Watched the Seahawks game there but they wouldn't turn on the audio till half way through the game because there were 2 Packers fans at the bar, we had a party of 6, wrong market guys- fail! Over priced entrees that are small, 9 bucks for 3 chicken strips?? Terrible value.. Very slow service due to under staffing. One guy serving the whole place. Do yourself a favor and skip this joint. Seriously, zero redeeming qualities. The ceiling is painted insulation, no joke.
Review Source:Went for dinner and drinks with the wife last night. Â The service was quick and friendly and there is a good selection of beer. Â Had some typical Tex Mex food, fajita style quesadillas, chips, salsa and guacamole. Â This alone should be at least 3 stars. Â Solid, but not spectacular. Â
Why the reason for only 2 stars? Â Well, a little after 8, what appeared to be the band for the evening started hauling in equipment and setting it near our table in the corner. Â About 10 minutes later they started moving the empty tables from our area to the back and eventually they grabbed the empty chairs from our table, while we are still eating and drinking. Â The manager and server never said anything to us about having to finish up because the band needed to set up. Â It was upsetting to have an enjoyable evening made less so because a bunch of dudes in sweat pants and stalking hats are playing roadie while you're having a beer and watching the Blazers.
This is one of my favorite places to go for lunch. Â The food is delicious. Â The margaritas are divine. Â However, if you are in a hurry, this place won't work. Â Things don't happen too quickly here and I would grab your check at the first opportunity if you need to get going. Â If you aren't in any hurry, this place is yummy.
Review Source:What a dive! Went there last night for trivia and we unanimously voted never again! Slow service, no actual bartender (no one was pleased with their mixed drinks: sent a rum and coke back 3 times and it never tasted like it should). I asked for my burger to be dry, so naturally it had BBQ sauce on it. The waitress graciously offered to have it fixed, but it was obvious they swapped cheese and hoped they'd get away with it. I wiped off the sauce and left the napkin on top of the plate. To be fair, the meat was not dry, but very salty.
Review Source:I went in with a Groupon: I paid $10 for $20 worth of food and drinks. Â The Groupon covered everything I ordered and I even had some change, but they charged me a $1.50 take-out fee independent of the Groupon, which seemed odd. Â Who charges a take-out fee?
For that $20 I got three small enchiladas (one of which was just beans, which are CHEAP), a little bit of rice and beans, and a Ninkasi. I could have gotten more food, plus the beer, at just about any other better place for $13-14. Â For what I paid, I suppose it was okay, but if I could rewind, I would have dropped the extra $2 for better food.
I gave this place 3 stars, and heres why:
First, I will list the problems. The service needs a little work, as do most small bars that are understaffed. I have waited, on average about 20 minutes to be served, and the wait is longer if you order food. I recommend the buffalo wings. Very spicy and delicious. The beers are good, but I always recommend microbrews like Widmer, Rogue, etc. Macrobrews are never good in my opinion. I first came here when a friends band was playing, and have returned several times for the same reason. The staff is nice, once they recognize you but to a newcomer they may seem rude. I am a patient, understanding person myself. I know things get out of control when there arent enough people working. They have a really cool outdoor seating area and the vibe is laid back. The place is a bit too small for a music venue, but the people are great. No major drama, fights or anything. Another thing I like is that its right off of Beaverton Hillsdale Highway with tons of parking. I had a chance to meet Jack, the owner and he is a really cool guy. I recommend CJ's for anyone who wants a bar with a great atmosphere.
I've been to this place twice now--I really wanted to like it! Â Both times the service was impeccable, but the food was only a notch or so above Taco Bell level. Â I could probably be talked into going here again for drinks (they're alright), but not for the food. Â I hope that they do a 180 in the kitchen because the friendly waitstaff alone almost make it worth the trip!
Review Source:If this place was ever so slightly updated in it's decor and feng shui this place would be a solid 4 stars. I had cousin jims halibut fish tacos. The halibut tasted like it had just been caught and grilled to perfection. It was moist and delicious. I prefer cabbage and creamy sauce with my fish tacos but the halibut was so good I was glad that it was a very plain taco.The server was friendly and attentive. Happy Hour goes 'till 6:30. I will definitely return.
Review Source:The food was delicious...But the service was ABOSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!
My boyfriend and I went on a Tuesday night and got completely ignored for the first 20min before a waitress finally came over to our table. We hardly saw her and when we did she was incredibly rude.
