If our friends didn't have a Groupon, there is no way we would voluntarily eat here. However, I know Groupons cannot go to waste, so we trekked here for dinner over the weekend. First, the good: Lone Star beer (for you True Detective fans) and other interesting drink offerings made for a good time. I also enjoyed the fried ice cream dessert. Everything in between leads me to... The bad: service is mediocre, took forever to get a drink at the bar (but yet couples that came in after had no problems) and when we were seated, I found it strange the server didn't know the menu all that well. There were two items on the menu that she didn't even know existed. The food is so-so, I wouldn't say it's awful, it's not - it was OK. Meh. Blah. Also, the restaurant itself and the decor is, well, ick. The walls were dirty, the floor was disgusting, and half the tables had energy saving bulbs and the other half didn't, which gave off a very strange vibe (am I in a warehouse or a mexican restaurant?) Also note, at least 1 in 3 tables orders fajitas at this place and be prepared to get home with your hair and clothes smelling like a fajita festival. There is no reason for the added smoke and show - unless your food is mediocre. Which it is. See ya later, Fat Cactus!
(2)
Renzo T.
This place at one point was my favorite Mexican spot to eat... My girl and I would go here almost every weekend in the summer because the meat and food were downright special... The flavor and way the food was prepared couldn't be matched... ...that was then...this is now... Since then they've switched chefs... Who knows why?? But since that date the good has be sub par at best.... Across The Boarder or Maragritas it's a better choice now... Smh....what once was great...
(2)
Busta M.
When this place first opened it was great! As of March 2014 however, it has gone way down hill. I worry that The Fat Cactus will be closing soon given how bad the food and service is now. I ordered chicken enchiladas with refried beans and rice. The enchiladas were swimming in cheese and simply did not taste good at all. The refried beans were also not good and looked as though they had been slopped on my plate. I figured the rice might be OK but alas, it was not - it had a cardboard taste. And the plate was scolding hot which tells me that it was plunked under the broiler and dismissed. I did not try the tomato salsa on the plate or the lettuce. Honestly I left most of the food on the plate. Worse than the food however was the service. It seems that all of the wait staff here is miserable now. Our waitress was totally out of it and simply going through the motions. Her greeting to us was a rambling jumble of words with a forced smile. I saw another waitress coughing as she passed our table - did not cover her mouth. Moral seems to be very bad here now. Its too bad because as I said above, the place was great when it first opened and again I worry that it will close soon unless they fix the food and the service. Sorry Fat Cactus, I want to love you but I just can't right now.
(2)
Emily H.
A few months ago we were drawn into this restaurant by it's busy and colorful exterior; however it was downhill from there. The restaurant is huge, and we went at a time when it was relatively empty; however our service was still mediocre at best. Halfway through our meal, our server disappeared and we never saw him again. The food was blah at best. I can't even remember exactly what I had, some type of burrito, I just remember for low quality inauthentic ingredients, specifically the rubbery cheese. I would not come back here again, and unless you are prioritizing a fun atmosphere (I assume in the evening it gets more lively and fun) I would not recommend this place.
(2)
Patrick H.
I think the best thing you can do at Fat Cactus is drive past it on your way to a real Mexican restaurant.
(1)
Rachel M.
Really loud music on a Friday night while trying to eat dinner. The food was alright, but we only came here because Border Cafe had an hour wait and we were starving. Good service, too loud!
(3)
Cristina L.
Just left Fat Cactus after having been there for over an hour and only ordered 1 margarita, guac and a couple tacos. I went bc I saw the sign for $2 tacos. The tacos were pretty good for the price, I wouldn't pay more than $2 bucks for them, and the guac was just ok. The service however, what absolutely terrible. My husband and I sat at the bar, which was mostly empty, for 15 minutes before the bartender even came over and seemed like we were bothering him when we asked for a menu and that we wanted to order drinks. After he took our drink order, another 15 minutes later he said he'd take our food order, but only after he finished putting the dishes away which were apparently more important. The place has potential, but there is no one qualified running it. Employee's Dunkin Donuts cups and purses were on the back bar and it smells like stale booze, also the bartender couldn't stop scratching himself (below the belt) and obviously didn't care he was in public and dealing with people and food. No tip for him after watching that and dealing with his careless attitude.
(1)
Lisa G.
I really enjoyed my taco lunch sat the bar free chips and salsa is always a plus nextvtime I will get a drink they sounded great. The staff was pretty nice also.
(3)
Melissa F.
Came here last night since Border Cafe (our usual choice) had almost an hour wait. Unfortunately I do not see myself returning since this place was nothing to write home about and service was terrible. We had to ask our waitress multiple times to clean off our table, for extra silver wear and for refills. We didn't even get chips and salsa at the beginning! She sucked. So much so that my friend called the manager to mention it after we left. (She took so long to bring us everything that we were there far longer than we expected so we really just wanted to leave.) Food was meh, WAY better at Border cafe. The only thing I really liked were the beef empanadas. Next time I want Mexican I'll just wait it out at border.
(2)
David V.
This place was great. I dont know these other people are talking about. Super fast service. As soon as we sat down we got chips salsa and guac. I ordered steak tips which was awesome and my girl got a burrito the size on her forearm. Delicious. Def will come back if I ever travel up this way again
(5)
Fernando G.
Fat Cactus is by far the worst restaurant on Route 1. The place is dirty, sticky, and dusty. The wait staff is nice and polite, but the older blonde hostess is a mean bitch. The food is mediocre at best. The chips are soaking in oil, salsa is straight out of a can, guacamole tastes like wallpaper paste, and my shoe is more tender than the stake! I don't know how a place that is just a mile from the Border Cafe can be such a disgusting mess. Whoever runs this place doesn't give a damn about their customer's experience.
(1)
Crystal J.
I've been here 3 or 4 times and while the service has always been slow, the food is usually fantastic. However, one Saturday a few months back I brought some friends along because we had a Groupon. My boyfriend ordered a Spicy Chicken Ranchero burrito, requesting no beans, while the rest of us ordered regular burritos. When the server brought our food, she had no idea whose meal was whose. All the burritos had beans in them, and I'm 100% positive she gave the ranchero burrito to my friend because it was the only one with a different type of sauce on top. After sending my boyfriend's burrito back to the kitchen to get no beans, she brought back the wrong type of burrito. It didn't have jalepenos, peppers, onions, OR pan-blackened chicken like the ranchero burrito is supposed to have. When we tried to tell our server that we thought the wrong burrito was made, she quickly said "nope it's the right burrito" and walked away. We've both ordered the ranchero burrito before and it never looked like whatever she brought us. I understand Saturday nights can be hectic, but when your table repeatedly tries to tell you the wrong meal was made, maybe take a minute to ask what it is they actually wanted instead of brushing it off. Fat Cactus was quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants, however after this experience, I don't think we will be back.
(2)
Melissa P.
Last night my husband and I went to the fat cactus, we had been there before and it was amazing...no wait, good service, everything was as it should be. I saw that there was a groupon available so I got one to be able to go back. When we got there a Hostess or waiter say they would be right with us, 5 to 10 minutes later someone sat us on the porch, said he would get us chips and salsa and tell our waitress. 15 min or so go by and he came back over wondering if anyone had helped us yet? We said no so he prompted to be our waiter. Took our drink order and said he would be back with our drinks, chips and salsa. 10 minutes or so go by he comes back with our drinks, takes our order said he would be back in the meantime with our chips and salsa that he has yet to deliver. 20 min go by, were sitting on the porch and we can smell someone smoking weed at the front entrance, we look over it's our server. At this time another hostess come over and asked if we have been helped we said someone took out order 30min ago and we haven't gotten anything yet. She apologized and said she would find our server. 5min later our food comes out and my husband asked for a refill on his drink. He said he would be right back. He came over 5 to 10 min later asking how everything way, we asked if we could get our drinks and chips and salsa. Come back later with a sodas. We were so appalled by this waiter we didn't even spend our whole groupon. We wanted desert but we didn't want to order fear that it would be another hour. We paid what we owed and left.
(1)
Jon N.
What a mess. Plate arrived sloppy and runny like it had been microwaved. Chimichanga not crispy at all--more like a burrito under a warming lamp. Sangria tasted like a mix. Chips out of a bag. Lazy.
(2)
jackie y.
This COULD be the best place ever, but it's NOT. The environment is great but the food and drinks are inconsistent, overpriced and just plain, not good. It's a shame because they're one of the only places in the area with live music and outdoor seating. If they would just follow The Border Cafe's business model, they'd be great.
If this review looks too long for you to read, just skip to my last sentence. First time there, on a not busy Saturday night, everything we ordered came out as a mistake, the soda was not the one ordered , the appetizer(cheese dip but we ordered guacamole) , the main course (the chicken we ordered came as beef) , my steak tips tasted like rubber. The food wasn't cleared off the table properly, the $42bill had only $39 off my $40 Groupon which I know it doesn't seem like a big deal but that was the last straw for me. I felt like nobody even cared about the mistakes. After all the mistakes no manager came to the table. I I went to the host desk to complain after I got the check, the hostess got the manager and I told him the story, his resolution was to see him next time I go there(I'm sorry but I worked in restaurants for a long time when I was younger and that's not how things should be resolved). I was so bummed out and disappointed that I didnt even want anything off the bill, just wanted to leave and never go back there.
(1)
J R.
I love Mexican. I could eat here again, but not overly often. the food is tasty but very heavy. Overall pretty decent and convenient to get to.
(3)
Kib L.
Dishes are unauthentic and flavorless. Service is slow and unattentive. Drinks are watered down. Decor on the other hand...gets 1 star.
(1)
Sue I.
We went with a living social deal and I am glad we did not have to pay full price. Margaritas were overly sweet. Music was too loud from the bar area for a comfortable dinner. Appetizers were tasty. We had high hopes after trying the Tequila Lime Wings and the Empanadas. But, the entrees were sorely lacking. My Husband got the tacos that were so soggy that they could not be picked up. I got the Fajita Burrito. Huge in size but the steak inside was fatty. The onions were pretty much raw strips and there were no peppers at all. No point in saying anything to the waitress as she was not around much at all. I would understand if it was a busy night but the dinner area was almost empty. Not interested in returning. Slightly less than mediocre Mexican. Bathrooms were unkempt as well...
(2)
Amanda C.
We had the worst service. I enjoyed the food and drink but our server was inattentive. We would see her at 15 to 20 minute increments. It's too bad because we are usually good tippers. Will not be returning.
(2)
Melissa C.
I know the biggest draw for this place is the live music, but the bf and I decided to be seated in the restaurant instead of the patio. I think this place would be great if you just wanted to come back and kick back with some friends, but as a place to get a meal.. not so much. The empanadas and rice were good, but that was about it. They used this red sauce in their enchiladas and tacos, which was funky. I couldn't finish my taco it was so bad and bitter tasting. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the food. Also, their house margarita tastes like they use bottom shelf tequilla. If you're looking to get tipsy, it'll work, but don't order it for flavor!
(2)
Sandra F.
OMG! I came here on Monday, Labor Day. Not a busy night. This was my second time coming to The Fat Cactus; both times because I had a Groupon. The first time I came I order the steak fajitas. The vegetables that were on the bottom of the skillet were burned and the ones on the top were raw. The steak was tough as leather. It was awful. This time I went again because I had a Groupon and I wanted to see if it had improved. Plus, it was expiring next week. I ordered two different magaritas and both were watery, not a taste of tequila. For dinner, I ordered Tequila Lime chik wings appetizers and carne asada (steak) as an entree. Within 5 minutes of ordering, my appetizer and entree were put down in front of me. I have never had food cooked so fast in my life. Everything was tasteless. The wings were dry because they had been microwaved and the steak was tough as leather. I took the wings home, but I did not eat any of my entree and did not take it home. I will never come back here again, groupon or no groupn. And I will never recommend it.
(1)
Carolyn W.
We were seated promptly by open windows at about 7:30 pm. We were planning on asking our server to close it when they came to introduce themselves, but we sat there for 17 minutes without being acknowledged. While sitting, we heard the tables around us ask three different people to close the windows before anything was done. I wish zero stars were an option. We left after those 17 minutes and told the 2 hostesses that it was unacceptable. They were more concerned with where we were seated than in apologizing. DON'T GO TO THIS RESTAURANT!
(1)
Phil W.
Great food, Great drinks. Ive sat at the bar area many times as well as the dining area. Great place to have a few drinks with friends or dinner with the family. Live music in the summer and always a fun crowd.
(5)
Peter H.
Plenty of seating all day, even weekend evenings. Plays music on certain days - gets too noisy at those times, but I like to have a conversation. Varied southern beer collection, house margaritas are very standard, not bad but nothing special. Dinner and lunch menu is very good. Food is hot, well-cooked and flavorful. Lunch buffet was TERRIBLE. Food was luke-warm and flavor was not good. Only time I've had bad food at this restaurant. Service is good.
(4)
Judy C.
We keep going back for the best fajitas ever! And they do fajitas for two also. Steak, chicken, shrimp, I've tried them all! I add guacamole to the set up that comes with it and i tastes as good as my own. Service is always timely, its a bit loud when the band is playing (as to be expected) but its a lively fun place that we really enjoy.
(4)
Tommy K.
Eek! What's happening over there?!?!? I loved the Fat Cactus, up until tonight. The salsa was very runny and tasted pretty much like canned tomatoes and a few spices. The chips were okay. Ordered a diet coke and it tasted nasty. Asked the server (Brian) what was up with the soda and he said "Oh it's City Soda" - while I do not know what that means do NOT order soda. I then asked for iced tea, Brian brought raspberry sweetened tea - I asked him for unsweetened. When he brought it - it smelled and tasted like toilet cleaning solution. WTF? Dinner took a while, a burrito and fajitas - doesn't make sense. Our server Brian was just okay. He seemed annoyed or as if he had some place better to be. Never saw a manager - they never came over to check on our table or any other for that matter. I would say that'll be the last time I visit there, unless I don't want salsa or anything to drink from a mexican restaurant.
(2)
Angela D.
I love it! I've been here about six times now on a groupon in the last six months. Occasionally I have a small issue with something with the food. But they are always attentive to correct it and the staff is always doing their best to make you happy. Every time I've come, I've been seated right away. Fajitas are great and the Rollito's are amazing! I look forward to coming back again.
(5)
Kevin S.
Wanted to go to Border Cafe. Didn't want to stand around 90 minutes waiting for a table there. Well....up Rt 1 to the Fat Cactus. Never been here under this name before. They had a table right away, even though it was 7:30 on a Friday night AND the place was PACKED. Service was good. Food? Who knew there was another decent Mexican style place on Rt 1 other than Border Cafe? Parking can get tight when busy (like this night). There is lots of parking. As Christina Z says, Live Music EVERY night. It is out by the patio area, but the sound rolls through the entire place. If you want a quiet dinner, don't come here.
(3)
Mara P.
First off the food was really great but the service was disgusting and horrible. Our waitress brought me over a cracked cup and then I had to ask another waitress for a new cup because my waitress was no where to be found, she also had to ask my boyfriend to repeat his drink order three times which was just a "bud bottle". We also witnessed a male waiter fondling waitresses by tickling and just poking them and being a creep, the staff seemed to be having more of social party with eachother rather than paying attention to customers. At the end of meal I used to rest room and witnessed a waitress not wash her hands when she came out of the stall and she just went back to work also in the same minute another waitress comes in and pulled pads (normally used to for that time of the month) out of her armpits to catch sweat and after having her hands under her armpits she did not wash her hands either! Also the waitress that we had did not clear away any dishes when we were done, she seemed overall bored and didn't care about getting our order right. I am disappointed and disgusted I will not be coming back!
(1)
Meredith M.
Such a great place for a group of friends or a fun date. Last Friday we treated ourselves to dinner on the deck of the Fat Cactus. The weather was perfect, the live band was loud, the margaritas were strong and not too sweet. The food was fine. The queso was basically velveta with a little rotel. The enchiladas were tasty but average. The fish tacos were delicious! Being from Texas, I have very high standards for mexican food establishments. However, the ambiance and service were enough to grant this place 4 stars. (Food gets 3 stars). It's a fun place on the North Shore to grab a bite and a few margaritas on a hot day. I think it would also be fun for private parties! If your'e in the area, check it out!
(4)
Kim R.
Had looked forward to stopping for lunch...mistake! Both of us acquired stains on our pants from the filthy table cloths. Waitress moved us to a "cleaner" table...with an equal amount of "rundown". We barely tasted our food we were in such a hurry to leave. Unfortunate experience. Should have read the reviews!
(1)
Frederick S.
I've been there twice. The food is fair to poor. Today I got fries instead of the rice i ordered with my ribs, No guacamole or refried beans as requested with my fajitas. I will not be returning!
(1)
Lizz W.
Decor, was crazyyyy and fun to look at. We went with 7 people, and were sat right away on Saturday night. 5 out of 7 of us got fajitas. Chicken, Steak and Catfish. All were delicious and greatly portioned. Not to mention how full we all were off the buckets of chips and salsa before the meal. Everything was fresh and good, we will be back again (when in the area)
(4)
Justin S.
Truth in advertising: This review was based on the first and only time I have been here. Oversized menus were an interesting novelty but would have been difficult to handle with 4 people at our booth. They needed a bath, however, as both were suffering from previous customer's salsa drippings. We started off with Queso Fundido. It was exactly as described on the menu. However be warned this is NOT authentic fundido that typically contains chorizo. Chips were not hot, some were chewy, but the salt level was even and appropriate. Fish Tacos: Fish was seriously over-fried, to the point it had to be picked apart because it was difficult to chew. Had potential to be very good and the red pepper sauce was tasty. Beef Chimichanga: Tasty, although a little greasy. This dish was served on what appeared to be a tomato basil tortilla which you would typically expect to find at a deli. The filling was good, except for the beef which was difficult to cut and chew. A steak knife would have helped. Both dishes came with beans (one refried and one black) which were hot and average. Mexican rice however was as crunchy as the carrots shreds that it contained.
(2)
Kathleen H.
The decor is of the "Tijuana ate too much Mardis Gras and puked in my living room" chic. You know, the kind that so many WOOHOO-we-are -so-FUN!!! restaurants enjoy, but with a tex mex/amerilatin flair. Lots of bright colors, tiles, beads, tchotchkes, mirrors. . . the ceiling has brilliantly colored big salamander things, and the big bar has a row of flip flops glued to the ceiling. They have PARTY ROOMS, POOL TABLES and FUN FUN FUN VIDEO GAMES!!! There you go. The music was LOUD. It was saturday night, but it was hard to have any kind of conversation. We were at a bar table - perhaps it's quieter in the dedicated dining area or the spacious porch. Next time - if there's room - which there wasn't last night - I'd like to sit on the porch. Comfy tables with wicker furniture, live music (They advertise that they have it 7 days a week) - it looks like a fun place to go with friends and hang out with a pitcher of something. The guy last night was singing a mix of margaritavillesque classic tunes and Simon and Garfunkel. When he was on break. . LOUD latin music was playing. Did I mention the music was LOUD??(at least in the bar area) The margaritas have enthralling, enticing, delicious sounding descriptions in the menu, followed by a snappy synopsis, a la Cheap Boozy Chinese Place (This sailor will send you out to sea! wink wink. . . what? OH RIGHT, it'll get me drunk, thanks!) I ordered one that supposedly was a higher end variety, in other words, not just sour mix with a splash of Cuervo. It purported to be just booze with real fresh squeezed lime juice. It came in a high ball glass and tasted. .sweet. sigh. Evidently there aren't real margarita glasses here. My companion also reported. . .sweet drink. Not much other flavor. double sigh. They did have alcohol in them though, for what it's worth. Drinks are reasonably priced, the house margarita or glass of sangria: $5.50. The "high end" drinks? $8.50. I'd say. . . just stick with the house pitchers. Because you're not going to get a finely crafted anything here, so you might as well spend less money getting shnozzled. The food was. . .edible. Ok. Kept me from gnawing off my hand. The chips were freshly fried and pretty good - but very floppy and greasy toward the bottom of the basket. Service? What service. . well ok, there was some service. Our waitress was perky and said "here ya go Doll" when she handed me my drink. After we waited awhile for menus, and two other people said our waitress would be by with menus. Then we were brought chips by the chip guy who said someone would be there to take our drink order. Our waitress took our food order, and was never seen again. A harried looking guy in a T shirt plopped our food on our table - the lettuce/pico de gallo/sour cream that was supposed to come with the fajitas never appeared. After trying a couple times to flag down someone who was not our waitress and failing, we just ate what we had, in the silence provided by REALLY LOUD MUSIC. My rice had peas in it. grump. We asked another passing waitress if she could send our waitress over. "uh huh". Didn't happen. We asked another passing waitress if we could speak to the manager. Yeah, that got results. The manager apologized. All we paid for was drinks. Thank you. All in all. . . Lots of Glitter, basic sweet drinks and unspicy New England tex mex food. I would come again to sit outside with buddies, if it was convenient. And possibly, try sitting in the actual dining area on a date or something . . .but from my experience last night, the assurance that "Sure you can sit at the bar, full menu, no waiting!" Also means. . .no service.
(2)
Mike B.
I had been to this location when it was the Naked Fish, so I have been curious to check out The Fat Cactus for some time. I was out with the kiddos on a recent weekend and stopped by The Border Cafe: but seeing as it was packed, and I had a restless 3 y/o (the 8 y/o was chill), I didn't want to risk the wait; so we soldiered on up Route 1 and dropped into the Fat Cactus. The fact that the place was about a third full should have served as a warning (esp compared to Border). The other red flag was the dirty menu, which was splattered in several places with dried something or other...yikes. I ordered a chicken chimichanga, and I've gotta say, I was disappointed. The chicken was dark meat , and the item overall was just...dull. Not bad, but dull. The accompanying rice and beans were also just so-so. On the positive side: The kiddos both had burgers, which they gobbled up. The 8 y/o is particularly fussy about food, but nonetheless was a happy camper. Our server (Devan?) was awesome: friendly, prompt, great with the kids. Bottom line: both the service and atmosphere were great, but the food didn't cut it, and the place should have been more clean.
(2)
LeAnn L.
Atmosphere, great.....service and DRINKS, not so much. I went here for dinner and margaritas with my girlfriends and received sub-par service and drinks. I ordered a frozen raspberry margarita and it tasted like blue raspberry slush, no liquor. It took forever for the alcoholic drinks to come out, water wasn't served until much later and we had to ASK. Also, the waitress failed to give us napkins or plates when our bucket of chips came out, so again, we had to ask for those. THE WORST PART WAS, when our food came out, our waitress set our food down and walked away. only we had NO SILVERWARE. We asked her to bring some out and she said that "all the silverware was in the dishwasher and they're preparing the utensils now" ...umm ARE YOU KIDDING ME?.. needless to say we waited about 8-10 minutes while our food sat in front of our faces before we were given silverware. One of my friends ordered the barbeque chicken salad and it made her sick for the rest of the night. My other friend asked for her salad with no cheese because she's lactose intolerant, she gets the salad and *surprise* there's cheese! In the end my friends and I made a decision that our waitress did NOT deserve a good tip. We gave her a 9% tip, paid half the bill in cash, the other half on a debit card... She has the nerve to come back to our table asking if "the tip is correct" because we only tipped her $6... again.. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Yes we gave you a small tip (even though she didn't deserve $2 in my mind) but you do NOT confront a guest about a small tip. Completely unprofessional! So on our way out the door, I stopped by the hostess desk to speak with her about our rude waitress, and our waitress COMES UP TO THE DESK to talk to the hostess, conveniently as I am speaking with the hostess about my dinner service. How juvenile! The waitress knew my friends and I were complaining about the service she gave us, so she had the nerve to "pretend" like she lost a pen or something to come up to the hostess desk. Maybe our waitress was new, but either way, it does not excuse a TERRIBLE dinner service. I do not think I will be returning anytime soon.
(2)
Megan H.
At first, I really loved this place when oldest best friend from my childhood brought me here. I only get one drink that I love(d), called the Lava Flow. It's very inconsistent when I order it. Either it'll be like drinking strawberry syrup from Dunkin Donuts, or white alcoholic ice. The food isn't anything wonderful to speak of. The tortilla chips are incredibly, very salty. OH, STAY AWAY from the nacho appetizer. It's totally unworthy of $10 for a plate of naked tortilla chips. The bartender forgets about her customers ALL the time. If you're in the area, it's a good meet up spot. But, if you crave authentic Spanish food, come down to the "scarier" places in Massachusetts.
(2)
Andrew B.
Good drinks. I like the 25oz. draft Dos Equis Amber Ale. Food was mediocre though. Very bright decor.
(3)
Courtney N.
My friend and I decided to stop in for an early lunch on Cinco de Mayo. I loved the decor. You really felt transported when you walked through the door! We initially asked to sit on the deck but it was too cold. We went back to the main desk and had a bit of a wait to finally be seated in a free booth. The place wasn't crowded at all so I wasn't sure why we had to stand there awkwardly with our menus, cutlery and the freebies they gave us (sombrero bottle openers and some other thing). Four people said they had to check before they could seat us. Once we were seated, we were in awe of the extensive menu. I stupidly picked the chimichanga even though it had one pepper. It was way too spicy. I ended up eating the basket of free tortilla chips and dunking it in the sauce; I also ate the rice and the salad, very good. I took the rest home and my friend ate it later. My friend got a catfish taco. Also pretty spicy. He loved it and was done in no time. The portions are huge. Seriously huge. They have an extensive beer list and quite a few mixed drinks. I ordered a white mango sangria and it was awesome. The food came out fast and we never felt ignored by our server which was nice. We decided to split a fried ice cream dish for dessert. Erm, not my cup of tea. Interesting but not for me. The bill was very reasonable. We'd probably go back and next time I will order something a bit more bland!
(4)
Days G.
food is not better than Margaritas in my opinion. love the outside seating tho. dinosaur legs (chicken drum sticks) are so yuckie.
(2)
Mary S.
The drinks are the most redeeming quality of this place. The food is a hit or miss. However, anytime I've ordered food from here its been luke warm. I'm not sure what that's about... The service is always great though. I'd say the only reason to revisit this place would be for the drinks.
(3)
Derek W.
1st the good...They have live music (this night was a dj and vocalist named Joey) and a really cool open porch with plenty of seating. We ordered an order of guacomole and it was tasty and and the chips that came with it were warm and tasty as well. The not so good, by far the worst salsa I have ever had in my life. It literally tasted like cacciatore, and wasn't spicy at all. The rice we got with our meals was cold. The burrito was filled with chicken, but not much else and the fajitas shrimp was burnt and tasteless albeit over seasoned and tasteless. The real bad - the margaritas mix tasted pretty gross. We ordered a pitcher and didn't finish it. Tables are very small and cheap, however the waitress pulled over another one for us and said "i don't care because it's not busy" I guess my question was going to be, So if you're busy would we place our food on the floor? I'll take Agave in Newburyport or Portsmouth every day over this place and even On the border or The border cafe put out better meals...
(2)
Pamela w.
We were a party of three for lunch the other day and this place has some of the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten...or tried to eat. The salsa has Chipotle or something in it. Its thick and brownish. Not fresh at all. The guacamole was just flat, turning brown and awful! We drank a pitcher of house margaritas and felt as if we had nothing at all to drink. Everything was tacky to the touch...the tablecloth, menus. Thin useless napkins. Booths need replacing already. It was a blistering hot day and the AC is almost useless as their outdoor area is open to the bar and restaurant. Our waiter was pleasant....and perspiring. The food is bad. Watery chicken tacos. Burned cheese on enchiladas. I was served a piece of celery, on a plate of overcooked chicken wings, that had clearly been frozen. Really? What kind of kitchen puts something that has clearly gone south on a plate to be served? The decor is cool. Loved the bottles hanging from the ceiling. It ended there. Biggest waste of cash on a lunch in a long time. I gave no clue how this dump stays open. They cant even get salsa and chips right. GO TO THE BORDER CAFE in Saugus! Where they actually make the chips and even put tequila in the margaritas. ;)
(1)
Terry M.
Typical New England Mexican food restaurant. Lots of mexican looking bling and crazy colors. Food is palatable and the service was good. I'd go back again. As an afterthought, my colleagues did remark on the burritos being exceptionally big. I had the Angus steak taco salad and my only comment would be to use the salsa instead of any of the dressings!!
(4)
James S.
This place has improved a lot since it opened....I was so disgusted I would not return for a year. It is my pleasure to report they have got their act together now. Drinks come promptly, food is warm, waitresses check on you. I am now a satisfied customer.
(5)
Tamarah V.
I love this place! I just hate how my table is ALWAYS sticky when I go there... but the drinks are good! and the atmosphere is good. I live closer to the one in Randolph but I like this one way better!
(3)
Tony P.
I have to say that I do not give 5 star or 1 star reviews based after 1 vist and I have visted "The Fat Catcus" 3 times. I really do not like write something negative about someone's business and I hope they use these reviews as a way to improve. First off the food all taste like it was frozen. I have had some basic items of the menu (Burrito, Quesadillas, Fish Taco) all of it tasted like it was opened from a box and put in the microwave. The fish was the worse...I'm pretty sure it was some really bad generic frozen patty cut up. Let me state that Mexican food is probably my favorite cuisine and I have been spoiled by a lot of the good Mexican restaurants in Southern California after spending some time out there, so I will admit my standards might be higher than some New Englanders. The theme was a generic coastal Mexician beach vibe with authentic old short boards bolted to the walk...It was 'ok' and not dirty but to me it was the nicest feature of "The Fat Catcus". The sour mix for the drinks was horrible, it tasted like heavy handed 5 year old made it. Two of the three times I was there they salted my margarita glass even though I asked for no salt. The was no spice or flavor to the salsas at all other then...You guessed it 'salt'. It was like a poor cover up to the blandest Mexican inspired food I have ever had. I really wanted to like this guys but I cannot recommend them at all.
(1)
Wayne M.
LOVE this place ~ Its clean , spacious , great drinks free chips and salsa and amazing entrees ~ I forget whats its called but i ordered the chicken w/ half slab of rib plate that came with a jimica slaw and mexican rice and it was OFF THE CHAIN !The big crazy piece of chicken alone could feed a family of 4 **smiles** Wound up bringing home the chicken cause, guess what .....I was FULL before I could get to it !! BTW: did I mention the entree was only $15???? Yeah ..I'll be back !
I wish I could give this place a negative star! I went here a few months ago because I had a gift card. Well my food was nasty!!! my drinks were ridiculously weak and filled with chunks of ice. My waitress seems half drunk and was making no sense. Asked to speak with a manager and we got the meal on the house. Re-gifted that crap!
(1)
Mike C.
I noticed the negative reviews and am somewhat surprised. Sure this isn't a downtown Boston 5 star restaurant but for the money the food is VERY enjoyable. They have a very fun open porch area for drinks or food. They have 7 nights a week live music. A very fun decor of Mexican trinkets that consists of Mexican beer and liquor bottles and various Mexican wall decorations. Food is well made and with an enjoyable distinct Mexican flare. Service is always good when we have gone there. All in all a very enjoyable experience.
(4)
Vinny E.
Food was good but... I was not pleased with the experience here. First of all the new buffet in the middle of the dining room makes the place look empty and barren. Also the LED lights above the buffet were cold looking and too bright. Terrible ambiance. In contrast, the tables were very dark with no lights to see the micro font menu. I had to use my light app on me iPhone to read it. My son ordered lemonade which tasted no better than water with a lemon wedge in it. The waitress's reasoning was simply "oh they must be low" without inquiring. She did however offer him cranberry juice. I on the other hand ordered iced tea and was given sweetened iced tea, which I did not want. I asked for unsweetened tea but they did not have any so I switched to water. Most other places ask if you want sweetened or not...she did not. Finally I used a Groupon and had to give my phone to the waitress to process, which was not a problem. However she had to find a manager to process it and continued to wait on tables before doing so. She took so long my phone locked up and she had to come back so I could enter my password. Process took at least 10 min Overall food 9, service 5, ambiance 5 If you are the manager contact me Vinnymass@yahoo.com
(2)
Christina Z.
I'll warn you - live music 7 nights/week (is this seasonal) = a bunch of old dudes jammin on instruments, one of which is a harmonica. They are loud. They are on the patio. You can't hear your friend less than two feet a way. That's pretty bad. Toasted coconut cocktail? The best part is that I don't have to steal the amazing cocktail glass it came in - it's free! and plastic, but free all the same. The Lava flow (pina colada with strawberries is as always totally creamy heaven). Queso dip - unnervingly addictive. Sodium overload. I like the chips, though my friend is staunchly pro-Border cafe. Mexican cobb salad - don't bother. They "ran out" of guacamole, yet our cobb salad came with (you nailed it) avocado... how do you make guacamole again?! Enjoyable. I'm fond of it, but nothing (besides the drinks) are amazing.
(3)
C C.
Very slight improvement from our last two visits despite the "new queso", "new chef", " new beans" and such advertisements on their billboard. The salsa was not very good and my tacos were average at best. The food is just bland . We promissed not to return, and this time we might follow through with the promise.
(1)
Kyle D.
Not much really to say for this place. The fajita is a standard size for a standard price for a bar and grill, 11 dollars, add 1 buck for sour cream, another buck for gaucomle, and with a corona and tax, the total damage was 20 dollars and change, not including tip. You do the math. It speaks for itself.
(2)
Erica D.
Do you have a lot of time to kill? Then head over to the Fat Cactus dining area on a Sunday night. Gape at the festive decor while waiting to be seated. Marvel as your waiter boxes your food to go but neglects to drop off the check. Stand in awe as tumble weeds appear more frequently than any member of the waitstaff. Overall, the chicken enchiladas were excellent, and their drink menu looked promising, but next time I will request to sit in the bar area instead.
(3)
Christopher M.
Alright, let's start with the obvious. From facade to latrine this place is loud and obnoxious. The color scheme makes me think some guy in a sombrero is going to get in my face with his maracas singing and smiling and generally annoying the piss out of me. That being said, there's a vice selection of premium tequila in a glass case with prices right aw you walk in, so that's comforting. The food was ok, though I should have asked them the hold the immense amounts of sodium in my pork burrito. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Not that that's anything out of the ordinary for mexican places around here, it's just not something I appreciate. What killed it for me was the lack of service: My beer mug sat empty in front of me for 1.5 HOURS My empty dirty plates sat in front of me for 1 HOUR It took over 30 minutes to settle the check. about half that time was our party sitting there with money in front of us. The rest was spent trying to get the check *right* . . .all the while our bartender was ignoring all the bar patrons (and at least one spider descended upon me) Absolutely insane and totally unacceptable. Normally, this would constitute a single-star rating, BUT, when I called the manager over she was friendly, took our bill and money, and knocked 10% off the tab. Still, I can't say I'll be back.
(2)
Noah C.
I recently went here on a Tuesday night. I sat at the bar for dinner. Seeing the place from the outside it looked fun. Inside when I sat down the barstool was broken and the counter top was gross and sticky. I ordered a margaritta which was terrible. It was almost warm and had salt on the rim that looked ten years old. I then ordered a burrito which was basically inedible. It has dried old chicken and they even forgot to take the bay leaves out. It had this dark sauce that tasted like burnt ketchup. The salsa was old and fermented as well. Disgusting.
(1)
Dave S.
Big cactus on route 1. - just finished dinner there. Usually love the food and ambience in the dining room. But tonight made the mistake os sitting at the bar. Not a good idea- poor inattentive service - one bartender left us sitting for a half an hour- then fobbed us off on another bartender - finally got our food and it was missing part of the order -told the server, said he would check on it and he never returned . Of course it was still on the bill and when we got the attention of our original Bartender and pointed out the bill mistake , she had the cajones to say - twice - that we should have told her and she would have taken care of it. Oh yes, it's our fault
(2)
Kendra B.
This place is ok. The food and sangria are pretty good, but the service has gone downhill. It's a fun place to go sit out on the deck with a drink in the summer, although the music is too loud! Now I'm no old lady, and I love music just as much as the next guy, but you literally have to scream to whomever you are sitting with. This restaurant is not my first choice for mexican, but it is usually pretty tasty.
(3)
Patrick F.
The Fat Cactus was a fat disappointment. We had gift cards to use, so we (the wife and I) figured why not. The drinks (something horny toad margarita) were pretty good, albeit not that potent for nearly 9 bux a whack, and our app chicken rollitos were pretty good. That's where the good food stopped for me. I got the spicy chicken ranchero burrito (that I actually got confused with beef due to the texture, color and I would swear flavor), and the woman got the san pedro pollo pasta (she is quoted as saying it was gross). She finished her meal off with the flan for dessert, which was her favorite part of the meal. The service was decent, our waitress was very friendly. But for what would have been nearly an $80 dinner bill, I was very disappointed. The gift card that we had offset most of the bill, but even the balance paid after the card left me feeling a bit had, which really sucks because I was hoping for much better! Needless to say, we probably won't be back.
(2)
Tim W.
This has to be the worst fake Mexican food I've ever eaten ( or left on my plate in this case). 2 hours later I still can't get the gross salty taste out of my mouth. 20 minutes before a server came to our table after a trip to front desk. Waitstaff was all young and clueless, looked like a high school clique. When we finally got our waitress she wasn't qualified to be a busgirl. It seemed as if there wasn't an adult in sight running the place. I had to look at the waiter's boxers on the next table. The pork burrito was a soggy pile of tasteless meat product loaded down with salt. The fajitas were overcooked shoe leather from some indistinguishable cut of beef coated in a rub of salt. The chips were half soggy and the salsa tasted like canned tomatoes. I have no idea how this place stays in business. The only redeeming feature was that the bar actually looked like it might be fun with the live guitarist. Even they can't screw up a bottle of beer. All in all horrible food, terrible service and a non existent management staff that apparently hires high schoolers who don't give a crap.
(1)
Nick J.
I love the fat cactus. Great drinks great food great atmosphere. I went on a sunday night the bar tender was super nice and an absolute babe. Great service
(5)
CaT P.
it is just ok. at least not expensive, but border cafe, which is also closer, is much better, i think. our waitress was really nice, but the food... meeehh...
(2)
Marissa S.
We went to the Fat Cactus for Cinco de Mayo and loved it. It was great food, good drinks and a fun atmosphere. So we decided to go back with our parents for dinner one night. There were 4 in our party and we ordered a side of guac with chips to start along with a side of queso - both were very tasty. For dinner, I had chicken fajitas and it was just blah, boring, bland. It just wasn't good. There was no flavor. The rest of my party felt the same. The food just lacked flavor. The Fat Cactus is competing with the Border Cafe which is just right up the street and in my opinion, they are not doing a very good job. The Fat Cactus food just doesn't compare to the quality at the Border Cafe. I would go back and give it another try. Maybe the kitchen was just having an off night.
(2)
Laura r.
We came here with a groupon because I was dying for Mexican. Well... We were seated and waited a full 14 minutes without a greeting before I told the server that no one had been over. The place wasn't even busy. The manager sent over another waitress who took our orders. She was pleasant. The chicken rollotinos were good. Odd, but good. I got the chimichanga with no tomatoes. It came with a ton of tomato. Everywhere. No use complaining, cause we didn't have anyone to complain to. The BBQ platter my husband had was ehhhh. Their "coleslaw" is WEIRD. Our table was in the middle of the walkway. They carried enormous trays over our newborn's head. And customers walked behind my husband and I. So close that one carrying a baby actually butted me in the head. And some lady knocked the corner of our table, almost spilling the drinks. Very awkward table placement. They did offer us free dessert. We got the "flan." It was actually vanilla bean cheesecake. It was good cheesecake. But it wasn't flan. The manager was helpful. And the waitress we had was pleasant. But we won't come back. The only reason they get two stars was the waitress. It truthfully felt like a very long episode of punked
(2)
Jamie B.
Extremely subpar. Food was just plain not good - even the chips and salsa were nothing to write home about. I got a chicken enchilada, with rice and beans - everything was just blahhh. Don't let the crowds fool you (we waited for at least 30 minutes, and had tried in the past and left after finding that the wait was over an hour) - this place is not good. And to top it all off, service was awful. I think they forgot about us for a good while. To put it simply, I won't be returning.
(1)
Stephanie V.
I've been dying to try out the Fat Cactus since it opened up here. Every Saturday my mom and I try to think of where we can go to grab lunch and every time we drive by the Fat Cactus AFTER lunch and say "Dammit!" Well not today! -Service: The woman at the hostess stand that sat us was super friendly. When we were walking out the door she called out to ask us how everything was and was just really nice. Our waiter wasn't the most personable of people but his service was prompt and he was really cute. Yeah, that earns points in my book. I'm a creeper. -Food: Holy guacamole! We got the guacamole app and it's like 3 cup of guacamole deliciousness. It was super creamy with big chunks of avocado. I could have eaten it for my meal. Salsa had a very fresh taste to it, like someone had just made it. I got a chicken burrito and I actually really enjoyed it. Rice and beans came on the side and were both flavorful. Mom got chicken tacos and also enjoyed them. I've had better Mexican food, but it was good. Drink - They had a pretty decent beer menu including everything for the Mexican restaurant standards (corona, dos equis, modelo, presidente) to the regular standards (sam, bud, ect.) They give you a huge wedge of orange in the sam summer. Decor - I think the best way to describe the inside of this place is... insane. They just took everything that could ever evoke the word "Mexican" (including some stereotypes - hello hubcaps) and put it in there. It kind of works though, in a crazy trippy kind of way. It's not stellar. There are other Mexican restaurants that I would go to above this. But for a good place to get a decent lunch, it's spot on.
(4)
Jenny G.
For the past six months, my boyfriend and I kept hearing good things from The Fat Cactus. When we were finally able to find time to check the Mexican restaurant out, I was a little disappointed by the food and the service. The decor on the other hand was amazing. As we walked past the bar to be seated, sombrero hats coved the wall/ceiling, beer bottles made a partition between seating areas, and a massive collection of liquor bottles hung above our heads. We ordered a couple of drinks which took a little while to arrive (however, they were understaffed). To start we ordered the Pinchos Camarones which were described as large shrimp on skewers. For a ten-dollar appetizer I expected more. The shrimp were small and the rest of plate was filled with what looked like shredded cabbage. The entrees were okay except the waiter got both the orders wrong. I didn't realize mine was wrong until I got the bill. I ordered a Fajita Quesadilla just to get the guacamole, but instead I was given a normal fajita and then had to pay extra for the guacamole. Although the food was okay here, the service was not. A few times the waiter even pushed in my chair while I was in it without saying anything. And being a small asian girl, it's not like I was trying to take up a lot of room. Getting both orders wrong and selling overpriced appetizers is not something I experience often. When it's many mistakes and not just one, something is wrong here.
(2)
Brenda T.
I have been to The Fat Cactus a few times now. I enjoyed it more when I was there for a large group function. The atmosphere was fun and the drinks were decent. But then when I went out to eat with my husband I was less than satisfied with the food and the overall experience. The place is nice and clean and the wait staff was very nice, but the food was not great, more like frozen food cooked on site. If you are looking for a fun place to have a drink or two it is good, but not much more.
(2)
Josh G.
The best thing about Fat Cactus was the parking lot. This place served up was the worst crap I've ever had. The salsa tasted like ketchup, the chips were stale and salty, the margaritas were all sour mix, and my burrito tasted like it came from the frozen section. Seriously this stuff was a step up from low grade dog food. The service was lousy, and our waitress screwed up our order twice. Bottom line- Fat Cactus makes Taco bell look like authentic and delicious Mexican.
(1)
Jeff C.
Servers were friendly, but if your going to try and be a Mexican joint, than doing make your margaritas from a mix, and make sure you Mexican beers on working taps. No one in my group of six enjoyed their drinks, whether they ordered a margarita, a pina coloda, or a Dos Equis...very disappointing.
(2)
April P.
Mad cheap lunch buffet. $8 I think? Its not high grade Mexican but there are a decent amount of choices. I had some enchiladas, tacos, chips, queso, wings and a chicken leg. ha. the chicken leg has a cute name like a dinosaur, but it didn't taste that good. I don't really like legs though. The wings were quite tasty (prob the best part of my meal). They had a lime tang and spices but weren't too hot. I got margaritas once. They were inexpensive and tasted good. Getting here going southbound on Rte 1 is a pain, but its typical of Rte 1, they can't help it. I'd go here again for the buffet, probably in the summer- they have nice outside seating.
(3)
Jeffrey K.
The tortilla chips tasted stale once they cooled to room temperature and the salsa was nothing but tomatoes and cilantro. While I didn't order anything specifically spicy, the rice was the spiciest thing on my plate. When I unwrapped my silverware, the knife was filthy. I ordered the Taco and Enchilada Platter with a ground beef taco and chicken enchilada. The taco was nothing but almost flavorless ground beef and cheese, and the meat in the enchilada had the texture and flavor of a brisket that has been cooking for five hours. The lighting was so dim in the dining room that I had to use my pocket flashlight to see what color the meat was to make sure it was chicken and not beef. My brother had to use my pocket flashlight to read the menu. He ordered a blackened chicken burrito (at least it looked like a burrito). The meat was not a real blackened chicken, rather it was diced chicken tossed in a blackened seasoning sauce after cooking. My sister-in-law was the happiest with her meal, a cheese quesadilla. I guess it would take actual talent to screw that up. Overall, I'm glad I tried the place, but together we agreed that there is no need to go back, if we're ever in the mood for Mexican on our way north out of Boston it'll be either South Of The Border or Chipotle Grill.
(2)
Danielle S.
I came to the Fat Cactus purely because the location was close to the hotel a friend was staying at on Route 1. The Fat Cactus is a typical run of the mill Mexican restaurant. Bold decor, a vast selection of tequila and complimentary chips and salsa upon arrival. The thing that makes the Fat Cactus stand out from other Mexican restaurants is the service. The painfully slow and inaccurate service. While my party was seated quickly due to a low number of patrons at the time and the server greeted our table within 30 seconds, everything was downhill from there. It took close to 15 minutes for our server to return with our first drink order and an additional 20 minutes to place our entree order. We actually had to get up from our seats to get the attention of the hostess to ask where our server disappeared to. Our second round of drinks were not what we ordered but it took so long to get them that we decided an attempt to correct the mistake was not worth the wait. The only reason I give 3 vs. 2 stars is due to the management's attempt to rectify the slow service our party was receiving. A new server was assigned to our table and I could tell a valid attempt to change our impression of the establishment was in the works. The food was good and given our server's youthfully appearance I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was his first night on the floor. Thus, I think a second chance at the "Fat Cactus" experience is in order. Despite the slow service I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking to entertain a large group as this restaurant is more than adequately prepared to seat several large groups at one time. Whether the kitchen and wait staff can handle that will be up for another 'yelper' to determine!!
(3)
Jr F.
The Buffalo Chicken quesadilla is delicious!!! Cadillac margarita was good too! Sam Adams Octoberfest on draft & live music!!! Felt like I was back in Fl listening to Kenny Chesney & Jimmy Buffet tunes on the patio.
(5)
Lawrence M.
Ever since the sign went up along the road several months ago, I've been eagerly awaiting the opening of the Fat Cactus in Lynnfield. Until now, Route 1 has been sorely lacking a good Mexican food option - or really, any Mexican food option at all (The Border Cafe has good food at great prices, but it's really more a blend of Tex-Mex and Cajun than pure Mexican). The Fat Cactus took over a space that was once a Naked Fish (and then the ill-conceived and short-lived Lucille's "Fine" Chicken), but they've completely overhauled the decor and the vibe of the place is great. Old chrome wheels and hubcaps line the ceiling, loud chintzy-Mexican-print tablecloths covered every table, and we were seated next to a wall topped with stacked empty bottles of Corona. Loud and a bit over-the-top, to be sure - but very fun and festive. We were seated immediately upon walking in - one may think that's a little surprising considering it was opening weekend, but in reality it wasn't so surprising at all due to the fact that it was 10:30 PM when we arrived. And for the hour, the place was actually still pretty busy. Our server was very friendly and attentive, and even though the dynamic between all of the staff was one of barely-controlled chaos (again... opening weekend), everyone we encountered was beyond polite. Now, you may have noticed I haven't mentioned the food yet. Yeah, well, um... I've kind of been holding off on that. But I suppose in the end, I'm going to have to bring it up, soooo... it was totally average at best. And maybe a little below average at its worst. As soon as we were seated, we were served a bucket (no, really, a galvanized BUCKET) of tortilla chips with a totally enormous bowl of salsa. The chips and salsa were tasty and we didn't run out, so they win some points for that. I had a taco and enchilada combo (with a beef taco and a poblano & cheese enchilada) and my boyfriend ordered Chicken fajitas. My taco was fine... a bit bland, but fine. The enchilada was just a few degrees above room temperature and the cheese on top (and inside) was congealed. It was painfully obvious that this enchilada was not only constructed ahead of time, but cooked ahead of time, too. Not cool. My refried beans were fine, if a bit on the bland side (and also not steaming hot), and the Mexican rice was alright but not too flavorful. My meal would have been a lot better if it had all just been, well... heated up a little bit. Like, just raise the temperature of all of the food on my plate by about 20-30 degrees and I probably would have been a lot happier. My boyfriend's fajitas were hot and sizzling (thank goodness), but he said they also lacked flavor and that they were average at best. So here's my verdict: I'm giving this place 3 stars, and I'm gonna go back again in a month or two (or three). Basically, I'm planning on giving the kitchen staff some time to get on their feet and maybe work out some of the kinks - and THEN I'll see what they can really do. I'd suggest you do the same.
(3)
Mark W.
We had a great experience at the Fat Cactus. Several friends and I sat in the outside seating area which was great. The service very good and the food was good. We all loved the drinks and we thought the price for the meal/experience was perfect. Go and enjoy!
(4)
Jamie P.
HUGE portion sizes, great prices, their virgin drinks are coated with crystalized sugar & fruit & very authentic decor, nice feel
Visited this place for the first time with some work colleagues. This was pretty good! I got an upgraded margarita ($8) that was perfectly made. She asked if I wanted a sugared rim. Such an easy thing to do instead of salt and it MADE the margarita! The free chips and salsa are delicious and the salsa is thick and fresh. I got a chicken burrito and the pulled chicken was delicious. I kinda wish it came with re fried beans instead of the pinto or black. For $8 this was a great deal and enough to bring home a few bites for the next day! Everyone else enjoyed their meal as well. Great service, good prices, yummy Mexican. It's not an easy to get to place as you have to go to the Walnut Street exit to turn, but it certainly made up for a little inconvenience. 4 stars
(4)
James G.
We ordered the steak quesadilla and an order of boneless buffalo wings. The wings were ok and the quesadilla was not very good, my wife and I both had a stomach ache in the morning; we only had soda to drink. Overall the food is much better at the Border. The band was very entertaining and the atmosphere on the deck was fun. I just wish the food was better, next time we will go for cocktails.
(2)
Kara L.
Love the live music and patio for margaritas. The bar is big and the drinks are delicious! I recommend the guacamole for anyone that likes avocadoes.. it's very fresh.. to die for!
(5)
Dave M.
There's not much to say about The Fat Cactus itself, it's a pretty large area Mexican place with decent food and a pretty good envirement. Service is good for the most part, at least I thought it was until this happened. While having my 15th birthday at The Fat Cactus, a woman saying she was the owner started talking to us and basically tried to persuade me to play the somewhat nearby game (which by the way, costs about a $1 a play), and also self advertised the other place she owned, Bostonville. This went on for a while actually, I just wanted to enjoy my birthday. Maybe I wouldn't of thought about it as much if she hadn't gone up to us a SECOND time, while listening to the the live band to try to get me to play that $1 game. I don't care how much you need the money, you don't bother people like that. You ensured you won't get my business again.
(2)
M P.
I wish I could rave about this place. It has all the making of a fun spot, good parking, wide open areas inside, great live music but the food bring this place down to dive bar (not dive in a good neighborhood way either). I've tried the place off and on over the past year or so always hoping things turn around. Latest promotion was "new cook, new dishes..". Unfortunately no change in the taste and quality of the food. Had dinner there with my girlfriend this past week to celebrate our 2 yr anniversary (we had our first date there, meeting for drinks) so thought we'd go back for dinner. First he setting, sat at one of the smaller 2 person tables just on the outside area. For some strange reason someone at Fat Cactus thought it was a good idea to have the small tables side by side with tall bar type tables. Basically when sitting at your table you have another couple not just right next to you but towering over you. If you're lucky crumbs from their food won't float down and land on your food. Than the table we sat at kept moving as if the base was broken (it was). We wanted to start with drinks, I had a beer and she asked the waiter what wine they had that had a hint of vanilla taste to it. The waiter was told by the bartender they didn't have anything like that but she could put a shot of vanilla into the wine - she (the bartender) was not joking around. Gives you an idea of what you're dealing with. I ordered the "special" a Chicken with chorizo and queso sauce. The only thing special about this was how bad it was. First both our dishes came out within 5 mins of ordering them, great speed but not a chance they were freshly cooked - and it showed. The chicken breast was more of a thin dried out chicken paddie and the chorizo was a sausage patty laid on top of the chicken than it was all drowned in queso cheese (which tasted like it was out of a bottle and microwaved). It was hands down the worst dishe I've had in a long time. This was something you would get at Denny's at 4am in the morning and regret eating as soon as you woke up the next day. The last time I was there for drinks on a Sunday afternoon the cops had to be called because one guy at the bar attacked another guy (mind you this was around 4pm in the afternoon on a Sunday) and the hostess ran over and started yelling at them "...what the F**k is wrong with you...there are F**k'in kids here...". She seemed to forget she wasn't exactly providing the best example either for the few families that were there. It's really too bad about this place, has great potential but never seems to be able to get it right. Most likely the problems start at the top, management. Seems like new management or a re-start is needed to clean house and do things right. Hopefully if they ever do fix all the issues they keep the live music. That part they got right. Right after our dinner and finishing our drinks my girlfriend and I took off and headed down the road to finish our evening out.
(1)
Jim K.
Great atmosphere! Live music but not Mexican?? Had to return our first glass of tea as it tasted awful. 2nd glass was much better. Much prefer chips at Chili's or On The Border. Had fajitas. Chicken was tasty but refried beans were not. Very salty and not anywhere as good as other restaurants. Tortillas were stale. Wish we had checked its 2-star rating first on Yelp else would have avoided it. Next time we're going to On The Border in Reading.
(2)
Sheena G.
I looked forward to the opening for a while. I just moved back from San Diego last year and miss Mexican food! I could see if there was only option for this type of food around..... maybe. But this was by far the worst dining experience in quite a while. They don't modify menu items, so if you don't want chili peppers in your enchiladas, too bad. They pre-make all their dishes and it tastes that way. The tortillas are most likely from Stop and Shop. They don't have re-fried beans and their version of pinto beans is similar to Boston baked beans - but not as tasty. There is bacon in a soupy brown disgusting cup with a few beans mixed in. Service is slow and tables are cramped. The atmosphere is that of a 10 year old's bedroom that she painted herself. Save yourself a big disappointment and go to Border Cafe down the street or even Chili's!
(1)
Elizabeth T.
I'm from Arizona and I have to say this place was very nice. I was with a party of nine and we made reservations for lunch last Saturday. The decor is fun, the bar friendly looking. We sat on the patio and were treated very well. Charming wait staff, good chips and (very important) decent salsa. The meals were large and tasty. I didn't drink since I had quite a drive ahead of me, but others at the table had margaritas and seem to enjoy them thoroughly. Although the patio looks out on their large parking lot, on the other side are trees. The weather was great and we had lovely food and a great time. An easy, happy place.
(4)
Ariel S.
It's Mexican food, so it works. The food was OK. Not very salty, and I didn't like the guacamole. The chips were good (if you like chips with little to no salt), the service was fast, and our waitress was very nice & speedy. The drinks from the bar took a while to come to us (about 10 minutes), but it was pretty busy around 6 PM on a Saturday night. I prefer Border Cafe.
(3)
Bob S.
Horrible company to do business with if your a performing artist. Very disorganized and will never confirm bookings via email. Calendar on website is usually incorrect.
(1)
Tulan K.
The place is awesome and very good food and cheap beer the spicy blackened fajitas were awesome ANC so was their salsa. Do visit it
(4)
Jeremy S.
After we ordered drinks, our waitress checked IDs. "Oh, I love the new Mass ID," she said, in her North Shore accent. "The photos make you look so tan! I look like Snooki in mine." She was nice, though, if a bit overly-chipper. But that's par for the course at a Mexican restaurant in the 'burbs. The frozen margaritas weren't as strong as they could (or should) be, but the food wasn't half bad. They give you buckets (literally) of chips while you wait for your food, and they've got a nice outdoor patio too--a rarity for a restaurant along Rt. 1. There's live music most nights, but it wasn't anything to get super excited about. Good background music? Maybe. I'll give it that. Obviously, it's not going to be the best Mexican food you've ever had, and it certainly isn't authentic, but it's a good place to go if you like your portions big and your enchiladas smothered in sauce and cheese.
(3)
Anahid M.
Great time. Great food. Great hangout.
(4)
Chrissy H.
Let's not kid ourselves... the food is nothing to write home about. It's not the worst but it's certainly not the best. I have had fajitas there that were ok and my husband had the Cubano steak or something. He said it was fairly good, kind of generic, but I couldn't help thinking that he looked like some kind of farm animal eating out of a trough. Seriously, his plate looked like something a pig eats out of. The service is a bit unpolished. They need to go have a meal at their competition up the street (Border Cafe) and see how the pros do it. The margaritas are a bit on the sweet side but also not the worst. There's a lot of crazy crap on the walls. They have a little mini arcade in the bar room and a couple pool tables. But what this place has going for it is the outdoor porch. It has lots of little tables and comfy looking chairs and the best part... it's not facing route 1. Who wants to unwind with a beer after a long week at work next to a busy highway? Fattie's porch faces the woods (and the crazily crowded parking lot.)
(3)
adam w.
This restaurant has the worst service I have ever seen. We arrived and there was no hostess. We stood there for about five minutes until a hostess finally arrived. She told us it was going to be about 25 minutes to sit outside but we welcome to sit at the high tables around the bar and there was no wait. We chose the high tables right next to the outdoor seating. There were only about 5 tables outside being used. The other 20-25 tables were littered with garbage that hadn't been cleaned up yet. As we looked around we noticed the entire restaurant was full of dirty tables. Against our better judgement we sat there anyway. The people at the table next to us were leaving and warned us that the service was terrible. After sitting for about 15 minutes, a waitress finally arrived to take out drink order. We placed our food order too. About 20 minutes later we finally got our first drink. We had been at the restaurant for over an hour. I orders a Margarita and my friend ordered a Pina Colada. These were two of the worst drinks I've ever tasted. We just got up and walked out. I can't rate the food because we weren't willing to stick around and find out. If the front of the restaurant was that dirty, I can't even imagine what the kitchen looked like. The waitress was very nice and very apologetic. She was clearly being overworked.
(1)
Lisa C.
The food here was just okay. I don't know who got the "enormous bowl of salsa" because we literally had like a cup of salsa for the huge bucket o' tortilla chips. I ordered enchiladas, which were just mediocre. The rice was pretty amazing though. The service was below par. First of all, they ran out of menus so we had to wait about 10 minutes for someone to bring us some. Then, the waitress couldn't pronounce the word 'rice' so everyone at the table was like "No, not fries, RICE. R-I-C-E." So confusing...I mean, what kind of Mexican place would even serve fries? It really made no sense. The decor was fine until we got to our tables and had empty bottles hanging above our head. I don't get what that was about. I'm fun because I drink whole bottles of Cuervo? Or is it a statement about Mexico? I'm not sure, but it made me uncomfortable just like those chain places that have trash (i.e. old barrels and tin posters, etc.) on the walls. I don't want to eat in a place that looks like a landfill.
(2)
Andrea K.
So since I use to work across the street from this place and watched it being redone I was eager to check it out but just recently finally made it to this place. After reading the reviews before going I was not expecting much which was a good thing cause I was not let down. Big parking lot but was completely full but was able to find a spot in decent amount of time, could end up waiting around and stalking people like you do at the mall for a parking spot. The decor is cool and different I do like the liquor bottles on the ceiling and the different hot sauces displayed at the front desk. Got inside and asked for a table of 2 and in a booth and we were told we would have to wait which was fine. We waited about 10 minutes and got a booth by the kitchen (fine whatever no big deal). Unfortunately the booth chair was dirty with wet salsa that I had to clean up with a napkin as well as cleaning up some of it off my pants. Our waitress came over shortly after we sat down (didnt even look at the menu yet) and took our drink orders. We got our chips n salsa which we enjoyed very much. +1 so far. We got our drinks and ordered an appetizer first and contemplated on our dinner choices. The menu is pretty generic nothing over the top wow or creative. I ordered shrimp fajita quesadilla and my boyfriend ordered a chimichanga. The peach margarita that I ordered was alright but could not taste the peach at all and could only taste liquor but it was good. We ordered the Queso Fundido for an appetizer cause we read that it was really really good from a previous review. I dunno what Queso Fundido they ate but ours was horrible. The cheese was very plasticy, that is the only word I can find! The chips that was served with it were very stale so we had to eat our chips from the salsa instead of what was served with the queso. After eating some of the queso I felt the need to brush my teeth cause I felt that the queso was stuck to my teeth like that slimy feeling you get...ick! My quesadilla was pretty ordinary nothing over the top but I didnt want to order anything that I was not going to like cause I was really hungry. There was about 5-6 shrimps in the quesadilla so for 12 dollars I expected more. The guacamole was decent nothing over the top again. My boyfriends chimichanga was very fried even though the menu says lightly fried it was VERY crispy. It was ordinary nothing over the top yet again. The rice (which someone RAVED about) was HORRIBLE. Worst rice I have ever tasted I dont know what else to say about it. The pinto beans tasted nothing more than BBQ sauce so that was rather weird! All in all the food was meh. I wouldnt come here again cause I dont think for the money (which isnt to expensive just normal prices) I would just go to taco bell and have tacos and get my mexican kick. The waitress was very nice and attentive and polite so A+ for her. Other than that I would hold off on coming here and just go to Taco Bell or for those people who love Border Cafe just go there instead.
(2)
Enza D.
Good drinks. Not a fan of their food. We usually go here for drinks then drive down the highway to Border Cafe for food.
(3)
Dante B.
Great food, great drinks. I have been back many times and always have great service.
(5)
Sarah M.
I love Mexican restaurants, both mediocre and great ones. I end up at the Border Cafe most of the time, cause it's dependable and close by, so I was psyched when Fat Cactus opened - another option in the same grouping. Our first attempt to go there was insane. It was so packed, cars were parked all over the place, the wait was horrifically long, we ended up going to the Border Cafe instead. We decided to try it out on Memorial Day, since we had no plans and thought it would actually be manageable. So it was a nice day, all the doors/walls were open, and we asked to sit outside. They said there weren't any seats, and they walked us the other way to a dark dining room. I turned and looked and saw a free hightop half inside, half out side and asked to be sat there. Duh, if I ask to be sat out side, sit me as close to outside as possible. Margarita's were average once we finally got them ('member when I said it was dead? hhmmm), and the salsa was watery, and the waitress never asked if we wanted more when it ran out. To try things out, we ordered chili con carne as an app, and it tasted like sloppy joe. When dinner was set, our waitress never asked if we wanted another round even when our glasses were empty. My boyfriend ordered mole sauce with his chimichanga, and it tasted like gravy with some spices thrown in. I had a taco and an enchilada and the taco had no cheese, and the beef tasted gross.....cheap and fatty. I will admit that it was affordable, and the decor is great. The bar area looks fun. We would never bother eating there again.
(1)
Ryan N.
This place is disgusting now. Was good a few months ago but food has changed... especially the chicken. It is that pulled pork looking chicken that you used to get for lunch in school. Disgusting. Service is a hit or miss... and the music is pretty overwhelming and also annoying. Do not go there... save yourself the money and time.
(1)
Tony R.
The worst Mexican food I have had in a very long time. Tasteless dry reheated food don't go!!!!!!!!!
(1)
Love P.
I wish this place was so much better serious for a Mexican place it suck the only thing this place has is a good out door space. For paying 9.50 on a drink for it to taste like sour mix is horrible . It says it has new food how about u get new drinks. I'm not saying that the should be strong but they should taste like ur having a drink. Border cafe is right down the street and are packed everyday of the week the people that own fat cactus should go down the road and learn something .
(1)
Frank W.
Just returned to this restaurant after being away for 10 months. I have to say that i was disappointed. The live music was great. The service was horrible. Half my party ordered drinks and they were wrong both times after sending them back. The food was okay but nothing special. The waitress was so slow, table was left with plates on it so we couldn't even sit and talk. Sadly, I will not return to this restaurant again. We had to have the manager come over to correct the bill cause we still got billed for the drinks that tasted like salty watered down tequila slush.
(2)
MARK D.
OMG It should be called the Big Fat Stinking Turd, Went there on a Wednesday evening about 5:00pm, Before the dinner rush-hour. Salsa tasted like canned tomatoes with some onion which we had to wait for even though there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. Main dishes were your basic burritos and enchilada's that had no flavor at all and tasted like they were pre-made. Which leaves me to wonder what advanced top secret scientific experiment are they using to remove all flavor from the food, Is this some sort of CIA operation to make our food so bland that we lose the will to resist any attempt for an uprising?...makes me wonder. Atmosphere was at best a colorful step up from Taco Bell...I only gave it one star because I couldn't give it a half!...Drink the water but don't eat the food!!! Update as of 7/23/12 Well I thought I'd humble myself and give this place a second try, and wow they didn't disappoint!!! They suck even more if that was even possible! Once more I was held up without a gun and taken for $70.00 for a meal that consisted of two stale, flat as a pancake, dry as sand quessadilla's, and a soggy caribbean salad made with canned corn and mandarins. It was beyond horrible! Never again!!! I hope when the owner of this operation dies, he's placed in a hell were he has to eat this shit food for eternity.
(1)
Sean H.
This place has an authentic feel to the ambiance. The food was pretty good too. Will be back.
(4)
Kevin M.
Average mexican food restaurant. Has a breakfast brunch buffet on sunday's.
(3)
Meaghan K.
For a cheesy mexican joint the food was much better than I expected. I ordered the chicken chimicanga and it was delicious as was the rice and beans that came with. The salsa that came with the chips for an appetizer though had a lot to be desired, I love salsa and have tired soo many types so maybe its just my salsa snob tongue but it was as if they opened a canned of tomatoes and added some seasoning to it. The service was great and the drinks were great as well. My 5 dollar rita was fantastic.
(4)
Todd H.
Although the food is not the most authentic (we are not exactly near the border, people), our dishes were delicious, especially the grilled shrimp appetizer, fresh chips and salsa, and sizzling fajitas. This is a great place to celebrate a birthday, especially with kids. The atmosphere is festive, the service is fast, friendly, and attentive, and the portions are very generous. We will definitely be eating here again.
(5)
David C.
So after we were unceremoniously shunned at Polcaris (see previous review) we stopped hear and found it a delightful change of pace. Typical Mexican fare and drink selection, we had beef fajitas and Quesidiiias. Food was tasty hot and served with speed and courtesy. Atmospher very nicely appointed with Mexican theme. If you go take a moment to check out the display of specialty Tequilia's they have on display just in front of the reception desk. They have one that costs $154.00 a shot! Again great place to eat and certainly a refreshing change from the earlier treatment we had received. If you are on route one north- drive right by Polcaris, and try this place!
(4)
Paul M.
Fat Cactus is a Mexican (?) place off of Route 1 apparently in Lynnfield, though I always thought that stretch was still Saugus. Who knew? Now, anyone who looks at the places I've reviewed thus far can probably get a sense that I love Mexican food; heck my profile picture is from Mexico. With that being said I'm not sure I'd qualify this place as "Mexican." It's more like Texan I think. Second, I've been to the place once, but that's all I'm going to be able to base it on as I won't be back. Maybe that's not fair, but I don't really care. Now, when you walk in there's a fancy case of tequila bottles with prices listed per shot. I appreciate when people actually list the price of their hooch. Nothing is more maddening than having to guesstimate based on atmosphere and going-market-rate for a commodity such as gin to get an idea as to how much you're getting raked over the coals for. The problem is, I'm not much into tequila but some of these prices seemed pretty dang high for a shot considering I know I've seen some of those tequilas before at stores and the bottles cost as little or less as the shot itself. But it's a restaurant/bar and they seem to love their booze here (I'll get to that in a second) and you gotta expect to pay a premium. The food here is mediocre at best. I realize I'm basing it on one visit, but neither my girlfriend or myself were served anything near great food and I'd venture to say it was quite a bit shy of even reaching good... passable is about as fair as I can be. I had a fajita and the chicken tasted fairly bland and the veges a little overdone. I can't even remember what my g/f had, but that's usually a bad sign. I remember the chips and salsa being okay. Now let's talk about the alcohol. We didn't have any because we were driving. That's something that bothers me about this place. It's on a highway, okay, so the only way to get there is to drive and drive fast. It's also on Rte. 1 which can be a nightmare. Why do places like this seem to focus on serving drinks? It all seems like a M.A.D.D. lawsuit waiting to happen. "But Paul," you may ask, "what do you think they're focused on alcohol?" Well aside from the display case of tequila you encounter before hitting the hostess stand, how about the fact that the decor of the place is comprised almost entirely of hundreds upon hundreds of empty Corona bottles on the booth dividers and empty liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling?? What the heck?? Did they rob a hobo trying to redeem the bottles?? Did someone actually drink it all pre-opening?? Well, probably because anyone who thinks that looks classy has to be drunk. I mean, if there was even a way to decorate the place with empties tastefully this place falls far short of that....the bottles are EV-REE-WHERE. They just better hope some kid (or boozer) doesn't think they're piñatas and crack one of the hanging Jack bottles sending shards-o-glass raining down. Look, I'm not opposed to drinking, see some of my other reviews, it's just this place is...I don't know...the place is just strange. Maybe it's almost a sense of desperation or something- like the place screams "SEE?!? WE LOVE BOOZE!!! WE SERVE OUR CHIPS IN TIN BUCKETS!! CLEARLY WE ARE FUN AND AUTHENTIC AND STUFF!!! PLEASE LIKE US!!!" It reminds me of the Margaritaville chain places in the Cancun airport...but less classy which is a coup in my opinion. The service was decent enough, though I recall having to wait quite a while for the check to get picked up and a refill on water. I guess the place is popular for either their drinks or for the lack of alternative Mexican in the area as every time we drive by their lot is PACKED- then again it may just be staff, when I was there the staff seemed to outnumber customers 3:1 which is odd considering the sluggish at times service.
(2)
Susan H.
Ate there just last night and it was great! Everybody loved their Margaritas but I have to say the pitcher of Margs was a bit weak. The individual ones were great. The Sangria is always a hit, I always get a pitcher and am never disappointed. We did sit down to eat dinner, all 10 of us. The food came out in just the right time and all at the same time. It was fantastic. Everybody loved what they had, it was really good. I will easily go back. Oh and the ambiance is fantastic. So eclectic and colorful, festive and fun. The decorative painting is a real surprise. Loved every inch of it.
(4)
Amanda K.
The only two things I liked about this place is the live music and the outdoor seating/decor... The salsa was boring, the refried beans were pretty much soupy, and the wine was ehhh.. The only reason I would go back is to listen to the man that was singing outside with his guitar. He made the night fun!
(2)
Linda J.
I've been there three times and love more each time I go. The place is always hopping and the atmosphere is so nice. My date and I managed to claim a seat in the bar area. We went knowing it was going to be crowded and expected to wait. We didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a waitress to come over to take our drink order. Even when the bar area was so crowded, we weren't forgotten about for one minute. Our waitress was very friendly and on top of things the entire night. Their CHIPS and SALSA are the best we've ever had and can't wait to go back for EASTER DINNER! Also, I don't WORK for either the Border or the Fat Cactus where I think some of the reviews come from. Remember, if you choose a POPULAR restaraunt and go between 6-8pm expect to wait, ANYWHERE! Go see for yourself how good it is. I have to say my 2nd and 3rd experience was better than the first. We walked in a week after it was open and the women pretty much shouted "1/2 wait or more what's yoru name" and I told her that if she says HELLO first she'd be alot more pleasant. This is a new restaurant and like ANYTHING NEW it will have to be tweaked here and there.
(5)
Noriko A.
The food is below average and the service is even worse. The mexican rice was not even edible, and the rest was very bland. The service was slow and what is worse is that a credit card was lost for an hour, with little more than an oh well from the manager. Won't be back, and wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Save the night out for Mexico Lindo or even Taco Bell.
(1)
Greg B.
The restaurant is packed with tables, so the wait staff has to walk through little paths to get in between each table. The entire night consisted of some waiter carrying sizzling meals over our heads with one hand. It was by far the most distracting nerve racking thing i've experienced at a restaurant. it seems so dangerous. maybe the guy is good at handling trays, but if someone bumps in to him someone is going to get 3rd degree burns. it was the silliest set up I have ever seen. I also think a bus boy was put on as our waiter for the night. I had pointed to a beer and asked what type it was and he said "its a...beer". there was a moment of silence and then i said "ohhhh ok". anyway, I'm glad he explained that to me. I thought I was ordering a french fry. I will not be going back to this place.
(2)
Dennis A.
I heard about this place a few months before it opened and I was actually pretty excited to try it. However, upon actually coming here that excitement quickly turned to disappointment. I came here about a week after the place opened. We walked in and were told that the wait was around 45 minutes, which was a little strange because I didn't really see anybody else waiting. So we went to the bar and got a couple drinks. Before we even had a chance to pay for our drinks we were told that our table was ready. This was literally less than 5 minutes after they told us the wait was going to be 45 minutes. But I wasn't going to complain about being seated quicker so we paid for the drinks and went to the table. As we walked to our table I noticed A LOT of empty seats and I immediately got the feeling that they are saying they have a long wait so that it seems like the place is busier than it is. I thought maybe it was just an error or a problem with communication, but I have since heard similar stories about exaggerated wait times being given. As strange as this was to me, it isn't going to cause me to give them a bad review. But having terrible food will and that's what this place has. I was actually really disappointed because I genuinely wanted to like this place. I wanted to have an alternative to going to the Border Cafe, every time I felt like "Mexican" food. But everything here was just bad. The appetizers were just bad bar food that was renamed so it sounded like something that should be served in a "Mexican" restaurant. For my meal I ordered the blackened chicken, and upon receiving it I thought I was given the wrong dish, because nothing about it looked or tasted like blackened chicken should. It actually didn't really taste like much of anything. The fajitas weren't any better, and even the chips were bad, tasting like they were just dumped directly from a bag onto the table. All in all a disappointing experience and one that I will hopefully never have to endure again.
(2)
Jen D.
Let me first say, I didn't eat here, I only had drinks however, I will NEVER eat here. It just screams dirty. When we walked into the bar it smelled of garbage mixed with throw up, disgusting. We were just going for a couple of drinks so I let it slide, knowing I wasn't eating anything anyways. I am a HUGE mexican food/drink fan, and their excuse for a margarita and sangria is pitiful. My boyfriend ordered a house margarita, fully anticipating that it wouldn't be the best margarita because he ordered the "house", but it was completely undrinkable. It tasted like sour mix and Surge soda.. not anything like a margarita. The "sangria" was even worse. It tasted like grape soda mixed with puckers, I would be shocked if there was any wine in there at all. It's kind of a shame because the building is pretty cool with the outdoor section and music, but this is a dump that may be attractive for college kids or kids using their fake ID's who don't realize what a good drink is.
(2)
Aaron W.
My girlfriend and I had a groupon to use here and really enjoyed it. I ordered the carne asada and she ordered some kind of stuffed chicken breast. We also shared a guacamole appetizer dip. The guacamole was average but my carne asada was cooked perfectly and had a delicious flavor. She really enjoyed the chicken too. My only complaint was the service was slow and they seemed to rush us along at the end, but we did come in at 9:20 on a Wednesday evening. There was live music in the bar area, two guys singing country music and they sounded pretty good. Likely we will be back again.
(4)
Valeria H.
Hung out here today and have to say my head is still spinning from the odd music and tchotchkes all over the ceilings and walls. With that said, I was actually pleased with everything else. The service was prompt, knowledgeable and nice...we had a wonderful woman who just had it together. Their outdoor patio/deck was fun and seating was set up real well. The interior was interesting, almost like they are trying too hard to have that lived in feel...bottles hanging from the ceilings and used as wall dividers, sombreros stapled to the ceilings and red and green xmas lights too.. and a weird mural on each wall. It still was super clean with all this wacky business, which is a plus. The menu was set up well, and they offered a lot.. no tamales though, which are my fav thing on the planet. But oh well. They did have a page just for margaritas. So we had our children with us and they did offer a good kids menu, and super inexpensive. I ordered the chimichanga and my husband got the haddock veracruz, and the girls had the quesadillas... Even though the chimi was delicious and super fresh (and not greasy) I had dish envy for the haddock. It was real good and will get that if I go back. Even the children's meals were tasty and we substituted fries for the Mexican rice which was great. For drinks, I got the sangria and was real pleased with it. Very yummy and gave me that oh so necessary light buzz ya need after dealing with two kids all day. :P I would definitely try this place out, still new, super clean, the food was nice and didn't leave me feeling greasy .. my sangria was real nice..and this is way better than The Border super_salty_I'm_becoming_dehydrated_while_I_am_Âeating_there Cafe. haha
(3)
Taz R.
I have been 2x and enjoyed myself. I went on a Thursday and sat on the patio. They had entertainment, Chad La Marsh, singing and playing guitar and he was awesome! Anyone who can play Nelly's - It's getting hot in here on guitar in a rock style gets my vote! LOL The chips and salsa they place on the table when your seated was ok. the 1st time I went the chips tasted stale. the chicken rollitos appetizer were really good. We got them for both visits. Their blackened catfish was delish. I actually ordered that both times because it was so good the 1st time. On our 2nd visit there was a fight at the bar LOL 2 older guys. The waitresses handled them well, roughing them up a bit and reminding them that there were kids in the restaurant. I luv'd that! LOL I have no real complaints about this place. I love the decor, the service and so far the food. I definitely plan to go back and taste something else on the menu. (probably for my birthday this month!)
(4)
Thomas D.
The food was terrible, I went last night, I couldn't finish my meal, and had them take it away, and it was so gross. I start telling my friends about it, and it seems like everyone knows this place has gross food and the salsa is just too hot it's not even enjoyable, the funniest thing is, Border Cafe down the street is like a 5 star Tex-Mex restaurant, line out the door. The worst part of the night, I couldn't hear myself think, or have a conversation with the people next to me, there was a live band which never took a break, they kept singing and playing loud as can be, the music was all over the place, There were tons of these 50 year old women with plastic surgery dressed like they were in their 20s. Most ridiculous experience ever! The beer was great and cold, A+ for the Beer. The margaritas were like ice water with flavoring, good luck finding the alcohol. I won't go back, and I'm upset with my friends who took me here, and all my other friends that already knew the food was gross and never told me. Waste of money!! The place looks great from the outside, and inside, I was expecting so much more. If you want A+ 5 Star Mexican food, just down the street go to Border CAFE, it's simply outstanding!!! Mouthwatering food and it's worth every last penny. Good bye Fat Cactus, I will never go there again.
(1)
Lou Ann B.
Made the mistake of ordering the Saturday lunch buffet....nasty. Food was dried out and tasteless. Had a food safety concern which was report to management. Won't be going back. Sorry.
(1)
Don M.
Yeah, ok, the food was wasn't spectacular but it was tasty and not overloaded with cheap cheese and it was at least as good if not a tiny bit better than Border Cafe. It was super kid friendly which was great. Our waiter was excellent and I was worried because I read a lot of negative comments about the service. Maybe they were working out the kinks? Anyway, I would go back there again. Overall, a good experience. P.S. I enjoyed the salsa & guacamole!
(4)
John C.
The Fat Cactus is a recent addition to the Route 1 dining scene. The name conjures images of the desert southwest and a blend of Mexican and American cuisine. Two subgenre's of this fare are tex-mex and cal-mex, neither of which are well-represented in the Boston-metro area. The Fat Cactus continues this unfortunate trend and adds a dose of confusion. The FC bills itself "A Mexicali Cantina." Okay, fair enough. They have set our expectations. But wait, the wildly painted restaurant has a picture on the wall of people dancing and exclaiming "Let's conga!" (Cue needle scratching over record.) The conga dance is neither Mexican or Californian. It's a Cuban carnival march. Uh oh, the confusion begins. The interior is festooned with bright colors and empty beer and liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling. The staff is pleasant and efficient enough, but neither the employees or the atmosphere can make up for the lack of continuity in name, menu or food. On the surface, the menu contains the usual suspects...burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and chimichangas. But things are amiss. I started with the "queso fundido." Traditionally this dish is served as a melted cheese with rajas (roasted poblano peppers) and Mexican chorizo sausage. It is scooped with a spoon into a warm tortilla. At Fat Cactus, it is what everyone else calls chili con queso. More confusion. And the kitchen staff really fell on their face with the queso. It was clearly microwaved, which by itself is not the ultimate sin, but they did not bother to stir the cheese. What arrived was a large bowl of melted cheese on the perimeter and a cold glob of less-than-room-temperature cheese in the middle. I give them partial credit for their burrito. The FC is one of the few restaurants in Boston to understand its traditional construction. Theirs contains meat, spices, onions and perhaps peppers. They leave the rice and beans on the side where they belong. I had the shredded beef burrito with tomatillo sauce. The texture of the beef was akin to pulled pork, very tender and juicy. But it shared something else in common with its porcine cousin...it tasted like barbecue. There was nothing remotely Mexican or southwestern tasting about it. In the end, it was not horrible but it failed to meet my expectations. I wanted 'south of the border' not south of the Mason-Dixon. A similar fate was met by the beans. They offer black beans (again, more Caribbean than Mexican) or pinto beans. Strangely, they do not offer refritos (refried beans). I chose the pintos. Those from the southwest would recognize them as frijoles a la charra. That is, a soupy pinto style soup/stew. The appearance was promising but the taste was wacko. I swear I tasted allspice or five spice powder. Did someone misplace the cumin? In the end I doubt I will go back. The Fat Cactus is just too confused and confusing. Someone needs to get it focused on the mexicali genre if it does not want to put more people off.
