Cactus Cantina

Came in aid 6pm on a Tuesday, and it was fairly busy but not packed. Got seated right away, first round of drinks and apps came out a bit slow. But the food, prices, drinks and server were great!
I recommend the fajitas and margaritas. Will come back for sure.

The food seemed decent! Although the service was horrible! I received my food cold… so I returned it! The margarita was not that great… but the second one my husband ordered was good? So not very consistent… the waitress was rude and would walk away before we could get another word in. We had to repeatedly ask for the same thing over and over since she apparently had a hard time remembering… I would give this place another try BUT definitely not with the same waitress…
Btw my husband has been there before and seen the waitresses drinking early in the day while working lol SOOOO apparently the other reviews were right on about this! No wonder the service sux… half the time they’re probably buzzed! Maybe the owner needs to put some cameras everywhere and watch it!

Came here about ten years ago (probably nothing spectacular because we never came back until now). Kind of busy on Saturday night so that’s a good sign.
Food: 4 stars. Better than I remembered. Better than I expected. We didn’t get complimentary chips and salsa so we had to ask. The chips were not great like they were starting to taste kind of stale. Can’t complain. They were free. However, my fish and chips (well, fish and choice of side so I picked rice pilaf) were tasty. Crisp and no «fishy» smell. Lol. Rice was soft and had flavor. My son’s kids’ meal fries were good, right amount of salt and not mushy. My hubby’s prime rib had good seasoning and was tender.
Price: 3.5 stars. Like other chains of similar food (we did use a coupon of bogo ½ off and the waitress took off $ 6 um. half of $ 12.99).
Service: 4 stars. Fast and friendly. Even gave us check midway through our dinner.
Atmosphere: 4 stars. Music was loud enough so my kids didn’t sound loud. Nearby, a group sang happy birthday to a party so people seemed friendly in there.

This place is nothing special at all. The service and food are mediocre.

No bueno. Food was really dry, fries were soggy. I wouldn’t come here. Nothing but retired white folks in this «cantina». The cajun shrimp skewers were plain, the big dipper was really dry, the bbq sandwhich was also dry and chewy. Felt like I was in a retirement cafeteria. Very dissapointed

Decent restaurant. Clean. Friendly staff and cold beer. With that said, there are many places that one can find better quality Mexican food. The menu was a little confusing as well seeing as this is a Mexican restaurant… There were many many more burger and sandwich items than there were actual (ha!) Mexican food.
I feel like if this place focused more on their food and maybe spent just a little more for better quality, this could easily become a regular go to spot.

If you are looking for a great neighborhood style family restaurant in the Riverside area, then I recommend The Cactus Cantina in the Mission Grove Center!
It is a causal restaurant with a hometown feel. Plenty of local pictures on the walls with plenty of flat screen TVs so you can watch the game while eating. Its a little noisy but nothing unbearable.
The food is always tasty! I have eaten there any times and have never had a bad meal. Today I had the wet Fajita Burrito with Chicken And it was cooked perfectly with lots of wonderful flavors. The refried beans are tasty too but I have to avoid then for my wife’s sake :) They also always give you some chips and salsa to start your visit which is also tasty.
I see the reviews that talk about the service and we have never had a bad service experience and we have eaten there a number of times. I really think some people aren’t happy unless they are complaining about something.
Overall we had a great experience and I think you will too so make sure you check it out!

We ate at this restaurant last night. The reason I gave this restaurant a two star rating is the service was pretty good. The food though is really poor. I am not sure why this place is chosen for birthday celebrations. I ordered from the Mexican half page in the menu and what got was not good. The price also is a bit high for the quality.

4 stars for the food it is very good and consistent the shrimp fajitas are great the carne asana burrito is amazing ok I will eat whatever they want to bring me and I’m a picky eater. As for the service If the owner is on site you are lucky and will have a great meal. If he is not and you get served by anybody related to the owner be prepared for a I’m better than you attitude. They do have a handful of great servers and I do hope not to offend these people as they keep me coming back. After going for years I will keep going back being satisfied with the food and disappointed with 50 percent of the service.

I live in the area, and I like to go to Cactus about once a month, and I order the fajitas for two every time. Haha, I am so boring!
Ambiance/​interior: I like this place. I love that they have «local legends» in picture frames on the walls. They have people who are from Riverside, like race car drivers, ball players, etc. on the back wall, and I think it gives the restaurant a local flavor that you can’t find at chains like Chili’s down the street (this place is better than Chili’s, but I am really NOT a fan of Chili’s). I like the effort and thought that is put into the décor: kind of local, with southwest flavor, but not fancy, and it is somewhat older. There is a bar area in the middle of the restaurant, with lots of TVs, and that is one of the reasons we like to come here, to watch a game and have dinner and a drink. I usually don’t bring my kids, but it is kid friendly, too.
Service: Always very good and the staff seems very friendly. I come here often and have never had bad service.
Food: Like I said, I am a creature of habit here, and I really like the fajitas the best. I usually prefer the steak and share it with my husband. The flavor of the steak is good, and the meat is not overcooked, and it comes with lots of peppers and onions. The beans and rice are good, and it comes with pico de gallo and sour cream and guacamole. This is not a Mexican restaurant, but I think they do a fair job with the Mexican dishes. I always order the chips and salsa to go with it. They have lots of items like steak and burgers and all kinds of diner/​neighborhood steakhouse type foods. My son (age 11), when he comes, orders the fried calamari or fried shrimp, or any variety of fried stuff, and he loves them. The food is what I would call comfort food, and by that I mean that it isn’t fancy or amazing, but it is consistently good, and makes me feel at home. The bar has a decent selection of beers, and that keeps the hubby happy, too.
Overall, I would recommend it. But, it is not fancy, and it isn’t amazing.