I would definitely suggest getting your food to go.
Not normally one to give a lousy rating. I've tried it twice. Food was OK. Had too wait close to 40 minutes for it to arrive. The waitress was really nice. We just didn't see much of her. Tried it for dinner @ 8:30 on a Friday. No one else in the dining room. At least we thought it was the dining room. Went again on a Saturday morning the next weekend for breakfast. Again, not too busy. Seated right away, waitress showed up 15 minutes later. Nice, but didn't see her for a while. Another 40 minutes for breakfast for 4. Almost walked out. Will never go back. Looks inviting. Go if you want to be ignored & have all day to wait for your meal.
Review Source:I just got to Portland a couple of weeks ago so at this point I'm up for trying anything, even if that means a bar that seems like it would be more in place in a suburb. Â But hey, this is only a couple miles from Beaverton, so we're almost there, right?
There are some good things about Cactus Jacks. Â I was there on a Friday night, and that means is was karaoke night. Â The only downside is that the crowd wasn't too original in their music selections. Â Ke$ha for karaoke? Â Seriously? Â I heard this song three times on the radio just on the drive over.
The staff at Cactus Jacks is super friendly. Â I think the head honcho there is a lady named Stacy who seemed to know everyone personally. Â Loyal customers are the sign of a good establishment. Â At one point the server (who also had a good report with the friends I was with) admitted to making a mistake on the bill and cut us a free drink. Â So yeah, big props for that. Â The beers aren't too expensive to begin with. Â We even got a deal on some IPA they were trying to unload for $2 a glass. Â We were there for about three hours and at the end our bill ended up being $31 for the three of us, which is not bad at all.
The clientele is a mix of young professional and middle-aged working class. Â Definitely not the hipster vibe you'd find in most bars around here. Â Well.... except for the hipster KJ with the handlebar stache. Â And you know what, that's all good with me. Â I can adapt to a kaleidescope of crowds. Â Although, we could have really done without the dudes who still seemed trapped and clinging to the early 2000's korn, disturbed, eminem style. Â Just let it go, gents. Â Let it go. Â I'd give it four stars if not for one of the tv's being fixed to fox news. Â But I guess this is a Texas themed bar so I should have expected it.
We wanted to get some happy hour food but got there an hour early. Ah well. I had dinner a couple hours before so I just got some quesadillas. The chicken was good but this was no gourmet place. It's bar food, basically. Tex-Mex menu, macros on tap, NASCAR on TV (well, it was a NASCAR cooking show, believe it or not), middle-aged patrons.
Sure, the chips come with nacho sauce, but it's a decent enough place and is open late. I totally want to go back when they're having happy hour since the prices are so cheap.
I swear, Don B has tried everything in town. It's crazy. Oh yeah, I'm writing a review about Craptus Jacks's according to Yelp. The drinks are strong, the food can be edible and it's about the quality you would expect for the price. A $2 slider burger comes with fries, originally I had to talk the waitress out of bringing me two burgers for $4 bucks as if that wouldn't be enough food. Not the case, a basket overloaded with fries and a burger the size of jehovah passing for a slider. About what you'd get somewhere like Wendy's down the road. Slightly better quality. The Mexican fare on the other hand is enough to make you vomit in your mouth a little. Exquisite nacho cheese sauce like the vats at 7 eleven comprises their nachos. Basically if you've had nachos at a movie theater you can imagine the taste here.
More than anything Jacks's is a watering hole with strong pours. There's also quite a bit of raucous people watching going on. Fights, music, and vocal outbursts round out an eclectic crowd. If you live across the street, you might as well stop in and have a drink at some point.
Legend has it that cougars dwelling in the region along the US/Mexico border between Texas and Chihuahua are reclusive and elusive. Â Deep in the wildlands of this southwest region, where tumbleweeds and sage dominate, nary a big cat track can be found. Â Tall tales abound, however, of a tex-mex stronghold deep in the Pacific Northwest wilderness where the urban cougars brazenly roam free.
Those tall tales became reality for me last night, as I entered the surreal world of Cactus Jack's Tex Mex cafe. Â As I joined some fellow adventurers on a trek to the badlands of SW Portland, the nether-region between the suburban sprawl and the urban core, we came upon a den of cougar activity not seen in many years by any of my seasoned troupe. Â In search of a jam band open mic (at which a co-adventurer's friend was performing), we ventured into this world-between-worlds only to find a twilight zone of sorts. Â
It was suburban but not chain. Â The crowd was drunk but not Young (or hip, in any way). They had a ton of beers on tap, most of which were macros (Busch, Tecate, Dos Equis, etc). The closest thing they had to a micro was the Mudshark. I found myself, at 32, to be the youngest person in the whole joint.
