Cactus Cafe

Had a super friendly server named Melanie take care of my Wife and I on our visit. We were able to carry some brief conversation with her and it was refreshing; if you come here - ask for Melanie!

The food - 4/5 stars. for the money the food here I'd rate as priced as expected being around ~$14 per adult for most meals. And the taste is awesome. Some small touches that made it feel more authentic to me was the fresh chopped cilantro leaves in the salsa to give it a better flavor and not give the feeling like it just gets dumped out of a bottle of pre-made salsa. Also the Guacamole was very tasty and appeared/tasted like it was made in-house as well - still had small lumps of avocado in it like i prefer! As the attached pictures show: I have the steak fajita which came out audibly sizzling and could be heard from the bar over to the far side of the restaurant where we were seated; lots of onion/green peppers/sliced tomatos were included, the guacamole i raved about, beans, shredded cheese, sour cream, & 3 tortillas. Highly recommend if you're very hungry as its a lot of food.

The decor - 4/5 stars. Lots of bright colored flags and decorations on the ceiling, walls are painted in different bright colors and textured, lots of smaller knick-knacks like bright colored birds in the hanging plants make it feel alive and cheerful inside.

The upkeep - 3/5 stars. At the time my wife and I went to the restaurant it was the end of the business day for them so it was understandable to have some "wear" on things like some missed spots on the table. The only thing that was annoying in the cleanliness dept for my wife and I was the group of flies that followed our food out.

Final thoughts: due to the awesome service (thanks again to Melanie), the price being reasonable, the key dishes I enjoy at restaurant's in this category (salsa and guacamole!), and overall atmosphere we'll definitely be coming back. 😎

We stopped at Cactus Cafe this evening on our way back to Virginia via the Eastern Shore Route 113. The eclectic decorations looked equally festive and worn out. The restaurant was empty At 6 pm, except for two men finishing dinner at a corner table. The friendly host/waiter seated us at a high table by a window and brought us ice water. The water tasted like it was straight from the bay; salty with a slight twinge of sewage. So we ordered soft drinks but we could taste the nasty water in the colas as well. The waiter said it was city water and that it tastes better than it used to. He brought corn tortillas chips and salsa. The chips tasted like maybe they were fried in old oil. The salsa wasn’t bad but was very bland missing the fresh acidity of lemon juice or vinegar and lacking any flavors of cilantro, peppers or garlic. We could taste chili powder in it. The guacamole was old and oxidized, I was afraid to eat it so the server said he would take it off the ticket. I ordered the beef chimichanga and it came with black beans and rice. The rice was undercooked and tasted like the nasty water. I could taste the water in the black beans also. The beans and rice were not even warm. The chimichanga had been browned on the griddle but the browned tortilla tasted like rancid oil. I cut it in half and tried to just eat the inside. It was supposed to be refried beans, beef and cheese. It contained a chunk of tasty stew meat but that was the one and only piece of meat in the beef chimichanga. There were no refried beans in the chimichanga, It was just a big hollow tortilla loosely wrapped to look full but only contained one chunk of stew meat buried in a cheesy red sauce mixture. It was served with some kind of pico salsa than was chopped cucumber and onion that looked a few days old. I ordered the small plate of six strawberries from the dessert case and was charged $5 but at least they were edible. My daughter ordered chicken quesadillas asked for the black olives to be left off. Although it arrived at the table covered in black olives, which she removed, she said it tasted pretty good. It was served with a side of sour cream and the old cucumber onion salsa. Less than an hour after leaving the restaurant, we had to stop because the food had made my daughter ill. The cook, a very heavy, sweaty man in filthy clothes kept coming from the kitchen to check the football game airing on the flat screen tv. The owner came over to our table shorty after our entrees were served and asked how we were enjoying our dinner. I told him I was going to pay for it but to be honest, it didn’t look or taste good. He wreaked of stale cigarette smoke as he claimed to switch up the recipes because his customers didn’t like spicy food so that is why he makes the pico with cucumbers and makes bland tasteless salsa. I told him that it didn’t taste Mexican or Spanish and it was inexcusable to serve food that was not fresh. He wasn’t happy and mumbled a few angry words, throwing up his hands and walking away. The host came over and said he was just the server. He didn’t charge us for the drinks or old guacamole and our bill was still 25.00. I’m not sure how people consider this food good or these prices reasonable in their reviews. We tip regardless of how the food tastes. So we got out of there hungry and set back close to 30 bucks. The ladies room was very clean.

The food was great (fresh-caught local fish was a treat) but the personal, attentive service and kindness that is so rare and lacking recently. Great meals and atmosphere.