Food was tasty going down. Not so much fun when it turned into food poisoning. I wont go back because of that experience.

A rare review from the inside of the restaurant. The food is between mediocre and bad. The salsa taste like it's from a can, the tortilla soup was bland and not very hot and very paste like and the potato skins are extremely dense as if they replaced the potato flesh with shredded cardboard. This place might have been good if the food had any taste! The service and atmosphere were great but the food is god awful. Two thumbs way the heck down. read more

What a gem! Had 2 different occasions to use their banquet room, complete with big screen TV. We ordered a little bit of everything- burgers, salads, enchiladas, tacos, chicken, iced cold beer and the best Margaritas. Everything, and I mean everything was AWESOME! The service was the best. I'm a clean freak and usually hard to please, and the Cactus Cantina totally exceeded my expectations. We will definitely be back! read more

The food here is all right, When I grew up in Riverside this was where my family went because it had so many options for a reasonable price. I never had a complaint about going Cactus Cantina. read more

I am so sad to see such bad reviews =( I am a local and love to eat at Cactus Cantina. I like that it is a family owned and operated place. The staff is very nice and they try very hard to keep on top of the busy crowds. I have never had an issue with their food and I like their margaritas. They have always poured our drinks strong =) I think that the price is very fair for the food that you get. We always take out of town family here because they have a little of everything. I gave only 4 stars because, yes, sometimes things are a little busy for them so the service can be a little bit slower. To be honest I don't go to a sit down restaurant to eat extremely fast and rush out the door. On the other hand I don't want to wait an hour for my drink and i have never had an experience like that at Cactus. Chili's opened down the street a few years back but I will still only go to Cactuc Cantina. Great Place!! read more

This Resturant has changed hands many times. The current owners have a good dinner menu and I will go back again. However there advertisement of "best breakfast in town" is an over statement. To compete u need to be open haha. They don't even open until 9am. Serious breakfast restaurants in town open by 7:30 or so. Keep it simple, good food, great service and reasonable prices. You will never run out of return business. read more

We had an event for 30+ people July 21st; could not have been more pleased. Food and service were incredible. The owners are fantastic. They just made it all happen and I couldn't be happier. read more

Good food, good service and nice atmosphere I would def go again and have recommended family also who enjoy this place as well

Went on Friday night around 6 pm. Place was busy buy the wait was very reasonable. The server was excellent. Very helpful and attentive. The prime rib special was excellent and the serving was generous. My fiancee had the taquitos, rice and beans. She found it to be bland. Overall we would recommend this place and will go again. read more

Ask them what cut of meat the Filet Medallion is, because it isn't real filet mignon I'll tell you that much.

i think this place is really good! i have gone there a few times for several of friend's birthdays and other events. Even to just hang out. Once i had lunch for about 7 bucks, and it was healthy stuff too. It is always kept up and clean and the employees are very friendly. They are approachable, and you can definitely ask them anything and are more than happy to assist. I go about once every few weeks and they always have a friendly manner of serving. Most definitely recommend this place! read more

Me and my family love coming here! There always great service and everyone has positive attitudes. There's usually no wait but if there is the hostess's always seat us quickly. Our server was friendly and very attentive. The food is always hot and never takes too long to come out. Definitely recommend! read more

Very good food. Love their grilled vegetables!! Nice atmosphere for.dinner or lunch. The drinks are good and.the chips.and.salsa are not bad either. Nice alternative to pizza!!!!! read more

Funny how I've noticed that people on Yelp LOVE to give bad reviews, for everything!! My husband and I personally love this place and always enjoy the food and good service! We frequent this place and regularly see them running a wait, if it was really like some people perceive it on Yelp, how would it always be so busy and manage to stay in business? Try it for yourself and make your own perception :) read more

I love it here! The green chicken enchiladas are the best! My fiancé loves the fact they listen to your wants and prepare meals as u actually order them! Every time! No disappointment. Have been going here for 3years plus and i love it every time! :) read more

I've been coming to Cactus Cantina for a very long time. Don't let the name fool you, if you have a large family this is the place to come. The reasoning why I say don't " let the name fool you " is because it's not just a Mexican grill. They have ALL types of food. This is a great place to bring anyone . Also the costumer service is amazing. One of the best eateries here in riverside ! read more

Bomb Steaks!!! Get the Rib Eye for $16.00 its the best!!! The service is impeccable and the staff is very friendly. If you order the Laded Nachos bring th family. The nachos are huge and you can feed three people for 9 bucks. The drinks are tall and strong and made cosistently between bartenders so you wont get a bad tasting drink from one bartender and a good one from another. read more

Good clean Restaurant, great food very fresh. We have been enjoying this Restaurant for about a year now and vist about once a month. There steaks and prime rib have always been cooked to perfection. We recently tried there fajitas and loved it. They have a big variety of menu items and I look forward to trying them all. I highly recommend this Restaurant read more