The Cougs were out in force. Â upper-30's to upper-40's women attracting lots of attention to themselves. All seemingly drunk. Most ready to party. Â Lots of random dudes, same age, eating it up. Numerous older regulars sat at the bar, drunk, taking it all in. Â Yeah toto, we're pretty goddamn far from Kansas right now.
I heard numerous mating/party calls throughout the night ("WOOOOOOO!") punctuated by either jumping, smacking, making out, or straight up straddling. Â This wasn't you usual cougar convention, though. Â No dolled up or dressed up women. These aren't the cream of the young-male-hunting-crop. Those vixens are downtown stalking the jacked-up, popped collar D. Bags. Â No no, these are much more casual. Almost stealth predators. Someone's mom, down at the local watering hole, getting her drink on, making eyes at the washed out local football team captain who still lives in his mom's basement.
Everyone seemed to be having a great time, and the random open mic jam band music was entertaining. Â The crowd slowly progressed from the 40-something drunks to upper-20-something drunks as the clock ticked later into the evening. Â By my 11pm departure I was solidly in the middle of the age range in the place. There were still plenty of "WOOT WOO!'s" trumpeting through the air, overwhelming the Dead covers emanating from the band's corner.
All I could do was survey the scene in sheer awe. Â This is a crowd I have never seen all together at once in a Portland bar. Not dive patrons, not fake, conservative suburbanites, not urban metros... just... uh... how do I say it? I don't know. It's like someone at the PTA meeting said "After party at Cactus Jacks!" Or, quite possibly, this is how the local bar looks in a little one-bar town.
Numerous inexpensive pints of Tecate and a small plate of "Presidente Nachos" later, I decided (along with my now war worn troupe) that enough was enough. As the crowd was degenerating into those too unmotivated to cross the bridge/endure the tunnel to get to the downtown watering holes began to take over, my desire to remain grew thin.
Inexpensive mainstream beers, cocktails, and a menu so cluttered it'[s impossible to read, all support the steady stream of lost souls as they get wasted drunk at this little netherworld watering hole.
1 bonus star for fresh guacamole.
So it's not the hippest place to hangout. But in the hidden pockets of SW Portland, there is a distinct lack of late-night food places that aren't fast food. Cactus Jacks is a smoke-free tex-mex bar-in-the-front-family-restaurant-in-the-back that is close by and will feed me at midnight when everything else is closed and I have neither the energy nor the will to cook or travel more than half a mile for food. Yay!
Also a plus, free wifi is available and there are outlets to be found if you want to sit and sip a margarita and surf the internet simultaneously. The Happy Hour/Late Night menu is a SERIOUS plus with this place. Two dollar enchiladas and tacos, nachos for three. I'm iffy on the creamy jalapeno sauce they serve over said two dollar enchiladas, but they're two dollars and otherwise tasty so really, I'm not going to complain. I'm not a huge fan of the nacho cheese sauce that comes with the chips and salsa, but the salsa is freaking spicy and I'm a wuss, so I suck it up or order a side of guacamole.
It is a solid place to hang out, so if you're in the neighborhood check it out.
This is a laid back, Jimmy Buffett-loving, reasonably priced establishment. Â You go here to drink tequila or margartias, eat burritos, and heat-attack-inducing nacho cheese dip, all while wearing shorts and flip-flops. Â You do not go here to be impressed or to impress others. Â The vibe is chill and friendly. Â After work relaxation is the goal on weekdays for happy hour. Â People bring their doggies when they sit outside and they don't mind the loud hum of traffic on B-H Hwy because they're likely here to get their buzz on.
The food here is pretty good and portions are huge, especially the burritos with melted jack cheese on top. Â I always get the bean & rice burrito...yum! Â I'm always satisfied when I eat here. Â Service is always on point and friendly. Â This is a no-bullshit atmosphere, so not for the pretentious. Â There's a great happy hour menu, karaokee, video poker, and TVs. Â Margaritas are very good, beer is always cold. Â Hit up this spot when you have simple expectations of good food, great drinks, and a chill vibe.
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