(2)
M P.
I liked The Fact Cactus. I was eager to go there to see how it compares to the Border Cafe down the street (of which I am a huge fan). The menu was not as big, probably because it stuck to Mexican and the Border has some other options outside of Mexican. The service was great and the look was intriguing. There are cool liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling and we sat next to a wall of Corona bottles that blocked the view to the kitchen. They run out of food a lot. My mother went a week ago and they had run out of fish tacos. When I went we had salsa, but no chips for the first 10 minutes because they had run out of chips. Maybe it's because they don't anticipate such a big crowd? I couldn't say. Our server was thoughtful and fun. The food was decent and hot. I hardly got any pico de gallo with mine which was disappointing. Strong drinks! I could tell halfway into my margarita. Hopefully that lasts and isn't just to draw us in.
(4)
Tom D.
The Fat Cactus is a gigantic over-the-top Mexican food haven. Brave of them to open up down the road from Border Cafe, which at least in my experience seems to have a loyal following, but the Cactus appears to be doing just fine. The parking lot is always packed when I drive by so they must be doing something right. A couple friends and I and decided to give them a go not too long ago. Walking in and putting our names on the list, we were free to sample margaritas while waiting for a table. I like a traditional margarita on the rocks with salt and the FC delivered. A tasty treat at a very reasonable price. They're not served in giant glasses, but for under six bucks, you can certainly justify getting a couple. I'm not one for expensive tequila, but I was impressed by the display of agave offerings in the glass cabinet in the waiting area. They've got some very high end stuff available, so if that's your thing, have at it. The food was three stars, nothing different or exciting compared to any other moderately priced Mexican place. You've got your tacos, your enchiladas, fajitas, etc. All the basics. I enjoyed my chimichanga for what it's worth, but again, there was nothing stand out about it. What makes the place fun is the decor, and for that, I'll bump it up to four. This place is tacky, loud, Mexican schtick. Sombreros, Corona bottles, and other stereotype-inspired art adorn the dining area. It's certainly a colorful setting. Service was decent on our visit. Entrees took awhile to come out, but our waitress kept up plied with beverage and chips/salsa while we waited. If you're a Border Cafe loyalist, give this place a try for a change of scenery.
(4)
GN P.
The food, eh. On the boarder is well beyond these guys. The service - Lets put it this way. I left here a dollar on a 36.00 bill. Amazing how places like these stay in business.
(1)
Mark A.
I'm giving it 2 stars. Like many people, we've been waiting for the restaurant to open for a while. I was craving Mexican and checked their facebook page, and low-&-behold, they were opening that weekend. We went, knowing that it was opening weekend and there would likely be some bumps. We arrived and there were a couple of people in the lobby area waiting to be seated. We put our names on the list and were told there would be a 20 minute wait. As we waited, my wife and I commented how it was odd that they had 5 staff members standing around at the host station almost the entire time, pretty much staring at the people in the lobby. 30+ minutes went by and I strolled up to the host with the book and asked how much longer. He told me it was going to be another 20-30 minutes. I looked into the dining area and saw that it was less than half full, and I decided it was not worth the wait. I find it hard to believe that they were understaffed opening weekend, especially with 5 people manning the host station. While I was anticipating a wait on opening weekend, I don't know what was going on that the dining area was so empty, yet they weren't seating people, and were soooo off on their estimate for seating.
(2)
Madeline M.
The atmosphere is fun, all the servers I've had are nice. My favorite thing... The decor. It makes me smile everytime. It's super original, it's like mexico on crack, lol. Quite an experience. The food is ok, their apps are good. The queso fundido... holy cow! That bad boy is worth every freakin calorie. Their tequila lime wings are bomb. The lava flow is also great. At least the first time I had it. The second time... not so much, it tasted watered down and I could not feel the liquor. I love the fact that they have dessert, as I absolutely must have dessert, but sadly they are bland. When it comes to down to it, I like Border Cafe's food better, also on Rte. 1, but they have no dessert (laaame) and their decor does not keep me half as interested.
(4)
Shaun P.
I am basing this review off of the 3 times I have been to The Fat Cactus. Round 1: The First time i went was in March when they 1st opened and I thought the food was great! However, since eating there two more times I am beginning to think maybe it was the margaritas talking! The service was sub par the first time I dined there but I thought to myself, maybe the waiter is new and he lost his job as a working professional and is trying a new job as a waiter. (I'm a born optimist). Well...we were ignored for the first 15 mins after we were seated. Round 2: So I decided to go back and try the Fat Cactus again in April and to my surprise the service we had was much better however the Fajitas I ordered didn't taste nearly as good as the first time! Oh death , misery, and despair, my hope and dreams were smashed to tiny pieces as I became sober to the fact this wasn't love at first bite! Round 3: Ding! Ding! It's Cinco De mayo, 75 degrees outside and let me tell you the Fat Cactus Club is the place to see and be seen. I was holding a table outside on the patio for my friends since 4:30 and I got a corona t-shirt, a mexican hat, a blinking corona necklace, and free tequila samples! The place is filling up and there's contests going on and raffles where the prizes included a free trip to Key West , bikes, Elizabeth Grady gift certificates, and lots of other really good prizes! There is live music on the patio and we are having a great time! However, we put our name it for a n outside dinner table at 5:00 and and was told it would be a hour and we weren't seated until 8:00! Thumbs down...and for that you are the Fat Lying Cactus! So after they over-promised and undelivered I took matters into my own hands by slipping one of the outside waiters a crisp Andrew Jackson and we were seated at 8:00. Money Talks! I can't really give a review of the food because we were only able to order appetizers out on the patio and weren't allowed to order entrees. The appetizers were good but then again after 4 or 5 drinks and starving I'm sure a Cactus would have tasted good by then. Stay tuned for the final Round 4 to come soon!
(3)
Julie P.
If I could give it a zero I would. We really wanted to try this place but didn't because of the reviews on here. I saw a coupon in my email from living social or one of those so I figured we could use that and try it then. The decor is bright and happy and it looks like it might be a fun place to drink. We sat down and they brought over the chips and salsa. The salsa was watery and bland and the chips seemed like they came from a bag. I did not have a good feeling about this. I ordered a chicken quesadilla to play it safe and my boyfriend got steak fajitas. How silly of me to think you can't screw up something as basic as a quesadilla. It was HORRIBLE. I ended up scraping the, what can only be described as chewed up chicken and fake cheese out of the tortilla and just eating the tortilla because I was starving. My boyfriend's steak was tough and had no flavor. Even our drinks sucked.This place has made the top of the list of bad places we've eaten. Thank God I had a bag of Goldfish crackers in the car so I could eat something. I should've trusted my gut and stayed far away. NEVER again!
(1)
Cynthia S.
Been there twice - one time during that afternoon after lunch, and most recently on a Saturday night. I sat at the bar to avoid the dining room full of families/kids (Saturday dinner after 6:30 for me is about relaxing, and so I know it's best to be in adults-only area for that reason). Bar staff is ok - can't say super quick or helpful, but adequate. The food is at best 3-4/10. Last time I had a quesadilla - it was good. This time I had the Santa Fe chicken with poblano sauce - the texture of the sausage inside was ground very fine and the sauce didn't have a lot of flavor. The side dish of vegetables was steamed red onion, squash and pepper- blah. It's Tex-Mex - how about some corn or an exciting tri-color pepper side dish? The chips/salsa are freshly made and warm so that was good. But I can't say I'm going back.... there are simply too many other outstanding restaurants in the area to return to a mediocre one.
(2)
Mike H.
I havent had a bad time here yet. I have been here about 15 or so times every time the food is great and the drinks are even better. There is nothing better in the warm weather than sitting on that porch with margaritas and chips and salsa
(4)
Jim S.
I've been to Fat Cactus a couple of times. Very disappointed with the service. The last time I went it was with some friends. We checked in and were told it would be about an hour, which was perfect because we were waiting for some additional friends to arrive. Less than half an hour later we were told they were ready to seat us. We told the hostess we were still waiting but she seated us anyways so we grabbed some drinks and aps. About five minutes later our waitress was openly complaining about our table in front of us. The time before that, our waitress seated us and took our orders quickly and efficiently, but she never came back! She had one of the guys from the back bring our drinks and food while she helped other people, which was fine, but she never came back to check on us. No refills of drinks or even a courtesy check to see if our food was ok. She threw the bill on our table at the end without a word. All in all the food is comparable to Boarder Cafe. Drinks at the Cactus are much better (especially the pitchers of margaritas!). Cactus has a slightly quieter atmosphere and live bands which is great.
(2)
David S.
I love the look and feel and party vibe of the place. The outside patio looked perfect but after sitting at a table in the bar area for 2.5 hours waiting, our name was never called. Not that I can blame anyone though because the weather was PERFECT to hang out on the patio all night. I didn't eat but I had wonderful blueberry vodka lemonade which is made from their own homemade blueberry vodka and homemade lemonade. The place was JAMMED and so noisy that it was nearly impossible for the six of us to have conversations. The guitar player/singer did a great job when I could hear him over all of the people yelling.
(3)
Jay M.
As someone who loves (and knows, having lived in southern California) real Mexican food, I can tell you, stay away. The food was mediocre at best. I really didn't have high expectations to begin and boy was I right. To start, the margaritas were awful. The first one I got was sickeningly sweet. The second one was also sweet but in a different way. They weren't served in traditional margarita glasses which was a turn off. Now onto the waiter. He was not friendly at all. He maybe said 10 words to us the whole time. Come to find out his girlfriend was sitting at the table next to us and he was too busy talking to her. He spend a good amount of time hanging all over her, hugging her right in the middle of the restaurant at her table. Totally unacceptable. While he was busy with his girlfriend, we sat and waited and waited and waited for our food. Once we got our food we were so fed up, we had a couple of bites and had the food packaged up. There is not much to be said about the food. It was boring, tasteless and poorly presented. I will definitely not be returning to the Fat Cactus and will stick with Chipotle or The Border Cafe.
(1)
Michelle E.
I thought the food was good, although i didn't think there was much selection. The service was really good and i really liked the atmosphere.
(3)
Mark S.
Went here 3 times. Once with my wife and 2 girls and the other times with friends. Its great! For those who have moved from the city to the burbs like us, it was a pleasant surprise. Still trying to fight going to Applebees and buying a minivan. Border Cafe thats right down the road is pretty good but I really dont have time to wait 2hrs on a Tuesday at 4:30 to get a table. Yes, its THAT busy. I guess the owners of The Fat Cactus went here and said, its crazy not to open something up! -Great outdoor seating: They open up the garage doors from the bar directly out onto the outdoor seating. There are nice wicker chairs and loungers. -Good food -Friendly staff -Great Drinks! -Fun atmosphere: A one man band was playing Jimmy Buffet songs which made it fun.
(5)
Elizabeth M.
The Fat Cactus far surpasses 'The Border Cafe' any day- My fiance and I were eager to try the newly established joint since its quick change of hands- and boy, we were glad we did. While, there is no such thing as authentic Mexican food anywhere around here, this place serves up great "Mexican-American" fare. I love their blackened chicken fajitas, and my fiance enjoyed his chimichanga. He said it was packed with more than the usual Mexican knock-off. While the margaritas could use a little less sweetener, they are good-enough if you poor your water into it...so I guess too sweet. Overall, service is decent as long as they aren't too busy, the wait for us has never been long, and it beats any of its competition in the area! Ole!
(4)
Mike M.
The Good: service and decor. Place is really cool looking inside. We had high hopes. The Bad: food and drinks, Food tasted very bland for a Mexican Rest. Also, the soda is not Pepsi or Coke but some local soda company. Their regular cola tasted bad, real bad. We didn't hang around long.
(2)
Maggie C.
Glorified dog food, with extra salt. Even the soda tastes like shit.
(1)
john g.
We had lunch there today, couldn't get near the place last night. Sat outside , which was nice. The decor is definitely interesting, not sure about the bottles hanging from the ceiling though. Very colorful and the bar seems like a fun place to hang out. They have an extensive margarita menu. The service was awful..the young fellow handling our table, and the other couple of tables in the area, was completely clueless. After waiting for a couple minutes we had to ask for a server, and when he did come it was nothing but apologies. We ordered drinks and they took a long time to come (beer and sangria, nothing fancy), but he did grab them after about 10 minutes and a reminder (delivered with more apologies). The place wasn't crowded but other patrons were also complaining that the server was missing in action and they wanted drinks, food, their bill etc.. (oh, and more apologies). The food was ok, not exceptional, but tasty. My GF ordered salad dressing on the side so she could control the portion, but the salad was drenched. We mentioned this to the server and got a nice big helping of apology (it was on the house). The prices were reasonable - $34 for two meals and drinks. There didn't seem to be a lunch menu, which would have been nice. The patio was definitely a selling point. Given the poor service during a relatively slow lunch period, I can hardly imagine the chaos that must ensue when the place is packed.
(2)
P S.
We attempted to eat at the Border Cafe on our way back from Boston but it was an hour wait for a table. So we continued North & came upon Fat Cactus. Although the place was pretty full, there was no wait for 2 people. We got a pitcher of Margaritas - a little too much for 2 people! Very tasty. Then we got a bowl of queso dip to go with our warm chip. Nice. By the time we got through that & most of the 'rita's, we ordered dinner. The shredded beef enchiladas were pretty tasty as was the rice. Good atmosphere, good service, decent food - we will return.
(4)
Lisa A.
By the 2 star rating, it's safe to say I will not return to the Fat Cactus. I had a Groupon, so we gave it a try. We were seated relatively quickly and I found the decor interesting. I kept thinking about how many livers all those empty bottles booze hanging from the ceiling must have fried. They must make a good margarita here, right? So, I ordered one. Meh at best. It was watered down and weak. For dinner, I ordered the chicken enchilada and beef taco dinner. The chicken enchilada was OK, but on the small side. The rest of the plate was a disaster. The refried beans were nasty and runny. I was going to make a reference to the flu, but I'll stop there. Totally unappealing. And the beef in my taco was pureed and pasty. One bite and I was done. I left with almost a full plate and hungry. So did my daughter. She had a cheese burger and it was overcooked and tough. Only a few bites were taken. Even the fries were "off". Soft and barely cooked to heating. And for her dessert, we had to go to a freezer chest at the front desk to pick it out. Kind of a pain in the @ss when you have small kids.
(2)
kelly m.
The only reason I can give this place 2 stars is because they have some awesome live music on certain nights and their atmosphere in the summertime with their open deck is to die for! However....should you get a table in the bar section of this establishment, beware it may take FOREVER to get a drink, or even your food. This is my first non five star review on yelp with good reason. I had friends from Maine visiting to see a really good band at Fat Cactus back in December...the cocktail waitress was not friendly at all, not attentive in anyway. We had to ASK for drinks, and refills (alcoholic), we had to ask for plates for our appetizer which came out 3 minutes before dinner...we had to ask for silverware and when I asked for Bleu cheese to go with their buffalo chicken quesadilla the waitress never came back and I had to ask another, very nice and polite food runner, to grab us some. We got there at 6pm and didn't leave until midnight or later. We had a well over $300 tab of food and drinks and this could have been alot more as we were buying drinks for alot of friends that evening. However the waitress couldn't have cared less about being attentive or getting us more drinks. I was a waitress for 7 years, and if you are going to do that as a job, you need to hustle, and get people their drinks and food,..it's literally the easiest job on the planet and you can make a TON of cash doing it if you aren't lazy. This place has so much potential and just needs to hire and train better people.
(2)
Claudine D.
This was my second time at the Fat Cactus, there was a group of 10 of us. I was troubled that they didn't take reservations for a large group, when I called they said they couldn't reserve a table, but they were ready for us anyway, which was very unexpected. Although the hostess staff was great, our waiter left a lot to be desired. He may have been new but he didn't seem to have a system. It took a long time for him to bring us chips and salsa and get our drink menu. He really couldn't judge when we were ready and when we weren't. That being said, overall it was a good experience, not great but not bad either. We sat in the main dining area, the tables were so close together that I could not get out to use the rest room without having 4 of our party get up and move, and disturbing the party next to us. Ok on to the food and drinks....The watermelon margarita was fabulous! The chips and salsa are really good. I hate salty chips so these were perfect. The salsa was very fresh tasting. I had the beef fajitas, they were just ok. The meet was not really seasoned at all so it had a bland taste. There was one strip of pepper in my peppers and onions. The side dish of condiments that comes with the fajitas left a lot to be desired. There was lots and lots of lettuce and cheese, but a very small scoop of pico de gallo and sour cream. The guac was just plain gross! I have never had guacamole that tasted that bad. In summary, its a fun place, good drinks, but there is much better mexican food in the area.
(3)
S P.
We went to the Randolph site two nights ago and I had to write this review. We entered the door through the Comfort Inn Hotel, and it leads you directly to the Bar. Since it was a weekday night, there were only a few people drikning by the bar and playing video games. No host to welcome you. It took sometime to find the host and got sat down. The waitress was nice, though. We ordered Combinación de la Cactus, the potion is huge, chicken wings were good, so were the Beef Empanadas but the Ribs were cold inside. Then, we had three main courses: Beef Fajitas, Chimichangas and Bandido Baby Back Ribs. Beef Fajitas came to table with a dirty cover of the iron handle, which smelled grese and look so old that it was a immediate turn off to me. And the beef was too tough, onion burnt. My son had the Chimichangas, he said the main part is fine, but the Guacamole tasted wired. I took a bite and can't believe it was sweet. Very wired. The re- fried beans were cold and tasted like directly came from a can. Ribs looked old and did not warm through inside. We were totally disappointed. Will not return. The deco of the restaurant was not plesant. The entire experience feels like the first part of TV show "Restaurant Impossible". I will not recommend anyone go there before they make a major improvement: how about prepare food fresh. Everyone knows the basic Mexican Restaurant staple foods, Salsa and Guacamole but this restaurant has even failed both.
(1)
S B.
Went here once, was unimpressed. though the wife seems to like it, the food seemed lacking of flavor. Save your money and take it to border cafe instead
(3)
Diane E.
Generic Mexican food that seemed to come straight from the freezer or the can. The chips were great, warm and salted, but the salsa seemed to be made with canned tomatoes. I do have to say that my Caddy Marg was nice, served on the rocks with salt. It was a decent size and I could taste the tequila. Perfect! But the food was airport quality... Bland and Boring! We ordered the fish tacos and the chicken fajitas... both sub par. Our server was efficient but seemed to be annoyed by waiting on us. Mr Personality, nothing wrong with Hello and a smile! Still searching for a decent mexican place with a that serves a good Marg!
(1)
Fil R.
Don't waste your time. This place is destined to wind up failing just like the myriad of restaurants that have previously belonged to this location (Naked Fish, some chicken joint, etc etc). I am not a huge fan of mexican but once in a while it's nice so I said let's give it a shot. There is nothing to differentiate it interior-wise from the Border Cafe or the previous Tequilas up the road or any other typical Tex Mex. Place is so bright you can practically get a tan..no ambience whatsoever. Ordered the most expensive thing on the menu which I think was some sort of chicken-rib combination and the chicken was dry and hard..very difficult to cut through. I pointed this out to the server who comped the meal and apologized (which was impressive), but I have no desire to go back. For decent mexican in the area go to Mexico Lindo in Melrose.
(2)
Diane W.
This evening at 5:45pm me and my family came to your restaurant for the first time. We were seated at a dirty table and your hostess apologized and cleaned it. We ordered drinks and a guacamole appetizer from Devon our waitress.Fifteen minutes later we inquired about our chips,salsa and guacamole and she apologized and got use some chips and a black 2oz pc full of guacamole and walked off? Ten minutes later my daughter inquired about our drinks and appetizer for the second time and Devon apologized yet again but wanted to take our dinner order. Ten more minutes and no food or drinks we stopped Devon and asked for the manager . She came back and let us know Dawn was busy and would speak to use later. As your manager never appeared we left your establishment hungry but with the $120.00 still in my pocket.In this ecomony can you really afford such costly mistakes..
(1)
Jeff S.
Ok .. lets start with the positives first. The service was excellent!!! Our waitress was extremely helpful and had a smile on her face the entire time we were there. She was constatnly refilling our drinks and was more than happy to grab anything extra that we asked for. Additionally, I really appreciated that there was a manager (or maybe owner) at the front door when we left who asked how everything was. Aside from the fact that I would have felt horrible explaining to her how bad the food was ... I still appreciated that someone bothered to ask the simple question "how was your meal"? Also, they have a ridiculously large variety of Tequlias, and if you wanted to go there boozing, my guess is that you could have a very good experience. As for the food we ordered: Fish Tacos (smelled awful when they came to the table -- almost as though the fish was old), a children's cheeseburger (tasted awful ... my daiughter took a bite and wouldn't eat any more, my wife thean tried it to see what was wrong and decided that it could be considered "abuse" if she forced anyone to keep eating it), "shredded" beef tacos (Beef was actually cubed chunks as opposed to shredded ... my sister-in- law picked at one of the tacos and quickly decided that it wasn't worth trying to eat), a chicken chimichanga (average at best, definitely loaded down with chicken, though there were more than a few "nasty"/questionable looking pieces inside it that were better left uneaten, and 1 lunch buffett (a step up from the buffet that Clark and Uncle Eddie visit in Las Vegas during the moving Vegas Vacation ... but that isn't saying much is it??? On the whole the buffet was ok, ultimately I had that instead of a plated meal becuase I figured I could pick my way through multiple things and find something that I enjoyed. Instead, I tried 3 or 4 things, thought they were all "so-so" and ultimately decided to just stop eating instead of filling up on food that wasn't worth the calories.... Unless I was going to go there to get drunk or listen to the live music at night, you would have to pay me a lot of money to go back there to eat.
(1)
Lindsay C.
Fat Cactus....well I left feeling fat. This place is not too bad for Boston Mexican fare. Seems like the further you get from Mexico the worse the authenticity gets. But Fat Cactus made me surprised and happy. Ordered up a round of Shrimp Fajitas and they were Yumm-O and a large Margarita made with Patron Silver...it wasn't too weak but the lime flavor def wasn't there; it was kindda watered down tasting. I didn't partake in the "Tequila Wall"...mainly because, once you were seated the wall was but a memory...literally...there was no listing on the menu of the tequilas. You literally had to get up from your seat and waltz across the restaurant to the lobby and figure it out for yourself. The waitresses didn't seem to carry the list by memory either :-/ But other than that the experience was nice, food was good and the live singer out on the patio wasn't too bad at all! My girlfriend and I had a great time hanging at the Fat Cactus...and I would go back for sure.
(3)
Sarah D.
I usually come here for the bar. It is large enough typically we can find seats right away. The margs are usually good & the food is decent. It's not a bad spot to stop for a couple drinks & appetizers.
(3)
Lauryn C.
Good. Not great. Spare yourself the mediocre food, service and atmosphere and go to Border Cafe. You'll save some money and enjoy the food much more at Border!
(2)
Cathleen C.
Not the best, but not the worst mexican food around. Great, strong margaritas. The outdoor patio is nice, as is the decor and bar area of the restaurant. Cool place to hang with friends.
(3)
Jamie B.
Love the Fat Cactus! The first time we went we didn't have the best service, but that has certainly improved and we keep going back for more. It's usually pretty busy, but I don't mind waiting if I can find a seat on the porch where they have a walk up bar and cocktail service! The food is pretty good, but the decor really makes you feel like you are in a completely different place. It reminds me of my trips to Mexico or the Dominican or Bermuda even. I can't explain it except to say that it does not feel like you are on Route 1!
(4)
Stephanie S.
ate at fat cactus a few weeks ago and it was awesome. great extensive menu i had a hard time choosing my entree. they start you off with a big bucket of chips and salsa and we got the guacamole to start. guac was a lil on the pricey side and took about 15 minutes to come out but totally worth the wait. waitress was sweet and did a great job at keeping us happy. i ended up with the blackened chicken and omg was this dish flavorful....the spices on the chicken were the perfect blend of spicey and the pineapple salsa on top was great. had it for lunch the next day as well!!! i would totally go back again.
(3)
JOAN S.
regret that I can't give this place half a star! We went to the Border Cafe but, as usual, it was packed! There is a reason for this! GREAT food GREAT service. Something the Fat Cactus has no clue about! We sat at a small table in the bar. We kept looking around for a waitress. As I was about to ask the bartender if there was a waitress assigned to our table, she finally arrived. We ordered 2 Pacifico beers. It took a good 15 minutes for them to arrive......and we were sitting in the bar side!!! The place was only sparsely populated so there was really no good reason to have waited that long. We got a pail of chips and salsa....the salsa was bland...certainly nothing to write home about and the chips were not fully cooked. Kinda rubbery actually. We were looking at one guy at the bar who ordered a fajita. It arrived and wasn't sizzling at all so we decided not to go with one of those. In the end, we ordered a bowl of chili each, and some guacamole on the side. Then we waited and waited and waited and waited....I remarked to my husband, "How long does it take to put some guacomole in a bowl? Certainly, the chili is already made up, why the heck is it taking forever?" We were puzzled. Well, 20 minutes later our food arrived. ONE bowl of chili and a side of guacomole!! I said, "We each ordered a bowl of chili." "oh gee, sorry....I'll bring another bowl." And, by the way, NO SPOON!! I told my husband I will share my chili with him while he waits for his to arrive. We took a bite and it was only a few degrees warmer than room temperature! I was getting pretty pissed at this point. I couldn't believe we waited 20 minutes for a cold bowl of chili---that we had to share no less! After about 5 more minutes my husband's chili arrived. Again, cold. We drank our beer and couldn't wait to get out of there. That was another problem....once our food was finally delivered the waitress never came back. I had to ask another waitress to please find her. She finally came over with the bill and asked if we wanted to take the food home. Obviously, we declined. She put the bill on the table and left...Well, here we go again! After 10 minutes, I asked the bartender to please run my credit card for me. She said she would go find our waitress for us after which I replied, "Good Luck!" I wrote a note on the back of the bill for the manager to see but he probably won't care if this is how he is running his business. I left her A DOLLAR TIP!! I have never done this before and we go out a lot to restaurants and are well known as very generous tippers. I was disgusted with the place. It was our First time eating there and I can assure you, it will be the LAST! We didn't want to wait 20 minutes for a table at the Border Cafe but, if I had known what our experience at Fat Cactus was going to be like, I would have waited 40 minutes or more to get a seat at the Border. The Border Cafe cannot be beat! That's why it is always packed with people. We love it there!! Save yourself the aggravation and go to the Border Cafe!!!
(1)
Jen H.
I have been here about two times. As I view it, this place is great for summer time fun. I usually sit on the porch and have drinks. I have ordered dinner every time but I can not remember anything about dinner. I remember always feeling slightly disappointed by the choices on the menu. If I went here during winter, I think I would just be annoyed. So I would say go to this place if u want to sit on a porch (which is very crowded during peak times) and sip on some drinks during the careless days of summer.
(3)
Stefanie G.
I am really happy to see a business doing well in this location.....it's been years since I've driven by and seen a full parking lot, so I had high hopes! ATMOSPHERE---Busy appearing, but okay. I liked the footprints all over the place, but didn't understand the flip flops. Either way, as I said, it was busy, but suited the style of restaurant. I also LOVED the garage doors that allowed for the outside seating to feel part of the resstaurant. SERVICE---sigh---One bartender, Tiffany, seemed like she had her act together, but it's a pretty big bar and she had trouble remembering to check on us. HOWEVER, she wasn't even the one initially taking care of us! There was a guy, never caught his name, that should probably stick to waiting tables. He was nice, polite, had a sense of humor, but couldn't do all of the mlti-tasking things bartenders need to do. Like (in our case) change the tv, make our drinks, order our food and still take care of other people. FOOD---We were prepared to have a full meal here until things started snowballing. The above mentioned service, the having to flag down someone (not either bartender) to get us chips and salsa and the quality of the DINOSAUR LEGS. Now, these are some kick-butt legs....they are full legs of chicken, perfectly cooked and beautiful in appearance served with homemade bleu cheese dressing that was to die for. But, once we got to the end of one leg our lips were puckered from all of the salt. It was inedible.....well, for me. My husband had 3 and then we took 2 home and rinsed them off and grilled them---then they were great. At this point I was totally over the food there so I was done but my husband wanted to try a taco. Once we got the bartender to notice us and taught him where to look on the computer for just one taco, not a platter, we figured it would be just a few minutes for the ONE taco. In the meantime I should hit on the salsa....we LOVED it. It is very, very different than most because they use fire-roasted tomatoes and add a ton of pepper, but we both really enjoyed it! Okay, so 15-20 minutes later the taco arrives....chopped up steak had a fantastic flavor, but weird consistency. The tortillas were chewey (per my husband) but I actually like mine like that because it typically means they're homemade....he didn't like it. The pico de gallo on the side was fresh and had a perfect blend of jalapenos, onions and tomato but that was it.....could have definitely used a little salt and cumin. Anyhow, we'll probably go back but we will have very, very low expectations. It's just a great place to go in the summer with the doors wide open, the Sox on one of the many tv's and some good chips and salsa. Oh, and I should add that the house margaritas are made from a tap of premade stuff......fine by me! You never know how a bartender is going to make a margarita, so this made me happy!
(2)
D P.
Fat Cactus opened up recently on Rt 1 north, Saugus/Lynnfield line. I went there on a opening night, and I loved their chips and fresh salsa and the drinks/food was really good. Very comparable to Border Cafe. I have been there several times afterwards and the food quality has been going down. Their salsa uses canned tomato, and their food is just not that consistent. The bar area is pretty large, so it is fun to go there for drinks and they do have a lot more variety of drinks compared to Border Cafe, but food at Border Cafe is just fantastic.
(2)
Lisa H.
i love this place..eveything was really fresh ..the border is just boring and u feel very rushed..the cactus was very relaxed and fun ..
(5)
Kim G.
I visited the Fat Cactus over the weekend and overall was not pleased. I went with a group of about 15 people and we went to the bar/patio area. Even at 7pm it was very difficult to get service, we found ourselves actually waving at the bartenders for attention. None of the staff that interacted with us seemed happy. I felt like my drink request was an annoyence to them? We tried to move to the patio and when the ajoining patio seat opened I immedietly started to move chairs to accomodate us. A waitress came over and instead of offering to help or clean the table and take the check that was left, she told me that my party cannot stand in the path? Wasn't I trying to solve that problem and explained that to her. I would have understood her immediate request more if there were other people in the patio area but it was practically empty. Maybe the staff is angry because they aren't getting enought tips. Here's an idea, try smiling or offering to help, even if busy, apologize for the wait? Next time I organize an event, it won't be there. Nice job Fat Cactus.
(3)
Todd P.
If you are thinking about going to Fat Cactus, keep going and drive back to Saugus to go to Border Cafe. I'm not sure which was worse, the food or the service. I ordered Chicken Fajitas and my wife ordered Blackened chicken fajitas. The food runner brought the food and reversed our orders. We kept asking him which was blackened and he kept pointing out the wrong ones. When we tasted we knew they were wrong order. I asked the waitress, she picked up the plates and switched the plates in front of us. i then asked here if I could switch my order to blackened, she said she could probably have them re toss with spice. I said no. I was annoyed at this point. Then, our Rocket Scientist waitress came out with a container of spice and said, I could pour this myself to make it blackened. I sent it back and sat patiently while my wife and kids ate. The manager never came over to see what the issue was. The waitress never even brought refills for drinks. I will never go back. Please go to Border Cafe instead. You will never have a bad experience there. I am 38 and have been eating at Border Cafe since I was a kid and they were next to Hilltop! When we left, the hostess did not even say thanks for coming.
(1)
Serena D.
Stopped by there for dinner because of the interesting name. This restaurant is spacious, and they have outdoor patio. The service was kind of slow, and unfortunately, our waiter lacks the knowledge of food and drinks. And he kept forgetting what we asked for, like napkins, extra plate, etc. The food was actually good, I liked the fajita, and the wings were good, but I can't say anything good about their nachos and burritos. I might go back, or might not :(
(3)
Danielle G.
I've wanted to go here for a while, since they always have a deal on Groupon. I should have went on Yelp first and looked at the reviews, but I was starving and wanted to get going. Big Mistake. The restaurant looks cute from the outside, though I'm not a fan of the LED signs. Inside, I got a bad feeling. It has a run down sports bar vibe. We were led into the dining room which was wall to wall TV's. It looked sort of odd and creepy to me. The hostess wasn't terribly friendly ("What do you want?" she said, without greeting us.) but we got seated right away. But the hostess was a saint compared to the waitress. She could compete with the best of them in Paris. She comes to our table and says "OK?". I assumed that was shorthand for 'What do want to drink?' So, I order my drink, and my husband mentions to the waitress that I prefer frozen margaritas, which they advertise on their LED sign outside, by the way. She gives me a very dirty look and then lectures me about how frozen margaritas taste very watered down compared to on the rocks and then says, "On the rocks or what?" I said no, sorry, but I prefer frozen. She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. Then when my husband ordered his meal, he asked for a double order of Spanish rice with no beans, which he does all the time at other Mexican places and they have no problem with it. She does the sighing and rolling her eyes again, this time at my husband, and says, "We DO NOT do that here. You get either black beans or refried beans, no extra rice. Got it?" I have no idea why she was giving us attitude because it wasn't exactly busy in there. In the dining room there was three families sitting down, about the same number at the patio and no one at the bar. And we hadn't even gotten served yet. We got a bowl of chips and salsa. The chips seemed like stale supermarket chips that were heated up and the salsa was canned tomatoes doused in hot sauce. The salsa was way too hot for me and since we had nothing to drink I only had one bite of a chip. My husband thought the salsa was okay but he said the chips sucked. When the waitress returned, my husband requested that we have mild salsa too, but she said, "You can't custom order salsa. If you don't like it, don't eat it." When he requested our drinks again, she sighed and stomped off. Luckily, a much friendlier man served us our food about five minutes later. We asked for our drinks again, and he said he would track them down for us. He got them right away, but I have to say I was disappointed in mine. I know I was warned but this drink had zero alcohol. It tasted like a slushie with a bit of lime in it. My husband got the same drink, only on the rocks and he said his tasted really watered down too. The only good thing is we both liked our meals. I ordered the Caribbean Shrimp Salad and it tasted fresh with just the right amount of dressing on it. The shrimp tasted like they were previously frozen but they weren't too bad, I guess. My husband got one of the steak burritos and it looked really burned, but he said it tasted delicious. I had a piece of the steak and it was pretty good. The waitress came by to check on us, once trying to grab my plate while I was still eating, but when we opened our mouth to request refills on our drinks, she took off. For dessert, they had a 'special of the day' but the man who served us our food didn't know what it was or that they even had a dessert of the day, so we just ordered fried ice cream. It was delicious and the perfect amount for two people. It was probably the best part of our less than stellar experience. The waitress handed us our check soon after, but when my husband tried to give her his credit card, she took off without it. She never returned so we had to flag down the hostess in order to pay. When we left, there was no goodbye, have a nice day...nothing. I think this is the first time I've given a restaurant one star. The food wasn't bad but I don't think it makes up for the atrocious service. If you want to try eating here, be my guest, but if your waitress is a 50ish looking woman with giant black glasses and a very dark spray tan, I strongly suggest you walk away. I'm definitely not coming back here, that's for sure.
(1)
Dan R.
Generic food, poor drinks, Horrible Sangria. The hostess opened the garage door over our head while we were seated spilling all kinds of dust, insects and debris onto our drinks and food. Totally inconsiderate. This could have been done after we departed. We mentioned this to her and she didn't seem to care or give any consideration. Our server was decent. Broken chairs dirty moldy booths outside. This place has the potential. Great outdoor seating and entertainment visit very comfortable. You can tell the ownership and management don't care much about this place. Cobwebs, dirt, dust, no oversight. I hope to see them improve because they have potential.
(2)
Kristen D.
Stopped in here on a Friday night and was not at all busy, though the hostess seemed overwhelmed and didn't even greet us, just ran us to a table. We started with the chicken wings and both enjoyed those. I got the Spicy Chicken Ranchero burrito, which was indeed very spicy and really tasty. My friend got a chimichanga, but didn't finish or take it home. Even though the portions were pretty large, we went with the fried ice cream for dessert - pretty standard. Overall, if in the area, I would stop in again but probably wouldn't go as out of my way as I did that night.
(3)
Gustavo S.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with the reviewers that gave this place a low rating. I only went here once because I had purchased a Groupon deal and I was very disappointed. The place was very empty which is always a bad sign. Also, the service was slow and the food was very bland. There was a strong smell of sewage that came either from the carpet or from the kitchen. This place also looks old and is due for a renovation. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone.
(1)
Em B.
Went here with a friend and got a groupon. The drinks were good, the food was good, there was live (enjoyable) music, but the service was so, so, so bad. I try not to give 1 star reviews but they deserve it. First, we sit at the bar for a little less than ten min before a bartender said she would be right with me. Keep in mind this place was not busy at all, there were 3 bartenders and not a lot going on. So when the waitress gets to us about another 7 min later we ask for a menu and were given one which they have big menus but usually people don't share a menu? my friend ordered the tequila lime wings to start. the bartender brought chips and salsa and spilled the salsa. when we wanted to order our drinks we had to keep waving for her to come over. keep in mind there we're 2 other people behind the bar washing dishes etc. why are people washing dishes and not paying attention to the customers? so we finally we're able to order our drinks. it took another 10-15 min to get our drinks. Once she placed the drinks down (while spilling my friends) we we're prepared to order she didn't even look at us or ask if we wanted to order she just sat them down and walked away. another bartender brought a drink to the couple next to us and kept spilling it. then it took another 15 minutes to get her attention, keep trying to wave at her. I was so irritated I was considering yelling "EXCUSE ME! CAN I ORDER?!" for quite awhile but didn't. We ordered our food. we're never asked if we wanted anything if our drinks we're good if we wanted more drinks. there we're 4-5 other couples at the bar and I'm sure they we're all treated the same. I ordered the chicken and steak fajita which was 14.99 and it was okay. the onions and tomatoes we're cut too big (lazy prep?) my friend got the catfish fajita salad which she liked, it was huge in a big shell. when we got the bill my meal was 16.99 and I asked her, she really had the audacity to tell me "on the door when you come in there's a sign that says the steak is more now." which is clearly a bad reflection of the restaurant management for thinking that people would pay attention to that, and also on her part for not telling me WHEN I ORDERED IT. it's not a big deal $2 but it's the principal and the fact that they don't even put stickers on the menus for the new prices or have their staff tell people that the price is different from the menu. I wanted to write this review as I was waiting at the bar last night because I was so appalled at the service but didn't because I wanted to try to enjoy my night. oh and we got tequila shots and when we used the salt shaker to put salt on our hands, it was clearly old because the salt was completely stuck together at the bottom of the bottle. the worst service I've ever had in my life. Would highly recommend to go anywhere else. They definitely don't care about their customers. and I'm a very patient and understanding person ESP when it comes to service cause I've worked in service. they are so unorganized and untrained. I read the reviews before coming and was like well maybe the service was bad when it's busy or a bad night. this night was slow and they were terrible I will never go back and take caution if you decide to go anyways after reading this!
(1)
Jackie K.
My sister got a gift certificate on Groupon so we went there to eat. The waitress was friendly and nice and with the exception of the fried ice cream that's about the only good thing about this place. The food was bland and tasteless, end of story.
(1)
M R.
Normally I won't write a negative review, but if a "Mexican" restaurant can't make a burrito without burning it (or the server leaving it under the warming light so long that it burned), then they should probably consider changing the theme or hire better staff. Server was clearly overwhelmed with a few tables, I won't bash, but water and chips should not be that hard to remember. Sorry, but you go out to eat for 2 reasons food and service. Unfortunately there wasn't much of either here.
(1)
Joe F.
All we wanted on Saturday was Border Cafe. We braved Route 1 traffic, turned into the lot, found a spot--- 1 hour wait. I said "hey, there's another place up the street that looks pretty good. Let's try The Fat Cactus". I wish I had looked at Yelp before. This place looks like it might be fun late night, lots of bars, outdoor seating in the good weather, lots of drinks on the menu. Seems like the dining room is under renovation. There was no one at hostess station, so we walked to the bar and took a seat. Bartender was nice enough, although we made the mistake of sitting as far away from other patrons as possible, so she tended to forget about us. Food: Guac was good. Chips were not so great, almost stale. I ordered the chimichanga. Cheese on top of the burrito was heavy and delicious. Beans were salty, rice was dry, and there was a bone or something in my ground beef. My companion got a chicken quesadilla-- said it was like something he would make at home. The fried ice cream was the star of the meal. Drinks: Large beers are HUGE. Great beer selection. If I were reviewing this as a bar only it likely would have gotten a better review. Service: As I said above, bartender was nice enough, even told me I had some extra money on my groupon. Was about what I expected. I'm not saying I'd never come here again, but I think I'd have rather wait for a table at Border.
(2)
Eric M.
I was overcharged an extra beer that i never had and the manager said "well we can go check the cameras". Even though i knew how many beers i had, i said i didnt want to cause any trouble or spend time going through video footage. Not a single apology or thank you from her, Such horrible customer service by a manager. Bartenders were great but the manager lady was awful. Please learn how to treat customers and make them want to return, otherwise you'll be out of buisness in no time. Thanks.
(1)
Rob G.
Sat at the bar Tuesday night didn't get any attention from either of the 2 bartenders for 20 mins then I finally got a water, 20 more minutes later I had to flag down one girl and ask for a menu, ten minutes later I flagged another girl down to order an app that straight out of a frozen restaurant depo bag. The dirty dish sat in front of me till I left a half hour later, Terrible service from both servers behind the bar who didn't look at all like they wanted to be there,mind you it was not busy at all maybe 50% of the seats at the bar were empty , definitely will not go back.
(1)
Pasqual R.
Went here with a few friends for a drink and before we even walked in you get hit with smell of garbage and dead mice. Walked into the bar and it just looked dirty and there where random spots around the bar that litteraly just stunk! ew! can't imagine eating there until the place gets subbed down and they do something about that nasty odor all over the establishment. The best part was the live band but couldn't even sit out on the patio because of the odor!!!
(1)
Rick L.
Terrible service food bad stay away took us 1/2 to get a menu while fat manager was to busy smoking outside 10 feet from tables on porch this place Needs bar rescue real bad.
(1)
H D.
I have to give a star to write a review. This place smells of mold.and bug spray, dinner was a disappointment. I ordered a salad with steak the steak was tuff and hard to chew. Dont waste your time or $$
(1)
Mustachechuck S.
The Service Friendly Food was not very hot {KITCHENS FAULT] move the orders better Best thing I have had is Bandito Ribs, Burrito was over stuffed very SALTY They have no Idea what to do with AVOCADO. Fish Tacos were so wet they had to be eaten with a fork only, Then after paying 3 er ah Gent's, standing on steps in front of the door would not get out of the way for my wife and I to leave. She walked ahead of me I was pissed they mumbled something as we walked away. She held my hand and begged me please don't I got to the vehicle called spoke to Manager She came out to them They would not move for her, We watched as she blasted all three. Not a happy night for us with our food then after. That was April 9th wife has a Groupon wants to try it again, I just want the Border cafe But we promised Manager we would give it another try, Be YELPING soon.
(2)
Christine B.
So the food here is great, the waitstaff is polite and as attentive as they can be considering every time I've eaten here they seem to be short staffed, and the only reason I am giving a 1 star review is because of the hostess. I didn't get her name, but the blonde lady who greeted us when we arrived seemed as if she couldn't be bothered to speak to us, and when she did she was horridly rude, any questions asked were answered in a curt, discourteous manner, and she was so argumentative I got the impression she was trying to start a fight with my mother in law! So if you want tasty but admittedly generic "mexicali" food, order take out or hope the skinny blonde hostess has the night off.
(1)
Rich L.
So, I was totally excited to go here. We went the way there on a Tuesday night and there at 9:05 to be rudely greeted at the door and told the kitchen closes at 9. Like really? How can you be a legit restaurant and stop serving food at 9 on a weeknight? Every other place on Rt 1 is still open and we just drove by the Border Cafe which now I wish we just went to. Overall, with a the crappy reviews and this lovey experience I just had, I'm all set. I will not be going back. No wonder they have had a $40 for $23 deal on Groupon for like the last year.
(2)
Neil M.
There should be a way to give negative stars. Don't waste your time and good money at this place. It's like some puked up salsa on an Applebee's meal and then handed it to someone with an anger management disorder to serve it. There are plenty of good alternative locally, border cafe, Temazcal, etc.
(1)
Amy R.
Cool place but could be SO much better. Nice outdoor seating however our table was sticky and the booth was very dusty/dirty. Server was nice and the drink I had was strong. They were cheap with the chips as they never came to refill the tiny basket while we waited a long time for our food. The dish I ordered was so big it could feed someone for 2 days but they barely gave me any pico de gallo and sour cream. My teenage sons dish took forrrrever to come out and when it did he wasn't a huge fan. Long story short it was "ok" but I'd def stick with the Border Cafe if I want to go to this type of place.
(3)
Bob M.
Not sure whether to go with 1 star or 2....going with a 2 as the food wasn't horrible. That said, if your choice is Border Cafe or this place, go to the Border....even if you have to wait 45 minutes for a table. This place has no idea what it's identity is. Sports Bar? Restaurant? Something in between? Who knows. All I know is that there was some horrifyingly bad karaoke going on at 7:15 on a Monday night. 7:15. Thanks. Yeah, people want to hear talentless losers singing songs that sucked to begin with while they are trying to eat dinner. Give me a break. Why would you do this?? (Hey, management - here's your shot to explain yourself...) Would I go back? Only is there was a total overhaul. Service was decent, food mediocre, prices average (but higher than Border). Place needs to hit the reset button or it's not going to last.
(2)
Meg V.
Got that nacos and was disappointed. Who screws up nacos? Also I ate on the porch which was lovely until the smell of a septic system took over. Everyone in my party was grossed out by the smell!
(2)
Amy L.
What a horror show. Not a place to go unless you're a single person looking for a warm beer, bad karaoke and terrible food. There was old food on the silverware! Not just the " oops...missed one" kind. It was the "I hate my job and don't give a s***" kind. Tons. Also, our drinks didn't come with limes (as requested) so when I asked the bartender (who turned out to be the GM) she dropped the attack of dirty dishes she was clearing, used her bare hand to reach into the dish of limes and the them in a cup. Gross! So unimpressed. So disgusting.
(1)
Gerard D.
service is quick and very pleasant, the redeeming quality of this establishment. Consistent is a word that best describes their food, consistently salty and lacking in texture and seasoning. I wouldn't go running back to eat their any time soon but the bar and bar menu looked like they could be a good time.
(2)
Tony C.
This place is terrible I would use another word but I'll keep it PG-13. Got a pitcher of Sangria (mediocre) - Wasn't the best but wasn't bad. We then got a Nacho Plate - Absolutely disgusting it looked like my dog put it together. Cheese wasn't melted chicken(which was pulled) was cold and the bottom of the nachos were watery it was disgusting. The service was good but the food is terrible here. I will not be back here anytime soon.
(1)
Johnny F.
Going..going...; you know the next word. I will be suprised if this restaurant lasts another year. The bar area was mostly rowdy locals that brag "We keep this place open" as they yell at the bar. We sat at the bar area and witnessed a couple come in and then leave 15 min later because of no service. The salsa was hot sauce and chili powder with some onions and peppers. The crispy tortillas had sugar as an ingredient. Really!! I am from Texas and good Mexican tortillas are masa flour, water and salt, very simple. The best thing was the dip on the taxi appetizer. The waiter failed service 101. We said we were finished and he dropped the check off; left all the food and plates at the table. We had to ask him to clear the table so we could enjoy our after dinner beverage. I hope the bar crowd does keep the place going because the food and service will not.
(1)
Katy G.
Disgusting, greasy food. There was a bad odor: perhaps they we getting the septic tank cleaned? Worst dining experience of my life.
(1)
Lisa M.
I usually love it here but we went last night for dinner, there was only one person sitting at the bar not a server insight. He yelled out I think you can seat yourself. I would have sat my self but unfortunately every table was covered in dirty dishes and glasses, so then I decided we would just sit at the bar and unfortunately the bar was dirty as well. This whole time we still weren't approached by any staff member.
(1)
Maria O.
Whenever I'm in Saugus I make it a point to dine at the fat cactus. Great food at sensible prices, friendly service, fantastic festive atmosphere! I suggest the enchiladas they are quite the treat. The place for Tex Mex at the NORTHSHORE for sure.
(4)
Julia R.
By far the worst Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. I should have listened to the other Yelpers, but the building looked so cool from the exterior. The food tasted like it had been frozen. Definitely not fresh. The salsa looked like it had sat out unrefrigerated for days. The frozen margaritas were not blended. Totally full of ice chunks and no flavor or alcohol. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. Very disappointing!
(1)
lori g.
Wish I could give positive review, but unfortunately this place seems to have an identity problem and food is not very good.. Fish tacos were awful, salsa and chips smallest serving I have ever seen in a Mexican restaurant and both my husband meal and my meal were cold, after waiting about 30 min for a meal when it was empty. The thing that bothered me the most was the 35 TVs in one room.. Could not carry on a conversation with all the distractions.. Service was poor, atmosphere is that of a Sports bar, food was worst mexican food I have had.. Good luck with this place.. It use to be ok, I feel the changes have not improved the atmosphere or the menu... Too bad..
(1)
Scott B.
Good service, nice people, my kids love it, but they only eat the cheese nachos margaritas,.....no thanks, go with the beer. Food....some has been good, this last time,..not so much. Music was blaringly loud,.....I hate to say it,..but stay away. Mexico Lindo in Melrsoe is excellent if you are anywhere near.
(2)
Marla L.
Horrible ! EOM
(1)
robyn t.
This is my first "Yelp" review....Not sure where to start since as I write I have the most nauseating feeling in my stomach. First let me say, as someone in the food industry them-self that the service of the waitress was more than accommodating. That is the only thing nice I can say. Oh and the beer was cold too! The food was beyond gross!!!! My Son got the ground beef tacos, since he really doesn't like super spicy things. The beef " Paste" was so smoky flavored that even I couldn't eat it. My catfish entree had dried corn bread, OVER the top Cajun spice on top of an overcooked piece of fish, and dried up pineapple salsa that was hardly noticeable on it. I will never eat there again! I do enjoy summer drinks on patio, but seriously....they need to put down the spice shaker and concentrate on preparing food w/out giving indigestion to their patrons!
(2)
Ivette G.
No! No! No! The food here is not good. Very disappointed with the Mexican food here. I could tell that the beans came from a can. Doesn't take much to boil some beans with onions, garlic and salt. Never going here again.
(1)
Priscilla G.
Bland and boring mexican food. Steak has a sour old taste to it. Beans are most definitely from a can. Gauc is brown and old. Damn you groupon, But i wont ever come back.
(1)
Jimmy O.
Forget the food, dirty inside and the roof that commonly leaks as well as the tacky circa 90's arcade space, only go to the bar and outside patio, drinks are decently priced not a huge selection of beers. However beware the large amount of bikers that constantly regular this location you may end up feeling like you are in roadhouse by the end of the visit. They overserve people so you will get the "bros" & " tough guy bikers" who are usually drunk,loud and ignorant. The owner of this resturant had also owned previous resturant with bad reputations and shady ways of running things most known past locations being "big dog" and "bostonville grill".
(2)
Samantha G.
I've recently come to Massachusetts all the way from Houston, TX., considering Mexican food is a big deal there, one of the first types of food I wanted was Tex-mex. I had been to The Fat Cactus on a date, enjoyed my meal and the 2 of the delicious margaritas. On my first day off in weeks from my 3 new jobs I went to The Fat Cactus for another good Margarita and some queso. However this time they didn't accept my Texas drivers license and turned me away after telling me it could be fake and since I don't have another picture I.D. I can't be served. No, I don't have a school I.D., didn't bring a passport, I was bitten in 1989 and couldn't enjoy a drink in a new state. This was extremely frustrating considering id been served there the month prior to today's visit.
(1)
Nicole S.
From the get go we were disappointed with our service at the Fat Cactus. We were seated and didn't see our waitress for at least fifteen mins. It turned out to be a problem most of the night as she would disappear and we were left to wait. When she gave us our check at the end of the night she walked away and disappeared into the kitchen for fifteen minutes before coming back. Um, excuse me, how long does this lady thinks it takes for someone to pull a card out of their wallet? We were already so disappointed in her poor service and the food that we just wanted to get out of there. She wasn't helpful or anything. Now onto the food. Mediocre. I got the chicken asada quesadilla. It was extremely greasy. It looked like cat food and had barely any taste to it. I didn't even eat half of it. My fiance got the chicken asada chimichanga. He said it was 'meh'. The rice is weird and it leaves kind of a spicy after taste in your mouth. It honestly tastes like it came out of a box. It was pretty dry, too. The chips were fine as was the guacamole. We went on a friday night and there was a live band or something. It was way too loud in the dining room. If I wanted to sit in a noisy bar we would have chosen to sit over there.. We were really disappointed because we have been looking for a mexican place near us and this place is just not it. We will not be recommending it to anyone else and we won't return.
(2)
Kayla L.
The food was good. The drinks were sent back due to their water content. Did half the ice melt before you brought it to the table? As a vegetarian I was surprised to have found a really good spinach salad with avocado beans tomato and corn- asked for it without the shrimp
(2)
Dexter B.
So much better than Border Cafe! Everyone goes to Border Cafe because they are sheople and they go to where is popular even if it sucks. Like Dunkin Donuts. The Fat Cactus is different and and a great alternative to those who want to think for themselves and have a great meal.
(4)
Savannah K.
Big management problems here.. walked in last monday night and sat at a Filthy table for 20 minutes while the wait staff ignored me. Then while the Karaoke show was going on a large rat was under one of the tables inside the restaurant. After most everyone cleared out, I stayed a few more minutes to see that there wasn't even a manager on duty to deal with the emergency.
We had a Groupon... so the fact that we paid 1/2 price was the only redeeming part of this meal. We ordered the Potato Chip Nachos, which were supposed to be "drenched" (their menu description) in Queso. Most of the chips had nothing on them. We asked for a little more... and got charged $1 for it! Sitting on the patio was nice, but by the end of the meal the bugs came out... and got caught in the fans... and were literally dropping like flies on our food. The food is lackluster at best - greasy empanadas, flavorless fajitas, and soggy tacos. The service was slow (though pleasant) and we really just couldn't wait to leave. Let's just say that we won't be getting fat at the Fat Cactus.
(1)
Christopher H.
One time it was great and the next time it was dripping grease so I went with a 2. The atmosphere is nice and comfortable.
(2)
Lynette A.
Wish I could give a positive review, as I have gone here before and it was so-so then seemed to be getting a bit better but unfortunately this place seems to have an identity problem and food is awful.. We were greeted by a hostess after 6 minutes and the place was far from busy and she was not very personable. The nachos were cold and plain and my meal Tacos al pastore came out stone cold. waited over 15 minutes for the waiter who still did not come back and had to ask to get him over and told him it was stone cold. Needless to say I didn't even get to eat. salsa and chips were never served. 35 TVs in one room..focus on your customers. Service was poor, atmosphere is that of a Sports bar, food was worst mexican food I have had.. Good luck with your renovations.. .. It use to be fair but these changes have not improved the atmosphere or the menu... so long FAT CACTUS
(1)
Christine S.
The decor is sort of gimmicky-trashy. The service was actually great. I was with someone who as a former waitress, i know is a huge pain in the ass. Our waiter was great. The food was ok at best. Salsa tastes like it is from a jar. I got a chimichanga and it just wasn't anything to write home about. I guess I have been spoiled by the Howling Wolf in Salem.
(2)
Stephen M.
The Fat Cactus always seems to disappoint. I've been three times, but only because of gift cards and Groupons. On the positive side though, the food is good and they have great daily specials. I went on a Tuesday most recently and all burritos and enchiladas were $5. The one I ordered is usually $13.99! Each time I went, the place seemed to have been remodeled. The second time there was a large buffet area set up in the middle where there used to be tables, but then the next time it was replaced by booths. Maybe they're trying to be better? They already had a cool atmosphere, so it sort of seems like a waste. I think their biggest problem is that The Border Cafe is right down the road in Saugus. The Border is an awesome restaurant and has set a very high bar for the Fat Cactus; it's also much cheaper. I'd come back for the specials and maybe if the wait was too long at The Border. At least the Fat Cactus has a nice outdoor seating area going for it.
(2)
carol a.
I've driven by this place a million times and stopped in for a quick bite on my way back from Boston. The chips and salsa were good and had great spice so I had high hopes however, it was all down hill after that. We both had the fish tacos on corn tortillas. The tortillas were the worst I've ever had. They were yellow corn and were really coarse rather than the white corn tortillas that are soft. The rice was totally flavorless and tasted like it came from a box. The refried beans tasted like they came from a can and also had not taste. I think Taco Bell probably makes better Mexican food. They call their cuisine Mexicali...I'm from California and there is no place in California I know that services Mexican food like this.
(1)
Jonathan A.
Meh. Is a good way to describe my experience at Fat Cactus today. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either. I saw a deal on Groupon for Fat Cactus ($20 for $40) and I had never been there so my fiancee and I decided to give it a shot. Prior to going we asked several friends about there thoughts on The Fat Cactus and one said she didn't like it at all and another said "meh, it is so-so." I responded with, "there is a Groupon for it so I think we will try it" and he responded saying, that if I was going to spend $20.00 than I might as well just go to Borders up the highway a little ways. He was right. I went in with a positive attitude in spite of some negative feedback. As we walked in the decor was eye-catching in the sense that it felt like some sort of indoor playground. I wasn't a big fan. Our waitress was kind and checked up on us several times so no complaints there. I had the Black Angus Seasoned Ground Sirloin Chimichangas. And that was definitely just "meh." Meet tasted greasy and looked greasy, didn't seem much different from ground beef you would find at a supermarket, and some of the rice was either uncooked or burnt. There were a few times I had to pull some grains out of my mouth because they were too hard to chew. And finally, my stomach was pretty upset after eating at the Fat Cactus and I suspect it was the amount of grease in the Chimichangas. On a positive note: there guacamole was pretty good and fresh! All in all, I would not recommend the Fat Cactus especially given that border cafe is no more than 10 minutes away. I would actually even choose Chipotle over Fat Cactus. I won't be back.
(2)
Keith C.
We ate here because Border Cafe had an hour wait. There was no wait time which was a plus, but the interior really left something to be desired. They seated us in the dining room, which resembled a cafeteria, so we relocated to the bar which was a little more lively and had at least some character, but unfortunately it smelled like a dirty sponge, or maybe it was our menus? The food was adequate, we both had fajitas. The meat and the black beans were fine, but the tortillas were really generic and bland. The salsa definitely came out of a can and was a big disappointment. The service was good at the bar, they were attentive.
(2)
Frank A.
Food is horrible!!!!! Service was horrible!!!! We had to ask to be waited, then had to ask for our checks as the waitresses were just standing around doing nothing. The rice is gross...everything was bland. Had to throw salt and hot sauce on everything in order to eat. Do yourself a favor a go to Border Cafe instead!!!!!!
(1)
Brian M.
When you walk into this place, the subtlety of the decor hits you like a baseball bat to the side of the head. It's all bright colors with empty liquor bottles, New Mexico State license plates, an sombreros hanging all over the place. It's different and it's most certainly not boring. The second thing that gets you is the openness of the place. The walls to the outside open up, allowing in a lot of light and outside warmth. I liked it. On a beautiful summer day it's a great place to sit down and enjoy a meal with a couple of drinks. The food, for the most part, didn't blow me away. It was good because Mexican food, by definition, is pretty good. Throw some cheese and avocado into a dish and right away, you have yourself a hit. I've dined on better Mexican dishes, but don't be discouraged. I left very full and very happy. If I lived in the area I have a feeling that I'd be back very often. If I'm craving an authentic, delicious dish then maybe I'd keep searching. But if I'm looking for a night of throwing back a few beers with some friends then this would be one of the first places I'd think of. I love the open, outdoors feel to the place. I love how they have a Golden Tee and a couple of racing games tucked away in the back. Few things go better with your 3rd beer than a round of Golden Tee. I love the prices and I love me some enchiladas.
(5)
Christina H.
This was, by far, the single worst food-related experience I have ever had at a restaurant. The only food which was even remotely edible were the wings, which were fairly tasty. The meat in my husband's burrito was cold and it had beans, even though he had requested none. There was hair in my taco (be nice..), the steak was charred on the outside and completely cold on the inside. The rice was crunchy. Thankfully the manager was good about removing the charges on the offending food, but we will not be going back.
(1)
Barry M.
Average Mexican food, not great but not bad. Chips and salza are good and Cheso cheese dip very good. Beef enchiladas were okay but I have had better. Quesadillas were very good, overall pretty good.
(3)
Doreen R.
There were 4 of us that were looking for a few margaritas and some appetizers. Found 4 seats at the bar, the food was good & the margaritas were good - if they were made by the same bartender. I ordered my third margarita and it tasted nothing like the first 2.. I asked the bartender to put more mix in it, she dismissed me - saying there is no mix in it, it is lime juice - walked away and went to the other bartender and told him to make it. We ordered appetizers, which were good. What I could not get past was the smell. It was a sharp, dirty nasty smell. All I could think of was bar rescue needed to come in there and whip that place into shape. When we were leaving there was a sign in the lobby stating they would be having renovations done. I hope this is true and part of the renovations would be they clean the bar area, cause that is just gross. I will be curious to see if anyone from the Fat Cactus responds to this review.
(1)
Abigail S.
I would not eat here again. The initially bright and vibrant impressions of the restaurant decor is quickly damped by their menu (varied but uninspired) and poor service. We generally take it as aa bad sign when a restaurant that identifies as one type of cuisine features many dishes from other cuisines. It's also not a good sign when the server in a Mexican restaurant identifies their ribs as the best thing on the menu. Our food was received relatively timely (it did feel like a long time considering that we were one of three parties in the restaurant at at around 2pm in the afternoon). We were given complimentary chips and salsa and discovered a scrap of black cloth on on the chips about half way in. When presented to the server, he joked that it was part of his shirt. Meeting with blank stares from us, he took the plate away. We ordered queso cheese and chips, which were decent. The food was mediocre and served hot but not nearly good enough to redeem the experience. Multiple people commented on the poor taste, texture and greasy quality of their meat (different kinds of meat in tacos, enchiladas, and burritos). My husband and his brother both found their chicken quesadillas unpalatable after eating one slice. I had enchiladas (one chicken and one cheese - ended up only eating the cheese one) which didn't have any enchilada sauce on them, only cheese. A friend's beef chimichanga was bland and others only finished half of their burritos. Furthermore, accoutrements like lettuce, picco, or tomatoes that were served with dishes were limp, flavorless, and clearly not fresh. Probably the largest disappointment was the service. While ordering, our server met a request for having both black and refried beans with a no and justifying it by saying "he's a dick" of the cook. Our server also described dishes as "bad-ass", mixed up drink orders between people at our table, dropped food on the floor and didn't clean it up, and gave us our check (kind of tossed it on the table) without a word. It felt very presumptuous and unprofessional.
(1)
Sarah B.
New cook, new menu - still really good food. Their con queso is a lot spicier now, which makes it more delicious - and everything on their menu sounds twice as good as before, from chimichangas and enchiladas to fajitas (which it seemed like everybody was ordering, as the place had that distinct fajita smell to it when you first walk in) and carne asada. It is worth a try.
(4)
Omeletteuknow O.
It was a hot and steamy night I was weary from the road Sat inside at the balmy 100 degree bar Flys flying round, people perspiring in close proximity to my personal space Ordered massive margarita, Needed another cause mostly mix, and another (great service btw) Hadn't eaten in 12 hours, the apps were the best apps I've ever eaten in my entire barfoody life Live acoustic music el Presidente mucho gusto It's like having Sr Frog's Cancun right here on ye ole Route 1 It was a good night, a very good night at the cactus
(5)
Jeff M.
The mixed drinks? Weak as hell. The chips? Too salty. The food? Mediocre. The service? Disappearing for 15 minutes at a time. The only decent parts were the 32 oz "tall" Modelo Especial on tap and the live music......but I don't think I can bring myself to come back JUST for those two things. Nothing else was all that redeeming and being near Somerville as the Mecca of Mexican food in the Boston area, there isn't much here that stands out. If you're a Revere local, sure. If not, don't travel more than 10 miles for this place unless you're meeting someone here for a little get together which is what we were doing. If $82 tequila shots are your thing then maybe you can test it out for yourself but don't say I didn't warn you that very little is impressive.
(2)
Joe P.
This place is disgusting!!!! The food is awful! The staff is extremely rude!!! Been there twice hoping to have a different experience! Waste of my time and money...
(1)
Rosa S.
I came in for the first time and I stopped at host stand to request a table. I happen to look up to discover an entire WALL of hot sauce. Not only did they have all kinds of hot sauce for customer use but they had a specific one that I absolutely love (Dave's Insanity Sauce). So needless to say I was instantly smitten. We sat at a comfy retro booth and I started noticing the decor. It was super cheesy but in a cool way. They had empty liquor bottles lined up in the ceilings and they had one wall decorated with cigar boxes. The bathroom had flip flops glued into the walls - weird but cute. We got Will as our server and he was super attentive and helpful. I disclosed I was a first timer and he gave me some real good options. He cleared up out dishes and bagged up our leftovers so promptly. I was super happy with the service. For the food, my sister made me order their guacamole and that was just ok. For my entree I ordered the Blackened Chicken and it was so yummy. Very seasoned = very happy. We also tried the coo-coo corn off the specials and that was also good. For dessert we finished up with an order of Fried Ice Cream and it was delish. I would definitely return
(4)
Michelle B.
After reading all these negative reviews, I think I will be the first one to give it a good one. I have been here countless amounts of times, and I always get my two favorite things. The pork verde buritto, and the enchiladas(the menu has recently changed since the last time I have been there). When I customize my order, it always comes out correct, and everytime we ask for more chips/salsa it comes out at a good time. Give this review a chance and try out the fat cactus!
(4)
Luis R.
Terrible service. Went in one night with my girlfriend and sat at the bar. No one came to us for the first 20 minutes (and the place wasn't busy, 10 people at the bar). We asked for a menu to get food and the bartender said that the kitchen was closed. Afterwards, a couple who came on like 30 minutes after us sitting at a high table behind us in the bar area ordered food through the bartender and got there food like 15 minutes later. I use to go there all the time because they use to have a great thing going there but now, they dropped a lot. I'll never go back there
(1)
Ian W.
I've driven past The Fat Cactus countless times on US Route 1 North. On my way back to NH driving out of Boston, I finally decided to stop in here for an early Sunday dinner when the place was not that busy yet. I was seated immediately as I entered the restaurant around 4:20 PM. I like the festive and very colorful atmosphere and decor inside this Mexicali themed cantina including the painted cartoon characters on the walls, multi-color holiday string lights, and the many liquor bottles and sombreros hanging from the ceiling. The music playing in the background was adult contemporary. I was given a complementary basket of chips and salsa along with my drink order. The corn tortilla chips were crispy and the thick tomato salsa was on the mild side. There is a bottle of hot sauce at the table. Looking at the poster sized menu (double sided), it took me a few moments to decided what I wanted, torn between fish tacos and fajitas. I finally decided to make a compromise and ordered the Blackened Catfish Fajitas ($13.99) and the good amount of food (enough for 2 people) arrived hot and sizzling to my table in under 20 minutes including 4 warm flour tortillas, a plate of fixings (shredded cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, & sour cream), and a sizzling skillet of peppers, onions, and a big long piece tender farm raised catfish rubbed in spices and blackened on the outside, topped with fresh pineapple salsa. The sides of Mexican rice and black beans were standard. All I can say is, I made a great choice and the Blackened Catfish Fajitas were very good and very spicy. I thought to myself I should have ordered a side of guacamole and a couple limes to go along with my fajitas, but next time I will. Other than that, I was thoroughly satisfied with my "Southern style/Tex_Mex" dinner and VERY STUFFED afterwards, so no dessert for me. I really wanted to enjoy some Chocolate Pina Colada Puddingn for dessert. The service was very attentive and over the top. My waitress checked up on me very frequently about a dozen times during my visit, asking how I was doing, if I needed more chips & salsa, refills on drinks, and also kept me informed when my food was arriving (your food is being made now). I prefer to enjoy my dinner in peace without interruptions, but I'd accept very attentive service over any "non-existent" and very laid back waitstaff any day!
(4)
Divya S.
Our server was great however the food and service was eh ok. I had a problem with my meal and the manager brought back the same food and gave 20 different excuses! We had a Groupon voucher and that's the only reason why we went there. I don't think we'll ever go back!
(2)
Sarah R.
We had a gift card. We reviewed Yelp and it was a little mixed but on the low side. So we ordered a variety of things to share-chx quesadilla, mixed double fajita (steak/chx) and the steak was so salty, stringy, and had a funny color. The mixed plate had 3 different items-the chx taco was soggy & had a weird seasoning. The beef taco was even worse. The quesadilla was fine. I imagine nothing here is homemade or from scratch!
(1)
Muriel C.
my taco salad consisted of an overload of shredded lettuce in a fried tortilla bowl with literally a teaspoon of their salsa.... and a teaspoon of shredded cheese. the music from the bar was live and TOO LOUD as always.
(2)
Maria L.
One star is because the food was at least edible. One star is for my awesome waitress Kyara. The food here is just below OK. It's nothing special. But my main concern was their attitude towards food allergies. This is how it went down: Me to the waitress: I'd like the chicken fajitas, no cheese or sour cream. I'm allergic to eggs and milk can you please check the marinade. Waitress: Absolutely. --- Waitress: The chef says that he can't do it. He said they cook everything on the grill together with margarine. He said he would have to ask special permission from the manager but doesn't think it's going to be possible. I'm going to get the manager. Poor girl, stuck between the customer and the lazy chef. The manager of course came over and was willing to do what I needed. But one thing she did tell me is that the "sizzle" you see when they bring you your fajitas is just margarine squirted on the hot plate! EW. Anyway, I got mine without sizzle. haha. It's disappointing that there was so much push back on the no butter issue. This is the first restaurant in a long time that has hesitated on this issue. Additional to that, my chicken was burnt and my veggies were raw. They did taste decent when I ate them the next day and re-fried them myself. Save your money and go somewhere else....Unless you want to see Kyara, she was super nice. haha.
(2)
William D.
I've been here about 4 or 5 times or so, and every time I've come here, the food has been OK at best. I've had everything from quesadillas to chimichurri steak, fajitas, etc. Not a fan of this place, but doesn't quite warrant 1 star.
(2)
Charlene S.
This was probably the worst food I've ever had.. ever. Ended up trying this place because the Border Cafe was so busy. I regretted it immediatley. Appetizer- Chili Con Queso- Apparently at the Fat Catus they think melted American cheese food product can double as chile con queso. It was more like fondue.. and not good fondue, gross fondue. Dinner- I ordered the Fiesta Quesadilla with chicken and my boyfrient the cat fish tacos. I knew when our orders came out in less than ten minutes that something was wrong. They put the food down and the tomato salsa on top looked watery and the tomatoes were almost see through. I moved that aside figuring how can you mess up a quesadilla? Well it was maybe luke warm with the cheese not very melted. Again not real cheese. Then.. my guacamole arrived, which was sour and tasted like vinegar. Nothing was fresh, it was warm and undercooked and I was thoroughly dissapointed. My boyfriends tacos were soggy and he ended up just eating the blackened cat fish once he got through the burnt parts. There's a reason people wait in line at the Border Cafe for an hour for food, it's because it's the only Cantina Mexican restaurant on Rt One. This place isn't a restaurant it's a margarita bar with alleged food substances. The manager came over when she saw that I wasn't eating and took the quesadilla off our bill for us. It must be embarrasing to work here... I feel bad for the wait staff which is really attentive and polite. Save yourself the trouble and wait in line at the Border Cafe, I know I will
(1)
Jenna B.
Awful awful awful! Quality has plummeted. Sticky table. Cold chips. Weak drinks. Small portions and unappealing tasting food. Won't go back again.
(1)
David C.
I written two other reviews about this place and in both I said the food was incredibly bland. Well they have fixed that problem the food is better not great just better
(3)
Amanda B.
I went on a double date here at the beginning of the month and i had to write a review. I feel as though the only thing this place is good for is the drinks. The drinks are great! I feel bad for the bartenders because they could make a killing if the food didn't suck so bad. I ordered a caesar salad that was very plan and boring but the worst was the steak i ordered with it. I couldn't eat it. If you could only see what it looked like. It was clearly frozen steak they microwaved or something.... To top that my girlfriend almost choked on a chicken bone in her food. It was DISGUSTING! The manager did come over and give us free desert which was nice but i still have no desire to go back....
(2)
Brian G.
The food here is good, the servers are good, but getting good service from the hosts is difficult. The last 3 times we went there, the people working at the front desk were rude and seemed to not want our business. It seems to be a pattern there.
(1)
Ellen H.
The Fat Cactus. Number 8532 in the long list of restaurants that have failed to call that little section of route 1 home for very long. However, this restaurant has some staying power and I attribute it to the 3-season porch. Yes, this porch has existed in the other restaurants, but who wants to eat naked fish outdoors when you can have a margarita outdoors? There's something about a margarita that just makes you want to be outside in the warm breeze, and Fat Cactus offers that. You receive the obligatory bucket o' chips with salsa -- which, when you only come for drinks, is a welcome sponge for all the tequila you are about to ingest. The margarita menu is extensive and the margaritas are so-so -- the last time I came here I actually switched to beer because for $10 OUT of Boston, I want a margarita that kicks you in the pants, not some wussy mush that makes you feel flush and not much more. I liked the live music out on the porch and the variety of seating types - tables & chairs, couches, lounge-y areas, etc. The food menu looks great also but I haven't eaten here yet. Being so close to Border Cafe, I'd pick Border anytime the temperature is under 80 in the evening. But once it starts to get uncomfortable, I'm heading to Fat Cac to sip a frozen margarita in the breeze to the strum of a live guitar.
(3)
Marie L.
The food was terrible no it was beyond terrible but the drinks were great and strong. We ordered nachos with only cheese, tomatoes and sour cream they put horrible chicken on it and some of the cheese was so over cooked that it was hard and the rest wasn't melted at all and who serves nachos without salsa?? The entertainment was GREAT. I will def be back for drinks and entertainment but I will be sure to eat before I go.
(2)
Nikolette C.
I had high hopes for Fat Cactus, despite the rough Yelp reviews. I often drive by it on Route 1, curious as to how good it actually is considering that it looks like a really cool place. It's also ALWAYS packed, which made me think that it was going to be great. But then I actually tried it... The food actually only gets ONE star! The chips and salsa were horrible! I suppose if you like stale, out-of-the-bag tasting chips, you might like them. I had the Spicy Chicken Ranchero Burrito and my boyfriend had the Taco and Enchilada Platter. All of the food, especially the chips, had a very generic, out-of-the-can taste. Nothing tasted fresh! Even for east coast "Mexican" food, this place was practically embarrassing! The only reason why I gave them two stars is because they did have some pretty cool live music. And who doesn't LOVE live music!?! Also, the decor was very cool, colorful, and unique. It does also look like the drinks could be good, but I doubt I will return to give them a try. It was also pretty cheap, and the service was okay. But overall--only two stars. =(
(2)
Barbara B.
Drinks were warm and weak. Food was average -- nice atmosphere.
(2)
Sara L.
I feel bad that this place has gotten so many terrible reviews. I admit it's definitely not the best around or even really good for that matter, but it's not awful. I've been 3 times since it opened a couple years ago, the last time was just this past Sunday. Our 3 year old daughter has been asking to go here every time we pass it on Route 1 since it looks really cool and festive from the outside. It also has a really colorful, festive atmosphere inside with lots of decorations to admire while sitting at your table. We sat in the outdoor patio section this last time and our daughter loved looking at all the decor and coloring her kid's placemat. Our waitress was really attentive and provided very good service, always bringing over refills of our drinks and bringing another basket of complimentary chips and salsa after asking if we'd like more. As for the food, well......my husband said his blackened catfish tacos were definitely over spiced and the rice that came with it was too dry. My chicken ranchero burrito was okay, definitely not authentic Mexican but somewhat tasty that I was able to eat almost the whole thing. My daughter wasn't too big a fan of her kid's chicken quesadilla and rice but ate about a quarter of it. So all in all, we'd go back. It might be better to just go for drinks and appetizers and enjoy the outdoor seating as well as the advertised "live music 7 nights a week" (although we didn't see or hear any live music while we were there but we were gone by 7:30ish).
(3)
Amanda K.
The only two things I liked about this place is the live music and the outdoor seating/decor... The salsa was boring, the refried beans were pretty much soupy, and the wine was ehhh.. The only reason I would go back is to listen to the man that was singing outside with his guitar. He made the night fun!
(2)
Serena D.
Stopped by there for dinner because of the interesting name. This restaurant is spacious, and they have outdoor patio. The service was kind of slow, and unfortunately, our waiter lacks the knowledge of food and drinks. And he kept forgetting what we asked for, like napkins, extra plate, etc. The food was actually good, I liked the fajita, and the wings were good, but I can't say anything good about their nachos and burritos. I might go back, or might not :(
(3)
Danielle G.
I've wanted to go here for a while, since they always have a deal on Groupon. I should have went on Yelp first and looked at the reviews, but I was starving and wanted to get going. Big Mistake. The restaurant looks cute from the outside, though I'm not a fan of the LED signs. Inside, I got a bad feeling. It has a run down sports bar vibe. We were led into the dining room which was wall to wall TV's. It looked sort of odd and creepy to me. The hostess wasn't terribly friendly ("What do you want?" she said, without greeting us.) but we got seated right away. But the hostess was a saint compared to the waitress. She could compete with the best of them in Paris. She comes to our table and says "OK?". I assumed that was shorthand for 'What do want to drink?' So, I order my drink, and my husband mentions to the waitress that I prefer frozen margaritas, which they advertise on their LED sign outside, by the way. She gives me a very dirty look and then lectures me about how frozen margaritas taste very watered down compared to on the rocks and then says, "On the rocks or what?" I said no, sorry, but I prefer frozen. She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. Then when my husband ordered his meal, he asked for a double order of Spanish rice with no beans, which he does all the time at other Mexican places and they have no problem with it. She does the sighing and rolling her eyes again, this time at my husband, and says, "We DO NOT do that here. You get either black beans or refried beans, no extra rice. Got it?" I have no idea why she was giving us attitude because it wasn't exactly busy in there. In the dining room there was three families sitting down, about the same number at the patio and no one at the bar. And we hadn't even gotten served yet. We got a bowl of chips and salsa. The chips seemed like stale supermarket chips that were heated up and the salsa was canned tomatoes doused in hot sauce. The salsa was way too hot for me and since we had nothing to drink I only had one bite of a chip. My husband thought the salsa was okay but he said the chips sucked. When the waitress returned, my husband requested that we have mild salsa too, but she said, "You can't custom order salsa. If you don't like it, don't eat it." When he requested our drinks again, she sighed and stomped off. Luckily, a much friendlier man served us our food about five minutes later. We asked for our drinks again, and he said he would track them down for us. He got them right away, but I have to say I was disappointed in mine. I know I was warned but this drink had zero alcohol. It tasted like a slushie with a bit of lime in it. My husband got the same drink, only on the rocks and he said his tasted really watered down too. The only good thing is we both liked our meals. I ordered the Caribbean Shrimp Salad and it tasted fresh with just the right amount of dressing on it. The shrimp tasted like they were previously frozen but they weren't too bad, I guess. My husband got one of the steak burritos and it looked really burned, but he said it tasted delicious. I had a piece of the steak and it was pretty good. The waitress came by to check on us, once trying to grab my plate while I was still eating, but when we opened our mouth to request refills on our drinks, she took off. For dessert, they had a 'special of the day' but the man who served us our food didn't know what it was or that they even had a dessert of the day, so we just ordered fried ice cream. It was delicious and the perfect amount for two people. It was probably the best part of our less than stellar experience. The waitress handed us our check soon after, but when my husband tried to give her his credit card, she took off without it. She never returned so we had to flag down the hostess in order to pay. When we left, there was no goodbye, have a nice day...nothing. I think this is the first time I've given a restaurant one star. The food wasn't bad but I don't think it makes up for the atrocious service. If you want to try eating here, be my guest, but if your waitress is a 50ish looking woman with giant black glasses and a very dark spray tan, I strongly suggest you walk away. I'm definitely not coming back here, that's for sure.
(1)
Dan R.
