Happy Cactus Mexican Cocina — Restaurant in Dunedin

Small Mexican establishment in a strip center serving traditional Mexican Food. A mix of 5 star selections and some not quite so. All the food is made and served with love. And the service is pleasant and very good.

Started with the Habanero wings. They are mild with a spiced lime flavor. The flavor reminded me of Doritos if you added a touch of lime. I was not the biggest fan of these, but Eeyore thought the flavor was uniquely satisfying. I'm a 3 of 5 and he is a 4 of 5 on these.

The tacos are spot on. Perfectly done soft corn shell on each. The traditional carnitas taco was done right. The pork had a slight crisp on the outside with a moist inside. The Taco Campechano also had an excellent flavor profile. 5 of 5 on the tacos from both me and the ol' donkey.

The guacamole and salsa were fresh. Chips arrived warm, which is nice. The salsa tasted as if made within the hour. While fresh, I found myself wishing for more spice and more thickness with a bolder hotter flavor. As for the guac, it was thick and freshly made. 3 of 5 on the salsa and 4 of 5 on the guac.

For the finale ordered the Chile En Nogada with Charro Beans. The charro beans were great. The Chile En Nogada is usually a favorite of mine when I see it on a menu. But here it was a miss. The flavor profile and texture was not balanced. The meat filing was too 'heavy' and too 'spiced' and the sauce had a sour curdled note. Not the well balanced, slightly sweet and creamy, yet light ground meat filled fresh pablano pepepr dish I love elsewhere. I'd not advise this one here.

I was going to give it a 3 of 5 overall, but Eeyroe convinced me to bump up to a 4 star since we both look forward to a return visit for another round of Traditional Tacos with Charro Beans as those are 5 star items. Plus the enchiladas look to be a must try. They have Mineras and Enmoladas enchiladas, both when made right and with love are...

I’d like to say this review is about the food, but sadly it won’t be. My husband and I stopped in based on the recommendation of a friend. We were initially sat outside as it was the only available table (which is fine, we understand social distancing guidelines). We waited at the table, in the cold for approximately 10 minutes before anyone ever brought us menus. We were also moved inside to an open table at that time (we were extremely thankful for that), we sat at the table and quickly realized it was extremely sticky and still had food on it. Unfortunately there was no one to tell as our server dropped us off at the table and didn’t return for quite some time. When she did we placed our drink orders and she was off again. Once I received my Diet Coke it was the most foul tasting thing I think I’ve ever had. It tasted like it had been run thru a line filled with mold and mildew. Upon our servers return I asked for a water instead as we placed our food order. I never received that water after a total of approximately 45 minutes before our orders were even placed. We ended up canceling our order, leaving, and going to our favorite Mexican place, Victoria.

I’d also like to note, as a server myself, I’m always extremely patient and understanding of how foh works. I see how busy servers can be. This was not one of those times. I counted a total of 6 tables with nothing more than a 4 top with two servers on. If your servers cannot handle 3 tables a piece, you have a much bigger problem...

My wife and I went here for lunch. I wanted a torta (its funny how many "Mexican" places dont have tortas) and we were pleasantly surprised. The chips came out nice and hot and the salsa was fresh totally not from a jar (and you can tell ifit's from a jar or not). I ordered the Carnitas Torta and my wife had the Torto Milanesa. Freaking amazing!! The Carnitas were super juicy and flavorful not the deep fried chunks of pork (which in no way are real carnitas, If you go to a Mexican place and they have deep fried pork posing as carnitas, get your check and never go back.) that these other "Mexican" places have, you could tell this one was nice and slowly braised the way it's actually supposed to be. On top of that the torta didn't have the regular run of the mill refried beans, it had black beans on it which is my favorite. I opted for a site of rice instead of the French fries and I'm glad I did because that Rice was awesome as well! my wife had a margarita and she said it was amazing. Our server guy was really cool and the very attentive and he let us know that it wasn't a Tex-Mex place or Mexicali and that it was real authentic Mexican. I agree with him and i guess I should know being that I...