲🇽 El Tri Cantina | 🇦🇷 La Scaloneta |
|---|---|---|
| FIFA ranking | Not confirmed / ~#15 | #2 |
| 2026 group | A (South Africa, S. Korea, Czechia) | J (Algeria, Austria, Jordan) |
| Coach | Javier Aguirre (3rd stint) | Lionel Scaloni |
| Star entrée | Santiago Giménez (AC Milan) | Lionel Messi (38, Inter Miami) |
| World Cup meetings | 4 | 4 |
| Head-to-head W record | 0 | 4 |
| Last Mexico goal vs. ARG | 2015 (friendly) | N/A |
| Home atmosphere advantage | Yes — co-host, Azteca | No, but they don't need it |
| Defending champions | No | Yes |
| Yelp rating | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
The verdict
La Scaloneta currently gets 4.9 stars with 847 reviews. El Tri Cantina also has 847 reviews, most of them filed from a place of complicated love.
A potential Mexico vs. Argentina match at the 2026 World Cup would be played on Mexican soil, in front of one of the loudest crowds in World Cup history, with a home nation trying to break a 22-year winless streak against its generational rival. Argentina would be defending its title, Messi would be 38 years old and almost certainly playing his final World Cup, and the bracket would be staring at everyone in the face.
If that match happens — and the earliest it could happen is the Round of 32 — every seat in whatever stadium hosts it will be filled with people who have filed at least one of these Yelp reviews.
Both restaurants open June 11. Ochoa turns 40 next March. Santiago Giménez is 24 and just had a career season at AC Milan. Somewhere in these facts is a movie.
The Yelp algorithm is not qualified to review what happens next. Neither is anyone else.
#MatchRewritten
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