Generic food, poor drinks, Horrible Sangria. The hostess opened the garage door over our head while we were seated spilling all kinds of dust, insects and debris onto our drinks and food. Totally inconsiderate. This could have been done after we departed. We mentioned this to her and she didn't seem to care or give any consideration. Our server was decent. Broken chairs dirty moldy booths outside. This place has the potential. Great outdoor seating and entertainment visit very comfortable. You can tell the ownership and management don't care much about this place. Cobwebs, dirt, dust, no oversight. I hope to see them improve because they have potential.
(2)
Kristen D.
Stopped in here on a Friday night and was not at all busy, though the hostess seemed overwhelmed and didn't even greet us, just ran us to a table. We started with the chicken wings and both enjoyed those. I got the Spicy Chicken Ranchero burrito, which was indeed very spicy and really tasty. My friend got a chimichanga, but didn't finish or take it home. Even though the portions were pretty large, we went with the fried ice cream for dessert - pretty standard. Overall, if in the area, I would stop in again but probably wouldn't go as out of my way as I did that night.
(3)
Gustavo S.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with the reviewers that gave this place a low rating. I only went here once because I had purchased a Groupon deal and I was very disappointed. The place was very empty which is always a bad sign. Also, the service was slow and the food was very bland. There was a strong smell of sewage that came either from the carpet or from the kitchen. This place also looks old and is due for a renovation. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone.
(1)
M R.
Normally I won't write a negative review, but if a "Mexican" restaurant can't make a burrito without burning it (or the server leaving it under the warming light so long that it burned), then they should probably consider changing the theme or hire better staff. Server was clearly overwhelmed with a few tables, I won't bash, but water and chips should not be that hard to remember. Sorry, but you go out to eat for 2 reasons food and service. Unfortunately there wasn't much of either here.
(1)
Em B.
Went here with a friend and got a groupon. The drinks were good, the food was good, there was live (enjoyable) music, but the service was so, so, so bad. I try not to give 1 star reviews but they deserve it. First, we sit at the bar for a little less than ten min before a bartender said she would be right with me. Keep in mind this place was not busy at all, there were 3 bartenders and not a lot going on. So when the waitress gets to us about another 7 min later we ask for a menu and were given one which they have big menus but usually people don't share a menu? my friend ordered the tequila lime wings to start. the bartender brought chips and salsa and spilled the salsa. when we wanted to order our drinks we had to keep waving for her to come over. keep in mind there we're 2 other people behind the bar washing dishes etc. why are people washing dishes and not paying attention to the customers? so we finally we're able to order our drinks. it took another 10-15 min to get our drinks. Once she placed the drinks down (while spilling my friends) we we're prepared to order she didn't even look at us or ask if we wanted to order she just sat them down and walked away. another bartender brought a drink to the couple next to us and kept spilling it. then it took another 15 minutes to get her attention, keep trying to wave at her. I was so irritated I was considering yelling "EXCUSE ME! CAN I ORDER?!" for quite awhile but didn't. We ordered our food. we're never asked if we wanted anything if our drinks we're good if we wanted more drinks. there we're 4-5 other couples at the bar and I'm sure they we're all treated the same. I ordered the chicken and steak fajita which was 14.99 and it was okay. the onions and tomatoes we're cut too big (lazy prep?) my friend got the catfish fajita salad which she liked, it was huge in a big shell. when we got the bill my meal was 16.99 and I asked her, she really had the audacity to tell me "on the door when you come in there's a sign that says the steak is more now." which is clearly a bad reflection of the restaurant management for thinking that people would pay attention to that, and also on her part for not telling me WHEN I ORDERED IT. it's not a big deal $2 but it's the principal and the fact that they don't even put stickers on the menus for the new prices or have their staff tell people that the price is different from the menu. I wanted to write this review as I was waiting at the bar last night because I was so appalled at the service but didn't because I wanted to try to enjoy my night. oh and we got tequila shots and when we used the salt shaker to put salt on our hands, it was clearly old because the salt was completely stuck together at the bottom of the bottle. the worst service I've ever had in my life. Would highly recommend to go anywhere else. They definitely don't care about their customers. and I'm a very patient and understanding person ESP when it comes to service cause I've worked in service. they are so unorganized and untrained. I read the reviews before coming and was like well maybe the service was bad when it's busy or a bad night. this night was slow and they were terrible I will never go back and take caution if you decide to go anyways after reading this!
(1)
Jackie K.
My sister got a gift certificate on Groupon so we went there to eat. The waitress was friendly and nice and with the exception of the fried ice cream that's about the only good thing about this place. The food was bland and tasteless, end of story.
(1)
Joe F.
All we wanted on Saturday was Border Cafe. We braved Route 1 traffic, turned into the lot, found a spot--- 1 hour wait. I said "hey, there's another place up the street that looks pretty good. Let's try The Fat Cactus". I wish I had looked at Yelp before. This place looks like it might be fun late night, lots of bars, outdoor seating in the good weather, lots of drinks on the menu. Seems like the dining room is under renovation. There was no one at hostess station, so we walked to the bar and took a seat. Bartender was nice enough, although we made the mistake of sitting as far away from other patrons as possible, so she tended to forget about us. Food: Guac was good. Chips were not so great, almost stale. I ordered the chimichanga. Cheese on top of the burrito was heavy and delicious. Beans were salty, rice was dry, and there was a bone or something in my ground beef. My companion got a chicken quesadilla-- said it was like something he would make at home. The fried ice cream was the star of the meal. Drinks: Large beers are HUGE. Great beer selection. If I were reviewing this as a bar only it likely would have gotten a better review. Service: As I said above, bartender was nice enough, even told me I had some extra money on my groupon. Was about what I expected. I'm not saying I'd never come here again, but I think I'd have rather wait for a table at Border.
(2)
Eric M.
I was overcharged an extra beer that i never had and the manager said "well we can go check the cameras". Even though i knew how many beers i had, i said i didnt want to cause any trouble or spend time going through video footage. Not a single apology or thank you from her, Such horrible customer service by a manager. Bartenders were great but the manager lady was awful. Please learn how to treat customers and make them want to return, otherwise you'll be out of buisness in no time. Thanks.
(1)
Rob G.
Sat at the bar Tuesday night didn't get any attention from either of the 2 bartenders for 20 mins then I finally got a water, 20 more minutes later I had to flag down one girl and ask for a menu, ten minutes later I flagged another girl down to order an app that straight out of a frozen restaurant depo bag. The dirty dish sat in front of me till I left a half hour later, Terrible service from both servers behind the bar who didn't look at all like they wanted to be there,mind you it was not busy at all maybe 50% of the seats at the bar were empty , definitely will not go back.
(1)
Pasqual R.
Went here with a few friends for a drink and before we even walked in you get hit with smell of garbage and dead mice. Walked into the bar and it just looked dirty and there where random spots around the bar that litteraly just stunk! ew! can't imagine eating there until the place gets subbed down and they do something about that nasty odor all over the establishment. The best part was the live band but couldn't even sit out on the patio because of the odor!!!
(1)
Rick L.
Terrible service food bad stay away took us 1/2 to get a menu while fat manager was to busy smoking outside 10 feet from tables on porch this place Needs bar rescue real bad.
(1)
H D.
I have to give a star to write a review. This place smells of mold.and bug spray, dinner was a disappointment. I ordered a salad with steak the steak was tuff and hard to chew. Dont waste your time or $$
(1)
Mustachechuck S.
The Service Friendly Food was not very hot {KITCHENS FAULT] move the orders better Best thing I have had is Bandito Ribs, Burrito was over stuffed very SALTY They have no Idea what to do with AVOCADO. Fish Tacos were so wet they had to be eaten with a fork only, Then after paying 3 er ah Gent's, standing on steps in front of the door would not get out of the way for my wife and I to leave. She walked ahead of me I was pissed they mumbled something as we walked away. She held my hand and begged me please don't I got to the vehicle called spoke to Manager She came out to them They would not move for her, We watched as she blasted all three. Not a happy night for us with our food then after. That was April 9th wife has a Groupon wants to try it again, I just want the Border cafe But we promised Manager we would give it another try, Be YELPING soon.
(2)
Christine B.
So the food here is great, the waitstaff is polite and as attentive as they can be considering every time I've eaten here they seem to be short staffed, and the only reason I am giving a 1 star review is because of the hostess. I didn't get her name, but the blonde lady who greeted us when we arrived seemed as if she couldn't be bothered to speak to us, and when she did she was horridly rude, any questions asked were answered in a curt, discourteous manner, and she was so argumentative I got the impression she was trying to start a fight with my mother in law! So if you want tasty but admittedly generic "mexicali" food, order take out or hope the skinny blonde hostess has the night off.
(1)
Rich L.
So, I was totally excited to go here. We went the way there on a Tuesday night and there at 9:05 to be rudely greeted at the door and told the kitchen closes at 9. Like really? How can you be a legit restaurant and stop serving food at 9 on a weeknight? Every other place on Rt 1 is still open and we just drove by the Border Cafe which now I wish we just went to. Overall, with a the crappy reviews and this lovey experience I just had, I'm all set. I will not be going back. No wonder they have had a $40 for $23 deal on Groupon for like the last year.
(2)
Neil M.
There should be a way to give negative stars. Don't waste your time and good money at this place. It's like some puked up salsa on an Applebee's meal and then handed it to someone with an anger management disorder to serve it. There are plenty of good alternative locally, border cafe, Temazcal, etc.
(1)
Amy R.
Cool place but could be SO much better. Nice outdoor seating however our table was sticky and the booth was very dusty/dirty. Server was nice and the drink I had was strong. They were cheap with the chips as they never came to refill the tiny basket while we waited a long time for our food. The dish I ordered was so big it could feed someone for 2 days but they barely gave me any pico de gallo and sour cream. My teenage sons dish took forrrrever to come out and when it did he wasn't a huge fan. Long story short it was "ok" but I'd def stick with the Border Cafe if I want to go to this type of place.
(3)
Bob M.
Not sure whether to go with 1 star or 2....going with a 2 as the food wasn't horrible. That said, if your choice is Border Cafe or this place, go to the Border....even if you have to wait 45 minutes for a table. This place has no idea what it's identity is. Sports Bar? Restaurant? Something in between? Who knows. All I know is that there was some horrifyingly bad karaoke going on at 7:15 on a Monday night. 7:15. Thanks. Yeah, people want to hear talentless losers singing songs that sucked to begin with while they are trying to eat dinner. Give me a break. Why would you do this?? (Hey, management - here's your shot to explain yourself...) Would I go back? Only is there was a total overhaul. Service was decent, food mediocre, prices average (but higher than Border). Place needs to hit the reset button or it's not going to last.
(2)
Meg V.
Got that nacos and was disappointed. Who screws up nacos? Also I ate on the porch which was lovely until the smell of a septic system took over. Everyone in my party was grossed out by the smell!
(2)
Amy L.
What a horror show. Not a place to go unless you're a single person looking for a warm beer, bad karaoke and terrible food. There was old food on the silverware! Not just the " oops...missed one" kind. It was the "I hate my job and don't give a s***" kind. Tons. Also, our drinks didn't come with limes (as requested) so when I asked the bartender (who turned out to be the GM) she dropped the attack of dirty dishes she was clearing, used her bare hand to reach into the dish of limes and the them in a cup. Gross! So unimpressed. So disgusting.
(1)
Gerard D.
service is quick and very pleasant, the redeeming quality of this establishment. Consistent is a word that best describes their food, consistently salty and lacking in texture and seasoning. I wouldn't go running back to eat their any time soon but the bar and bar menu looked like they could be a good time.
(2)
Tony C.
This place is terrible I would use another word but I'll keep it PG-13. Got a pitcher of Sangria (mediocre) - Wasn't the best but wasn't bad. We then got a Nacho Plate - Absolutely disgusting it looked like my dog put it together. Cheese wasn't melted chicken(which was pulled) was cold and the bottom of the nachos were watery it was disgusting. The service was good but the food is terrible here. I will not be back here anytime soon.
(1)
Johnny F.
Going..going...; you know the next word. I will be suprised if this restaurant lasts another year. The bar area was mostly rowdy locals that brag "We keep this place open" as they yell at the bar. We sat at the bar area and witnessed a couple come in and then leave 15 min later because of no service. The salsa was hot sauce and chili powder with some onions and peppers. The crispy tortillas had sugar as an ingredient. Really!! I am from Texas and good Mexican tortillas are masa flour, water and salt, very simple. The best thing was the dip on the taxi appetizer. The waiter failed service 101. We said we were finished and he dropped the check off; left all the food and plates at the table. We had to ask him to clear the table so we could enjoy our after dinner beverage. I hope the bar crowd does keep the place going because the food and service will not.
(1)
Katy G.
Disgusting, greasy food. There was a bad odor: perhaps they we getting the septic tank cleaned? Worst dining experience of my life.
(1)
Lisa M.
I usually love it here but we went last night for dinner, there was only one person sitting at the bar not a server insight. He yelled out I think you can seat yourself. I would have sat my self but unfortunately every table was covered in dirty dishes and glasses, so then I decided we would just sit at the bar and unfortunately the bar was dirty as well. This whole time we still weren't approached by any staff member.
(1)
Maria O.
Whenever I'm in Saugus I make it a point to dine at the fat cactus. Great food at sensible prices, friendly service, fantastic festive atmosphere! I suggest the enchiladas they are quite the treat. The place for Tex Mex at the NORTHSHORE for sure.
(4)
Julia R.
By far the worst Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. I should have listened to the other Yelpers, but the building looked so cool from the exterior. The food tasted like it had been frozen. Definitely not fresh. The salsa looked like it had sat out unrefrigerated for days. The frozen margaritas were not blended. Totally full of ice chunks and no flavor or alcohol. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. Very disappointing!
(1)
lori g.
Wish I could give positive review, but unfortunately this place seems to have an identity problem and food is not very good.. Fish tacos were awful, salsa and chips smallest serving I have ever seen in a Mexican restaurant and both my husband meal and my meal were cold, after waiting about 30 min for a meal when it was empty. The thing that bothered me the most was the 35 TVs in one room.. Could not carry on a conversation with all the distractions.. Service was poor, atmosphere is that of a Sports bar, food was worst mexican food I have had.. Good luck with this place.. It use to be ok, I feel the changes have not improved the atmosphere or the menu... Too bad..
(1)
Scott B.
Good service, nice people, my kids love it, but they only eat the cheese nachos margaritas,.....no thanks, go with the beer. Food....some has been good, this last time,..not so much. Music was blaringly loud,.....I hate to say it,..but stay away. Mexico Lindo in Melrsoe is excellent if you are anywhere near.
(2)
Marla L.
Horrible ! EOM
(1)
Renzo T.
This place at one point was my favorite Mexican spot to eat... My girl and I would go here almost every weekend in the summer because the meat and food were downright special... The flavor and way the food was prepared couldn't be matched... ...that was then...this is now... Since then they've switched chefs... Who knows why?? But since that date the good has be sub par at best.... Across The Boarder or Maragritas it's a better choice now... Smh....what once was great...
(2)
robyn t.
This is my first "Yelp" review....Not sure where to start since as I write I have the most nauseating feeling in my stomach. First let me say, as someone in the food industry them-self that the service of the waitress was more than accommodating. That is the only thing nice I can say. Oh and the beer was cold too! The food was beyond gross!!!! My Son got the ground beef tacos, since he really doesn't like super spicy things. The beef " Paste" was so smoky flavored that even I couldn't eat it. My catfish entree had dried corn bread, OVER the top Cajun spice on top of an overcooked piece of fish, and dried up pineapple salsa that was hardly noticeable on it. I will never eat there again! I do enjoy summer drinks on patio, but seriously....they need to put down the spice shaker and concentrate on preparing food w/out giving indigestion to their patrons!
(2)
Ivette G.
No! No! No! The food here is not good. Very disappointed with the Mexican food here. I could tell that the beans came from a can. Doesn't take much to boil some beans with onions, garlic and salt. Never going here again.
(1)
Priscilla G.
Bland and boring mexican food. Steak has a sour old taste to it. Beans are most definitely from a can. Gauc is brown and old. Damn you groupon, But i wont ever come back.
(1)
Jimmy O.
Forget the food, dirty inside and the roof that commonly leaks as well as the tacky circa 90's arcade space, only go to the bar and outside patio, drinks are decently priced not a huge selection of beers. However beware the large amount of bikers that constantly regular this location you may end up feeling like you are in roadhouse by the end of the visit. They overserve people so you will get the "bros" & " tough guy bikers" who are usually drunk,loud and ignorant. The owner of this resturant had also owned previous resturant with bad reputations and shady ways of running things most known past locations being "big dog" and "bostonville grill".
(2)
Samantha G.
I've recently come to Massachusetts all the way from Houston, TX., considering Mexican food is a big deal there, one of the first types of food I wanted was Tex-mex. I had been to The Fat Cactus on a date, enjoyed my meal and the 2 of the delicious margaritas. On my first day off in weeks from my 3 new jobs I went to The Fat Cactus for another good Margarita and some queso. However this time they didn't accept my Texas drivers license and turned me away after telling me it could be fake and since I don't have another picture I.D. I can't be served. No, I don't have a school I.D., didn't bring a passport, I was bitten in 1989 and couldn't enjoy a drink in a new state. This was extremely frustrating considering id been served there the month prior to today's visit.
(1)
Nicole S.
From the get go we were disappointed with our service at the Fat Cactus. We were seated and didn't see our waitress for at least fifteen mins. It turned out to be a problem most of the night as she would disappear and we were left to wait. When she gave us our check at the end of the night she walked away and disappeared into the kitchen for fifteen minutes before coming back. Um, excuse me, how long does this lady thinks it takes for someone to pull a card out of their wallet? We were already so disappointed in her poor service and the food that we just wanted to get out of there. She wasn't helpful or anything. Now onto the food. Mediocre. I got the chicken asada quesadilla. It was extremely greasy. It looked like cat food and had barely any taste to it. I didn't even eat half of it. My fiance got the chicken asada chimichanga. He said it was 'meh'. The rice is weird and it leaves kind of a spicy after taste in your mouth. It honestly tastes like it came out of a box. It was pretty dry, too. The chips were fine as was the guacamole. We went on a friday night and there was a live band or something. It was way too loud in the dining room. If I wanted to sit in a noisy bar we would have chosen to sit over there.. We were really disappointed because we have been looking for a mexican place near us and this place is just not it. We will not be recommending it to anyone else and we won't return.
(2)
Kayla L.
The food was good. The drinks were sent back due to their water content. Did half the ice melt before you brought it to the table? As a vegetarian I was surprised to have found a really good spinach salad with avocado beans tomato and corn- asked for it without the shrimp
(2)
Dexter B.
So much better than Border Cafe! Everyone goes to Border Cafe because they are sheople and they go to where is popular even if it sucks. Like Dunkin Donuts. The Fat Cactus is different and and a great alternative to those who want to think for themselves and have a great meal.
(4)
K. E.
If our friends didn't have a Groupon, there is no way we would voluntarily eat here. However, I know Groupons cannot go to waste, so we trekked here for dinner over the weekend. First, the good: Lone Star beer (for you True Detective fans) and other interesting drink offerings made for a good time. I also enjoyed the fried ice cream dessert. Everything in between leads me to... The bad: service is mediocre, took forever to get a drink at the bar (but yet couples that came in after had no problems) and when we were seated, I found it strange the server didn't know the menu all that well. There were two items on the menu that she didn't even know existed. The food is so-so, I wouldn't say it's awful, it's not - it was OK. Meh. Blah. Also, the restaurant itself and the decor is, well, ick. The walls were dirty, the floor was disgusting, and half the tables had energy saving bulbs and the other half didn't, which gave off a very strange vibe (am I in a warehouse or a mexican restaurant?) Also note, at least 1 in 3 tables orders fajitas at this place and be prepared to get home with your hair and clothes smelling like a fajita festival. There is no reason for the added smoke and show - unless your food is mediocre. Which it is. See ya later, Fat Cactus!
(2)
Busta M.
When this place first opened it was great! As of March 2014 however, it has gone way down hill. I worry that The Fat Cactus will be closing soon given how bad the food and service is now. I ordered chicken enchiladas with refried beans and rice. The enchiladas were swimming in cheese and simply did not taste good at all. The refried beans were also not good and looked as though they had been slopped on my plate. I figured the rice might be OK but alas, it was not - it had a cardboard taste. And the plate was scolding hot which tells me that it was plunked under the broiler and dismissed. I did not try the tomato salsa on the plate or the lettuce. Honestly I left most of the food on the plate. Worse than the food however was the service. It seems that all of the wait staff here is miserable now. Our waitress was totally out of it and simply going through the motions. Her greeting to us was a rambling jumble of words with a forced smile. I saw another waitress coughing as she passed our table - did not cover her mouth. Moral seems to be very bad here now. Its too bad because as I said above, the place was great when it first opened and again I worry that it will close soon unless they fix the food and the service. Sorry Fat Cactus, I want to love you but I just can't right now.
(2)
Emily H.
A few months ago we were drawn into this restaurant by it's busy and colorful exterior; however it was downhill from there. The restaurant is huge, and we went at a time when it was relatively empty; however our service was still mediocre at best. Halfway through our meal, our server disappeared and we never saw him again. The food was blah at best. I can't even remember exactly what I had, some type of burrito, I just remember for low quality inauthentic ingredients, specifically the rubbery cheese. I would not come back here again, and unless you are prioritizing a fun atmosphere (I assume in the evening it gets more lively and fun) I would not recommend this place.
(2)
Cristina L.
Just left Fat Cactus after having been there for over an hour and only ordered 1 margarita, guac and a couple tacos. I went bc I saw the sign for $2 tacos. The tacos were pretty good for the price, I wouldn't pay more than $2 bucks for them, and the guac was just ok. The service however, what absolutely terrible. My husband and I sat at the bar, which was mostly empty, for 15 minutes before the bartender even came over and seemed like we were bothering him when we asked for a menu and that we wanted to order drinks. After he took our drink order, another 15 minutes later he said he'd take our food order, but only after he finished putting the dishes away which were apparently more important. The place has potential, but there is no one qualified running it. Employee's Dunkin Donuts cups and purses were on the back bar and it smells like stale booze, also the bartender couldn't stop scratching himself (below the belt) and obviously didn't care he was in public and dealing with people and food. No tip for him after watching that and dealing with his careless attitude.
(1)
Lisa G.
I really enjoyed my taco lunch sat the bar free chips and salsa is always a plus nextvtime I will get a drink they sounded great. The staff was pretty nice also.
(3)
Melissa F.
Came here last night since Border Cafe (our usual choice) had almost an hour wait. Unfortunately I do not see myself returning since this place was nothing to write home about and service was terrible. We had to ask our waitress multiple times to clean off our table, for extra silver wear and for refills. We didn't even get chips and salsa at the beginning! She sucked. So much so that my friend called the manager to mention it after we left. (She took so long to bring us everything that we were there far longer than we expected so we really just wanted to leave.) Food was meh, WAY better at Border cafe. The only thing I really liked were the beef empanadas. Next time I want Mexican I'll just wait it out at border.
(2)
David V.
This place was great. I dont know these other people are talking about. Super fast service. As soon as we sat down we got chips salsa and guac. I ordered steak tips which was awesome and my girl got a burrito the size on her forearm. Delicious. Def will come back if I ever travel up this way again
(5)
Fernando G.
Fat Cactus is by far the worst restaurant on Route 1. The place is dirty, sticky, and dusty. The wait staff is nice and polite, but the older blonde hostess is a mean bitch. The food is mediocre at best. The chips are soaking in oil, salsa is straight out of a can, guacamole tastes like wallpaper paste, and my shoe is more tender than the stake! I don't know how a place that is just a mile from the Border Cafe can be such a disgusting mess. Whoever runs this place doesn't give a damn about their customer's experience.
(1)
Crystal J.
I've been here 3 or 4 times and while the service has always been slow, the food is usually fantastic. However, one Saturday a few months back I brought some friends along because we had a Groupon. My boyfriend ordered a Spicy Chicken Ranchero burrito, requesting no beans, while the rest of us ordered regular burritos. When the server brought our food, she had no idea whose meal was whose. All the burritos had beans in them, and I'm 100% positive she gave the ranchero burrito to my friend because it was the only one with a different type of sauce on top. After sending my boyfriend's burrito back to the kitchen to get no beans, she brought back the wrong type of burrito. It didn't have jalepenos, peppers, onions, OR pan-blackened chicken like the ranchero burrito is supposed to have. When we tried to tell our server that we thought the wrong burrito was made, she quickly said "nope it's the right burrito" and walked away. We've both ordered the ranchero burrito before and it never looked like whatever she brought us. I understand Saturday nights can be hectic, but when your table repeatedly tries to tell you the wrong meal was made, maybe take a minute to ask what it is they actually wanted instead of brushing it off. Fat Cactus was quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants, however after this experience, I don't think we will be back.
Last night my husband and I went to the fat cactus, we had been there before and it was amazing...no wait, good service, everything was as it should be. I saw that there was a groupon available so I got one to be able to go back. When we got there a Hostess or waiter say they would be right with us, 5 to 10 minutes later someone sat us on the porch, said he would get us chips and salsa and tell our waitress. 15 min or so go by and he came back over wondering if anyone had helped us yet? We said no so he prompted to be our waiter. Took our drink order and said he would be back with our drinks, chips and salsa. 10 minutes or so go by he comes back with our drinks, takes our order said he would be back in the meantime with our chips and salsa that he has yet to deliver. 20 min go by, were sitting on the porch and we can smell someone smoking weed at the front entrance, we look over it's our server. At this time another hostess come over and asked if we have been helped we said someone took out order 30min ago and we haven't gotten anything yet. She apologized and said she would find our server. 5min later our food comes out and my husband asked for a refill on his drink. He said he would be right back. He came over 5 to 10 min later asking how everything way, we asked if we could get our drinks and chips and salsa. Come back later with a sodas. We were so appalled by this waiter we didn't even spend our whole groupon. We wanted desert but we didn't want to order fear that it would be another hour. We paid what we owed and left.
(1)
Arthur L.
If this review looks too long for you to read, just skip to my last sentence. First time there, on a not busy Saturday night, everything we ordered came out as a mistake, the soda was not the one ordered , the appetizer(cheese dip but we ordered guacamole) , the main course (the chicken we ordered came as beef) , my steak tips tasted like rubber. The food wasn't cleared off the table properly, the $42bill had only $39 off my $40 Groupon which I know it doesn't seem like a big deal but that was the last straw for me. I felt like nobody even cared about the mistakes. After all the mistakes no manager came to the table. I I went to the host desk to complain after I got the check, the hostess got the manager and I told him the story, his resolution was to see him next time I go there(I'm sorry but I worked in restaurants for a long time when I was younger and that's not how things should be resolved). I was so bummed out and disappointed that I didnt even want anything off the bill, just wanted to leave and never go back there.
(1)
J R.
I love Mexican. I could eat here again, but not overly often. the food is tasty but very heavy. Overall pretty decent and convenient to get to.
(3)
Kib L.
Dishes are unauthentic and flavorless. Service is slow and unattentive. Drinks are watered down. Decor on the other hand...gets 1 star.
(1)
Sue I.
We went with a living social deal and I am glad we did not have to pay full price. Margaritas were overly sweet. Music was too loud from the bar area for a comfortable dinner. Appetizers were tasty. We had high hopes after trying the Tequila Lime Wings and the Empanadas. But, the entrees were sorely lacking. My Husband got the tacos that were so soggy that they could not be picked up. I got the Fajita Burrito. Huge in size but the steak inside was fatty. The onions were pretty much raw strips and there were no peppers at all. No point in saying anything to the waitress as she was not around much at all. I would understand if it was a busy night but the dinner area was almost empty. Not interested in returning. Slightly less than mediocre Mexican. Bathrooms were unkempt as well...
(2)
Amanda C.
We had the worst service. I enjoyed the food and drink but our server was inattentive. We would see her at 15 to 20 minute increments. It's too bad because we are usually good tippers. Will not be returning.
(2)
Savannah K.
Big management problems here.. walked in last monday night and sat at a Filthy table for 20 minutes while the wait staff ignored me. Then while the Karaoke show was going on a large rat was under one of the tables inside the restaurant. After most everyone cleared out, I stayed a few more minutes to see that there wasn't even a manager on duty to deal with the emergency.
We had a Groupon... so the fact that we paid 1/2 price was the only redeeming part of this meal. We ordered the Potato Chip Nachos, which were supposed to be "drenched" (their menu description) in Queso. Most of the chips had nothing on them. We asked for a little more... and got charged $1 for it! Sitting on the patio was nice, but by the end of the meal the bugs came out... and got caught in the fans... and were literally dropping like flies on our food. The food is lackluster at best - greasy empanadas, flavorless fajitas, and soggy tacos. The service was slow (though pleasant) and we really just couldn't wait to leave. Let's just say that we won't be getting fat at the Fat Cactus.
(1)
Christopher H.
One time it was great and the next time it was dripping grease so I went with a 2. The atmosphere is nice and comfortable.
(2)
Lynette A.
Wish I could give a positive review, as I have gone here before and it was so-so then seemed to be getting a bit better but unfortunately this place seems to have an identity problem and food is awful.. We were greeted by a hostess after 6 minutes and the place was far from busy and she was not very personable. The nachos were cold and plain and my meal Tacos al pastore came out stone cold. waited over 15 minutes for the waiter who still did not come back and had to ask to get him over and told him it was stone cold. Needless to say I didn't even get to eat. salsa and chips were never served. 35 TVs in one room..focus on your customers. Service was poor, atmosphere is that of a Sports bar, food was worst mexican food I have had.. Good luck with your renovations.. .. It use to be fair but these changes have not improved the atmosphere or the menu... so long FAT CACTUS
(1)
Christine S.
The decor is sort of gimmicky-trashy. The service was actually great. I was with someone who as a former waitress, i know is a huge pain in the ass. Our waiter was great. The food was ok at best. Salsa tastes like it is from a jar. I got a chimichanga and it just wasn't anything to write home about. I guess I have been spoiled by the Howling Wolf in Salem.
(2)
Stephen M.
The Fat Cactus always seems to disappoint. I've been three times, but only because of gift cards and Groupons. On the positive side though, the food is good and they have great daily specials. I went on a Tuesday most recently and all burritos and enchiladas were $5. The one I ordered is usually $13.99! Each time I went, the place seemed to have been remodeled. The second time there was a large buffet area set up in the middle where there used to be tables, but then the next time it was replaced by booths. Maybe they're trying to be better? They already had a cool atmosphere, so it sort of seems like a waste. I think their biggest problem is that The Border Cafe is right down the road in Saugus. The Border is an awesome restaurant and has set a very high bar for the Fat Cactus; it's also much cheaper. I'd come back for the specials and maybe if the wait was too long at The Border. At least the Fat Cactus has a nice outdoor seating area going for it.
(2)
carol a.
I've driven by this place a million times and stopped in for a quick bite on my way back from Boston. The chips and salsa were good and had great spice so I had high hopes however, it was all down hill after that. We both had the fish tacos on corn tortillas. The tortillas were the worst I've ever had. They were yellow corn and were really coarse rather than the white corn tortillas that are soft. The rice was totally flavorless and tasted like it came from a box. The refried beans tasted like they came from a can and also had not taste. I think Taco Bell probably makes better Mexican food. They call their cuisine Mexicali...I'm from California and there is no place in California I know that services Mexican food like this.
(1)
Jonathan A.
Meh. Is a good way to describe my experience at Fat Cactus today. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either. I saw a deal on Groupon for Fat Cactus ($20 for $40) and I had never been there so my fiancee and I decided to give it a shot. Prior to going we asked several friends about there thoughts on The Fat Cactus and one said she didn't like it at all and another said "meh, it is so-so." I responded with, "there is a Groupon for it so I think we will try it" and he responded saying, that if I was going to spend $20.00 than I might as well just go to Borders up the highway a little ways. He was right. I went in with a positive attitude in spite of some negative feedback. As we walked in the decor was eye-catching in the sense that it felt like some sort of indoor playground. I wasn't a big fan. Our waitress was kind and checked up on us several times so no complaints there. I had the Black Angus Seasoned Ground Sirloin Chimichangas. And that was definitely just "meh." Meet tasted greasy and looked greasy, didn't seem much different from ground beef you would find at a supermarket, and some of the rice was either uncooked or burnt. There were a few times I had to pull some grains out of my mouth because they were too hard to chew. And finally, my stomach was pretty upset after eating at the Fat Cactus and I suspect it was the amount of grease in the Chimichangas. On a positive note: there guacamole was pretty good and fresh! All in all, I would not recommend the Fat Cactus especially given that border cafe is no more than 10 minutes away. I would actually even choose Chipotle over Fat Cactus. I won't be back.
(2)
Keith C.
We ate here because Border Cafe had an hour wait. There was no wait time which was a plus, but the interior really left something to be desired. They seated us in the dining room, which resembled a cafeteria, so we relocated to the bar which was a little more lively and had at least some character, but unfortunately it smelled like a dirty sponge, or maybe it was our menus? The food was adequate, we both had fajitas. The meat and the black beans were fine, but the tortillas were really generic and bland. The salsa definitely came out of a can and was a big disappointment. The service was good at the bar, they were attentive.
(2)
Frank A.
Food is horrible!!!!! Service was horrible!!!! We had to ask to be waited, then had to ask for our checks as the waitresses were just standing around doing nothing. The rice is gross...everything was bland. Had to throw salt and hot sauce on everything in order to eat. Do yourself a favor a go to Border Cafe instead!!!!!!
(1)
Patrick H.
I think the best thing you can do at Fat Cactus is drive past it on your way to a real Mexican restaurant.
(1)
Rachel M.
Really loud music on a Friday night while trying to eat dinner. The food was alright, but we only came here because Border Cafe had an hour wait and we were starving. Good service, too loud!
(3)
Brian M.
When you walk into this place, the subtlety of the decor hits you like a baseball bat to the side of the head. It's all bright colors with empty liquor bottles, New Mexico State license plates, an sombreros hanging all over the place. It's different and it's most certainly not boring. The second thing that gets you is the openness of the place. The walls to the outside open up, allowing in a lot of light and outside warmth. I liked it. On a beautiful summer day it's a great place to sit down and enjoy a meal with a couple of drinks. The food, for the most part, didn't blow me away. It was good because Mexican food, by definition, is pretty good. Throw some cheese and avocado into a dish and right away, you have yourself a hit. I've dined on better Mexican dishes, but don't be discouraged. I left very full and very happy. If I lived in the area I have a feeling that I'd be back very often. If I'm craving an authentic, delicious dish then maybe I'd keep searching. But if I'm looking for a night of throwing back a few beers with some friends then this would be one of the first places I'd think of. I love the open, outdoors feel to the place. I love how they have a Golden Tee and a couple of racing games tucked away in the back. Few things go better with your 3rd beer than a round of Golden Tee. I love the prices and I love me some enchiladas.
(5)
Christina H.
This was, by far, the single worst food-related experience I have ever had at a restaurant. The only food which was even remotely edible were the wings, which were fairly tasty. The meat in my husband's burrito was cold and it had beans, even though he had requested none. There was hair in my taco (be nice..), the steak was charred on the outside and completely cold on the inside. The rice was crunchy. Thankfully the manager was good about removing the charges on the offending food, but we will not be going back.
(1)
Barry M.
Average Mexican food, not great but not bad. Chips and salza are good and Cheso cheese dip very good. Beef enchiladas were okay but I have had better. Quesadillas were very good, overall pretty good.
(3)
Doreen R.
There were 4 of us that were looking for a few margaritas and some appetizers. Found 4 seats at the bar, the food was good & the margaritas were good - if they were made by the same bartender. I ordered my third margarita and it tasted nothing like the first 2.. I asked the bartender to put more mix in it, she dismissed me - saying there is no mix in it, it is lime juice - walked away and went to the other bartender and told him to make it. We ordered appetizers, which were good. What I could not get past was the smell. It was a sharp, dirty nasty smell. All I could think of was bar rescue needed to come in there and whip that place into shape. When we were leaving there was a sign in the lobby stating they would be having renovations done. I hope this is true and part of the renovations would be they clean the bar area, cause that is just gross. I will be curious to see if anyone from the Fat Cactus responds to this review.
(1)
Abigail S.
I would not eat here again. The initially bright and vibrant impressions of the restaurant decor is quickly damped by their menu (varied but uninspired) and poor service. We generally take it as aa bad sign when a restaurant that identifies as one type of cuisine features many dishes from other cuisines. It's also not a good sign when the server in a Mexican restaurant identifies their ribs as the best thing on the menu. Our food was received relatively timely (it did feel like a long time considering that we were one of three parties in the restaurant at at around 2pm in the afternoon). We were given complimentary chips and salsa and discovered a scrap of black cloth on on the chips about half way in. When presented to the server, he joked that it was part of his shirt. Meeting with blank stares from us, he took the plate away. We ordered queso cheese and chips, which were decent. The food was mediocre and served hot but not nearly good enough to redeem the experience. Multiple people commented on the poor taste, texture and greasy quality of their meat (different kinds of meat in tacos, enchiladas, and burritos). My husband and his brother both found their chicken quesadillas unpalatable after eating one slice. I had enchiladas (one chicken and one cheese - ended up only eating the cheese one) which didn't have any enchilada sauce on them, only cheese. A friend's beef chimichanga was bland and others only finished half of their burritos. Furthermore, accoutrements like lettuce, picco, or tomatoes that were served with dishes were limp, flavorless, and clearly not fresh. Probably the largest disappointment was the service. While ordering, our server met a request for having both black and refried beans with a no and justifying it by saying "he's a dick" of the cook. Our server also described dishes as "bad-ass", mixed up drink orders between people at our table, dropped food on the floor and didn't clean it up, and gave us our check (kind of tossed it on the table) without a word. It felt very presumptuous and unprofessional.
(1)
Sarah B.
New cook, new menu - still really good food. Their con queso is a lot spicier now, which makes it more delicious - and everything on their menu sounds twice as good as before, from chimichangas and enchiladas to fajitas (which it seemed like everybody was ordering, as the place had that distinct fajita smell to it when you first walk in) and carne asada. It is worth a try.
(4)
Omeletteuknow O.
It was a hot and steamy night I was weary from the road Sat inside at the balmy 100 degree bar Flys flying round, people perspiring in close proximity to my personal space Ordered massive margarita, Needed another cause mostly mix, and another (great service btw) Hadn't eaten in 12 hours, the apps were the best apps I've ever eaten in my entire barfoody life Live acoustic music el Presidente mucho gusto It's like having Sr Frog's Cancun right here on ye ole Route 1 It was a good night, a very good night at the cactus
(5)
Jeff M.
The mixed drinks? Weak as hell. The chips? Too salty. The food? Mediocre. The service? Disappearing for 15 minutes at a time. The only decent parts were the 32 oz "tall" Modelo Especial on tap and the live music......but I don't think I can bring myself to come back JUST for those two things. Nothing else was all that redeeming and being near Somerville as the Mecca of Mexican food in the Boston area, there isn't much here that stands out. If you're a Revere local, sure. If not, don't travel more than 10 miles for this place unless you're meeting someone here for a little get together which is what we were doing. If $82 tequila shots are your thing then maybe you can test it out for yourself but don't say I didn't warn you that very little is impressive.
(2)
Joe P.
This place is disgusting!!!! The food is awful! The staff is extremely rude!!! Been there twice hoping to have a different experience! Waste of my time and money...
(1)
Rosa S.
I came in for the first time and I stopped at host stand to request a table. I happen to look up to discover an entire WALL of hot sauce. Not only did they have all kinds of hot sauce for customer use but they had a specific one that I absolutely love (Dave's Insanity Sauce). So needless to say I was instantly smitten. We sat at a comfy retro booth and I started noticing the decor. It was super cheesy but in a cool way. They had empty liquor bottles lined up in the ceilings and they had one wall decorated with cigar boxes. The bathroom had flip flops glued into the walls - weird but cute. We got Will as our server and he was super attentive and helpful. I disclosed I was a first timer and he gave me some real good options. He cleared up out dishes and bagged up our leftovers so promptly. I was super happy with the service. For the food, my sister made me order their guacamole and that was just ok. For my entree I ordered the Blackened Chicken and it was so yummy. Very seasoned = very happy. We also tried the coo-coo corn off the specials and that was also good. For dessert we finished up with an order of Fried Ice Cream and it was delish. I would definitely return
(4)
Michelle B.
After reading all these negative reviews, I think I will be the first one to give it a good one. I have been here countless amounts of times, and I always get my two favorite things. The pork verde buritto, and the enchiladas(the menu has recently changed since the last time I have been there). When I customize my order, it always comes out correct, and everytime we ask for more chips/salsa it comes out at a good time. Give this review a chance and try out the fat cactus!
(4)
Luis R.
Terrible service. Went in one night with my girlfriend and sat at the bar. No one came to us for the first 20 minutes (and the place wasn't busy, 10 people at the bar). We asked for a menu to get food and the bartender said that the kitchen was closed. Afterwards, a couple who came on like 30 minutes after us sitting at a high table behind us in the bar area ordered food through the bartender and got there food like 15 minutes later. I use to go there all the time because they use to have a great thing going there but now, they dropped a lot. I'll never go back there
(1)
Ian W.
I've driven past The Fat Cactus countless times on US Route 1 North. On my way back to NH driving out of Boston, I finally decided to stop in here for an early Sunday dinner when the place was not that busy yet. I was seated immediately as I entered the restaurant around 4:20 PM. I like the festive and very colorful atmosphere and decor inside this Mexicali themed cantina including the painted cartoon characters on the walls, multi-color holiday string lights, and the many liquor bottles and sombreros hanging from the ceiling. The music playing in the background was adult contemporary. I was given a complementary basket of chips and salsa along with my drink order. The corn tortilla chips were crispy and the thick tomato salsa was on the mild side. There is a bottle of hot sauce at the table. Looking at the poster sized menu (double sided), it took me a few moments to decided what I wanted, torn between fish tacos and fajitas. I finally decided to make a compromise and ordered the Blackened Catfish Fajitas ($13.99) and the good amount of food (enough for 2 people) arrived hot and sizzling to my table in under 20 minutes including 4 warm flour tortillas, a plate of fixings (shredded cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, & sour cream), and a sizzling skillet of peppers, onions, and a big long piece tender farm raised catfish rubbed in spices and blackened on the outside, topped with fresh pineapple salsa. The sides of Mexican rice and black beans were standard. All I can say is, I made a great choice and the Blackened Catfish Fajitas were very good and very spicy. I thought to myself I should have ordered a side of guacamole and a couple limes to go along with my fajitas, but next time I will. Other than that, I was thoroughly satisfied with my "Southern style/Tex_Mex" dinner and VERY STUFFED afterwards, so no dessert for me. I really wanted to enjoy some Chocolate Pina Colada Puddingn for dessert. The service was very attentive and over the top. My waitress checked up on me very frequently about a dozen times during my visit, asking how I was doing, if I needed more chips & salsa, refills on drinks, and also kept me informed when my food was arriving (your food is being made now). I prefer to enjoy my dinner in peace without interruptions, but I'd accept very attentive service over any "non-existent" and very laid back waitstaff any day!
(4)
Divya S.
Our server was great however the food and service was eh ok. I had a problem with my meal and the manager brought back the same food and gave 20 different excuses! We had a Groupon voucher and that's the only reason why we went there. I don't think we'll ever go back!
(2)
Sarah R.
We had a gift card. We reviewed Yelp and it was a little mixed but on the low side. So we ordered a variety of things to share-chx quesadilla, mixed double fajita (steak/chx) and the steak was so salty, stringy, and had a funny color. The mixed plate had 3 different items-the chx taco was soggy & had a weird seasoning. The beef taco was even worse. The quesadilla was fine. I imagine nothing here is homemade or from scratch!
(1)
Muriel C.
my taco salad consisted of an overload of shredded lettuce in a fried tortilla bowl with literally a teaspoon of their salsa.... and a teaspoon of shredded cheese. the music from the bar was live and TOO LOUD as always.
(2)
Maria L.
One star is because the food was at least edible. One star is for my awesome waitress Kyara. The food here is just below OK. It's nothing special. But my main concern was their attitude towards food allergies. This is how it went down: Me to the waitress: I'd like the chicken fajitas, no cheese or sour cream. I'm allergic to eggs and milk can you please check the marinade. Waitress: Absolutely. --- Waitress: The chef says that he can't do it. He said they cook everything on the grill together with margarine. He said he would have to ask special permission from the manager but doesn't think it's going to be possible. I'm going to get the manager. Poor girl, stuck between the customer and the lazy chef. The manager of course came over and was willing to do what I needed. But one thing she did tell me is that the "sizzle" you see when they bring you your fajitas is just margarine squirted on the hot plate! EW. Anyway, I got mine without sizzle. haha. It's disappointing that there was so much push back on the no butter issue. This is the first restaurant in a long time that has hesitated on this issue. Additional to that, my chicken was burnt and my veggies were raw. They did taste decent when I ate them the next day and re-fried them myself. Save your money and go somewhere else....Unless you want to see Kyara, she was super nice. haha.
(2)
William D.
I've been here about 4 or 5 times or so, and every time I've come here, the food has been OK at best. I've had everything from quesadillas to chimichurri steak, fajitas, etc. Not a fan of this place, but doesn't quite warrant 1 star.
(2)
Charlene S.
This was probably the worst food I've ever had.. ever. Ended up trying this place because the Border Cafe was so busy. I regretted it immediatley. Appetizer- Chili Con Queso- Apparently at the Fat Catus they think melted American cheese food product can double as chile con queso. It was more like fondue.. and not good fondue, gross fondue. Dinner- I ordered the Fiesta Quesadilla with chicken and my boyfrient the cat fish tacos. I knew when our orders came out in less than ten minutes that something was wrong. They put the food down and the tomato salsa on top looked watery and the tomatoes were almost see through. I moved that aside figuring how can you mess up a quesadilla? Well it was maybe luke warm with the cheese not very melted. Again not real cheese. Then.. my guacamole arrived, which was sour and tasted like vinegar. Nothing was fresh, it was warm and undercooked and I was thoroughly dissapointed. My boyfriends tacos were soggy and he ended up just eating the blackened cat fish once he got through the burnt parts. There's a reason people wait in line at the Border Cafe for an hour for food, it's because it's the only Cantina Mexican restaurant on Rt One. This place isn't a restaurant it's a margarita bar with alleged food substances. The manager came over when she saw that I wasn't eating and took the quesadilla off our bill for us. It must be embarrasing to work here... I feel bad for the wait staff which is really attentive and polite. Save yourself the trouble and wait in line at the Border Cafe, I know I will
(1)
Jenna B.
Awful awful awful! Quality has plummeted. Sticky table. Cold chips. Weak drinks. Small portions and unappealing tasting food. Won't go back again.
(1)
Jon N.
What a mess. Plate arrived sloppy and runny like it had been microwaved. Chimichanga not crispy at all--more like a burrito under a warming lamp. Sangria tasted like a mix. Chips out of a bag. Lazy.
(2)
jackie y.
This COULD be the best place ever, but it's NOT. The environment is great but the food and drinks are inconsistent, overpriced and just plain, not good. It's a shame because they're one of the only places in the area with live music and outdoor seating. If they would just follow The Border Cafe's business model, they'd be great.
(1)
David C.
I written two other reviews about this place and in both I said the food was incredibly bland. Well they have fixed that problem the food is better not great just better
(3)
Amanda B.
I went on a double date here at the beginning of the month and i had to write a review. I feel as though the only thing this place is good for is the drinks. The drinks are great! I feel bad for the bartenders because they could make a killing if the food didn't suck so bad. I ordered a caesar salad that was very plan and boring but the worst was the steak i ordered with it. I couldn't eat it. If you could only see what it looked like. It was clearly frozen steak they microwaved or something.... To top that my girlfriend almost choked on a chicken bone in her food. It was DISGUSTING! The manager did come over and give us free desert which was nice but i still have no desire to go back....
(2)
Brian G.
The food here is good, the servers are good, but getting good service from the hosts is difficult. The last 3 times we went there, the people working at the front desk were rude and seemed to not want our business. It seems to be a pattern there.
(1)
Ellen H.
The Fat Cactus. Number 8532 in the long list of restaurants that have failed to call that little section of route 1 home for very long. However, this restaurant has some staying power and I attribute it to the 3-season porch. Yes, this porch has existed in the other restaurants, but who wants to eat naked fish outdoors when you can have a margarita outdoors? There's something about a margarita that just makes you want to be outside in the warm breeze, and Fat Cactus offers that. You receive the obligatory bucket o' chips with salsa -- which, when you only come for drinks, is a welcome sponge for all the tequila you are about to ingest. The margarita menu is extensive and the margaritas are so-so -- the last time I came here I actually switched to beer because for $10 OUT of Boston, I want a margarita that kicks you in the pants, not some wussy mush that makes you feel flush and not much more. I liked the live music out on the porch and the variety of seating types - tables & chairs, couches, lounge-y areas, etc. The food menu looks great also but I haven't eaten here yet. Being so close to Border Cafe, I'd pick Border anytime the temperature is under 80 in the evening. But once it starts to get uncomfortable, I'm heading to Fat Cac to sip a frozen margarita in the breeze to the strum of a live guitar.
(3)
Nikolette C.
I had high hopes for Fat Cactus, despite the rough Yelp reviews. I often drive by it on Route 1, curious as to how good it actually is considering that it looks like a really cool place. It's also ALWAYS packed, which made me think that it was going to be great. But then I actually tried it... The food actually only gets ONE star! The chips and salsa were horrible! I suppose if you like stale, out-of-the-bag tasting chips, you might like them. I had the Spicy Chicken Ranchero Burrito and my boyfriend had the Taco and Enchilada Platter. All of the food, especially the chips, had a very generic, out-of-the-can taste. Nothing tasted fresh! Even for east coast "Mexican" food, this place was practically embarrassing! The only reason why I gave them two stars is because they did have some pretty cool live music. And who doesn't LOVE live music!?! Also, the decor was very cool, colorful, and unique. It does also look like the drinks could be good, but I doubt I will return to give them a try. It was also pretty cheap, and the service was okay. But overall--only two stars. =(
(2)
Barbara B.
Drinks were warm and weak. Food was average -- nice atmosphere.
(2)
Sara L.
I feel bad that this place has gotten so many terrible reviews. I admit it's definitely not the best around or even really good for that matter, but it's not awful. I've been 3 times since it opened a couple years ago, the last time was just this past Sunday. Our 3 year old daughter has been asking to go here every time we pass it on Route 1 since it looks really cool and festive from the outside. It also has a really colorful, festive atmosphere inside with lots of decorations to admire while sitting at your table. We sat in the outdoor patio section this last time and our daughter loved looking at all the decor and coloring her kid's placemat. Our waitress was really attentive and provided very good service, always bringing over refills of our drinks and bringing another basket of complimentary chips and salsa after asking if we'd like more. As for the food, well......my husband said his blackened catfish tacos were definitely over spiced and the rice that came with it was too dry. My chicken ranchero burrito was okay, definitely not authentic Mexican but somewhat tasty that I was able to eat almost the whole thing. My daughter wasn't too big a fan of her kid's chicken quesadilla and rice but ate about a quarter of it. So all in all, we'd go back. It might be better to just go for drinks and appetizers and enjoy the outdoor seating as well as the advertised "live music 7 nights a week" (although we didn't see or hear any live music while we were there but we were gone by 7:30ish).
(3)
Melissa C.
I know the biggest draw for this place is the live music, but the bf and I decided to be seated in the restaurant instead of the patio. I think this place would be great if you just wanted to come back and kick back with some friends, but as a place to get a meal.. not so much. The empanadas and rice were good, but that was about it. They used this red sauce in their enchiladas and tacos, which was funky. I couldn't finish my taco it was so bad and bitter tasting. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the food. Also, their house margarita tastes like they use bottom shelf tequilla. If you're looking to get tipsy, it'll work, but don't order it for flavor!
(2)
Sandra F.
OMG! I came here on Monday, Labor Day. Not a busy night. This was my second time coming to The Fat Cactus; both times because I had a Groupon. The first time I came I order the steak fajitas. The vegetables that were on the bottom of the skillet were burned and the ones on the top were raw. The steak was tough as leather. It was awful. This time I went again because I had a Groupon and I wanted to see if it had improved. Plus, it was expiring next week. I ordered two different magaritas and both were watery, not a taste of tequila. For dinner, I ordered Tequila Lime chik wings appetizers and carne asada (steak) as an entree. Within 5 minutes of ordering, my appetizer and entree were put down in front of me. I have never had food cooked so fast in my life. Everything was tasteless. The wings were dry because they had been microwaved and the steak was tough as leather. I took the wings home, but I did not eat any of my entree and did not take it home. I will never come back here again, groupon or no groupn. And I will never recommend it.
(1)
Carolyn W.
We were seated promptly by open windows at about 7:30 pm. We were planning on asking our server to close it when they came to introduce themselves, but we sat there for 17 minutes without being acknowledged. While sitting, we heard the tables around us ask three different people to close the windows before anything was done. I wish zero stars were an option. We left after those 17 minutes and told the 2 hostesses that it was unacceptable. They were more concerned with where we were seated than in apologizing. DON'T GO TO THIS RESTAURANT!
(1)
Phil W.
Great food, Great drinks. Ive sat at the bar area many times as well as the dining area. Great place to have a few drinks with friends or dinner with the family. Live music in the summer and always a fun crowd.
(5)
Peter H.
Plenty of seating all day, even weekend evenings. Plays music on certain days - gets too noisy at those times, but I like to have a conversation. Varied southern beer collection, house margaritas are very standard, not bad but nothing special. Dinner and lunch menu is very good. Food is hot, well-cooked and flavorful. Lunch buffet was TERRIBLE. Food was luke-warm and flavor was not good. Only time I've had bad food at this restaurant. Service is good.
(4)
Judy C.
We keep going back for the best fajitas ever! And they do fajitas for two also. Steak, chicken, shrimp, I've tried them all! I add guacamole to the set up that comes with it and i tastes as good as my own. Service is always timely, its a bit loud when the band is playing (as to be expected) but its a lively fun place that we really enjoy.
(4)
Tommy K.
Eek! What's happening over there?!?!? I loved the Fat Cactus, up until tonight. The salsa was very runny and tasted pretty much like canned tomatoes and a few spices. The chips were okay. Ordered a diet coke and it tasted nasty. Asked the server (Brian) what was up with the soda and he said "Oh it's City Soda" - while I do not know what that means do NOT order soda. I then asked for iced tea, Brian brought raspberry sweetened tea - I asked him for unsweetened. When he brought it - it smelled and tasted like toilet cleaning solution. WTF? Dinner took a while, a burrito and fajitas - doesn't make sense. Our server Brian was just okay. He seemed annoyed or as if he had some place better to be. Never saw a manager - they never came over to check on our table or any other for that matter. I would say that'll be the last time I visit there, unless I don't want salsa or anything to drink from a mexican restaurant.
(2)
Angela D.
I love it! I've been here about six times now on a groupon in the last six months. Occasionally I have a small issue with something with the food. But they are always attentive to correct it and the staff is always doing their best to make you happy. Every time I've come, I've been seated right away. Fajitas are great and the Rollito's are amazing! I look forward to coming back again.
(5)
Kevin S.
Wanted to go to Border Cafe. Didn't want to stand around 90 minutes waiting for a table there. Well....up Rt 1 to the Fat Cactus. Never been here under this name before. They had a table right away, even though it was 7:30 on a Friday night AND the place was PACKED. Service was good. Food? Who knew there was another decent Mexican style place on Rt 1 other than Border Cafe? Parking can get tight when busy (like this night). There is lots of parking. As Christina Z says, Live Music EVERY night. It is out by the patio area, but the sound rolls through the entire place. If you want a quiet dinner, don't come here.
(3)
Mara P.
First off the food was really great but the service was disgusting and horrible. Our waitress brought me over a cracked cup and then I had to ask another waitress for a new cup because my waitress was no where to be found, she also had to ask my boyfriend to repeat his drink order three times which was just a "bud bottle". We also witnessed a male waiter fondling waitresses by tickling and just poking them and being a creep, the staff seemed to be having more of social party with eachother rather than paying attention to customers. At the end of meal I used to rest room and witnessed a waitress not wash her hands when she came out of the stall and she just went back to work also in the same minute another waitress comes in and pulled pads (normally used to for that time of the month) out of her armpits to catch sweat and after having her hands under her armpits she did not wash her hands either! Also the waitress that we had did not clear away any dishes when we were done, she seemed overall bored and didn't care about getting our order right. I am disappointed and disgusted I will not be coming back!
(1)
Meredith M.
Such a great place for a group of friends or a fun date. Last Friday we treated ourselves to dinner on the deck of the Fat Cactus. The weather was perfect, the live band was loud, the margaritas were strong and not too sweet. The food was fine. The queso was basically velveta with a little rotel. The enchiladas were tasty but average. The fish tacos were delicious! Being from Texas, I have very high standards for mexican food establishments. However, the ambiance and service were enough to grant this place 4 stars. (Food gets 3 stars). It's a fun place on the North Shore to grab a bite and a few margaritas on a hot day. I think it would also be fun for private parties! If your'e in the area, check it out!
(4)
Kim R.
Had looked forward to stopping for lunch...mistake! Both of us acquired stains on our pants from the filthy table cloths. Waitress moved us to a "cleaner" table...with an equal amount of "rundown". We barely tasted our food we were in such a hurry to leave. Unfortunate experience. Should have read the reviews!
(1)
Frederick S.
I've been there twice. The food is fair to poor. Today I got fries instead of the rice i ordered with my ribs, No guacamole or refried beans as requested with my fajitas. I will not be returning!
(1)
Lizz W.
Decor, was crazyyyy and fun to look at. We went with 7 people, and were sat right away on Saturday night. 5 out of 7 of us got fajitas. Chicken, Steak and Catfish. All were delicious and greatly portioned. Not to mention how full we all were off the buckets of chips and salsa before the meal. Everything was fresh and good, we will be back again (when in the area)
(4)
Justin S.
Truth in advertising: This review was based on the first and only time I have been here. Oversized menus were an interesting novelty but would have been difficult to handle with 4 people at our booth. They needed a bath, however, as both were suffering from previous customer's salsa drippings. We started off with Queso Fundido. It was exactly as described on the menu. However be warned this is NOT authentic fundido that typically contains chorizo. Chips were not hot, some were chewy, but the salt level was even and appropriate. Fish Tacos: Fish was seriously over-fried, to the point it had to be picked apart because it was difficult to chew. Had potential to be very good and the red pepper sauce was tasty. Beef Chimichanga: Tasty, although a little greasy. This dish was served on what appeared to be a tomato basil tortilla which you would typically expect to find at a deli. The filling was good, except for the beef which was difficult to cut and chew. A steak knife would have helped. Both dishes came with beans (one refried and one black) which were hot and average. Mexican rice however was as crunchy as the carrots shreds that it contained.
(2)
Kathleen H.
The decor is of the "Tijuana ate too much Mardis Gras and puked in my living room" chic. You know, the kind that so many WOOHOO-we-are -so-FUN!!! restaurants enjoy, but with a tex mex/amerilatin flair. Lots of bright colors, tiles, beads, tchotchkes, mirrors. . . the ceiling has brilliantly colored big salamander things, and the big bar has a row of flip flops glued to the ceiling. They have PARTY ROOMS, POOL TABLES and FUN FUN FUN VIDEO GAMES!!! There you go. The music was LOUD. It was saturday night, but it was hard to have any kind of conversation. We were at a bar table - perhaps it's quieter in the dedicated dining area or the spacious porch. Next time - if there's room - which there wasn't last night - I'd like to sit on the porch. Comfy tables with wicker furniture, live music (They advertise that they have it 7 days a week) - it looks like a fun place to go with friends and hang out with a pitcher of something. The guy last night was singing a mix of margaritavillesque classic tunes and Simon and Garfunkel. When he was on break. . LOUD latin music was playing. Did I mention the music was LOUD??(at least in the bar area) The margaritas have enthralling, enticing, delicious sounding descriptions in the menu, followed by a snappy synopsis, a la Cheap Boozy Chinese Place (This sailor will send you out to sea! wink wink. . . what? OH RIGHT, it'll get me drunk, thanks!) I ordered one that supposedly was a higher end variety, in other words, not just sour mix with a splash of Cuervo. It purported to be just booze with real fresh squeezed lime juice. It came in a high ball glass and tasted. .sweet. sigh. Evidently there aren't real margarita glasses here. My companion also reported. . .sweet drink. Not much other flavor. double sigh. They did have alcohol in them though, for what it's worth. Drinks are reasonably priced, the house margarita or glass of sangria: $5.50. The "high end" drinks? $8.50. I'd say. . . just stick with the house pitchers. Because you're not going to get a finely crafted anything here, so you might as well spend less money getting shnozzled. The food was. . .edible. Ok. Kept me from gnawing off my hand. The chips were freshly fried and pretty good - but very floppy and greasy toward the bottom of the basket. Service? What service. . well ok, there was some service. Our waitress was perky and said "here ya go Doll" when she handed me my drink. After we waited awhile for menus, and two other people said our waitress would be by with menus. Then we were brought chips by the chip guy who said someone would be there to take our drink order. Our waitress took our food order, and was never seen again. A harried looking guy in a T shirt plopped our food on our table - the lettuce/pico de gallo/sour cream that was supposed to come with the fajitas never appeared. After trying a couple times to flag down someone who was not our waitress and failing, we just ate what we had, in the silence provided by REALLY LOUD MUSIC. My rice had peas in it. grump. We asked another passing waitress if she could send our waitress over. "uh huh". Didn't happen. We asked another passing waitress if we could speak to the manager. Yeah, that got results. The manager apologized. All we paid for was drinks. Thank you. All in all. . . Lots of Glitter, basic sweet drinks and unspicy New England tex mex food. I would come again to sit outside with buddies, if it was convenient. And possibly, try sitting in the actual dining area on a date or something . . .but from my experience last night, the assurance that "Sure you can sit at the bar, full menu, no waiting!" Also means. . .no service.
(2)
Mike B.
I had been to this location when it was the Naked Fish, so I have been curious to check out The Fat Cactus for some time. I was out with the kiddos on a recent weekend and stopped by The Border Cafe: but seeing as it was packed, and I had a restless 3 y/o (the 8 y/o was chill), I didn't want to risk the wait; so we soldiered on up Route 1 and dropped into the Fat Cactus. The fact that the place was about a third full should have served as a warning (esp compared to Border). The other red flag was the dirty menu, which was splattered in several places with dried something or other...yikes. I ordered a chicken chimichanga, and I've gotta say, I was disappointed. The chicken was dark meat , and the item overall was just...dull. Not bad, but dull. The accompanying rice and beans were also just so-so. On the positive side: The kiddos both had burgers, which they gobbled up. The 8 y/o is particularly fussy about food, but nonetheless was a happy camper. Our server (Devan?) was awesome: friendly, prompt, great with the kids. Bottom line: both the service and atmosphere were great, but the food didn't cut it, and the place should have been more clean.
(2)
LeAnn L.
Atmosphere, great.....service and DRINKS, not so much. I went here for dinner and margaritas with my girlfriends and received sub-par service and drinks. I ordered a frozen raspberry margarita and it tasted like blue raspberry slush, no liquor. It took forever for the alcoholic drinks to come out, water wasn't served until much later and we had to ASK. Also, the waitress failed to give us napkins or plates when our bucket of chips came out, so again, we had to ask for those. THE WORST PART WAS, when our food came out, our waitress set our food down and walked away. only we had NO SILVERWARE. We asked her to bring some out and she said that "all the silverware was in the dishwasher and they're preparing the utensils now" ...umm ARE YOU KIDDING ME?.. needless to say we waited about 8-10 minutes while our food sat in front of our faces before we were given silverware. One of my friends ordered the barbeque chicken salad and it made her sick for the rest of the night. My other friend asked for her salad with no cheese because she's lactose intolerant, she gets the salad and *surprise* there's cheese! In the end my friends and I made a decision that our waitress did NOT deserve a good tip. We gave her a 9% tip, paid half the bill in cash, the other half on a debit card... She has the nerve to come back to our table asking if "the tip is correct" because we only tipped her $6... again.. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Yes we gave you a small tip (even though she didn't deserve $2 in my mind) but you do NOT confront a guest about a small tip. Completely unprofessional! So on our way out the door, I stopped by the hostess desk to speak with her about our rude waitress, and our waitress COMES UP TO THE DESK to talk to the hostess, conveniently as I am speaking with the hostess about my dinner service. How juvenile! The waitress knew my friends and I were complaining about the service she gave us, so she had the nerve to "pretend" like she lost a pen or something to come up to the hostess desk. Maybe our waitress was new, but either way, it does not excuse a TERRIBLE dinner service. I do not think I will be returning anytime soon.
(2)
Marie L.
The food was terrible no it was beyond terrible but the drinks were great and strong. We ordered nachos with only cheese, tomatoes and sour cream they put horrible chicken on it and some of the cheese was so over cooked that it was hard and the rest wasn't melted at all and who serves nachos without salsa?? The entertainment was GREAT. I will def be back for drinks and entertainment but I will be sure to eat before I go.
(2)
Megan H.
At first, I really loved this place when oldest best friend from my childhood brought me here. I only get one drink that I love(d), called the Lava Flow. It's very inconsistent when I order it. Either it'll be like drinking strawberry syrup from Dunkin Donuts, or white alcoholic ice. The food isn't anything wonderful to speak of. The tortilla chips are incredibly, very salty. OH, STAY AWAY from the nacho appetizer. It's totally unworthy of $10 for a plate of naked tortilla chips. The bartender forgets about her customers ALL the time. If you're in the area, it's a good meet up spot. But, if you crave authentic Spanish food, come down to the "scarier" places in Massachusetts.
(2)
Andrew B.
Good drinks. I like the 25oz. draft Dos Equis Amber Ale. Food was mediocre though. Very bright decor.
(3)
Courtney N.
My friend and I decided to stop in for an early lunch on Cinco de Mayo. I loved the decor. You really felt transported when you walked through the door! We initially asked to sit on the deck but it was too cold. We went back to the main desk and had a bit of a wait to finally be seated in a free booth. The place wasn't crowded at all so I wasn't sure why we had to stand there awkwardly with our menus, cutlery and the freebies they gave us (sombrero bottle openers and some other thing). Four people said they had to check before they could seat us. Once we were seated, we were in awe of the extensive menu. I stupidly picked the chimichanga even though it had one pepper. It was way too spicy. I ended up eating the basket of free tortilla chips and dunking it in the sauce; I also ate the rice and the salad, very good. I took the rest home and my friend ate it later. My friend got a catfish taco. Also pretty spicy. He loved it and was done in no time. The portions are huge. Seriously huge. They have an extensive beer list and quite a few mixed drinks. I ordered a white mango sangria and it was awesome. The food came out fast and we never felt ignored by our server which was nice. We decided to split a fried ice cream dish for dessert. Erm, not my cup of tea. Interesting but not for me. The bill was very reasonable. We'd probably go back and next time I will order something a bit more bland!
(4)
Days G.
food is not better than Margaritas in my opinion. love the outside seating tho. dinosaur legs (chicken drum sticks) are so yuckie.
(2)
Mary S.
The drinks are the most redeeming quality of this place. The food is a hit or miss. However, anytime I've ordered food from here its been luke warm. I'm not sure what that's about... The service is always great though. I'd say the only reason to revisit this place would be for the drinks.
(3)
Derek W.
1st the good...They have live music (this night was a dj and vocalist named Joey) and a really cool open porch with plenty of seating. We ordered an order of guacomole and it was tasty and and the chips that came with it were warm and tasty as well. The not so good, by far the worst salsa I have ever had in my life. It literally tasted like cacciatore, and wasn't spicy at all. The rice we got with our meals was cold. The burrito was filled with chicken, but not much else and the fajitas shrimp was burnt and tasteless albeit over seasoned and tasteless. The real bad - the margaritas mix tasted pretty gross. We ordered a pitcher and didn't finish it. Tables are very small and cheap, however the waitress pulled over another one for us and said "i don't care because it's not busy" I guess my question was going to be, So if you're busy would we place our food on the floor? I'll take Agave in Newburyport or Portsmouth every day over this place and even On the border or The border cafe put out better meals...
(2)
Pamela w.
We were a party of three for lunch the other day and this place has some of the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten...or tried to eat. The salsa has Chipotle or something in it. Its thick and brownish. Not fresh at all. The guacamole was just flat, turning brown and awful! We drank a pitcher of house margaritas and felt as if we had nothing at all to drink. Everything was tacky to the touch...the tablecloth, menus. Thin useless napkins. Booths need replacing already. It was a blistering hot day and the AC is almost useless as their outdoor area is open to the bar and restaurant. Our waiter was pleasant....and perspiring. The food is bad. Watery chicken tacos. Burned cheese on enchiladas. I was served a piece of celery, on a plate of overcooked chicken wings, that had clearly been frozen. Really? What kind of kitchen puts something that has clearly gone south on a plate to be served? The decor is cool. Loved the bottles hanging from the ceiling. It ended there. Biggest waste of cash on a lunch in a long time. I gave no clue how this dump stays open. They cant even get salsa and chips right. GO TO THE BORDER CAFE in Saugus! Where they actually make the chips and even put tequila in the margaritas. ;)
(1)
Terry M.
Typical New England Mexican food restaurant. Lots of mexican looking bling and crazy colors. Food is palatable and the service was good. I'd go back again. As an afterthought, my colleagues did remark on the burritos being exceptionally big. I had the Angus steak taco salad and my only comment would be to use the salsa instead of any of the dressings!!
(4)
James S.
This place has improved a lot since it opened....I was so disgusted I would not return for a year. It is my pleasure to report they have got their act together now. Drinks come promptly, food is warm, waitresses check on you. I am now a satisfied customer.
(5)
Tamarah V.
I love this place! I just hate how my table is ALWAYS sticky when I go there... but the drinks are good! and the atmosphere is good. I live closer to the one in Randolph but I like this one way better!
(3)
Tony P.
I have to say that I do not give 5 star or 1 star reviews based after 1 vist and I have visted "The Fat Catcus" 3 times. I really do not like write something negative about someone's business and I hope they use these reviews as a way to improve. First off the food all taste like it was frozen. I have had some basic items of the menu (Burrito, Quesadillas, Fish Taco) all of it tasted like it was opened from a box and put in the microwave. The fish was the worse...I'm pretty sure it was some really bad generic frozen patty cut up. Let me state that Mexican food is probably my favorite cuisine and I have been spoiled by a lot of the good Mexican restaurants in Southern California after spending some time out there, so I will admit my standards might be higher than some New Englanders. The theme was a generic coastal Mexician beach vibe with authentic old short boards bolted to the walk...It was 'ok' and not dirty but to me it was the nicest feature of "The Fat Catcus". The sour mix for the drinks was horrible, it tasted like heavy handed 5 year old made it. Two of the three times I was there they salted my margarita glass even though I asked for no salt. The was no spice or flavor to the salsas at all other then...You guessed it 'salt'. It was like a poor cover up to the blandest Mexican inspired food I have ever had. I really wanted to like this guys but I cannot recommend them at all.
(1)
Wayne M.
LOVE this place ~ Its clean , spacious , great drinks free chips and salsa and amazing entrees ~ I forget whats its called but i ordered the chicken w/ half slab of rib plate that came with a jimica slaw and mexican rice and it was OFF THE CHAIN !The big crazy piece of chicken alone could feed a family of 4 **smiles** Wound up bringing home the chicken cause, guess what .....I was FULL before I could get to it !! BTW: did I mention the entree was only $15???? Yeah ..I'll be back !
I wish I could give this place a negative star! I went here a few months ago because I had a gift card. Well my food was nasty!!! my drinks were ridiculously weak and filled with chunks of ice. My waitress seems half drunk and was making no sense. Asked to speak with a manager and we got the meal on the house. Re-gifted that crap!
(1)
Lauryn C.
Good. Not great. Spare yourself the mediocre food, service and atmosphere and go to Border Cafe. You'll save some money and enjoy the food much more at Border!
(2)
Cathleen C.
Not the best, but not the worst mexican food around. Great, strong margaritas. The outdoor patio is nice, as is the decor and bar area of the restaurant. Cool place to hang with friends.
(3)
Jamie B.
Love the Fat Cactus! The first time we went we didn't have the best service, but that has certainly improved and we keep going back for more. It's usually pretty busy, but I don't mind waiting if I can find a seat on the porch where they have a walk up bar and cocktail service! The food is pretty good, but the decor really makes you feel like you are in a completely different place. It reminds me of my trips to Mexico or the Dominican or Bermuda even. I can't explain it except to say that it does not feel like you are on Route 1!
(4)
Vinny E.
Food was good but... I was not pleased with the experience here. First of all the new buffet in the middle of the dining room makes the place look empty and barren. Also the LED lights above the buffet were cold looking and too bright. Terrible ambiance. In contrast, the tables were very dark with no lights to see the micro font menu. I had to use my light app on me iPhone to read it. My son ordered lemonade which tasted no better than water with a lemon wedge in it. The waitress's reasoning was simply "oh they must be low" without inquiring. She did however offer him cranberry juice. I on the other hand ordered iced tea and was given sweetened iced tea, which I did not want. I asked for unsweetened tea but they did not have any so I switched to water. Most other places ask if you want sweetened or not...she did not. Finally I used a Groupon and had to give my phone to the waitress to process, which was not a problem. However she had to find a manager to process it and continued to wait on tables before doing so. She took so long my phone locked up and she had to come back so I could enter my password. Process took at least 10 min Overall food 9, service 5, ambiance 5 If you are the manager contact me Vinnymass@yahoo.com
(2)
Christina Z.
I'll warn you - live music 7 nights/week (is this seasonal) = a bunch of old dudes jammin on instruments, one of which is a harmonica. They are loud. They are on the patio. You can't hear your friend less than two feet a way. That's pretty bad. Toasted coconut cocktail? The best part is that I don't have to steal the amazing cocktail glass it came in - it's free! and plastic, but free all the same. The Lava flow (pina colada with strawberries is as always totally creamy heaven). Queso dip - unnervingly addictive. Sodium overload. I like the chips, though my friend is staunchly pro-Border cafe. Mexican cobb salad - don't bother. They "ran out" of guacamole, yet our cobb salad came with (you nailed it) avocado... how do you make guacamole again?! Enjoyable. I'm fond of it, but nothing (besides the drinks) are amazing.
(3)
C C.
Very slight improvement from our last two visits despite the "new queso", "new chef", " new beans" and such advertisements on their billboard. The salsa was not very good and my tacos were average at best. The food is just bland . We promissed not to return, and this time we might follow through with the promise.
(1)
Jeff C.
Servers were friendly, but if your going to try and be a Mexican joint, than doing make your margaritas from a mix, and make sure you Mexican beers on working taps. No one in my group of six enjoyed their drinks, whether they ordered a margarita, a pina coloda, or a Dos Equis...very disappointing.
(2)
April P.
Mad cheap lunch buffet. $8 I think? Its not high grade Mexican but there are a decent amount of choices. I had some enchiladas, tacos, chips, queso, wings and a chicken leg. ha. the chicken leg has a cute name like a dinosaur, but it didn't taste that good. I don't really like legs though. The wings were quite tasty (prob the best part of my meal). They had a lime tang and spices but weren't too hot. I got margaritas once. They were inexpensive and tasted good. Getting here going southbound on Rte 1 is a pain, but its typical of Rte 1, they can't help it. I'd go here again for the buffet, probably in the summer- they have nice outside seating.
(3)
Christopher M.
Alright, let's start with the obvious. From facade to latrine this place is loud and obnoxious. The color scheme makes me think some guy in a sombrero is going to get in my face with his maracas singing and smiling and generally annoying the piss out of me. That being said, there's a vice selection of premium tequila in a glass case with prices right aw you walk in, so that's comforting. The food was ok, though I should have asked them the hold the immense amounts of sodium in my pork burrito. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Not that that's anything out of the ordinary for mexican places around here, it's just not something I appreciate. What killed it for me was the lack of service: My beer mug sat empty in front of me for 1.5 HOURS My empty dirty plates sat in front of me for 1 HOUR It took over 30 minutes to settle the check. about half that time was our party sitting there with money in front of us. The rest was spent trying to get the check *right* . . .all the while our bartender was ignoring all the bar patrons (and at least one spider descended upon me) Absolutely insane and totally unacceptable. Normally, this would constitute a single-star rating, BUT, when I called the manager over she was friendly, took our bill and money, and knocked 10% off the tab. Still, I can't say I'll be back.
(2)
Noah C.
I recently went here on a Tuesday night. I sat at the bar for dinner. Seeing the place from the outside it looked fun. Inside when I sat down the barstool was broken and the counter top was gross and sticky. I ordered a margaritta which was terrible. It was almost warm and had salt on the rim that looked ten years old. I then ordered a burrito which was basically inedible. It has dried old chicken and they even forgot to take the bay leaves out. It had this dark sauce that tasted like burnt ketchup. The salsa was old and fermented as well. Disgusting.
(1)
Dave S.
Big cactus on route 1. - just finished dinner there. Usually love the food and ambience in the dining room. But tonight made the mistake os sitting at the bar. Not a good idea- poor inattentive service - one bartender left us sitting for a half an hour- then fobbed us off on another bartender - finally got our food and it was missing part of the order -told the server, said he would check on it and he never returned . Of course it was still on the bill and when we got the attention of our original Bartender and pointed out the bill mistake , she had the cajones to say - twice - that we should have told her and she would have taken care of it. Oh yes, it's our fault
The Fat Cactus was a fat disappointment. We had gift cards to use, so we (the wife and I) figured why not. The drinks (something horny toad margarita) were pretty good, albeit not that potent for nearly 9 bux a whack, and our app chicken rollitos were pretty good. That's where the good food stopped for me. I got the spicy chicken ranchero burrito (that I actually got confused with beef due to the texture, color and I would swear flavor), and the woman got the san pedro pollo pasta (she is quoted as saying it was gross). She finished her meal off with the flan for dessert, which was her favorite part of the meal. The service was decent, our waitress was very friendly. But for what would have been nearly an $80 dinner bill, I was very disappointed. The gift card that we had offset most of the bill, but even the balance paid after the card left me feeling a bit had, which really sucks because I was hoping for much better! Needless to say, we probably won't be back.
(2)
Tim W.
This has to be the worst fake Mexican food I've ever eaten ( or left on my plate in this case). 2 hours later I still can't get the gross salty taste out of my mouth. 20 minutes before a server came to our table after a trip to front desk. Waitstaff was all young and clueless, looked like a high school clique. When we finally got our waitress she wasn't qualified to be a busgirl. It seemed as if there wasn't an adult in sight running the place. I had to look at the waiter's boxers on the next table. The pork burrito was a soggy pile of tasteless meat product loaded down with salt. The fajitas were overcooked shoe leather from some indistinguishable cut of beef coated in a rub of salt. The chips were half soggy and the salsa tasted like canned tomatoes. I have no idea how this place stays in business. The only redeeming feature was that the bar actually looked like it might be fun with the live guitarist. Even they can't screw up a bottle of beer. All in all horrible food, terrible service and a non existent management staff that apparently hires high schoolers who don't give a crap.
(1)
Nick J.
I love the fat cactus. Great drinks great food great atmosphere. I went on a sunday night the bar tender was super nice and an absolute babe. Great service
(5)
CaT P.
it is just ok. at least not expensive, but border cafe, which is also closer, is much better, i think. our waitress was really nice, but the food... meeehh...
(2)
Aaron W.
My girlfriend and I had a groupon to use here and really enjoyed it. I ordered the carne asada and she ordered some kind of stuffed chicken breast. We also shared a guacamole appetizer dip. The guacamole was average but my carne asada was cooked perfectly and had a delicious flavor. She really enjoyed the chicken too. My only complaint was the service was slow and they seemed to rush us along at the end, but we did come in at 9:20 on a Wednesday evening. There was live music in the bar area, two guys singing country music and they sounded pretty good. Likely we will be back again.
(4)
Valeria H.
Hung out here today and have to say my head is still spinning from the odd music and tchotchkes all over the ceilings and walls. With that said, I was actually pleased with everything else. The service was prompt, knowledgeable and nice...we had a wonderful woman who just had it together. Their outdoor patio/deck was fun and seating was set up real well. The interior was interesting, almost like they are trying too hard to have that lived in feel...bottles hanging from the ceilings and used as wall dividers, sombreros stapled to the ceilings and red and green xmas lights too.. and a weird mural on each wall. It still was super clean with all this wacky business, which is a plus. The menu was set up well, and they offered a lot.. no tamales though, which are my fav thing on the planet. But oh well. They did have a page just for margaritas. So we had our children with us and they did offer a good kids menu, and super inexpensive. I ordered the chimichanga and my husband got the haddock veracruz, and the girls had the quesadillas... Even though the chimi was delicious and super fresh (and not greasy) I had dish envy for the haddock. It was real good and will get that if I go back. Even the children's meals were tasty and we substituted fries for the Mexican rice which was great. For drinks, I got the sangria and was real pleased with it. Very yummy and gave me that oh so necessary light buzz ya need after dealing with two kids all day. :P I would definitely try this place out, still new, super clean, the food was nice and didn't leave me feeling greasy .. my sangria was real nice..and this is way better than The Border super_salty_I'm_becoming_dehydrated_while_I_am_Âeating_there Cafe. haha
(3)
Taz R.
