A solidly three star restaurant. We stopped by for lunch during the Manayunk Arts Festival to rest our legs and enjoy the air conditioning. The wait staff was very friendly and efficient dashing from table to table helping customers. We were expecting a Mexican restaurant, but this place is more of a tex mex establishment with typical bar decor. They serve "Americanized" Mexican meals like burritos and tacos that didn't have any exotic ingredients. The plates were plastic (picnic type) which was odd, but maybe it was just due to the arts festival. The food was ok. I had the breakfast burrito which was good, but not spectacular. Â It came with a side of tortilla chips, but no salsa was offered.
Review Source:I do not know why this is at 3 stars! Â Their over all atmosphere is great! Start off with a free basket of chips and salsa...their beer and mixed drink selection is huge. The bartenders are friendly! One night my room mate were there on an empty week night B/Sing with the bartender all night and he def knocked off a round or two of drinks for us. We left him a nice tip! Â The daily specials are unbeatable! Margarita Mondays! $10 pitcher! Â Normally they are $28....not worth $28...but on Mondays...well worth it!! Â Their burritos are great! I think once i had one that was sub-par...but that was one time. Â All of their other Mexican food i have had is excellent! The buffet on the weekends!!! def try it! for $8 you get eggs, sausage, pancakes, sausage, bacon, small burrito, pastries, fruit, and great drink specials. Â Sangria is very good! Not too strong but still good. Â 5 star bar in Manayunk!! Â I go two-three times a month... if you are in the Manayunk sport and social league you get a free drink after the game. Â So after our Sunday softball games we usually go there instead of the bayou now!
Review Source:I have gone here a couple times for brunch. The food is bland but the price is right: $8.00 for an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. The food needs seasoning but again: Â 8 bucks. Can't beat it, and you don't have to wait for your food! My real issue is the wait staff, unfortunately. LOUD and shouting to each other about stuff we don't want to all know: how drunk you got recently, how much you dread turning 30, how you only plan to work there another year and then get a "big girl" job, how you don't consider bloody mary's to be an alcoholic beverage... Â The place was nearly empty both times I was there for brunch and witnessed this, so it's loud enough that you can barely carry on a normal conversation at your table. It's not like you WANT to listen to these girls talk, but you HAVE to. It's a shame. Good music is playing. But you can barely hear it over the bartender and server's banter.
Review Source:The chips and salsa here are awesome - best salsa dip I have ever had. I wonder if they make it because it tastes so refreshing. Â The Mexican pizza (with chicken) was OK. Â When we came it was so busy that service was so bad. Â But the food was good enough that I would come back again. Oh the nachos and cheese were good too. It's saucy cheese too, none of this slices of velveta melted on top where it hardens
Review Source:How impressive is the food at Cactus? Â Considering nearly everything went wrong with my recent dining experience, pretty damn impressive.
We arrived on Saturday for a quick bite. Â It was busy, so we were sat all the way in the back, by the bathrooms. Â It took nearly 10 minutes to get water to our table and another 5 for chips and salsa. Â Once we ordered (another ~ 10 minutes), we didn't see our waiter again until the bill. Â Apps took quite a bit of time to get to the table, my margarita sat at the bar for a good 10 minutes before it reached the table, our dinners came out while we were still eating the app, and they gave me pork instead of beef in my enchiladas.
So how good is the food? Â Well, there salsa might be the best I've ever had. Â I love their margaritas, and both the pork and beef enchiladas were solid - yes, they corrected my order without an issue. Â Honestly, the food is 4 or 5 star worthy, so I am going back on a calmer night to let them earn those extra stars!
The margs are good. We had a few appetizers- I wasn't a huge fan of their fundido- it seemed to have more of an italian sausage in it rather than chorizo, Â the guac was slightly bland, the salsa was very good and their shrimp dish was good but seemed more Italian then Mexican. All in all it was a good experience.
