El Cactus Authentic Mexican Cuisine

Food is pretty shitty. They have $ 1 tacos on Tuesdays and they are not worth the dollar. I suppose if you like margaritas you would like this place, but that’s about it.

Best-​ever friends live here and it’s always best to let the Locals steer you to a Gem. They did indeed.
Food was hot, served quickly and the joint was PACKED. Not because of service, oh no! Lots of happy customers — be assured of that. I so wish I had an El Cactus in Omaha!
This is where you come to have a great meal and margs with friends. This is not Gringo cuisine with corny atmosphere stuff. This is where you trust the Locals and enjoy. The vibe was lively and the waitstaff definitely knew many folks.
Food was NOT disappointing, geez. I can’t poke negatively at anything on our table. Solid food (that I wish was a lot closer to where I live). Excellent service.
I count the days ’til I return to Iowa City for a visit: El Cactus will definitely be the spot of at least one of our meals — my treat!

This New Mexican restaurant is pretty good. I wanted to try something new that was close to I-​80. It’s about 4 minutes from the highway.
The service is great. Once I was seated, my server had chips and (2) choices of salsa in hand! There is a mild and a «spicy» salsa, which is more like a medium. Both are good in their own way: mild has lots of flavor and the «spicy» has a little kick. I chose to try both! The chips were just your average corn chips out of the bag.
I ordered the burrito cactus with chicken lunch special. My order was ready in only a few minutes! The burrito was great except for the sour cream on top. Once that was removed, I enjoyed a very tasty burrito. My burrito was only $ 6.49.
Overall, I would recommend if you are in the area.

The food here was pretty good, considering we’re talking Iowa. The chips and salsa were fresh and spicy, and the chile rellano tasty. My husband liked the cheese they used. I had a beef chimichanga which was good, but I was struggling with the flavors. It was different from what I’m used to in Idaho so it may be a regional thing. I felt the food was overall flavorful and unique. The only thing that took me aback were the peas in the Spanish rice. Lol. Nice place.

My favorite Mexican cuisine in the area!!! I love their chips, so crispy and hot! I love their rice and burritos are great… Always get the fried ice cream too! The owner is great, he knows me and my boyfriend and I always notice him always talking to everyone that is in there, recognizing them by name and everything. The marks are worth the money, I always get a nice buzz on the jumbos!
Whooooo Cactus! **NOT the same owners as The Cactus downtown IC

After debating where my boyfriend and I should go for our one year anniversary, we both decided we wanted Mexican food. I’m Hispanic and originally from Texas, so I’ve had my share of very authentic and very Americanized Mexican food. The food at El Cactus was more leaning towards the Americanized side, however, there are a few items that are spot on authentic and would definitely recommend.
Regardless, all the food we tried here was delicious! The tamale that came with my boyfriends combo, which also had a burrito and enchilada, was very good. I was surprised at its flavor, for I was definitely not expecting to taste such an authentic and flavorful chicken tamale in Iowa.
I ordered the Enchiladas Mazatlan and found the cheesy spinach topping warm, gooey, and tasty. The shrimp and crab inside seemed fine enough, though nothing spectacular. Good rice and beans, but not the best I have. The chips and salsa were relatively average. Honestly, I’ve had better salsas at chain restaurants.
I would definitely recommend anything chicken based on my boyfriend’s reaction to his various chicken entrees. I ordered a root beer after ordering a water, thinking I would be yet again downing disgusting Coralville water, however the water seemed a bit filtered, so I ended up not needing the root beer. He forgot to bring it anyway, but I didn’t mind to bother him, as I simply asked him to remove it.
Waiter wasn’t quite constant. Waited a tad longer than wanted to for check.

Came here on Thursday night, table for 7. The dinning room had a few tables occupied. The service was good, even though we were 7. I had the steak taco dinner. It came with beans and rice. The steak, beans rice was bland. I was disappointed because we have been here before a number of times and the food has been slowly declining. I know they have opened other three other Cactus locations around town but this was the original. Now it has suffered the same fate most restaurants when they expand to quickly. Their quality goes down. Too bad. Please save this sinking ship!

We enjoy the chips & salsa. The food is good, not great. The staff seem friendly. I wish they served fountain drinks, Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb.

I love Cactus downtown, and based off of that my boyfriend and I wanted to try this place. The restaurant was empty but the waitress decided to ignore us half the time and the service was so slow. 10 minutes before we got chips and salsa, which seemed to have came in a reused salsa tube that hadnt been washed, then she walked away for ten more minutes, finally came back to take our drink orders, returned 10 minutes later with the wrong drinks. Whatever. So we ordered just simple chicken tacos. Within the first bite my boyfriend pulled a chicken bone out of his mouth, we then lost our appetite and wanted to leave. When we got the bill we were charged for the expensive beer we ordered but got cheap beer instead and we were double charged for the tacos. I had no patience to try and argue with her so we paid the bill and left.
Needless to say I will NEVER eat at this location again.
It doesn’t even deserve the one star I gave it.