For the first year we lived here, my wife and I gave this place at least 20 shots. We always left unimpressed. It’s just kinda alright, americanized Mexican food. If this place had a theme song, it would be the sound a deflating balloon makes.

Impressive food and impressive service. Been coming here for years and turning all my friends onto it as well.
My favorite dish so far is their chile relleno, which I don’t think I’ve ever been able to finish in one sitting (BIG portions). I hear their carne asada is to die for, so I’ll be trying that soon.
Plus the management is good people, and they have strong ties to the community. A couple customers at my own business have told me to come to Cactus for some of the charitable events they’ve hosted. I like knowing that my money supports stuff like that even when I’m just eating out.

First off we are regulars at cactus so decided to come there today for Mother’s Day. We had a horrible experience our server was Julia and she was completely rude to several people in our party and obviously incompetent kept making several excuses and yell at other coworkers when it was completely clear she kept mistakes … If I owned this business I would terminate her employment this girl is clearly liability. We will not be returning very sad we been consumers since the beginning
Further more its very sad when among other customers when your stopped outside and told how bad she is … Apparently the word is out

The only reason I gave this place 4 stars was because of the food.
The service is lacking and definitely not quick to take your order, refill your drinks or check on you during your meal.
Our waitress however was exceptionally quick to bring the bill.
There were six of us at this table. My son ordered a steak which was five star quality.
The rest of us ordered fajitas and other Mexican place which were exceptional

Waitress was awesome, pointing out items that they are well known for. One of the items she pointed out was salmon. I don’t eat salmon because I never cared for it. I ordered the Cajun shrimp plate and my boyfriend order the salmon plate. Both were outstandingly delicious! Everyone always told me I’ve never experienced salmon cooked the right way. Well the salmon here was awesome, no smell, moist & flaky. The shrimp plate was even better. Most the time you get shrimp they look big in the picture but in real life they’re small. This particular plate came with eight pieces of shrimp. I was fully satisfied and actually had a hard time getting the last two pieces down.

I’m not clear why someone would put anything under 4 stars? Every time I come to Cactus Cantina (off and on for a few years) I receive excellent service, the staff is great, and the food is excellent!!! So I see a two star review, «I didn’t like the tacos.» These aren’t street tacos for crying out loud!!! This is a Mexican/​American cuisine, but Americanized to fit the taste of most folks in this area. If you read this review, ask the staff to suggest a meal. The Fillet Medallions are off the hook!!! The Rib Eye is to die for!!! The Loaded Nachos… never had better!!! The service is impeccable and the staff is more personable/​attentive than any staff I’ve met under the busy circumstances… they do an excellent job, they work hard, and put an extravagant amount of effort into each and every customer.

I really wanted to like this place because Its close to me. I could walk here if I wanted to. The inside is like an outdated Sizzler’s from the 90s. Our server was AWESOME, and out drinks were okay, but the food was average. The food is very affordable, but tastes like home-​cooked food that I could have made myself. I’m honestly not a picky person, but I just wasn’t impressed with their food. Maybe one day i’ll return to give it a second chance, but overall I wasn’t impressed.

I want to like Cactus Cantina so badly because it is so close to my house and very reasonably priced. However, every time my husband and I decide to give this place a shot, they let us down. We’ve tried a lot of different items on their menu and all of it is very bland. The fajitas are probably the best thing on their menu but even those aren’t great. The service is typically very slow but everyone that works there is nice enough.
I would give them a 2.5 if that were an option because they aren’t quite a 2 star but definitely not a 3 star restaurant in my opinion. Pretty much if you go here to eat you will eat food. Not great food, not horrible food, just food. You will no longer be hungry, but you probably won’t be satisfied.

Went there for dinner and had a Mexican combo plate. The food was very bland, had to cover it in salsa for flavoring. Ordered a second margarita and the waitress forgot to bring it. I had to ask her a second time for my margarita. She brought the drink and after a few sips, I noticed it was leaking from a large crack in the side of the glass. I advised her that the margarita glass had a large crack in the side and was leaking. She took the glass back to the bar and returned with a small glass containing the
margarita. She asked if I wanted more ice in the glass. I asked if that was the same drink and she confirmed that it was. I told her that I had concerns that there could be pieces of glass in the original drink. She finally returned it and brought out a new drink. Will never go back to this place!!!

The food is average. My husband loves their Carne Asada Burrito. Everything else is usually just average. The wait staff around the restaurant are nice and give pretty good service. HOWEVER, the weekday, evening bar tenders are HORRIBLE. Unless you are an extreme regular (meaning you go in multiple times a week) they all but ignore you. You have to ask for everything. They smile and are super flirty, but only cater to those that are there multiple times a week. They do have a good selection of beers on tap. The décor is dated but clean. My husband and I continued to go here because it is so close and he loves the burrito, but we’ve just been too so annoyed with service, we haven’t been in quiet a while.
OH! Also, they advertise in the coupon flyers that you get in the mail. DON’T USE THE COUPON. Every single time that we do, our bill is more than when we just pay regular. I’ve asked what that is about a couple of times and the «wonderful» bartender went to ask and never reported back.