Review Source:Recently had a great lunch here.
I can only comment on the fare since it was a workday, but both my mom and I were pleased! We ordered the shrimp quesadilla and fish tacos. Enjoyed both dishes! There was plenty of shrimp on the quesadilla and they provide you with homemade salsa and several hot sauce options which I love. Those weren't homemade, but that's no biggie for me. I will definitely be back here again. Next time, I'd like to try their margaritas! They have a ton of different specials listed on the wall too. Wish I lived in walking distance. Seems like it would be a great happy hour spot.
This place deserves your attention. Locally owned, full of craft beers (that are good), a LOT of food, beer, drink, margarita specials. Â Food is good, good bang for your buck. This isn't a romper-room full of the kiddies like Mad River.
Like the ambiance, love the tacos and salsa. Will be back!
I have had a real mixed bag of experiences at Cactus. When I have come in with my roommates who are regulars, I receive kind, prompt service, and tasty drinks. I really enjoy the weekly specials, particularly the Margarita Mondays. The Cactus margarita has a touch of orange that adds just the right amount of juicy sweetness.
Other times, I have had really bizarre and slow service. Recently I came in for an early lunch and the waitress pointedly asked for ID...at noon...on a weekday. Not that I am under 21, but sometimes I bring friends there that are underage and I don't understand why they need to be ID'd to enjoy a meal, especially before dinnertime. Not that the food there is exceptional. I enjoy the taquitos and the fajitas the same way I enjoy Qdoba, Chipotle, etc. Just generic Tex Mex fare. I would give Cactus 2 stars but some of the folks there are extremely nice and I do like to come in for drinks, just not dinner.
I am glad, I didn't dine in this restaurant. After a meal on Manayunk, I just wanted to get a drink with my friend. I should have known, when the tables were empty. My friend got a Mojito and I got a Mexican coffee. Bartender actually had no clue, how to make it. And when I got it, it was tasteless.
When I started looking around, I realized how lousy was the service. Expect some rude service. And I never had a whiff of the good aroma, which comes from a Tex-Mex restaurant. My least choice to dine around in the area.
First off... The menu says Caesar salad with croutons. A Caesar needs croutons. We had to ask for them after the salad was served to us. Some other girls at another table had the same problem. I thought perhaps it was a new chef or something but now seeing all these bad reviews, I'm not so sure.
Secondly, they have this advertised deal on the board and the waiter told us all about 25¢ wings... The wings were ok, nothing special. But, here is the problem and we learned a lesson as we don't really look at bills for accuracy all the time. We had already had our card swiped and then I looked at the bill and thought it was pretty high for what we got. I saw that they had charged us 8.95 for the wings! I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt that it was a simple mistake but something tells me this probably happens a lot. I'm glad I noticed.
It was nice to be able to sit out on the sidewalk and they will probably still thrive with all the drunk idiots that frequent this area at night.
I'm a fan... I find myself getting the quesadilla almost every time I'm here, but the tacos are good as well. The free chips and salsa are always a plus, and I like their salsa even though it's a little different. The guac is good, but a little costly for what you get.
Had the margaritas before, and they are good, but really expensive (unless you go on Monday for their special). Fortunately, they have a pretty decent beer selection for other days of the week.
Overall, a good option for when you want a casual mexican-ish meal.
No-thrills Mexican fare, but their fatal flaw is their stinginess. Â
When ordering a margarita pitcher, it is expected that one would receive a wholesale discount from the individual drinks. Â The individual margarita is $8 (too high to justify in itself), however a pitcher costs $32 and it doesn't even fill four glasses! Â I have never been to an establishment where you pay a premium for buying in bulk.
We also ordered the nachos with guacamole and chicken (each of which commanded an additional $2 charge). Â When the nachos arrived, it was obvious they didn't include additional chips for the added portions and the chip to topping ratio was amiss. Â Needless to say, we tried to make the best of it but were left with no chips and unconsumed food. Â We asked for additional chips but were told we couldn't have any. Â If the restaurant isn't named Taco Bell, an additional 50 cents worth of tortilla chips should be a given.