I have been 2x and enjoyed myself. I went on a Thursday and sat on the patio. They had entertainment, Chad La Marsh, singing and playing guitar and he was awesome! Anyone who can play Nelly's - It's getting hot in here on guitar in a rock style gets my vote! LOL The chips and salsa they place on the table when your seated was ok. the 1st time I went the chips tasted stale. the chicken rollitos appetizer were really good. We got them for both visits. Their blackened catfish was delish. I actually ordered that both times because it was so good the 1st time. On our 2nd visit there was a fight at the bar LOL 2 older guys. The waitresses handled them well, roughing them up a bit and reminding them that there were kids in the restaurant. I luv'd that! LOL I have no real complaints about this place. I love the decor, the service and so far the food. I definitely plan to go back and taste something else on the menu. (probably for my birthday this month!)
(4)
Kendra B.
This place is ok. The food and sangria are pretty good, but the service has gone downhill. It's a fun place to go sit out on the deck with a drink in the summer, although the music is too loud! Now I'm no old lady, and I love music just as much as the next guy, but you literally have to scream to whomever you are sitting with. This restaurant is not my first choice for mexican, but it is usually pretty tasty.
(3)
Thomas D.
The food was terrible, I went last night, I couldn't finish my meal, and had them take it away, and it was so gross. I start telling my friends about it, and it seems like everyone knows this place has gross food and the salsa is just too hot it's not even enjoyable, the funniest thing is, Border Cafe down the street is like a 5 star Tex-Mex restaurant, line out the door. The worst part of the night, I couldn't hear myself think, or have a conversation with the people next to me, there was a live band which never took a break, they kept singing and playing loud as can be, the music was all over the place, There were tons of these 50 year old women with plastic surgery dressed like they were in their 20s. Most ridiculous experience ever! The beer was great and cold, A+ for the Beer. The margaritas were like ice water with flavoring, good luck finding the alcohol. I won't go back, and I'm upset with my friends who took me here, and all my other friends that already knew the food was gross and never told me. Waste of money!! The place looks great from the outside, and inside, I was expecting so much more. If you want A+ 5 Star Mexican food, just down the street go to Border CAFE, it's simply outstanding!!! Mouthwatering food and it's worth every last penny. Good bye Fat Cactus, I will never go there again.
(1)
Lou Ann B.
Made the mistake of ordering the Saturday lunch buffet....nasty. Food was dried out and tasteless. Had a food safety concern which was report to management. Won't be going back. Sorry.
(1)
Don M.
Yeah, ok, the food was wasn't spectacular but it was tasty and not overloaded with cheap cheese and it was at least as good if not a tiny bit better than Border Cafe. It was super kid friendly which was great. Our waiter was excellent and I was worried because I read a lot of negative comments about the service. Maybe they were working out the kinks? Anyway, I would go back there again. Overall, a good experience. P.S. I enjoyed the salsa & guacamole!
(4)
John C.
The Fat Cactus is a recent addition to the Route 1 dining scene. The name conjures images of the desert southwest and a blend of Mexican and American cuisine. Two subgenre's of this fare are tex-mex and cal-mex, neither of which are well-represented in the Boston-metro area. The Fat Cactus continues this unfortunate trend and adds a dose of confusion. The FC bills itself "A Mexicali Cantina." Okay, fair enough. They have set our expectations. But wait, the wildly painted restaurant has a picture on the wall of people dancing and exclaiming "Let's conga!" (Cue needle scratching over record.) The conga dance is neither Mexican or Californian. It's a Cuban carnival march. Uh oh, the confusion begins. The interior is festooned with bright colors and empty beer and liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling. The staff is pleasant and efficient enough, but neither the employees or the atmosphere can make up for the lack of continuity in name, menu or food. On the surface, the menu contains the usual suspects...burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and chimichangas. But things are amiss. I started with the "queso fundido." Traditionally this dish is served as a melted cheese with rajas (roasted poblano peppers) and Mexican chorizo sausage. It is scooped with a spoon into a warm tortilla. At Fat Cactus, it is what everyone else calls chili con queso. More confusion. And the kitchen staff really fell on their face with the queso. It was clearly microwaved, which by itself is not the ultimate sin, but they did not bother to stir the cheese. What arrived was a large bowl of melted cheese on the perimeter and a cold glob of less-than-room-temperature cheese in the middle. I give them partial credit for their burrito. The FC is one of the few restaurants in Boston to understand its traditional construction. Theirs contains meat, spices, onions and perhaps peppers. They leave the rice and beans on the side where they belong. I had the shredded beef burrito with tomatillo sauce. The texture of the beef was akin to pulled pork, very tender and juicy. But it shared something else in common with its porcine cousin...it tasted like barbecue. There was nothing remotely Mexican or southwestern tasting about it. In the end, it was not horrible but it failed to meet my expectations. I wanted 'south of the border' not south of the Mason-Dixon. A similar fate was met by the beans. They offer black beans (again, more Caribbean than Mexican) or pinto beans. Strangely, they do not offer refritos (refried beans). I chose the pintos. Those from the southwest would recognize them as frijoles a la charra. That is, a soupy pinto style soup/stew. The appearance was promising but the taste was wacko. I swear I tasted allspice or five spice powder. Did someone misplace the cumin? In the end I doubt I will go back. The Fat Cactus is just too confused and confusing. Someone needs to get it focused on the mexicali genre if it does not want to put more people off.
(2)
Mike C.
I noticed the negative reviews and am somewhat surprised. Sure this isn't a downtown Boston 5 star restaurant but for the money the food is VERY enjoyable. They have a very fun open porch area for drinks or food. They have 7 nights a week live music. A very fun decor of Mexican trinkets that consists of Mexican beer and liquor bottles and various Mexican wall decorations. Food is well made and with an enjoyable distinct Mexican flare. Service is always good when we have gone there. All in all a very enjoyable experience.
(4)
M P.
I liked The Fact Cactus. I was eager to go there to see how it compares to the Border Cafe down the street (of which I am a huge fan). The menu was not as big, probably because it stuck to Mexican and the Border has some other options outside of Mexican. The service was great and the look was intriguing. There are cool liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling and we sat next to a wall of Corona bottles that blocked the view to the kitchen. They run out of food a lot. My mother went a week ago and they had run out of fish tacos. When I went we had salsa, but no chips for the first 10 minutes because they had run out of chips. Maybe it's because they don't anticipate such a big crowd? I couldn't say. Our server was thoughtful and fun. The food was decent and hot. I hardly got any pico de gallo with mine which was disappointing. Strong drinks! I could tell halfway into my margarita. Hopefully that lasts and isn't just to draw us in.
(4)
Tom D.
The Fat Cactus is a gigantic over-the-top Mexican food haven. Brave of them to open up down the road from Border Cafe, which at least in my experience seems to have a loyal following, but the Cactus appears to be doing just fine. The parking lot is always packed when I drive by so they must be doing something right. A couple friends and I and decided to give them a go not too long ago. Walking in and putting our names on the list, we were free to sample margaritas while waiting for a table. I like a traditional margarita on the rocks with salt and the FC delivered. A tasty treat at a very reasonable price. They're not served in giant glasses, but for under six bucks, you can certainly justify getting a couple. I'm not one for expensive tequila, but I was impressed by the display of agave offerings in the glass cabinet in the waiting area. They've got some very high end stuff available, so if that's your thing, have at it. The food was three stars, nothing different or exciting compared to any other moderately priced Mexican place. You've got your tacos, your enchiladas, fajitas, etc. All the basics. I enjoyed my chimichanga for what it's worth, but again, there was nothing stand out about it. What makes the place fun is the decor, and for that, I'll bump it up to four. This place is tacky, loud, Mexican schtick. Sombreros, Corona bottles, and other stereotype-inspired art adorn the dining area. It's certainly a colorful setting. Service was decent on our visit. Entrees took awhile to come out, but our waitress kept up plied with beverage and chips/salsa while we waited. If you're a Border Cafe loyalist, give this place a try for a change of scenery.
(4)
GN P.
The food, eh. On the boarder is well beyond these guys. The service - Lets put it this way. I left here a dollar on a 36.00 bill. Amazing how places like these stay in business.
(1)
Mark A.
I'm giving it 2 stars. Like many people, we've been waiting for the restaurant to open for a while. I was craving Mexican and checked their facebook page, and low-&-behold, they were opening that weekend. We went, knowing that it was opening weekend and there would likely be some bumps. We arrived and there were a couple of people in the lobby area waiting to be seated. We put our names on the list and were told there would be a 20 minute wait. As we waited, my wife and I commented how it was odd that they had 5 staff members standing around at the host station almost the entire time, pretty much staring at the people in the lobby. 30+ minutes went by and I strolled up to the host with the book and asked how much longer. He told me it was going to be another 20-30 minutes. I looked into the dining area and saw that it was less than half full, and I decided it was not worth the wait. I find it hard to believe that they were understaffed opening weekend, especially with 5 people manning the host station. While I was anticipating a wait on opening weekend, I don't know what was going on that the dining area was so empty, yet they weren't seating people, and were soooo off on their estimate for seating.
(2)
Madeline M.
The atmosphere is fun, all the servers I've had are nice. My favorite thing... The decor. It makes me smile everytime. It's super original, it's like mexico on crack, lol. Quite an experience. The food is ok, their apps are good. The queso fundido... holy cow! That bad boy is worth every freakin calorie. Their tequila lime wings are bomb. The lava flow is also great. At least the first time I had it. The second time... not so much, it tasted watered down and I could not feel the liquor. I love the fact that they have dessert, as I absolutely must have dessert, but sadly they are bland. When it comes to down to it, I like Border Cafe's food better, also on Rte. 1, but they have no dessert (laaame) and their decor does not keep me half as interested.
(4)
Stephanie S.
ate at fat cactus a few weeks ago and it was awesome. great extensive menu i had a hard time choosing my entree. they start you off with a big bucket of chips and salsa and we got the guacamole to start. guac was a lil on the pricey side and took about 15 minutes to come out but totally worth the wait. waitress was sweet and did a great job at keeping us happy. i ended up with the blackened chicken and omg was this dish flavorful....the spices on the chicken were the perfect blend of spicey and the pineapple salsa on top was great. had it for lunch the next day as well!!! i would totally go back again.
(3)
Erica D.
Do you have a lot of time to kill? Then head over to the Fat Cactus dining area on a Sunday night. Gape at the festive decor while waiting to be seated. Marvel as your waiter boxes your food to go but neglects to drop off the check. Stand in awe as tumble weeds appear more frequently than any member of the waitstaff. Overall, the chicken enchiladas were excellent, and their drink menu looked promising, but next time I will request to sit in the bar area instead.
(3)
Shaun P.
I am basing this review off of the 3 times I have been to The Fat Cactus. Round 1: The First time i went was in March when they 1st opened and I thought the food was great! However, since eating there two more times I am beginning to think maybe it was the margaritas talking! The service was sub par the first time I dined there but I thought to myself, maybe the waiter is new and he lost his job as a working professional and is trying a new job as a waiter. (I'm a born optimist). Well...we were ignored for the first 15 mins after we were seated. Round 2: So I decided to go back and try the Fat Cactus again in April and to my surprise the service we had was much better however the Fajitas I ordered didn't taste nearly as good as the first time! Oh death , misery, and despair, my hope and dreams were smashed to tiny pieces as I became sober to the fact this wasn't love at first bite! Round 3: Ding! Ding! It's Cinco De mayo, 75 degrees outside and let me tell you the Fat Cactus Club is the place to see and be seen. I was holding a table outside on the patio for my friends since 4:30 and I got a corona t-shirt, a mexican hat, a blinking corona necklace, and free tequila samples! The place is filling up and there's contests going on and raffles where the prizes included a free trip to Key West , bikes, Elizabeth Grady gift certificates, and lots of other really good prizes! There is live music on the patio and we are having a great time! However, we put our name it for a n outside dinner table at 5:00 and and was told it would be a hour and we weren't seated until 8:00! Thumbs down...and for that you are the Fat Lying Cactus! So after they over-promised and undelivered I took matters into my own hands by slipping one of the outside waiters a crisp Andrew Jackson and we were seated at 8:00. Money Talks! I can't really give a review of the food because we were only able to order appetizers out on the patio and weren't allowed to order entrees. The appetizers were good but then again after 4 or 5 drinks and starving I'm sure a Cactus would have tasted good by then. Stay tuned for the final Round 4 to come soon!
(3)
Julie P.
If I could give it a zero I would. We really wanted to try this place but didn't because of the reviews on here. I saw a coupon in my email from living social or one of those so I figured we could use that and try it then. The decor is bright and happy and it looks like it might be a fun place to drink. We sat down and they brought over the chips and salsa. The salsa was watery and bland and the chips seemed like they came from a bag. I did not have a good feeling about this. I ordered a chicken quesadilla to play it safe and my boyfriend got steak fajitas. How silly of me to think you can't screw up something as basic as a quesadilla. It was HORRIBLE. I ended up scraping the, what can only be described as chewed up chicken and fake cheese out of the tortilla and just eating the tortilla because I was starving. My boyfriend's steak was tough and had no flavor. Even our drinks sucked.This place has made the top of the list of bad places we've eaten. Thank God I had a bag of Goldfish crackers in the car so I could eat something. I should've trusted my gut and stayed far away. NEVER again!
(1)
Cynthia S.
Been there twice - one time during that afternoon after lunch, and most recently on a Saturday night. I sat at the bar to avoid the dining room full of families/kids (Saturday dinner after 6:30 for me is about relaxing, and so I know it's best to be in adults-only area for that reason). Bar staff is ok - can't say super quick or helpful, but adequate. The food is at best 3-4/10. Last time I had a quesadilla - it was good. This time I had the Santa Fe chicken with poblano sauce - the texture of the sausage inside was ground very fine and the sauce didn't have a lot of flavor. The side dish of vegetables was steamed red onion, squash and pepper- blah. It's Tex-Mex - how about some corn or an exciting tri-color pepper side dish? The chips/salsa are freshly made and warm so that was good. But I can't say I'm going back.... there are simply too many other outstanding restaurants in the area to return to a mediocre one.
(2)
Mike H.
I havent had a bad time here yet. I have been here about 15 or so times every time the food is great and the drinks are even better. There is nothing better in the warm weather than sitting on that porch with margaritas and chips and salsa
(4)
Jim S.
I've been to Fat Cactus a couple of times. Very disappointed with the service. The last time I went it was with some friends. We checked in and were told it would be about an hour, which was perfect because we were waiting for some additional friends to arrive. Less than half an hour later we were told they were ready to seat us. We told the hostess we were still waiting but she seated us anyways so we grabbed some drinks and aps. About five minutes later our waitress was openly complaining about our table in front of us. The time before that, our waitress seated us and took our orders quickly and efficiently, but she never came back! She had one of the guys from the back bring our drinks and food while she helped other people, which was fine, but she never came back to check on us. No refills of drinks or even a courtesy check to see if our food was ok. She threw the bill on our table at the end without a word. All in all the food is comparable to Boarder Cafe. Drinks at the Cactus are much better (especially the pitchers of margaritas!). Cactus has a slightly quieter atmosphere and live bands which is great.
(2)
David S.
I love the look and feel and party vibe of the place. The outside patio looked perfect but after sitting at a table in the bar area for 2.5 hours waiting, our name was never called. Not that I can blame anyone though because the weather was PERFECT to hang out on the patio all night. I didn't eat but I had wonderful blueberry vodka lemonade which is made from their own homemade blueberry vodka and homemade lemonade. The place was JAMMED and so noisy that it was nearly impossible for the six of us to have conversations. The guitar player/singer did a great job when I could hear him over all of the people yelling.
(3)
Jay M.
As someone who loves (and knows, having lived in southern California) real Mexican food, I can tell you, stay away. The food was mediocre at best. I really didn't have high expectations to begin and boy was I right. To start, the margaritas were awful. The first one I got was sickeningly sweet. The second one was also sweet but in a different way. They weren't served in traditional margarita glasses which was a turn off. Now onto the waiter. He was not friendly at all. He maybe said 10 words to us the whole time. Come to find out his girlfriend was sitting at the table next to us and he was too busy talking to her. He spend a good amount of time hanging all over her, hugging her right in the middle of the restaurant at her table. Totally unacceptable. While he was busy with his girlfriend, we sat and waited and waited and waited for our food. Once we got our food we were so fed up, we had a couple of bites and had the food packaged up. There is not much to be said about the food. It was boring, tasteless and poorly presented. I will definitely not be returning to the Fat Cactus and will stick with Chipotle or The Border Cafe.
(1)
Michelle E.
I thought the food was good, although i didn't think there was much selection. The service was really good and i really liked the atmosphere.
(3)
Mark S.
Went here 3 times. Once with my wife and 2 girls and the other times with friends. Its great! For those who have moved from the city to the burbs like us, it was a pleasant surprise. Still trying to fight going to Applebees and buying a minivan. Border Cafe thats right down the road is pretty good but I really dont have time to wait 2hrs on a Tuesday at 4:30 to get a table. Yes, its THAT busy. I guess the owners of The Fat Cactus went here and said, its crazy not to open something up! -Great outdoor seating: They open up the garage doors from the bar directly out onto the outdoor seating. There are nice wicker chairs and loungers. -Good food -Friendly staff -Great Drinks! -Fun atmosphere: A one man band was playing Jimmy Buffet songs which made it fun.
(5)
Elizabeth M.
The Fat Cactus far surpasses 'The Border Cafe' any day- My fiance and I were eager to try the newly established joint since its quick change of hands- and boy, we were glad we did. While, there is no such thing as authentic Mexican food anywhere around here, this place serves up great "Mexican-American" fare. I love their blackened chicken fajitas, and my fiance enjoyed his chimichanga. He said it was packed with more than the usual Mexican knock-off. While the margaritas could use a little less sweetener, they are good-enough if you poor your water into it...so I guess too sweet. Overall, service is decent as long as they aren't too busy, the wait for us has never been long, and it beats any of its competition in the area! Ole!
(4)
Mike M.
The Good: service and decor. Place is really cool looking inside. We had high hopes. The Bad: food and drinks, Food tasted very bland for a Mexican Rest. Also, the soda is not Pepsi or Coke but some local soda company. Their regular cola tasted bad, real bad. We didn't hang around long.
(2)
Maggie C.
Glorified dog food, with extra salt. Even the soda tastes like shit.
(1)
john g.
We had lunch there today, couldn't get near the place last night. Sat outside , which was nice. The decor is definitely interesting, not sure about the bottles hanging from the ceiling though. Very colorful and the bar seems like a fun place to hang out. They have an extensive margarita menu. The service was awful..the young fellow handling our table, and the other couple of tables in the area, was completely clueless. After waiting for a couple minutes we had to ask for a server, and when he did come it was nothing but apologies. We ordered drinks and they took a long time to come (beer and sangria, nothing fancy), but he did grab them after about 10 minutes and a reminder (delivered with more apologies). The place wasn't crowded but other patrons were also complaining that the server was missing in action and they wanted drinks, food, their bill etc.. (oh, and more apologies). The food was ok, not exceptional, but tasty. My GF ordered salad dressing on the side so she could control the portion, but the salad was drenched. We mentioned this to the server and got a nice big helping of apology (it was on the house). The prices were reasonable - $34 for two meals and drinks. There didn't seem to be a lunch menu, which would have been nice. The patio was definitely a selling point. Given the poor service during a relatively slow lunch period, I can hardly imagine the chaos that must ensue when the place is packed.
(2)
P S.
We attempted to eat at the Border Cafe on our way back from Boston but it was an hour wait for a table. So we continued North & came upon Fat Cactus. Although the place was pretty full, there was no wait for 2 people. We got a pitcher of Margaritas - a little too much for 2 people! Very tasty. Then we got a bowl of queso dip to go with our warm chip. Nice. By the time we got through that & most of the 'rita's, we ordered dinner. The shredded beef enchiladas were pretty tasty as was the rice. Good atmosphere, good service, decent food - we will return.
(4)
Lisa A.
By the 2 star rating, it's safe to say I will not return to the Fat Cactus. I had a Groupon, so we gave it a try. We were seated relatively quickly and I found the decor interesting. I kept thinking about how many livers all those empty bottles booze hanging from the ceiling must have fried. They must make a good margarita here, right? So, I ordered one. Meh at best. It was watered down and weak. For dinner, I ordered the chicken enchilada and beef taco dinner. The chicken enchilada was OK, but on the small side. The rest of the plate was a disaster. The refried beans were nasty and runny. I was going to make a reference to the flu, but I'll stop there. Totally unappealing. And the beef in my taco was pureed and pasty. One bite and I was done. I left with almost a full plate and hungry. So did my daughter. She had a cheese burger and it was overcooked and tough. Only a few bites were taken. Even the fries were "off". Soft and barely cooked to heating. And for her dessert, we had to go to a freezer chest at the front desk to pick it out. Kind of a pain in the @ss when you have small kids.
(2)
kelly m.
The only reason I can give this place 2 stars is because they have some awesome live music on certain nights and their atmosphere in the summertime with their open deck is to die for! However....should you get a table in the bar section of this establishment, beware it may take FOREVER to get a drink, or even your food. This is my first non five star review on yelp with good reason. I had friends from Maine visiting to see a really good band at Fat Cactus back in December...the cocktail waitress was not friendly at all, not attentive in anyway. We had to ASK for drinks, and refills (alcoholic), we had to ask for plates for our appetizer which came out 3 minutes before dinner...we had to ask for silverware and when I asked for Bleu cheese to go with their buffalo chicken quesadilla the waitress never came back and I had to ask another, very nice and polite food runner, to grab us some. We got there at 6pm and didn't leave until midnight or later. We had a well over $300 tab of food and drinks and this could have been alot more as we were buying drinks for alot of friends that evening. However the waitress couldn't have cared less about being attentive or getting us more drinks. I was a waitress for 7 years, and if you are going to do that as a job, you need to hustle, and get people their drinks and food,..it's literally the easiest job on the planet and you can make a TON of cash doing it if you aren't lazy. This place has so much potential and just needs to hire and train better people.
(2)
Claudine D.
This was my second time at the Fat Cactus, there was a group of 10 of us. I was troubled that they didn't take reservations for a large group, when I called they said they couldn't reserve a table, but they were ready for us anyway, which was very unexpected. Although the hostess staff was great, our waiter left a lot to be desired. He may have been new but he didn't seem to have a system. It took a long time for him to bring us chips and salsa and get our drink menu. He really couldn't judge when we were ready and when we weren't. That being said, overall it was a good experience, not great but not bad either. We sat in the main dining area, the tables were so close together that I could not get out to use the rest room without having 4 of our party get up and move, and disturbing the party next to us. Ok on to the food and drinks....The watermelon margarita was fabulous! The chips and salsa are really good. I hate salty chips so these were perfect. The salsa was very fresh tasting. I had the beef fajitas, they were just ok. The meet was not really seasoned at all so it had a bland taste. There was one strip of pepper in my peppers and onions. The side dish of condiments that comes with the fajitas left a lot to be desired. There was lots and lots of lettuce and cheese, but a very small scoop of pico de gallo and sour cream. The guac was just plain gross! I have never had guacamole that tasted that bad. In summary, its a fun place, good drinks, but there is much better mexican food in the area.
(3)
S P.
We went to the Randolph site two nights ago and I had to write this review. We entered the door through the Comfort Inn Hotel, and it leads you directly to the Bar. Since it was a weekday night, there were only a few people drikning by the bar and playing video games. No host to welcome you. It took sometime to find the host and got sat down. The waitress was nice, though. We ordered Combinación de la Cactus, the potion is huge, chicken wings were good, so were the Beef Empanadas but the Ribs were cold inside. Then, we had three main courses: Beef Fajitas, Chimichangas and Bandido Baby Back Ribs. Beef Fajitas came to table with a dirty cover of the iron handle, which smelled grese and look so old that it was a immediate turn off to me. And the beef was too tough, onion burnt. My son had the Chimichangas, he said the main part is fine, but the Guacamole tasted wired. I took a bite and can't believe it was sweet. Very wired. The re- fried beans were cold and tasted like directly came from a can. Ribs looked old and did not warm through inside. We were totally disappointed. Will not return. The deco of the restaurant was not plesant. The entire experience feels like the first part of TV show "Restaurant Impossible". I will not recommend anyone go there before they make a major improvement: how about prepare food fresh. Everyone knows the basic Mexican Restaurant staple foods, Salsa and Guacamole but this restaurant has even failed both.
(1)
S B.
Went here once, was unimpressed. though the wife seems to like it, the food seemed lacking of flavor. Save your money and take it to border cafe instead
(3)
Diane E.
Generic Mexican food that seemed to come straight from the freezer or the can. The chips were great, warm and salted, but the salsa seemed to be made with canned tomatoes. I do have to say that my Caddy Marg was nice, served on the rocks with salt. It was a decent size and I could taste the tequila. Perfect! But the food was airport quality... Bland and Boring! We ordered the fish tacos and the chicken fajitas... both sub par. Our server was efficient but seemed to be annoyed by waiting on us. Mr Personality, nothing wrong with Hello and a smile! Still searching for a decent mexican place with a that serves a good Marg!
(1)
Fil R.
Don't waste your time. This place is destined to wind up failing just like the myriad of restaurants that have previously belonged to this location (Naked Fish, some chicken joint, etc etc). I am not a huge fan of mexican but once in a while it's nice so I said let's give it a shot. There is nothing to differentiate it interior-wise from the Border Cafe or the previous Tequilas up the road or any other typical Tex Mex. Place is so bright you can practically get a tan..no ambience whatsoever. Ordered the most expensive thing on the menu which I think was some sort of chicken-rib combination and the chicken was dry and hard..very difficult to cut through. I pointed this out to the server who comped the meal and apologized (which was impressive), but I have no desire to go back. For decent mexican in the area go to Mexico Lindo in Melrose.
(2)
Diane W.
This evening at 5:45pm me and my family came to your restaurant for the first time. We were seated at a dirty table and your hostess apologized and cleaned it. We ordered drinks and a guacamole appetizer from Devon our waitress.Fifteen minutes later we inquired about our chips,salsa and guacamole and she apologized and got use some chips and a black 2oz pc full of guacamole and walked off? Ten minutes later my daughter inquired about our drinks and appetizer for the second time and Devon apologized yet again but wanted to take our dinner order. Ten more minutes and no food or drinks we stopped Devon and asked for the manager . She came back and let us know Dawn was busy and would speak to use later. As your manager never appeared we left your establishment hungry but with the $120.00 still in my pocket.In this ecomony can you really afford such costly mistakes..
(1)
Jeff S.
Ok .. lets start with the positives first. The service was excellent!!! Our waitress was extremely helpful and had a smile on her face the entire time we were there. She was constatnly refilling our drinks and was more than happy to grab anything extra that we asked for. Additionally, I really appreciated that there was a manager (or maybe owner) at the front door when we left who asked how everything was. Aside from the fact that I would have felt horrible explaining to her how bad the food was ... I still appreciated that someone bothered to ask the simple question "how was your meal"? Also, they have a ridiculously large variety of Tequlias, and if you wanted to go there boozing, my guess is that you could have a very good experience. As for the food we ordered: Fish Tacos (smelled awful when they came to the table -- almost as though the fish was old), a children's cheeseburger (tasted awful ... my daiughter took a bite and wouldn't eat any more, my wife thean tried it to see what was wrong and decided that it could be considered "abuse" if she forced anyone to keep eating it), "shredded" beef tacos (Beef was actually cubed chunks as opposed to shredded ... my sister-in- law picked at one of the tacos and quickly decided that it wasn't worth trying to eat), a chicken chimichanga (average at best, definitely loaded down with chicken, though there were more than a few "nasty"/questionable looking pieces inside it that were better left uneaten, and 1 lunch buffett (a step up from the buffet that Clark and Uncle Eddie visit in Las Vegas during the moving Vegas Vacation ... but that isn't saying much is it??? On the whole the buffet was ok, ultimately I had that instead of a plated meal becuase I figured I could pick my way through multiple things and find something that I enjoyed. Instead, I tried 3 or 4 things, thought they were all "so-so" and ultimately decided to just stop eating instead of filling up on food that wasn't worth the calories.... Unless I was going to go there to get drunk or listen to the live music at night, you would have to pay me a lot of money to go back there to eat.
(1)
Lindsay C.
Fat Cactus....well I left feeling fat. This place is not too bad for Boston Mexican fare. Seems like the further you get from Mexico the worse the authenticity gets. But Fat Cactus made me surprised and happy. Ordered up a round of Shrimp Fajitas and they were Yumm-O and a large Margarita made with Patron Silver...it wasn't too weak but the lime flavor def wasn't there; it was kindda watered down tasting. I didn't partake in the "Tequila Wall"...mainly because, once you were seated the wall was but a memory...literally...there was no listing on the menu of the tequilas. You literally had to get up from your seat and waltz across the restaurant to the lobby and figure it out for yourself. The waitresses didn't seem to carry the list by memory either :-/ But other than that the experience was nice, food was good and the live singer out on the patio wasn't too bad at all! My girlfriend and I had a great time hanging at the Fat Cactus...and I would go back for sure.
(3)
Sarah D.
I usually come here for the bar. It is large enough typically we can find seats right away. The margs are usually good & the food is decent. It's not a bad spot to stop for a couple drinks & appetizers.
(3)
JOAN S.
regret that I can't give this place half a star! We went to the Border Cafe but, as usual, it was packed! There is a reason for this! GREAT food GREAT service. Something the Fat Cactus has no clue about! We sat at a small table in the bar. We kept looking around for a waitress. As I was about to ask the bartender if there was a waitress assigned to our table, she finally arrived. We ordered 2 Pacifico beers. It took a good 15 minutes for them to arrive......and we were sitting in the bar side!!! The place was only sparsely populated so there was really no good reason to have waited that long. We got a pail of chips and salsa....the salsa was bland...certainly nothing to write home about and the chips were not fully cooked. Kinda rubbery actually. We were looking at one guy at the bar who ordered a fajita. It arrived and wasn't sizzling at all so we decided not to go with one of those. In the end, we ordered a bowl of chili each, and some guacamole on the side. Then we waited and waited and waited and waited....I remarked to my husband, "How long does it take to put some guacomole in a bowl? Certainly, the chili is already made up, why the heck is it taking forever?" We were puzzled. Well, 20 minutes later our food arrived. ONE bowl of chili and a side of guacomole!! I said, "We each ordered a bowl of chili." "oh gee, sorry....I'll bring another bowl." And, by the way, NO SPOON!! I told my husband I will share my chili with him while he waits for his to arrive. We took a bite and it was only a few degrees warmer than room temperature! I was getting pretty pissed at this point. I couldn't believe we waited 20 minutes for a cold bowl of chili---that we had to share no less! After about 5 more minutes my husband's chili arrived. Again, cold. We drank our beer and couldn't wait to get out of there. That was another problem....once our food was finally delivered the waitress never came back. I had to ask another waitress to please find her. She finally came over with the bill and asked if we wanted to take the food home. Obviously, we declined. She put the bill on the table and left...Well, here we go again! After 10 minutes, I asked the bartender to please run my credit card for me. She said she would go find our waitress for us after which I replied, "Good Luck!" I wrote a note on the back of the bill for the manager to see but he probably won't care if this is how he is running his business. I left her A DOLLAR TIP!! I have never done this before and we go out a lot to restaurants and are well known as very generous tippers. I was disgusted with the place. It was our First time eating there and I can assure you, it will be the LAST! We didn't want to wait 20 minutes for a table at the Border Cafe but, if I had known what our experience at Fat Cactus was going to be like, I would have waited 40 minutes or more to get a seat at the Border. The Border Cafe cannot be beat! That's why it is always packed with people. We love it there!! Save yourself the aggravation and go to the Border Cafe!!!
(1)
Jen H.
I have been here about two times. As I view it, this place is great for summer time fun. I usually sit on the porch and have drinks. I have ordered dinner every time but I can not remember anything about dinner. I remember always feeling slightly disappointed by the choices on the menu. If I went here during winter, I think I would just be annoyed. So I would say go to this place if u want to sit on a porch (which is very crowded during peak times) and sip on some drinks during the careless days of summer.
(3)
Stefanie G.
I am really happy to see a business doing well in this location.....it's been years since I've driven by and seen a full parking lot, so I had high hopes! ATMOSPHERE---Busy appearing, but okay. I liked the footprints all over the place, but didn't understand the flip flops. Either way, as I said, it was busy, but suited the style of restaurant. I also LOVED the garage doors that allowed for the outside seating to feel part of the resstaurant. SERVICE---sigh---One bartender, Tiffany, seemed like she had her act together, but it's a pretty big bar and she had trouble remembering to check on us. HOWEVER, she wasn't even the one initially taking care of us! There was a guy, never caught his name, that should probably stick to waiting tables. He was nice, polite, had a sense of humor, but couldn't do all of the mlti-tasking things bartenders need to do. Like (in our case) change the tv, make our drinks, order our food and still take care of other people. FOOD---We were prepared to have a full meal here until things started snowballing. The above mentioned service, the having to flag down someone (not either bartender) to get us chips and salsa and the quality of the DINOSAUR LEGS. Now, these are some kick-butt legs....they are full legs of chicken, perfectly cooked and beautiful in appearance served with homemade bleu cheese dressing that was to die for. But, once we got to the end of one leg our lips were puckered from all of the salt. It was inedible.....well, for me. My husband had 3 and then we took 2 home and rinsed them off and grilled them---then they were great. At this point I was totally over the food there so I was done but my husband wanted to try a taco. Once we got the bartender to notice us and taught him where to look on the computer for just one taco, not a platter, we figured it would be just a few minutes for the ONE taco. In the meantime I should hit on the salsa....we LOVED it. It is very, very different than most because they use fire-roasted tomatoes and add a ton of pepper, but we both really enjoyed it! Okay, so 15-20 minutes later the taco arrives....chopped up steak had a fantastic flavor, but weird consistency. The tortillas were chewey (per my husband) but I actually like mine like that because it typically means they're homemade....he didn't like it. The pico de gallo on the side was fresh and had a perfect blend of jalapenos, onions and tomato but that was it.....could have definitely used a little salt and cumin. Anyhow, we'll probably go back but we will have very, very low expectations. It's just a great place to go in the summer with the doors wide open, the Sox on one of the many tv's and some good chips and salsa. Oh, and I should add that the house margaritas are made from a tap of premade stuff......fine by me! You never know how a bartender is going to make a margarita, so this made me happy!
(2)
D P.
Fat Cactus opened up recently on Rt 1 north, Saugus/Lynnfield line. I went there on a opening night, and I loved their chips and fresh salsa and the drinks/food was really good. Very comparable to Border Cafe. I have been there several times afterwards and the food quality has been going down. Their salsa uses canned tomato, and their food is just not that consistent. The bar area is pretty large, so it is fun to go there for drinks and they do have a lot more variety of drinks compared to Border Cafe, but food at Border Cafe is just fantastic.
(2)
Lisa H.
i love this place..eveything was really fresh ..the border is just boring and u feel very rushed..the cactus was very relaxed and fun ..
(5)
Kim G.
I visited the Fat Cactus over the weekend and overall was not pleased. I went with a group of about 15 people and we went to the bar/patio area. Even at 7pm it was very difficult to get service, we found ourselves actually waving at the bartenders for attention. None of the staff that interacted with us seemed happy. I felt like my drink request was an annoyence to them? We tried to move to the patio and when the ajoining patio seat opened I immedietly started to move chairs to accomodate us. A waitress came over and instead of offering to help or clean the table and take the check that was left, she told me that my party cannot stand in the path? Wasn't I trying to solve that problem and explained that to her. I would have understood her immediate request more if there were other people in the patio area but it was practically empty. Maybe the staff is angry because they aren't getting enought tips. Here's an idea, try smiling or offering to help, even if busy, apologize for the wait? Next time I organize an event, it won't be there. Nice job Fat Cactus.
(3)
Todd P.
If you are thinking about going to Fat Cactus, keep going and drive back to Saugus to go to Border Cafe. I'm not sure which was worse, the food or the service. I ordered Chicken Fajitas and my wife ordered Blackened chicken fajitas. The food runner brought the food and reversed our orders. We kept asking him which was blackened and he kept pointing out the wrong ones. When we tasted we knew they were wrong order. I asked the waitress, she picked up the plates and switched the plates in front of us. i then asked here if I could switch my order to blackened, she said she could probably have them re toss with spice. I said no. I was annoyed at this point. Then, our Rocket Scientist waitress came out with a container of spice and said, I could pour this myself to make it blackened. I sent it back and sat patiently while my wife and kids ate. The manager never came over to see what the issue was. The waitress never even brought refills for drinks. I will never go back. Please go to Border Cafe instead. You will never have a bad experience there. I am 38 and have been eating at Border Cafe since I was a kid and they were next to Hilltop! When we left, the hostess did not even say thanks for coming.
(1)
Marissa S.
We went to the Fat Cactus for Cinco de Mayo and loved it. It was great food, good drinks and a fun atmosphere. So we decided to go back with our parents for dinner one night. There were 4 in our party and we ordered a side of guac with chips to start along with a side of queso - both were very tasty. For dinner, I had chicken fajitas and it was just blah, boring, bland. It just wasn't good. There was no flavor. The rest of my party felt the same. The food just lacked flavor. The Fat Cactus is competing with the Border Cafe which is just right up the street and in my opinion, they are not doing a very good job. The Fat Cactus food just doesn't compare to the quality at the Border Cafe. I would go back and give it another try. Maybe the kitchen was just having an off night.
(2)
Kyle D.
Not much really to say for this place. The fajita is a standard size for a standard price for a bar and grill, 11 dollars, add 1 buck for sour cream, another buck for gaucomle, and with a corona and tax, the total damage was 20 dollars and change, not including tip. You do the math. It speaks for itself.
(2)
Laura r.
We came here with a groupon because I was dying for Mexican. Well... We were seated and waited a full 14 minutes without a greeting before I told the server that no one had been over. The place wasn't even busy. The manager sent over another waitress who took our orders. She was pleasant. The chicken rollotinos were good. Odd, but good. I got the chimichanga with no tomatoes. It came with a ton of tomato. Everywhere. No use complaining, cause we didn't have anyone to complain to. The BBQ platter my husband had was ehhhh. Their "coleslaw" is WEIRD. Our table was in the middle of the walkway. They carried enormous trays over our newborn's head. And customers walked behind my husband and I. So close that one carrying a baby actually butted me in the head. And some lady knocked the corner of our table, almost spilling the drinks. Very awkward table placement. They did offer us free dessert. We got the "flan." It was actually vanilla bean cheesecake. It was good cheesecake. But it wasn't flan. The manager was helpful. And the waitress we had was pleasant. But we won't come back. The only reason they get two stars was the waitress. It truthfully felt like a very long episode of punked
(2)
Jamie B.
Extremely subpar. Food was just plain not good - even the chips and salsa were nothing to write home about. I got a chicken enchilada, with rice and beans - everything was just blahhh. Don't let the crowds fool you (we waited for at least 30 minutes, and had tried in the past and left after finding that the wait was over an hour) - this place is not good. And to top it all off, service was awful. I think they forgot about us for a good while. To put it simply, I won't be returning.
(1)
Stephanie V.
I've been dying to try out the Fat Cactus since it opened up here. Every Saturday my mom and I try to think of where we can go to grab lunch and every time we drive by the Fat Cactus AFTER lunch and say "Dammit!" Well not today! -Service: The woman at the hostess stand that sat us was super friendly. When we were walking out the door she called out to ask us how everything was and was just really nice. Our waiter wasn't the most personable of people but his service was prompt and he was really cute. Yeah, that earns points in my book. I'm a creeper. -Food: Holy guacamole! We got the guacamole app and it's like 3 cup of guacamole deliciousness. It was super creamy with big chunks of avocado. I could have eaten it for my meal. Salsa had a very fresh taste to it, like someone had just made it. I got a chicken burrito and I actually really enjoyed it. Rice and beans came on the side and were both flavorful. Mom got chicken tacos and also enjoyed them. I've had better Mexican food, but it was good. Drink - They had a pretty decent beer menu including everything for the Mexican restaurant standards (corona, dos equis, modelo, presidente) to the regular standards (sam, bud, ect.) They give you a huge wedge of orange in the sam summer. Decor - I think the best way to describe the inside of this place is... insane. They just took everything that could ever evoke the word "Mexican" (including some stereotypes - hello hubcaps) and put it in there. It kind of works though, in a crazy trippy kind of way. It's not stellar. There are other Mexican restaurants that I would go to above this. But for a good place to get a decent lunch, it's spot on.
(4)
Jenny G.
For the past six months, my boyfriend and I kept hearing good things from The Fat Cactus. When we were finally able to find time to check the Mexican restaurant out, I was a little disappointed by the food and the service. The decor on the other hand was amazing. As we walked past the bar to be seated, sombrero hats coved the wall/ceiling, beer bottles made a partition between seating areas, and a massive collection of liquor bottles hung above our heads. We ordered a couple of drinks which took a little while to arrive (however, they were understaffed). To start we ordered the Pinchos Camarones which were described as large shrimp on skewers. For a ten-dollar appetizer I expected more. The shrimp were small and the rest of plate was filled with what looked like shredded cabbage. The entrees were okay except the waiter got both the orders wrong. I didn't realize mine was wrong until I got the bill. I ordered a Fajita Quesadilla just to get the guacamole, but instead I was given a normal fajita and then had to pay extra for the guacamole. Although the food was okay here, the service was not. A few times the waiter even pushed in my chair while I was in it without saying anything. And being a small asian girl, it's not like I was trying to take up a lot of room. Getting both orders wrong and selling overpriced appetizers is not something I experience often. When it's many mistakes and not just one, something is wrong here.
(2)
Brenda T.
I have been to The Fat Cactus a few times now. I enjoyed it more when I was there for a large group function. The atmosphere was fun and the drinks were decent. But then when I went out to eat with my husband I was less than satisfied with the food and the overall experience. The place is nice and clean and the wait staff was very nice, but the food was not great, more like frozen food cooked on site. If you are looking for a fun place to have a drink or two it is good, but not much more.
(2)
Josh G.
The best thing about Fat Cactus was the parking lot. This place served up was the worst crap I've ever had. The salsa tasted like ketchup, the chips were stale and salty, the margaritas were all sour mix, and my burrito tasted like it came from the frozen section. Seriously this stuff was a step up from low grade dog food. The service was lousy, and our waitress screwed up our order twice. Bottom line- Fat Cactus makes Taco bell look like authentic and delicious Mexican.
(1)
Jeffrey K.
The tortilla chips tasted stale once they cooled to room temperature and the salsa was nothing but tomatoes and cilantro. While I didn't order anything specifically spicy, the rice was the spiciest thing on my plate. When I unwrapped my silverware, the knife was filthy. I ordered the Taco and Enchilada Platter with a ground beef taco and chicken enchilada. The taco was nothing but almost flavorless ground beef and cheese, and the meat in the enchilada had the texture and flavor of a brisket that has been cooking for five hours. The lighting was so dim in the dining room that I had to use my pocket flashlight to see what color the meat was to make sure it was chicken and not beef. My brother had to use my pocket flashlight to read the menu. He ordered a blackened chicken burrito (at least it looked like a burrito). The meat was not a real blackened chicken, rather it was diced chicken tossed in a blackened seasoning sauce after cooking. My sister-in-law was the happiest with her meal, a cheese quesadilla. I guess it would take actual talent to screw that up. Overall, I'm glad I tried the place, but together we agreed that there is no need to go back, if we're ever in the mood for Mexican on our way north out of Boston it'll be either South Of The Border or Chipotle Grill.
(2)
Danielle S.
I came to the Fat Cactus purely because the location was close to the hotel a friend was staying at on Route 1. The Fat Cactus is a typical run of the mill Mexican restaurant. Bold decor, a vast selection of tequila and complimentary chips and salsa upon arrival. The thing that makes the Fat Cactus stand out from other Mexican restaurants is the service. The painfully slow and inaccurate service. While my party was seated quickly due to a low number of patrons at the time and the server greeted our table within 30 seconds, everything was downhill from there. It took close to 15 minutes for our server to return with our first drink order and an additional 20 minutes to place our entree order. We actually had to get up from our seats to get the attention of the hostess to ask where our server disappeared to. Our second round of drinks were not what we ordered but it took so long to get them that we decided an attempt to correct the mistake was not worth the wait. The only reason I give 3 vs. 2 stars is due to the management's attempt to rectify the slow service our party was receiving. A new server was assigned to our table and I could tell a valid attempt to change our impression of the establishment was in the works. The food was good and given our server's youthfully appearance I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was his first night on the floor. Thus, I think a second chance at the "Fat Cactus" experience is in order. Despite the slow service I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking to entertain a large group as this restaurant is more than adequately prepared to seat several large groups at one time. Whether the kitchen and wait staff can handle that will be up for another 'yelper' to determine!!
(3)
Jr F.
The Buffalo Chicken quesadilla is delicious!!! Cadillac margarita was good too! Sam Adams Octoberfest on draft & live music!!! Felt like I was back in Fl listening to Kenny Chesney & Jimmy Buffet tunes on the patio.
(5)
Lawrence M.
Ever since the sign went up along the road several months ago, I've been eagerly awaiting the opening of the Fat Cactus in Lynnfield. Until now, Route 1 has been sorely lacking a good Mexican food option - or really, any Mexican food option at all (The Border Cafe has good food at great prices, but it's really more a blend of Tex-Mex and Cajun than pure Mexican). The Fat Cactus took over a space that was once a Naked Fish (and then the ill-conceived and short-lived Lucille's "Fine" Chicken), but they've completely overhauled the decor and the vibe of the place is great. Old chrome wheels and hubcaps line the ceiling, loud chintzy-Mexican-print tablecloths covered every table, and we were seated next to a wall topped with stacked empty bottles of Corona. Loud and a bit over-the-top, to be sure - but very fun and festive. We were seated immediately upon walking in - one may think that's a little surprising considering it was opening weekend, but in reality it wasn't so surprising at all due to the fact that it was 10:30 PM when we arrived. And for the hour, the place was actually still pretty busy. Our server was very friendly and attentive, and even though the dynamic between all of the staff was one of barely-controlled chaos (again... opening weekend), everyone we encountered was beyond polite. Now, you may have noticed I haven't mentioned the food yet. Yeah, well, um... I've kind of been holding off on that. But I suppose in the end, I'm going to have to bring it up, soooo... it was totally average at best. And maybe a little below average at its worst. As soon as we were seated, we were served a bucket (no, really, a galvanized BUCKET) of tortilla chips with a totally enormous bowl of salsa. The chips and salsa were tasty and we didn't run out, so they win some points for that. I had a taco and enchilada combo (with a beef taco and a poblano & cheese enchilada) and my boyfriend ordered Chicken fajitas. My taco was fine... a bit bland, but fine. The enchilada was just a few degrees above room temperature and the cheese on top (and inside) was congealed. It was painfully obvious that this enchilada was not only constructed ahead of time, but cooked ahead of time, too. Not cool. My refried beans were fine, if a bit on the bland side (and also not steaming hot), and the Mexican rice was alright but not too flavorful. My meal would have been a lot better if it had all just been, well... heated up a little bit. Like, just raise the temperature of all of the food on my plate by about 20-30 degrees and I probably would have been a lot happier. My boyfriend's fajitas were hot and sizzling (thank goodness), but he said they also lacked flavor and that they were average at best. So here's my verdict: I'm giving this place 3 stars, and I'm gonna go back again in a month or two (or three). Basically, I'm planning on giving the kitchen staff some time to get on their feet and maybe work out some of the kinks - and THEN I'll see what they can really do. I'd suggest you do the same.
(3)
Mark W.
We had a great experience at the Fat Cactus. Several friends and I sat in the outside seating area which was great. The service very good and the food was good. We all loved the drinks and we thought the price for the meal/experience was perfect. Go and enjoy!
(4)
Jamie P.
HUGE portion sizes, great prices, their virgin drinks are coated with crystalized sugar & fruit & very authentic decor, nice feel
(4)
Rose F.
Visited this place for the first time with some work colleagues. This was pretty good! I got an upgraded margarita ($8) that was perfectly made. She asked if I wanted a sugared rim. Such an easy thing to do instead of salt and it MADE the margarita! The free chips and salsa are delicious and the salsa is thick and fresh. I got a chicken burrito and the pulled chicken was delicious. I kinda wish it came with re fried beans instead of the pinto or black. For $8 this was a great deal and enough to bring home a few bites for the next day! Everyone else enjoyed their meal as well. Great service, good prices, yummy Mexican. It's not an easy to get to place as you have to go to the Walnut Street exit to turn, but it certainly made up for a little inconvenience. 4 stars
(4)
James G.
We ordered the steak quesadilla and an order of boneless buffalo wings. The wings were ok and the quesadilla was not very good, my wife and I both had a stomach ache in the morning; we only had soda to drink. Overall the food is much better at the Border. The band was very entertaining and the atmosphere on the deck was fun. I just wish the food was better, next time we will go for cocktails.
(2)
Kara L.
Love the live music and patio for margaritas. The bar is big and the drinks are delicious! I recommend the guacamole for anyone that likes avocadoes.. it's very fresh.. to die for!
(5)
Dave M.
There's not much to say about The Fat Cactus itself, it's a pretty large area Mexican place with decent food and a pretty good envirement. Service is good for the most part, at least I thought it was until this happened. While having my 15th birthday at The Fat Cactus, a woman saying she was the owner started talking to us and basically tried to persuade me to play the somewhat nearby game (which by the way, costs about a $1 a play), and also self advertised the other place she owned, Bostonville. This went on for a while actually, I just wanted to enjoy my birthday. Maybe I wouldn't of thought about it as much if she hadn't gone up to us a SECOND time, while listening to the the live band to try to get me to play that $1 game. I don't care how much you need the money, you don't bother people like that. You ensured you won't get my business again.
(2)
Jim K.
Great atmosphere! Live music but not Mexican?? Had to return our first glass of tea as it tasted awful. 2nd glass was much better. Much prefer chips at Chili's or On The Border. Had fajitas. Chicken was tasty but refried beans were not. Very salty and not anywhere as good as other restaurants. Tortillas were stale. Wish we had checked its 2-star rating first on Yelp else would have avoided it. Next time we're going to On The Border in Reading.
(2)
M P.
I wish I could rave about this place. It has all the making of a fun spot, good parking, wide open areas inside, great live music but the food bring this place down to dive bar (not dive in a good neighborhood way either). I've tried the place off and on over the past year or so always hoping things turn around. Latest promotion was "new cook, new dishes..". Unfortunately no change in the taste and quality of the food. Had dinner there with my girlfriend this past week to celebrate our 2 yr anniversary (we had our first date there, meeting for drinks) so thought we'd go back for dinner. First he setting, sat at one of the smaller 2 person tables just on the outside area. For some strange reason someone at Fat Cactus thought it was a good idea to have the small tables side by side with tall bar type tables. Basically when sitting at your table you have another couple not just right next to you but towering over you. If you're lucky crumbs from their food won't float down and land on your food. Than the table we sat at kept moving as if the base was broken (it was). We wanted to start with drinks, I had a beer and she asked the waiter what wine they had that had a hint of vanilla taste to it. The waiter was told by the bartender they didn't have anything like that but she could put a shot of vanilla into the wine - she (the bartender) was not joking around. Gives you an idea of what you're dealing with. I ordered the "special" a Chicken with chorizo and queso sauce. The only thing special about this was how bad it was. First both our dishes came out within 5 mins of ordering them, great speed but not a chance they were freshly cooked - and it showed. The chicken breast was more of a thin dried out chicken paddie and the chorizo was a sausage patty laid on top of the chicken than it was all drowned in queso cheese (which tasted like it was out of a bottle and microwaved). It was hands down the worst dishe I've had in a long time. This was something you would get at Denny's at 4am in the morning and regret eating as soon as you woke up the next day. The last time I was there for drinks on a Sunday afternoon the cops had to be called because one guy at the bar attacked another guy (mind you this was around 4pm in the afternoon on a Sunday) and the hostess ran over and started yelling at them "...what the F**k is wrong with you...there are F**k'in kids here...". She seemed to forget she wasn't exactly providing the best example either for the few families that were there. It's really too bad about this place, has great potential but never seems to be able to get it right. Most likely the problems start at the top, management. Seems like new management or a re-start is needed to clean house and do things right. Hopefully if they ever do fix all the issues they keep the live music. That part they got right. Right after our dinner and finishing our drinks my girlfriend and I took off and headed down the road to finish our evening out.
(1)
David C.
So after we were unceremoniously shunned at Polcaris (see previous review) we stopped hear and found it a delightful change of pace. Typical Mexican fare and drink selection, we had beef fajitas and Quesidiiias. Food was tasty hot and served with speed and courtesy. Atmospher very nicely appointed with Mexican theme. If you go take a moment to check out the display of specialty Tequilia's they have on display just in front of the reception desk. They have one that costs $154.00 a shot! Again great place to eat and certainly a refreshing change from the earlier treatment we had received. If you are on route one north- drive right by Polcaris, and try this place!
(4)
Sheena G.
I looked forward to the opening for a while. I just moved back from San Diego last year and miss Mexican food! I could see if there was only option for this type of food around..... maybe. But this was by far the worst dining experience in quite a while. They don't modify menu items, so if you don't want chili peppers in your enchiladas, too bad. They pre-make all their dishes and it tastes that way. The tortillas are most likely from Stop and Shop. They don't have re-fried beans and their version of pinto beans is similar to Boston baked beans - but not as tasty. There is bacon in a soupy brown disgusting cup with a few beans mixed in. Service is slow and tables are cramped. The atmosphere is that of a 10 year old's bedroom that she painted herself. Save yourself a big disappointment and go to Border Cafe down the street or even Chili's!
(1)
Elizabeth T.
I'm from Arizona and I have to say this place was very nice. I was with a party of nine and we made reservations for lunch last Saturday. The decor is fun, the bar friendly looking. We sat on the patio and were treated very well. Charming wait staff, good chips and (very important) decent salsa. The meals were large and tasty. I didn't drink since I had quite a drive ahead of me, but others at the table had margaritas and seem to enjoy them thoroughly. Although the patio looks out on their large parking lot, on the other side are trees. The weather was great and we had lovely food and a great time. An easy, happy place.
(4)
Ariel S.
It's Mexican food, so it works. The food was OK. Not very salty, and I didn't like the guacamole. The chips were good (if you like chips with little to no salt), the service was fast, and our waitress was very nice & speedy. The drinks from the bar took a while to come to us (about 10 minutes), but it was pretty busy around 6 PM on a Saturday night. I prefer Border Cafe.
(3)
Bob S.
Horrible company to do business with if your a performing artist. Very disorganized and will never confirm bookings via email. Calendar on website is usually incorrect.
(1)
Tulan K.
The place is awesome and very good food and cheap beer the spicy blackened fajitas were awesome ANC so was their salsa. Do visit it
(4)
Jeremy S.
After we ordered drinks, our waitress checked IDs. "Oh, I love the new Mass ID," she said, in her North Shore accent. "The photos make you look so tan! I look like Snooki in mine." She was nice, though, if a bit overly-chipper. But that's par for the course at a Mexican restaurant in the 'burbs. The frozen margaritas weren't as strong as they could (or should) be, but the food wasn't half bad. They give you buckets (literally) of chips while you wait for your food, and they've got a nice outdoor patio too--a rarity for a restaurant along Rt. 1. There's live music most nights, but it wasn't anything to get super excited about. Good background music? Maybe. I'll give it that. Obviously, it's not going to be the best Mexican food you've ever had, and it certainly isn't authentic, but it's a good place to go if you like your portions big and your enchiladas smothered in sauce and cheese.
(3)
Anahid M.
Great time. Great food. Great hangout.
(4)
Chrissy H.
Let's not kid ourselves... the food is nothing to write home about. It's not the worst but it's certainly not the best. I have had fajitas there that were ok and my husband had the Cubano steak or something. He said it was fairly good, kind of generic, but I couldn't help thinking that he looked like some kind of farm animal eating out of a trough. Seriously, his plate looked like something a pig eats out of. The service is a bit unpolished. They need to go have a meal at their competition up the street (Border Cafe) and see how the pros do it. The margaritas are a bit on the sweet side but also not the worst. There's a lot of crazy crap on the walls. They have a little mini arcade in the bar room and a couple pool tables. But what this place has going for it is the outdoor porch. It has lots of little tables and comfy looking chairs and the best part... it's not facing route 1. Who wants to unwind with a beer after a long week at work next to a busy highway? Fattie's porch faces the woods (and the crazily crowded parking lot.)
(3)
adam w.
This restaurant has the worst service I have ever seen. We arrived and there was no hostess. We stood there for about five minutes until a hostess finally arrived. She told us it was going to be about 25 minutes to sit outside but we welcome to sit at the high tables around the bar and there was no wait. We chose the high tables right next to the outdoor seating. There were only about 5 tables outside being used. The other 20-25 tables were littered with garbage that hadn't been cleaned up yet. As we looked around we noticed the entire restaurant was full of dirty tables. Against our better judgement we sat there anyway. The people at the table next to us were leaving and warned us that the service was terrible. After sitting for about 15 minutes, a waitress finally arrived to take out drink order. We placed our food order too. About 20 minutes later we finally got our first drink. We had been at the restaurant for over an hour. I orders a Margarita and my friend ordered a Pina Colada. These were two of the worst drinks I've ever tasted. We just got up and walked out. I can't rate the food because we weren't willing to stick around and find out. If the front of the restaurant was that dirty, I can't even imagine what the kitchen looked like. The waitress was very nice and very apologetic. She was clearly being overworked.
(1)
Lisa C.
The food here was just okay. I don't know who got the "enormous bowl of salsa" because we literally had like a cup of salsa for the huge bucket o' tortilla chips. I ordered enchiladas, which were just mediocre. The rice was pretty amazing though. The service was below par. First of all, they ran out of menus so we had to wait about 10 minutes for someone to bring us some. Then, the waitress couldn't pronounce the word 'rice' so everyone at the table was like "No, not fries, RICE. R-I-C-E." So confusing...I mean, what kind of Mexican place would even serve fries? It really made no sense. The decor was fine until we got to our tables and had empty bottles hanging above our head. I don't get what that was about. I'm fun because I drink whole bottles of Cuervo? Or is it a statement about Mexico? I'm not sure, but it made me uncomfortable just like those chain places that have trash (i.e. old barrels and tin posters, etc.) on the walls. I don't want to eat in a place that looks like a landfill.
(2)
Andrea K.
So since I use to work across the street from this place and watched it being redone I was eager to check it out but just recently finally made it to this place. After reading the reviews before going I was not expecting much which was a good thing cause I was not let down. Big parking lot but was completely full but was able to find a spot in decent amount of time, could end up waiting around and stalking people like you do at the mall for a parking spot. The decor is cool and different I do like the liquor bottles on the ceiling and the different hot sauces displayed at the front desk. Got inside and asked for a table of 2 and in a booth and we were told we would have to wait which was fine. We waited about 10 minutes and got a booth by the kitchen (fine whatever no big deal). Unfortunately the booth chair was dirty with wet salsa that I had to clean up with a napkin as well as cleaning up some of it off my pants. Our waitress came over shortly after we sat down (didnt even look at the menu yet) and took our drink orders. We got our chips n salsa which we enjoyed very much. +1 so far. We got our drinks and ordered an appetizer first and contemplated on our dinner choices. The menu is pretty generic nothing over the top wow or creative. I ordered shrimp fajita quesadilla and my boyfriend ordered a chimichanga. The peach margarita that I ordered was alright but could not taste the peach at all and could only taste liquor but it was good. We ordered the Queso Fundido for an appetizer cause we read that it was really really good from a previous review. I dunno what Queso Fundido they ate but ours was horrible. The cheese was very plasticy, that is the only word I can find! The chips that was served with it were very stale so we had to eat our chips from the salsa instead of what was served with the queso. After eating some of the queso I felt the need to brush my teeth cause I felt that the queso was stuck to my teeth like that slimy feeling you get...ick! My quesadilla was pretty ordinary nothing over the top but I didnt want to order anything that I was not going to like cause I was really hungry. There was about 5-6 shrimps in the quesadilla so for 12 dollars I expected more. The guacamole was decent nothing over the top again. My boyfriends chimichanga was very fried even though the menu says lightly fried it was VERY crispy. It was ordinary nothing over the top yet again. The rice (which someone RAVED about) was HORRIBLE. Worst rice I have ever tasted I dont know what else to say about it. The pinto beans tasted nothing more than BBQ sauce so that was rather weird! All in all the food was meh. I wouldnt come here again cause I dont think for the money (which isnt to expensive just normal prices) I would just go to taco bell and have tacos and get my mexican kick. The waitress was very nice and attentive and polite so A+ for her. Other than that I would hold off on coming here and just go to Taco Bell or for those people who love Border Cafe just go there instead.
(2)
Enza D.
Good drinks. Not a fan of their food. We usually go here for drinks then drive down the highway to Border Cafe for food.
(3)
Dante B.
Great food, great drinks. I have been back many times and always have great service.
(5)
Sarah M.
I love Mexican restaurants, both mediocre and great ones. I end up at the Border Cafe most of the time, cause it's dependable and close by, so I was psyched when Fat Cactus opened - another option in the same grouping. Our first attempt to go there was insane. It was so packed, cars were parked all over the place, the wait was horrifically long, we ended up going to the Border Cafe instead. We decided to try it out on Memorial Day, since we had no plans and thought it would actually be manageable. So it was a nice day, all the doors/walls were open, and we asked to sit outside. They said there weren't any seats, and they walked us the other way to a dark dining room. I turned and looked and saw a free hightop half inside, half out side and asked to be sat there. Duh, if I ask to be sat out side, sit me as close to outside as possible. Margarita's were average once we finally got them ('member when I said it was dead? hhmmm), and the salsa was watery, and the waitress never asked if we wanted more when it ran out. To try things out, we ordered chili con carne as an app, and it tasted like sloppy joe. When dinner was set, our waitress never asked if we wanted another round even when our glasses were empty. My boyfriend ordered mole sauce with his chimichanga, and it tasted like gravy with some spices thrown in. I had a taco and an enchilada and the taco had no cheese, and the beef tasted gross.....cheap and fatty. I will admit that it was affordable, and the decor is great. The bar area looks fun. We would never bother eating there again.
(1)
Ryan N.
This place is disgusting now. Was good a few months ago but food has changed... especially the chicken. It is that pulled pork looking chicken that you used to get for lunch in school. Disgusting. Service is a hit or miss... and the music is pretty overwhelming and also annoying. Do not go there... save yourself the money and time.
(1)
Tony R.
The worst Mexican food I have had in a very long time. Tasteless dry reheated food don't go!!!!!!!!!
(1)
Love P.
I wish this place was so much better serious for a Mexican place it suck the only thing this place has is a good out door space. For paying 9.50 on a drink for it to taste like sour mix is horrible . It says it has new food how about u get new drinks. I'm not saying that the should be strong but they should taste like ur having a drink. Border cafe is right down the street and are packed everyday of the week the people that own fat cactus should go down the road and learn something .
(1)
Frank W.
Just returned to this restaurant after being away for 10 months. I have to say that i was disappointed. The live music was great. The service was horrible. Half my party ordered drinks and they were wrong both times after sending them back. The food was okay but nothing special. The waitress was so slow, table was left with plates on it so we couldn't even sit and talk. Sadly, I will not return to this restaurant again. We had to have the manager come over to correct the bill cause we still got billed for the drinks that tasted like salty watered down tequila slush.
(2)
MARK D.
OMG It should be called the Big Fat Stinking Turd, Went there on a Wednesday evening about 5:00pm, Before the dinner rush-hour. Salsa tasted like canned tomatoes with some onion which we had to wait for even though there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. Main dishes were your basic burritos and enchilada's that had no flavor at all and tasted like they were pre-made. Which leaves me to wonder what advanced top secret scientific experiment are they using to remove all flavor from the food, Is this some sort of CIA operation to make our food so bland that we lose the will to resist any attempt for an uprising?...makes me wonder. Atmosphere was at best a colorful step up from Taco Bell...I only gave it one star because I couldn't give it a half!...Drink the water but don't eat the food!!! Update as of 7/23/12 Well I thought I'd humble myself and give this place a second try, and wow they didn't disappoint!!! They suck even more if that was even possible! Once more I was held up without a gun and taken for $70.00 for a meal that consisted of two stale, flat as a pancake, dry as sand quessadilla's, and a soggy caribbean salad made with canned corn and mandarins. It was beyond horrible! Never again!!! I hope when the owner of this operation dies, he's placed in a hell were he has to eat this shit food for eternity.
(1)
Sean H.
This place has an authentic feel to the ambiance. The food was pretty good too. Will be back.
(4)
Kevin M.
Average mexican food restaurant. Has a breakfast brunch buffet on sunday's.
(3)
Meaghan K.
For a cheesy mexican joint the food was much better than I expected. I ordered the chicken chimicanga and it was delicious as was the rice and beans that came with. The salsa that came with the chips for an appetizer though had a lot to be desired, I love salsa and have tired soo many types so maybe its just my salsa snob tongue but it was as if they opened a canned of tomatoes and added some seasoning to it. The service was great and the drinks were great as well. My 5 dollar rita was fantastic.
(4)
Todd H.
Although the food is not the most authentic (we are not exactly near the border, people), our dishes were delicious, especially the grilled shrimp appetizer, fresh chips and salsa, and sizzling fajitas. This is a great place to celebrate a birthday, especially with kids. The atmosphere is festive, the service is fast, friendly, and attentive, and the portions are very generous. We will definitely be eating here again.
(5)
Susan H.
Ate there just last night and it was great! Everybody loved their Margaritas but I have to say the pitcher of Margs was a bit weak. The individual ones were great. The Sangria is always a hit, I always get a pitcher and am never disappointed. We did sit down to eat dinner, all 10 of us. The food came out in just the right time and all at the same time. It was fantastic. Everybody loved what they had, it was really good. I will easily go back. Oh and the ambiance is fantastic. So eclectic and colorful, festive and fun. The decorative painting is a real surprise. Loved every inch of it.
(4)
Paul M.
Fat Cactus is a Mexican (?) place off of Route 1 apparently in Lynnfield, though I always thought that stretch was still Saugus. Who knew? Now, anyone who looks at the places I've reviewed thus far can probably get a sense that I love Mexican food; heck my profile picture is from Mexico. With that being said I'm not sure I'd qualify this place as "Mexican." It's more like Texan I think. Second, I've been to the place once, but that's all I'm going to be able to base it on as I won't be back. Maybe that's not fair, but I don't really care. Now, when you walk in there's a fancy case of tequila bottles with prices listed per shot. I appreciate when people actually list the price of their hooch. Nothing is more maddening than having to guesstimate based on atmosphere and going-market-rate for a commodity such as gin to get an idea as to how much you're getting raked over the coals for. The problem is, I'm not much into tequila but some of these prices seemed pretty dang high for a shot considering I know I've seen some of those tequilas before at stores and the bottles cost as little or less as the shot itself. But it's a restaurant/bar and they seem to love their booze here (I'll get to that in a second) and you gotta expect to pay a premium. The food here is mediocre at best. I realize I'm basing it on one visit, but neither my girlfriend or myself were served anything near great food and I'd venture to say it was quite a bit shy of even reaching good... passable is about as fair as I can be. I had a fajita and the chicken tasted fairly bland and the veges a little overdone. I can't even remember what my g/f had, but that's usually a bad sign. I remember the chips and salsa being okay. Now let's talk about the alcohol. We didn't have any because we were driving. That's something that bothers me about this place. It's on a highway, okay, so the only way to get there is to drive and drive fast. It's also on Rte. 1 which can be a nightmare. Why do places like this seem to focus on serving drinks? It all seems like a M.A.D.D. lawsuit waiting to happen. "But Paul," you may ask, "what do you think they're focused on alcohol?" Well aside from the display case of tequila you encounter before hitting the hostess stand, how about the fact that the decor of the place is comprised almost entirely of hundreds upon hundreds of empty Corona bottles on the booth dividers and empty liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling?? What the heck?? Did they rob a hobo trying to redeem the bottles?? Did someone actually drink it all pre-opening?? Well, probably because anyone who thinks that looks classy has to be drunk. I mean, if there was even a way to decorate the place with empties tastefully this place falls far short of that....the bottles are EV-REE-WHERE. They just better hope some kid (or boozer) doesn't think they're piñatas and crack one of the hanging Jack bottles sending shards-o-glass raining down. Look, I'm not opposed to drinking, see some of my other reviews, it's just this place is...I don't know...the place is just strange. Maybe it's almost a sense of desperation or something- like the place screams "SEE?!? WE LOVE BOOZE!!! WE SERVE OUR CHIPS IN TIN BUCKETS!! CLEARLY WE ARE FUN AND AUTHENTIC AND STUFF!!! PLEASE LIKE US!!!" It reminds me of the Margaritaville chain places in the Cancun airport...but less classy which is a coup in my opinion. The service was decent enough, though I recall having to wait quite a while for the check to get picked up and a refill on water. I guess the place is popular for either their drinks or for the lack of alternative Mexican in the area as every time we drive by their lot is PACKED- then again it may just be staff, when I was there the staff seemed to outnumber customers 3:1 which is odd considering the sluggish at times service.
(2)
Linda J.
I've been there three times and love more each time I go. The place is always hopping and the atmosphere is so nice. My date and I managed to claim a seat in the bar area. We went knowing it was going to be crowded and expected to wait. We didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a waitress to come over to take our drink order. Even when the bar area was so crowded, we weren't forgotten about for one minute. Our waitress was very friendly and on top of things the entire night. Their CHIPS and SALSA are the best we've ever had and can't wait to go back for EASTER DINNER! Also, I don't WORK for either the Border or the Fat Cactus where I think some of the reviews come from. Remember, if you choose a POPULAR restaraunt and go between 6-8pm expect to wait, ANYWHERE! Go see for yourself how good it is. I have to say my 2nd and 3rd experience was better than the first. We walked in a week after it was open and the women pretty much shouted "1/2 wait or more what's yoru name" and I told her that if she says HELLO first she'd be alot more pleasant. This is a new restaurant and like ANYTHING NEW it will have to be tweaked here and there.
(5)
Noriko A.
The food is below average and the service is even worse. The mexican rice was not even edible, and the rest was very bland. The service was slow and what is worse is that a credit card was lost for an hour, with little more than an oh well from the manager. Won't be back, and wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Save the night out for Mexico Lindo or even Taco Bell.
(1)
Greg B.
The restaurant is packed with tables, so the wait staff has to walk through little paths to get in between each table. The entire night consisted of some waiter carrying sizzling meals over our heads with one hand. It was by far the most distracting nerve racking thing i've experienced at a restaurant. it seems so dangerous. maybe the guy is good at handling trays, but if someone bumps in to him someone is going to get 3rd degree burns. it was the silliest set up I have ever seen. I also think a bus boy was put on as our waiter for the night. I had pointed to a beer and asked what type it was and he said "its a...beer". there was a moment of silence and then i said "ohhhh ok". anyway, I'm glad he explained that to me. I thought I was ordering a french fry. I will not be going back to this place.
(2)
Dennis A.
I heard about this place a few months before it opened and I was actually pretty excited to try it. However, upon actually coming here that excitement quickly turned to disappointment. I came here about a week after the place opened. We walked in and were told that the wait was around 45 minutes, which was a little strange because I didn't really see anybody else waiting. So we went to the bar and got a couple drinks. Before we even had a chance to pay for our drinks we were told that our table was ready. This was literally less than 5 minutes after they told us the wait was going to be 45 minutes. But I wasn't going to complain about being seated quicker so we paid for the drinks and went to the table. As we walked to our table I noticed A LOT of empty seats and I immediately got the feeling that they are saying they have a long wait so that it seems like the place is busier than it is. I thought maybe it was just an error or a problem with communication, but I have since heard similar stories about exaggerated wait times being given. As strange as this was to me, it isn't going to cause me to give them a bad review. But having terrible food will and that's what this place has. I was actually really disappointed because I genuinely wanted to like this place. I wanted to have an alternative to going to the Border Cafe, every time I felt like "Mexican" food. But everything here was just bad. The appetizers were just bad bar food that was renamed so it sounded like something that should be served in a "Mexican" restaurant. For my meal I ordered the blackened chicken, and upon receiving it I thought I was given the wrong dish, because nothing about it looked or tasted like blackened chicken should. It actually didn't really taste like much of anything. The fajitas weren't any better, and even the chips were bad, tasting like they were just dumped directly from a bag onto the table. All in all a disappointing experience and one that I will hopefully never have to endure again.
(2)
Jen D.
Let me first say, I didn't eat here, I only had drinks however, I will NEVER eat here. It just screams dirty. When we walked into the bar it smelled of garbage mixed with throw up, disgusting. We were just going for a couple of drinks so I let it slide, knowing I wasn't eating anything anyways. I am a HUGE mexican food/drink fan, and their excuse for a margarita and sangria is pitiful. My boyfriend ordered a house margarita, fully anticipating that it wouldn't be the best margarita because he ordered the "house", but it was completely undrinkable. It tasted like sour mix and Surge soda.. not anything like a margarita. The "sangria" was even worse. It tasted like grape soda mixed with puckers, I would be shocked if there was any wine in there at all. It's kind of a shame because the building is pretty cool with the outdoor section and music, but this is a dump that may be attractive for college kids or kids using their fake ID's who don't realize what a good drink is.
Takes Reservations : No Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Casual Noise Level : Average Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : No
If you enjoy Taco Tuesday, then you have officially fallen in love with the Mexican Food. The main grain of Mexican cuisine is maize. Also known as corn, maize is grown for the past 9000 years after the crop was discovered by the people in Mayan civilization. Mexican empire flourished when they started growing beans, tomatoes, chili pepper, sweet potato and cactus. Till this date these ingredients are used in cooking authentic Mexican dishes and drinks.
Great use of spices, fresh chili pepper dishes like fajitas, tortilla chips, corn chips, salsa, chimichangas, burritos, nachos and quesadillas are invented in America. But when you are looking for authentic Mexican food then you must find a restaurant in the city that serves Rajas con Queso, Garbanzo in a Guajillo Chile Sauce, Pork Filled Chiles Rellenos, Chiles en Nogada, Molcajete Salsa, Pico de Gallo and Frijoles de la Olla. An eye-opening fact – Mexican don't like their food hot. They use fresh chili and other spices to create a flavor that lingers in your mouth.
Mexican food is great for those who are Gluten Intolerant as they use Corn instead of wheat in most of their dishes. Also, you can easily find many beans based Mexican dishes. Another dish which didn't get similar glory as tacos or nachos is the Mexican hot chocolate. If you love something hot on a chilly day, then go for Mexican Hot Chocolate. On merry days, you can enjoy the authentic Mexican Drinks like Tequila, Mezcal, Tecuí, Sotol, Bacanora, Charanda, Posh O Pox, Puebla and Pulque. Mexican Cuisine is for people who enjoy strong drinks and hearty meals.
K. E.
If our friends didn't have a Groupon, there is no way we would voluntarily eat here. However, I know Groupons cannot go to waste, so we trekked here for dinner over the weekend. First, the good: Lone Star beer (for you True Detective fans) and other interesting drink offerings made for a good time. I also enjoyed the fried ice cream dessert. Everything in between leads me to... The bad: service is mediocre, took forever to get a drink at the bar (but yet couples that came in after had no problems) and when we were seated, I found it strange the server didn't know the menu all that well. There were two items on the menu that she didn't even know existed. The food is so-so, I wouldn't say it's awful, it's not - it was OK. Meh. Blah. Also, the restaurant itself and the decor is, well, ick. The walls were dirty, the floor was disgusting, and half the tables had energy saving bulbs and the other half didn't, which gave off a very strange vibe (am I in a warehouse or a mexican restaurant?) Also note, at least 1 in 3 tables orders fajitas at this place and be prepared to get home with your hair and clothes smelling like a fajita festival. There is no reason for the added smoke and show - unless your food is mediocre. Which it is. See ya later, Fat Cactus!
(2)Renzo T.
This place at one point was my favorite Mexican spot to eat... My girl and I would go here almost every weekend in the summer because the meat and food were downright special... The flavor and way the food was prepared couldn't be matched... ...that was then...this is now... Since then they've switched chefs... Who knows why?? But since that date the good has be sub par at best.... Across The Boarder or Maragritas it's a better choice now... Smh....what once was great...
(2)Busta M.
When this place first opened it was great! As of March 2014 however, it has gone way down hill. I worry that The Fat Cactus will be closing soon given how bad the food and service is now. I ordered chicken enchiladas with refried beans and rice. The enchiladas were swimming in cheese and simply did not taste good at all. The refried beans were also not good and looked as though they had been slopped on my plate. I figured the rice might be OK but alas, it was not - it had a cardboard taste. And the plate was scolding hot which tells me that it was plunked under the broiler and dismissed. I did not try the tomato salsa on the plate or the lettuce. Honestly I left most of the food on the plate. Worse than the food however was the service. It seems that all of the wait staff here is miserable now. Our waitress was totally out of it and simply going through the motions. Her greeting to us was a rambling jumble of words with a forced smile. I saw another waitress coughing as she passed our table - did not cover her mouth. Moral seems to be very bad here now. Its too bad because as I said above, the place was great when it first opened and again I worry that it will close soon unless they fix the food and the service. Sorry Fat Cactus, I want to love you but I just can't right now.
(2)Emily H.
A few months ago we were drawn into this restaurant by it's busy and colorful exterior; however it was downhill from there. The restaurant is huge, and we went at a time when it was relatively empty; however our service was still mediocre at best. Halfway through our meal, our server disappeared and we never saw him again. The food was blah at best. I can't even remember exactly what I had, some type of burrito, I just remember for low quality inauthentic ingredients, specifically the rubbery cheese. I would not come back here again, and unless you are prioritizing a fun atmosphere (I assume in the evening it gets more lively and fun) I would not recommend this place.
(2)Patrick H.
I think the best thing you can do at Fat Cactus is drive past it on your way to a real Mexican restaurant.
(1)Rachel M.
Really loud music on a Friday night while trying to eat dinner. The food was alright, but we only came here because Border Cafe had an hour wait and we were starving. Good service, too loud!
(3)Cristina L.
Just left Fat Cactus after having been there for over an hour and only ordered 1 margarita, guac and a couple tacos. I went bc I saw the sign for $2 tacos. The tacos were pretty good for the price, I wouldn't pay more than $2 bucks for them, and the guac was just ok. The service however, what absolutely terrible. My husband and I sat at the bar, which was mostly empty, for 15 minutes before the bartender even came over and seemed like we were bothering him when we asked for a menu and that we wanted to order drinks. After he took our drink order, another 15 minutes later he said he'd take our food order, but only after he finished putting the dishes away which were apparently more important. The place has potential, but there is no one qualified running it. Employee's Dunkin Donuts cups and purses were on the back bar and it smells like stale booze, also the bartender couldn't stop scratching himself (below the belt) and obviously didn't care he was in public and dealing with people and food. No tip for him after watching that and dealing with his careless attitude.
(1)Lisa G.
I really enjoyed my taco lunch sat the bar free chips and salsa is always a plus nextvtime I will get a drink they sounded great. The staff was pretty nice also.
(3)Melissa F.
Came here last night since Border Cafe (our usual choice) had almost an hour wait. Unfortunately I do not see myself returning since this place was nothing to write home about and service was terrible. We had to ask our waitress multiple times to clean off our table, for extra silver wear and for refills. We didn't even get chips and salsa at the beginning! She sucked. So much so that my friend called the manager to mention it after we left. (She took so long to bring us everything that we were there far longer than we expected so we really just wanted to leave.) Food was meh, WAY better at Border cafe. The only thing I really liked were the beef empanadas. Next time I want Mexican I'll just wait it out at border.
(2)David V.
This place was great. I dont know these other people are talking about. Super fast service. As soon as we sat down we got chips salsa and guac. I ordered steak tips which was awesome and my girl got a burrito the size on her forearm. Delicious. Def will come back if I ever travel up this way again
(5)Fernando G.
Fat Cactus is by far the worst restaurant on Route 1. The place is dirty, sticky, and dusty. The wait staff is nice and polite, but the older blonde hostess is a mean bitch. The food is mediocre at best. The chips are soaking in oil, salsa is straight out of a can, guacamole tastes like wallpaper paste, and my shoe is more tender than the stake! I don't know how a place that is just a mile from the Border Cafe can be such a disgusting mess. Whoever runs this place doesn't give a damn about their customer's experience.
(1)Crystal J.
I've been here 3 or 4 times and while the service has always been slow, the food is usually fantastic. However, one Saturday a few months back I brought some friends along because we had a Groupon. My boyfriend ordered a Spicy Chicken Ranchero burrito, requesting no beans, while the rest of us ordered regular burritos. When the server brought our food, she had no idea whose meal was whose. All the burritos had beans in them, and I'm 100% positive she gave the ranchero burrito to my friend because it was the only one with a different type of sauce on top. After sending my boyfriend's burrito back to the kitchen to get no beans, she brought back the wrong type of burrito. It didn't have jalepenos, peppers, onions, OR pan-blackened chicken like the ranchero burrito is supposed to have. When we tried to tell our server that we thought the wrong burrito was made, she quickly said "nope it's the right burrito" and walked away. We've both ordered the ranchero burrito before and it never looked like whatever she brought us. I understand Saturday nights can be hectic, but when your table repeatedly tries to tell you the wrong meal was made, maybe take a minute to ask what it is they actually wanted instead of brushing it off. Fat Cactus was quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants, however after this experience, I don't think we will be back.
