Cactus Mexican Dining — Restaurant in California

We used to love Cactus! But since there was one in Galt, then we decided to get fit and save money we stopped eating out. Plus there is this whole Covid situation. Anyway, we decided to get dinner out a couple of nights ago and headed for Cactus and margaritas with salt. They were delicious but Cactus was not the same.

To begin with, it has moved locations. No big deal but, the interior of the new local was a combo of ornate chandeliers in a rectangular room with a bar and some tables. It was a bit odd. But not in a good way.

Perhaps because it has two double door entrances/exits, or perhaps because it was a small rectangular room with tile, it was chilly inside. There were three of us and none of us removed our coats.

Now I did not experience this, however, my Mom did. The restroom. Apparently, it is outside the southern facing double doors to one's right. She said it was well stocked, warmer than the restaurant, and just standard.

While she was away, our server, who was great, brought over three tiny fried tacos. They were compliments from the chefs. Yay! Everyone loves a free snack. Yet we would have loved them more if they had enough taste that we could figure out what we were eating.

So we had a pitchure of margaritas but we weren't feeling this place. That's when one of us suggested we get an appetizer then to munch on while we downed our drinks. Then, if said appetizer was great, we would stay. If not, we would go down the street for pizza and cheesecake.

Shout-out to Woodbridge Pizza! Thank you to the young lady who recommended the pumpkin cheesecake. Dinner was great! I'm sorry Cactus. I still love the margaritas but the restaurant just...

The Cactus I once knew and loved is no longer. Here's my list of grievances :

1. their prices do not match their online prices. 2) Their offerings such as homemade tamales are no longer. They're not homemade nor are their tortillas. Frozen food?? 3) they do not have kids sized cups and their lemonade tastes like crystal lite! 4) The floors are dirty and the menus are dirty. Attached picture of these. There was a salsa stain on the menu!
2. Service was okay. Whilst taking our order, another customer walked in and the server yelled that she would be right there. It just gave off a very "fast food" experience, which was not what I had previously known cactus to be. The person checked on us often, so that was good.
3. They can't serve hard liquor so we could not order the daiquiri off the menu ( why not update your menu?) And margaritas are not real margaritas, it's just a wine mix.
4. I would suggest they turn some music on for a little bit of ambiance.
5. My taquitos plate was okay. The rice was too salty and therefore I couldn't eat it. The beans were good and the taquitos were pretty good.
6. my grandma had the sour cream suiza enchiladas ( tasted flavorless) and the Chile relleno ( it was covered in Cheddar cheese and too much batter). All in all kind of disappointed with the food.
7. I will say that the deep fried asparagus was yummy! All in all, I will not be coming back - especially for a dinner house as it once was. And I will not recommend it to friends or family. Edit: my sons ketchup tasted like...

So every time I go to a restaurant I am always very understanding since I have been a server before. I understand being in the weeds and everything else. But I also know how to recognize good service from bad service. Went there with my husband for our first date night. It's close to our house and we always passed by so we decided to finally try it. We walked in and there was no host at the front to seat us. There was no sign saying to seat ourselves, we could not even see any servers in the dining room because it's closed off. So we sat in the bar since there were a couple of tables occupied there and saw the bartender. The table was dirty so we asked for napkins after she took our drink order. She said she was going to bring an actual rag to wipe down the table, never did. We ordered this appetizer that had the toppings of nachos but were fried potatoes instead of chips. Didn't like it. They were really oily. Great concept but bad execution. I only ate it to be a good sport about being out with my husband. Husband asked for water and never got any. And it took about 10 to 15 minutes to get our check. It wasn't that busy in the bar but I did notice other guests looking around because they weren't receiving the adequate attention they needed. Left feeling bummed that I wasted my time and money. Will...