Manayunk is full of great restaurants eager to please their patrons. Â Cactus is not one of them.
Having eaten at several Manayunk restaurants and bars, I totally get the varied reviews. Service and food quality in this neighborhood is often incredibly hit or miss. Fortunately for me, Cactus was totally a hit!
Granted, I hadn't eaten all day, and by six ish this girl was STARVING. Our original restaurant plan ended up being closed on Mondays (why do people do that?), and I remembered a friend telling me about the Monday specials at Cactus. Turned out to be 9 dollar fajitas, any style, and 10 dollar (!) house margarita pitchers.
The margs ended up being delicious, and surprisingly strong and labor intensive for 10 dollars. We sat the bar; I like to do this in order to stare down my bartender to ensure maximum tequila pours. JK. Kind of. The whole menu looked delicious, if you know what you're getting yourself into. Guys, this is total Tex Mex; not authentic by any stretch. To save myself time and deliberation, we both just got the pulled pork fajitas after the bartender assured us anything with pulled pork was their specialty. And the meat was really good, guys. Tasty and tender. Nothing ground breaking about the fajitas, but everything tasted pretty fresh. Ingredients that were supposed to be cold were cold and ingredients that were supposed to be hot were hot. Service at the bar, even by a bartender in training, was excellent as well. BF and I stuffed ourselves and got a little tipsy (maybe mostly me) for under 40 bucks. steal in manayunk!
As with any other nearby location, go to Manayunk on OFF nights. Mondays & Tuesdays. Go early or late, depending on when the place is least crowded. Sitting at the bar generally ensures better service, bartenders in Manayunk have the slowest turnovers and are generally better than the waitstaff. Not the rule, just a suggestion.
I saw someone post that the chips were stale and I just had to say that all of their chips are the freshly served kind... not like a Tostitos brand. ...and that salsa! It is smokey and delicious and damn near dangerous to consume! I have often found myself at the bottom of many a chips and salsa basket wanting more and more! The chips are a bit salty BUT when paired with the smokey salsa it works. Plus, it will give you a chance to sample some of their really well thought out beer selections. Good deal I think! (The Tequila flights will get you in trouble... do it)
The real shining stars of this fine Mexican establishment , besides Tony the owner, is: 1) The pulled pork. Anything with the pulled pork is sure to make your mouth happy. Nachos, Tacos, Enchiladas... have it in everything. EVERYTHING. Put some of their mashed sweet carrots in the mix and you will NOT be disappointed. 2) The margaritas. On the rocks and any flavor is awesome. Check their listing because they have drinks specials where the Margaritas can keep flowing at a fabulous price!
Give it a try... and then slather yourself in pulled pork. Good times will follow!
HORRIBLE FOOD!! I don't tend to leave bad reviews but this place's food was horrible! Also, costumer service was pretty bad. To start, the hostess was very condescending then went ahead and plaed my husband and I in a very small and on the way table. The appetizer was good but then my food came out and it was cold. The meat in my tacos tasted sour and disgusting. The rice, that was included in the dish, was dry. And the worst thing is that the food was very bland. Now, we all know Mexican food is supposed to be very flavorful! So this place was a total fail! Â
NEVER EVER coming back!
I'm not a connoisseur of Mexican food by any means, but to me, the food at Cactus was exceptional. Â The guacamole left something to be desired, but other than that, I enjoyed every last bite of my steak fajitas and the gargantuan nacho appetizer my friends and I ordered.
The reason I only gave this place a three out of five star rating is because of the quality of the drinks. Â One thing I AM a connoisseur of is Long Island Iced Tea's. Â And quite frankly, their was absolutely HORRIBLE! Â The margaritas were okay... but if you ask me, drink wise... stick to the beers when you are here. Â They have quite a selection.