(2)Melissa P.
Last night my husband and I went to the fat cactus, we had been there before and it was amazing...no wait, good service, everything was as it should be. I saw that there was a groupon available so I got one to be able to go back. When we got there a Hostess or waiter say they would be right with us, 5 to 10 minutes later someone sat us on the porch, said he would get us chips and salsa and tell our waitress. 15 min or so go by and he came back over wondering if anyone had helped us yet? We said no so he prompted to be our waiter. Took our drink order and said he would be back with our drinks, chips and salsa. 10 minutes or so go by he comes back with our drinks, takes our order said he would be back in the meantime with our chips and salsa that he has yet to deliver. 20 min go by, were sitting on the porch and we can smell someone smoking weed at the front entrance, we look over it's our server. At this time another hostess come over and asked if we have been helped we said someone took out order 30min ago and we haven't gotten anything yet. She apologized and said she would find our server. 5min later our food comes out and my husband asked for a refill on his drink. He said he would be right back. He came over 5 to 10 min later asking how everything way, we asked if we could get our drinks and chips and salsa. Come back later with a sodas. We were so appalled by this waiter we didn't even spend our whole groupon. We wanted desert but we didn't want to order fear that it would be another hour. We paid what we owed and left.
(1)Jon N.
What a mess. Plate arrived sloppy and runny like it had been microwaved. Chimichanga not crispy at all--more like a burrito under a warming lamp. Sangria tasted like a mix. Chips out of a bag. Lazy.
(2)jackie y.
This COULD be the best place ever, but it's NOT. The environment is great but the food and drinks are inconsistent, overpriced and just plain, not good. It's a shame because they're one of the only places in the area with live music and outdoor seating. If they would just follow The Border Cafe's business model, they'd be great.
(1)Amber G.
So, I've been going to The Fat Cactus every other night or so for a beer with my fiancé. Tonight, I was carded on my way into the bar and then again literally less than 1 minute later when I sat down and ordered my beer-at the bar that I was just carded to get into. No big deal, I look young. I said, jokingly, "oh you guys triple check here?!" And handed her my ID. She viciously ripped it out of my hand while simultaneously scratching half the skin off my hand and then literally THREW it back at me and then when I said "you didn't have to throw it at me" she started belligerently screaming at the top of her lungs, making a fool of herself and embarrassing herself. I immediately sought out a manager and while I was notifying her of how her staff was representing their establishment, psycho bartender lady came flying over like a bat out of hell, AGAIN SCREAMING about how she "didn't" throw the ID and "wasn't" screaming at me when I told her that throwing my ID at me was unnecessary. Mind you, she was screaming about the fact that she allegedly wasn't screaming, so that did wonders for her credibility. Needless to say, the $30-$50 per night I spent there at least 2-3 times per week, well that's not happening anymore. They lost a good customer because of their horribly rude staff. By the way, the manager didn't even offer me so much as an apology. She just stared at me!!!! And then when the bartender came running over like a nut job, the manager just let her continue to scream at me. Nobody did a single thing. They just watched her go nuts as if this were a common occurrence. They weren't the least bit phased by an employee screaming at the top of her lungs at a customer??? Come on!!!! For the record, 2 people sitting next to me, followed her over when she hunted me down when I was trying to talk to the manager and when she denied throwing my license at me, 2 other customers said "yes, you did, we were sitting right there and we watched the whole thing happen" Not to mention that every time I have gone on there, I sit at the bar, and I have to line my whole section of the bar with coasters because it's so filthy. I was there last night. I ordered 2 beers and got my check. I needed change and there were only 3-4 other people at the bar. Despite it being only 4 o'clock and relatively dead, I still had to wait 35 minutes for the bartender to come over and acknowledge me so I could even ask for change. Even though she took care of the party sitting 2 chairs away from me. I was frustrated but you can't blame an entire restaurant for 1 bad bartender. Well tonight's bartender (a different one) sure took the cake!!!! Now I have faith that this place will take any trash bag off the streets and pay them to "work" there. Rewind a year, I was there seeing a friend whose band was playing, and my food came out cold and my waitress ignored my mother and I for OVER 90 minutes because she was flirting with the group of college guys at the next table. All I wanted was water and I had to wait nearly 2 hours to even ask for it. Plus it took another 20 to get it brought to my table. I'm not even exaggerating. I didn't think it was possible, but there really is a restaurant that bad out there. I get friendlier service from Dicks Last Resort!!!!! Where they are supposed to go out of their way to TRY TO BE RUDE Literally!!!
(1)Arthur L.
If this review looks too long for you to read, just skip to my last sentence. First time there, on a not busy Saturday night, everything we ordered came out as a mistake, the soda was not the one ordered , the appetizer(cheese dip but we ordered guacamole) , the main course (the chicken we ordered came as beef) , my steak tips tasted like rubber. The food wasn't cleared off the table properly, the $42bill had only $39 off my $40 Groupon which I know it doesn't seem like a big deal but that was the last straw for me. I felt like nobody even cared about the mistakes. After all the mistakes no manager came to the table. I I went to the host desk to complain after I got the check, the hostess got the manager and I told him the story, his resolution was to see him next time I go there(I'm sorry but I worked in restaurants for a long time when I was younger and that's not how things should be resolved). I was so bummed out and disappointed that I didnt even want anything off the bill, just wanted to leave and never go back there.
(1)J R.
I love Mexican. I could eat here again, but not overly often. the food is tasty but very heavy. Overall pretty decent and convenient to get to.
(3)Kib L.
Dishes are unauthentic and flavorless. Service is slow and unattentive. Drinks are watered down. Decor on the other hand...gets 1 star.
(1)Sue I.
We went with a living social deal and I am glad we did not have to pay full price. Margaritas were overly sweet. Music was too loud from the bar area for a comfortable dinner. Appetizers were tasty. We had high hopes after trying the Tequila Lime Wings and the Empanadas. But, the entrees were sorely lacking. My Husband got the tacos that were so soggy that they could not be picked up. I got the Fajita Burrito. Huge in size but the steak inside was fatty. The onions were pretty much raw strips and there were no peppers at all. No point in saying anything to the waitress as she was not around much at all. I would understand if it was a busy night but the dinner area was almost empty. Not interested in returning. Slightly less than mediocre Mexican. Bathrooms were unkempt as well...
(2)Amanda C.
We had the worst service. I enjoyed the food and drink but our server was inattentive. We would see her at 15 to 20 minute increments. It's too bad because we are usually good tippers. Will not be returning.
(2)Melissa C.
I know the biggest draw for this place is the live music, but the bf and I decided to be seated in the restaurant instead of the patio. I think this place would be great if you just wanted to come back and kick back with some friends, but as a place to get a meal.. not so much. The empanadas and rice were good, but that was about it. They used this red sauce in their enchiladas and tacos, which was funky. I couldn't finish my taco it was so bad and bitter tasting. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the food. Also, their house margarita tastes like they use bottom shelf tequilla. If you're looking to get tipsy, it'll work, but don't order it for flavor!
(2)Sandra F.
OMG! I came here on Monday, Labor Day. Not a busy night. This was my second time coming to The Fat Cactus; both times because I had a Groupon. The first time I came I order the steak fajitas. The vegetables that were on the bottom of the skillet were burned and the ones on the top were raw. The steak was tough as leather. It was awful. This time I went again because I had a Groupon and I wanted to see if it had improved. Plus, it was expiring next week. I ordered two different magaritas and both were watery, not a taste of tequila. For dinner, I ordered Tequila Lime chik wings appetizers and carne asada (steak) as an entree. Within 5 minutes of ordering, my appetizer and entree were put down in front of me. I have never had food cooked so fast in my life. Everything was tasteless. The wings were dry because they had been microwaved and the steak was tough as leather. I took the wings home, but I did not eat any of my entree and did not take it home. I will never come back here again, groupon or no groupn. And I will never recommend it.
(1)Carolyn W.
We were seated promptly by open windows at about 7:30 pm. We were planning on asking our server to close it when they came to introduce themselves, but we sat there for 17 minutes without being acknowledged. While sitting, we heard the tables around us ask three different people to close the windows before anything was done. I wish zero stars were an option. We left after those 17 minutes and told the 2 hostesses that it was unacceptable. They were more concerned with where we were seated than in apologizing. DON'T GO TO THIS RESTAURANT!
(1)Phil W.
Great food, Great drinks. Ive sat at the bar area many times as well as the dining area. Great place to have a few drinks with friends or dinner with the family. Live music in the summer and always a fun crowd.
(5)Peter H.
Plenty of seating all day, even weekend evenings. Plays music on certain days - gets too noisy at those times, but I like to have a conversation. Varied southern beer collection, house margaritas are very standard, not bad but nothing special. Dinner and lunch menu is very good. Food is hot, well-cooked and flavorful. Lunch buffet was TERRIBLE. Food was luke-warm and flavor was not good. Only time I've had bad food at this restaurant. Service is good.
(4)Judy C.
We keep going back for the best fajitas ever! And they do fajitas for two also. Steak, chicken, shrimp, I've tried them all! I add guacamole to the set up that comes with it and i tastes as good as my own. Service is always timely, its a bit loud when the band is playing (as to be expected) but its a lively fun place that we really enjoy.
(4)Tommy K.
Eek! What's happening over there?!?!? I loved the Fat Cactus, up until tonight. The salsa was very runny and tasted pretty much like canned tomatoes and a few spices. The chips were okay. Ordered a diet coke and it tasted nasty. Asked the server (Brian) what was up with the soda and he said "Oh it's City Soda" - while I do not know what that means do NOT order soda. I then asked for iced tea, Brian brought raspberry sweetened tea - I asked him for unsweetened. When he brought it - it smelled and tasted like toilet cleaning solution. WTF? Dinner took a while, a burrito and fajitas - doesn't make sense. Our server Brian was just okay. He seemed annoyed or as if he had some place better to be. Never saw a manager - they never came over to check on our table or any other for that matter. I would say that'll be the last time I visit there, unless I don't want salsa or anything to drink from a mexican restaurant.
(2)Angela D.
I love it! I've been here about six times now on a groupon in the last six months. Occasionally I have a small issue with something with the food. But they are always attentive to correct it and the staff is always doing their best to make you happy. Every time I've come, I've been seated right away. Fajitas are great and the Rollito's are amazing! I look forward to coming back again.
(5)Kevin S.
Wanted to go to Border Cafe. Didn't want to stand around 90 minutes waiting for a table there. Well....up Rt 1 to the Fat Cactus. Never been here under this name before. They had a table right away, even though it was 7:30 on a Friday night AND the place was PACKED. Service was good. Food? Who knew there was another decent Mexican style place on Rt 1 other than Border Cafe? Parking can get tight when busy (like this night). There is lots of parking. As Christina Z says, Live Music EVERY night. It is out by the patio area, but the sound rolls through the entire place. If you want a quiet dinner, don't come here.
(3)Mara P.
First off the food was really great but the service was disgusting and horrible. Our waitress brought me over a cracked cup and then I had to ask another waitress for a new cup because my waitress was no where to be found, she also had to ask my boyfriend to repeat his drink order three times which was just a "bud bottle". We also witnessed a male waiter fondling waitresses by tickling and just poking them and being a creep, the staff seemed to be having more of social party with eachother rather than paying attention to customers. At the end of meal I used to rest room and witnessed a waitress not wash her hands when she came out of the stall and she just went back to work also in the same minute another waitress comes in and pulled pads (normally used to for that time of the month) out of her armpits to catch sweat and after having her hands under her armpits she did not wash her hands either! Also the waitress that we had did not clear away any dishes when we were done, she seemed overall bored and didn't care about getting our order right. I am disappointed and disgusted I will not be coming back!
(1)Meredith M.
Such a great place for a group of friends or a fun date. Last Friday we treated ourselves to dinner on the deck of the Fat Cactus. The weather was perfect, the live band was loud, the margaritas were strong and not too sweet. The food was fine. The queso was basically velveta with a little rotel. The enchiladas were tasty but average. The fish tacos were delicious! Being from Texas, I have very high standards for mexican food establishments. However, the ambiance and service were enough to grant this place 4 stars. (Food gets 3 stars). It's a fun place on the North Shore to grab a bite and a few margaritas on a hot day. I think it would also be fun for private parties! If your'e in the area, check it out!
(4)Kim R.
Had looked forward to stopping for lunch...mistake! Both of us acquired stains on our pants from the filthy table cloths. Waitress moved us to a "cleaner" table...with an equal amount of "rundown". We barely tasted our food we were in such a hurry to leave. Unfortunate experience. Should have read the reviews!
(1)Frederick S.
I've been there twice. The food is fair to poor. Today I got fries instead of the rice i ordered with my ribs, No guacamole or refried beans as requested with my fajitas. I will not be returning!
(1)Lizz W.
Decor, was crazyyyy and fun to look at. We went with 7 people, and were sat right away on Saturday night. 5 out of 7 of us got fajitas. Chicken, Steak and Catfish. All were delicious and greatly portioned. Not to mention how full we all were off the buckets of chips and salsa before the meal. Everything was fresh and good, we will be back again (when in the area)
(4)Justin S.
Truth in advertising: This review was based on the first and only time I have been here. Oversized menus were an interesting novelty but would have been difficult to handle with 4 people at our booth. They needed a bath, however, as both were suffering from previous customer's salsa drippings. We started off with Queso Fundido. It was exactly as described on the menu. However be warned this is NOT authentic fundido that typically contains chorizo. Chips were not hot, some were chewy, but the salt level was even and appropriate. Fish Tacos: Fish was seriously over-fried, to the point it had to be picked apart because it was difficult to chew. Had potential to be very good and the red pepper sauce was tasty. Beef Chimichanga: Tasty, although a little greasy. This dish was served on what appeared to be a tomato basil tortilla which you would typically expect to find at a deli. The filling was good, except for the beef which was difficult to cut and chew. A steak knife would have helped. Both dishes came with beans (one refried and one black) which were hot and average. Mexican rice however was as crunchy as the carrots shreds that it contained.
(2)Kathleen H.
The decor is of the "Tijuana ate too much Mardis Gras and puked in my living room" chic. You know, the kind that so many WOOHOO-we-are -so-FUN!!! restaurants enjoy, but with a tex mex/amerilatin flair. Lots of bright colors, tiles, beads, tchotchkes, mirrors. . . the ceiling has brilliantly colored big salamander things, and the big bar has a row of flip flops glued to the ceiling. They have PARTY ROOMS, POOL TABLES and FUN FUN FUN VIDEO GAMES!!! There you go. The music was LOUD. It was saturday night, but it was hard to have any kind of conversation. We were at a bar table - perhaps it's quieter in the dedicated dining area or the spacious porch. Next time - if there's room - which there wasn't last night - I'd like to sit on the porch. Comfy tables with wicker furniture, live music (They advertise that they have it 7 days a week) - it looks like a fun place to go with friends and hang out with a pitcher of something. The guy last night was singing a mix of margaritavillesque classic tunes and Simon and Garfunkel. When he was on break. . LOUD latin music was playing. Did I mention the music was LOUD??(at least in the bar area) The margaritas have enthralling, enticing, delicious sounding descriptions in the menu, followed by a snappy synopsis, a la Cheap Boozy Chinese Place (This sailor will send you out to sea! wink wink. . . what? OH RIGHT, it'll get me drunk, thanks!) I ordered one that supposedly was a higher end variety, in other words, not just sour mix with a splash of Cuervo. It purported to be just booze with real fresh squeezed lime juice. It came in a high ball glass and tasted. .sweet. sigh. Evidently there aren't real margarita glasses here. My companion also reported. . .sweet drink. Not much other flavor. double sigh. They did have alcohol in them though, for what it's worth. Drinks are reasonably priced, the house margarita or glass of sangria: $5.50. The "high end" drinks? $8.50. I'd say. . . just stick with the house pitchers. Because you're not going to get a finely crafted anything here, so you might as well spend less money getting shnozzled. The food was. . .edible. Ok. Kept me from gnawing off my hand. The chips were freshly fried and pretty good - but very floppy and greasy toward the bottom of the basket. Service? What service. . well ok, there was some service. Our waitress was perky and said "here ya go Doll" when she handed me my drink. After we waited awhile for menus, and two other people said our waitress would be by with menus. Then we were brought chips by the chip guy who said someone would be there to take our drink order. Our waitress took our food order, and was never seen again. A harried looking guy in a T shirt plopped our food on our table - the lettuce/pico de gallo/sour cream that was supposed to come with the fajitas never appeared. After trying a couple times to flag down someone who was not our waitress and failing, we just ate what we had, in the silence provided by REALLY LOUD MUSIC. My rice had peas in it. grump. We asked another passing waitress if she could send our waitress over. "uh huh". Didn't happen. We asked another passing waitress if we could speak to the manager. Yeah, that got results. The manager apologized. All we paid for was drinks. Thank you. All in all. . . Lots of Glitter, basic sweet drinks and unspicy New England tex mex food. I would come again to sit outside with buddies, if it was convenient. And possibly, try sitting in the actual dining area on a date or something . . .but from my experience last night, the assurance that "Sure you can sit at the bar, full menu, no waiting!" Also means. . .no service.
(2)Mike B.
I had been to this location when it was the Naked Fish, so I have been curious to check out The Fat Cactus for some time. I was out with the kiddos on a recent weekend and stopped by The Border Cafe: but seeing as it was packed, and I had a restless 3 y/o (the 8 y/o was chill), I didn't want to risk the wait; so we soldiered on up Route 1 and dropped into the Fat Cactus. The fact that the place was about a third full should have served as a warning (esp compared to Border). The other red flag was the dirty menu, which was splattered in several places with dried something or other...yikes. I ordered a chicken chimichanga, and I've gotta say, I was disappointed. The chicken was dark meat , and the item overall was just...dull. Not bad, but dull. The accompanying rice and beans were also just so-so. On the positive side: The kiddos both had burgers, which they gobbled up. The 8 y/o is particularly fussy about food, but nonetheless was a happy camper. Our server (Devan?) was awesome: friendly, prompt, great with the kids. Bottom line: both the service and atmosphere were great, but the food didn't cut it, and the place should have been more clean.
(2)LeAnn L.
Atmosphere, great.....service and DRINKS, not so much. I went here for dinner and margaritas with my girlfriends and received sub-par service and drinks. I ordered a frozen raspberry margarita and it tasted like blue raspberry slush, no liquor. It took forever for the alcoholic drinks to come out, water wasn't served until much later and we had to ASK. Also, the waitress failed to give us napkins or plates when our bucket of chips came out, so again, we had to ask for those. THE WORST PART WAS, when our food came out, our waitress set our food down and walked away. only we had NO SILVERWARE. We asked her to bring some out and she said that "all the silverware was in the dishwasher and they're preparing the utensils now" ...umm ARE YOU KIDDING ME?.. needless to say we waited about 8-10 minutes while our food sat in front of our faces before we were given silverware. One of my friends ordered the barbeque chicken salad and it made her sick for the rest of the night. My other friend asked for her salad with no cheese because she's lactose intolerant, she gets the salad and *surprise* there's cheese! In the end my friends and I made a decision that our waitress did NOT deserve a good tip. We gave her a 9% tip, paid half the bill in cash, the other half on a debit card... She has the nerve to come back to our table asking if "the tip is correct" because we only tipped her $6... again.. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Yes we gave you a small tip (even though she didn't deserve $2 in my mind) but you do NOT confront a guest about a small tip. Completely unprofessional! So on our way out the door, I stopped by the hostess desk to speak with her about our rude waitress, and our waitress COMES UP TO THE DESK to talk to the hostess, conveniently as I am speaking with the hostess about my dinner service. How juvenile! The waitress knew my friends and I were complaining about the service she gave us, so she had the nerve to "pretend" like she lost a pen or something to come up to the hostess desk. Maybe our waitress was new, but either way, it does not excuse a TERRIBLE dinner service. I do not think I will be returning anytime soon.
(2)Megan H.
At first, I really loved this place when oldest best friend from my childhood brought me here. I only get one drink that I love(d), called the Lava Flow. It's very inconsistent when I order it. Either it'll be like drinking strawberry syrup from Dunkin Donuts, or white alcoholic ice. The food isn't anything wonderful to speak of. The tortilla chips are incredibly, very salty. OH, STAY AWAY from the nacho appetizer. It's totally unworthy of $10 for a plate of naked tortilla chips. The bartender forgets about her customers ALL the time. If you're in the area, it's a good meet up spot. But, if you crave authentic Spanish food, come down to the "scarier" places in Massachusetts.
(2)Andrew B.
Good drinks. I like the 25oz. draft Dos Equis Amber Ale. Food was mediocre though. Very bright decor.
(3)Courtney N.
My friend and I decided to stop in for an early lunch on Cinco de Mayo. I loved the decor. You really felt transported when you walked through the door! We initially asked to sit on the deck but it was too cold. We went back to the main desk and had a bit of a wait to finally be seated in a free booth. The place wasn't crowded at all so I wasn't sure why we had to stand there awkwardly with our menus, cutlery and the freebies they gave us (sombrero bottle openers and some other thing). Four people said they had to check before they could seat us. Once we were seated, we were in awe of the extensive menu. I stupidly picked the chimichanga even though it had one pepper. It was way too spicy. I ended up eating the basket of free tortilla chips and dunking it in the sauce; I also ate the rice and the salad, very good. I took the rest home and my friend ate it later. My friend got a catfish taco. Also pretty spicy. He loved it and was done in no time. The portions are huge. Seriously huge. They have an extensive beer list and quite a few mixed drinks. I ordered a white mango sangria and it was awesome. The food came out fast and we never felt ignored by our server which was nice. We decided to split a fried ice cream dish for dessert. Erm, not my cup of tea. Interesting but not for me. The bill was very reasonable. We'd probably go back and next time I will order something a bit more bland!
(4)Days G.
food is not better than Margaritas in my opinion. love the outside seating tho. dinosaur legs (chicken drum sticks) are so yuckie.
(2)Mary S.
The drinks are the most redeeming quality of this place. The food is a hit or miss. However, anytime I've ordered food from here its been luke warm. I'm not sure what that's about... The service is always great though. I'd say the only reason to revisit this place would be for the drinks.
(3)Derek W.
1st the good...They have live music (this night was a dj and vocalist named Joey) and a really cool open porch with plenty of seating. We ordered an order of guacomole and it was tasty and and the chips that came with it were warm and tasty as well. The not so good, by far the worst salsa I have ever had in my life. It literally tasted like cacciatore, and wasn't spicy at all. The rice we got with our meals was cold. The burrito was filled with chicken, but not much else and the fajitas shrimp was burnt and tasteless albeit over seasoned and tasteless. The real bad - the margaritas mix tasted pretty gross. We ordered a pitcher and didn't finish it. Tables are very small and cheap, however the waitress pulled over another one for us and said "i don't care because it's not busy" I guess my question was going to be, So if you're busy would we place our food on the floor? I'll take Agave in Newburyport or Portsmouth every day over this place and even On the border or The border cafe put out better meals...
(2)Pamela w.
We were a party of three for lunch the other day and this place has some of the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten...or tried to eat. The salsa has Chipotle or something in it. Its thick and brownish. Not fresh at all. The guacamole was just flat, turning brown and awful! We drank a pitcher of house margaritas and felt as if we had nothing at all to drink. Everything was tacky to the touch...the tablecloth, menus. Thin useless napkins. Booths need replacing already. It was a blistering hot day and the AC is almost useless as their outdoor area is open to the bar and restaurant. Our waiter was pleasant....and perspiring. The food is bad. Watery chicken tacos. Burned cheese on enchiladas. I was served a piece of celery, on a plate of overcooked chicken wings, that had clearly been frozen. Really? What kind of kitchen puts something that has clearly gone south on a plate to be served? The decor is cool. Loved the bottles hanging from the ceiling. It ended there. Biggest waste of cash on a lunch in a long time. I gave no clue how this dump stays open. They cant even get salsa and chips right. GO TO THE BORDER CAFE in Saugus! Where they actually make the chips and even put tequila in the margaritas. ;)
(1)Terry M.
Typical New England Mexican food restaurant. Lots of mexican looking bling and crazy colors. Food is palatable and the service was good. I'd go back again. As an afterthought, my colleagues did remark on the burritos being exceptionally big. I had the Angus steak taco salad and my only comment would be to use the salsa instead of any of the dressings!!
(4)James S.
This place has improved a lot since it opened....I was so disgusted I would not return for a year. It is my pleasure to report they have got their act together now. Drinks come promptly, food is warm, waitresses check on you. I am now a satisfied customer.
(5)Tamarah V.
I love this place! I just hate how my table is ALWAYS sticky when I go there... but the drinks are good! and the atmosphere is good. I live closer to the one in Randolph but I like this one way better!
(3)Tony P.
I have to say that I do not give 5 star or 1 star reviews based after 1 vist and I have visted "The Fat Catcus" 3 times. I really do not like write something negative about someone's business and I hope they use these reviews as a way to improve. First off the food all taste like it was frozen. I have had some basic items of the menu (Burrito, Quesadillas, Fish Taco) all of it tasted like it was opened from a box and put in the microwave. The fish was the worse...I'm pretty sure it was some really bad generic frozen patty cut up. Let me state that Mexican food is probably my favorite cuisine and I have been spoiled by a lot of the good Mexican restaurants in Southern California after spending some time out there, so I will admit my standards might be higher than some New Englanders. The theme was a generic coastal Mexician beach vibe with authentic old short boards bolted to the walk...It was 'ok' and not dirty but to me it was the nicest feature of "The Fat Catcus". The sour mix for the drinks was horrible, it tasted like heavy handed 5 year old made it. Two of the three times I was there they salted my margarita glass even though I asked for no salt. The was no spice or flavor to the salsas at all other then...You guessed it 'salt'. It was like a poor cover up to the blandest Mexican inspired food I have ever had. I really wanted to like this guys but I cannot recommend them at all.
(1)Wayne M.
LOVE this place ~ Its clean , spacious , great drinks free chips and salsa and amazing entrees ~ I forget whats its called but i ordered the chicken w/ half slab of rib plate that came with a jimica slaw and mexican rice and it was OFF THE CHAIN !The big crazy piece of chicken alone could feed a family of 4 **smiles** Wound up bringing home the chicken cause, guess what .....I was FULL before I could get to it !! BTW: did I mention the entree was only $15???? Yeah ..I'll be back !
(4)Beth W.
Yack, ugh, blech, ew, ick, yikes, yuck! No, it's not a hairball folks. It's my review. We pulled into the parking lot around the early end of lunchtime and were surprised to see lots of cars. I told my fiancé, "They must be pretty good since there are a ton of people here already." Once inside, we were not greeted and both sides (dining and bar) looked deserted. Being pretty self-sufficient, we poked our heads into the bar and when someone noticed us we asked if we should seat ourselves. A friendly server then pleasantly directed that we could sit on either side but advised we would probably prefer the bar area because they were catering a large meeting in dining section. Always up for staff advice, we took her suggestion and chose a barside table. Ashley made some suggestions for choosing the perfect margarita. I chose the Blue and my dining partner, the Cadillac. Prior to the drinks coming out, we received a stale batch of chips and some tasteless salsa in dire need of some oomph in both the spice or heat variety. We asked if perhaps the kitchen offered a hotter version and were told no but were offered hot sauce. After adding a generous amount of hot sauce, our "freshly made" salsa was anything but enhanced. The margaritas came out and tasted pretty good so perhaps I could take out a "yuck" or a "yikes" in favor of the drinks and the service. Since the salsa wasn't doing it for us, we choice to order the Queso Fundido in hopes of the delivery of some fresh chips. We did get more chips but they were the same ole stale, lackluster ones as before. My fiancé excused himself from the table (toilet break for inquiring minds) and I began eavesdropping on the one lonely patron seated at the bar and the bartender. All of the sudden the bartender's face contorted as she began covering her mouth and gasping. The gentleman held something in his napkin and the bartender exclaimed, "We just recently bug bombed." Like an episode of Kitchen Nightmares, I so wished that Gordan Ramsey would appear. When my fiancé returned, I gave him a brief synopsis of what had taken place with the Roach Rangler and requested we leave. My fiancé is the total opposite of me and brushed it off since he's known for eating anything that walks, swims, slithers or flies...he wasn't budging. I suppose that we have all probably eaten a bug or two in this lifetime, but it was probably unintentional while riding a bike down the road with one's mouth open or screaming on a roller coaster at Universal...not by choice at a second rate Mexican restaurant. Reluctantly I remained in my seat and took a BIG swig of my beverage. By the way, going back to the tasty drinks, there was an inch think salt lick at the bottom of the glass leaving it impossible to guzzle down the last few sips. Didn't the bartender know that I needed those last few sips! Our order was placed and in no time a beef burrito arrived and two cheese enchiladas topped with Colorado Red sauce. While thoughts of the Roach Rangler still danced in my head, I skeptically combed over my plate inspecting each component closely. Going clockwise around my plate: dry rice, burnt enchiladas, two perfectly formed ice-cream scoops of pico de gallo and sour cream respectively and lastly a side of microwaved black beans. I had a hard time taking my eyes off of my plate, as I patiently waited for something to move. My fiancé noted that his refried beans were runny and tasted like a tin can so he pushed them aside. I was not at all surprised to look over and see a dish with contents that appeared to have leaked out of a baby's diaper. Sorry, that's a bit graphic. After ordering another round of margaritas, I pulled up my big girl panties and sampled a bit of everything on my plate. Nothing impressive and I absolutely was not joining their clean plate club. My fiancé only consumed about half of his entrée critiquing the burrito as unpalatable. This coming from the equal opportunity eater that religiously abides by the frat boy 5 second rule and will eat pizza that's been sitting out on the counter for a week. We pushed our plates to the side and returned to our margaritas. I then realized that during our time there only one other group walked in, a table of four and must I remind you that at this point it's peak lunchtime. We requested our check and left Ashley a tip. We didn't feel it was right to dock her tip for the restaurant's lack of cleanliness or food inadequacies. Contrary to the rest of our experience Ashley was actually one of the most attentive waitresses we have had since relocating to New England. Oh, I forgot to mention the music. Freakin' country!Who goes to a Mexican restaurant (which btw is advertised as authentic on their website, I call bull$hit) to listen to Country music?! I should have turned around when I walked in to hear Willie Nelson playing in the background! No offense Willie.Once reaching the salt lick at the bottom of the glass once again we left. The End.
(1)Sal L.
I wish I could give this place a negative star! I went here a few months ago because I had a gift card. Well my food was nasty!!! my drinks were ridiculously weak and filled with chunks of ice. My waitress seems half drunk and was making no sense. Asked to speak with a manager and we got the meal on the house. Re-gifted that crap!
(1)Mike C.
I noticed the negative reviews and am somewhat surprised. Sure this isn't a downtown Boston 5 star restaurant but for the money the food is VERY enjoyable. They have a very fun open porch area for drinks or food. They have 7 nights a week live music. A very fun decor of Mexican trinkets that consists of Mexican beer and liquor bottles and various Mexican wall decorations. Food is well made and with an enjoyable distinct Mexican flare. Service is always good when we have gone there. All in all a very enjoyable experience.
(4)Vinny E.
Food was good but... I was not pleased with the experience here. First of all the new buffet in the middle of the dining room makes the place look empty and barren. Also the LED lights above the buffet were cold looking and too bright. Terrible ambiance. In contrast, the tables were very dark with no lights to see the micro font menu. I had to use my light app on me iPhone to read it. My son ordered lemonade which tasted no better than water with a lemon wedge in it. The waitress's reasoning was simply "oh they must be low" without inquiring. She did however offer him cranberry juice. I on the other hand ordered iced tea and was given sweetened iced tea, which I did not want. I asked for unsweetened tea but they did not have any so I switched to water. Most other places ask if you want sweetened or not...she did not. Finally I used a Groupon and had to give my phone to the waitress to process, which was not a problem. However she had to find a manager to process it and continued to wait on tables before doing so. She took so long my phone locked up and she had to come back so I could enter my password. Process took at least 10 min Overall food 9, service 5, ambiance 5 If you are the manager contact me Vinnymass@yahoo.com
(2)Christina Z.
I'll warn you - live music 7 nights/week (is this seasonal) = a bunch of old dudes jammin on instruments, one of which is a harmonica. They are loud. They are on the patio. You can't hear your friend less than two feet a way. That's pretty bad. Toasted coconut cocktail? The best part is that I don't have to steal the amazing cocktail glass it came in - it's free! and plastic, but free all the same. The Lava flow (pina colada with strawberries is as always totally creamy heaven). Queso dip - unnervingly addictive. Sodium overload. I like the chips, though my friend is staunchly pro-Border cafe. Mexican cobb salad - don't bother. They "ran out" of guacamole, yet our cobb salad came with (you nailed it) avocado... how do you make guacamole again?! Enjoyable. I'm fond of it, but nothing (besides the drinks) are amazing.
(3)C C.
Very slight improvement from our last two visits despite the "new queso", "new chef", " new beans" and such advertisements on their billboard. The salsa was not very good and my tacos were average at best. The food is just bland . We promissed not to return, and this time we might follow through with the promise.
(1)Kyle D.
Not much really to say for this place. The fajita is a standard size for a standard price for a bar and grill, 11 dollars, add 1 buck for sour cream, another buck for gaucomle, and with a corona and tax, the total damage was 20 dollars and change, not including tip. You do the math. It speaks for itself.
(2)Erica D.
Do you have a lot of time to kill? Then head over to the Fat Cactus dining area on a Sunday night. Gape at the festive decor while waiting to be seated. Marvel as your waiter boxes your food to go but neglects to drop off the check. Stand in awe as tumble weeds appear more frequently than any member of the waitstaff. Overall, the chicken enchiladas were excellent, and their drink menu looked promising, but next time I will request to sit in the bar area instead.
(3)Christopher M.
Alright, let's start with the obvious. From facade to latrine this place is loud and obnoxious. The color scheme makes me think some guy in a sombrero is going to get in my face with his maracas singing and smiling and generally annoying the piss out of me. That being said, there's a vice selection of premium tequila in a glass case with prices right aw you walk in, so that's comforting. The food was ok, though I should have asked them the hold the immense amounts of sodium in my pork burrito. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Not that that's anything out of the ordinary for mexican places around here, it's just not something I appreciate. What killed it for me was the lack of service: My beer mug sat empty in front of me for 1.5 HOURS My empty dirty plates sat in front of me for 1 HOUR It took over 30 minutes to settle the check. about half that time was our party sitting there with money in front of us. The rest was spent trying to get the check *right* . . .all the while our bartender was ignoring all the bar patrons (and at least one spider descended upon me) Absolutely insane and totally unacceptable. Normally, this would constitute a single-star rating, BUT, when I called the manager over she was friendly, took our bill and money, and knocked 10% off the tab. Still, I can't say I'll be back.
(2)Noah C.
I recently went here on a Tuesday night. I sat at the bar for dinner. Seeing the place from the outside it looked fun. Inside when I sat down the barstool was broken and the counter top was gross and sticky. I ordered a margaritta which was terrible. It was almost warm and had salt on the rim that looked ten years old. I then ordered a burrito which was basically inedible. It has dried old chicken and they even forgot to take the bay leaves out. It had this dark sauce that tasted like burnt ketchup. The salsa was old and fermented as well. Disgusting.
(1)Dave S.
Big cactus on route 1. - just finished dinner there. Usually love the food and ambience in the dining room. But tonight made the mistake os sitting at the bar. Not a good idea- poor inattentive service - one bartender left us sitting for a half an hour- then fobbed us off on another bartender - finally got our food and it was missing part of the order -told the server, said he would check on it and he never returned . Of course it was still on the bill and when we got the attention of our original Bartender and pointed out the bill mistake , she had the cajones to say - twice - that we should have told her and she would have taken care of it. Oh yes, it's our fault
(2)Kendra B.
This place is ok. The food and sangria are pretty good, but the service has gone downhill. It's a fun place to go sit out on the deck with a drink in the summer, although the music is too loud! Now I'm no old lady, and I love music just as much as the next guy, but you literally have to scream to whomever you are sitting with. This restaurant is not my first choice for mexican, but it is usually pretty tasty.
(3)Patrick F.
The Fat Cactus was a fat disappointment. We had gift cards to use, so we (the wife and I) figured why not. The drinks (something horny toad margarita) were pretty good, albeit not that potent for nearly 9 bux a whack, and our app chicken rollitos were pretty good. That's where the good food stopped for me. I got the spicy chicken ranchero burrito (that I actually got confused with beef due to the texture, color and I would swear flavor), and the woman got the san pedro pollo pasta (she is quoted as saying it was gross). She finished her meal off with the flan for dessert, which was her favorite part of the meal. The service was decent, our waitress was very friendly. But for what would have been nearly an $80 dinner bill, I was very disappointed. The gift card that we had offset most of the bill, but even the balance paid after the card left me feeling a bit had, which really sucks because I was hoping for much better! Needless to say, we probably won't be back.
(2)Tim W.
This has to be the worst fake Mexican food I've ever eaten ( or left on my plate in this case). 2 hours later I still can't get the gross salty taste out of my mouth. 20 minutes before a server came to our table after a trip to front desk. Waitstaff was all young and clueless, looked like a high school clique. When we finally got our waitress she wasn't qualified to be a busgirl. It seemed as if there wasn't an adult in sight running the place. I had to look at the waiter's boxers on the next table. The pork burrito was a soggy pile of tasteless meat product loaded down with salt. The fajitas were overcooked shoe leather from some indistinguishable cut of beef coated in a rub of salt. The chips were half soggy and the salsa tasted like canned tomatoes. I have no idea how this place stays in business. The only redeeming feature was that the bar actually looked like it might be fun with the live guitarist. Even they can't screw up a bottle of beer. All in all horrible food, terrible service and a non existent management staff that apparently hires high schoolers who don't give a crap.
(1)Nick J.
I love the fat cactus. Great drinks great food great atmosphere. I went on a sunday night the bar tender was super nice and an absolute babe. Great service
(5)CaT P.
it is just ok. at least not expensive, but border cafe, which is also closer, is much better, i think. our waitress was really nice, but the food... meeehh...
(2)Marissa S.
We went to the Fat Cactus for Cinco de Mayo and loved it. It was great food, good drinks and a fun atmosphere. So we decided to go back with our parents for dinner one night. There were 4 in our party and we ordered a side of guac with chips to start along with a side of queso - both were very tasty. For dinner, I had chicken fajitas and it was just blah, boring, bland. It just wasn't good. There was no flavor. The rest of my party felt the same. The food just lacked flavor. The Fat Cactus is competing with the Border Cafe which is just right up the street and in my opinion, they are not doing a very good job. The Fat Cactus food just doesn't compare to the quality at the Border Cafe. I would go back and give it another try. Maybe the kitchen was just having an off night.
(2)Laura r.
We came here with a groupon because I was dying for Mexican. Well... We were seated and waited a full 14 minutes without a greeting before I told the server that no one had been over. The place wasn't even busy. The manager sent over another waitress who took our orders. She was pleasant. The chicken rollotinos were good. Odd, but good. I got the chimichanga with no tomatoes. It came with a ton of tomato. Everywhere. No use complaining, cause we didn't have anyone to complain to. The BBQ platter my husband had was ehhhh. Their "coleslaw" is WEIRD. Our table was in the middle of the walkway. They carried enormous trays over our newborn's head. And customers walked behind my husband and I. So close that one carrying a baby actually butted me in the head. And some lady knocked the corner of our table, almost spilling the drinks. Very awkward table placement. They did offer us free dessert. We got the "flan." It was actually vanilla bean cheesecake. It was good cheesecake. But it wasn't flan. The manager was helpful. And the waitress we had was pleasant. But we won't come back. The only reason they get two stars was the waitress. It truthfully felt like a very long episode of punked
(2)Jamie B.
Extremely subpar. Food was just plain not good - even the chips and salsa were nothing to write home about. I got a chicken enchilada, with rice and beans - everything was just blahhh. Don't let the crowds fool you (we waited for at least 30 minutes, and had tried in the past and left after finding that the wait was over an hour) - this place is not good. And to top it all off, service was awful. I think they forgot about us for a good while. To put it simply, I won't be returning.
(1)Stephanie V.
I've been dying to try out the Fat Cactus since it opened up here. Every Saturday my mom and I try to think of where we can go to grab lunch and every time we drive by the Fat Cactus AFTER lunch and say "Dammit!" Well not today! -Service: The woman at the hostess stand that sat us was super friendly. When we were walking out the door she called out to ask us how everything was and was just really nice. Our waiter wasn't the most personable of people but his service was prompt and he was really cute. Yeah, that earns points in my book. I'm a creeper. -Food: Holy guacamole! We got the guacamole app and it's like 3 cup of guacamole deliciousness. It was super creamy with big chunks of avocado. I could have eaten it for my meal. Salsa had a very fresh taste to it, like someone had just made it. I got a chicken burrito and I actually really enjoyed it. Rice and beans came on the side and were both flavorful. Mom got chicken tacos and also enjoyed them. I've had better Mexican food, but it was good. Drink - They had a pretty decent beer menu including everything for the Mexican restaurant standards (corona, dos equis, modelo, presidente) to the regular standards (sam, bud, ect.) They give you a huge wedge of orange in the sam summer. Decor - I think the best way to describe the inside of this place is... insane. They just took everything that could ever evoke the word "Mexican" (including some stereotypes - hello hubcaps) and put it in there. It kind of works though, in a crazy trippy kind of way. It's not stellar. There are other Mexican restaurants that I would go to above this. But for a good place to get a decent lunch, it's spot on.
(4)Jenny G.
For the past six months, my boyfriend and I kept hearing good things from The Fat Cactus. When we were finally able to find time to check the Mexican restaurant out, I was a little disappointed by the food and the service. The decor on the other hand was amazing. As we walked past the bar to be seated, sombrero hats coved the wall/ceiling, beer bottles made a partition between seating areas, and a massive collection of liquor bottles hung above our heads. We ordered a couple of drinks which took a little while to arrive (however, they were understaffed). To start we ordered the Pinchos Camarones which were described as large shrimp on skewers. For a ten-dollar appetizer I expected more. The shrimp were small and the rest of plate was filled with what looked like shredded cabbage. The entrees were okay except the waiter got both the orders wrong. I didn't realize mine was wrong until I got the bill. I ordered a Fajita Quesadilla just to get the guacamole, but instead I was given a normal fajita and then had to pay extra for the guacamole. Although the food was okay here, the service was not. A few times the waiter even pushed in my chair while I was in it without saying anything. And being a small asian girl, it's not like I was trying to take up a lot of room. Getting both orders wrong and selling overpriced appetizers is not something I experience often. When it's many mistakes and not just one, something is wrong here.
(2)Brenda T.
I have been to The Fat Cactus a few times now. I enjoyed it more when I was there for a large group function. The atmosphere was fun and the drinks were decent. But then when I went out to eat with my husband I was less than satisfied with the food and the overall experience. The place is nice and clean and the wait staff was very nice, but the food was not great, more like frozen food cooked on site. If you are looking for a fun place to have a drink or two it is good, but not much more.
(2)Josh G.
The best thing about Fat Cactus was the parking lot. This place served up was the worst crap I've ever had. The salsa tasted like ketchup, the chips were stale and salty, the margaritas were all sour mix, and my burrito tasted like it came from the frozen section. Seriously this stuff was a step up from low grade dog food. The service was lousy, and our waitress screwed up our order twice. Bottom line- Fat Cactus makes Taco bell look like authentic and delicious Mexican.
(1)Jeff C.
Servers were friendly, but if your going to try and be a Mexican joint, than doing make your margaritas from a mix, and make sure you Mexican beers on working taps. No one in my group of six enjoyed their drinks, whether they ordered a margarita, a pina coloda, or a Dos Equis...very disappointing.
(2)April P.
Mad cheap lunch buffet. $8 I think? Its not high grade Mexican but there are a decent amount of choices. I had some enchiladas, tacos, chips, queso, wings and a chicken leg. ha. the chicken leg has a cute name like a dinosaur, but it didn't taste that good. I don't really like legs though. The wings were quite tasty (prob the best part of my meal). They had a lime tang and spices but weren't too hot. I got margaritas once. They were inexpensive and tasted good. Getting here going southbound on Rte 1 is a pain, but its typical of Rte 1, they can't help it. I'd go here again for the buffet, probably in the summer- they have nice outside seating.
(3)Jeffrey K.
The tortilla chips tasted stale once they cooled to room temperature and the salsa was nothing but tomatoes and cilantro. While I didn't order anything specifically spicy, the rice was the spiciest thing on my plate. When I unwrapped my silverware, the knife was filthy. I ordered the Taco and Enchilada Platter with a ground beef taco and chicken enchilada. The taco was nothing but almost flavorless ground beef and cheese, and the meat in the enchilada had the texture and flavor of a brisket that has been cooking for five hours. The lighting was so dim in the dining room that I had to use my pocket flashlight to see what color the meat was to make sure it was chicken and not beef. My brother had to use my pocket flashlight to read the menu. He ordered a blackened chicken burrito (at least it looked like a burrito). The meat was not a real blackened chicken, rather it was diced chicken tossed in a blackened seasoning sauce after cooking. My sister-in-law was the happiest with her meal, a cheese quesadilla. I guess it would take actual talent to screw that up. Overall, I'm glad I tried the place, but together we agreed that there is no need to go back, if we're ever in the mood for Mexican on our way north out of Boston it'll be either South Of The Border or Chipotle Grill.
(2)Danielle S.
I came to the Fat Cactus purely because the location was close to the hotel a friend was staying at on Route 1. The Fat Cactus is a typical run of the mill Mexican restaurant. Bold decor, a vast selection of tequila and complimentary chips and salsa upon arrival. The thing that makes the Fat Cactus stand out from other Mexican restaurants is the service. The painfully slow and inaccurate service. While my party was seated quickly due to a low number of patrons at the time and the server greeted our table within 30 seconds, everything was downhill from there. It took close to 15 minutes for our server to return with our first drink order and an additional 20 minutes to place our entree order. We actually had to get up from our seats to get the attention of the hostess to ask where our server disappeared to. Our second round of drinks were not what we ordered but it took so long to get them that we decided an attempt to correct the mistake was not worth the wait. The only reason I give 3 vs. 2 stars is due to the management's attempt to rectify the slow service our party was receiving. A new server was assigned to our table and I could tell a valid attempt to change our impression of the establishment was in the works. The food was good and given our server's youthfully appearance I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was his first night on the floor. Thus, I think a second chance at the "Fat Cactus" experience is in order. Despite the slow service I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking to entertain a large group as this restaurant is more than adequately prepared to seat several large groups at one time. Whether the kitchen and wait staff can handle that will be up for another 'yelper' to determine!!
(3)Jr F.
The Buffalo Chicken quesadilla is delicious!!! Cadillac margarita was good too! Sam Adams Octoberfest on draft & live music!!! Felt like I was back in Fl listening to Kenny Chesney & Jimmy Buffet tunes on the patio.
(5)Lawrence M.
Ever since the sign went up along the road several months ago, I've been eagerly awaiting the opening of the Fat Cactus in Lynnfield. Until now, Route 1 has been sorely lacking a good Mexican food option - or really, any Mexican food option at all (The Border Cafe has good food at great prices, but it's really more a blend of Tex-Mex and Cajun than pure Mexican). The Fat Cactus took over a space that was once a Naked Fish (and then the ill-conceived and short-lived Lucille's "Fine" Chicken), but they've completely overhauled the decor and the vibe of the place is great. Old chrome wheels and hubcaps line the ceiling, loud chintzy-Mexican-print tablecloths covered every table, and we were seated next to a wall topped with stacked empty bottles of Corona. Loud and a bit over-the-top, to be sure - but very fun and festive. We were seated immediately upon walking in - one may think that's a little surprising considering it was opening weekend, but in reality it wasn't so surprising at all due to the fact that it was 10:30 PM when we arrived. And for the hour, the place was actually still pretty busy. Our server was very friendly and attentive, and even though the dynamic between all of the staff was one of barely-controlled chaos (again... opening weekend), everyone we encountered was beyond polite. Now, you may have noticed I haven't mentioned the food yet. Yeah, well, um... I've kind of been holding off on that. But I suppose in the end, I'm going to have to bring it up, soooo... it was totally average at best. And maybe a little below average at its worst. As soon as we were seated, we were served a bucket (no, really, a galvanized BUCKET) of tortilla chips with a totally enormous bowl of salsa. The chips and salsa were tasty and we didn't run out, so they win some points for that. I had a taco and enchilada combo (with a beef taco and a poblano & cheese enchilada) and my boyfriend ordered Chicken fajitas. My taco was fine... a bit bland, but fine. The enchilada was just a few degrees above room temperature and the cheese on top (and inside) was congealed. It was painfully obvious that this enchilada was not only constructed ahead of time, but cooked ahead of time, too. Not cool. My refried beans were fine, if a bit on the bland side (and also not steaming hot), and the Mexican rice was alright but not too flavorful. My meal would have been a lot better if it had all just been, well... heated up a little bit. Like, just raise the temperature of all of the food on my plate by about 20-30 degrees and I probably would have been a lot happier. My boyfriend's fajitas were hot and sizzling (thank goodness), but he said they also lacked flavor and that they were average at best. So here's my verdict: I'm giving this place 3 stars, and I'm gonna go back again in a month or two (or three). Basically, I'm planning on giving the kitchen staff some time to get on their feet and maybe work out some of the kinks - and THEN I'll see what they can really do. I'd suggest you do the same.
(3)Mark W.
We had a great experience at the Fat Cactus. Several friends and I sat in the outside seating area which was great. The service very good and the food was good. We all loved the drinks and we thought the price for the meal/experience was perfect. Go and enjoy!
(4)Jamie P.
HUGE portion sizes, great prices, their virgin drinks are coated with crystalized sugar & fruit & very authentic decor, nice feel
(4)Whiskey C.
I'll give them props for the effort; fantastic decor and branding, live music and decent array of margaritas. From the very beginning, the chips and salsa were not good. The salsa was less than mild- more like pasta sauce, ick. The young waiter was ok, he was very young and it was probably his first job, so I'll take it easy on him. We ordered the fajitas for two, and it was pretty good and a decent value which is why I gave 3 stars and not 2. We won't be back; any Mexican restaurant that doesn't offer molé on the menu is not anything worth remembering.
(3)Rose F.
Visited this place for the first time with some work colleagues. This was pretty good! I got an upgraded margarita ($8) that was perfectly made. She asked if I wanted a sugared rim. Such an easy thing to do instead of salt and it MADE the margarita! The free chips and salsa are delicious and the salsa is thick and fresh. I got a chicken burrito and the pulled chicken was delicious. I kinda wish it came with re fried beans instead of the pinto or black. For $8 this was a great deal and enough to bring home a few bites for the next day! Everyone else enjoyed their meal as well. Great service, good prices, yummy Mexican. It's not an easy to get to place as you have to go to the Walnut Street exit to turn, but it certainly made up for a little inconvenience. 4 stars
(4)James G.
We ordered the steak quesadilla and an order of boneless buffalo wings. The wings were ok and the quesadilla was not very good, my wife and I both had a stomach ache in the morning; we only had soda to drink. Overall the food is much better at the Border. The band was very entertaining and the atmosphere on the deck was fun. I just wish the food was better, next time we will go for cocktails.
(2)Kara L.
Love the live music and patio for margaritas. The bar is big and the drinks are delicious! I recommend the guacamole for anyone that likes avocadoes.. it's very fresh.. to die for!
(5)Dave M.
There's not much to say about The Fat Cactus itself, it's a pretty large area Mexican place with decent food and a pretty good envirement. Service is good for the most part, at least I thought it was until this happened. While having my 15th birthday at The Fat Cactus, a woman saying she was the owner started talking to us and basically tried to persuade me to play the somewhat nearby game (which by the way, costs about a $1 a play), and also self advertised the other place she owned, Bostonville. This went on for a while actually, I just wanted to enjoy my birthday. Maybe I wouldn't of thought about it as much if she hadn't gone up to us a SECOND time, while listening to the the live band to try to get me to play that $1 game. I don't care how much you need the money, you don't bother people like that. You ensured you won't get my business again.
(2)M P.
I wish I could rave about this place. It has all the making of a fun spot, good parking, wide open areas inside, great live music but the food bring this place down to dive bar (not dive in a good neighborhood way either). I've tried the place off and on over the past year or so always hoping things turn around. Latest promotion was "new cook, new dishes..". Unfortunately no change in the taste and quality of the food. Had dinner there with my girlfriend this past week to celebrate our 2 yr anniversary (we had our first date there, meeting for drinks) so thought we'd go back for dinner. First he setting, sat at one of the smaller 2 person tables just on the outside area. For some strange reason someone at Fat Cactus thought it was a good idea to have the small tables side by side with tall bar type tables. Basically when sitting at your table you have another couple not just right next to you but towering over you. If you're lucky crumbs from their food won't float down and land on your food. Than the table we sat at kept moving as if the base was broken (it was). We wanted to start with drinks, I had a beer and she asked the waiter what wine they had that had a hint of vanilla taste to it. The waiter was told by the bartender they didn't have anything like that but she could put a shot of vanilla into the wine - she (the bartender) was not joking around. Gives you an idea of what you're dealing with. I ordered the "special" a Chicken with chorizo and queso sauce. The only thing special about this was how bad it was. First both our dishes came out within 5 mins of ordering them, great speed but not a chance they were freshly cooked - and it showed. The chicken breast was more of a thin dried out chicken paddie and the chorizo was a sausage patty laid on top of the chicken than it was all drowned in queso cheese (which tasted like it was out of a bottle and microwaved). It was hands down the worst dishe I've had in a long time. This was something you would get at Denny's at 4am in the morning and regret eating as soon as you woke up the next day. The last time I was there for drinks on a Sunday afternoon the cops had to be called because one guy at the bar attacked another guy (mind you this was around 4pm in the afternoon on a Sunday) and the hostess ran over and started yelling at them "...what the F**k is wrong with you...there are F**k'in kids here...". She seemed to forget she wasn't exactly providing the best example either for the few families that were there. It's really too bad about this place, has great potential but never seems to be able to get it right. Most likely the problems start at the top, management. Seems like new management or a re-start is needed to clean house and do things right. Hopefully if they ever do fix all the issues they keep the live music. That part they got right. Right after our dinner and finishing our drinks my girlfriend and I took off and headed down the road to finish our evening out.
(1)Jim K.
Great atmosphere! Live music but not Mexican?? Had to return our first glass of tea as it tasted awful. 2nd glass was much better. Much prefer chips at Chili's or On The Border. Had fajitas. Chicken was tasty but refried beans were not. Very salty and not anywhere as good as other restaurants. Tortillas were stale. Wish we had checked its 2-star rating first on Yelp else would have avoided it. Next time we're going to On The Border in Reading.
(2)Sheena G.
I looked forward to the opening for a while. I just moved back from San Diego last year and miss Mexican food! I could see if there was only option for this type of food around..... maybe. But this was by far the worst dining experience in quite a while. They don't modify menu items, so if you don't want chili peppers in your enchiladas, too bad. They pre-make all their dishes and it tastes that way. The tortillas are most likely from Stop and Shop. They don't have re-fried beans and their version of pinto beans is similar to Boston baked beans - but not as tasty. There is bacon in a soupy brown disgusting cup with a few beans mixed in. Service is slow and tables are cramped. The atmosphere is that of a 10 year old's bedroom that she painted herself. Save yourself a big disappointment and go to Border Cafe down the street or even Chili's!
(1)Elizabeth T.
I'm from Arizona and I have to say this place was very nice. I was with a party of nine and we made reservations for lunch last Saturday. The decor is fun, the bar friendly looking. We sat on the patio and were treated very well. Charming wait staff, good chips and (very important) decent salsa. The meals were large and tasty. I didn't drink since I had quite a drive ahead of me, but others at the table had margaritas and seem to enjoy them thoroughly. Although the patio looks out on their large parking lot, on the other side are trees. The weather was great and we had lovely food and a great time. An easy, happy place.
(4)Ariel S.
It's Mexican food, so it works. The food was OK. Not very salty, and I didn't like the guacamole. The chips were good (if you like chips with little to no salt), the service was fast, and our waitress was very nice & speedy. The drinks from the bar took a while to come to us (about 10 minutes), but it was pretty busy around 6 PM on a Saturday night. I prefer Border Cafe.
(3)Bob S.
Horrible company to do business with if your a performing artist. Very disorganized and will never confirm bookings via email. Calendar on website is usually incorrect.
(1)Tulan K.
The place is awesome and very good food and cheap beer the spicy blackened fajitas were awesome ANC so was their salsa. Do visit it
(4)Jeremy S.
After we ordered drinks, our waitress checked IDs. "Oh, I love the new Mass ID," she said, in her North Shore accent. "The photos make you look so tan! I look like Snooki in mine." She was nice, though, if a bit overly-chipper. But that's par for the course at a Mexican restaurant in the 'burbs. The frozen margaritas weren't as strong as they could (or should) be, but the food wasn't half bad. They give you buckets (literally) of chips while you wait for your food, and they've got a nice outdoor patio too--a rarity for a restaurant along Rt. 1. There's live music most nights, but it wasn't anything to get super excited about. Good background music? Maybe. I'll give it that. Obviously, it's not going to be the best Mexican food you've ever had, and it certainly isn't authentic, but it's a good place to go if you like your portions big and your enchiladas smothered in sauce and cheese.
(3)Anahid M.
Great time. Great food. Great hangout.
(4)Chrissy H.
Let's not kid ourselves... the food is nothing to write home about. It's not the worst but it's certainly not the best. I have had fajitas there that were ok and my husband had the Cubano steak or something. He said it was fairly good, kind of generic, but I couldn't help thinking that he looked like some kind of farm animal eating out of a trough. Seriously, his plate looked like something a pig eats out of. The service is a bit unpolished. They need to go have a meal at their competition up the street (Border Cafe) and see how the pros do it. The margaritas are a bit on the sweet side but also not the worst. There's a lot of crazy crap on the walls. They have a little mini arcade in the bar room and a couple pool tables. But what this place has going for it is the outdoor porch. It has lots of little tables and comfy looking chairs and the best part... it's not facing route 1. Who wants to unwind with a beer after a long week at work next to a busy highway? Fattie's porch faces the woods (and the crazily crowded parking lot.)
(3)adam w.
This restaurant has the worst service I have ever seen. We arrived and there was no hostess. We stood there for about five minutes until a hostess finally arrived. She told us it was going to be about 25 minutes to sit outside but we welcome to sit at the high tables around the bar and there was no wait. We chose the high tables right next to the outdoor seating. There were only about 5 tables outside being used. The other 20-25 tables were littered with garbage that hadn't been cleaned up yet. As we looked around we noticed the entire restaurant was full of dirty tables. Against our better judgement we sat there anyway. The people at the table next to us were leaving and warned us that the service was terrible. After sitting for about 15 minutes, a waitress finally arrived to take out drink order. We placed our food order too. About 20 minutes later we finally got our first drink. We had been at the restaurant for over an hour. I orders a Margarita and my friend ordered a Pina Colada. These were two of the worst drinks I've ever tasted. We just got up and walked out. I can't rate the food because we weren't willing to stick around and find out. If the front of the restaurant was that dirty, I can't even imagine what the kitchen looked like. The waitress was very nice and very apologetic. She was clearly being overworked.
(1)Lisa C.
The food here was just okay. I don't know who got the "enormous bowl of salsa" because we literally had like a cup of salsa for the huge bucket o' tortilla chips. I ordered enchiladas, which were just mediocre. The rice was pretty amazing though. The service was below par. First of all, they ran out of menus so we had to wait about 10 minutes for someone to bring us some. Then, the waitress couldn't pronounce the word 'rice' so everyone at the table was like "No, not fries, RICE. R-I-C-E." So confusing...I mean, what kind of Mexican place would even serve fries? It really made no sense. The decor was fine until we got to our tables and had empty bottles hanging above our head. I don't get what that was about. I'm fun because I drink whole bottles of Cuervo? Or is it a statement about Mexico? I'm not sure, but it made me uncomfortable just like those chain places that have trash (i.e. old barrels and tin posters, etc.) on the walls. I don't want to eat in a place that looks like a landfill.
(2)Andrea K.
So since I use to work across the street from this place and watched it being redone I was eager to check it out but just recently finally made it to this place. After reading the reviews before going I was not expecting much which was a good thing cause I was not let down. Big parking lot but was completely full but was able to find a spot in decent amount of time, could end up waiting around and stalking people like you do at the mall for a parking spot. The decor is cool and different I do like the liquor bottles on the ceiling and the different hot sauces displayed at the front desk. Got inside and asked for a table of 2 and in a booth and we were told we would have to wait which was fine. We waited about 10 minutes and got a booth by the kitchen (fine whatever no big deal). Unfortunately the booth chair was dirty with wet salsa that I had to clean up with a napkin as well as cleaning up some of it off my pants. Our waitress came over shortly after we sat down (didnt even look at the menu yet) and took our drink orders. We got our chips n salsa which we enjoyed very much. +1 so far. We got our drinks and ordered an appetizer first and contemplated on our dinner choices. The menu is pretty generic nothing over the top wow or creative. I ordered shrimp fajita quesadilla and my boyfriend ordered a chimichanga. The peach margarita that I ordered was alright but could not taste the peach at all and could only taste liquor but it was good. We ordered the Queso Fundido for an appetizer cause we read that it was really really good from a previous review. I dunno what Queso Fundido they ate but ours was horrible. The cheese was very plasticy, that is the only word I can find! The chips that was served with it were very stale so we had to eat our chips from the salsa instead of what was served with the queso. After eating some of the queso I felt the need to brush my teeth cause I felt that the queso was stuck to my teeth like that slimy feeling you get...ick! My quesadilla was pretty ordinary nothing over the top but I didnt want to order anything that I was not going to like cause I was really hungry. There was about 5-6 shrimps in the quesadilla so for 12 dollars I expected more. The guacamole was decent nothing over the top again. My boyfriends chimichanga was very fried even though the menu says lightly fried it was VERY crispy. It was ordinary nothing over the top yet again. The rice (which someone RAVED about) was HORRIBLE. Worst rice I have ever tasted I dont know what else to say about it. The pinto beans tasted nothing more than BBQ sauce so that was rather weird! All in all the food was meh. I wouldnt come here again cause I dont think for the money (which isnt to expensive just normal prices) I would just go to taco bell and have tacos and get my mexican kick. The waitress was very nice and attentive and polite so A+ for her. Other than that I would hold off on coming here and just go to Taco Bell or for those people who love Border Cafe just go there instead.
(2)Enza D.
Good drinks. Not a fan of their food. We usually go here for drinks then drive down the highway to Border Cafe for food.
(3)Dante B.
Great food, great drinks. I have been back many times and always have great service.
(5)Sarah M.
I love Mexican restaurants, both mediocre and great ones. I end up at the Border Cafe most of the time, cause it's dependable and close by, so I was psyched when Fat Cactus opened - another option in the same grouping. Our first attempt to go there was insane. It was so packed, cars were parked all over the place, the wait was horrifically long, we ended up going to the Border Cafe instead. We decided to try it out on Memorial Day, since we had no plans and thought it would actually be manageable. So it was a nice day, all the doors/walls were open, and we asked to sit outside. They said there weren't any seats, and they walked us the other way to a dark dining room. I turned and looked and saw a free hightop half inside, half out side and asked to be sat there. Duh, if I ask to be sat out side, sit me as close to outside as possible. Margarita's were average once we finally got them ('member when I said it was dead? hhmmm), and the salsa was watery, and the waitress never asked if we wanted more when it ran out. To try things out, we ordered chili con carne as an app, and it tasted like sloppy joe. When dinner was set, our waitress never asked if we wanted another round even when our glasses were empty. My boyfriend ordered mole sauce with his chimichanga, and it tasted like gravy with some spices thrown in. I had a taco and an enchilada and the taco had no cheese, and the beef tasted gross.....cheap and fatty. I will admit that it was affordable, and the decor is great. The bar area looks fun. We would never bother eating there again.
(1)Ryan N.
This place is disgusting now. Was good a few months ago but food has changed... especially the chicken. It is that pulled pork looking chicken that you used to get for lunch in school. Disgusting. Service is a hit or miss... and the music is pretty overwhelming and also annoying. Do not go there... save yourself the money and time.
(1)Tony R.
The worst Mexican food I have had in a very long time. Tasteless dry reheated food don't go!!!!!!!!!
(1)Love P.
I wish this place was so much better serious for a Mexican place it suck the only thing this place has is a good out door space. For paying 9.50 on a drink for it to taste like sour mix is horrible . It says it has new food how about u get new drinks. I'm not saying that the should be strong but they should taste like ur having a drink. Border cafe is right down the street and are packed everyday of the week the people that own fat cactus should go down the road and learn something .
(1)Frank W.
Just returned to this restaurant after being away for 10 months. I have to say that i was disappointed. The live music was great. The service was horrible. Half my party ordered drinks and they were wrong both times after sending them back. The food was okay but nothing special. The waitress was so slow, table was left with plates on it so we couldn't even sit and talk. Sadly, I will not return to this restaurant again. We had to have the manager come over to correct the bill cause we still got billed for the drinks that tasted like salty watered down tequila slush.
(2)MARK D.
OMG It should be called the Big Fat Stinking Turd, Went there on a Wednesday evening about 5:00pm, Before the dinner rush-hour. Salsa tasted like canned tomatoes with some onion which we had to wait for even though there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. Main dishes were your basic burritos and enchilada's that had no flavor at all and tasted like they were pre-made. Which leaves me to wonder what advanced top secret scientific experiment are they using to remove all flavor from the food, Is this some sort of CIA operation to make our food so bland that we lose the will to resist any attempt for an uprising?...makes me wonder. Atmosphere was at best a colorful step up from Taco Bell...I only gave it one star because I couldn't give it a half!...Drink the water but don't eat the food!!! Update as of 7/23/12 Well I thought I'd humble myself and give this place a second try, and wow they didn't disappoint!!! They suck even more if that was even possible! Once more I was held up without a gun and taken for $70.00 for a meal that consisted of two stale, flat as a pancake, dry as sand quessadilla's, and a soggy caribbean salad made with canned corn and mandarins. It was beyond horrible! Never again!!! I hope when the owner of this operation dies, he's placed in a hell were he has to eat this shit food for eternity.
(1)Sean H.
This place has an authentic feel to the ambiance. The food was pretty good too. Will be back.
(4)Kevin M.
Average mexican food restaurant. Has a breakfast brunch buffet on sunday's.
(3)Meaghan K.
For a cheesy mexican joint the food was much better than I expected. I ordered the chicken chimicanga and it was delicious as was the rice and beans that came with. The salsa that came with the chips for an appetizer though had a lot to be desired, I love salsa and have tired soo many types so maybe its just my salsa snob tongue but it was as if they opened a canned of tomatoes and added some seasoning to it. The service was great and the drinks were great as well. My 5 dollar rita was fantastic.
(4)Todd H.
Although the food is not the most authentic (we are not exactly near the border, people), our dishes were delicious, especially the grilled shrimp appetizer, fresh chips and salsa, and sizzling fajitas. This is a great place to celebrate a birthday, especially with kids. The atmosphere is festive, the service is fast, friendly, and attentive, and the portions are very generous. We will definitely be eating here again.
(5)David C.
So after we were unceremoniously shunned at Polcaris (see previous review) we stopped hear and found it a delightful change of pace. Typical Mexican fare and drink selection, we had beef fajitas and Quesidiiias. Food was tasty hot and served with speed and courtesy. Atmospher very nicely appointed with Mexican theme. If you go take a moment to check out the display of specialty Tequilia's they have on display just in front of the reception desk. They have one that costs $154.00 a shot! Again great place to eat and certainly a refreshing change from the earlier treatment we had received. If you are on route one north- drive right by Polcaris, and try this place!
(4)Paul M.
Fat Cactus is a Mexican (?) place off of Route 1 apparently in Lynnfield, though I always thought that stretch was still Saugus. Who knew? Now, anyone who looks at the places I've reviewed thus far can probably get a sense that I love Mexican food; heck my profile picture is from Mexico. With that being said I'm not sure I'd qualify this place as "Mexican." It's more like Texan I think. Second, I've been to the place once, but that's all I'm going to be able to base it on as I won't be back. Maybe that's not fair, but I don't really care. Now, when you walk in there's a fancy case of tequila bottles with prices listed per shot. I appreciate when people actually list the price of their hooch. Nothing is more maddening than having to guesstimate based on atmosphere and going-market-rate for a commodity such as gin to get an idea as to how much you're getting raked over the coals for. The problem is, I'm not much into tequila but some of these prices seemed pretty dang high for a shot considering I know I've seen some of those tequilas before at stores and the bottles cost as little or less as the shot itself. But it's a restaurant/bar and they seem to love their booze here (I'll get to that in a second) and you gotta expect to pay a premium. The food here is mediocre at best. I realize I'm basing it on one visit, but neither my girlfriend or myself were served anything near great food and I'd venture to say it was quite a bit shy of even reaching good... passable is about as fair as I can be. I had a fajita and the chicken tasted fairly bland and the veges a little overdone. I can't even remember what my g/f had, but that's usually a bad sign. I remember the chips and salsa being okay. Now let's talk about the alcohol. We didn't have any because we were driving. That's something that bothers me about this place. It's on a highway, okay, so the only way to get there is to drive and drive fast. It's also on Rte. 1 which can be a nightmare. Why do places like this seem to focus on serving drinks? It all seems like a M.A.D.D. lawsuit waiting to happen. "But Paul," you may ask, "what do you think they're focused on alcohol?" Well aside from the display case of tequila you encounter before hitting the hostess stand, how about the fact that the decor of the place is comprised almost entirely of hundreds upon hundreds of empty Corona bottles on the booth dividers and empty liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling?? What the heck?? Did they rob a hobo trying to redeem the bottles?? Did someone actually drink it all pre-opening?? Well, probably because anyone who thinks that looks classy has to be drunk. I mean, if there was even a way to decorate the place with empties tastefully this place falls far short of that....the bottles are EV-REE-WHERE. They just better hope some kid (or boozer) doesn't think they're piñatas and crack one of the hanging Jack bottles sending shards-o-glass raining down. Look, I'm not opposed to drinking, see some of my other reviews, it's just this place is...I don't know...the place is just strange. Maybe it's almost a sense of desperation or something- like the place screams "SEE?!? WE LOVE BOOZE!!! WE SERVE OUR CHIPS IN TIN BUCKETS!! CLEARLY WE ARE FUN AND AUTHENTIC AND STUFF!!! PLEASE LIKE US!!!" It reminds me of the Margaritaville chain places in the Cancun airport...but less classy which is a coup in my opinion. The service was decent enough, though I recall having to wait quite a while for the check to get picked up and a refill on water. I guess the place is popular for either their drinks or for the lack of alternative Mexican in the area as every time we drive by their lot is PACKED- then again it may just be staff, when I was there the staff seemed to outnumber customers 3:1 which is odd considering the sluggish at times service.
(2)Susan H.
Ate there just last night and it was great! Everybody loved their Margaritas but I have to say the pitcher of Margs was a bit weak. The individual ones were great. The Sangria is always a hit, I always get a pitcher and am never disappointed. We did sit down to eat dinner, all 10 of us. The food came out in just the right time and all at the same time. It was fantastic. Everybody loved what they had, it was really good. I will easily go back. Oh and the ambiance is fantastic. So eclectic and colorful, festive and fun. The decorative painting is a real surprise. Loved every inch of it.
(4)Amanda K.
The only two things I liked about this place is the live music and the outdoor seating/decor... The salsa was boring, the refried beans were pretty much soupy, and the wine was ehhh.. The only reason I would go back is to listen to the man that was singing outside with his guitar. He made the night fun!
(2)Linda J.
I've been there three times and love more each time I go. The place is always hopping and the atmosphere is so nice. My date and I managed to claim a seat in the bar area. We went knowing it was going to be crowded and expected to wait. We didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a waitress to come over to take our drink order. Even when the bar area was so crowded, we weren't forgotten about for one minute. Our waitress was very friendly and on top of things the entire night. Their CHIPS and SALSA are the best we've ever had and can't wait to go back for EASTER DINNER! Also, I don't WORK for either the Border or the Fat Cactus where I think some of the reviews come from. Remember, if you choose a POPULAR restaraunt and go between 6-8pm expect to wait, ANYWHERE! Go see for yourself how good it is. I have to say my 2nd and 3rd experience was better than the first. We walked in a week after it was open and the women pretty much shouted "1/2 wait or more what's yoru name" and I told her that if she says HELLO first she'd be alot more pleasant. This is a new restaurant and like ANYTHING NEW it will have to be tweaked here and there.
(5)Noriko A.
The food is below average and the service is even worse. The mexican rice was not even edible, and the rest was very bland. The service was slow and what is worse is that a credit card was lost for an hour, with little more than an oh well from the manager. Won't be back, and wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Save the night out for Mexico Lindo or even Taco Bell.
(1)Greg B.
The restaurant is packed with tables, so the wait staff has to walk through little paths to get in between each table. The entire night consisted of some waiter carrying sizzling meals over our heads with one hand. It was by far the most distracting nerve racking thing i've experienced at a restaurant. it seems so dangerous. maybe the guy is good at handling trays, but if someone bumps in to him someone is going to get 3rd degree burns. it was the silliest set up I have ever seen. I also think a bus boy was put on as our waiter for the night. I had pointed to a beer and asked what type it was and he said "its a...beer". there was a moment of silence and then i said "ohhhh ok". anyway, I'm glad he explained that to me. I thought I was ordering a french fry. I will not be going back to this place.
(2)Dennis A.
I heard about this place a few months before it opened and I was actually pretty excited to try it. However, upon actually coming here that excitement quickly turned to disappointment. I came here about a week after the place opened. We walked in and were told that the wait was around 45 minutes, which was a little strange because I didn't really see anybody else waiting. So we went to the bar and got a couple drinks. Before we even had a chance to pay for our drinks we were told that our table was ready. This was literally less than 5 minutes after they told us the wait was going to be 45 minutes. But I wasn't going to complain about being seated quicker so we paid for the drinks and went to the table. As we walked to our table I noticed A LOT of empty seats and I immediately got the feeling that they are saying they have a long wait so that it seems like the place is busier than it is. I thought maybe it was just an error or a problem with communication, but I have since heard similar stories about exaggerated wait times being given. As strange as this was to me, it isn't going to cause me to give them a bad review. But having terrible food will and that's what this place has. I was actually really disappointed because I genuinely wanted to like this place. I wanted to have an alternative to going to the Border Cafe, every time I felt like "Mexican" food. But everything here was just bad. The appetizers were just bad bar food that was renamed so it sounded like something that should be served in a "Mexican" restaurant. For my meal I ordered the blackened chicken, and upon receiving it I thought I was given the wrong dish, because nothing about it looked or tasted like blackened chicken should. It actually didn't really taste like much of anything. The fajitas weren't any better, and even the chips were bad, tasting like they were just dumped directly from a bag onto the table. All in all a disappointing experience and one that I will hopefully never have to endure again.
(2)Jen D.
Let me first say, I didn't eat here, I only had drinks however, I will NEVER eat here. It just screams dirty. When we walked into the bar it smelled of garbage mixed with throw up, disgusting. We were just going for a couple of drinks so I let it slide, knowing I wasn't eating anything anyways. I am a HUGE mexican food/drink fan, and their excuse for a margarita and sangria is pitiful. My boyfriend ordered a house margarita, fully anticipating that it wouldn't be the best margarita because he ordered the "house", but it was completely undrinkable. It tasted like sour mix and Surge soda.. not anything like a margarita. The "sangria" was even worse. It tasted like grape soda mixed with puckers, I would be shocked if there was any wine in there at all. It's kind of a shame because the building is pretty cool with the outdoor section and music, but this is a dump that may be attractive for college kids or kids using their fake ID's who don't realize what a good drink is.
(2)Aaron W.
My girlfriend and I had a groupon to use here and really enjoyed it. I ordered the carne asada and she ordered some kind of stuffed chicken breast. We also shared a guacamole appetizer dip. The guacamole was average but my carne asada was cooked perfectly and had a delicious flavor. She really enjoyed the chicken too. My only complaint was the service was slow and they seemed to rush us along at the end, but we did come in at 9:20 on a Wednesday evening. There was live music in the bar area, two guys singing country music and they sounded pretty good. Likely we will be back again.
(4)Valeria H.
Hung out here today and have to say my head is still spinning from the odd music and tchotchkes all over the ceilings and walls. With that said, I was actually pleased with everything else. The service was prompt, knowledgeable and nice...we had a wonderful woman who just had it together. Their outdoor patio/deck was fun and seating was set up real well. The interior was interesting, almost like they are trying too hard to have that lived in feel...bottles hanging from the ceilings and used as wall dividers, sombreros stapled to the ceilings and red and green xmas lights too.. and a weird mural on each wall. It still was super clean with all this wacky business, which is a plus. The menu was set up well, and they offered a lot.. no tamales though, which are my fav thing on the planet. But oh well. They did have a page just for margaritas. So we had our children with us and they did offer a good kids menu, and super inexpensive. I ordered the chimichanga and my husband got the haddock veracruz, and the girls had the quesadillas... Even though the chimi was delicious and super fresh (and not greasy) I had dish envy for the haddock. It was real good and will get that if I go back. Even the children's meals were tasty and we substituted fries for the Mexican rice which was great. For drinks, I got the sangria and was real pleased with it. Very yummy and gave me that oh so necessary light buzz ya need after dealing with two kids all day. :P I would definitely try this place out, still new, super clean, the food was nice and didn't leave me feeling greasy .. my sangria was real nice..and this is way better than The Border super_salty_I'm_becoming_dehydrated_while_I_am_Âeating_there Cafe. haha
(3)Taz R.
I have been 2x and enjoyed myself. I went on a Thursday and sat on the patio. They had entertainment, Chad La Marsh, singing and playing guitar and he was awesome! Anyone who can play Nelly's - It's getting hot in here on guitar in a rock style gets my vote! LOL The chips and salsa they place on the table when your seated was ok. the 1st time I went the chips tasted stale. the chicken rollitos appetizer were really good. We got them for both visits. Their blackened catfish was delish. I actually ordered that both times because it was so good the 1st time. On our 2nd visit there was a fight at the bar LOL 2 older guys. The waitresses handled them well, roughing them up a bit and reminding them that there were kids in the restaurant. I luv'd that! LOL I have no real complaints about this place. I love the decor, the service and so far the food. I definitely plan to go back and taste something else on the menu. (probably for my birthday this month!)
(4)Thomas D.
The food was terrible, I went last night, I couldn't finish my meal, and had them take it away, and it was so gross. I start telling my friends about it, and it seems like everyone knows this place has gross food and the salsa is just too hot it's not even enjoyable, the funniest thing is, Border Cafe down the street is like a 5 star Tex-Mex restaurant, line out the door. The worst part of the night, I couldn't hear myself think, or have a conversation with the people next to me, there was a live band which never took a break, they kept singing and playing loud as can be, the music was all over the place, There were tons of these 50 year old women with plastic surgery dressed like they were in their 20s. Most ridiculous experience ever! The beer was great and cold, A+ for the Beer. The margaritas were like ice water with flavoring, good luck finding the alcohol. I won't go back, and I'm upset with my friends who took me here, and all my other friends that already knew the food was gross and never told me. Waste of money!! The place looks great from the outside, and inside, I was expecting so much more. If you want A+ 5 Star Mexican food, just down the street go to Border CAFE, it's simply outstanding!!! Mouthwatering food and it's worth every last penny. Good bye Fat Cactus, I will never go there again.
(1)Lou Ann B.
Made the mistake of ordering the Saturday lunch buffet....nasty. Food was dried out and tasteless. Had a food safety concern which was report to management. Won't be going back. Sorry.
(1)Don M.
Yeah, ok, the food was wasn't spectacular but it was tasty and not overloaded with cheap cheese and it was at least as good if not a tiny bit better than Border Cafe. It was super kid friendly which was great. Our waiter was excellent and I was worried because I read a lot of negative comments about the service. Maybe they were working out the kinks? Anyway, I would go back there again. Overall, a good experience. P.S. I enjoyed the salsa & guacamole!
(4)John C.