Unfortunately this use to be my favorite place but their food has gotten cheap and skimpy, and their service has acquired a huge dose of attitude and ambivalence. We were regulars and were always nice and tipped generously, but it seems to have taken the trip on the downward spiral with the servers being bitter and taking it out on the customers. Sad.

Awesome food & service! The owner is always present, checking on tables constantly. An always welcoming environment!

Good food.

Good chips and salsa and friendly service. Generous portions and a large menu to choose from. Had a chicken burrito and enchilada and enjoyed both. Also had a 22 oz margarita on special.

It’s a good, solid mexican place, but I wouldn’t call it spectacular. Their $ 5 giant margaritas help… But the refried beans are too watery and the rice is bland — and those are the true measure of an excellent Mexican place. Also, I don’t consider «red gravy» a true enchilada sauce… Maybe it’s all my years in the Southwest, Arizona and in Mexico, but I find this mysterious red sauce (not hot) occasionally and I think it’s an attempt to cater to the Iowa gringos. The atmostphere is homey though… and overall I’d eat there again.

This is one of our families favorite restaurant and by far our favorite Mexican restaurant. It is VERY family friendly (doesn’t have a diaper changing station though, so beware). The wait staff is attentive and cater to children. I strongly recommend the Mexican classics like the goditas, enchiladas with the green sauce or mole, the torta, or the Mexican pork plate. Their everyday items are just like every other Mexican restaurant, but if you branch out on their menu, you will not be disappointed!

As far as Mexican food goes in the Iowa City area, this is my favorite.
The menudo is incredible — try it if you’ve never had it. It’s a soup made traditionally with beef stomach and hominy in a flavorful, clear broth. It comes with several sides to add in — lettuce, onion, jalapeño, cilantro, lime. Mmmmmmmm.
The gorditas are also a favorite. And the crazy chicken. I highly doubt there is anything authentic about «crazy chicken» but it is a pile of sliced chicken, chorizo, queso blanco, and rice. YUM. Also — try the cheese crispy for an appetizer. So good.
Chips and salsa are very good — which is highly important for a Mexican restaurant :)
Prices are a little on the higher side for this type of Mexican restaurant. I wouldn’t call it «expensive» but prices range from $ 7.99-$ 11.99 which is slightly higher than other places I’ve been to. But, honestly I haven’t been to other places in the area in a while because this is the only Mexican place I go to anymore.

We came to El Cactus in search of «our Mexican place» and unfortunately it was mediocre. It has the look and feel of a great little Mexican spots, but we were really underwhelmed by the food. I had their signature burrito and it was par at best. The sauce was good, meat decent, but the kicker was that they really skimped on the cheese. Sounds like a small thing, but when my wife and I looked at it and said, «huh, seems like they wanted to save money on this burrito» that was pretty much it. She had some enchiladas that were pretty good, but not enough for a return visit.
Our philosophy on Mexican has become — it better be really good, because it’s not hard to make decent Mexican at home. This didn’t pass the, I could make this test.
Service was great, very friendly and provided some really good recommendations. Beers were pretty standards.
Overall, it was very mediocre Mexican and with a lot of options in town and «Mexican food» aisle in your nearest grocery store, this didn’t pass the «We can do it ourselves test»

Very good food, great service. A bit small, but definitely one of the better options for Mexican food in Iowa City/​Coralville. We had a party of 20+ and they split checks and were incredibly quick with drinks and food on a busy night. Will definitely visit again.

I ate here for lunch with some coworkers. It was pretty decent food. Nothing special, but fairly quick and convenient for lunch. Atmosphere is what you’d expect: booths aren’t the most comfortable, cheesy mural on the wall. I would go back, but I’m not running around telling all my friends they must eat there either.

Tried El Cactus based on a tip from fellow Unilocal-​er, Liliana Z.
Went on a week night and it was fairly busy (60−70% packed in a 10-​ish table space.) The chips were great! They provide 2 salsas (mild and hot) for your to start your dinner. The server recommended their special, which is a fajita with EVERYTHING on it. I mean, its got shrimp, chicken, a thin slab of steak on top of the fajita veggies, all for $ 13.
For the sake of comparison, my friend and I got the special and the usual combo, tamale, burrito and enchilada. The tamale was moist and very well composed. I can’t say much for the burrito or enchilada, it just doesn’t have enough flavors.
The «works» fajita looks excitingly intimidating! I was hoping that the taste was as aggressive as the size of the meal, but I was sorely disappointed. The meat and veggies all tasted the same. Its just such a shame to mix the goods together simply to have it taste the same. Its as if I was back at HuHot Mongolian BBQ again!
To me, the food at El Cactus tastes like food made by the newly married girl, who recently learned how to cook. She’s following all the instructions, but she has yet to pick up the «secret» from her abuela.
Overall, the food does taste authentic, like home made, but that’s about it. Remember that sometimes, tia Maria makes the food, and you eat it because you are hungry. Now you can return to El Cactus for that trip down memory lane. Give it a few tries and like tia Maria’s food, it’ll feed your hunger, but you will leave searching for something else (like food at your friend Brian’s house).