Fat Cactus Mexican Cantina Parsippany — Restaurant in Parsippany-Troy Hills

So this was becoming my favorite place and yes the food is fantastic, however the service is horrible and management even worse. I decided to write this review after tonights visit which was an order we ppaced in the restaurant for take out, however I will go back a couple visits. 3 visits ago we arrived and sat down at the table, unfortunately the table was nasty and sticky, my forearm was sticking to the table. Told my server about and she ignored me, I eventually had to ask whom I assume is a bus boy (Best Employee in The Place and is just an awesome guy, wish I had his name). Anyways he came over and very quickly noticed how bad the table was and spent a great deal of time cleaning it. Of course the server was not in sight. So after he cleaned it we waited about 10 min before our drink order was even placed. The last visit, not tonight, went in again this time with Grandma and my son, as usual food was great but server was horrible. She had no idea what was on the menu, and was more interested in being overly bubbly and to an extremely annoying point. Be as friendly as you want but actually give us some service. She took out order and that was the last she visited our table, had to get up to ask for a refil on drinks, had to get up to ask for another Margherita and in the end we waited 30 minutes after finishing our food for our check. Again this time I had to go to the wonderful guy (busboy) to ask for help and for our check, he quickly helped us out. We also had keft overs to take home and again I had to ask him for containers and help with that. Now on to tonight. My son and I went to order food to go. We probably waited about 20 minutes for the food to come out, while we were waiting I wanted to get a drink so I went up to the bar and began to order a drink, first problem is the 86ed the Modelo so while I was talking to the bartender to decide on another beer server comes up and asks him to go fund a bottle in the back interupting my order. Well I decided I was going to order a Margherita, but nope he just walked away to go look for a bottle in the back. I patiently wait for him to return and when he does he just walks right past me while Im still waiting at the bar. There were literally only 5 people sitting at the bar and maybe a total of 5 tables being sat at in the restaurant. Well by now it was too late, by the time I got the drink my food would have been ready to go. Sad part is the manager was right there the whole time. When the food came I was informed that only customers that eat at the restaurant get the free chips and salsa but the cashier at the front feld bad about the drink and again here comes the bus boy who wanted to make it right and help me out, so he goes to the rude manager to ask for a simple bag of chips and salsa to make it right. Nope right away the manager comes over with nasty attitude and not customer focused attitude and tells me first that the bar tender had to go get a bottle rather than take my order that I was in the middle of making and instead of making it right says the chips and salsa are only for customers who sit in the restaurant and of course no apology for not being able to order a drink. So your telling me you cant make things right with a simple bag of chips and salsa. Oh and that the OWNERs rules according to the manager. Of course I made it clear it to the manager that we will now longer be back. But before leaving I also made sure to tell him who the best employee in that restaurant is, the bus boy. You can serve all the great food you want but of the service isnt there its no longer worth it. Lastly, there Margheritas need serious work and it wouldnt hurt to have a Mezcal...

I'm slightly skeptical of these 5 star reviews claiming $20 - 30 for dinner. We sat at the end of the bar near their ticket machine. The bar was slimy and covered with left over food. Waited for 15 minutes for someone to ask what we wanted to drink. The entire time the ticket machine was beeping loudly with every order. Asked for a wipe down of the bar area and they forgot. We managed to get a menu from the people next to us. Drinks took another 5 minutes to get to us. We ordered two Margs ($24). We had our order ready to go for the next time an employee graced us with their presence because we knew it wpuld be 5-10 minutes between appearances.

Ordered a chicken burrito for $16 that I got "chimichanga style" (a $2.50 upcharge to deep fry it). I figured maybe they could redeem themselves with the food. NOPE. Waited 20 minutes for the buritto to finally come out. The chicken inside was dry chicken fingers with rice and cheese. It had zero flavor. It came with nothing else. No guac. no sour cream. no lettuce. nothing. No hot sauce on the bar. waited 5 more minutes to ask for an extra plate and ANY utensils/napkins because the two of us were sharing.

They have 1 guy at the bar running around like a chicken and THREE other people floating. This place is expensive, not tasty and poorly run. Our total meal with drinks was $50. Thats 2 margs, a fried burrito and a soft drink. I gave the extra star ONLY because the chips and salsa were good and the chip boy was doing...

I hate to write a bad review BUT unfortunately this place isn’t good. I really wanted to love it but nope.

Atmosphere/Decor

The place has very cool decor but the atmosphere stinks. We went on a day where apparently there was no entertainment and maybe the air conditioner wasn’t working. It was hot as heck!!! No music. No nothing. Boring!!!!!!!!

Drinks

They offer frozen margaritas but yet they don’t have a blender. Like WTH. How do you not have a blender??? Drinks were ok but nothing wow. They also didn’t have many drinks that were listed on the menu so that was very disappointing. Regular beverages like soda and juice were very overpriced and you don’t get refills.

Food

Again, I really wanted to love this food but it wasn’t good at all. The food was soooooooo bland. It was bad. Just not good. No flavor whatsoever. Very disappointed. Cold food with no flavor = no bueno.

Service

The waiters were so nice BUT the service was super slow. The place was not packed at all and they had a lot of people working, but just slow. We waited over 30 mins to get our food and it was cold.

WARNING - they nickel and dime you for everything and don’t tell you that they charge for refills. They will just give your kid a refill without asking you and then charge you for it. The food and drinks are VERY EXPENSIVE for what they offer.

Unfortunately, we will...