Wow, I'm really shocked at how low people have rated this place. Â I think it's great! Â
This is my first stop on any Main Street voyage that involves booze. Â My roommates have dubbed Cactus the spot for "one quick drink". Â We like the atmosphere. Â It's not overly crowded and the staff are really nice. Â While the place itself might be narrow, it's not a huge deal. Â There are usually plenty of places to sit. Â The bartenders do a great job as well! Â And most of all, we LOVE THEIR MARGARITAS!!! Â I hated 'ritas until I had one here. Â We usually get a pitcher because nobody wants just one glass.
True, I've a stale tortilla once or twice (hence the loss of a star) but the salsa is good and the food is pretty consistent.
I don't really care to be suffocated by a packed house of college-aged twenty somethings, so my boyfriend and I stick to this place on Monday nights when we don't feel like spending money on a big fancy dinner and we have nothing in the house to whip up.
Their staff on Mondays is always attentive and pleasant. Their margaritas are pretty darn tasty (I just try to forget I am drinking tons of well tequila) and their key ingredient is the o.j. they use...a healthy splash always gives a marg good taste.
Their complimentary salsa and chips is a nice bonus, although I end up snacking on it because on my buzz, not because I am particularly fond of the flavor - it's heavy on the garlic.
Twice I've had their shrimp burrito - a cream sauce can seriously make anything taste good. Their wings (only had them as their special) are actually pretty darn tasty. One of the better wing deals/taste in this area in my opinion.
All is all, just go to enjoy a pitcher of margaritas, sit at the bar and watch the Phils. Nothing fancy...but sometimes that's all you need.
We went on a Tuesday when tacos are $2 and margaritas are $5. Not bad right? I had three tacos (pork, chicken and beef) and one margarita. The pork taco was the best by far, but it was basically like a Taco Bell taco. The margarita was gross. Wayyyy too much sugar and not enough tequila. I know it was a "deal" but it was so bad that I couldn't even finish it. It's pretty hard to mess up a regular margarita but out of the four of us NONE of us liked our margaritas. We left the restaurant feeling like we should have spent the extra dollars and completely enjoy our meal.
On the bright side, our waitress was really nice and she had a great memory.
Cactus is the only restaurant I've been to where I've had to stop eating the food because it was so terrible. I gagged several times while trying to eat their beef "enchiladas". It was just a plate of greasy ground beef and a big heap of burnt cheese. It didn't even come with enchilada sauce to help drown out the disgusting mess of whatever it was on my plate.
I had their nachos previously which are actually pretty good, but holy crap were their enchiladas impossible to eat without gagging.
The margaritas came with flies in the mix, too.
I won't go there again for sure.
Update: I have eaten the food. Cactus gets another star for that!
First off, the fajitas. The servings are HUGE and all the fixins come out sizzlingly hot. My only minor gripe was the way the lettuce, sour cream, etc came out all on one plate. It made putting the fajita together a little tougher if there was something on there you didn't want.
But the real gem, crazy as it seems, are the firecrackers. See, I love poppers. They're spicy, fried and filled with cheese which basically makes them meet three of my four major food groups (the other being chocolate, of course). But the firecrackers aren't the wimpy frozen things you get at any pizza place in town. Oh no, these are huge singe-your-mouth peppers filled with a wonderfully melty gooey blend of cheeses and fried to crisp perfection. They're messy, certainly unhealthy and burn even my mouth a bit, but they are by far the best cheese-filled pepper concoction I've found.
Firecrackers = worth a whole new star.
(Was tempted to write about the firecrackers without giving an extra star, though, just to reflect the irritation I feel with their frequent and lousy guest bartenders. I don't care how cute she is, if she can't pour my drink and take my money get her the hell out from behind the bar!)