The Fat Cactus is a recent addition to the Route 1 dining scene. The name conjures images of the desert southwest and a blend of Mexican and American cuisine. Two subgenre's of this fare are tex-mex and cal-mex, neither of which are well-represented in the Boston-metro area. The Fat Cactus continues this unfortunate trend and adds a dose of confusion. The FC bills itself "A Mexicali Cantina." Okay, fair enough. They have set our expectations. But wait, the wildly painted restaurant has a picture on the wall of people dancing and exclaiming "Let's conga!" (Cue needle scratching over record.) The conga dance is neither Mexican or Californian. It's a Cuban carnival march. Uh oh, the confusion begins. The interior is festooned with bright colors and empty beer and liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling. The staff is pleasant and efficient enough, but neither the employees or the atmosphere can make up for the lack of continuity in name, menu or food. On the surface, the menu contains the usual suspects...burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and chimichangas. But things are amiss. I started with the "queso fundido." Traditionally this dish is served as a melted cheese with rajas (roasted poblano peppers) and Mexican chorizo sausage. It is scooped with a spoon into a warm tortilla. At Fat Cactus, it is what everyone else calls chili con queso. More confusion. And the kitchen staff really fell on their face with the queso. It was clearly microwaved, which by itself is not the ultimate sin, but they did not bother to stir the cheese. What arrived was a large bowl of melted cheese on the perimeter and a cold glob of less-than-room-temperature cheese in the middle. I give them partial credit for their burrito. The FC is one of the few restaurants in Boston to understand its traditional construction. Theirs contains meat, spices, onions and perhaps peppers. They leave the rice and beans on the side where they belong. I had the shredded beef burrito with tomatillo sauce. The texture of the beef was akin to pulled pork, very tender and juicy. But it shared something else in common with its porcine cousin...it tasted like barbecue. There was nothing remotely Mexican or southwestern tasting about it. In the end, it was not horrible but it failed to meet my expectations. I wanted 'south of the border' not south of the Mason-Dixon. A similar fate was met by the beans. They offer black beans (again, more Caribbean than Mexican) or pinto beans. Strangely, they do not offer refritos (refried beans). I chose the pintos. Those from the southwest would recognize them as frijoles a la charra. That is, a soupy pinto style soup/stew. The appearance was promising but the taste was wacko. I swear I tasted allspice or five spice powder. Did someone misplace the cumin? In the end I doubt I will go back. The Fat Cactus is just too confused and confusing. Someone needs to get it focused on the mexicali genre if it does not want to put more people off.
(2)M P.
I liked The Fact Cactus. I was eager to go there to see how it compares to the Border Cafe down the street (of which I am a huge fan). The menu was not as big, probably because it stuck to Mexican and the Border has some other options outside of Mexican. The service was great and the look was intriguing. There are cool liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling and we sat next to a wall of Corona bottles that blocked the view to the kitchen. They run out of food a lot. My mother went a week ago and they had run out of fish tacos. When I went we had salsa, but no chips for the first 10 minutes because they had run out of chips. Maybe it's because they don't anticipate such a big crowd? I couldn't say. Our server was thoughtful and fun. The food was decent and hot. I hardly got any pico de gallo with mine which was disappointing. Strong drinks! I could tell halfway into my margarita. Hopefully that lasts and isn't just to draw us in.
(4)Tom D.
The Fat Cactus is a gigantic over-the-top Mexican food haven. Brave of them to open up down the road from Border Cafe, which at least in my experience seems to have a loyal following, but the Cactus appears to be doing just fine. The parking lot is always packed when I drive by so they must be doing something right. A couple friends and I and decided to give them a go not too long ago. Walking in and putting our names on the list, we were free to sample margaritas while waiting for a table. I like a traditional margarita on the rocks with salt and the FC delivered. A tasty treat at a very reasonable price. They're not served in giant glasses, but for under six bucks, you can certainly justify getting a couple. I'm not one for expensive tequila, but I was impressed by the display of agave offerings in the glass cabinet in the waiting area. They've got some very high end stuff available, so if that's your thing, have at it. The food was three stars, nothing different or exciting compared to any other moderately priced Mexican place. You've got your tacos, your enchiladas, fajitas, etc. All the basics. I enjoyed my chimichanga for what it's worth, but again, there was nothing stand out about it. What makes the place fun is the decor, and for that, I'll bump it up to four. This place is tacky, loud, Mexican schtick. Sombreros, Corona bottles, and other stereotype-inspired art adorn the dining area. It's certainly a colorful setting. Service was decent on our visit. Entrees took awhile to come out, but our waitress kept up plied with beverage and chips/salsa while we waited. If you're a Border Cafe loyalist, give this place a try for a change of scenery.
(4)GN P.
The food, eh. On the boarder is well beyond these guys. The service - Lets put it this way. I left here a dollar on a 36.00 bill. Amazing how places like these stay in business.
(1)Mark A.
I'm giving it 2 stars. Like many people, we've been waiting for the restaurant to open for a while. I was craving Mexican and checked their facebook page, and low-&-behold, they were opening that weekend. We went, knowing that it was opening weekend and there would likely be some bumps. We arrived and there were a couple of people in the lobby area waiting to be seated. We put our names on the list and were told there would be a 20 minute wait. As we waited, my wife and I commented how it was odd that they had 5 staff members standing around at the host station almost the entire time, pretty much staring at the people in the lobby. 30+ minutes went by and I strolled up to the host with the book and asked how much longer. He told me it was going to be another 20-30 minutes. I looked into the dining area and saw that it was less than half full, and I decided it was not worth the wait. I find it hard to believe that they were understaffed opening weekend, especially with 5 people manning the host station. While I was anticipating a wait on opening weekend, I don't know what was going on that the dining area was so empty, yet they weren't seating people, and were soooo off on their estimate for seating.
(2)Madeline M.
The atmosphere is fun, all the servers I've had are nice. My favorite thing... The decor. It makes me smile everytime. It's super original, it's like mexico on crack, lol. Quite an experience. The food is ok, their apps are good. The queso fundido... holy cow! That bad boy is worth every freakin calorie. Their tequila lime wings are bomb. The lava flow is also great. At least the first time I had it. The second time... not so much, it tasted watered down and I could not feel the liquor. I love the fact that they have dessert, as I absolutely must have dessert, but sadly they are bland. When it comes to down to it, I like Border Cafe's food better, also on Rte. 1, but they have no dessert (laaame) and their decor does not keep me half as interested.
(4)Shaun P.
I am basing this review off of the 3 times I have been to The Fat Cactus. Round 1: The First time i went was in March when they 1st opened and I thought the food was great! However, since eating there two more times I am beginning to think maybe it was the margaritas talking! The service was sub par the first time I dined there but I thought to myself, maybe the waiter is new and he lost his job as a working professional and is trying a new job as a waiter. (I'm a born optimist). Well...we were ignored for the first 15 mins after we were seated. Round 2: So I decided to go back and try the Fat Cactus again in April and to my surprise the service we had was much better however the Fajitas I ordered didn't taste nearly as good as the first time! Oh death , misery, and despair, my hope and dreams were smashed to tiny pieces as I became sober to the fact this wasn't love at first bite! Round 3: Ding! Ding! It's Cinco De mayo, 75 degrees outside and let me tell you the Fat Cactus Club is the place to see and be seen. I was holding a table outside on the patio for my friends since 4:30 and I got a corona t-shirt, a mexican hat, a blinking corona necklace, and free tequila samples! The place is filling up and there's contests going on and raffles where the prizes included a free trip to Key West , bikes, Elizabeth Grady gift certificates, and lots of other really good prizes! There is live music on the patio and we are having a great time! However, we put our name it for a n outside dinner table at 5:00 and and was told it would be a hour and we weren't seated until 8:00! Thumbs down...and for that you are the Fat Lying Cactus! So after they over-promised and undelivered I took matters into my own hands by slipping one of the outside waiters a crisp Andrew Jackson and we were seated at 8:00. Money Talks! I can't really give a review of the food because we were only able to order appetizers out on the patio and weren't allowed to order entrees. The appetizers were good but then again after 4 or 5 drinks and starving I'm sure a Cactus would have tasted good by then. Stay tuned for the final Round 4 to come soon!
(3)Julie P.
If I could give it a zero I would. We really wanted to try this place but didn't because of the reviews on here. I saw a coupon in my email from living social or one of those so I figured we could use that and try it then. The decor is bright and happy and it looks like it might be a fun place to drink. We sat down and they brought over the chips and salsa. The salsa was watery and bland and the chips seemed like they came from a bag. I did not have a good feeling about this. I ordered a chicken quesadilla to play it safe and my boyfriend got steak fajitas. How silly of me to think you can't screw up something as basic as a quesadilla. It was HORRIBLE. I ended up scraping the, what can only be described as chewed up chicken and fake cheese out of the tortilla and just eating the tortilla because I was starving. My boyfriend's steak was tough and had no flavor. Even our drinks sucked.This place has made the top of the list of bad places we've eaten. Thank God I had a bag of Goldfish crackers in the car so I could eat something. I should've trusted my gut and stayed far away. NEVER again!
(1)Cynthia S.
Been there twice - one time during that afternoon after lunch, and most recently on a Saturday night. I sat at the bar to avoid the dining room full of families/kids (Saturday dinner after 6:30 for me is about relaxing, and so I know it's best to be in adults-only area for that reason). Bar staff is ok - can't say super quick or helpful, but adequate. The food is at best 3-4/10. Last time I had a quesadilla - it was good. This time I had the Santa Fe chicken with poblano sauce - the texture of the sausage inside was ground very fine and the sauce didn't have a lot of flavor. The side dish of vegetables was steamed red onion, squash and pepper- blah. It's Tex-Mex - how about some corn or an exciting tri-color pepper side dish? The chips/salsa are freshly made and warm so that was good. But I can't say I'm going back.... there are simply too many other outstanding restaurants in the area to return to a mediocre one.
(2)Mike H.
I havent had a bad time here yet. I have been here about 15 or so times every time the food is great and the drinks are even better. There is nothing better in the warm weather than sitting on that porch with margaritas and chips and salsa
(4)Jim S.
I've been to Fat Cactus a couple of times. Very disappointed with the service. The last time I went it was with some friends. We checked in and were told it would be about an hour, which was perfect because we were waiting for some additional friends to arrive. Less than half an hour later we were told they were ready to seat us. We told the hostess we were still waiting but she seated us anyways so we grabbed some drinks and aps. About five minutes later our waitress was openly complaining about our table in front of us. The time before that, our waitress seated us and took our orders quickly and efficiently, but she never came back! She had one of the guys from the back bring our drinks and food while she helped other people, which was fine, but she never came back to check on us. No refills of drinks or even a courtesy check to see if our food was ok. She threw the bill on our table at the end without a word. All in all the food is comparable to Boarder Cafe. Drinks at the Cactus are much better (especially the pitchers of margaritas!). Cactus has a slightly quieter atmosphere and live bands which is great.
(2)David S.
I love the look and feel and party vibe of the place. The outside patio looked perfect but after sitting at a table in the bar area for 2.5 hours waiting, our name was never called. Not that I can blame anyone though because the weather was PERFECT to hang out on the patio all night. I didn't eat but I had wonderful blueberry vodka lemonade which is made from their own homemade blueberry vodka and homemade lemonade. The place was JAMMED and so noisy that it was nearly impossible for the six of us to have conversations. The guitar player/singer did a great job when I could hear him over all of the people yelling.
(3)Jay M.
As someone who loves (and knows, having lived in southern California) real Mexican food, I can tell you, stay away. The food was mediocre at best. I really didn't have high expectations to begin and boy was I right. To start, the margaritas were awful. The first one I got was sickeningly sweet. The second one was also sweet but in a different way. They weren't served in traditional margarita glasses which was a turn off. Now onto the waiter. He was not friendly at all. He maybe said 10 words to us the whole time. Come to find out his girlfriend was sitting at the table next to us and he was too busy talking to her. He spend a good amount of time hanging all over her, hugging her right in the middle of the restaurant at her table. Totally unacceptable. While he was busy with his girlfriend, we sat and waited and waited and waited for our food. Once we got our food we were so fed up, we had a couple of bites and had the food packaged up. There is not much to be said about the food. It was boring, tasteless and poorly presented. I will definitely not be returning to the Fat Cactus and will stick with Chipotle or The Border Cafe.
(1)Michelle E.
I thought the food was good, although i didn't think there was much selection. The service was really good and i really liked the atmosphere.
(3)Mark S.
Went here 3 times. Once with my wife and 2 girls and the other times with friends. Its great! For those who have moved from the city to the burbs like us, it was a pleasant surprise. Still trying to fight going to Applebees and buying a minivan. Border Cafe thats right down the road is pretty good but I really dont have time to wait 2hrs on a Tuesday at 4:30 to get a table. Yes, its THAT busy. I guess the owners of The Fat Cactus went here and said, its crazy not to open something up! -Great outdoor seating: They open up the garage doors from the bar directly out onto the outdoor seating. There are nice wicker chairs and loungers. -Good food -Friendly staff -Great Drinks! -Fun atmosphere: A one man band was playing Jimmy Buffet songs which made it fun.
(5)Elizabeth M.
The Fat Cactus far surpasses 'The Border Cafe' any day- My fiance and I were eager to try the newly established joint since its quick change of hands- and boy, we were glad we did. While, there is no such thing as authentic Mexican food anywhere around here, this place serves up great "Mexican-American" fare. I love their blackened chicken fajitas, and my fiance enjoyed his chimichanga. He said it was packed with more than the usual Mexican knock-off. While the margaritas could use a little less sweetener, they are good-enough if you poor your water into it...so I guess too sweet. Overall, service is decent as long as they aren't too busy, the wait for us has never been long, and it beats any of its competition in the area! Ole!
(4)Mike M.
The Good: service and decor. Place is really cool looking inside. We had high hopes. The Bad: food and drinks, Food tasted very bland for a Mexican Rest. Also, the soda is not Pepsi or Coke but some local soda company. Their regular cola tasted bad, real bad. We didn't hang around long.
(2)Maggie C.
Glorified dog food, with extra salt. Even the soda tastes like shit.
(1)john g.
We had lunch there today, couldn't get near the place last night. Sat outside , which was nice. The decor is definitely interesting, not sure about the bottles hanging from the ceiling though. Very colorful and the bar seems like a fun place to hang out. They have an extensive margarita menu. The service was awful..the young fellow handling our table, and the other couple of tables in the area, was completely clueless. After waiting for a couple minutes we had to ask for a server, and when he did come it was nothing but apologies. We ordered drinks and they took a long time to come (beer and sangria, nothing fancy), but he did grab them after about 10 minutes and a reminder (delivered with more apologies). The place wasn't crowded but other patrons were also complaining that the server was missing in action and they wanted drinks, food, their bill etc.. (oh, and more apologies). The food was ok, not exceptional, but tasty. My GF ordered salad dressing on the side so she could control the portion, but the salad was drenched. We mentioned this to the server and got a nice big helping of apology (it was on the house). The prices were reasonable - $34 for two meals and drinks. There didn't seem to be a lunch menu, which would have been nice. The patio was definitely a selling point. Given the poor service during a relatively slow lunch period, I can hardly imagine the chaos that must ensue when the place is packed.
(2)P S.
We attempted to eat at the Border Cafe on our way back from Boston but it was an hour wait for a table. So we continued North & came upon Fat Cactus. Although the place was pretty full, there was no wait for 2 people. We got a pitcher of Margaritas - a little too much for 2 people! Very tasty. Then we got a bowl of queso dip to go with our warm chip. Nice. By the time we got through that & most of the 'rita's, we ordered dinner. The shredded beef enchiladas were pretty tasty as was the rice. Good atmosphere, good service, decent food - we will return.
(4)Lisa A.
By the 2 star rating, it's safe to say I will not return to the Fat Cactus. I had a Groupon, so we gave it a try. We were seated relatively quickly and I found the decor interesting. I kept thinking about how many livers all those empty bottles booze hanging from the ceiling must have fried. They must make a good margarita here, right? So, I ordered one. Meh at best. It was watered down and weak. For dinner, I ordered the chicken enchilada and beef taco dinner. The chicken enchilada was OK, but on the small side. The rest of the plate was a disaster. The refried beans were nasty and runny. I was going to make a reference to the flu, but I'll stop there. Totally unappealing. And the beef in my taco was pureed and pasty. One bite and I was done. I left with almost a full plate and hungry. So did my daughter. She had a cheese burger and it was overcooked and tough. Only a few bites were taken. Even the fries were "off". Soft and barely cooked to heating. And for her dessert, we had to go to a freezer chest at the front desk to pick it out. Kind of a pain in the @ss when you have small kids.
(2)kelly m.
The only reason I can give this place 2 stars is because they have some awesome live music on certain nights and their atmosphere in the summertime with their open deck is to die for! However....should you get a table in the bar section of this establishment, beware it may take FOREVER to get a drink, or even your food. This is my first non five star review on yelp with good reason. I had friends from Maine visiting to see a really good band at Fat Cactus back in December...the cocktail waitress was not friendly at all, not attentive in anyway. We had to ASK for drinks, and refills (alcoholic), we had to ask for plates for our appetizer which came out 3 minutes before dinner...we had to ask for silverware and when I asked for Bleu cheese to go with their buffalo chicken quesadilla the waitress never came back and I had to ask another, very nice and polite food runner, to grab us some. We got there at 6pm and didn't leave until midnight or later. We had a well over $300 tab of food and drinks and this could have been alot more as we were buying drinks for alot of friends that evening. However the waitress couldn't have cared less about being attentive or getting us more drinks. I was a waitress for 7 years, and if you are going to do that as a job, you need to hustle, and get people their drinks and food,..it's literally the easiest job on the planet and you can make a TON of cash doing it if you aren't lazy. This place has so much potential and just needs to hire and train better people.
(2)Claudine D.
This was my second time at the Fat Cactus, there was a group of 10 of us. I was troubled that they didn't take reservations for a large group, when I called they said they couldn't reserve a table, but they were ready for us anyway, which was very unexpected. Although the hostess staff was great, our waiter left a lot to be desired. He may have been new but he didn't seem to have a system. It took a long time for him to bring us chips and salsa and get our drink menu. He really couldn't judge when we were ready and when we weren't. That being said, overall it was a good experience, not great but not bad either. We sat in the main dining area, the tables were so close together that I could not get out to use the rest room without having 4 of our party get up and move, and disturbing the party next to us. Ok on to the food and drinks....The watermelon margarita was fabulous! The chips and salsa are really good. I hate salty chips so these were perfect. The salsa was very fresh tasting. I had the beef fajitas, they were just ok. The meet was not really seasoned at all so it had a bland taste. There was one strip of pepper in my peppers and onions. The side dish of condiments that comes with the fajitas left a lot to be desired. There was lots and lots of lettuce and cheese, but a very small scoop of pico de gallo and sour cream. The guac was just plain gross! I have never had guacamole that tasted that bad. In summary, its a fun place, good drinks, but there is much better mexican food in the area.
(3)S P.
We went to the Randolph site two nights ago and I had to write this review. We entered the door through the Comfort Inn Hotel, and it leads you directly to the Bar. Since it was a weekday night, there were only a few people drikning by the bar and playing video games. No host to welcome you. It took sometime to find the host and got sat down. The waitress was nice, though. We ordered Combinación de la Cactus, the potion is huge, chicken wings were good, so were the Beef Empanadas but the Ribs were cold inside. Then, we had three main courses: Beef Fajitas, Chimichangas and Bandido Baby Back Ribs. Beef Fajitas came to table with a dirty cover of the iron handle, which smelled grese and look so old that it was a immediate turn off to me. And the beef was too tough, onion burnt. My son had the Chimichangas, he said the main part is fine, but the Guacamole tasted wired. I took a bite and can't believe it was sweet. Very wired. The re- fried beans were cold and tasted like directly came from a can. Ribs looked old and did not warm through inside. We were totally disappointed. Will not return. The deco of the restaurant was not plesant. The entire experience feels like the first part of TV show "Restaurant Impossible". I will not recommend anyone go there before they make a major improvement: how about prepare food fresh. Everyone knows the basic Mexican Restaurant staple foods, Salsa and Guacamole but this restaurant has even failed both.
(1)S B.
Went here once, was unimpressed. though the wife seems to like it, the food seemed lacking of flavor. Save your money and take it to border cafe instead
(3)Diane E.
Generic Mexican food that seemed to come straight from the freezer or the can. The chips were great, warm and salted, but the salsa seemed to be made with canned tomatoes. I do have to say that my Caddy Marg was nice, served on the rocks with salt. It was a decent size and I could taste the tequila. Perfect! But the food was airport quality... Bland and Boring! We ordered the fish tacos and the chicken fajitas... both sub par. Our server was efficient but seemed to be annoyed by waiting on us. Mr Personality, nothing wrong with Hello and a smile! Still searching for a decent mexican place with a that serves a good Marg!
(1)Fil R.
Don't waste your time. This place is destined to wind up failing just like the myriad of restaurants that have previously belonged to this location (Naked Fish, some chicken joint, etc etc). I am not a huge fan of mexican but once in a while it's nice so I said let's give it a shot. There is nothing to differentiate it interior-wise from the Border Cafe or the previous Tequilas up the road or any other typical Tex Mex. Place is so bright you can practically get a tan..no ambience whatsoever. Ordered the most expensive thing on the menu which I think was some sort of chicken-rib combination and the chicken was dry and hard..very difficult to cut through. I pointed this out to the server who comped the meal and apologized (which was impressive), but I have no desire to go back. For decent mexican in the area go to Mexico Lindo in Melrose.
(2)Diane W.
This evening at 5:45pm me and my family came to your restaurant for the first time. We were seated at a dirty table and your hostess apologized and cleaned it. We ordered drinks and a guacamole appetizer from Devon our waitress.Fifteen minutes later we inquired about our chips,salsa and guacamole and she apologized and got use some chips and a black 2oz pc full of guacamole and walked off? Ten minutes later my daughter inquired about our drinks and appetizer for the second time and Devon apologized yet again but wanted to take our dinner order. Ten more minutes and no food or drinks we stopped Devon and asked for the manager . She came back and let us know Dawn was busy and would speak to use later. As your manager never appeared we left your establishment hungry but with the $120.00 still in my pocket.In this ecomony can you really afford such costly mistakes..
(1)Jeff S.
Ok .. lets start with the positives first. The service was excellent!!! Our waitress was extremely helpful and had a smile on her face the entire time we were there. She was constatnly refilling our drinks and was more than happy to grab anything extra that we asked for. Additionally, I really appreciated that there was a manager (or maybe owner) at the front door when we left who asked how everything was. Aside from the fact that I would have felt horrible explaining to her how bad the food was ... I still appreciated that someone bothered to ask the simple question "how was your meal"? Also, they have a ridiculously large variety of Tequlias, and if you wanted to go there boozing, my guess is that you could have a very good experience. As for the food we ordered: Fish Tacos (smelled awful when they came to the table -- almost as though the fish was old), a children's cheeseburger (tasted awful ... my daiughter took a bite and wouldn't eat any more, my wife thean tried it to see what was wrong and decided that it could be considered "abuse" if she forced anyone to keep eating it), "shredded" beef tacos (Beef was actually cubed chunks as opposed to shredded ... my sister-in- law picked at one of the tacos and quickly decided that it wasn't worth trying to eat), a chicken chimichanga (average at best, definitely loaded down with chicken, though there were more than a few "nasty"/questionable looking pieces inside it that were better left uneaten, and 1 lunch buffett (a step up from the buffet that Clark and Uncle Eddie visit in Las Vegas during the moving Vegas Vacation ... but that isn't saying much is it??? On the whole the buffet was ok, ultimately I had that instead of a plated meal becuase I figured I could pick my way through multiple things and find something that I enjoyed. Instead, I tried 3 or 4 things, thought they were all "so-so" and ultimately decided to just stop eating instead of filling up on food that wasn't worth the calories.... Unless I was going to go there to get drunk or listen to the live music at night, you would have to pay me a lot of money to go back there to eat.
(1)Lindsay C.
Fat Cactus....well I left feeling fat. This place is not too bad for Boston Mexican fare. Seems like the further you get from Mexico the worse the authenticity gets. But Fat Cactus made me surprised and happy. Ordered up a round of Shrimp Fajitas and they were Yumm-O and a large Margarita made with Patron Silver...it wasn't too weak but the lime flavor def wasn't there; it was kindda watered down tasting. I didn't partake in the "Tequila Wall"...mainly because, once you were seated the wall was but a memory...literally...there was no listing on the menu of the tequilas. You literally had to get up from your seat and waltz across the restaurant to the lobby and figure it out for yourself. The waitresses didn't seem to carry the list by memory either :-/ But other than that the experience was nice, food was good and the live singer out on the patio wasn't too bad at all! My girlfriend and I had a great time hanging at the Fat Cactus...and I would go back for sure.
(3)Sarah D.
I usually come here for the bar. It is large enough typically we can find seats right away. The margs are usually good & the food is decent. It's not a bad spot to stop for a couple drinks & appetizers.
(3)Lauryn C.
Good. Not great. Spare yourself the mediocre food, service and atmosphere and go to Border Cafe. You'll save some money and enjoy the food much more at Border!
(2)Cathleen C.
Not the best, but not the worst mexican food around. Great, strong margaritas. The outdoor patio is nice, as is the decor and bar area of the restaurant. Cool place to hang with friends.
(3)Jamie B.
Love the Fat Cactus! The first time we went we didn't have the best service, but that has certainly improved and we keep going back for more. It's usually pretty busy, but I don't mind waiting if I can find a seat on the porch where they have a walk up bar and cocktail service! The food is pretty good, but the decor really makes you feel like you are in a completely different place. It reminds me of my trips to Mexico or the Dominican or Bermuda even. I can't explain it except to say that it does not feel like you are on Route 1!
(4)Stephanie S.
ate at fat cactus a few weeks ago and it was awesome. great extensive menu i had a hard time choosing my entree. they start you off with a big bucket of chips and salsa and we got the guacamole to start. guac was a lil on the pricey side and took about 15 minutes to come out but totally worth the wait. waitress was sweet and did a great job at keeping us happy. i ended up with the blackened chicken and omg was this dish flavorful....the spices on the chicken were the perfect blend of spicey and the pineapple salsa on top was great. had it for lunch the next day as well!!! i would totally go back again.
(3)JOAN S.
regret that I can't give this place half a star! We went to the Border Cafe but, as usual, it was packed! There is a reason for this! GREAT food GREAT service. Something the Fat Cactus has no clue about! We sat at a small table in the bar. We kept looking around for a waitress. As I was about to ask the bartender if there was a waitress assigned to our table, she finally arrived. We ordered 2 Pacifico beers. It took a good 15 minutes for them to arrive......and we were sitting in the bar side!!! The place was only sparsely populated so there was really no good reason to have waited that long. We got a pail of chips and salsa....the salsa was bland...certainly nothing to write home about and the chips were not fully cooked. Kinda rubbery actually. We were looking at one guy at the bar who ordered a fajita. It arrived and wasn't sizzling at all so we decided not to go with one of those. In the end, we ordered a bowl of chili each, and some guacamole on the side. Then we waited and waited and waited and waited....I remarked to my husband, "How long does it take to put some guacomole in a bowl? Certainly, the chili is already made up, why the heck is it taking forever?" We were puzzled. Well, 20 minutes later our food arrived. ONE bowl of chili and a side of guacomole!! I said, "We each ordered a bowl of chili." "oh gee, sorry....I'll bring another bowl." And, by the way, NO SPOON!! I told my husband I will share my chili with him while he waits for his to arrive. We took a bite and it was only a few degrees warmer than room temperature! I was getting pretty pissed at this point. I couldn't believe we waited 20 minutes for a cold bowl of chili---that we had to share no less! After about 5 more minutes my husband's chili arrived. Again, cold. We drank our beer and couldn't wait to get out of there. That was another problem....once our food was finally delivered the waitress never came back. I had to ask another waitress to please find her. She finally came over with the bill and asked if we wanted to take the food home. Obviously, we declined. She put the bill on the table and left...Well, here we go again! After 10 minutes, I asked the bartender to please run my credit card for me. She said she would go find our waitress for us after which I replied, "Good Luck!" I wrote a note on the back of the bill for the manager to see but he probably won't care if this is how he is running his business. I left her A DOLLAR TIP!! I have never done this before and we go out a lot to restaurants and are well known as very generous tippers. I was disgusted with the place. It was our First time eating there and I can assure you, it will be the LAST! We didn't want to wait 20 minutes for a table at the Border Cafe but, if I had known what our experience at Fat Cactus was going to be like, I would have waited 40 minutes or more to get a seat at the Border. The Border Cafe cannot be beat! That's why it is always packed with people. We love it there!! Save yourself the aggravation and go to the Border Cafe!!!
(1)Jen H.
I have been here about two times. As I view it, this place is great for summer time fun. I usually sit on the porch and have drinks. I have ordered dinner every time but I can not remember anything about dinner. I remember always feeling slightly disappointed by the choices on the menu. If I went here during winter, I think I would just be annoyed. So I would say go to this place if u want to sit on a porch (which is very crowded during peak times) and sip on some drinks during the careless days of summer.
(3)Stefanie G.
I am really happy to see a business doing well in this location.....it's been years since I've driven by and seen a full parking lot, so I had high hopes! ATMOSPHERE---Busy appearing, but okay. I liked the footprints all over the place, but didn't understand the flip flops. Either way, as I said, it was busy, but suited the style of restaurant. I also LOVED the garage doors that allowed for the outside seating to feel part of the resstaurant. SERVICE---sigh---One bartender, Tiffany, seemed like she had her act together, but it's a pretty big bar and she had trouble remembering to check on us. HOWEVER, she wasn't even the one initially taking care of us! There was a guy, never caught his name, that should probably stick to waiting tables. He was nice, polite, had a sense of humor, but couldn't do all of the mlti-tasking things bartenders need to do. Like (in our case) change the tv, make our drinks, order our food and still take care of other people. FOOD---We were prepared to have a full meal here until things started snowballing. The above mentioned service, the having to flag down someone (not either bartender) to get us chips and salsa and the quality of the DINOSAUR LEGS. Now, these are some kick-butt legs....they are full legs of chicken, perfectly cooked and beautiful in appearance served with homemade bleu cheese dressing that was to die for. But, once we got to the end of one leg our lips were puckered from all of the salt. It was inedible.....well, for me. My husband had 3 and then we took 2 home and rinsed them off and grilled them---then they were great. At this point I was totally over the food there so I was done but my husband wanted to try a taco. Once we got the bartender to notice us and taught him where to look on the computer for just one taco, not a platter, we figured it would be just a few minutes for the ONE taco. In the meantime I should hit on the salsa....we LOVED it. It is very, very different than most because they use fire-roasted tomatoes and add a ton of pepper, but we both really enjoyed it! Okay, so 15-20 minutes later the taco arrives....chopped up steak had a fantastic flavor, but weird consistency. The tortillas were chewey (per my husband) but I actually like mine like that because it typically means they're homemade....he didn't like it. The pico de gallo on the side was fresh and had a perfect blend of jalapenos, onions and tomato but that was it.....could have definitely used a little salt and cumin. Anyhow, we'll probably go back but we will have very, very low expectations. It's just a great place to go in the summer with the doors wide open, the Sox on one of the many tv's and some good chips and salsa. Oh, and I should add that the house margaritas are made from a tap of premade stuff......fine by me! You never know how a bartender is going to make a margarita, so this made me happy!
(2)D P.
Fat Cactus opened up recently on Rt 1 north, Saugus/Lynnfield line. I went there on a opening night, and I loved their chips and fresh salsa and the drinks/food was really good. Very comparable to Border Cafe. I have been there several times afterwards and the food quality has been going down. Their salsa uses canned tomato, and their food is just not that consistent. The bar area is pretty large, so it is fun to go there for drinks and they do have a lot more variety of drinks compared to Border Cafe, but food at Border Cafe is just fantastic.
(2)Lisa H.
i love this place..eveything was really fresh ..the border is just boring and u feel very rushed..the cactus was very relaxed and fun ..
(5)Kim G.
I visited the Fat Cactus over the weekend and overall was not pleased. I went with a group of about 15 people and we went to the bar/patio area. Even at 7pm it was very difficult to get service, we found ourselves actually waving at the bartenders for attention. None of the staff that interacted with us seemed happy. I felt like my drink request was an annoyence to them? We tried to move to the patio and when the ajoining patio seat opened I immedietly started to move chairs to accomodate us. A waitress came over and instead of offering to help or clean the table and take the check that was left, she told me that my party cannot stand in the path? Wasn't I trying to solve that problem and explained that to her. I would have understood her immediate request more if there were other people in the patio area but it was practically empty. Maybe the staff is angry because they aren't getting enought tips. Here's an idea, try smiling or offering to help, even if busy, apologize for the wait? Next time I organize an event, it won't be there. Nice job Fat Cactus.
(3)Todd P.
If you are thinking about going to Fat Cactus, keep going and drive back to Saugus to go to Border Cafe. I'm not sure which was worse, the food or the service. I ordered Chicken Fajitas and my wife ordered Blackened chicken fajitas. The food runner brought the food and reversed our orders. We kept asking him which was blackened and he kept pointing out the wrong ones. When we tasted we knew they were wrong order. I asked the waitress, she picked up the plates and switched the plates in front of us. i then asked here if I could switch my order to blackened, she said she could probably have them re toss with spice. I said no. I was annoyed at this point. Then, our Rocket Scientist waitress came out with a container of spice and said, I could pour this myself to make it blackened. I sent it back and sat patiently while my wife and kids ate. The manager never came over to see what the issue was. The waitress never even brought refills for drinks. I will never go back. Please go to Border Cafe instead. You will never have a bad experience there. I am 38 and have been eating at Border Cafe since I was a kid and they were next to Hilltop! When we left, the hostess did not even say thanks for coming.
(1)Serena D.
Stopped by there for dinner because of the interesting name. This restaurant is spacious, and they have outdoor patio. The service was kind of slow, and unfortunately, our waiter lacks the knowledge of food and drinks. And he kept forgetting what we asked for, like napkins, extra plate, etc. The food was actually good, I liked the fajita, and the wings were good, but I can't say anything good about their nachos and burritos. I might go back, or might not :(
(3)Danielle G.
I've wanted to go here for a while, since they always have a deal on Groupon. I should have went on Yelp first and looked at the reviews, but I was starving and wanted to get going. Big Mistake. The restaurant looks cute from the outside, though I'm not a fan of the LED signs. Inside, I got a bad feeling. It has a run down sports bar vibe. We were led into the dining room which was wall to wall TV's. It looked sort of odd and creepy to me. The hostess wasn't terribly friendly ("What do you want?" she said, without greeting us.) but we got seated right away. But the hostess was a saint compared to the waitress. She could compete with the best of them in Paris. She comes to our table and says "OK?". I assumed that was shorthand for 'What do want to drink?' So, I order my drink, and my husband mentions to the waitress that I prefer frozen margaritas, which they advertise on their LED sign outside, by the way. She gives me a very dirty look and then lectures me about how frozen margaritas taste very watered down compared to on the rocks and then says, "On the rocks or what?" I said no, sorry, but I prefer frozen. She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. Then when my husband ordered his meal, he asked for a double order of Spanish rice with no beans, which he does all the time at other Mexican places and they have no problem with it. She does the sighing and rolling her eyes again, this time at my husband, and says, "We DO NOT do that here. You get either black beans or refried beans, no extra rice. Got it?" I have no idea why she was giving us attitude because it wasn't exactly busy in there. In the dining room there was three families sitting down, about the same number at the patio and no one at the bar. And we hadn't even gotten served yet. We got a bowl of chips and salsa. The chips seemed like stale supermarket chips that were heated up and the salsa was canned tomatoes doused in hot sauce. The salsa was way too hot for me and since we had nothing to drink I only had one bite of a chip. My husband thought the salsa was okay but he said the chips sucked. When the waitress returned, my husband requested that we have mild salsa too, but she said, "You can't custom order salsa. If you don't like it, don't eat it." When he requested our drinks again, she sighed and stomped off. Luckily, a much friendlier man served us our food about five minutes later. We asked for our drinks again, and he said he would track them down for us. He got them right away, but I have to say I was disappointed in mine. I know I was warned but this drink had zero alcohol. It tasted like a slushie with a bit of lime in it. My husband got the same drink, only on the rocks and he said his tasted really watered down too. The only good thing is we both liked our meals. I ordered the Caribbean Shrimp Salad and it tasted fresh with just the right amount of dressing on it. The shrimp tasted like they were previously frozen but they weren't too bad, I guess. My husband got one of the steak burritos and it looked really burned, but he said it tasted delicious. I had a piece of the steak and it was pretty good. The waitress came by to check on us, once trying to grab my plate while I was still eating, but when we opened our mouth to request refills on our drinks, she took off. For dessert, they had a 'special of the day' but the man who served us our food didn't know what it was or that they even had a dessert of the day, so we just ordered fried ice cream. It was delicious and the perfect amount for two people. It was probably the best part of our less than stellar experience. The waitress handed us our check soon after, but when my husband tried to give her his credit card, she took off without it. She never returned so we had to flag down the hostess in order to pay. When we left, there was no goodbye, have a nice day...nothing. I think this is the first time I've given a restaurant one star. The food wasn't bad but I don't think it makes up for the atrocious service. If you want to try eating here, be my guest, but if your waitress is a 50ish looking woman with giant black glasses and a very dark spray tan, I strongly suggest you walk away. I'm definitely not coming back here, that's for sure.
(1)Dan R.
Generic food, poor drinks, Horrible Sangria. The hostess opened the garage door over our head while we were seated spilling all kinds of dust, insects and debris onto our drinks and food. Totally inconsiderate. This could have been done after we departed. We mentioned this to her and she didn't seem to care or give any consideration. Our server was decent. Broken chairs dirty moldy booths outside. This place has the potential. Great outdoor seating and entertainment visit very comfortable. You can tell the ownership and management don't care much about this place. Cobwebs, dirt, dust, no oversight. I hope to see them improve because they have potential.
(2)Kristen D.
Stopped in here on a Friday night and was not at all busy, though the hostess seemed overwhelmed and didn't even greet us, just ran us to a table. We started with the chicken wings and both enjoyed those. I got the Spicy Chicken Ranchero burrito, which was indeed very spicy and really tasty. My friend got a chimichanga, but didn't finish or take it home. Even though the portions were pretty large, we went with the fried ice cream for dessert - pretty standard. Overall, if in the area, I would stop in again but probably wouldn't go as out of my way as I did that night.
(3)Gustavo S.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with the reviewers that gave this place a low rating. I only went here once because I had purchased a Groupon deal and I was very disappointed. The place was very empty which is always a bad sign. Also, the service was slow and the food was very bland. There was a strong smell of sewage that came either from the carpet or from the kitchen. This place also looks old and is due for a renovation. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone.
(1)Em B.
Went here with a friend and got a groupon. The drinks were good, the food was good, there was live (enjoyable) music, but the service was so, so, so bad. I try not to give 1 star reviews but they deserve it. First, we sit at the bar for a little less than ten min before a bartender said she would be right with me. Keep in mind this place was not busy at all, there were 3 bartenders and not a lot going on. So when the waitress gets to us about another 7 min later we ask for a menu and were given one which they have big menus but usually people don't share a menu? my friend ordered the tequila lime wings to start. the bartender brought chips and salsa and spilled the salsa. when we wanted to order our drinks we had to keep waving for her to come over. keep in mind there we're 2 other people behind the bar washing dishes etc. why are people washing dishes and not paying attention to the customers? so we finally we're able to order our drinks. it took another 10-15 min to get our drinks. Once she placed the drinks down (while spilling my friends) we we're prepared to order she didn't even look at us or ask if we wanted to order she just sat them down and walked away. another bartender brought a drink to the couple next to us and kept spilling it. then it took another 15 minutes to get her attention, keep trying to wave at her. I was so irritated I was considering yelling "EXCUSE ME! CAN I ORDER?!" for quite awhile but didn't. We ordered our food. we're never asked if we wanted anything if our drinks we're good if we wanted more drinks. there we're 4-5 other couples at the bar and I'm sure they we're all treated the same. I ordered the chicken and steak fajita which was 14.99 and it was okay. the onions and tomatoes we're cut too big (lazy prep?) my friend got the catfish fajita salad which she liked, it was huge in a big shell. when we got the bill my meal was 16.99 and I asked her, she really had the audacity to tell me "on the door when you come in there's a sign that says the steak is more now." which is clearly a bad reflection of the restaurant management for thinking that people would pay attention to that, and also on her part for not telling me WHEN I ORDERED IT. it's not a big deal $2 but it's the principal and the fact that they don't even put stickers on the menus for the new prices or have their staff tell people that the price is different from the menu. I wanted to write this review as I was waiting at the bar last night because I was so appalled at the service but didn't because I wanted to try to enjoy my night. oh and we got tequila shots and when we used the salt shaker to put salt on our hands, it was clearly old because the salt was completely stuck together at the bottom of the bottle. the worst service I've ever had in my life. Would highly recommend to go anywhere else. They definitely don't care about their customers. and I'm a very patient and understanding person ESP when it comes to service cause I've worked in service. they are so unorganized and untrained. I read the reviews before coming and was like well maybe the service was bad when it's busy or a bad night. this night was slow and they were terrible I will never go back and take caution if you decide to go anyways after reading this!
(1)Jackie K.
My sister got a gift certificate on Groupon so we went there to eat. The waitress was friendly and nice and with the exception of the fried ice cream that's about the only good thing about this place. The food was bland and tasteless, end of story.
(1)M R.
Normally I won't write a negative review, but if a "Mexican" restaurant can't make a burrito without burning it (or the server leaving it under the warming light so long that it burned), then they should probably consider changing the theme or hire better staff. Server was clearly overwhelmed with a few tables, I won't bash, but water and chips should not be that hard to remember. Sorry, but you go out to eat for 2 reasons food and service. Unfortunately there wasn't much of either here.
(1)Joe F.
All we wanted on Saturday was Border Cafe. We braved Route 1 traffic, turned into the lot, found a spot--- 1 hour wait. I said "hey, there's another place up the street that looks pretty good. Let's try The Fat Cactus". I wish I had looked at Yelp before. This place looks like it might be fun late night, lots of bars, outdoor seating in the good weather, lots of drinks on the menu. Seems like the dining room is under renovation. There was no one at hostess station, so we walked to the bar and took a seat. Bartender was nice enough, although we made the mistake of sitting as far away from other patrons as possible, so she tended to forget about us. Food: Guac was good. Chips were not so great, almost stale. I ordered the chimichanga. Cheese on top of the burrito was heavy and delicious. Beans were salty, rice was dry, and there was a bone or something in my ground beef. My companion got a chicken quesadilla-- said it was like something he would make at home. The fried ice cream was the star of the meal. Drinks: Large beers are HUGE. Great beer selection. If I were reviewing this as a bar only it likely would have gotten a better review. Service: As I said above, bartender was nice enough, even told me I had some extra money on my groupon. Was about what I expected. I'm not saying I'd never come here again, but I think I'd have rather wait for a table at Border.
(2)Eric M.
I was overcharged an extra beer that i never had and the manager said "well we can go check the cameras". Even though i knew how many beers i had, i said i didnt want to cause any trouble or spend time going through video footage. Not a single apology or thank you from her, Such horrible customer service by a manager. Bartenders were great but the manager lady was awful. Please learn how to treat customers and make them want to return, otherwise you'll be out of buisness in no time. Thanks.
(1)Rob G.
Sat at the bar Tuesday night didn't get any attention from either of the 2 bartenders for 20 mins then I finally got a water, 20 more minutes later I had to flag down one girl and ask for a menu, ten minutes later I flagged another girl down to order an app that straight out of a frozen restaurant depo bag. The dirty dish sat in front of me till I left a half hour later, Terrible service from both servers behind the bar who didn't look at all like they wanted to be there,mind you it was not busy at all maybe 50% of the seats at the bar were empty , definitely will not go back.
(1)Pasqual R.
Went here with a few friends for a drink and before we even walked in you get hit with smell of garbage and dead mice. Walked into the bar and it just looked dirty and there where random spots around the bar that litteraly just stunk! ew! can't imagine eating there until the place gets subbed down and they do something about that nasty odor all over the establishment. The best part was the live band but couldn't even sit out on the patio because of the odor!!!
(1)Rick L.
Terrible service food bad stay away took us 1/2 to get a menu while fat manager was to busy smoking outside 10 feet from tables on porch this place Needs bar rescue real bad.
(1)H D.
I have to give a star to write a review. This place smells of mold.and bug spray, dinner was a disappointment. I ordered a salad with steak the steak was tuff and hard to chew. Dont waste your time or $$
(1)Mustachechuck S.
The Service Friendly Food was not very hot {KITCHENS FAULT] move the orders better Best thing I have had is Bandito Ribs, Burrito was over stuffed very SALTY They have no Idea what to do with AVOCADO. Fish Tacos were so wet they had to be eaten with a fork only, Then after paying 3 er ah Gent's, standing on steps in front of the door would not get out of the way for my wife and I to leave. She walked ahead of me I was pissed they mumbled something as we walked away. She held my hand and begged me please don't I got to the vehicle called spoke to Manager She came out to them They would not move for her, We watched as she blasted all three. Not a happy night for us with our food then after. That was April 9th wife has a Groupon wants to try it again, I just want the Border cafe But we promised Manager we would give it another try, Be YELPING soon.
(2)Christine B.
So the food here is great, the waitstaff is polite and as attentive as they can be considering every time I've eaten here they seem to be short staffed, and the only reason I am giving a 1 star review is because of the hostess. I didn't get her name, but the blonde lady who greeted us when we arrived seemed as if she couldn't be bothered to speak to us, and when she did she was horridly rude, any questions asked were answered in a curt, discourteous manner, and she was so argumentative I got the impression she was trying to start a fight with my mother in law! So if you want tasty but admittedly generic "mexicali" food, order take out or hope the skinny blonde hostess has the night off.
(1)Rich L.
So, I was totally excited to go here. We went the way there on a Tuesday night and there at 9:05 to be rudely greeted at the door and told the kitchen closes at 9. Like really? How can you be a legit restaurant and stop serving food at 9 on a weeknight? Every other place on Rt 1 is still open and we just drove by the Border Cafe which now I wish we just went to. Overall, with a the crappy reviews and this lovey experience I just had, I'm all set. I will not be going back. No wonder they have had a $40 for $23 deal on Groupon for like the last year.
(2)Neil M.
There should be a way to give negative stars. Don't waste your time and good money at this place. It's like some puked up salsa on an Applebee's meal and then handed it to someone with an anger management disorder to serve it. There are plenty of good alternative locally, border cafe, Temazcal, etc.
(1)Amy R.
Cool place but could be SO much better. Nice outdoor seating however our table was sticky and the booth was very dusty/dirty. Server was nice and the drink I had was strong. They were cheap with the chips as they never came to refill the tiny basket while we waited a long time for our food. The dish I ordered was so big it could feed someone for 2 days but they barely gave me any pico de gallo and sour cream. My teenage sons dish took forrrrever to come out and when it did he wasn't a huge fan. Long story short it was "ok" but I'd def stick with the Border Cafe if I want to go to this type of place.
(3)Bob M.
Not sure whether to go with 1 star or 2....going with a 2 as the food wasn't horrible. That said, if your choice is Border Cafe or this place, go to the Border....even if you have to wait 45 minutes for a table. This place has no idea what it's identity is. Sports Bar? Restaurant? Something in between? Who knows. All I know is that there was some horrifyingly bad karaoke going on at 7:15 on a Monday night. 7:15. Thanks. Yeah, people want to hear talentless losers singing songs that sucked to begin with while they are trying to eat dinner. Give me a break. Why would you do this?? (Hey, management - here's your shot to explain yourself...) Would I go back? Only is there was a total overhaul. Service was decent, food mediocre, prices average (but higher than Border). Place needs to hit the reset button or it's not going to last.
(2)Meg V.
Got that nacos and was disappointed. Who screws up nacos? Also I ate on the porch which was lovely until the smell of a septic system took over. Everyone in my party was grossed out by the smell!
(2)Amy L.
What a horror show. Not a place to go unless you're a single person looking for a warm beer, bad karaoke and terrible food. There was old food on the silverware! Not just the " oops...missed one" kind. It was the "I hate my job and don't give a s***" kind. Tons. Also, our drinks didn't come with limes (as requested) so when I asked the bartender (who turned out to be the GM) she dropped the attack of dirty dishes she was clearing, used her bare hand to reach into the dish of limes and the them in a cup. Gross! So unimpressed. So disgusting.
(1)Gerard D.
service is quick and very pleasant, the redeeming quality of this establishment. Consistent is a word that best describes their food, consistently salty and lacking in texture and seasoning. I wouldn't go running back to eat their any time soon but the bar and bar menu looked like they could be a good time.
(2)Tony C.
This place is terrible I would use another word but I'll keep it PG-13. Got a pitcher of Sangria (mediocre) - Wasn't the best but wasn't bad. We then got a Nacho Plate - Absolutely disgusting it looked like my dog put it together. Cheese wasn't melted chicken(which was pulled) was cold and the bottom of the nachos were watery it was disgusting. The service was good but the food is terrible here. I will not be back here anytime soon.
(1)Johnny F.
Going..going...; you know the next word. I will be suprised if this restaurant lasts another year. The bar area was mostly rowdy locals that brag "We keep this place open" as they yell at the bar. We sat at the bar area and witnessed a couple come in and then leave 15 min later because of no service. The salsa was hot sauce and chili powder with some onions and peppers. The crispy tortillas had sugar as an ingredient. Really!! I am from Texas and good Mexican tortillas are masa flour, water and salt, very simple. The best thing was the dip on the taxi appetizer. The waiter failed service 101. We said we were finished and he dropped the check off; left all the food and plates at the table. We had to ask him to clear the table so we could enjoy our after dinner beverage. I hope the bar crowd does keep the place going because the food and service will not.
(1)Katy G.
Disgusting, greasy food. There was a bad odor: perhaps they we getting the septic tank cleaned? Worst dining experience of my life.
(1)Lisa M.
I usually love it here but we went last night for dinner, there was only one person sitting at the bar not a server insight. He yelled out I think you can seat yourself. I would have sat my self but unfortunately every table was covered in dirty dishes and glasses, so then I decided we would just sit at the bar and unfortunately the bar was dirty as well. This whole time we still weren't approached by any staff member.
(1)Maria O.
Whenever I'm in Saugus I make it a point to dine at the fat cactus. Great food at sensible prices, friendly service, fantastic festive atmosphere! I suggest the enchiladas they are quite the treat. The place for Tex Mex at the NORTHSHORE for sure.
(4)Julia R.
By far the worst Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. I should have listened to the other Yelpers, but the building looked so cool from the exterior. The food tasted like it had been frozen. Definitely not fresh. The salsa looked like it had sat out unrefrigerated for days. The frozen margaritas were not blended. Totally full of ice chunks and no flavor or alcohol. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. Very disappointing!
(1)lori g.
Wish I could give positive review, but unfortunately this place seems to have an identity problem and food is not very good.. Fish tacos were awful, salsa and chips smallest serving I have ever seen in a Mexican restaurant and both my husband meal and my meal were cold, after waiting about 30 min for a meal when it was empty. The thing that bothered me the most was the 35 TVs in one room.. Could not carry on a conversation with all the distractions.. Service was poor, atmosphere is that of a Sports bar, food was worst mexican food I have had.. Good luck with this place.. It use to be ok, I feel the changes have not improved the atmosphere or the menu... Too bad..
(1)Scott B.
Good service, nice people, my kids love it, but they only eat the cheese nachos margaritas,.....no thanks, go with the beer. Food....some has been good, this last time,..not so much. Music was blaringly loud,.....I hate to say it,..but stay away. Mexico Lindo in Melrsoe is excellent if you are anywhere near.
(2)Marla L.
Horrible ! EOM
(1)robyn t.
This is my first "Yelp" review....Not sure where to start since as I write I have the most nauseating feeling in my stomach. First let me say, as someone in the food industry them-self that the service of the waitress was more than accommodating. That is the only thing nice I can say. Oh and the beer was cold too! The food was beyond gross!!!! My Son got the ground beef tacos, since he really doesn't like super spicy things. The beef " Paste" was so smoky flavored that even I couldn't eat it. My catfish entree had dried corn bread, OVER the top Cajun spice on top of an overcooked piece of fish, and dried up pineapple salsa that was hardly noticeable on it. I will never eat there again! I do enjoy summer drinks on patio, but seriously....they need to put down the spice shaker and concentrate on preparing food w/out giving indigestion to their patrons!
(2)Ivette G.
No! No! No! The food here is not good. Very disappointed with the Mexican food here. I could tell that the beans came from a can. Doesn't take much to boil some beans with onions, garlic and salt. Never going here again.
(1)Priscilla G.
Bland and boring mexican food. Steak has a sour old taste to it. Beans are most definitely from a can. Gauc is brown and old. Damn you groupon, But i wont ever come back.
(1)Jimmy O.
Forget the food, dirty inside and the roof that commonly leaks as well as the tacky circa 90's arcade space, only go to the bar and outside patio, drinks are decently priced not a huge selection of beers. However beware the large amount of bikers that constantly regular this location you may end up feeling like you are in roadhouse by the end of the visit. They overserve people so you will get the "bros" & " tough guy bikers" who are usually drunk,loud and ignorant. The owner of this resturant had also owned previous resturant with bad reputations and shady ways of running things most known past locations being "big dog" and "bostonville grill".
(2)Samantha G.
I've recently come to Massachusetts all the way from Houston, TX., considering Mexican food is a big deal there, one of the first types of food I wanted was Tex-mex. I had been to The Fat Cactus on a date, enjoyed my meal and the 2 of the delicious margaritas. On my first day off in weeks from my 3 new jobs I went to The Fat Cactus for another good Margarita and some queso. However this time they didn't accept my Texas drivers license and turned me away after telling me it could be fake and since I don't have another picture I.D. I can't be served. No, I don't have a school I.D., didn't bring a passport, I was bitten in 1989 and couldn't enjoy a drink in a new state. This was extremely frustrating considering id been served there the month prior to today's visit.
(1)Nicole S.
From the get go we were disappointed with our service at the Fat Cactus. We were seated and didn't see our waitress for at least fifteen mins. It turned out to be a problem most of the night as she would disappear and we were left to wait. When she gave us our check at the end of the night she walked away and disappeared into the kitchen for fifteen minutes before coming back. Um, excuse me, how long does this lady thinks it takes for someone to pull a card out of their wallet? We were already so disappointed in her poor service and the food that we just wanted to get out of there. She wasn't helpful or anything. Now onto the food. Mediocre. I got the chicken asada quesadilla. It was extremely greasy. It looked like cat food and had barely any taste to it. I didn't even eat half of it. My fiance got the chicken asada chimichanga. He said it was 'meh'. The rice is weird and it leaves kind of a spicy after taste in your mouth. It honestly tastes like it came out of a box. It was pretty dry, too. The chips were fine as was the guacamole. We went on a friday night and there was a live band or something. It was way too loud in the dining room. If I wanted to sit in a noisy bar we would have chosen to sit over there.. We were really disappointed because we have been looking for a mexican place near us and this place is just not it. We will not be recommending it to anyone else and we won't return.
(2)Kayla L.
The food was good. The drinks were sent back due to their water content. Did half the ice melt before you brought it to the table? As a vegetarian I was surprised to have found a really good spinach salad with avocado beans tomato and corn- asked for it without the shrimp
(2)Dexter B.
So much better than Border Cafe! Everyone goes to Border Cafe because they are sheople and they go to where is popular even if it sucks. Like Dunkin Donuts. The Fat Cactus is different and and a great alternative to those who want to think for themselves and have a great meal.
(4)Savannah K.
Big management problems here.. walked in last monday night and sat at a Filthy table for 20 minutes while the wait staff ignored me. Then while the Karaoke show was going on a large rat was under one of the tables inside the restaurant. After most everyone cleared out, I stayed a few more minutes to see that there wasn't even a manager on duty to deal with the emergency.
(2)Alicia S.
The décor is a little overwhelming when you first enter I won't lie. It could be turned down a little but it is a cool vide when you walk in to hear live music. I liked sitting on the patio except the wind blew away the menus/napkins all dinner long. The food was good especially my chicken fajita that was seasoned just right. The tortillas could use a little more to them but it wasn't bad. I would go back
(4)Jill G.
We had a Groupon... so the fact that we paid 1/2 price was the only redeeming part of this meal. We ordered the Potato Chip Nachos, which were supposed to be "drenched" (their menu description) in Queso. Most of the chips had nothing on them. We asked for a little more... and got charged $1 for it! Sitting on the patio was nice, but by the end of the meal the bugs came out... and got caught in the fans... and were literally dropping like flies on our food. The food is lackluster at best - greasy empanadas, flavorless fajitas, and soggy tacos. The service was slow (though pleasant) and we really just couldn't wait to leave. Let's just say that we won't be getting fat at the Fat Cactus.
(1)Christopher H.
One time it was great and the next time it was dripping grease so I went with a 2. The atmosphere is nice and comfortable.
(2)Lynette A.
Wish I could give a positive review, as I have gone here before and it was so-so then seemed to be getting a bit better but unfortunately this place seems to have an identity problem and food is awful.. We were greeted by a hostess after 6 minutes and the place was far from busy and she was not very personable. The nachos were cold and plain and my meal Tacos al pastore came out stone cold. waited over 15 minutes for the waiter who still did not come back and had to ask to get him over and told him it was stone cold. Needless to say I didn't even get to eat. salsa and chips were never served. 35 TVs in one room..focus on your customers. Service was poor, atmosphere is that of a Sports bar, food was worst mexican food I have had.. Good luck with your renovations.. .. It use to be fair but these changes have not improved the atmosphere or the menu... so long FAT CACTUS
(1)Christine S.
The decor is sort of gimmicky-trashy. The service was actually great. I was with someone who as a former waitress, i know is a huge pain in the ass. Our waiter was great. The food was ok at best. Salsa tastes like it is from a jar. I got a chimichanga and it just wasn't anything to write home about. I guess I have been spoiled by the Howling Wolf in Salem.
(2)Stephen M.
The Fat Cactus always seems to disappoint. I've been three times, but only because of gift cards and Groupons. On the positive side though, the food is good and they have great daily specials. I went on a Tuesday most recently and all burritos and enchiladas were $5. The one I ordered is usually $13.99! Each time I went, the place seemed to have been remodeled. The second time there was a large buffet area set up in the middle where there used to be tables, but then the next time it was replaced by booths. Maybe they're trying to be better? They already had a cool atmosphere, so it sort of seems like a waste. I think their biggest problem is that The Border Cafe is right down the road in Saugus. The Border is an awesome restaurant and has set a very high bar for the Fat Cactus; it's also much cheaper. I'd come back for the specials and maybe if the wait was too long at The Border. At least the Fat Cactus has a nice outdoor seating area going for it.
(2)carol a.
I've driven by this place a million times and stopped in for a quick bite on my way back from Boston. The chips and salsa were good and had great spice so I had high hopes however, it was all down hill after that. We both had the fish tacos on corn tortillas. The tortillas were the worst I've ever had. They were yellow corn and were really coarse rather than the white corn tortillas that are soft. The rice was totally flavorless and tasted like it came from a box. The refried beans tasted like they came from a can and also had not taste. I think Taco Bell probably makes better Mexican food. They call their cuisine Mexicali...I'm from California and there is no place in California I know that services Mexican food like this.
(1)Jonathan A.
Meh. Is a good way to describe my experience at Fat Cactus today. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either. I saw a deal on Groupon for Fat Cactus ($20 for $40) and I had never been there so my fiancee and I decided to give it a shot. Prior to going we asked several friends about there thoughts on The Fat Cactus and one said she didn't like it at all and another said "meh, it is so-so." I responded with, "there is a Groupon for it so I think we will try it" and he responded saying, that if I was going to spend $20.00 than I might as well just go to Borders up the highway a little ways. He was right. I went in with a positive attitude in spite of some negative feedback. As we walked in the decor was eye-catching in the sense that it felt like some sort of indoor playground. I wasn't a big fan. Our waitress was kind and checked up on us several times so no complaints there. I had the Black Angus Seasoned Ground Sirloin Chimichangas. And that was definitely just "meh." Meet tasted greasy and looked greasy, didn't seem much different from ground beef you would find at a supermarket, and some of the rice was either uncooked or burnt. There were a few times I had to pull some grains out of my mouth because they were too hard to chew. And finally, my stomach was pretty upset after eating at the Fat Cactus and I suspect it was the amount of grease in the Chimichangas. On a positive note: there guacamole was pretty good and fresh! All in all, I would not recommend the Fat Cactus especially given that border cafe is no more than 10 minutes away. I would actually even choose Chipotle over Fat Cactus. I won't be back.
(2)Keith C.
We ate here because Border Cafe had an hour wait. There was no wait time which was a plus, but the interior really left something to be desired. They seated us in the dining room, which resembled a cafeteria, so we relocated to the bar which was a little more lively and had at least some character, but unfortunately it smelled like a dirty sponge, or maybe it was our menus? The food was adequate, we both had fajitas. The meat and the black beans were fine, but the tortillas were really generic and bland. The salsa definitely came out of a can and was a big disappointment. The service was good at the bar, they were attentive.
(2)Frank A.
Food is horrible!!!!! Service was horrible!!!! We had to ask to be waited, then had to ask for our checks as the waitresses were just standing around doing nothing. The rice is gross...everything was bland. Had to throw salt and hot sauce on everything in order to eat. Do yourself a favor a go to Border Cafe instead!!!!!!
(1)Brian M.
When you walk into this place, the subtlety of the decor hits you like a baseball bat to the side of the head. It's all bright colors with empty liquor bottles, New Mexico State license plates, an sombreros hanging all over the place. It's different and it's most certainly not boring. The second thing that gets you is the openness of the place. The walls to the outside open up, allowing in a lot of light and outside warmth. I liked it. On a beautiful summer day it's a great place to sit down and enjoy a meal with a couple of drinks. The food, for the most part, didn't blow me away. It was good because Mexican food, by definition, is pretty good. Throw some cheese and avocado into a dish and right away, you have yourself a hit. I've dined on better Mexican dishes, but don't be discouraged. I left very full and very happy. If I lived in the area I have a feeling that I'd be back very often. If I'm craving an authentic, delicious dish then maybe I'd keep searching. But if I'm looking for a night of throwing back a few beers with some friends then this would be one of the first places I'd think of. I love the open, outdoors feel to the place. I love how they have a Golden Tee and a couple of racing games tucked away in the back. Few things go better with your 3rd beer than a round of Golden Tee. I love the prices and I love me some enchiladas.
(5)Christina H.
This was, by far, the single worst food-related experience I have ever had at a restaurant. The only food which was even remotely edible were the wings, which were fairly tasty. The meat in my husband's burrito was cold and it had beans, even though he had requested none. There was hair in my taco (be nice..), the steak was charred on the outside and completely cold on the inside. The rice was crunchy. Thankfully the manager was good about removing the charges on the offending food, but we will not be going back.
(1)Barry M.
Average Mexican food, not great but not bad. Chips and salza are good and Cheso cheese dip very good. Beef enchiladas were okay but I have had better. Quesadillas were very good, overall pretty good.
(3)Doreen R.
There were 4 of us that were looking for a few margaritas and some appetizers. Found 4 seats at the bar, the food was good & the margaritas were good - if they were made by the same bartender. I ordered my third margarita and it tasted nothing like the first 2.. I asked the bartender to put more mix in it, she dismissed me - saying there is no mix in it, it is lime juice - walked away and went to the other bartender and told him to make it. We ordered appetizers, which were good. What I could not get past was the smell. It was a sharp, dirty nasty smell. All I could think of was bar rescue needed to come in there and whip that place into shape. When we were leaving there was a sign in the lobby stating they would be having renovations done. I hope this is true and part of the renovations would be they clean the bar area, cause that is just gross. I will be curious to see if anyone from the Fat Cactus responds to this review.
(1)Abigail S.
I would not eat here again. The initially bright and vibrant impressions of the restaurant decor is quickly damped by their menu (varied but uninspired) and poor service. We generally take it as aa bad sign when a restaurant that identifies as one type of cuisine features many dishes from other cuisines. It's also not a good sign when the server in a Mexican restaurant identifies their ribs as the best thing on the menu. Our food was received relatively timely (it did feel like a long time considering that we were one of three parties in the restaurant at at around 2pm in the afternoon). We were given complimentary chips and salsa and discovered a scrap of black cloth on on the chips about half way in. When presented to the server, he joked that it was part of his shirt. Meeting with blank stares from us, he took the plate away. We ordered queso cheese and chips, which were decent. The food was mediocre and served hot but not nearly good enough to redeem the experience. Multiple people commented on the poor taste, texture and greasy quality of their meat (different kinds of meat in tacos, enchiladas, and burritos). My husband and his brother both found their chicken quesadillas unpalatable after eating one slice. I had enchiladas (one chicken and one cheese - ended up only eating the cheese one) which didn't have any enchilada sauce on them, only cheese. A friend's beef chimichanga was bland and others only finished half of their burritos. Furthermore, accoutrements like lettuce, picco, or tomatoes that were served with dishes were limp, flavorless, and clearly not fresh. Probably the largest disappointment was the service. While ordering, our server met a request for having both black and refried beans with a no and justifying it by saying "he's a dick" of the cook. Our server also described dishes as "bad-ass", mixed up drink orders between people at our table, dropped food on the floor and didn't clean it up, and gave us our check (kind of tossed it on the table) without a word. It felt very presumptuous and unprofessional.
(1)Sarah B.
New cook, new menu - still really good food. Their con queso is a lot spicier now, which makes it more delicious - and everything on their menu sounds twice as good as before, from chimichangas and enchiladas to fajitas (which it seemed like everybody was ordering, as the place had that distinct fajita smell to it when you first walk in) and carne asada. It is worth a try.
(4)Omeletteuknow O.
It was a hot and steamy night I was weary from the road Sat inside at the balmy 100 degree bar Flys flying round, people perspiring in close proximity to my personal space Ordered massive margarita, Needed another cause mostly mix, and another (great service btw) Hadn't eaten in 12 hours, the apps were the best apps I've ever eaten in my entire barfoody life Live acoustic music el Presidente mucho gusto It's like having Sr Frog's Cancun right here on ye ole Route 1 It was a good night, a very good night at the cactus
(5)Jeff M.
The mixed drinks? Weak as hell. The chips? Too salty. The food? Mediocre. The service? Disappearing for 15 minutes at a time. The only decent parts were the 32 oz "tall" Modelo Especial on tap and the live music......but I don't think I can bring myself to come back JUST for those two things. Nothing else was all that redeeming and being near Somerville as the Mecca of Mexican food in the Boston area, there isn't much here that stands out. If you're a Revere local, sure. If not, don't travel more than 10 miles for this place unless you're meeting someone here for a little get together which is what we were doing. If $82 tequila shots are your thing then maybe you can test it out for yourself but don't say I didn't warn you that very little is impressive.
(2)Joe P.
This place is disgusting!!!! The food is awful! The staff is extremely rude!!! Been there twice hoping to have a different experience! Waste of my time and money...
(1)Rosa S.
I came in for the first time and I stopped at host stand to request a table. I happen to look up to discover an entire WALL of hot sauce. Not only did they have all kinds of hot sauce for customer use but they had a specific one that I absolutely love (Dave's Insanity Sauce). So needless to say I was instantly smitten. We sat at a comfy retro booth and I started noticing the decor. It was super cheesy but in a cool way. They had empty liquor bottles lined up in the ceilings and they had one wall decorated with cigar boxes. The bathroom had flip flops glued into the walls - weird but cute. We got Will as our server and he was super attentive and helpful. I disclosed I was a first timer and he gave me some real good options. He cleared up out dishes and bagged up our leftovers so promptly. I was super happy with the service. For the food, my sister made me order their guacamole and that was just ok. For my entree I ordered the Blackened Chicken and it was so yummy. Very seasoned = very happy. We also tried the coo-coo corn off the specials and that was also good. For dessert we finished up with an order of Fried Ice Cream and it was delish. I would definitely return
(4)Michelle B.
After reading all these negative reviews, I think I will be the first one to give it a good one. I have been here countless amounts of times, and I always get my two favorite things. The pork verde buritto, and the enchiladas(the menu has recently changed since the last time I have been there). When I customize my order, it always comes out correct, and everytime we ask for more chips/salsa it comes out at a good time. Give this review a chance and try out the fat cactus!
(4)Luis R.
Terrible service. Went in one night with my girlfriend and sat at the bar. No one came to us for the first 20 minutes (and the place wasn't busy, 10 people at the bar). We asked for a menu to get food and the bartender said that the kitchen was closed. Afterwards, a couple who came on like 30 minutes after us sitting at a high table behind us in the bar area ordered food through the bartender and got there food like 15 minutes later. I use to go there all the time because they use to have a great thing going there but now, they dropped a lot. I'll never go back there
(1)Ian W.
I've driven past The Fat Cactus countless times on US Route 1 North. On my way back to NH driving out of Boston, I finally decided to stop in here for an early Sunday dinner when the place was not that busy yet. I was seated immediately as I entered the restaurant around 4:20 PM. I like the festive and very colorful atmosphere and decor inside this Mexicali themed cantina including the painted cartoon characters on the walls, multi-color holiday string lights, and the many liquor bottles and sombreros hanging from the ceiling. The music playing in the background was adult contemporary. I was given a complementary basket of chips and salsa along with my drink order. The corn tortilla chips were crispy and the thick tomato salsa was on the mild side. There is a bottle of hot sauce at the table. Looking at the poster sized menu (double sided), it took me a few moments to decided what I wanted, torn between fish tacos and fajitas. I finally decided to make a compromise and ordered the Blackened Catfish Fajitas ($13.99) and the good amount of food (enough for 2 people) arrived hot and sizzling to my table in under 20 minutes including 4 warm flour tortillas, a plate of fixings (shredded cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, & sour cream), and a sizzling skillet of peppers, onions, and a big long piece tender farm raised catfish rubbed in spices and blackened on the outside, topped with fresh pineapple salsa. The sides of Mexican rice and black beans were standard. All I can say is, I made a great choice and the Blackened Catfish Fajitas were very good and very spicy. I thought to myself I should have ordered a side of guacamole and a couple limes to go along with my fajitas, but next time I will. Other than that, I was thoroughly satisfied with my "Southern style/Tex_Mex" dinner and VERY STUFFED afterwards, so no dessert for me. I really wanted to enjoy some Chocolate Pina Colada Puddingn for dessert. The service was very attentive and over the top. My waitress checked up on me very frequently about a dozen times during my visit, asking how I was doing, if I needed more chips & salsa, refills on drinks, and also kept me informed when my food was arriving (your food is being made now). I prefer to enjoy my dinner in peace without interruptions, but I'd accept very attentive service over any "non-existent" and very laid back waitstaff any day!
(4)Divya S.
Our server was great however the food and service was eh ok. I had a problem with my meal and the manager brought back the same food and gave 20 different excuses! We had a Groupon voucher and that's the only reason why we went there. I don't think we'll ever go back!
(2)Sarah R.
We had a gift card. We reviewed Yelp and it was a little mixed but on the low side. So we ordered a variety of things to share-chx quesadilla, mixed double fajita (steak/chx) and the steak was so salty, stringy, and had a funny color. The mixed plate had 3 different items-the chx taco was soggy & had a weird seasoning. The beef taco was even worse. The quesadilla was fine. I imagine nothing here is homemade or from scratch!
(1)Muriel C.
my taco salad consisted of an overload of shredded lettuce in a fried tortilla bowl with literally a teaspoon of their salsa.... and a teaspoon of shredded cheese. the music from the bar was live and TOO LOUD as always.
(2)Maria L.
One star is because the food was at least edible. One star is for my awesome waitress Kyara. The food here is just below OK. It's nothing special. But my main concern was their attitude towards food allergies. This is how it went down: Me to the waitress: I'd like the chicken fajitas, no cheese or sour cream. I'm allergic to eggs and milk can you please check the marinade. Waitress: Absolutely. --- Waitress: The chef says that he can't do it. He said they cook everything on the grill together with margarine. He said he would have to ask special permission from the manager but doesn't think it's going to be possible. I'm going to get the manager. Poor girl, stuck between the customer and the lazy chef. The manager of course came over and was willing to do what I needed. But one thing she did tell me is that the "sizzle" you see when they bring you your fajitas is just margarine squirted on the hot plate! EW. Anyway, I got mine without sizzle. haha. It's disappointing that there was so much push back on the no butter issue. This is the first restaurant in a long time that has hesitated on this issue. Additional to that, my chicken was burnt and my veggies were raw. They did taste decent when I ate them the next day and re-fried them myself. Save your money and go somewhere else....Unless you want to see Kyara, she was super nice. haha.
(2)William D.
I've been here about 4 or 5 times or so, and every time I've come here, the food has been OK at best. I've had everything from quesadillas to chimichurri steak, fajitas, etc. Not a fan of this place, but doesn't quite warrant 1 star.
(2)Charlene S.
This was probably the worst food I've ever had.. ever. Ended up trying this place because the Border Cafe was so busy. I regretted it immediatley. Appetizer- Chili Con Queso- Apparently at the Fat Catus they think melted American cheese food product can double as chile con queso. It was more like fondue.. and not good fondue, gross fondue. Dinner- I ordered the Fiesta Quesadilla with chicken and my boyfrient the cat fish tacos. I knew when our orders came out in less than ten minutes that something was wrong. They put the food down and the tomato salsa on top looked watery and the tomatoes were almost see through. I moved that aside figuring how can you mess up a quesadilla? Well it was maybe luke warm with the cheese not very melted. Again not real cheese. Then.. my guacamole arrived, which was sour and tasted like vinegar. Nothing was fresh, it was warm and undercooked and I was thoroughly dissapointed. My boyfriends tacos were soggy and he ended up just eating the blackened cat fish once he got through the burnt parts. There's a reason people wait in line at the Border Cafe for an hour for food, it's because it's the only Cantina Mexican restaurant on Rt One. This place isn't a restaurant it's a margarita bar with alleged food substances. The manager came over when she saw that I wasn't eating and took the quesadilla off our bill for us. It must be embarrasing to work here... I feel bad for the wait staff which is really attentive and polite. Save yourself the trouble and wait in line at the Border Cafe, I know I will
(1)Jenna B.
Awful awful awful! Quality has plummeted. Sticky table. Cold chips. Weak drinks. Small portions and unappealing tasting food. Won't go back again.
(1)David C.
I written two other reviews about this place and in both I said the food was incredibly bland. Well they have fixed that problem the food is better not great just better
(3)Amanda B.
I went on a double date here at the beginning of the month and i had to write a review. I feel as though the only thing this place is good for is the drinks. The drinks are great! I feel bad for the bartenders because they could make a killing if the food didn't suck so bad. I ordered a caesar salad that was very plan and boring but the worst was the steak i ordered with it. I couldn't eat it. If you could only see what it looked like. It was clearly frozen steak they microwaved or something.... To top that my girlfriend almost choked on a chicken bone in her food. It was DISGUSTING! The manager did come over and give us free desert which was nice but i still have no desire to go back....
(2)Brian G.
The food here is good, the servers are good, but getting good service from the hosts is difficult. The last 3 times we went there, the people working at the front desk were rude and seemed to not want our business. It seems to be a pattern there.
(1)Ellen H.
The Fat Cactus. Number 8532 in the long list of restaurants that have failed to call that little section of route 1 home for very long. However, this restaurant has some staying power and I attribute it to the 3-season porch. Yes, this porch has existed in the other restaurants, but who wants to eat naked fish outdoors when you can have a margarita outdoors? There's something about a margarita that just makes you want to be outside in the warm breeze, and Fat Cactus offers that. You receive the obligatory bucket o' chips with salsa -- which, when you only come for drinks, is a welcome sponge for all the tequila you are about to ingest. The margarita menu is extensive and the margaritas are so-so -- the last time I came here I actually switched to beer because for $10 OUT of Boston, I want a margarita that kicks you in the pants, not some wussy mush that makes you feel flush and not much more. I liked the live music out on the porch and the variety of seating types - tables & chairs, couches, lounge-y areas, etc. The food menu looks great also but I haven't eaten here yet. Being so close to Border Cafe, I'd pick Border anytime the temperature is under 80 in the evening. But once it starts to get uncomfortable, I'm heading to Fat Cac to sip a frozen margarita in the breeze to the strum of a live guitar.
(3)Marie L.
The food was terrible no it was beyond terrible but the drinks were great and strong. We ordered nachos with only cheese, tomatoes and sour cream they put horrible chicken on it and some of the cheese was so over cooked that it was hard and the rest wasn't melted at all and who serves nachos without salsa?? The entertainment was GREAT. I will def be back for drinks and entertainment but I will be sure to eat before I go.
(2)Nikolette C.
I had high hopes for Fat Cactus, despite the rough Yelp reviews. I often drive by it on Route 1, curious as to how good it actually is considering that it looks like a really cool place. It's also ALWAYS packed, which made me think that it was going to be great. But then I actually tried it... The food actually only gets ONE star! The chips and salsa were horrible! I suppose if you like stale, out-of-the-bag tasting chips, you might like them. I had the Spicy Chicken Ranchero Burrito and my boyfriend had the Taco and Enchilada Platter. All of the food, especially the chips, had a very generic, out-of-the-can taste. Nothing tasted fresh! Even for east coast "Mexican" food, this place was practically embarrassing! The only reason why I gave them two stars is because they did have some pretty cool live music. And who doesn't LOVE live music!?! Also, the decor was very cool, colorful, and unique. It does also look like the drinks could be good, but I doubt I will return to give them a try. It was also pretty cheap, and the service was okay. But overall--only two stars. =(
(2)Barbara B.
Drinks were warm and weak. Food was average -- nice atmosphere.
(2)Sara L.
I feel bad that this place has gotten so many terrible reviews. I admit it's definitely not the best around or even really good for that matter, but it's not awful. I've been 3 times since it opened a couple years ago, the last time was just this past Sunday. Our 3 year old daughter has been asking to go here every time we pass it on Route 1 since it looks really cool and festive from the outside. It also has a really colorful, festive atmosphere inside with lots of decorations to admire while sitting at your table. We sat in the outdoor patio section this last time and our daughter loved looking at all the decor and coloring her kid's placemat. Our waitress was really attentive and provided very good service, always bringing over refills of our drinks and bringing another basket of complimentary chips and salsa after asking if we'd like more. As for the food, well......my husband said his blackened catfish tacos were definitely over spiced and the rice that came with it was too dry. My chicken ranchero burrito was okay, definitely not authentic Mexican but somewhat tasty that I was able to eat almost the whole thing. My daughter wasn't too big a fan of her kid's chicken quesadilla and rice but ate about a quarter of it. So all in all, we'd go back. It might be better to just go for drinks and appetizers and enjoy the outdoor seating as well as the advertised "live music 7 nights a week" (although we didn't see or hear any live music while we were there but we were gone by 7:30ish).
(3)Amanda K.
The only two things I liked about this place is the live music and the outdoor seating/decor... The salsa was boring, the refried beans were pretty much soupy, and the wine was ehhh.. The only reason I would go back is to listen to the man that was singing outside with his guitar. He made the night fun!
(2)Serena D.
Stopped by there for dinner because of the interesting name. This restaurant is spacious, and they have outdoor patio. The service was kind of slow, and unfortunately, our waiter lacks the knowledge of food and drinks. And he kept forgetting what we asked for, like napkins, extra plate, etc. The food was actually good, I liked the fajita, and the wings were good, but I can't say anything good about their nachos and burritos. I might go back, or might not :(
(3)Danielle G.
I've wanted to go here for a while, since they always have a deal on Groupon. I should have went on Yelp first and looked at the reviews, but I was starving and wanted to get going. Big Mistake. The restaurant looks cute from the outside, though I'm not a fan of the LED signs. Inside, I got a bad feeling. It has a run down sports bar vibe. We were led into the dining room which was wall to wall TV's. It looked sort of odd and creepy to me. The hostess wasn't terribly friendly ("What do you want?" she said, without greeting us.) but we got seated right away. But the hostess was a saint compared to the waitress. She could compete with the best of them in Paris. She comes to our table and says "OK?". I assumed that was shorthand for 'What do want to drink?' So, I order my drink, and my husband mentions to the waitress that I prefer frozen margaritas, which they advertise on their LED sign outside, by the way. She gives me a very dirty look and then lectures me about how frozen margaritas taste very watered down compared to on the rocks and then says, "On the rocks or what?" I said no, sorry, but I prefer frozen. She sighs and rolls her eyes at me. Then when my husband ordered his meal, he asked for a double order of Spanish rice with no beans, which he does all the time at other Mexican places and they have no problem with it. She does the sighing and rolling her eyes again, this time at my husband, and says, "We DO NOT do that here. You get either black beans or refried beans, no extra rice. Got it?" I have no idea why she was giving us attitude because it wasn't exactly busy in there. In the dining room there was three families sitting down, about the same number at the patio and no one at the bar. And we hadn't even gotten served yet. We got a bowl of chips and salsa. The chips seemed like stale supermarket chips that were heated up and the salsa was canned tomatoes doused in hot sauce. The salsa was way too hot for me and since we had nothing to drink I only had one bite of a chip. My husband thought the salsa was okay but he said the chips sucked. When the waitress returned, my husband requested that we have mild salsa too, but she said, "You can't custom order salsa. If you don't like it, don't eat it." When he requested our drinks again, she sighed and stomped off. Luckily, a much friendlier man served us our food about five minutes later. We asked for our drinks again, and he said he would track them down for us. He got them right away, but I have to say I was disappointed in mine. I know I was warned but this drink had zero alcohol. It tasted like a slushie with a bit of lime in it. My husband got the same drink, only on the rocks and he said his tasted really watered down too. The only good thing is we both liked our meals. I ordered the Caribbean Shrimp Salad and it tasted fresh with just the right amount of dressing on it. The shrimp tasted like they were previously frozen but they weren't too bad, I guess. My husband got one of the steak burritos and it looked really burned, but he said it tasted delicious. I had a piece of the steak and it was pretty good. The waitress came by to check on us, once trying to grab my plate while I was still eating, but when we opened our mouth to request refills on our drinks, she took off. For dessert, they had a 'special of the day' but the man who served us our food didn't know what it was or that they even had a dessert of the day, so we just ordered fried ice cream. It was delicious and the perfect amount for two people. It was probably the best part of our less than stellar experience. The waitress handed us our check soon after, but when my husband tried to give her his credit card, she took off without it. She never returned so we had to flag down the hostess in order to pay. When we left, there was no goodbye, have a nice day...nothing. I think this is the first time I've given a restaurant one star. The food wasn't bad but I don't think it makes up for the atrocious service. If you want to try eating here, be my guest, but if your waitress is a 50ish looking woman with giant black glasses and a very dark spray tan, I strongly suggest you walk away. I'm definitely not coming back here, that's for sure.
