Canonita Mexican Restaurant

Chef Daniel Marquez grew up eating this food in Mexico City, and it shows — the happy hour at Canonita doesn’t feel like a hotel-restaurant afterthought, it feels like someone’s actual heritage on a plate.

Order This:

Crispy Tacos anchor the happy hour menu, and the Cancun Ahi Tuna Ceviche — mango agua chile, watermelon, almond, black sesame — is the one worth ordering even if you came for the margaritas.

Canonita sits canal-front in the Grand Canal Shoppes, the only restaurant on that stretch, which means happy hour comes with gondolas gliding past and the occasional singing gondolier as background noise. That’s not a gimmick tacked onto the food — Chef Marquez’s menu holds up on its own, hand-pressed tortillas and all, so the view is a bonus rather than the whole pitch. It’s a rare Strip happy hour where the setting and the cooking are both worth showing up for.

Happy hour runs Monday through Thursday, 3-5 PM. Located on level two of the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian, along the canal front.