It's rare, but every now and again I will fill an appeal to the Official Council of Yelp Ratings to request that a star be added to a business' review. It's an elaborate process that involves a meeting of dignitaries from around the globe, but sometimes, as in this case, it's worth it. Well, the council has spoken, and I hereby add a star to my previous review of Cactus.
We stopped in to watch a midday Phillies game today, and had a great experience, thanks mostly to the very friendly demeanor of Mike the bartender. He recommended that we order some of the wings, which were .25 on Wednesdays, and different than your usual buffalo wings. They are a smokey mix of a chipotle bbq sauce and wing sauce. I was really glad he did, as they were awesome, fried to crispy perfection.
They also have a pretty impressive beer selection. To go with the TexMex theme, they have a wide array of Mexican beers, but they also have the full PBC line in bottles, and several other creative selections.
I would definitely recommend stopping by for lunch one day.
After paying a few more visits to this "cantina" and having a better experience each time I am now ready to reward Cactus  with another star!
The one major gripe I had with Cactus in my previous review was that it seemed understaffed and the bartender doubled as the waiter and then again as the hostess. Â They must have read my review because now they have plenty of servers and a bartender who has plenty of time to make you a drink and have a friendly chat!
The seem to also have expanded their brew menu by adding some Philadelphia Brewing Company(!!!!) and other microbrews. Â Also, try the wings.....more tangy than spicy and have an amazing crisp to them....on Wednesday's the special is .25/wing.
I am so happy to see that this place is making improvements and bettering themselves.....Cactus is now is my top 5 bars along Main Street!
I'm a big fan of free chips and dips and whatnot, however, I am not a fan of stale chips and flavorless dip and this happens to be what I got at Cactus.
I enjoyed the decor but the food wasn't really anything special or out of the ordinary, especially with the prices they charge. They have taco Tuesdays where tacos are 2 bucks each...Let's just say I'd refer you to taco bell before telling you to come here for tacos.
In any case, also on Tuesdays, they have their "Cactus Margarita" for 5 bucks. I'm not gonna say it's a great deal because it tastes like something straight outta the mix bottle, therefore, something I could've made for myself and a bunch of friends for much less than $5 per head.
I've eaten at the Cactus twice- the first time wasn't a great time and I swung back for a 2nd round just in case I could prove myself wrong but alas, I've come to the conclusion that I won't be making a 3rd trip here.
Been wanting to try Cactus since I read about it in the Inquirer. Not impressed.
The chips were below average (mass produced, not home made)...and very stale! The salsa tasted like pureed tomatoes with specks of cilantro...it was awful...no flavor! If you're going to be a southwest/mexican themed restaurant, it's essential to have respectable chips and salsa.
The so-called spicy caesar salad was average (and not spicy)...it could have been worse, but also could have been much better. The chicken tacos were ok, but not much flavor or creativity.
The Lobster Quesadillas were ok, but again, could be better.
The limes in our drinks were old, discolored, and dried out. I requested some extras and they were more of the same.
The service was spotty, with very young, unexperienced, and poorly trained servers.
Mens bathroom was exceptionally clean.
Bottom line - there are so many better southwest and authentic mexican restaurants in the philly area. I won't be going back to this one.
Yay I would give it 3 1/2 stars if I could. Â Went there for a girls night out and immediately ordered pitchers of sangria & margaritas oh yummy! Drinks were excellent, service was pretty good. Â Two bathrooms for the whole restaurant... not good =0( Â We ordered the cactus nachos which were up there in my top 5 best nachos of the world!! Excellent nachos!! I was stupid and ordered something else thinking it would be just as good. Â Nope. Â My recommendation is nachos & sangria and you will be set. Â Also the dj kept changing the songs we liked. Â Like we would hear it for 30 seconds and then he would skip..poop =(
I would totally go back for the nachos & sangria!!
I managed to get to Cactus a few months ago and forgot to review.
I'm not quite sure if Cactus is a bar trying to serve food, or a restaurant looking to push drinks. Either way, there is something about this place that just seems a bit off.