(1)Dan R.
Generic food, poor drinks, Horrible Sangria. The hostess opened the garage door over our head while we were seated spilling all kinds of dust, insects and debris onto our drinks and food. Totally inconsiderate. This could have been done after we departed. We mentioned this to her and she didn't seem to care or give any consideration. Our server was decent. Broken chairs dirty moldy booths outside. This place has the potential. Great outdoor seating and entertainment visit very comfortable. You can tell the ownership and management don't care much about this place. Cobwebs, dirt, dust, no oversight. I hope to see them improve because they have potential.
(2)Kristen D.
Stopped in here on a Friday night and was not at all busy, though the hostess seemed overwhelmed and didn't even greet us, just ran us to a table. We started with the chicken wings and both enjoyed those. I got the Spicy Chicken Ranchero burrito, which was indeed very spicy and really tasty. My friend got a chimichanga, but didn't finish or take it home. Even though the portions were pretty large, we went with the fried ice cream for dessert - pretty standard. Overall, if in the area, I would stop in again but probably wouldn't go as out of my way as I did that night.
(3)Gustavo S.
Unfortunately, I have to agree with the reviewers that gave this place a low rating. I only went here once because I had purchased a Groupon deal and I was very disappointed. The place was very empty which is always a bad sign. Also, the service was slow and the food was very bland. There was a strong smell of sewage that came either from the carpet or from the kitchen. This place also looks old and is due for a renovation. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant to anyone.
(1)M R.
Normally I won't write a negative review, but if a "Mexican" restaurant can't make a burrito without burning it (or the server leaving it under the warming light so long that it burned), then they should probably consider changing the theme or hire better staff. Server was clearly overwhelmed with a few tables, I won't bash, but water and chips should not be that hard to remember. Sorry, but you go out to eat for 2 reasons food and service. Unfortunately there wasn't much of either here.
(1)Em B.
Went here with a friend and got a groupon. The drinks were good, the food was good, there was live (enjoyable) music, but the service was so, so, so bad. I try not to give 1 star reviews but they deserve it. First, we sit at the bar for a little less than ten min before a bartender said she would be right with me. Keep in mind this place was not busy at all, there were 3 bartenders and not a lot going on. So when the waitress gets to us about another 7 min later we ask for a menu and were given one which they have big menus but usually people don't share a menu? my friend ordered the tequila lime wings to start. the bartender brought chips and salsa and spilled the salsa. when we wanted to order our drinks we had to keep waving for her to come over. keep in mind there we're 2 other people behind the bar washing dishes etc. why are people washing dishes and not paying attention to the customers? so we finally we're able to order our drinks. it took another 10-15 min to get our drinks. Once she placed the drinks down (while spilling my friends) we we're prepared to order she didn't even look at us or ask if we wanted to order she just sat them down and walked away. another bartender brought a drink to the couple next to us and kept spilling it. then it took another 15 minutes to get her attention, keep trying to wave at her. I was so irritated I was considering yelling "EXCUSE ME! CAN I ORDER?!" for quite awhile but didn't. We ordered our food. we're never asked if we wanted anything if our drinks we're good if we wanted more drinks. there we're 4-5 other couples at the bar and I'm sure they we're all treated the same. I ordered the chicken and steak fajita which was 14.99 and it was okay. the onions and tomatoes we're cut too big (lazy prep?) my friend got the catfish fajita salad which she liked, it was huge in a big shell. when we got the bill my meal was 16.99 and I asked her, she really had the audacity to tell me "on the door when you come in there's a sign that says the steak is more now." which is clearly a bad reflection of the restaurant management for thinking that people would pay attention to that, and also on her part for not telling me WHEN I ORDERED IT. it's not a big deal $2 but it's the principal and the fact that they don't even put stickers on the menus for the new prices or have their staff tell people that the price is different from the menu. I wanted to write this review as I was waiting at the bar last night because I was so appalled at the service but didn't because I wanted to try to enjoy my night. oh and we got tequila shots and when we used the salt shaker to put salt on our hands, it was clearly old because the salt was completely stuck together at the bottom of the bottle. the worst service I've ever had in my life. Would highly recommend to go anywhere else. They definitely don't care about their customers. and I'm a very patient and understanding person ESP when it comes to service cause I've worked in service. they are so unorganized and untrained. I read the reviews before coming and was like well maybe the service was bad when it's busy or a bad night. this night was slow and they were terrible I will never go back and take caution if you decide to go anyways after reading this!
(1)Jackie K.
My sister got a gift certificate on Groupon so we went there to eat. The waitress was friendly and nice and with the exception of the fried ice cream that's about the only good thing about this place. The food was bland and tasteless, end of story.
(1)Joe F.
All we wanted on Saturday was Border Cafe. We braved Route 1 traffic, turned into the lot, found a spot--- 1 hour wait. I said "hey, there's another place up the street that looks pretty good. Let's try The Fat Cactus". I wish I had looked at Yelp before. This place looks like it might be fun late night, lots of bars, outdoor seating in the good weather, lots of drinks on the menu. Seems like the dining room is under renovation. There was no one at hostess station, so we walked to the bar and took a seat. Bartender was nice enough, although we made the mistake of sitting as far away from other patrons as possible, so she tended to forget about us. Food: Guac was good. Chips were not so great, almost stale. I ordered the chimichanga. Cheese on top of the burrito was heavy and delicious. Beans were salty, rice was dry, and there was a bone or something in my ground beef. My companion got a chicken quesadilla-- said it was like something he would make at home. The fried ice cream was the star of the meal. Drinks: Large beers are HUGE. Great beer selection. If I were reviewing this as a bar only it likely would have gotten a better review. Service: As I said above, bartender was nice enough, even told me I had some extra money on my groupon. Was about what I expected. I'm not saying I'd never come here again, but I think I'd have rather wait for a table at Border.
(2)Eric M.
I was overcharged an extra beer that i never had and the manager said "well we can go check the cameras". Even though i knew how many beers i had, i said i didnt want to cause any trouble or spend time going through video footage. Not a single apology or thank you from her, Such horrible customer service by a manager. Bartenders were great but the manager lady was awful. Please learn how to treat customers and make them want to return, otherwise you'll be out of buisness in no time. Thanks.
(1)Rob G.
Sat at the bar Tuesday night didn't get any attention from either of the 2 bartenders for 20 mins then I finally got a water, 20 more minutes later I had to flag down one girl and ask for a menu, ten minutes later I flagged another girl down to order an app that straight out of a frozen restaurant depo bag. The dirty dish sat in front of me till I left a half hour later, Terrible service from both servers behind the bar who didn't look at all like they wanted to be there,mind you it was not busy at all maybe 50% of the seats at the bar were empty , definitely will not go back.
(1)Pasqual R.
Went here with a few friends for a drink and before we even walked in you get hit with smell of garbage and dead mice. Walked into the bar and it just looked dirty and there where random spots around the bar that litteraly just stunk! ew! can't imagine eating there until the place gets subbed down and they do something about that nasty odor all over the establishment. The best part was the live band but couldn't even sit out on the patio because of the odor!!!
(1)Rick L.
Terrible service food bad stay away took us 1/2 to get a menu while fat manager was to busy smoking outside 10 feet from tables on porch this place Needs bar rescue real bad.
(1)H D.
I have to give a star to write a review. This place smells of mold.and bug spray, dinner was a disappointment. I ordered a salad with steak the steak was tuff and hard to chew. Dont waste your time or $$
(1)Mustachechuck S.
The Service Friendly Food was not very hot {KITCHENS FAULT] move the orders better Best thing I have had is Bandito Ribs, Burrito was over stuffed very SALTY They have no Idea what to do with AVOCADO. Fish Tacos were so wet they had to be eaten with a fork only, Then after paying 3 er ah Gent's, standing on steps in front of the door would not get out of the way for my wife and I to leave. She walked ahead of me I was pissed they mumbled something as we walked away. She held my hand and begged me please don't I got to the vehicle called spoke to Manager She came out to them They would not move for her, We watched as she blasted all three. Not a happy night for us with our food then after. That was April 9th wife has a Groupon wants to try it again, I just want the Border cafe But we promised Manager we would give it another try, Be YELPING soon.
(2)Christine B.
So the food here is great, the waitstaff is polite and as attentive as they can be considering every time I've eaten here they seem to be short staffed, and the only reason I am giving a 1 star review is because of the hostess. I didn't get her name, but the blonde lady who greeted us when we arrived seemed as if she couldn't be bothered to speak to us, and when she did she was horridly rude, any questions asked were answered in a curt, discourteous manner, and she was so argumentative I got the impression she was trying to start a fight with my mother in law! So if you want tasty but admittedly generic "mexicali" food, order take out or hope the skinny blonde hostess has the night off.
(1)Rich L.
So, I was totally excited to go here. We went the way there on a Tuesday night and there at 9:05 to be rudely greeted at the door and told the kitchen closes at 9. Like really? How can you be a legit restaurant and stop serving food at 9 on a weeknight? Every other place on Rt 1 is still open and we just drove by the Border Cafe which now I wish we just went to. Overall, with a the crappy reviews and this lovey experience I just had, I'm all set. I will not be going back. No wonder they have had a $40 for $23 deal on Groupon for like the last year.
(2)Neil M.
There should be a way to give negative stars. Don't waste your time and good money at this place. It's like some puked up salsa on an Applebee's meal and then handed it to someone with an anger management disorder to serve it. There are plenty of good alternative locally, border cafe, Temazcal, etc.
(1)Amy R.
Cool place but could be SO much better. Nice outdoor seating however our table was sticky and the booth was very dusty/dirty. Server was nice and the drink I had was strong. They were cheap with the chips as they never came to refill the tiny basket while we waited a long time for our food. The dish I ordered was so big it could feed someone for 2 days but they barely gave me any pico de gallo and sour cream. My teenage sons dish took forrrrever to come out and when it did he wasn't a huge fan. Long story short it was "ok" but I'd def stick with the Border Cafe if I want to go to this type of place.
(3)Bob M.
Not sure whether to go with 1 star or 2....going with a 2 as the food wasn't horrible. That said, if your choice is Border Cafe or this place, go to the Border....even if you have to wait 45 minutes for a table. This place has no idea what it's identity is. Sports Bar? Restaurant? Something in between? Who knows. All I know is that there was some horrifyingly bad karaoke going on at 7:15 on a Monday night. 7:15. Thanks. Yeah, people want to hear talentless losers singing songs that sucked to begin with while they are trying to eat dinner. Give me a break. Why would you do this?? (Hey, management - here's your shot to explain yourself...) Would I go back? Only is there was a total overhaul. Service was decent, food mediocre, prices average (but higher than Border). Place needs to hit the reset button or it's not going to last.
(2)Meg V.
Got that nacos and was disappointed. Who screws up nacos? Also I ate on the porch which was lovely until the smell of a septic system took over. Everyone in my party was grossed out by the smell!
(2)Amy L.
What a horror show. Not a place to go unless you're a single person looking for a warm beer, bad karaoke and terrible food. There was old food on the silverware! Not just the " oops...missed one" kind. It was the "I hate my job and don't give a s***" kind. Tons. Also, our drinks didn't come with limes (as requested) so when I asked the bartender (who turned out to be the GM) she dropped the attack of dirty dishes she was clearing, used her bare hand to reach into the dish of limes and the them in a cup. Gross! So unimpressed. So disgusting.
(1)Gerard D.
service is quick and very pleasant, the redeeming quality of this establishment. Consistent is a word that best describes their food, consistently salty and lacking in texture and seasoning. I wouldn't go running back to eat their any time soon but the bar and bar menu looked like they could be a good time.
(2)Tony C.
This place is terrible I would use another word but I'll keep it PG-13. Got a pitcher of Sangria (mediocre) - Wasn't the best but wasn't bad. We then got a Nacho Plate - Absolutely disgusting it looked like my dog put it together. Cheese wasn't melted chicken(which was pulled) was cold and the bottom of the nachos were watery it was disgusting. The service was good but the food is terrible here. I will not be back here anytime soon.
(1)Johnny F.
Going..going...; you know the next word. I will be suprised if this restaurant lasts another year. The bar area was mostly rowdy locals that brag "We keep this place open" as they yell at the bar. We sat at the bar area and witnessed a couple come in and then leave 15 min later because of no service. The salsa was hot sauce and chili powder with some onions and peppers. The crispy tortillas had sugar as an ingredient. Really!! I am from Texas and good Mexican tortillas are masa flour, water and salt, very simple. The best thing was the dip on the taxi appetizer. The waiter failed service 101. We said we were finished and he dropped the check off; left all the food and plates at the table. We had to ask him to clear the table so we could enjoy our after dinner beverage. I hope the bar crowd does keep the place going because the food and service will not.
(1)Katy G.
Disgusting, greasy food. There was a bad odor: perhaps they we getting the septic tank cleaned? Worst dining experience of my life.
(1)Lisa M.
I usually love it here but we went last night for dinner, there was only one person sitting at the bar not a server insight. He yelled out I think you can seat yourself. I would have sat my self but unfortunately every table was covered in dirty dishes and glasses, so then I decided we would just sit at the bar and unfortunately the bar was dirty as well. This whole time we still weren't approached by any staff member.
(1)Maria O.
Whenever I'm in Saugus I make it a point to dine at the fat cactus. Great food at sensible prices, friendly service, fantastic festive atmosphere! I suggest the enchiladas they are quite the treat. The place for Tex Mex at the NORTHSHORE for sure.
(4)Julia R.
By far the worst Mexican restaurant I have ever been to. I should have listened to the other Yelpers, but the building looked so cool from the exterior. The food tasted like it had been frozen. Definitely not fresh. The salsa looked like it had sat out unrefrigerated for days. The frozen margaritas were not blended. Totally full of ice chunks and no flavor or alcohol. Do yourself a favor and skip this place. Very disappointing!
(1)lori g.
Wish I could give positive review, but unfortunately this place seems to have an identity problem and food is not very good.. Fish tacos were awful, salsa and chips smallest serving I have ever seen in a Mexican restaurant and both my husband meal and my meal were cold, after waiting about 30 min for a meal when it was empty. The thing that bothered me the most was the 35 TVs in one room.. Could not carry on a conversation with all the distractions.. Service was poor, atmosphere is that of a Sports bar, food was worst mexican food I have had.. Good luck with this place.. It use to be ok, I feel the changes have not improved the atmosphere or the menu... Too bad..
(1)Scott B.
Good service, nice people, my kids love it, but they only eat the cheese nachos margaritas,.....no thanks, go with the beer. Food....some has been good, this last time,..not so much. Music was blaringly loud,.....I hate to say it,..but stay away. Mexico Lindo in Melrsoe is excellent if you are anywhere near.
(2)Marla L.
Horrible ! EOM
(1)Renzo T.
This place at one point was my favorite Mexican spot to eat... My girl and I would go here almost every weekend in the summer because the meat and food were downright special... The flavor and way the food was prepared couldn't be matched... ...that was then...this is now... Since then they've switched chefs... Who knows why?? But since that date the good has be sub par at best.... Across The Boarder or Maragritas it's a better choice now... Smh....what once was great...
(2)robyn t.
This is my first "Yelp" review....Not sure where to start since as I write I have the most nauseating feeling in my stomach. First let me say, as someone in the food industry them-self that the service of the waitress was more than accommodating. That is the only thing nice I can say. Oh and the beer was cold too! The food was beyond gross!!!! My Son got the ground beef tacos, since he really doesn't like super spicy things. The beef " Paste" was so smoky flavored that even I couldn't eat it. My catfish entree had dried corn bread, OVER the top Cajun spice on top of an overcooked piece of fish, and dried up pineapple salsa that was hardly noticeable on it. I will never eat there again! I do enjoy summer drinks on patio, but seriously....they need to put down the spice shaker and concentrate on preparing food w/out giving indigestion to their patrons!
(2)Ivette G.
No! No! No! The food here is not good. Very disappointed with the Mexican food here. I could tell that the beans came from a can. Doesn't take much to boil some beans with onions, garlic and salt. Never going here again.
(1)Priscilla G.
Bland and boring mexican food. Steak has a sour old taste to it. Beans are most definitely from a can. Gauc is brown and old. Damn you groupon, But i wont ever come back.
(1)Jimmy O.
Forget the food, dirty inside and the roof that commonly leaks as well as the tacky circa 90's arcade space, only go to the bar and outside patio, drinks are decently priced not a huge selection of beers. However beware the large amount of bikers that constantly regular this location you may end up feeling like you are in roadhouse by the end of the visit. They overserve people so you will get the "bros" & " tough guy bikers" who are usually drunk,loud and ignorant. The owner of this resturant had also owned previous resturant with bad reputations and shady ways of running things most known past locations being "big dog" and "bostonville grill".
(2)Samantha G.
I've recently come to Massachusetts all the way from Houston, TX., considering Mexican food is a big deal there, one of the first types of food I wanted was Tex-mex. I had been to The Fat Cactus on a date, enjoyed my meal and the 2 of the delicious margaritas. On my first day off in weeks from my 3 new jobs I went to The Fat Cactus for another good Margarita and some queso. However this time they didn't accept my Texas drivers license and turned me away after telling me it could be fake and since I don't have another picture I.D. I can't be served. No, I don't have a school I.D., didn't bring a passport, I was bitten in 1989 and couldn't enjoy a drink in a new state. This was extremely frustrating considering id been served there the month prior to today's visit.
(1)Nicole S.
From the get go we were disappointed with our service at the Fat Cactus. We were seated and didn't see our waitress for at least fifteen mins. It turned out to be a problem most of the night as she would disappear and we were left to wait. When she gave us our check at the end of the night she walked away and disappeared into the kitchen for fifteen minutes before coming back. Um, excuse me, how long does this lady thinks it takes for someone to pull a card out of their wallet? We were already so disappointed in her poor service and the food that we just wanted to get out of there. She wasn't helpful or anything. Now onto the food. Mediocre. I got the chicken asada quesadilla. It was extremely greasy. It looked like cat food and had barely any taste to it. I didn't even eat half of it. My fiance got the chicken asada chimichanga. He said it was 'meh'. The rice is weird and it leaves kind of a spicy after taste in your mouth. It honestly tastes like it came out of a box. It was pretty dry, too. The chips were fine as was the guacamole. We went on a friday night and there was a live band or something. It was way too loud in the dining room. If I wanted to sit in a noisy bar we would have chosen to sit over there.. We were really disappointed because we have been looking for a mexican place near us and this place is just not it. We will not be recommending it to anyone else and we won't return.
(2)Kayla L.
The food was good. The drinks were sent back due to their water content. Did half the ice melt before you brought it to the table? As a vegetarian I was surprised to have found a really good spinach salad with avocado beans tomato and corn- asked for it without the shrimp
(2)Dexter B.
So much better than Border Cafe! Everyone goes to Border Cafe because they are sheople and they go to where is popular even if it sucks. Like Dunkin Donuts. The Fat Cactus is different and and a great alternative to those who want to think for themselves and have a great meal.
(4)K. E.
If our friends didn't have a Groupon, there is no way we would voluntarily eat here. However, I know Groupons cannot go to waste, so we trekked here for dinner over the weekend. First, the good: Lone Star beer (for you True Detective fans) and other interesting drink offerings made for a good time. I also enjoyed the fried ice cream dessert. Everything in between leads me to... The bad: service is mediocre, took forever to get a drink at the bar (but yet couples that came in after had no problems) and when we were seated, I found it strange the server didn't know the menu all that well. There were two items on the menu that she didn't even know existed. The food is so-so, I wouldn't say it's awful, it's not - it was OK. Meh. Blah. Also, the restaurant itself and the decor is, well, ick. The walls were dirty, the floor was disgusting, and half the tables had energy saving bulbs and the other half didn't, which gave off a very strange vibe (am I in a warehouse or a mexican restaurant?) Also note, at least 1 in 3 tables orders fajitas at this place and be prepared to get home with your hair and clothes smelling like a fajita festival. There is no reason for the added smoke and show - unless your food is mediocre. Which it is. See ya later, Fat Cactus!
(2)Busta M.
When this place first opened it was great! As of March 2014 however, it has gone way down hill. I worry that The Fat Cactus will be closing soon given how bad the food and service is now. I ordered chicken enchiladas with refried beans and rice. The enchiladas were swimming in cheese and simply did not taste good at all. The refried beans were also not good and looked as though they had been slopped on my plate. I figured the rice might be OK but alas, it was not - it had a cardboard taste. And the plate was scolding hot which tells me that it was plunked under the broiler and dismissed. I did not try the tomato salsa on the plate or the lettuce. Honestly I left most of the food on the plate. Worse than the food however was the service. It seems that all of the wait staff here is miserable now. Our waitress was totally out of it and simply going through the motions. Her greeting to us was a rambling jumble of words with a forced smile. I saw another waitress coughing as she passed our table - did not cover her mouth. Moral seems to be very bad here now. Its too bad because as I said above, the place was great when it first opened and again I worry that it will close soon unless they fix the food and the service. Sorry Fat Cactus, I want to love you but I just can't right now.
(2)Emily H.
A few months ago we were drawn into this restaurant by it's busy and colorful exterior; however it was downhill from there. The restaurant is huge, and we went at a time when it was relatively empty; however our service was still mediocre at best. Halfway through our meal, our server disappeared and we never saw him again. The food was blah at best. I can't even remember exactly what I had, some type of burrito, I just remember for low quality inauthentic ingredients, specifically the rubbery cheese. I would not come back here again, and unless you are prioritizing a fun atmosphere (I assume in the evening it gets more lively and fun) I would not recommend this place.
(2)Cristina L.
Just left Fat Cactus after having been there for over an hour and only ordered 1 margarita, guac and a couple tacos. I went bc I saw the sign for $2 tacos. The tacos were pretty good for the price, I wouldn't pay more than $2 bucks for them, and the guac was just ok. The service however, what absolutely terrible. My husband and I sat at the bar, which was mostly empty, for 15 minutes before the bartender even came over and seemed like we were bothering him when we asked for a menu and that we wanted to order drinks. After he took our drink order, another 15 minutes later he said he'd take our food order, but only after he finished putting the dishes away which were apparently more important. The place has potential, but there is no one qualified running it. Employee's Dunkin Donuts cups and purses were on the back bar and it smells like stale booze, also the bartender couldn't stop scratching himself (below the belt) and obviously didn't care he was in public and dealing with people and food. No tip for him after watching that and dealing with his careless attitude.
(1)Lisa G.
I really enjoyed my taco lunch sat the bar free chips and salsa is always a plus nextvtime I will get a drink they sounded great. The staff was pretty nice also.
(3)Melissa F.
Came here last night since Border Cafe (our usual choice) had almost an hour wait. Unfortunately I do not see myself returning since this place was nothing to write home about and service was terrible. We had to ask our waitress multiple times to clean off our table, for extra silver wear and for refills. We didn't even get chips and salsa at the beginning! She sucked. So much so that my friend called the manager to mention it after we left. (She took so long to bring us everything that we were there far longer than we expected so we really just wanted to leave.) Food was meh, WAY better at Border cafe. The only thing I really liked were the beef empanadas. Next time I want Mexican I'll just wait it out at border.
(2)David V.
This place was great. I dont know these other people are talking about. Super fast service. As soon as we sat down we got chips salsa and guac. I ordered steak tips which was awesome and my girl got a burrito the size on her forearm. Delicious. Def will come back if I ever travel up this way again
(5)Fernando G.
Fat Cactus is by far the worst restaurant on Route 1. The place is dirty, sticky, and dusty. The wait staff is nice and polite, but the older blonde hostess is a mean bitch. The food is mediocre at best. The chips are soaking in oil, salsa is straight out of a can, guacamole tastes like wallpaper paste, and my shoe is more tender than the stake! I don't know how a place that is just a mile from the Border Cafe can be such a disgusting mess. Whoever runs this place doesn't give a damn about their customer's experience.
(1)Crystal J.
I've been here 3 or 4 times and while the service has always been slow, the food is usually fantastic. However, one Saturday a few months back I brought some friends along because we had a Groupon. My boyfriend ordered a Spicy Chicken Ranchero burrito, requesting no beans, while the rest of us ordered regular burritos. When the server brought our food, she had no idea whose meal was whose. All the burritos had beans in them, and I'm 100% positive she gave the ranchero burrito to my friend because it was the only one with a different type of sauce on top. After sending my boyfriend's burrito back to the kitchen to get no beans, she brought back the wrong type of burrito. It didn't have jalepenos, peppers, onions, OR pan-blackened chicken like the ranchero burrito is supposed to have. When we tried to tell our server that we thought the wrong burrito was made, she quickly said "nope it's the right burrito" and walked away. We've both ordered the ranchero burrito before and it never looked like whatever she brought us. I understand Saturday nights can be hectic, but when your table repeatedly tries to tell you the wrong meal was made, maybe take a minute to ask what it is they actually wanted instead of brushing it off. Fat Cactus was quickly becoming one of my favorite restaurants, however after this experience, I don't think we will be back.
(2)Amber G.
So, I've been going to The Fat Cactus every other night or so for a beer with my fiancé. Tonight, I was carded on my way into the bar and then again literally less than 1 minute later when I sat down and ordered my beer-at the bar that I was just carded to get into. No big deal, I look young. I said, jokingly, "oh you guys triple check here?!" And handed her my ID. She viciously ripped it out of my hand while simultaneously scratching half the skin off my hand and then literally THREW it back at me and then when I said "you didn't have to throw it at me" she started belligerently screaming at the top of her lungs, making a fool of herself and embarrassing herself. I immediately sought out a manager and while I was notifying her of how her staff was representing their establishment, psycho bartender lady came flying over like a bat out of hell, AGAIN SCREAMING about how she "didn't" throw the ID and "wasn't" screaming at me when I told her that throwing my ID at me was unnecessary. Mind you, she was screaming about the fact that she allegedly wasn't screaming, so that did wonders for her credibility. Needless to say, the $30-$50 per night I spent there at least 2-3 times per week, well that's not happening anymore. They lost a good customer because of their horribly rude staff. By the way, the manager didn't even offer me so much as an apology. She just stared at me!!!! And then when the bartender came running over like a nut job, the manager just let her continue to scream at me. Nobody did a single thing. They just watched her go nuts as if this were a common occurrence. They weren't the least bit phased by an employee screaming at the top of her lungs at a customer??? Come on!!!! For the record, 2 people sitting next to me, followed her over when she hunted me down when I was trying to talk to the manager and when she denied throwing my license at me, 2 other customers said "yes, you did, we were sitting right there and we watched the whole thing happen" Not to mention that every time I have gone on there, I sit at the bar, and I have to line my whole section of the bar with coasters because it's so filthy. I was there last night. I ordered 2 beers and got my check. I needed change and there were only 3-4 other people at the bar. Despite it being only 4 o'clock and relatively dead, I still had to wait 35 minutes for the bartender to come over and acknowledge me so I could even ask for change. Even though she took care of the party sitting 2 chairs away from me. I was frustrated but you can't blame an entire restaurant for 1 bad bartender. Well tonight's bartender (a different one) sure took the cake!!!! Now I have faith that this place will take any trash bag off the streets and pay them to "work" there. Rewind a year, I was there seeing a friend whose band was playing, and my food came out cold and my waitress ignored my mother and I for OVER 90 minutes because she was flirting with the group of college guys at the next table. All I wanted was water and I had to wait nearly 2 hours to even ask for it. Plus it took another 20 to get it brought to my table. I'm not even exaggerating. I didn't think it was possible, but there really is a restaurant that bad out there. I get friendlier service from Dicks Last Resort!!!!! Where they are supposed to go out of their way to TRY TO BE RUDE Literally!!!
(1)Melissa P.
Last night my husband and I went to the fat cactus, we had been there before and it was amazing...no wait, good service, everything was as it should be. I saw that there was a groupon available so I got one to be able to go back. When we got there a Hostess or waiter say they would be right with us, 5 to 10 minutes later someone sat us on the porch, said he would get us chips and salsa and tell our waitress. 15 min or so go by and he came back over wondering if anyone had helped us yet? We said no so he prompted to be our waiter. Took our drink order and said he would be back with our drinks, chips and salsa. 10 minutes or so go by he comes back with our drinks, takes our order said he would be back in the meantime with our chips and salsa that he has yet to deliver. 20 min go by, were sitting on the porch and we can smell someone smoking weed at the front entrance, we look over it's our server. At this time another hostess come over and asked if we have been helped we said someone took out order 30min ago and we haven't gotten anything yet. She apologized and said she would find our server. 5min later our food comes out and my husband asked for a refill on his drink. He said he would be right back. He came over 5 to 10 min later asking how everything way, we asked if we could get our drinks and chips and salsa. Come back later with a sodas. We were so appalled by this waiter we didn't even spend our whole groupon. We wanted desert but we didn't want to order fear that it would be another hour. We paid what we owed and left.
(1)Arthur L.
If this review looks too long for you to read, just skip to my last sentence. First time there, on a not busy Saturday night, everything we ordered came out as a mistake, the soda was not the one ordered , the appetizer(cheese dip but we ordered guacamole) , the main course (the chicken we ordered came as beef) , my steak tips tasted like rubber. The food wasn't cleared off the table properly, the $42bill had only $39 off my $40 Groupon which I know it doesn't seem like a big deal but that was the last straw for me. I felt like nobody even cared about the mistakes. After all the mistakes no manager came to the table. I I went to the host desk to complain after I got the check, the hostess got the manager and I told him the story, his resolution was to see him next time I go there(I'm sorry but I worked in restaurants for a long time when I was younger and that's not how things should be resolved). I was so bummed out and disappointed that I didnt even want anything off the bill, just wanted to leave and never go back there.
(1)J R.
I love Mexican. I could eat here again, but not overly often. the food is tasty but very heavy. Overall pretty decent and convenient to get to.
(3)Kib L.
Dishes are unauthentic and flavorless. Service is slow and unattentive. Drinks are watered down. Decor on the other hand...gets 1 star.
(1)Sue I.
We went with a living social deal and I am glad we did not have to pay full price. Margaritas were overly sweet. Music was too loud from the bar area for a comfortable dinner. Appetizers were tasty. We had high hopes after trying the Tequila Lime Wings and the Empanadas. But, the entrees were sorely lacking. My Husband got the tacos that were so soggy that they could not be picked up. I got the Fajita Burrito. Huge in size but the steak inside was fatty. The onions were pretty much raw strips and there were no peppers at all. No point in saying anything to the waitress as she was not around much at all. I would understand if it was a busy night but the dinner area was almost empty. Not interested in returning. Slightly less than mediocre Mexican. Bathrooms were unkempt as well...
(2)Amanda C.
We had the worst service. I enjoyed the food and drink but our server was inattentive. We would see her at 15 to 20 minute increments. It's too bad because we are usually good tippers. Will not be returning.
(2)Savannah K.
Big management problems here.. walked in last monday night and sat at a Filthy table for 20 minutes while the wait staff ignored me. Then while the Karaoke show was going on a large rat was under one of the tables inside the restaurant. After most everyone cleared out, I stayed a few more minutes to see that there wasn't even a manager on duty to deal with the emergency.
(2)Alicia S.
The décor is a little overwhelming when you first enter I won't lie. It could be turned down a little but it is a cool vide when you walk in to hear live music. I liked sitting on the patio except the wind blew away the menus/napkins all dinner long. The food was good especially my chicken fajita that was seasoned just right. The tortillas could use a little more to them but it wasn't bad. I would go back
(4)Jill G.
We had a Groupon... so the fact that we paid 1/2 price was the only redeeming part of this meal. We ordered the Potato Chip Nachos, which were supposed to be "drenched" (their menu description) in Queso. Most of the chips had nothing on them. We asked for a little more... and got charged $1 for it! Sitting on the patio was nice, but by the end of the meal the bugs came out... and got caught in the fans... and were literally dropping like flies on our food. The food is lackluster at best - greasy empanadas, flavorless fajitas, and soggy tacos. The service was slow (though pleasant) and we really just couldn't wait to leave. Let's just say that we won't be getting fat at the Fat Cactus.
(1)Christopher H.
One time it was great and the next time it was dripping grease so I went with a 2. The atmosphere is nice and comfortable.
(2)Lynette A.
Wish I could give a positive review, as I have gone here before and it was so-so then seemed to be getting a bit better but unfortunately this place seems to have an identity problem and food is awful.. We were greeted by a hostess after 6 minutes and the place was far from busy and she was not very personable. The nachos were cold and plain and my meal Tacos al pastore came out stone cold. waited over 15 minutes for the waiter who still did not come back and had to ask to get him over and told him it was stone cold. Needless to say I didn't even get to eat. salsa and chips were never served. 35 TVs in one room..focus on your customers. Service was poor, atmosphere is that of a Sports bar, food was worst mexican food I have had.. Good luck with your renovations.. .. It use to be fair but these changes have not improved the atmosphere or the menu... so long FAT CACTUS
(1)Christine S.
The decor is sort of gimmicky-trashy. The service was actually great. I was with someone who as a former waitress, i know is a huge pain in the ass. Our waiter was great. The food was ok at best. Salsa tastes like it is from a jar. I got a chimichanga and it just wasn't anything to write home about. I guess I have been spoiled by the Howling Wolf in Salem.
(2)Stephen M.
The Fat Cactus always seems to disappoint. I've been three times, but only because of gift cards and Groupons. On the positive side though, the food is good and they have great daily specials. I went on a Tuesday most recently and all burritos and enchiladas were $5. The one I ordered is usually $13.99! Each time I went, the place seemed to have been remodeled. The second time there was a large buffet area set up in the middle where there used to be tables, but then the next time it was replaced by booths. Maybe they're trying to be better? They already had a cool atmosphere, so it sort of seems like a waste. I think their biggest problem is that The Border Cafe is right down the road in Saugus. The Border is an awesome restaurant and has set a very high bar for the Fat Cactus; it's also much cheaper. I'd come back for the specials and maybe if the wait was too long at The Border. At least the Fat Cactus has a nice outdoor seating area going for it.
(2)carol a.
I've driven by this place a million times and stopped in for a quick bite on my way back from Boston. The chips and salsa were good and had great spice so I had high hopes however, it was all down hill after that. We both had the fish tacos on corn tortillas. The tortillas were the worst I've ever had. They were yellow corn and were really coarse rather than the white corn tortillas that are soft. The rice was totally flavorless and tasted like it came from a box. The refried beans tasted like they came from a can and also had not taste. I think Taco Bell probably makes better Mexican food. They call their cuisine Mexicali...I'm from California and there is no place in California I know that services Mexican food like this.
(1)Jonathan A.
Meh. Is a good way to describe my experience at Fat Cactus today. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't very good either. I saw a deal on Groupon for Fat Cactus ($20 for $40) and I had never been there so my fiancee and I decided to give it a shot. Prior to going we asked several friends about there thoughts on The Fat Cactus and one said she didn't like it at all and another said "meh, it is so-so." I responded with, "there is a Groupon for it so I think we will try it" and he responded saying, that if I was going to spend $20.00 than I might as well just go to Borders up the highway a little ways. He was right. I went in with a positive attitude in spite of some negative feedback. As we walked in the decor was eye-catching in the sense that it felt like some sort of indoor playground. I wasn't a big fan. Our waitress was kind and checked up on us several times so no complaints there. I had the Black Angus Seasoned Ground Sirloin Chimichangas. And that was definitely just "meh." Meet tasted greasy and looked greasy, didn't seem much different from ground beef you would find at a supermarket, and some of the rice was either uncooked or burnt. There were a few times I had to pull some grains out of my mouth because they were too hard to chew. And finally, my stomach was pretty upset after eating at the Fat Cactus and I suspect it was the amount of grease in the Chimichangas. On a positive note: there guacamole was pretty good and fresh! All in all, I would not recommend the Fat Cactus especially given that border cafe is no more than 10 minutes away. I would actually even choose Chipotle over Fat Cactus. I won't be back.
(2)Keith C.
We ate here because Border Cafe had an hour wait. There was no wait time which was a plus, but the interior really left something to be desired. They seated us in the dining room, which resembled a cafeteria, so we relocated to the bar which was a little more lively and had at least some character, but unfortunately it smelled like a dirty sponge, or maybe it was our menus? The food was adequate, we both had fajitas. The meat and the black beans were fine, but the tortillas were really generic and bland. The salsa definitely came out of a can and was a big disappointment. The service was good at the bar, they were attentive.
(2)Frank A.
Food is horrible!!!!! Service was horrible!!!! We had to ask to be waited, then had to ask for our checks as the waitresses were just standing around doing nothing. The rice is gross...everything was bland. Had to throw salt and hot sauce on everything in order to eat. Do yourself a favor a go to Border Cafe instead!!!!!!
(1)Patrick H.
I think the best thing you can do at Fat Cactus is drive past it on your way to a real Mexican restaurant.
(1)Rachel M.
Really loud music on a Friday night while trying to eat dinner. The food was alright, but we only came here because Border Cafe had an hour wait and we were starving. Good service, too loud!
(3)Brian M.
When you walk into this place, the subtlety of the decor hits you like a baseball bat to the side of the head. It's all bright colors with empty liquor bottles, New Mexico State license plates, an sombreros hanging all over the place. It's different and it's most certainly not boring. The second thing that gets you is the openness of the place. The walls to the outside open up, allowing in a lot of light and outside warmth. I liked it. On a beautiful summer day it's a great place to sit down and enjoy a meal with a couple of drinks. The food, for the most part, didn't blow me away. It was good because Mexican food, by definition, is pretty good. Throw some cheese and avocado into a dish and right away, you have yourself a hit. I've dined on better Mexican dishes, but don't be discouraged. I left very full and very happy. If I lived in the area I have a feeling that I'd be back very often. If I'm craving an authentic, delicious dish then maybe I'd keep searching. But if I'm looking for a night of throwing back a few beers with some friends then this would be one of the first places I'd think of. I love the open, outdoors feel to the place. I love how they have a Golden Tee and a couple of racing games tucked away in the back. Few things go better with your 3rd beer than a round of Golden Tee. I love the prices and I love me some enchiladas.
(5)Christina H.
This was, by far, the single worst food-related experience I have ever had at a restaurant. The only food which was even remotely edible were the wings, which were fairly tasty. The meat in my husband's burrito was cold and it had beans, even though he had requested none. There was hair in my taco (be nice..), the steak was charred on the outside and completely cold on the inside. The rice was crunchy. Thankfully the manager was good about removing the charges on the offending food, but we will not be going back.
(1)Barry M.
Average Mexican food, not great but not bad. Chips and salza are good and Cheso cheese dip very good. Beef enchiladas were okay but I have had better. Quesadillas were very good, overall pretty good.
(3)Doreen R.
There were 4 of us that were looking for a few margaritas and some appetizers. Found 4 seats at the bar, the food was good & the margaritas were good - if they were made by the same bartender. I ordered my third margarita and it tasted nothing like the first 2.. I asked the bartender to put more mix in it, she dismissed me - saying there is no mix in it, it is lime juice - walked away and went to the other bartender and told him to make it. We ordered appetizers, which were good. What I could not get past was the smell. It was a sharp, dirty nasty smell. All I could think of was bar rescue needed to come in there and whip that place into shape. When we were leaving there was a sign in the lobby stating they would be having renovations done. I hope this is true and part of the renovations would be they clean the bar area, cause that is just gross. I will be curious to see if anyone from the Fat Cactus responds to this review.
(1)Abigail S.
I would not eat here again. The initially bright and vibrant impressions of the restaurant decor is quickly damped by their menu (varied but uninspired) and poor service. We generally take it as aa bad sign when a restaurant that identifies as one type of cuisine features many dishes from other cuisines. It's also not a good sign when the server in a Mexican restaurant identifies their ribs as the best thing on the menu. Our food was received relatively timely (it did feel like a long time considering that we were one of three parties in the restaurant at at around 2pm in the afternoon). We were given complimentary chips and salsa and discovered a scrap of black cloth on on the chips about half way in. When presented to the server, he joked that it was part of his shirt. Meeting with blank stares from us, he took the plate away. We ordered queso cheese and chips, which were decent. The food was mediocre and served hot but not nearly good enough to redeem the experience. Multiple people commented on the poor taste, texture and greasy quality of their meat (different kinds of meat in tacos, enchiladas, and burritos). My husband and his brother both found their chicken quesadillas unpalatable after eating one slice. I had enchiladas (one chicken and one cheese - ended up only eating the cheese one) which didn't have any enchilada sauce on them, only cheese. A friend's beef chimichanga was bland and others only finished half of their burritos. Furthermore, accoutrements like lettuce, picco, or tomatoes that were served with dishes were limp, flavorless, and clearly not fresh. Probably the largest disappointment was the service. While ordering, our server met a request for having both black and refried beans with a no and justifying it by saying "he's a dick" of the cook. Our server also described dishes as "bad-ass", mixed up drink orders between people at our table, dropped food on the floor and didn't clean it up, and gave us our check (kind of tossed it on the table) without a word. It felt very presumptuous and unprofessional.
(1)Sarah B.
New cook, new menu - still really good food. Their con queso is a lot spicier now, which makes it more delicious - and everything on their menu sounds twice as good as before, from chimichangas and enchiladas to fajitas (which it seemed like everybody was ordering, as the place had that distinct fajita smell to it when you first walk in) and carne asada. It is worth a try.
(4)Omeletteuknow O.
It was a hot and steamy night I was weary from the road Sat inside at the balmy 100 degree bar Flys flying round, people perspiring in close proximity to my personal space Ordered massive margarita, Needed another cause mostly mix, and another (great service btw) Hadn't eaten in 12 hours, the apps were the best apps I've ever eaten in my entire barfoody life Live acoustic music el Presidente mucho gusto It's like having Sr Frog's Cancun right here on ye ole Route 1 It was a good night, a very good night at the cactus
(5)Jeff M.
The mixed drinks? Weak as hell. The chips? Too salty. The food? Mediocre. The service? Disappearing for 15 minutes at a time. The only decent parts were the 32 oz "tall" Modelo Especial on tap and the live music......but I don't think I can bring myself to come back JUST for those two things. Nothing else was all that redeeming and being near Somerville as the Mecca of Mexican food in the Boston area, there isn't much here that stands out. If you're a Revere local, sure. If not, don't travel more than 10 miles for this place unless you're meeting someone here for a little get together which is what we were doing. If $82 tequila shots are your thing then maybe you can test it out for yourself but don't say I didn't warn you that very little is impressive.
(2)Joe P.
This place is disgusting!!!! The food is awful! The staff is extremely rude!!! Been there twice hoping to have a different experience! Waste of my time and money...
(1)Rosa S.
I came in for the first time and I stopped at host stand to request a table. I happen to look up to discover an entire WALL of hot sauce. Not only did they have all kinds of hot sauce for customer use but they had a specific one that I absolutely love (Dave's Insanity Sauce). So needless to say I was instantly smitten. We sat at a comfy retro booth and I started noticing the decor. It was super cheesy but in a cool way. They had empty liquor bottles lined up in the ceilings and they had one wall decorated with cigar boxes. The bathroom had flip flops glued into the walls - weird but cute. We got Will as our server and he was super attentive and helpful. I disclosed I was a first timer and he gave me some real good options. He cleared up out dishes and bagged up our leftovers so promptly. I was super happy with the service. For the food, my sister made me order their guacamole and that was just ok. For my entree I ordered the Blackened Chicken and it was so yummy. Very seasoned = very happy. We also tried the coo-coo corn off the specials and that was also good. For dessert we finished up with an order of Fried Ice Cream and it was delish. I would definitely return
(4)Michelle B.
After reading all these negative reviews, I think I will be the first one to give it a good one. I have been here countless amounts of times, and I always get my two favorite things. The pork verde buritto, and the enchiladas(the menu has recently changed since the last time I have been there). When I customize my order, it always comes out correct, and everytime we ask for more chips/salsa it comes out at a good time. Give this review a chance and try out the fat cactus!
(4)Luis R.
Terrible service. Went in one night with my girlfriend and sat at the bar. No one came to us for the first 20 minutes (and the place wasn't busy, 10 people at the bar). We asked for a menu to get food and the bartender said that the kitchen was closed. Afterwards, a couple who came on like 30 minutes after us sitting at a high table behind us in the bar area ordered food through the bartender and got there food like 15 minutes later. I use to go there all the time because they use to have a great thing going there but now, they dropped a lot. I'll never go back there
(1)Ian W.
I've driven past The Fat Cactus countless times on US Route 1 North. On my way back to NH driving out of Boston, I finally decided to stop in here for an early Sunday dinner when the place was not that busy yet. I was seated immediately as I entered the restaurant around 4:20 PM. I like the festive and very colorful atmosphere and decor inside this Mexicali themed cantina including the painted cartoon characters on the walls, multi-color holiday string lights, and the many liquor bottles and sombreros hanging from the ceiling. The music playing in the background was adult contemporary. I was given a complementary basket of chips and salsa along with my drink order. The corn tortilla chips were crispy and the thick tomato salsa was on the mild side. There is a bottle of hot sauce at the table. Looking at the poster sized menu (double sided), it took me a few moments to decided what I wanted, torn between fish tacos and fajitas. I finally decided to make a compromise and ordered the Blackened Catfish Fajitas ($13.99) and the good amount of food (enough for 2 people) arrived hot and sizzling to my table in under 20 minutes including 4 warm flour tortillas, a plate of fixings (shredded cheese, lettuce, pico de gallo, & sour cream), and a sizzling skillet of peppers, onions, and a big long piece tender farm raised catfish rubbed in spices and blackened on the outside, topped with fresh pineapple salsa. The sides of Mexican rice and black beans were standard. All I can say is, I made a great choice and the Blackened Catfish Fajitas were very good and very spicy. I thought to myself I should have ordered a side of guacamole and a couple limes to go along with my fajitas, but next time I will. Other than that, I was thoroughly satisfied with my "Southern style/Tex_Mex" dinner and VERY STUFFED afterwards, so no dessert for me. I really wanted to enjoy some Chocolate Pina Colada Puddingn for dessert. The service was very attentive and over the top. My waitress checked up on me very frequently about a dozen times during my visit, asking how I was doing, if I needed more chips & salsa, refills on drinks, and also kept me informed when my food was arriving (your food is being made now). I prefer to enjoy my dinner in peace without interruptions, but I'd accept very attentive service over any "non-existent" and very laid back waitstaff any day!
(4)Divya S.
Our server was great however the food and service was eh ok. I had a problem with my meal and the manager brought back the same food and gave 20 different excuses! We had a Groupon voucher and that's the only reason why we went there. I don't think we'll ever go back!
(2)Sarah R.
We had a gift card. We reviewed Yelp and it was a little mixed but on the low side. So we ordered a variety of things to share-chx quesadilla, mixed double fajita (steak/chx) and the steak was so salty, stringy, and had a funny color. The mixed plate had 3 different items-the chx taco was soggy & had a weird seasoning. The beef taco was even worse. The quesadilla was fine. I imagine nothing here is homemade or from scratch!
(1)Muriel C.
my taco salad consisted of an overload of shredded lettuce in a fried tortilla bowl with literally a teaspoon of their salsa.... and a teaspoon of shredded cheese. the music from the bar was live and TOO LOUD as always.
(2)Maria L.
One star is because the food was at least edible. One star is for my awesome waitress Kyara. The food here is just below OK. It's nothing special. But my main concern was their attitude towards food allergies. This is how it went down: Me to the waitress: I'd like the chicken fajitas, no cheese or sour cream. I'm allergic to eggs and milk can you please check the marinade. Waitress: Absolutely. --- Waitress: The chef says that he can't do it. He said they cook everything on the grill together with margarine. He said he would have to ask special permission from the manager but doesn't think it's going to be possible. I'm going to get the manager. Poor girl, stuck between the customer and the lazy chef. The manager of course came over and was willing to do what I needed. But one thing she did tell me is that the "sizzle" you see when they bring you your fajitas is just margarine squirted on the hot plate! EW. Anyway, I got mine without sizzle. haha. It's disappointing that there was so much push back on the no butter issue. This is the first restaurant in a long time that has hesitated on this issue. Additional to that, my chicken was burnt and my veggies were raw. They did taste decent when I ate them the next day and re-fried them myself. Save your money and go somewhere else....Unless you want to see Kyara, she was super nice. haha.
(2)William D.
I've been here about 4 or 5 times or so, and every time I've come here, the food has been OK at best. I've had everything from quesadillas to chimichurri steak, fajitas, etc. Not a fan of this place, but doesn't quite warrant 1 star.
(2)Charlene S.
This was probably the worst food I've ever had.. ever. Ended up trying this place because the Border Cafe was so busy. I regretted it immediatley. Appetizer- Chili Con Queso- Apparently at the Fat Catus they think melted American cheese food product can double as chile con queso. It was more like fondue.. and not good fondue, gross fondue. Dinner- I ordered the Fiesta Quesadilla with chicken and my boyfrient the cat fish tacos. I knew when our orders came out in less than ten minutes that something was wrong. They put the food down and the tomato salsa on top looked watery and the tomatoes were almost see through. I moved that aside figuring how can you mess up a quesadilla? Well it was maybe luke warm with the cheese not very melted. Again not real cheese. Then.. my guacamole arrived, which was sour and tasted like vinegar. Nothing was fresh, it was warm and undercooked and I was thoroughly dissapointed. My boyfriends tacos were soggy and he ended up just eating the blackened cat fish once he got through the burnt parts. There's a reason people wait in line at the Border Cafe for an hour for food, it's because it's the only Cantina Mexican restaurant on Rt One. This place isn't a restaurant it's a margarita bar with alleged food substances. The manager came over when she saw that I wasn't eating and took the quesadilla off our bill for us. It must be embarrasing to work here... I feel bad for the wait staff which is really attentive and polite. Save yourself the trouble and wait in line at the Border Cafe, I know I will
(1)Jenna B.
Awful awful awful! Quality has plummeted. Sticky table. Cold chips. Weak drinks. Small portions and unappealing tasting food. Won't go back again.
(1)Jon N.
What a mess. Plate arrived sloppy and runny like it had been microwaved. Chimichanga not crispy at all--more like a burrito under a warming lamp. Sangria tasted like a mix. Chips out of a bag. Lazy.
(2)jackie y.
This COULD be the best place ever, but it's NOT. The environment is great but the food and drinks are inconsistent, overpriced and just plain, not good. It's a shame because they're one of the only places in the area with live music and outdoor seating. If they would just follow The Border Cafe's business model, they'd be great.
(1)David C.
I written two other reviews about this place and in both I said the food was incredibly bland. Well they have fixed that problem the food is better not great just better
(3)Amanda B.
I went on a double date here at the beginning of the month and i had to write a review. I feel as though the only thing this place is good for is the drinks. The drinks are great! I feel bad for the bartenders because they could make a killing if the food didn't suck so bad. I ordered a caesar salad that was very plan and boring but the worst was the steak i ordered with it. I couldn't eat it. If you could only see what it looked like. It was clearly frozen steak they microwaved or something.... To top that my girlfriend almost choked on a chicken bone in her food. It was DISGUSTING! The manager did come over and give us free desert which was nice but i still have no desire to go back....
(2)Brian G.
The food here is good, the servers are good, but getting good service from the hosts is difficult. The last 3 times we went there, the people working at the front desk were rude and seemed to not want our business. It seems to be a pattern there.
(1)Ellen H.
The Fat Cactus. Number 8532 in the long list of restaurants that have failed to call that little section of route 1 home for very long. However, this restaurant has some staying power and I attribute it to the 3-season porch. Yes, this porch has existed in the other restaurants, but who wants to eat naked fish outdoors when you can have a margarita outdoors? There's something about a margarita that just makes you want to be outside in the warm breeze, and Fat Cactus offers that. You receive the obligatory bucket o' chips with salsa -- which, when you only come for drinks, is a welcome sponge for all the tequila you are about to ingest. The margarita menu is extensive and the margaritas are so-so -- the last time I came here I actually switched to beer because for $10 OUT of Boston, I want a margarita that kicks you in the pants, not some wussy mush that makes you feel flush and not much more. I liked the live music out on the porch and the variety of seating types - tables & chairs, couches, lounge-y areas, etc. The food menu looks great also but I haven't eaten here yet. Being so close to Border Cafe, I'd pick Border anytime the temperature is under 80 in the evening. But once it starts to get uncomfortable, I'm heading to Fat Cac to sip a frozen margarita in the breeze to the strum of a live guitar.
(3)Nikolette C.
I had high hopes for Fat Cactus, despite the rough Yelp reviews. I often drive by it on Route 1, curious as to how good it actually is considering that it looks like a really cool place. It's also ALWAYS packed, which made me think that it was going to be great. But then I actually tried it... The food actually only gets ONE star! The chips and salsa were horrible! I suppose if you like stale, out-of-the-bag tasting chips, you might like them. I had the Spicy Chicken Ranchero Burrito and my boyfriend had the Taco and Enchilada Platter. All of the food, especially the chips, had a very generic, out-of-the-can taste. Nothing tasted fresh! Even for east coast "Mexican" food, this place was practically embarrassing! The only reason why I gave them two stars is because they did have some pretty cool live music. And who doesn't LOVE live music!?! Also, the decor was very cool, colorful, and unique. It does also look like the drinks could be good, but I doubt I will return to give them a try. It was also pretty cheap, and the service was okay. But overall--only two stars. =(
(2)Barbara B.
Drinks were warm and weak. Food was average -- nice atmosphere.
(2)Sara L.
I feel bad that this place has gotten so many terrible reviews. I admit it's definitely not the best around or even really good for that matter, but it's not awful. I've been 3 times since it opened a couple years ago, the last time was just this past Sunday. Our 3 year old daughter has been asking to go here every time we pass it on Route 1 since it looks really cool and festive from the outside. It also has a really colorful, festive atmosphere inside with lots of decorations to admire while sitting at your table. We sat in the outdoor patio section this last time and our daughter loved looking at all the decor and coloring her kid's placemat. Our waitress was really attentive and provided very good service, always bringing over refills of our drinks and bringing another basket of complimentary chips and salsa after asking if we'd like more. As for the food, well......my husband said his blackened catfish tacos were definitely over spiced and the rice that came with it was too dry. My chicken ranchero burrito was okay, definitely not authentic Mexican but somewhat tasty that I was able to eat almost the whole thing. My daughter wasn't too big a fan of her kid's chicken quesadilla and rice but ate about a quarter of it. So all in all, we'd go back. It might be better to just go for drinks and appetizers and enjoy the outdoor seating as well as the advertised "live music 7 nights a week" (although we didn't see or hear any live music while we were there but we were gone by 7:30ish).
(3)Melissa C.
I know the biggest draw for this place is the live music, but the bf and I decided to be seated in the restaurant instead of the patio. I think this place would be great if you just wanted to come back and kick back with some friends, but as a place to get a meal.. not so much. The empanadas and rice were good, but that was about it. They used this red sauce in their enchiladas and tacos, which was funky. I couldn't finish my taco it was so bad and bitter tasting. Overall, I wasn't impressed with the food. Also, their house margarita tastes like they use bottom shelf tequilla. If you're looking to get tipsy, it'll work, but don't order it for flavor!
(2)Sandra F.
OMG! I came here on Monday, Labor Day. Not a busy night. This was my second time coming to The Fat Cactus; both times because I had a Groupon. The first time I came I order the steak fajitas. The vegetables that were on the bottom of the skillet were burned and the ones on the top were raw. The steak was tough as leather. It was awful. This time I went again because I had a Groupon and I wanted to see if it had improved. Plus, it was expiring next week. I ordered two different magaritas and both were watery, not a taste of tequila. For dinner, I ordered Tequila Lime chik wings appetizers and carne asada (steak) as an entree. Within 5 minutes of ordering, my appetizer and entree were put down in front of me. I have never had food cooked so fast in my life. Everything was tasteless. The wings were dry because they had been microwaved and the steak was tough as leather. I took the wings home, but I did not eat any of my entree and did not take it home. I will never come back here again, groupon or no groupn. And I will never recommend it.
(1)Carolyn W.
We were seated promptly by open windows at about 7:30 pm. We were planning on asking our server to close it when they came to introduce themselves, but we sat there for 17 minutes without being acknowledged. While sitting, we heard the tables around us ask three different people to close the windows before anything was done. I wish zero stars were an option. We left after those 17 minutes and told the 2 hostesses that it was unacceptable. They were more concerned with where we were seated than in apologizing. DON'T GO TO THIS RESTAURANT!
(1)Phil W.
Great food, Great drinks. Ive sat at the bar area many times as well as the dining area. Great place to have a few drinks with friends or dinner with the family. Live music in the summer and always a fun crowd.
(5)Peter H.
Plenty of seating all day, even weekend evenings. Plays music on certain days - gets too noisy at those times, but I like to have a conversation. Varied southern beer collection, house margaritas are very standard, not bad but nothing special. Dinner and lunch menu is very good. Food is hot, well-cooked and flavorful. Lunch buffet was TERRIBLE. Food was luke-warm and flavor was not good. Only time I've had bad food at this restaurant. Service is good.
(4)Judy C.
We keep going back for the best fajitas ever! And they do fajitas for two also. Steak, chicken, shrimp, I've tried them all! I add guacamole to the set up that comes with it and i tastes as good as my own. Service is always timely, its a bit loud when the band is playing (as to be expected) but its a lively fun place that we really enjoy.
(4)Tommy K.
Eek! What's happening over there?!?!? I loved the Fat Cactus, up until tonight. The salsa was very runny and tasted pretty much like canned tomatoes and a few spices. The chips were okay. Ordered a diet coke and it tasted nasty. Asked the server (Brian) what was up with the soda and he said "Oh it's City Soda" - while I do not know what that means do NOT order soda. I then asked for iced tea, Brian brought raspberry sweetened tea - I asked him for unsweetened. When he brought it - it smelled and tasted like toilet cleaning solution. WTF? Dinner took a while, a burrito and fajitas - doesn't make sense. Our server Brian was just okay. He seemed annoyed or as if he had some place better to be. Never saw a manager - they never came over to check on our table or any other for that matter. I would say that'll be the last time I visit there, unless I don't want salsa or anything to drink from a mexican restaurant.
(2)Angela D.
I love it! I've been here about six times now on a groupon in the last six months. Occasionally I have a small issue with something with the food. But they are always attentive to correct it and the staff is always doing their best to make you happy. Every time I've come, I've been seated right away. Fajitas are great and the Rollito's are amazing! I look forward to coming back again.
(5)Kevin S.
Wanted to go to Border Cafe. Didn't want to stand around 90 minutes waiting for a table there. Well....up Rt 1 to the Fat Cactus. Never been here under this name before. They had a table right away, even though it was 7:30 on a Friday night AND the place was PACKED. Service was good. Food? Who knew there was another decent Mexican style place on Rt 1 other than Border Cafe? Parking can get tight when busy (like this night). There is lots of parking. As Christina Z says, Live Music EVERY night. It is out by the patio area, but the sound rolls through the entire place. If you want a quiet dinner, don't come here.
(3)Mara P.
First off the food was really great but the service was disgusting and horrible. Our waitress brought me over a cracked cup and then I had to ask another waitress for a new cup because my waitress was no where to be found, she also had to ask my boyfriend to repeat his drink order three times which was just a "bud bottle". We also witnessed a male waiter fondling waitresses by tickling and just poking them and being a creep, the staff seemed to be having more of social party with eachother rather than paying attention to customers. At the end of meal I used to rest room and witnessed a waitress not wash her hands when she came out of the stall and she just went back to work also in the same minute another waitress comes in and pulled pads (normally used to for that time of the month) out of her armpits to catch sweat and after having her hands under her armpits she did not wash her hands either! Also the waitress that we had did not clear away any dishes when we were done, she seemed overall bored and didn't care about getting our order right. I am disappointed and disgusted I will not be coming back!
(1)Meredith M.
Such a great place for a group of friends or a fun date. Last Friday we treated ourselves to dinner on the deck of the Fat Cactus. The weather was perfect, the live band was loud, the margaritas were strong and not too sweet. The food was fine. The queso was basically velveta with a little rotel. The enchiladas were tasty but average. The fish tacos were delicious! Being from Texas, I have very high standards for mexican food establishments. However, the ambiance and service were enough to grant this place 4 stars. (Food gets 3 stars). It's a fun place on the North Shore to grab a bite and a few margaritas on a hot day. I think it would also be fun for private parties! If your'e in the area, check it out!
(4)Kim R.
Had looked forward to stopping for lunch...mistake! Both of us acquired stains on our pants from the filthy table cloths. Waitress moved us to a "cleaner" table...with an equal amount of "rundown". We barely tasted our food we were in such a hurry to leave. Unfortunate experience. Should have read the reviews!
(1)Frederick S.
I've been there twice. The food is fair to poor. Today I got fries instead of the rice i ordered with my ribs, No guacamole or refried beans as requested with my fajitas. I will not be returning!
(1)Lizz W.
Decor, was crazyyyy and fun to look at. We went with 7 people, and were sat right away on Saturday night. 5 out of 7 of us got fajitas. Chicken, Steak and Catfish. All were delicious and greatly portioned. Not to mention how full we all were off the buckets of chips and salsa before the meal. Everything was fresh and good, we will be back again (when in the area)
(4)Justin S.
Truth in advertising: This review was based on the first and only time I have been here. Oversized menus were an interesting novelty but would have been difficult to handle with 4 people at our booth. They needed a bath, however, as both were suffering from previous customer's salsa drippings. We started off with Queso Fundido. It was exactly as described on the menu. However be warned this is NOT authentic fundido that typically contains chorizo. Chips were not hot, some were chewy, but the salt level was even and appropriate. Fish Tacos: Fish was seriously over-fried, to the point it had to be picked apart because it was difficult to chew. Had potential to be very good and the red pepper sauce was tasty. Beef Chimichanga: Tasty, although a little greasy. This dish was served on what appeared to be a tomato basil tortilla which you would typically expect to find at a deli. The filling was good, except for the beef which was difficult to cut and chew. A steak knife would have helped. Both dishes came with beans (one refried and one black) which were hot and average. Mexican rice however was as crunchy as the carrots shreds that it contained.
(2)Kathleen H.
The decor is of the "Tijuana ate too much Mardis Gras and puked in my living room" chic. You know, the kind that so many WOOHOO-we-are -so-FUN!!! restaurants enjoy, but with a tex mex/amerilatin flair. Lots of bright colors, tiles, beads, tchotchkes, mirrors. . . the ceiling has brilliantly colored big salamander things, and the big bar has a row of flip flops glued to the ceiling. They have PARTY ROOMS, POOL TABLES and FUN FUN FUN VIDEO GAMES!!! There you go. The music was LOUD. It was saturday night, but it was hard to have any kind of conversation. We were at a bar table - perhaps it's quieter in the dedicated dining area or the spacious porch. Next time - if there's room - which there wasn't last night - I'd like to sit on the porch. Comfy tables with wicker furniture, live music (They advertise that they have it 7 days a week) - it looks like a fun place to go with friends and hang out with a pitcher of something. The guy last night was singing a mix of margaritavillesque classic tunes and Simon and Garfunkel. When he was on break. . LOUD latin music was playing. Did I mention the music was LOUD??(at least in the bar area) The margaritas have enthralling, enticing, delicious sounding descriptions in the menu, followed by a snappy synopsis, a la Cheap Boozy Chinese Place (This sailor will send you out to sea! wink wink. . . what? OH RIGHT, it'll get me drunk, thanks!) I ordered one that supposedly was a higher end variety, in other words, not just sour mix with a splash of Cuervo. It purported to be just booze with real fresh squeezed lime juice. It came in a high ball glass and tasted. .sweet. sigh. Evidently there aren't real margarita glasses here. My companion also reported. . .sweet drink. Not much other flavor. double sigh. They did have alcohol in them though, for what it's worth. Drinks are reasonably priced, the house margarita or glass of sangria: $5.50. The "high end" drinks? $8.50. I'd say. . . just stick with the house pitchers. Because you're not going to get a finely crafted anything here, so you might as well spend less money getting shnozzled. The food was. . .edible. Ok. Kept me from gnawing off my hand. The chips were freshly fried and pretty good - but very floppy and greasy toward the bottom of the basket. Service? What service. . well ok, there was some service. Our waitress was perky and said "here ya go Doll" when she handed me my drink. After we waited awhile for menus, and two other people said our waitress would be by with menus. Then we were brought chips by the chip guy who said someone would be there to take our drink order. Our waitress took our food order, and was never seen again. A harried looking guy in a T shirt plopped our food on our table - the lettuce/pico de gallo/sour cream that was supposed to come with the fajitas never appeared. After trying a couple times to flag down someone who was not our waitress and failing, we just ate what we had, in the silence provided by REALLY LOUD MUSIC. My rice had peas in it. grump. We asked another passing waitress if she could send our waitress over. "uh huh". Didn't happen. We asked another passing waitress if we could speak to the manager. Yeah, that got results. The manager apologized. All we paid for was drinks. Thank you. All in all. . . Lots of Glitter, basic sweet drinks and unspicy New England tex mex food. I would come again to sit outside with buddies, if it was convenient. And possibly, try sitting in the actual dining area on a date or something . . .but from my experience last night, the assurance that "Sure you can sit at the bar, full menu, no waiting!" Also means. . .no service.
(2)Mike B.
I had been to this location when it was the Naked Fish, so I have been curious to check out The Fat Cactus for some time. I was out with the kiddos on a recent weekend and stopped by The Border Cafe: but seeing as it was packed, and I had a restless 3 y/o (the 8 y/o was chill), I didn't want to risk the wait; so we soldiered on up Route 1 and dropped into the Fat Cactus. The fact that the place was about a third full should have served as a warning (esp compared to Border). The other red flag was the dirty menu, which was splattered in several places with dried something or other...yikes. I ordered a chicken chimichanga, and I've gotta say, I was disappointed. The chicken was dark meat , and the item overall was just...dull. Not bad, but dull. The accompanying rice and beans were also just so-so. On the positive side: The kiddos both had burgers, which they gobbled up. The 8 y/o is particularly fussy about food, but nonetheless was a happy camper. Our server (Devan?) was awesome: friendly, prompt, great with the kids. Bottom line: both the service and atmosphere were great, but the food didn't cut it, and the place should have been more clean.
(2)LeAnn L.
Atmosphere, great.....service and DRINKS, not so much. I went here for dinner and margaritas with my girlfriends and received sub-par service and drinks. I ordered a frozen raspberry margarita and it tasted like blue raspberry slush, no liquor. It took forever for the alcoholic drinks to come out, water wasn't served until much later and we had to ASK. Also, the waitress failed to give us napkins or plates when our bucket of chips came out, so again, we had to ask for those. THE WORST PART WAS, when our food came out, our waitress set our food down and walked away. only we had NO SILVERWARE. We asked her to bring some out and she said that "all the silverware was in the dishwasher and they're preparing the utensils now" ...umm ARE YOU KIDDING ME?.. needless to say we waited about 8-10 minutes while our food sat in front of our faces before we were given silverware. One of my friends ordered the barbeque chicken salad and it made her sick for the rest of the night. My other friend asked for her salad with no cheese because she's lactose intolerant, she gets the salad and *surprise* there's cheese! In the end my friends and I made a decision that our waitress did NOT deserve a good tip. We gave her a 9% tip, paid half the bill in cash, the other half on a debit card... She has the nerve to come back to our table asking if "the tip is correct" because we only tipped her $6... again.. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Yes we gave you a small tip (even though she didn't deserve $2 in my mind) but you do NOT confront a guest about a small tip. Completely unprofessional! So on our way out the door, I stopped by the hostess desk to speak with her about our rude waitress, and our waitress COMES UP TO THE DESK to talk to the hostess, conveniently as I am speaking with the hostess about my dinner service. How juvenile! The waitress knew my friends and I were complaining about the service she gave us, so she had the nerve to "pretend" like she lost a pen or something to come up to the hostess desk. Maybe our waitress was new, but either way, it does not excuse a TERRIBLE dinner service. I do not think I will be returning anytime soon.
(2)Marie L.
The food was terrible no it was beyond terrible but the drinks were great and strong. We ordered nachos with only cheese, tomatoes and sour cream they put horrible chicken on it and some of the cheese was so over cooked that it was hard and the rest wasn't melted at all and who serves nachos without salsa?? The entertainment was GREAT. I will def be back for drinks and entertainment but I will be sure to eat before I go.
(2)Megan H.
At first, I really loved this place when oldest best friend from my childhood brought me here. I only get one drink that I love(d), called the Lava Flow. It's very inconsistent when I order it. Either it'll be like drinking strawberry syrup from Dunkin Donuts, or white alcoholic ice. The food isn't anything wonderful to speak of. The tortilla chips are incredibly, very salty. OH, STAY AWAY from the nacho appetizer. It's totally unworthy of $10 for a plate of naked tortilla chips. The bartender forgets about her customers ALL the time. If you're in the area, it's a good meet up spot. But, if you crave authentic Spanish food, come down to the "scarier" places in Massachusetts.
(2)Andrew B.
Good drinks. I like the 25oz. draft Dos Equis Amber Ale. Food was mediocre though. Very bright decor.
(3)Courtney N.
My friend and I decided to stop in for an early lunch on Cinco de Mayo. I loved the decor. You really felt transported when you walked through the door! We initially asked to sit on the deck but it was too cold. We went back to the main desk and had a bit of a wait to finally be seated in a free booth. The place wasn't crowded at all so I wasn't sure why we had to stand there awkwardly with our menus, cutlery and the freebies they gave us (sombrero bottle openers and some other thing). Four people said they had to check before they could seat us. Once we were seated, we were in awe of the extensive menu. I stupidly picked the chimichanga even though it had one pepper. It was way too spicy. I ended up eating the basket of free tortilla chips and dunking it in the sauce; I also ate the rice and the salad, very good. I took the rest home and my friend ate it later. My friend got a catfish taco. Also pretty spicy. He loved it and was done in no time. The portions are huge. Seriously huge. They have an extensive beer list and quite a few mixed drinks. I ordered a white mango sangria and it was awesome. The food came out fast and we never felt ignored by our server which was nice. We decided to split a fried ice cream dish for dessert. Erm, not my cup of tea. Interesting but not for me. The bill was very reasonable. We'd probably go back and next time I will order something a bit more bland!
(4)Days G.
food is not better than Margaritas in my opinion. love the outside seating tho. dinosaur legs (chicken drum sticks) are so yuckie.
(2)Mary S.
The drinks are the most redeeming quality of this place. The food is a hit or miss. However, anytime I've ordered food from here its been luke warm. I'm not sure what that's about... The service is always great though. I'd say the only reason to revisit this place would be for the drinks.
(3)Derek W.
1st the good...They have live music (this night was a dj and vocalist named Joey) and a really cool open porch with plenty of seating. We ordered an order of guacomole and it was tasty and and the chips that came with it were warm and tasty as well. The not so good, by far the worst salsa I have ever had in my life. It literally tasted like cacciatore, and wasn't spicy at all. The rice we got with our meals was cold. The burrito was filled with chicken, but not much else and the fajitas shrimp was burnt and tasteless albeit over seasoned and tasteless. The real bad - the margaritas mix tasted pretty gross. We ordered a pitcher and didn't finish it. Tables are very small and cheap, however the waitress pulled over another one for us and said "i don't care because it's not busy" I guess my question was going to be, So if you're busy would we place our food on the floor? I'll take Agave in Newburyport or Portsmouth every day over this place and even On the border or The border cafe put out better meals...
(2)Pamela w.
We were a party of three for lunch the other day and this place has some of the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten...or tried to eat. The salsa has Chipotle or something in it. Its thick and brownish. Not fresh at all. The guacamole was just flat, turning brown and awful! We drank a pitcher of house margaritas and felt as if we had nothing at all to drink. Everything was tacky to the touch...the tablecloth, menus. Thin useless napkins. Booths need replacing already. It was a blistering hot day and the AC is almost useless as their outdoor area is open to the bar and restaurant. Our waiter was pleasant....and perspiring. The food is bad. Watery chicken tacos. Burned cheese on enchiladas. I was served a piece of celery, on a plate of overcooked chicken wings, that had clearly been frozen. Really? What kind of kitchen puts something that has clearly gone south on a plate to be served? The decor is cool. Loved the bottles hanging from the ceiling. It ended there. Biggest waste of cash on a lunch in a long time. I gave no clue how this dump stays open. They cant even get salsa and chips right. GO TO THE BORDER CAFE in Saugus! Where they actually make the chips and even put tequila in the margaritas. ;)
(1)Terry M.
Typical New England Mexican food restaurant. Lots of mexican looking bling and crazy colors. Food is palatable and the service was good. I'd go back again. As an afterthought, my colleagues did remark on the burritos being exceptionally big. I had the Angus steak taco salad and my only comment would be to use the salsa instead of any of the dressings!!
(4)James S.
This place has improved a lot since it opened....I was so disgusted I would not return for a year. It is my pleasure to report they have got their act together now. Drinks come promptly, food is warm, waitresses check on you. I am now a satisfied customer.
(5)Tamarah V.
I love this place! I just hate how my table is ALWAYS sticky when I go there... but the drinks are good! and the atmosphere is good. I live closer to the one in Randolph but I like this one way better!
(3)Tony P.
I have to say that I do not give 5 star or 1 star reviews based after 1 vist and I have visted "The Fat Catcus" 3 times. I really do not like write something negative about someone's business and I hope they use these reviews as a way to improve. First off the food all taste like it was frozen. I have had some basic items of the menu (Burrito, Quesadillas, Fish Taco) all of it tasted like it was opened from a box and put in the microwave. The fish was the worse...I'm pretty sure it was some really bad generic frozen patty cut up. Let me state that Mexican food is probably my favorite cuisine and I have been spoiled by a lot of the good Mexican restaurants in Southern California after spending some time out there, so I will admit my standards might be higher than some New Englanders. The theme was a generic coastal Mexician beach vibe with authentic old short boards bolted to the walk...It was 'ok' and not dirty but to me it was the nicest feature of "The Fat Catcus". The sour mix for the drinks was horrible, it tasted like heavy handed 5 year old made it. Two of the three times I was there they salted my margarita glass even though I asked for no salt. The was no spice or flavor to the salsas at all other then...You guessed it 'salt'. It was like a poor cover up to the blandest Mexican inspired food I have ever had. I really wanted to like this guys but I cannot recommend them at all.
(1)Wayne M.
LOVE this place ~ Its clean , spacious , great drinks free chips and salsa and amazing entrees ~ I forget whats its called but i ordered the chicken w/ half slab of rib plate that came with a jimica slaw and mexican rice and it was OFF THE CHAIN !The big crazy piece of chicken alone could feed a family of 4 **smiles** Wound up bringing home the chicken cause, guess what .....I was FULL before I could get to it !! BTW: did I mention the entree was only $15???? Yeah ..I'll be back !
(4)Beth W.
Yack, ugh, blech, ew, ick, yikes, yuck! No, it's not a hairball folks. It's my review. We pulled into the parking lot around the early end of lunchtime and were surprised to see lots of cars. I told my fiancé, "They must be pretty good since there are a ton of people here already." Once inside, we were not greeted and both sides (dining and bar) looked deserted. Being pretty self-sufficient, we poked our heads into the bar and when someone noticed us we asked if we should seat ourselves. A friendly server then pleasantly directed that we could sit on either side but advised we would probably prefer the bar area because they were catering a large meeting in dining section. Always up for staff advice, we took her suggestion and chose a barside table. Ashley made some suggestions for choosing the perfect margarita. I chose the Blue and my dining partner, the Cadillac. Prior to the drinks coming out, we received a stale batch of chips and some tasteless salsa in dire need of some oomph in both the spice or heat variety. We asked if perhaps the kitchen offered a hotter version and were told no but were offered hot sauce. After adding a generous amount of hot sauce, our "freshly made" salsa was anything but enhanced. The margaritas came out and tasted pretty good so perhaps I could take out a "yuck" or a "yikes" in favor of the drinks and the service. Since the salsa wasn't doing it for us, we choice to order the Queso Fundido in hopes of the delivery of some fresh chips. We did get more chips but they were the same ole stale, lackluster ones as before. My fiancé excused himself from the table (toilet break for inquiring minds) and I began eavesdropping on the one lonely patron seated at the bar and the bartender. All of the sudden the bartender's face contorted as she began covering her mouth and gasping. The gentleman held something in his napkin and the bartender exclaimed, "We just recently bug bombed." Like an episode of Kitchen Nightmares, I so wished that Gordan Ramsey would appear. When my fiancé returned, I gave him a brief synopsis of what had taken place with the Roach Rangler and requested we leave. My fiancé is the total opposite of me and brushed it off since he's known for eating anything that walks, swims, slithers or flies...he wasn't budging. I suppose that we have all probably eaten a bug or two in this lifetime, but it was probably unintentional while riding a bike down the road with one's mouth open or screaming on a roller coaster at Universal...not by choice at a second rate Mexican restaurant. Reluctantly I remained in my seat and took a BIG swig of my beverage. By the way, going back to the tasty drinks, there was an inch think salt lick at the bottom of the glass leaving it impossible to guzzle down the last few sips. Didn't the bartender know that I needed those last few sips! Our order was placed and in no time a beef burrito arrived and two cheese enchiladas topped with Colorado Red sauce. While thoughts of the Roach Rangler still danced in my head, I skeptically combed over my plate inspecting each component closely. Going clockwise around my plate: dry rice, burnt enchiladas, two perfectly formed ice-cream scoops of pico de gallo and sour cream respectively and lastly a side of microwaved black beans. I had a hard time taking my eyes off of my plate, as I patiently waited for something to move. My fiancé noted that his refried beans were runny and tasted like a tin can so he pushed them aside. I was not at all surprised to look over and see a dish with contents that appeared to have leaked out of a baby's diaper. Sorry, that's a bit graphic. After ordering another round of margaritas, I pulled up my big girl panties and sampled a bit of everything on my plate. Nothing impressive and I absolutely was not joining their clean plate club. My fiancé only consumed about half of his entrée critiquing the burrito as unpalatable. This coming from the equal opportunity eater that religiously abides by the frat boy 5 second rule and will eat pizza that's been sitting out on the counter for a week. We pushed our plates to the side and returned to our margaritas. I then realized that during our time there only one other group walked in, a table of four and must I remind you that at this point it's peak lunchtime. We requested our check and left Ashley a tip. We didn't feel it was right to dock her tip for the restaurant's lack of cleanliness or food inadequacies. Contrary to the rest of our experience Ashley was actually one of the most attentive waitresses we have had since relocating to New England. Oh, I forgot to mention the music. Freakin' country!Who goes to a Mexican restaurant (which btw is advertised as authentic on their website, I call bull$hit) to listen to Country music?! I should have turned around when I walked in to hear Willie Nelson playing in the background! No offense Willie.Once reaching the salt lick at the bottom of the glass once again we left. The End.
(1)Sal L.
I wish I could give this place a negative star! I went here a few months ago because I had a gift card. Well my food was nasty!!! my drinks were ridiculously weak and filled with chunks of ice. My waitress seems half drunk and was making no sense. Asked to speak with a manager and we got the meal on the house. Re-gifted that crap!
(1)Lauryn C.
Good. Not great. Spare yourself the mediocre food, service and atmosphere and go to Border Cafe. You'll save some money and enjoy the food much more at Border!
(2)Cathleen C.
Not the best, but not the worst mexican food around. Great, strong margaritas. The outdoor patio is nice, as is the decor and bar area of the restaurant. Cool place to hang with friends.
(3)Jamie B.
Love the Fat Cactus! The first time we went we didn't have the best service, but that has certainly improved and we keep going back for more. It's usually pretty busy, but I don't mind waiting if I can find a seat on the porch where they have a walk up bar and cocktail service! The food is pretty good, but the decor really makes you feel like you are in a completely different place. It reminds me of my trips to Mexico or the Dominican or Bermuda even. I can't explain it except to say that it does not feel like you are on Route 1!
(4)Vinny E.
Food was good but... I was not pleased with the experience here. First of all the new buffet in the middle of the dining room makes the place look empty and barren. Also the LED lights above the buffet were cold looking and too bright. Terrible ambiance. In contrast, the tables were very dark with no lights to see the micro font menu. I had to use my light app on me iPhone to read it. My son ordered lemonade which tasted no better than water with a lemon wedge in it. The waitress's reasoning was simply "oh they must be low" without inquiring. She did however offer him cranberry juice. I on the other hand ordered iced tea and was given sweetened iced tea, which I did not want. I asked for unsweetened tea but they did not have any so I switched to water. Most other places ask if you want sweetened or not...she did not. Finally I used a Groupon and had to give my phone to the waitress to process, which was not a problem. However she had to find a manager to process it and continued to wait on tables before doing so. She took so long my phone locked up and she had to come back so I could enter my password. Process took at least 10 min Overall food 9, service 5, ambiance 5 If you are the manager contact me Vinnymass@yahoo.com
(2)Christina Z.
