Cactus Cantina — Restaurant in Riverside

I'm giving this place a middle of the road rating ....I will tell you why. We went there wanting Mexican food as the name implies ...I read the fajitas were good ....wrong! I n knew the minute I tasted the stale chips and the canned salsa we mad a mistake Probably the worst ever bland tasteless rice and beans although the steak was edible the shrimp were overcooked rubber and the veggies burned and soaking in a pool of grease...this place isn't somewhere for Mexican....I will say we made a mistake because we were set on Mexican....now this place is a steak and seafood house ....and I saw many offerings go by our table that loomed fantastic like the prime rib and lobster at the same cove price of 40 bucks as the fajitas....so the moral of this story is skip the Mexican at this place and go for the steak and seafood you will find better value and enjoy you meal We had two margaritas and the fajitas for two and it was 80 bucks I am including some pictures of the fajitas

UPDATE ! Taking my own advice ...and lacking anywhere else close to go, we gave it another try....this time I ordered the salmon ....it was a beautiful piece if fish and cooked perfectly...my friend had the Mexican meatball soup and it was tasteless ...our server was the best I have had in a while to say the least a true veteran and totally composed I didn't catch her name but wish I did to recommend.... So to reinforce my rather brutal last review of the cactus cantina....I think I will stick to the non Mexican offerings as this experience...

This was my first time at Cactus Cantina, and it wasn't a great experience. First off we did not get any chips and salsa when we were seated we observed other tables getting served chips and salsa when they were seated. We were never served chips and salsa and we were never offered any either. Then... I ordered the 3 item combo with a shredded beef taco, chicken flauta, and cheese enchilada. The order came out and it was wrong! I got a beef flauta, enchilada, and a chicken tamale the waiter said oh someone else in the restaurant is eating your food. He did offer to take it back but I declined, I do not ever send food back even if it is the waiters error. We also ordered cocktails and we were not advised that it was happy hour. Happy hour I believe is 3-6 Mon-Friday.We were there at 5:30. I asked for a Mexican Candy Margarita and was charged $15!!! it was just a regular size margarita glass... $15 is quite expensive for a small margarita. I may go back just to see if I have a better experience the second time around, I haven't decided if I will go back or not. I traveled 30 minutes to try this restaurant pretty...

I wish I could leave zero stars. The owners are so incredibly rude to their staff. The yelling is ridiculous. They recently let go of their best server for “hanging up the phone” (not true) on one of the owners, who was yelling at her and berating her for something she didn’t even do. They steal the servers tips, make them pay for all the food if a customer walks out (yeah, that’s illegal) and of course break labor laws regarding breaks. The server they fired was very loved by us customers and had worked there full time for three years. Not only did they suddenly and unjustly fired her they also fought her unemployment and now this poor girl could lose her apartment. I can't believe the cruelty of these owners.

Terrible people shouldn’t be allowed to own a business. And these two women (Kathy and Gloria) who own this place are the worst of the worst. Everyone needs to know that supporting cactus means supporting abuse of staff. And that’s heart breaking because the staff is great and don’t deserve the way...