The guac was promoted as being very good, but it was ordinary at best. Our entrees were not horrible, but nothing to write home about either. Even the drinks were ok, but I've definitely had better margaritas.
The space was kinda cramped, but it was nicely decorated. The next time I'm going through Manyunk, I would definitely give it another shot, but its not an establishment that I would to consider to be a "destination."
My coworkers & I have had some FUN & INEXPENSIVE happy hours here. Â
The good: Â Cactus seated our party of 10 in no time @ 5:30 for happy hour, we took advantage of their $10 margarita pitchers Monday night happy hour special, we were promptly served free chips & salsa, the service was great (there when we needed them, not overbearing). Â The total bill came to $25. Â
The not-so-good: Â Since our group was so large we sat in the dimly lit back of the restaurant - half booth half chairs. Â The air duct over the booth seating was dripping with condensation and half our party got a little wet (it was a small price to pay for being in a nicely air-conditioned space on a hot July evening). Â The chips were a little stale, but I'm being bratty by complaining because they were FREE. Â The margaritas were heavy on the mix, light on tequila but for $10 a pitcher I'm compelled to lower my standards.
On a separate occasion I came with a smaller group & sat outside for their happy hour. Â Again, specials were great & the staff were very accomodating. Â The only problem I had was with the tiny tables - our group of 3 ordered the nachos & portabello quesadillas to split. Â Our 4-top table couldn't accomodate 3 small appetizer plates & 2 entree sized plates & it was a little tricky trying to find a spot to rest your drink.
Expect what you pay for - and you'll have an enjoyable time @ HH with Cactus.
First time I went to Cactus was on their opening night. No remarkable memory of that evening but I'm all for not judging a restaurant on their opening night.
I was looking for a decent and inexpensive place to grab lunch with a friend, and Manayunk area is not easy: you either have sandwich shops or fine dining... Cactus turned out to be a good balance. The food was almost better than I expected and the service very nice... I ordered the Fajita salad (fresh and tasty) and my friend had the pulled pork which he was raving about. Don't expect anything but a decent casual Tex-Mex, and you won't be disappointed.
Having grown up with awesome Mexican food in California I'm not a huge fan of tex-mex. We were in the neighborhood and I was craving a sangria so here we were. Great attentive service!! Nice table outside for people watching. Food was ok.
I wasn't a big fan of my water downed sangria and was sad to see no fruit in the drink. Although at $3.50 a pop (it was 1/2 price sangria day) it worked for me. They had bottles of Negre Modelo (one of my fave beers with Mexican food) which was awesome.
My husband had the pulled pork enchiladas which were yummy. Not awesome, but definitely good, especially with the beer. I had the chicken salad which was ok. The flavors were overpowered by the onion and I couldn't really get a sense of the chicken salad. Chips were good, salsa was kind of bland. Great addition to the neighborhood and great place to grab a drink (skip the sangria). Ok for food.
Well I went back here this past weekend to give it a second try. . .
MUCH BETTER. Serivce was A++, the waitress was very attentive and kept our beer and drinks flowing. They give you complimentary chips which they kept re-filling for us, always a plus. We started with guacamole which was a decent size portion and a pitcher of sangria. (Buy the drinks by the glass--its cheaper then a pitcher that gets you only about 3 drinks)
I ordered the chicken fajita salad which was very fresh and the chicken was juicy. The others that were with me had quesadillas which were huge and very tasty. We couldn't finish all our food because there was too much!
All in all a much better experience then when it first opened.
I went for breakfast with 7 people on Sunday.  We had a great time. Service was great and so was the Sangria....it tasted just right..!  Everyone enjoyed their b-fasts...everyone got omelets  or wraps.  I am looking forward to doing a dinner there.
I saw they are doing a Fajitas and Ritas on Monday night....$8.99 for fajitas and $5 for ritas.
1/2 price sangria on sundays!
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