I'll warn you - live music 7 nights/week (is this seasonal) = a bunch of old dudes jammin on instruments, one of which is a harmonica. They are loud. They are on the patio. You can't hear your friend less than two feet a way. That's pretty bad. Toasted coconut cocktail? The best part is that I don't have to steal the amazing cocktail glass it came in - it's free! and plastic, but free all the same. The Lava flow (pina colada with strawberries is as always totally creamy heaven). Queso dip - unnervingly addictive. Sodium overload. I like the chips, though my friend is staunchly pro-Border cafe. Mexican cobb salad - don't bother. They "ran out" of guacamole, yet our cobb salad came with (you nailed it) avocado... how do you make guacamole again?! Enjoyable. I'm fond of it, but nothing (besides the drinks) are amazing.
(3)C C.
Very slight improvement from our last two visits despite the "new queso", "new chef", " new beans" and such advertisements on their billboard. The salsa was not very good and my tacos were average at best. The food is just bland . We promissed not to return, and this time we might follow through with the promise.
(1)Jeff C.
Servers were friendly, but if your going to try and be a Mexican joint, than doing make your margaritas from a mix, and make sure you Mexican beers on working taps. No one in my group of six enjoyed their drinks, whether they ordered a margarita, a pina coloda, or a Dos Equis...very disappointing.
(2)April P.
Mad cheap lunch buffet. $8 I think? Its not high grade Mexican but there are a decent amount of choices. I had some enchiladas, tacos, chips, queso, wings and a chicken leg. ha. the chicken leg has a cute name like a dinosaur, but it didn't taste that good. I don't really like legs though. The wings were quite tasty (prob the best part of my meal). They had a lime tang and spices but weren't too hot. I got margaritas once. They were inexpensive and tasted good. Getting here going southbound on Rte 1 is a pain, but its typical of Rte 1, they can't help it. I'd go here again for the buffet, probably in the summer- they have nice outside seating.
(3)Christopher M.
Alright, let's start with the obvious. From facade to latrine this place is loud and obnoxious. The color scheme makes me think some guy in a sombrero is going to get in my face with his maracas singing and smiling and generally annoying the piss out of me. That being said, there's a vice selection of premium tequila in a glass case with prices right aw you walk in, so that's comforting. The food was ok, though I should have asked them the hold the immense amounts of sodium in my pork burrito. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Not that that's anything out of the ordinary for mexican places around here, it's just not something I appreciate. What killed it for me was the lack of service: My beer mug sat empty in front of me for 1.5 HOURS My empty dirty plates sat in front of me for 1 HOUR It took over 30 minutes to settle the check. about half that time was our party sitting there with money in front of us. The rest was spent trying to get the check *right* . . .all the while our bartender was ignoring all the bar patrons (and at least one spider descended upon me) Absolutely insane and totally unacceptable. Normally, this would constitute a single-star rating, BUT, when I called the manager over she was friendly, took our bill and money, and knocked 10% off the tab. Still, I can't say I'll be back.
(2)Noah C.
I recently went here on a Tuesday night. I sat at the bar for dinner. Seeing the place from the outside it looked fun. Inside when I sat down the barstool was broken and the counter top was gross and sticky. I ordered a margaritta which was terrible. It was almost warm and had salt on the rim that looked ten years old. I then ordered a burrito which was basically inedible. It has dried old chicken and they even forgot to take the bay leaves out. It had this dark sauce that tasted like burnt ketchup. The salsa was old and fermented as well. Disgusting.
(1)Dave S.
Big cactus on route 1. - just finished dinner there. Usually love the food and ambience in the dining room. But tonight made the mistake os sitting at the bar. Not a good idea- poor inattentive service - one bartender left us sitting for a half an hour- then fobbed us off on another bartender - finally got our food and it was missing part of the order -told the server, said he would check on it and he never returned . Of course it was still on the bill and when we got the attention of our original Bartender and pointed out the bill mistake , she had the cajones to say - twice - that we should have told her and she would have taken care of it. Oh yes, it's our fault
(2)Whiskey C.
I'll give them props for the effort; fantastic decor and branding, live music and decent array of margaritas. From the very beginning, the chips and salsa were not good. The salsa was less than mild- more like pasta sauce, ick. The young waiter was ok, he was very young and it was probably his first job, so I'll take it easy on him. We ordered the fajitas for two, and it was pretty good and a decent value which is why I gave 3 stars and not 2. We won't be back; any Mexican restaurant that doesn't offer molé on the menu is not anything worth remembering.
(3)Patrick F.
The Fat Cactus was a fat disappointment. We had gift cards to use, so we (the wife and I) figured why not. The drinks (something horny toad margarita) were pretty good, albeit not that potent for nearly 9 bux a whack, and our app chicken rollitos were pretty good. That's where the good food stopped for me. I got the spicy chicken ranchero burrito (that I actually got confused with beef due to the texture, color and I would swear flavor), and the woman got the san pedro pollo pasta (she is quoted as saying it was gross). She finished her meal off with the flan for dessert, which was her favorite part of the meal. The service was decent, our waitress was very friendly. But for what would have been nearly an $80 dinner bill, I was very disappointed. The gift card that we had offset most of the bill, but even the balance paid after the card left me feeling a bit had, which really sucks because I was hoping for much better! Needless to say, we probably won't be back.
(2)Tim W.
This has to be the worst fake Mexican food I've ever eaten ( or left on my plate in this case). 2 hours later I still can't get the gross salty taste out of my mouth. 20 minutes before a server came to our table after a trip to front desk. Waitstaff was all young and clueless, looked like a high school clique. When we finally got our waitress she wasn't qualified to be a busgirl. It seemed as if there wasn't an adult in sight running the place. I had to look at the waiter's boxers on the next table. The pork burrito was a soggy pile of tasteless meat product loaded down with salt. The fajitas were overcooked shoe leather from some indistinguishable cut of beef coated in a rub of salt. The chips were half soggy and the salsa tasted like canned tomatoes. I have no idea how this place stays in business. The only redeeming feature was that the bar actually looked like it might be fun with the live guitarist. Even they can't screw up a bottle of beer. All in all horrible food, terrible service and a non existent management staff that apparently hires high schoolers who don't give a crap.
(1)Nick J.
I love the fat cactus. Great drinks great food great atmosphere. I went on a sunday night the bar tender was super nice and an absolute babe. Great service
(5)CaT P.
it is just ok. at least not expensive, but border cafe, which is also closer, is much better, i think. our waitress was really nice, but the food... meeehh...
(2)Aaron W.
My girlfriend and I had a groupon to use here and really enjoyed it. I ordered the carne asada and she ordered some kind of stuffed chicken breast. We also shared a guacamole appetizer dip. The guacamole was average but my carne asada was cooked perfectly and had a delicious flavor. She really enjoyed the chicken too. My only complaint was the service was slow and they seemed to rush us along at the end, but we did come in at 9:20 on a Wednesday evening. There was live music in the bar area, two guys singing country music and they sounded pretty good. Likely we will be back again.
(4)Valeria H.
Hung out here today and have to say my head is still spinning from the odd music and tchotchkes all over the ceilings and walls. With that said, I was actually pleased with everything else. The service was prompt, knowledgeable and nice...we had a wonderful woman who just had it together. Their outdoor patio/deck was fun and seating was set up real well. The interior was interesting, almost like they are trying too hard to have that lived in feel...bottles hanging from the ceilings and used as wall dividers, sombreros stapled to the ceilings and red and green xmas lights too.. and a weird mural on each wall. It still was super clean with all this wacky business, which is a plus. The menu was set up well, and they offered a lot.. no tamales though, which are my fav thing on the planet. But oh well. They did have a page just for margaritas. So we had our children with us and they did offer a good kids menu, and super inexpensive. I ordered the chimichanga and my husband got the haddock veracruz, and the girls had the quesadillas... Even though the chimi was delicious and super fresh (and not greasy) I had dish envy for the haddock. It was real good and will get that if I go back. Even the children's meals were tasty and we substituted fries for the Mexican rice which was great. For drinks, I got the sangria and was real pleased with it. Very yummy and gave me that oh so necessary light buzz ya need after dealing with two kids all day. :P I would definitely try this place out, still new, super clean, the food was nice and didn't leave me feeling greasy .. my sangria was real nice..and this is way better than The Border super_salty_I'm_becoming_dehydrated_while_I_am_Âeating_there Cafe. haha
(3)Taz R.
I have been 2x and enjoyed myself. I went on a Thursday and sat on the patio. They had entertainment, Chad La Marsh, singing and playing guitar and he was awesome! Anyone who can play Nelly's - It's getting hot in here on guitar in a rock style gets my vote! LOL The chips and salsa they place on the table when your seated was ok. the 1st time I went the chips tasted stale. the chicken rollitos appetizer were really good. We got them for both visits. Their blackened catfish was delish. I actually ordered that both times because it was so good the 1st time. On our 2nd visit there was a fight at the bar LOL 2 older guys. The waitresses handled them well, roughing them up a bit and reminding them that there were kids in the restaurant. I luv'd that! LOL I have no real complaints about this place. I love the decor, the service and so far the food. I definitely plan to go back and taste something else on the menu. (probably for my birthday this month!)
(4)Kendra B.
This place is ok. The food and sangria are pretty good, but the service has gone downhill. It's a fun place to go sit out on the deck with a drink in the summer, although the music is too loud! Now I'm no old lady, and I love music just as much as the next guy, but you literally have to scream to whomever you are sitting with. This restaurant is not my first choice for mexican, but it is usually pretty tasty.
(3)Thomas D.
The food was terrible, I went last night, I couldn't finish my meal, and had them take it away, and it was so gross. I start telling my friends about it, and it seems like everyone knows this place has gross food and the salsa is just too hot it's not even enjoyable, the funniest thing is, Border Cafe down the street is like a 5 star Tex-Mex restaurant, line out the door. The worst part of the night, I couldn't hear myself think, or have a conversation with the people next to me, there was a live band which never took a break, they kept singing and playing loud as can be, the music was all over the place, There were tons of these 50 year old women with plastic surgery dressed like they were in their 20s. Most ridiculous experience ever! The beer was great and cold, A+ for the Beer. The margaritas were like ice water with flavoring, good luck finding the alcohol. I won't go back, and I'm upset with my friends who took me here, and all my other friends that already knew the food was gross and never told me. Waste of money!! The place looks great from the outside, and inside, I was expecting so much more. If you want A+ 5 Star Mexican food, just down the street go to Border CAFE, it's simply outstanding!!! Mouthwatering food and it's worth every last penny. Good bye Fat Cactus, I will never go there again.
(1)Lou Ann B.
Made the mistake of ordering the Saturday lunch buffet....nasty. Food was dried out and tasteless. Had a food safety concern which was report to management. Won't be going back. Sorry.
(1)Don M.
Yeah, ok, the food was wasn't spectacular but it was tasty and not overloaded with cheap cheese and it was at least as good if not a tiny bit better than Border Cafe. It was super kid friendly which was great. Our waiter was excellent and I was worried because I read a lot of negative comments about the service. Maybe they were working out the kinks? Anyway, I would go back there again. Overall, a good experience. P.S. I enjoyed the salsa & guacamole!
(4)John C.
The Fat Cactus is a recent addition to the Route 1 dining scene. The name conjures images of the desert southwest and a blend of Mexican and American cuisine. Two subgenre's of this fare are tex-mex and cal-mex, neither of which are well-represented in the Boston-metro area. The Fat Cactus continues this unfortunate trend and adds a dose of confusion. The FC bills itself "A Mexicali Cantina." Okay, fair enough. They have set our expectations. But wait, the wildly painted restaurant has a picture on the wall of people dancing and exclaiming "Let's conga!" (Cue needle scratching over record.) The conga dance is neither Mexican or Californian. It's a Cuban carnival march. Uh oh, the confusion begins. The interior is festooned with bright colors and empty beer and liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling. The staff is pleasant and efficient enough, but neither the employees or the atmosphere can make up for the lack of continuity in name, menu or food. On the surface, the menu contains the usual suspects...burritos, tacos, enchiladas, and chimichangas. But things are amiss. I started with the "queso fundido." Traditionally this dish is served as a melted cheese with rajas (roasted poblano peppers) and Mexican chorizo sausage. It is scooped with a spoon into a warm tortilla. At Fat Cactus, it is what everyone else calls chili con queso. More confusion. And the kitchen staff really fell on their face with the queso. It was clearly microwaved, which by itself is not the ultimate sin, but they did not bother to stir the cheese. What arrived was a large bowl of melted cheese on the perimeter and a cold glob of less-than-room-temperature cheese in the middle. I give them partial credit for their burrito. The FC is one of the few restaurants in Boston to understand its traditional construction. Theirs contains meat, spices, onions and perhaps peppers. They leave the rice and beans on the side where they belong. I had the shredded beef burrito with tomatillo sauce. The texture of the beef was akin to pulled pork, very tender and juicy. But it shared something else in common with its porcine cousin...it tasted like barbecue. There was nothing remotely Mexican or southwestern tasting about it. In the end, it was not horrible but it failed to meet my expectations. I wanted 'south of the border' not south of the Mason-Dixon. A similar fate was met by the beans. They offer black beans (again, more Caribbean than Mexican) or pinto beans. Strangely, they do not offer refritos (refried beans). I chose the pintos. Those from the southwest would recognize them as frijoles a la charra. That is, a soupy pinto style soup/stew. The appearance was promising but the taste was wacko. I swear I tasted allspice or five spice powder. Did someone misplace the cumin? In the end I doubt I will go back. The Fat Cactus is just too confused and confusing. Someone needs to get it focused on the mexicali genre if it does not want to put more people off.
(2)Mike C.
I noticed the negative reviews and am somewhat surprised. Sure this isn't a downtown Boston 5 star restaurant but for the money the food is VERY enjoyable. They have a very fun open porch area for drinks or food. They have 7 nights a week live music. A very fun decor of Mexican trinkets that consists of Mexican beer and liquor bottles and various Mexican wall decorations. Food is well made and with an enjoyable distinct Mexican flare. Service is always good when we have gone there. All in all a very enjoyable experience.
(4)M P.
I liked The Fact Cactus. I was eager to go there to see how it compares to the Border Cafe down the street (of which I am a huge fan). The menu was not as big, probably because it stuck to Mexican and the Border has some other options outside of Mexican. The service was great and the look was intriguing. There are cool liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling and we sat next to a wall of Corona bottles that blocked the view to the kitchen. They run out of food a lot. My mother went a week ago and they had run out of fish tacos. When I went we had salsa, but no chips for the first 10 minutes because they had run out of chips. Maybe it's because they don't anticipate such a big crowd? I couldn't say. Our server was thoughtful and fun. The food was decent and hot. I hardly got any pico de gallo with mine which was disappointing. Strong drinks! I could tell halfway into my margarita. Hopefully that lasts and isn't just to draw us in.
(4)Tom D.
The Fat Cactus is a gigantic over-the-top Mexican food haven. Brave of them to open up down the road from Border Cafe, which at least in my experience seems to have a loyal following, but the Cactus appears to be doing just fine. The parking lot is always packed when I drive by so they must be doing something right. A couple friends and I and decided to give them a go not too long ago. Walking in and putting our names on the list, we were free to sample margaritas while waiting for a table. I like a traditional margarita on the rocks with salt and the FC delivered. A tasty treat at a very reasonable price. They're not served in giant glasses, but for under six bucks, you can certainly justify getting a couple. I'm not one for expensive tequila, but I was impressed by the display of agave offerings in the glass cabinet in the waiting area. They've got some very high end stuff available, so if that's your thing, have at it. The food was three stars, nothing different or exciting compared to any other moderately priced Mexican place. You've got your tacos, your enchiladas, fajitas, etc. All the basics. I enjoyed my chimichanga for what it's worth, but again, there was nothing stand out about it. What makes the place fun is the decor, and for that, I'll bump it up to four. This place is tacky, loud, Mexican schtick. Sombreros, Corona bottles, and other stereotype-inspired art adorn the dining area. It's certainly a colorful setting. Service was decent on our visit. Entrees took awhile to come out, but our waitress kept up plied with beverage and chips/salsa while we waited. If you're a Border Cafe loyalist, give this place a try for a change of scenery.
(4)GN P.
The food, eh. On the boarder is well beyond these guys. The service - Lets put it this way. I left here a dollar on a 36.00 bill. Amazing how places like these stay in business.
(1)Mark A.
I'm giving it 2 stars. Like many people, we've been waiting for the restaurant to open for a while. I was craving Mexican and checked their facebook page, and low-&-behold, they were opening that weekend. We went, knowing that it was opening weekend and there would likely be some bumps. We arrived and there were a couple of people in the lobby area waiting to be seated. We put our names on the list and were told there would be a 20 minute wait. As we waited, my wife and I commented how it was odd that they had 5 staff members standing around at the host station almost the entire time, pretty much staring at the people in the lobby. 30+ minutes went by and I strolled up to the host with the book and asked how much longer. He told me it was going to be another 20-30 minutes. I looked into the dining area and saw that it was less than half full, and I decided it was not worth the wait. I find it hard to believe that they were understaffed opening weekend, especially with 5 people manning the host station. While I was anticipating a wait on opening weekend, I don't know what was going on that the dining area was so empty, yet they weren't seating people, and were soooo off on their estimate for seating.
(2)Madeline M.
The atmosphere is fun, all the servers I've had are nice. My favorite thing... The decor. It makes me smile everytime. It's super original, it's like mexico on crack, lol. Quite an experience. The food is ok, their apps are good. The queso fundido... holy cow! That bad boy is worth every freakin calorie. Their tequila lime wings are bomb. The lava flow is also great. At least the first time I had it. The second time... not so much, it tasted watered down and I could not feel the liquor. I love the fact that they have dessert, as I absolutely must have dessert, but sadly they are bland. When it comes to down to it, I like Border Cafe's food better, also on Rte. 1, but they have no dessert (laaame) and their decor does not keep me half as interested.
(4)Stephanie S.
ate at fat cactus a few weeks ago and it was awesome. great extensive menu i had a hard time choosing my entree. they start you off with a big bucket of chips and salsa and we got the guacamole to start. guac was a lil on the pricey side and took about 15 minutes to come out but totally worth the wait. waitress was sweet and did a great job at keeping us happy. i ended up with the blackened chicken and omg was this dish flavorful....the spices on the chicken were the perfect blend of spicey and the pineapple salsa on top was great. had it for lunch the next day as well!!! i would totally go back again.
(3)Erica D.
Do you have a lot of time to kill? Then head over to the Fat Cactus dining area on a Sunday night. Gape at the festive decor while waiting to be seated. Marvel as your waiter boxes your food to go but neglects to drop off the check. Stand in awe as tumble weeds appear more frequently than any member of the waitstaff. Overall, the chicken enchiladas were excellent, and their drink menu looked promising, but next time I will request to sit in the bar area instead.
(3)Shaun P.
I am basing this review off of the 3 times I have been to The Fat Cactus. Round 1: The First time i went was in March when they 1st opened and I thought the food was great! However, since eating there two more times I am beginning to think maybe it was the margaritas talking! The service was sub par the first time I dined there but I thought to myself, maybe the waiter is new and he lost his job as a working professional and is trying a new job as a waiter. (I'm a born optimist). Well...we were ignored for the first 15 mins after we were seated. Round 2: So I decided to go back and try the Fat Cactus again in April and to my surprise the service we had was much better however the Fajitas I ordered didn't taste nearly as good as the first time! Oh death , misery, and despair, my hope and dreams were smashed to tiny pieces as I became sober to the fact this wasn't love at first bite! Round 3: Ding! Ding! It's Cinco De mayo, 75 degrees outside and let me tell you the Fat Cactus Club is the place to see and be seen. I was holding a table outside on the patio for my friends since 4:30 and I got a corona t-shirt, a mexican hat, a blinking corona necklace, and free tequila samples! The place is filling up and there's contests going on and raffles where the prizes included a free trip to Key West , bikes, Elizabeth Grady gift certificates, and lots of other really good prizes! There is live music on the patio and we are having a great time! However, we put our name it for a n outside dinner table at 5:00 and and was told it would be a hour and we weren't seated until 8:00! Thumbs down...and for that you are the Fat Lying Cactus! So after they over-promised and undelivered I took matters into my own hands by slipping one of the outside waiters a crisp Andrew Jackson and we were seated at 8:00. Money Talks! I can't really give a review of the food because we were only able to order appetizers out on the patio and weren't allowed to order entrees. The appetizers were good but then again after 4 or 5 drinks and starving I'm sure a Cactus would have tasted good by then. Stay tuned for the final Round 4 to come soon!
(3)Julie P.
If I could give it a zero I would. We really wanted to try this place but didn't because of the reviews on here. I saw a coupon in my email from living social or one of those so I figured we could use that and try it then. The decor is bright and happy and it looks like it might be a fun place to drink. We sat down and they brought over the chips and salsa. The salsa was watery and bland and the chips seemed like they came from a bag. I did not have a good feeling about this. I ordered a chicken quesadilla to play it safe and my boyfriend got steak fajitas. How silly of me to think you can't screw up something as basic as a quesadilla. It was HORRIBLE. I ended up scraping the, what can only be described as chewed up chicken and fake cheese out of the tortilla and just eating the tortilla because I was starving. My boyfriend's steak was tough and had no flavor. Even our drinks sucked.This place has made the top of the list of bad places we've eaten. Thank God I had a bag of Goldfish crackers in the car so I could eat something. I should've trusted my gut and stayed far away. NEVER again!
(1)Cynthia S.
Been there twice - one time during that afternoon after lunch, and most recently on a Saturday night. I sat at the bar to avoid the dining room full of families/kids (Saturday dinner after 6:30 for me is about relaxing, and so I know it's best to be in adults-only area for that reason). Bar staff is ok - can't say super quick or helpful, but adequate. The food is at best 3-4/10. Last time I had a quesadilla - it was good. This time I had the Santa Fe chicken with poblano sauce - the texture of the sausage inside was ground very fine and the sauce didn't have a lot of flavor. The side dish of vegetables was steamed red onion, squash and pepper- blah. It's Tex-Mex - how about some corn or an exciting tri-color pepper side dish? The chips/salsa are freshly made and warm so that was good. But I can't say I'm going back.... there are simply too many other outstanding restaurants in the area to return to a mediocre one.
(2)Mike H.
I havent had a bad time here yet. I have been here about 15 or so times every time the food is great and the drinks are even better. There is nothing better in the warm weather than sitting on that porch with margaritas and chips and salsa
(4)Jim S.
I've been to Fat Cactus a couple of times. Very disappointed with the service. The last time I went it was with some friends. We checked in and were told it would be about an hour, which was perfect because we were waiting for some additional friends to arrive. Less than half an hour later we were told they were ready to seat us. We told the hostess we were still waiting but she seated us anyways so we grabbed some drinks and aps. About five minutes later our waitress was openly complaining about our table in front of us. The time before that, our waitress seated us and took our orders quickly and efficiently, but she never came back! She had one of the guys from the back bring our drinks and food while she helped other people, which was fine, but she never came back to check on us. No refills of drinks or even a courtesy check to see if our food was ok. She threw the bill on our table at the end without a word. All in all the food is comparable to Boarder Cafe. Drinks at the Cactus are much better (especially the pitchers of margaritas!). Cactus has a slightly quieter atmosphere and live bands which is great.
(2)David S.
I love the look and feel and party vibe of the place. The outside patio looked perfect but after sitting at a table in the bar area for 2.5 hours waiting, our name was never called. Not that I can blame anyone though because the weather was PERFECT to hang out on the patio all night. I didn't eat but I had wonderful blueberry vodka lemonade which is made from their own homemade blueberry vodka and homemade lemonade. The place was JAMMED and so noisy that it was nearly impossible for the six of us to have conversations. The guitar player/singer did a great job when I could hear him over all of the people yelling.
(3)Jay M.
As someone who loves (and knows, having lived in southern California) real Mexican food, I can tell you, stay away. The food was mediocre at best. I really didn't have high expectations to begin and boy was I right. To start, the margaritas were awful. The first one I got was sickeningly sweet. The second one was also sweet but in a different way. They weren't served in traditional margarita glasses which was a turn off. Now onto the waiter. He was not friendly at all. He maybe said 10 words to us the whole time. Come to find out his girlfriend was sitting at the table next to us and he was too busy talking to her. He spend a good amount of time hanging all over her, hugging her right in the middle of the restaurant at her table. Totally unacceptable. While he was busy with his girlfriend, we sat and waited and waited and waited for our food. Once we got our food we were so fed up, we had a couple of bites and had the food packaged up. There is not much to be said about the food. It was boring, tasteless and poorly presented. I will definitely not be returning to the Fat Cactus and will stick with Chipotle or The Border Cafe.
(1)Michelle E.
I thought the food was good, although i didn't think there was much selection. The service was really good and i really liked the atmosphere.
(3)Mark S.
Went here 3 times. Once with my wife and 2 girls and the other times with friends. Its great! For those who have moved from the city to the burbs like us, it was a pleasant surprise. Still trying to fight going to Applebees and buying a minivan. Border Cafe thats right down the road is pretty good but I really dont have time to wait 2hrs on a Tuesday at 4:30 to get a table. Yes, its THAT busy. I guess the owners of The Fat Cactus went here and said, its crazy not to open something up! -Great outdoor seating: They open up the garage doors from the bar directly out onto the outdoor seating. There are nice wicker chairs and loungers. -Good food -Friendly staff -Great Drinks! -Fun atmosphere: A one man band was playing Jimmy Buffet songs which made it fun.
(5)Elizabeth M.
The Fat Cactus far surpasses 'The Border Cafe' any day- My fiance and I were eager to try the newly established joint since its quick change of hands- and boy, we were glad we did. While, there is no such thing as authentic Mexican food anywhere around here, this place serves up great "Mexican-American" fare. I love their blackened chicken fajitas, and my fiance enjoyed his chimichanga. He said it was packed with more than the usual Mexican knock-off. While the margaritas could use a little less sweetener, they are good-enough if you poor your water into it...so I guess too sweet. Overall, service is decent as long as they aren't too busy, the wait for us has never been long, and it beats any of its competition in the area! Ole!
(4)Mike M.
The Good: service and decor. Place is really cool looking inside. We had high hopes. The Bad: food and drinks, Food tasted very bland for a Mexican Rest. Also, the soda is not Pepsi or Coke but some local soda company. Their regular cola tasted bad, real bad. We didn't hang around long.
(2)Maggie C.
Glorified dog food, with extra salt. Even the soda tastes like shit.
(1)john g.
We had lunch there today, couldn't get near the place last night. Sat outside , which was nice. The decor is definitely interesting, not sure about the bottles hanging from the ceiling though. Very colorful and the bar seems like a fun place to hang out. They have an extensive margarita menu. The service was awful..the young fellow handling our table, and the other couple of tables in the area, was completely clueless. After waiting for a couple minutes we had to ask for a server, and when he did come it was nothing but apologies. We ordered drinks and they took a long time to come (beer and sangria, nothing fancy), but he did grab them after about 10 minutes and a reminder (delivered with more apologies). The place wasn't crowded but other patrons were also complaining that the server was missing in action and they wanted drinks, food, their bill etc.. (oh, and more apologies). The food was ok, not exceptional, but tasty. My GF ordered salad dressing on the side so she could control the portion, but the salad was drenched. We mentioned this to the server and got a nice big helping of apology (it was on the house). The prices were reasonable - $34 for two meals and drinks. There didn't seem to be a lunch menu, which would have been nice. The patio was definitely a selling point. Given the poor service during a relatively slow lunch period, I can hardly imagine the chaos that must ensue when the place is packed.
(2)P S.
We attempted to eat at the Border Cafe on our way back from Boston but it was an hour wait for a table. So we continued North & came upon Fat Cactus. Although the place was pretty full, there was no wait for 2 people. We got a pitcher of Margaritas - a little too much for 2 people! Very tasty. Then we got a bowl of queso dip to go with our warm chip. Nice. By the time we got through that & most of the 'rita's, we ordered dinner. The shredded beef enchiladas were pretty tasty as was the rice. Good atmosphere, good service, decent food - we will return.
(4)Lisa A.
By the 2 star rating, it's safe to say I will not return to the Fat Cactus. I had a Groupon, so we gave it a try. We were seated relatively quickly and I found the decor interesting. I kept thinking about how many livers all those empty bottles booze hanging from the ceiling must have fried. They must make a good margarita here, right? So, I ordered one. Meh at best. It was watered down and weak. For dinner, I ordered the chicken enchilada and beef taco dinner. The chicken enchilada was OK, but on the small side. The rest of the plate was a disaster. The refried beans were nasty and runny. I was going to make a reference to the flu, but I'll stop there. Totally unappealing. And the beef in my taco was pureed and pasty. One bite and I was done. I left with almost a full plate and hungry. So did my daughter. She had a cheese burger and it was overcooked and tough. Only a few bites were taken. Even the fries were "off". Soft and barely cooked to heating. And for her dessert, we had to go to a freezer chest at the front desk to pick it out. Kind of a pain in the @ss when you have small kids.
(2)kelly m.
The only reason I can give this place 2 stars is because they have some awesome live music on certain nights and their atmosphere in the summertime with their open deck is to die for! However....should you get a table in the bar section of this establishment, beware it may take FOREVER to get a drink, or even your food. This is my first non five star review on yelp with good reason. I had friends from Maine visiting to see a really good band at Fat Cactus back in December...the cocktail waitress was not friendly at all, not attentive in anyway. We had to ASK for drinks, and refills (alcoholic), we had to ask for plates for our appetizer which came out 3 minutes before dinner...we had to ask for silverware and when I asked for Bleu cheese to go with their buffalo chicken quesadilla the waitress never came back and I had to ask another, very nice and polite food runner, to grab us some. We got there at 6pm and didn't leave until midnight or later. We had a well over $300 tab of food and drinks and this could have been alot more as we were buying drinks for alot of friends that evening. However the waitress couldn't have cared less about being attentive or getting us more drinks. I was a waitress for 7 years, and if you are going to do that as a job, you need to hustle, and get people their drinks and food,..it's literally the easiest job on the planet and you can make a TON of cash doing it if you aren't lazy. This place has so much potential and just needs to hire and train better people.
(2)Claudine D.
This was my second time at the Fat Cactus, there was a group of 10 of us. I was troubled that they didn't take reservations for a large group, when I called they said they couldn't reserve a table, but they were ready for us anyway, which was very unexpected. Although the hostess staff was great, our waiter left a lot to be desired. He may have been new but he didn't seem to have a system. It took a long time for him to bring us chips and salsa and get our drink menu. He really couldn't judge when we were ready and when we weren't. That being said, overall it was a good experience, not great but not bad either. We sat in the main dining area, the tables were so close together that I could not get out to use the rest room without having 4 of our party get up and move, and disturbing the party next to us. Ok on to the food and drinks....The watermelon margarita was fabulous! The chips and salsa are really good. I hate salty chips so these were perfect. The salsa was very fresh tasting. I had the beef fajitas, they were just ok. The meet was not really seasoned at all so it had a bland taste. There was one strip of pepper in my peppers and onions. The side dish of condiments that comes with the fajitas left a lot to be desired. There was lots and lots of lettuce and cheese, but a very small scoop of pico de gallo and sour cream. The guac was just plain gross! I have never had guacamole that tasted that bad. In summary, its a fun place, good drinks, but there is much better mexican food in the area.
(3)S P.
We went to the Randolph site two nights ago and I had to write this review. We entered the door through the Comfort Inn Hotel, and it leads you directly to the Bar. Since it was a weekday night, there were only a few people drikning by the bar and playing video games. No host to welcome you. It took sometime to find the host and got sat down. The waitress was nice, though. We ordered Combinación de la Cactus, the potion is huge, chicken wings were good, so were the Beef Empanadas but the Ribs were cold inside. Then, we had three main courses: Beef Fajitas, Chimichangas and Bandido Baby Back Ribs. Beef Fajitas came to table with a dirty cover of the iron handle, which smelled grese and look so old that it was a immediate turn off to me. And the beef was too tough, onion burnt. My son had the Chimichangas, he said the main part is fine, but the Guacamole tasted wired. I took a bite and can't believe it was sweet. Very wired. The re- fried beans were cold and tasted like directly came from a can. Ribs looked old and did not warm through inside. We were totally disappointed. Will not return. The deco of the restaurant was not plesant. The entire experience feels like the first part of TV show "Restaurant Impossible". I will not recommend anyone go there before they make a major improvement: how about prepare food fresh. Everyone knows the basic Mexican Restaurant staple foods, Salsa and Guacamole but this restaurant has even failed both.
(1)S B.
Went here once, was unimpressed. though the wife seems to like it, the food seemed lacking of flavor. Save your money and take it to border cafe instead
(3)Diane E.
Generic Mexican food that seemed to come straight from the freezer or the can. The chips were great, warm and salted, but the salsa seemed to be made with canned tomatoes. I do have to say that my Caddy Marg was nice, served on the rocks with salt. It was a decent size and I could taste the tequila. Perfect! But the food was airport quality... Bland and Boring! We ordered the fish tacos and the chicken fajitas... both sub par. Our server was efficient but seemed to be annoyed by waiting on us. Mr Personality, nothing wrong with Hello and a smile! Still searching for a decent mexican place with a that serves a good Marg!
(1)Fil R.
Don't waste your time. This place is destined to wind up failing just like the myriad of restaurants that have previously belonged to this location (Naked Fish, some chicken joint, etc etc). I am not a huge fan of mexican but once in a while it's nice so I said let's give it a shot. There is nothing to differentiate it interior-wise from the Border Cafe or the previous Tequilas up the road or any other typical Tex Mex. Place is so bright you can practically get a tan..no ambience whatsoever. Ordered the most expensive thing on the menu which I think was some sort of chicken-rib combination and the chicken was dry and hard..very difficult to cut through. I pointed this out to the server who comped the meal and apologized (which was impressive), but I have no desire to go back. For decent mexican in the area go to Mexico Lindo in Melrose.
(2)Diane W.
This evening at 5:45pm me and my family came to your restaurant for the first time. We were seated at a dirty table and your hostess apologized and cleaned it. We ordered drinks and a guacamole appetizer from Devon our waitress.Fifteen minutes later we inquired about our chips,salsa and guacamole and she apologized and got use some chips and a black 2oz pc full of guacamole and walked off? Ten minutes later my daughter inquired about our drinks and appetizer for the second time and Devon apologized yet again but wanted to take our dinner order. Ten more minutes and no food or drinks we stopped Devon and asked for the manager . She came back and let us know Dawn was busy and would speak to use later. As your manager never appeared we left your establishment hungry but with the $120.00 still in my pocket.In this ecomony can you really afford such costly mistakes..
(1)Jeff S.
Ok .. lets start with the positives first. The service was excellent!!! Our waitress was extremely helpful and had a smile on her face the entire time we were there. She was constatnly refilling our drinks and was more than happy to grab anything extra that we asked for. Additionally, I really appreciated that there was a manager (or maybe owner) at the front door when we left who asked how everything was. Aside from the fact that I would have felt horrible explaining to her how bad the food was ... I still appreciated that someone bothered to ask the simple question "how was your meal"? Also, they have a ridiculously large variety of Tequlias, and if you wanted to go there boozing, my guess is that you could have a very good experience. As for the food we ordered: Fish Tacos (smelled awful when they came to the table -- almost as though the fish was old), a children's cheeseburger (tasted awful ... my daiughter took a bite and wouldn't eat any more, my wife thean tried it to see what was wrong and decided that it could be considered "abuse" if she forced anyone to keep eating it), "shredded" beef tacos (Beef was actually cubed chunks as opposed to shredded ... my sister-in- law picked at one of the tacos and quickly decided that it wasn't worth trying to eat), a chicken chimichanga (average at best, definitely loaded down with chicken, though there were more than a few "nasty"/questionable looking pieces inside it that were better left uneaten, and 1 lunch buffett (a step up from the buffet that Clark and Uncle Eddie visit in Las Vegas during the moving Vegas Vacation ... but that isn't saying much is it??? On the whole the buffet was ok, ultimately I had that instead of a plated meal becuase I figured I could pick my way through multiple things and find something that I enjoyed. Instead, I tried 3 or 4 things, thought they were all "so-so" and ultimately decided to just stop eating instead of filling up on food that wasn't worth the calories.... Unless I was going to go there to get drunk or listen to the live music at night, you would have to pay me a lot of money to go back there to eat.
(1)Lindsay C.
Fat Cactus....well I left feeling fat. This place is not too bad for Boston Mexican fare. Seems like the further you get from Mexico the worse the authenticity gets. But Fat Cactus made me surprised and happy. Ordered up a round of Shrimp Fajitas and they were Yumm-O and a large Margarita made with Patron Silver...it wasn't too weak but the lime flavor def wasn't there; it was kindda watered down tasting. I didn't partake in the "Tequila Wall"...mainly because, once you were seated the wall was but a memory...literally...there was no listing on the menu of the tequilas. You literally had to get up from your seat and waltz across the restaurant to the lobby and figure it out for yourself. The waitresses didn't seem to carry the list by memory either :-/ But other than that the experience was nice, food was good and the live singer out on the patio wasn't too bad at all! My girlfriend and I had a great time hanging at the Fat Cactus...and I would go back for sure.
(3)Sarah D.
I usually come here for the bar. It is large enough typically we can find seats right away. The margs are usually good & the food is decent. It's not a bad spot to stop for a couple drinks & appetizers.
(3)JOAN S.
regret that I can't give this place half a star! We went to the Border Cafe but, as usual, it was packed! There is a reason for this! GREAT food GREAT service. Something the Fat Cactus has no clue about! We sat at a small table in the bar. We kept looking around for a waitress. As I was about to ask the bartender if there was a waitress assigned to our table, she finally arrived. We ordered 2 Pacifico beers. It took a good 15 minutes for them to arrive......and we were sitting in the bar side!!! The place was only sparsely populated so there was really no good reason to have waited that long. We got a pail of chips and salsa....the salsa was bland...certainly nothing to write home about and the chips were not fully cooked. Kinda rubbery actually. We were looking at one guy at the bar who ordered a fajita. It arrived and wasn't sizzling at all so we decided not to go with one of those. In the end, we ordered a bowl of chili each, and some guacamole on the side. Then we waited and waited and waited and waited....I remarked to my husband, "How long does it take to put some guacomole in a bowl? Certainly, the chili is already made up, why the heck is it taking forever?" We were puzzled. Well, 20 minutes later our food arrived. ONE bowl of chili and a side of guacomole!! I said, "We each ordered a bowl of chili." "oh gee, sorry....I'll bring another bowl." And, by the way, NO SPOON!! I told my husband I will share my chili with him while he waits for his to arrive. We took a bite and it was only a few degrees warmer than room temperature! I was getting pretty pissed at this point. I couldn't believe we waited 20 minutes for a cold bowl of chili---that we had to share no less! After about 5 more minutes my husband's chili arrived. Again, cold. We drank our beer and couldn't wait to get out of there. That was another problem....once our food was finally delivered the waitress never came back. I had to ask another waitress to please find her. She finally came over with the bill and asked if we wanted to take the food home. Obviously, we declined. She put the bill on the table and left...Well, here we go again! After 10 minutes, I asked the bartender to please run my credit card for me. She said she would go find our waitress for us after which I replied, "Good Luck!" I wrote a note on the back of the bill for the manager to see but he probably won't care if this is how he is running his business. I left her A DOLLAR TIP!! I have never done this before and we go out a lot to restaurants and are well known as very generous tippers. I was disgusted with the place. It was our First time eating there and I can assure you, it will be the LAST! We didn't want to wait 20 minutes for a table at the Border Cafe but, if I had known what our experience at Fat Cactus was going to be like, I would have waited 40 minutes or more to get a seat at the Border. The Border Cafe cannot be beat! That's why it is always packed with people. We love it there!! Save yourself the aggravation and go to the Border Cafe!!!
(1)Jen H.
I have been here about two times. As I view it, this place is great for summer time fun. I usually sit on the porch and have drinks. I have ordered dinner every time but I can not remember anything about dinner. I remember always feeling slightly disappointed by the choices on the menu. If I went here during winter, I think I would just be annoyed. So I would say go to this place if u want to sit on a porch (which is very crowded during peak times) and sip on some drinks during the careless days of summer.
(3)Stefanie G.
I am really happy to see a business doing well in this location.....it's been years since I've driven by and seen a full parking lot, so I had high hopes! ATMOSPHERE---Busy appearing, but okay. I liked the footprints all over the place, but didn't understand the flip flops. Either way, as I said, it was busy, but suited the style of restaurant. I also LOVED the garage doors that allowed for the outside seating to feel part of the resstaurant. SERVICE---sigh---One bartender, Tiffany, seemed like she had her act together, but it's a pretty big bar and she had trouble remembering to check on us. HOWEVER, she wasn't even the one initially taking care of us! There was a guy, never caught his name, that should probably stick to waiting tables. He was nice, polite, had a sense of humor, but couldn't do all of the mlti-tasking things bartenders need to do. Like (in our case) change the tv, make our drinks, order our food and still take care of other people. FOOD---We were prepared to have a full meal here until things started snowballing. The above mentioned service, the having to flag down someone (not either bartender) to get us chips and salsa and the quality of the DINOSAUR LEGS. Now, these are some kick-butt legs....they are full legs of chicken, perfectly cooked and beautiful in appearance served with homemade bleu cheese dressing that was to die for. But, once we got to the end of one leg our lips were puckered from all of the salt. It was inedible.....well, for me. My husband had 3 and then we took 2 home and rinsed them off and grilled them---then they were great. At this point I was totally over the food there so I was done but my husband wanted to try a taco. Once we got the bartender to notice us and taught him where to look on the computer for just one taco, not a platter, we figured it would be just a few minutes for the ONE taco. In the meantime I should hit on the salsa....we LOVED it. It is very, very different than most because they use fire-roasted tomatoes and add a ton of pepper, but we both really enjoyed it! Okay, so 15-20 minutes later the taco arrives....chopped up steak had a fantastic flavor, but weird consistency. The tortillas were chewey (per my husband) but I actually like mine like that because it typically means they're homemade....he didn't like it. The pico de gallo on the side was fresh and had a perfect blend of jalapenos, onions and tomato but that was it.....could have definitely used a little salt and cumin. Anyhow, we'll probably go back but we will have very, very low expectations. It's just a great place to go in the summer with the doors wide open, the Sox on one of the many tv's and some good chips and salsa. Oh, and I should add that the house margaritas are made from a tap of premade stuff......fine by me! You never know how a bartender is going to make a margarita, so this made me happy!
(2)D P.
Fat Cactus opened up recently on Rt 1 north, Saugus/Lynnfield line. I went there on a opening night, and I loved their chips and fresh salsa and the drinks/food was really good. Very comparable to Border Cafe. I have been there several times afterwards and the food quality has been going down. Their salsa uses canned tomato, and their food is just not that consistent. The bar area is pretty large, so it is fun to go there for drinks and they do have a lot more variety of drinks compared to Border Cafe, but food at Border Cafe is just fantastic.
(2)Lisa H.
i love this place..eveything was really fresh ..the border is just boring and u feel very rushed..the cactus was very relaxed and fun ..
(5)Kim G.
I visited the Fat Cactus over the weekend and overall was not pleased. I went with a group of about 15 people and we went to the bar/patio area. Even at 7pm it was very difficult to get service, we found ourselves actually waving at the bartenders for attention. None of the staff that interacted with us seemed happy. I felt like my drink request was an annoyence to them? We tried to move to the patio and when the ajoining patio seat opened I immedietly started to move chairs to accomodate us. A waitress came over and instead of offering to help or clean the table and take the check that was left, she told me that my party cannot stand in the path? Wasn't I trying to solve that problem and explained that to her. I would have understood her immediate request more if there were other people in the patio area but it was practically empty. Maybe the staff is angry because they aren't getting enought tips. Here's an idea, try smiling or offering to help, even if busy, apologize for the wait? Next time I organize an event, it won't be there. Nice job Fat Cactus.
(3)Todd P.
If you are thinking about going to Fat Cactus, keep going and drive back to Saugus to go to Border Cafe. I'm not sure which was worse, the food or the service. I ordered Chicken Fajitas and my wife ordered Blackened chicken fajitas. The food runner brought the food and reversed our orders. We kept asking him which was blackened and he kept pointing out the wrong ones. When we tasted we knew they were wrong order. I asked the waitress, she picked up the plates and switched the plates in front of us. i then asked here if I could switch my order to blackened, she said she could probably have them re toss with spice. I said no. I was annoyed at this point. Then, our Rocket Scientist waitress came out with a container of spice and said, I could pour this myself to make it blackened. I sent it back and sat patiently while my wife and kids ate. The manager never came over to see what the issue was. The waitress never even brought refills for drinks. I will never go back. Please go to Border Cafe instead. You will never have a bad experience there. I am 38 and have been eating at Border Cafe since I was a kid and they were next to Hilltop! When we left, the hostess did not even say thanks for coming.
(1)Marissa S.
We went to the Fat Cactus for Cinco de Mayo and loved it. It was great food, good drinks and a fun atmosphere. So we decided to go back with our parents for dinner one night. There were 4 in our party and we ordered a side of guac with chips to start along with a side of queso - both were very tasty. For dinner, I had chicken fajitas and it was just blah, boring, bland. It just wasn't good. There was no flavor. The rest of my party felt the same. The food just lacked flavor. The Fat Cactus is competing with the Border Cafe which is just right up the street and in my opinion, they are not doing a very good job. The Fat Cactus food just doesn't compare to the quality at the Border Cafe. I would go back and give it another try. Maybe the kitchen was just having an off night.
(2)Kyle D.
Not much really to say for this place. The fajita is a standard size for a standard price for a bar and grill, 11 dollars, add 1 buck for sour cream, another buck for gaucomle, and with a corona and tax, the total damage was 20 dollars and change, not including tip. You do the math. It speaks for itself.
(2)Laura r.
We came here with a groupon because I was dying for Mexican. Well... We were seated and waited a full 14 minutes without a greeting before I told the server that no one had been over. The place wasn't even busy. The manager sent over another waitress who took our orders. She was pleasant. The chicken rollotinos were good. Odd, but good. I got the chimichanga with no tomatoes. It came with a ton of tomato. Everywhere. No use complaining, cause we didn't have anyone to complain to. The BBQ platter my husband had was ehhhh. Their "coleslaw" is WEIRD. Our table was in the middle of the walkway. They carried enormous trays over our newborn's head. And customers walked behind my husband and I. So close that one carrying a baby actually butted me in the head. And some lady knocked the corner of our table, almost spilling the drinks. Very awkward table placement. They did offer us free dessert. We got the "flan." It was actually vanilla bean cheesecake. It was good cheesecake. But it wasn't flan. The manager was helpful. And the waitress we had was pleasant. But we won't come back. The only reason they get two stars was the waitress. It truthfully felt like a very long episode of punked
(2)Jamie B.
Extremely subpar. Food was just plain not good - even the chips and salsa were nothing to write home about. I got a chicken enchilada, with rice and beans - everything was just blahhh. Don't let the crowds fool you (we waited for at least 30 minutes, and had tried in the past and left after finding that the wait was over an hour) - this place is not good. And to top it all off, service was awful. I think they forgot about us for a good while. To put it simply, I won't be returning.
(1)Stephanie V.
I've been dying to try out the Fat Cactus since it opened up here. Every Saturday my mom and I try to think of where we can go to grab lunch and every time we drive by the Fat Cactus AFTER lunch and say "Dammit!" Well not today! -Service: The woman at the hostess stand that sat us was super friendly. When we were walking out the door she called out to ask us how everything was and was just really nice. Our waiter wasn't the most personable of people but his service was prompt and he was really cute. Yeah, that earns points in my book. I'm a creeper. -Food: Holy guacamole! We got the guacamole app and it's like 3 cup of guacamole deliciousness. It was super creamy with big chunks of avocado. I could have eaten it for my meal. Salsa had a very fresh taste to it, like someone had just made it. I got a chicken burrito and I actually really enjoyed it. Rice and beans came on the side and were both flavorful. Mom got chicken tacos and also enjoyed them. I've had better Mexican food, but it was good. Drink - They had a pretty decent beer menu including everything for the Mexican restaurant standards (corona, dos equis, modelo, presidente) to the regular standards (sam, bud, ect.) They give you a huge wedge of orange in the sam summer. Decor - I think the best way to describe the inside of this place is... insane. They just took everything that could ever evoke the word "Mexican" (including some stereotypes - hello hubcaps) and put it in there. It kind of works though, in a crazy trippy kind of way. It's not stellar. There are other Mexican restaurants that I would go to above this. But for a good place to get a decent lunch, it's spot on.
(4)Jenny G.
For the past six months, my boyfriend and I kept hearing good things from The Fat Cactus. When we were finally able to find time to check the Mexican restaurant out, I was a little disappointed by the food and the service. The decor on the other hand was amazing. As we walked past the bar to be seated, sombrero hats coved the wall/ceiling, beer bottles made a partition between seating areas, and a massive collection of liquor bottles hung above our heads. We ordered a couple of drinks which took a little while to arrive (however, they were understaffed). To start we ordered the Pinchos Camarones which were described as large shrimp on skewers. For a ten-dollar appetizer I expected more. The shrimp were small and the rest of plate was filled with what looked like shredded cabbage. The entrees were okay except the waiter got both the orders wrong. I didn't realize mine was wrong until I got the bill. I ordered a Fajita Quesadilla just to get the guacamole, but instead I was given a normal fajita and then had to pay extra for the guacamole. Although the food was okay here, the service was not. A few times the waiter even pushed in my chair while I was in it without saying anything. And being a small asian girl, it's not like I was trying to take up a lot of room. Getting both orders wrong and selling overpriced appetizers is not something I experience often. When it's many mistakes and not just one, something is wrong here.
(2)Brenda T.
I have been to The Fat Cactus a few times now. I enjoyed it more when I was there for a large group function. The atmosphere was fun and the drinks were decent. But then when I went out to eat with my husband I was less than satisfied with the food and the overall experience. The place is nice and clean and the wait staff was very nice, but the food was not great, more like frozen food cooked on site. If you are looking for a fun place to have a drink or two it is good, but not much more.
(2)Josh G.
The best thing about Fat Cactus was the parking lot. This place served up was the worst crap I've ever had. The salsa tasted like ketchup, the chips were stale and salty, the margaritas were all sour mix, and my burrito tasted like it came from the frozen section. Seriously this stuff was a step up from low grade dog food. The service was lousy, and our waitress screwed up our order twice. Bottom line- Fat Cactus makes Taco bell look like authentic and delicious Mexican.
(1)Jeffrey K.
The tortilla chips tasted stale once they cooled to room temperature and the salsa was nothing but tomatoes and cilantro. While I didn't order anything specifically spicy, the rice was the spiciest thing on my plate. When I unwrapped my silverware, the knife was filthy. I ordered the Taco and Enchilada Platter with a ground beef taco and chicken enchilada. The taco was nothing but almost flavorless ground beef and cheese, and the meat in the enchilada had the texture and flavor of a brisket that has been cooking for five hours. The lighting was so dim in the dining room that I had to use my pocket flashlight to see what color the meat was to make sure it was chicken and not beef. My brother had to use my pocket flashlight to read the menu. He ordered a blackened chicken burrito (at least it looked like a burrito). The meat was not a real blackened chicken, rather it was diced chicken tossed in a blackened seasoning sauce after cooking. My sister-in-law was the happiest with her meal, a cheese quesadilla. I guess it would take actual talent to screw that up. Overall, I'm glad I tried the place, but together we agreed that there is no need to go back, if we're ever in the mood for Mexican on our way north out of Boston it'll be either South Of The Border or Chipotle Grill.
(2)Danielle S.
I came to the Fat Cactus purely because the location was close to the hotel a friend was staying at on Route 1. The Fat Cactus is a typical run of the mill Mexican restaurant. Bold decor, a vast selection of tequila and complimentary chips and salsa upon arrival. The thing that makes the Fat Cactus stand out from other Mexican restaurants is the service. The painfully slow and inaccurate service. While my party was seated quickly due to a low number of patrons at the time and the server greeted our table within 30 seconds, everything was downhill from there. It took close to 15 minutes for our server to return with our first drink order and an additional 20 minutes to place our entree order. We actually had to get up from our seats to get the attention of the hostess to ask where our server disappeared to. Our second round of drinks were not what we ordered but it took so long to get them that we decided an attempt to correct the mistake was not worth the wait. The only reason I give 3 vs. 2 stars is due to the management's attempt to rectify the slow service our party was receiving. A new server was assigned to our table and I could tell a valid attempt to change our impression of the establishment was in the works. The food was good and given our server's youthfully appearance I wouldn't be surprised to learn it was his first night on the floor. Thus, I think a second chance at the "Fat Cactus" experience is in order. Despite the slow service I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking to entertain a large group as this restaurant is more than adequately prepared to seat several large groups at one time. Whether the kitchen and wait staff can handle that will be up for another 'yelper' to determine!!
(3)Jr F.
The Buffalo Chicken quesadilla is delicious!!! Cadillac margarita was good too! Sam Adams Octoberfest on draft & live music!!! Felt like I was back in Fl listening to Kenny Chesney & Jimmy Buffet tunes on the patio.
(5)Lawrence M.
Ever since the sign went up along the road several months ago, I've been eagerly awaiting the opening of the Fat Cactus in Lynnfield. Until now, Route 1 has been sorely lacking a good Mexican food option - or really, any Mexican food option at all (The Border Cafe has good food at great prices, but it's really more a blend of Tex-Mex and Cajun than pure Mexican). The Fat Cactus took over a space that was once a Naked Fish (and then the ill-conceived and short-lived Lucille's "Fine" Chicken), but they've completely overhauled the decor and the vibe of the place is great. Old chrome wheels and hubcaps line the ceiling, loud chintzy-Mexican-print tablecloths covered every table, and we were seated next to a wall topped with stacked empty bottles of Corona. Loud and a bit over-the-top, to be sure - but very fun and festive. We were seated immediately upon walking in - one may think that's a little surprising considering it was opening weekend, but in reality it wasn't so surprising at all due to the fact that it was 10:30 PM when we arrived. And for the hour, the place was actually still pretty busy. Our server was very friendly and attentive, and even though the dynamic between all of the staff was one of barely-controlled chaos (again... opening weekend), everyone we encountered was beyond polite. Now, you may have noticed I haven't mentioned the food yet. Yeah, well, um... I've kind of been holding off on that. But I suppose in the end, I'm going to have to bring it up, soooo... it was totally average at best. And maybe a little below average at its worst. As soon as we were seated, we were served a bucket (no, really, a galvanized BUCKET) of tortilla chips with a totally enormous bowl of salsa. The chips and salsa were tasty and we didn't run out, so they win some points for that. I had a taco and enchilada combo (with a beef taco and a poblano & cheese enchilada) and my boyfriend ordered Chicken fajitas. My taco was fine... a bit bland, but fine. The enchilada was just a few degrees above room temperature and the cheese on top (and inside) was congealed. It was painfully obvious that this enchilada was not only constructed ahead of time, but cooked ahead of time, too. Not cool. My refried beans were fine, if a bit on the bland side (and also not steaming hot), and the Mexican rice was alright but not too flavorful. My meal would have been a lot better if it had all just been, well... heated up a little bit. Like, just raise the temperature of all of the food on my plate by about 20-30 degrees and I probably would have been a lot happier. My boyfriend's fajitas were hot and sizzling (thank goodness), but he said they also lacked flavor and that they were average at best. So here's my verdict: I'm giving this place 3 stars, and I'm gonna go back again in a month or two (or three). Basically, I'm planning on giving the kitchen staff some time to get on their feet and maybe work out some of the kinks - and THEN I'll see what they can really do. I'd suggest you do the same.
(3)Mark W.
We had a great experience at the Fat Cactus. Several friends and I sat in the outside seating area which was great. The service very good and the food was good. We all loved the drinks and we thought the price for the meal/experience was perfect. Go and enjoy!
(4)Jamie P.
HUGE portion sizes, great prices, their virgin drinks are coated with crystalized sugar & fruit & very authentic decor, nice feel
(4)Rose F.
Visited this place for the first time with some work colleagues. This was pretty good! I got an upgraded margarita ($8) that was perfectly made. She asked if I wanted a sugared rim. Such an easy thing to do instead of salt and it MADE the margarita! The free chips and salsa are delicious and the salsa is thick and fresh. I got a chicken burrito and the pulled chicken was delicious. I kinda wish it came with re fried beans instead of the pinto or black. For $8 this was a great deal and enough to bring home a few bites for the next day! Everyone else enjoyed their meal as well. Great service, good prices, yummy Mexican. It's not an easy to get to place as you have to go to the Walnut Street exit to turn, but it certainly made up for a little inconvenience. 4 stars
(4)James G.
We ordered the steak quesadilla and an order of boneless buffalo wings. The wings were ok and the quesadilla was not very good, my wife and I both had a stomach ache in the morning; we only had soda to drink. Overall the food is much better at the Border. The band was very entertaining and the atmosphere on the deck was fun. I just wish the food was better, next time we will go for cocktails.
(2)Kara L.
Love the live music and patio for margaritas. The bar is big and the drinks are delicious! I recommend the guacamole for anyone that likes avocadoes.. it's very fresh.. to die for!
(5)Dave M.
There's not much to say about The Fat Cactus itself, it's a pretty large area Mexican place with decent food and a pretty good envirement. Service is good for the most part, at least I thought it was until this happened. While having my 15th birthday at The Fat Cactus, a woman saying she was the owner started talking to us and basically tried to persuade me to play the somewhat nearby game (which by the way, costs about a $1 a play), and also self advertised the other place she owned, Bostonville. This went on for a while actually, I just wanted to enjoy my birthday. Maybe I wouldn't of thought about it as much if she hadn't gone up to us a SECOND time, while listening to the the live band to try to get me to play that $1 game. I don't care how much you need the money, you don't bother people like that. You ensured you won't get my business again.
(2)Jim K.
Great atmosphere! Live music but not Mexican?? Had to return our first glass of tea as it tasted awful. 2nd glass was much better. Much prefer chips at Chili's or On The Border. Had fajitas. Chicken was tasty but refried beans were not. Very salty and not anywhere as good as other restaurants. Tortillas were stale. Wish we had checked its 2-star rating first on Yelp else would have avoided it. Next time we're going to On The Border in Reading.
(2)M P.
I wish I could rave about this place. It has all the making of a fun spot, good parking, wide open areas inside, great live music but the food bring this place down to dive bar (not dive in a good neighborhood way either). I've tried the place off and on over the past year or so always hoping things turn around. Latest promotion was "new cook, new dishes..". Unfortunately no change in the taste and quality of the food. Had dinner there with my girlfriend this past week to celebrate our 2 yr anniversary (we had our first date there, meeting for drinks) so thought we'd go back for dinner. First he setting, sat at one of the smaller 2 person tables just on the outside area. For some strange reason someone at Fat Cactus thought it was a good idea to have the small tables side by side with tall bar type tables. Basically when sitting at your table you have another couple not just right next to you but towering over you. If you're lucky crumbs from their food won't float down and land on your food. Than the table we sat at kept moving as if the base was broken (it was). We wanted to start with drinks, I had a beer and she asked the waiter what wine they had that had a hint of vanilla taste to it. The waiter was told by the bartender they didn't have anything like that but she could put a shot of vanilla into the wine - she (the bartender) was not joking around. Gives you an idea of what you're dealing with. I ordered the "special" a Chicken with chorizo and queso sauce. The only thing special about this was how bad it was. First both our dishes came out within 5 mins of ordering them, great speed but not a chance they were freshly cooked - and it showed. The chicken breast was more of a thin dried out chicken paddie and the chorizo was a sausage patty laid on top of the chicken than it was all drowned in queso cheese (which tasted like it was out of a bottle and microwaved). It was hands down the worst dishe I've had in a long time. This was something you would get at Denny's at 4am in the morning and regret eating as soon as you woke up the next day. The last time I was there for drinks on a Sunday afternoon the cops had to be called because one guy at the bar attacked another guy (mind you this was around 4pm in the afternoon on a Sunday) and the hostess ran over and started yelling at them "...what the F**k is wrong with you...there are F**k'in kids here...". She seemed to forget she wasn't exactly providing the best example either for the few families that were there. It's really too bad about this place, has great potential but never seems to be able to get it right. Most likely the problems start at the top, management. Seems like new management or a re-start is needed to clean house and do things right. Hopefully if they ever do fix all the issues they keep the live music. That part they got right. Right after our dinner and finishing our drinks my girlfriend and I took off and headed down the road to finish our evening out.
(1)David C.
So after we were unceremoniously shunned at Polcaris (see previous review) we stopped hear and found it a delightful change of pace. Typical Mexican fare and drink selection, we had beef fajitas and Quesidiiias. Food was tasty hot and served with speed and courtesy. Atmospher very nicely appointed with Mexican theme. If you go take a moment to check out the display of specialty Tequilia's they have on display just in front of the reception desk. They have one that costs $154.00 a shot! Again great place to eat and certainly a refreshing change from the earlier treatment we had received. If you are on route one north- drive right by Polcaris, and try this place!
(4)Sheena G.
I looked forward to the opening for a while. I just moved back from San Diego last year and miss Mexican food! I could see if there was only option for this type of food around..... maybe. But this was by far the worst dining experience in quite a while. They don't modify menu items, so if you don't want chili peppers in your enchiladas, too bad. They pre-make all their dishes and it tastes that way. The tortillas are most likely from Stop and Shop. They don't have re-fried beans and their version of pinto beans is similar to Boston baked beans - but not as tasty. There is bacon in a soupy brown disgusting cup with a few beans mixed in. Service is slow and tables are cramped. The atmosphere is that of a 10 year old's bedroom that she painted herself. Save yourself a big disappointment and go to Border Cafe down the street or even Chili's!
(1)Elizabeth T.
I'm from Arizona and I have to say this place was very nice. I was with a party of nine and we made reservations for lunch last Saturday. The decor is fun, the bar friendly looking. We sat on the patio and were treated very well. Charming wait staff, good chips and (very important) decent salsa. The meals were large and tasty. I didn't drink since I had quite a drive ahead of me, but others at the table had margaritas and seem to enjoy them thoroughly. Although the patio looks out on their large parking lot, on the other side are trees. The weather was great and we had lovely food and a great time. An easy, happy place.
(4)Ariel S.
It's Mexican food, so it works. The food was OK. Not very salty, and I didn't like the guacamole. The chips were good (if you like chips with little to no salt), the service was fast, and our waitress was very nice & speedy. The drinks from the bar took a while to come to us (about 10 minutes), but it was pretty busy around 6 PM on a Saturday night. I prefer Border Cafe.
(3)Bob S.
Horrible company to do business with if your a performing artist. Very disorganized and will never confirm bookings via email. Calendar on website is usually incorrect.
(1)Tulan K.
The place is awesome and very good food and cheap beer the spicy blackened fajitas were awesome ANC so was their salsa. Do visit it
(4)Jeremy S.
After we ordered drinks, our waitress checked IDs. "Oh, I love the new Mass ID," she said, in her North Shore accent. "The photos make you look so tan! I look like Snooki in mine." She was nice, though, if a bit overly-chipper. But that's par for the course at a Mexican restaurant in the 'burbs. The frozen margaritas weren't as strong as they could (or should) be, but the food wasn't half bad. They give you buckets (literally) of chips while you wait for your food, and they've got a nice outdoor patio too--a rarity for a restaurant along Rt. 1. There's live music most nights, but it wasn't anything to get super excited about. Good background music? Maybe. I'll give it that. Obviously, it's not going to be the best Mexican food you've ever had, and it certainly isn't authentic, but it's a good place to go if you like your portions big and your enchiladas smothered in sauce and cheese.
(3)Anahid M.
Great time. Great food. Great hangout.
(4)Chrissy H.
Let's not kid ourselves... the food is nothing to write home about. It's not the worst but it's certainly not the best. I have had fajitas there that were ok and my husband had the Cubano steak or something. He said it was fairly good, kind of generic, but I couldn't help thinking that he looked like some kind of farm animal eating out of a trough. Seriously, his plate looked like something a pig eats out of. The service is a bit unpolished. They need to go have a meal at their competition up the street (Border Cafe) and see how the pros do it. The margaritas are a bit on the sweet side but also not the worst. There's a lot of crazy crap on the walls. They have a little mini arcade in the bar room and a couple pool tables. But what this place has going for it is the outdoor porch. It has lots of little tables and comfy looking chairs and the best part... it's not facing route 1. Who wants to unwind with a beer after a long week at work next to a busy highway? Fattie's porch faces the woods (and the crazily crowded parking lot.)
(3)adam w.
This restaurant has the worst service I have ever seen. We arrived and there was no hostess. We stood there for about five minutes until a hostess finally arrived. She told us it was going to be about 25 minutes to sit outside but we welcome to sit at the high tables around the bar and there was no wait. We chose the high tables right next to the outdoor seating. There were only about 5 tables outside being used. The other 20-25 tables were littered with garbage that hadn't been cleaned up yet. As we looked around we noticed the entire restaurant was full of dirty tables. Against our better judgement we sat there anyway. The people at the table next to us were leaving and warned us that the service was terrible. After sitting for about 15 minutes, a waitress finally arrived to take out drink order. We placed our food order too. About 20 minutes later we finally got our first drink. We had been at the restaurant for over an hour. I orders a Margarita and my friend ordered a Pina Colada. These were two of the worst drinks I've ever tasted. We just got up and walked out. I can't rate the food because we weren't willing to stick around and find out. If the front of the restaurant was that dirty, I can't even imagine what the kitchen looked like. The waitress was very nice and very apologetic. She was clearly being overworked.
(1)Lisa C.
The food here was just okay. I don't know who got the "enormous bowl of salsa" because we literally had like a cup of salsa for the huge bucket o' tortilla chips. I ordered enchiladas, which were just mediocre. The rice was pretty amazing though. The service was below par. First of all, they ran out of menus so we had to wait about 10 minutes for someone to bring us some. Then, the waitress couldn't pronounce the word 'rice' so everyone at the table was like "No, not fries, RICE. R-I-C-E." So confusing...I mean, what kind of Mexican place would even serve fries? It really made no sense. The decor was fine until we got to our tables and had empty bottles hanging above our head. I don't get what that was about. I'm fun because I drink whole bottles of Cuervo? Or is it a statement about Mexico? I'm not sure, but it made me uncomfortable just like those chain places that have trash (i.e. old barrels and tin posters, etc.) on the walls. I don't want to eat in a place that looks like a landfill.
(2)Andrea K.
So since I use to work across the street from this place and watched it being redone I was eager to check it out but just recently finally made it to this place. After reading the reviews before going I was not expecting much which was a good thing cause I was not let down. Big parking lot but was completely full but was able to find a spot in decent amount of time, could end up waiting around and stalking people like you do at the mall for a parking spot. The decor is cool and different I do like the liquor bottles on the ceiling and the different hot sauces displayed at the front desk. Got inside and asked for a table of 2 and in a booth and we were told we would have to wait which was fine. We waited about 10 minutes and got a booth by the kitchen (fine whatever no big deal). Unfortunately the booth chair was dirty with wet salsa that I had to clean up with a napkin as well as cleaning up some of it off my pants. Our waitress came over shortly after we sat down (didnt even look at the menu yet) and took our drink orders. We got our chips n salsa which we enjoyed very much. +1 so far. We got our drinks and ordered an appetizer first and contemplated on our dinner choices. The menu is pretty generic nothing over the top wow or creative. I ordered shrimp fajita quesadilla and my boyfriend ordered a chimichanga. The peach margarita that I ordered was alright but could not taste the peach at all and could only taste liquor but it was good. We ordered the Queso Fundido for an appetizer cause we read that it was really really good from a previous review. I dunno what Queso Fundido they ate but ours was horrible. The cheese was very plasticy, that is the only word I can find! The chips that was served with it were very stale so we had to eat our chips from the salsa instead of what was served with the queso. After eating some of the queso I felt the need to brush my teeth cause I felt that the queso was stuck to my teeth like that slimy feeling you get...ick! My quesadilla was pretty ordinary nothing over the top but I didnt want to order anything that I was not going to like cause I was really hungry. There was about 5-6 shrimps in the quesadilla so for 12 dollars I expected more. The guacamole was decent nothing over the top again. My boyfriends chimichanga was very fried even though the menu says lightly fried it was VERY crispy. It was ordinary nothing over the top yet again. The rice (which someone RAVED about) was HORRIBLE. Worst rice I have ever tasted I dont know what else to say about it. The pinto beans tasted nothing more than BBQ sauce so that was rather weird! All in all the food was meh. I wouldnt come here again cause I dont think for the money (which isnt to expensive just normal prices) I would just go to taco bell and have tacos and get my mexican kick. The waitress was very nice and attentive and polite so A+ for her. Other than that I would hold off on coming here and just go to Taco Bell or for those people who love Border Cafe just go there instead.
(2)Enza D.
Good drinks. Not a fan of their food. We usually go here for drinks then drive down the highway to Border Cafe for food.
(3)Dante B.
Great food, great drinks. I have been back many times and always have great service.
(5)Sarah M.
I love Mexican restaurants, both mediocre and great ones. I end up at the Border Cafe most of the time, cause it's dependable and close by, so I was psyched when Fat Cactus opened - another option in the same grouping. Our first attempt to go there was insane. It was so packed, cars were parked all over the place, the wait was horrifically long, we ended up going to the Border Cafe instead. We decided to try it out on Memorial Day, since we had no plans and thought it would actually be manageable. So it was a nice day, all the doors/walls were open, and we asked to sit outside. They said there weren't any seats, and they walked us the other way to a dark dining room. I turned and looked and saw a free hightop half inside, half out side and asked to be sat there. Duh, if I ask to be sat out side, sit me as close to outside as possible. Margarita's were average once we finally got them ('member when I said it was dead? hhmmm), and the salsa was watery, and the waitress never asked if we wanted more when it ran out. To try things out, we ordered chili con carne as an app, and it tasted like sloppy joe. When dinner was set, our waitress never asked if we wanted another round even when our glasses were empty. My boyfriend ordered mole sauce with his chimichanga, and it tasted like gravy with some spices thrown in. I had a taco and an enchilada and the taco had no cheese, and the beef tasted gross.....cheap and fatty. I will admit that it was affordable, and the decor is great. The bar area looks fun. We would never bother eating there again.
(1)Ryan N.
This place is disgusting now. Was good a few months ago but food has changed... especially the chicken. It is that pulled pork looking chicken that you used to get for lunch in school. Disgusting. Service is a hit or miss... and the music is pretty overwhelming and also annoying. Do not go there... save yourself the money and time.
(1)Tony R.
The worst Mexican food I have had in a very long time. Tasteless dry reheated food don't go!!!!!!!!!
(1)Love P.
I wish this place was so much better serious for a Mexican place it suck the only thing this place has is a good out door space. For paying 9.50 on a drink for it to taste like sour mix is horrible . It says it has new food how about u get new drinks. I'm not saying that the should be strong but they should taste like ur having a drink. Border cafe is right down the street and are packed everyday of the week the people that own fat cactus should go down the road and learn something .
(1)Frank W.
Just returned to this restaurant after being away for 10 months. I have to say that i was disappointed. The live music was great. The service was horrible. Half my party ordered drinks and they were wrong both times after sending them back. The food was okay but nothing special. The waitress was so slow, table was left with plates on it so we couldn't even sit and talk. Sadly, I will not return to this restaurant again. We had to have the manager come over to correct the bill cause we still got billed for the drinks that tasted like salty watered down tequila slush.
(2)MARK D.
OMG It should be called the Big Fat Stinking Turd, Went there on a Wednesday evening about 5:00pm, Before the dinner rush-hour. Salsa tasted like canned tomatoes with some onion which we had to wait for even though there was hardly anyone in the restaurant. Main dishes were your basic burritos and enchilada's that had no flavor at all and tasted like they were pre-made. Which leaves me to wonder what advanced top secret scientific experiment are they using to remove all flavor from the food, Is this some sort of CIA operation to make our food so bland that we lose the will to resist any attempt for an uprising?...makes me wonder. Atmosphere was at best a colorful step up from Taco Bell...I only gave it one star because I couldn't give it a half!...Drink the water but don't eat the food!!! Update as of 7/23/12 Well I thought I'd humble myself and give this place a second try, and wow they didn't disappoint!!! They suck even more if that was even possible! Once more I was held up without a gun and taken for $70.00 for a meal that consisted of two stale, flat as a pancake, dry as sand quessadilla's, and a soggy caribbean salad made with canned corn and mandarins. It was beyond horrible! Never again!!! I hope when the owner of this operation dies, he's placed in a hell were he has to eat this shit food for eternity.
(1)Sean H.
This place has an authentic feel to the ambiance. The food was pretty good too. Will be back.
(4)Kevin M.
Average mexican food restaurant. Has a breakfast brunch buffet on sunday's.
(3)Meaghan K.
For a cheesy mexican joint the food was much better than I expected. I ordered the chicken chimicanga and it was delicious as was the rice and beans that came with. The salsa that came with the chips for an appetizer though had a lot to be desired, I love salsa and have tired soo many types so maybe its just my salsa snob tongue but it was as if they opened a canned of tomatoes and added some seasoning to it. The service was great and the drinks were great as well. My 5 dollar rita was fantastic.
(4)Todd H.
Although the food is not the most authentic (we are not exactly near the border, people), our dishes were delicious, especially the grilled shrimp appetizer, fresh chips and salsa, and sizzling fajitas. This is a great place to celebrate a birthday, especially with kids. The atmosphere is festive, the service is fast, friendly, and attentive, and the portions are very generous. We will definitely be eating here again.
(5)Susan H.
Ate there just last night and it was great! Everybody loved their Margaritas but I have to say the pitcher of Margs was a bit weak. The individual ones were great. The Sangria is always a hit, I always get a pitcher and am never disappointed. We did sit down to eat dinner, all 10 of us. The food came out in just the right time and all at the same time. It was fantastic. Everybody loved what they had, it was really good. I will easily go back. Oh and the ambiance is fantastic. So eclectic and colorful, festive and fun. The decorative painting is a real surprise. Loved every inch of it.
(4)Paul M.
Fat Cactus is a Mexican (?) place off of Route 1 apparently in Lynnfield, though I always thought that stretch was still Saugus. Who knew? Now, anyone who looks at the places I've reviewed thus far can probably get a sense that I love Mexican food; heck my profile picture is from Mexico. With that being said I'm not sure I'd qualify this place as "Mexican." It's more like Texan I think. Second, I've been to the place once, but that's all I'm going to be able to base it on as I won't be back. Maybe that's not fair, but I don't really care. Now, when you walk in there's a fancy case of tequila bottles with prices listed per shot. I appreciate when people actually list the price of their hooch. Nothing is more maddening than having to guesstimate based on atmosphere and going-market-rate for a commodity such as gin to get an idea as to how much you're getting raked over the coals for. The problem is, I'm not much into tequila but some of these prices seemed pretty dang high for a shot considering I know I've seen some of those tequilas before at stores and the bottles cost as little or less as the shot itself. But it's a restaurant/bar and they seem to love their booze here (I'll get to that in a second) and you gotta expect to pay a premium. The food here is mediocre at best. I realize I'm basing it on one visit, but neither my girlfriend or myself were served anything near great food and I'd venture to say it was quite a bit shy of even reaching good... passable is about as fair as I can be. I had a fajita and the chicken tasted fairly bland and the veges a little overdone. I can't even remember what my g/f had, but that's usually a bad sign. I remember the chips and salsa being okay. Now let's talk about the alcohol. We didn't have any because we were driving. That's something that bothers me about this place. It's on a highway, okay, so the only way to get there is to drive and drive fast. It's also on Rte. 1 which can be a nightmare. Why do places like this seem to focus on serving drinks? It all seems like a M.A.D.D. lawsuit waiting to happen. "But Paul," you may ask, "what do you think they're focused on alcohol?" Well aside from the display case of tequila you encounter before hitting the hostess stand, how about the fact that the decor of the place is comprised almost entirely of hundreds upon hundreds of empty Corona bottles on the booth dividers and empty liquor bottles hanging from the ceiling?? What the heck?? Did they rob a hobo trying to redeem the bottles?? Did someone actually drink it all pre-opening?? Well, probably because anyone who thinks that looks classy has to be drunk. I mean, if there was even a way to decorate the place with empties tastefully this place falls far short of that....the bottles are EV-REE-WHERE. They just better hope some kid (or boozer) doesn't think they're piñatas and crack one of the hanging Jack bottles sending shards-o-glass raining down. Look, I'm not opposed to drinking, see some of my other reviews, it's just this place is...I don't know...the place is just strange. Maybe it's almost a sense of desperation or something- like the place screams "SEE?!? WE LOVE BOOZE!!! WE SERVE OUR CHIPS IN TIN BUCKETS!! CLEARLY WE ARE FUN AND AUTHENTIC AND STUFF!!! PLEASE LIKE US!!!" It reminds me of the Margaritaville chain places in the Cancun airport...but less classy which is a coup in my opinion. The service was decent enough, though I recall having to wait quite a while for the check to get picked up and a refill on water. I guess the place is popular for either their drinks or for the lack of alternative Mexican in the area as every time we drive by their lot is PACKED- then again it may just be staff, when I was there the staff seemed to outnumber customers 3:1 which is odd considering the sluggish at times service.
(2)Linda J.
I've been there three times and love more each time I go. The place is always hopping and the atmosphere is so nice. My date and I managed to claim a seat in the bar area. We went knowing it was going to be crowded and expected to wait. We didn't wait more than 5 minutes for a waitress to come over to take our drink order. Even when the bar area was so crowded, we weren't forgotten about for one minute. Our waitress was very friendly and on top of things the entire night. Their CHIPS and SALSA are the best we've ever had and can't wait to go back for EASTER DINNER! Also, I don't WORK for either the Border or the Fat Cactus where I think some of the reviews come from. Remember, if you choose a POPULAR restaraunt and go between 6-8pm expect to wait, ANYWHERE! Go see for yourself how good it is. I have to say my 2nd and 3rd experience was better than the first. We walked in a week after it was open and the women pretty much shouted "1/2 wait or more what's yoru name" and I told her that if she says HELLO first she'd be alot more pleasant. This is a new restaurant and like ANYTHING NEW it will have to be tweaked here and there.
(5)Noriko A.
The food is below average and the service is even worse. The mexican rice was not even edible, and the rest was very bland. The service was slow and what is worse is that a credit card was lost for an hour, with little more than an oh well from the manager. Won't be back, and wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Save the night out for Mexico Lindo or even Taco Bell.
(1)Greg B.
The restaurant is packed with tables, so the wait staff has to walk through little paths to get in between each table. The entire night consisted of some waiter carrying sizzling meals over our heads with one hand. It was by far the most distracting nerve racking thing i've experienced at a restaurant. it seems so dangerous. maybe the guy is good at handling trays, but if someone bumps in to him someone is going to get 3rd degree burns. it was the silliest set up I have ever seen. I also think a bus boy was put on as our waiter for the night. I had pointed to a beer and asked what type it was and he said "its a...beer". there was a moment of silence and then i said "ohhhh ok". anyway, I'm glad he explained that to me. I thought I was ordering a french fry. I will not be going back to this place.
(2)Dennis A.
I heard about this place a few months before it opened and I was actually pretty excited to try it. However, upon actually coming here that excitement quickly turned to disappointment. I came here about a week after the place opened. We walked in and were told that the wait was around 45 minutes, which was a little strange because I didn't really see anybody else waiting. So we went to the bar and got a couple drinks. Before we even had a chance to pay for our drinks we were told that our table was ready. This was literally less than 5 minutes after they told us the wait was going to be 45 minutes. But I wasn't going to complain about being seated quicker so we paid for the drinks and went to the table. As we walked to our table I noticed A LOT of empty seats and I immediately got the feeling that they are saying they have a long wait so that it seems like the place is busier than it is. I thought maybe it was just an error or a problem with communication, but I have since heard similar stories about exaggerated wait times being given. As strange as this was to me, it isn't going to cause me to give them a bad review. But having terrible food will and that's what this place has. I was actually really disappointed because I genuinely wanted to like this place. I wanted to have an alternative to going to the Border Cafe, every time I felt like "Mexican" food. But everything here was just bad. The appetizers were just bad bar food that was renamed so it sounded like something that should be served in a "Mexican" restaurant. For my meal I ordered the blackened chicken, and upon receiving it I thought I was given the wrong dish, because nothing about it looked or tasted like blackened chicken should. It actually didn't really taste like much of anything. The fajitas weren't any better, and even the chips were bad, tasting like they were just dumped directly from a bag onto the table. All in all a disappointing experience and one that I will hopefully never have to endure again.
(2)Jen D.
Let me first say, I didn't eat here, I only had drinks however, I will NEVER eat here. It just screams dirty. When we walked into the bar it smelled of garbage mixed with throw up, disgusting. We were just going for a couple of drinks so I let it slide, knowing I wasn't eating anything anyways. I am a HUGE mexican food/drink fan, and their excuse for a margarita and sangria is pitiful. My boyfriend ordered a house margarita, fully anticipating that it wouldn't be the best margarita because he ordered the "house", but it was completely undrinkable. It tasted like sour mix and Surge soda.. not anything like a margarita. The "sangria" was even worse. It tasted like grape soda mixed with puckers, I would be shocked if there was any wine in there at all. It's kind of a shame because the building is pretty cool with the outdoor section and music, but this is a dump that may be attractive for college kids or kids using their fake ID's who don't realize what a good drink is.
(2)