This place had been recommended to me a few times, so during a visit to Riverside, I decided to try it with a few friends. Very sad and sorry I did. Dont know why friends had recommended this place. Atmosphere was very noisy, staff was inattentive. Food was poor. I had the french dip and the meat was fatty and dry. Only ate half the sandwich and was done. The bar looked very well stocked, so maybe its a place for nachos and drinks, but as far as the food, not a place i could recommend. read more

Where to start.... Well, 1st off we made a reservation for 7pm and had to wait in the freezing cold outside for nearly an hour and a half. Our party had a very pregnant woman, and two children, who had no business standing outside for that long. Grant-it if you ask the so called Owner, we were seated only 30 minutes late. However most of us texted our parents, or spouses stating that we just got seated, and our time stamps tell a different tale. But that did not stop her for she made sure to tell this to us numerous times as she raised her voice to us when we tried to explain how bad the over all service was. Speaking of service during our horrible experience 3 people came to our table a very confused woman, a man whom didn't seem to speak English very well, and our main waiter who did try to keep us all happy. Which if you ask our husbands is no easy task. If it wasn't for our main waiter all of us would of just walked out once our food came, and we would of went next door to Taco Bell! We started with appetizers, the guacamole tasted like unripe avocados mushed up and non-seasoned. Their queso dip looked like cat food mixed with the powdered cheese from a kraft box. The chips were awesome though. Now for the main meals. Those who ordered steaks well done got bloody chunks of meat, that seemed like it could still moo. One ordered shrimp, and the pungent smell of raw fish made our stomachs turn. Now I'm from Louisiana, and I love shrimp but watching that little girl try and eat that shrimp.... Ugh I can't even think about it without wanting to puke. Another ordered grilled chicken, now come on people if you have a hard time cutting grilled chicken with a steak knife, there's a problem. Seriously chicken should not be rock hard, and dryer then Death Valley. Those who tried to order "safe" enchiladas, or tacos let's just say it was nothing to write home about. Those of us who weren't driving, pregnant, or under 21 couldn't even get a good drink. The margaritas where the worst I've ever tasted. Long island ice tea who could mess that up right? Well, welcome to the Cactus Cantina because they sure the hell did. I will say this besides the fact that they are renovating the main floor looked semi clean. However the bathrooms.... next time I'd rather pee at a truck stop, the bathrooms are much nicer there. Did you also know that they force you to pay an 18% gratuity, on top of your bill? Personally I would of left a larger tip, to our main waiter, because at least he tried, but to be force 18% and you have no clue who actually gets that money. Bottom line this restaurant lost 1 star for cold, disgusting food, another for not honoring our reservations with more dignity, and quite honestly they lose 2 stars from me for the Owner herself, she did mention a partner. Well buddy I feel bad for you being partners with a broad who treats her costumers with such rudeness, and disrespect. I know many people who have been going to this restaurant for years and they swear, the food has never been this bad. Despite this being my 1st time I can promise you I will never go back. I guess its just one of those times where things just didn't get better with age. I'm terribly saddened that not only did they ruin, one but two birthdays, and our poor waiter got suspended when he was the only good thing about the entire place. read more

Was at Cactus last night with a group of 14. We were very disappointed with the service. Julia was clueless. When the food came out she couldn't tell which items were which, she gave the wrong food to people, she told me she would get me the correct item but then never did. It was hard to get her attention, she messed up the drink orders as well as the food. I can see from your other reviews that we are not the only ones who have had issues with her. read more

very nice people there, food was great and the waitress Dee was a doll, great personality and enjoyable, cant say enough about this place

Came there with my family,a party of seven, I ordered a regular Margarita, came out very watery, no flavor of the mix, very disapointed then each of us ordered soup, french onion, clam chowder and a cup of chili... Onion soup was so salty and thick no one was able to eat it that ordered it, the chili tasted like it was straight from a can of Hormel's chili... terrible. Entres were not any better. none of our family wanted to finish any of their dishes as the food was ... to say the least, disgusting, I would never ever think about returning to this place. Service was friendly and efficient, but when I complained about the quality of the food it seemed to go in one ear and out the other, she must have been used to getting complaints. Again stay away from this place, you will be disappointed as I was and a total waste of time and money, should have gone next door to the mexican fast food, cheaper and I believe better quality food. read more

Having a special occasion to celebrate my family and I decided on Cactus Cantina for lunch. Upon walking in we notice it was fairly empty. We were greeted and seated right away which was a good start. Then our much older, very rushed, rude server came to take our order, he brought me the wrong drink and when I corrected him he quickly lashed out and said that it was exactly what I ordered. Once our food was brought out we notice that the rice was obviously overcooked and dry. We brought it up to the servers attention and he said they make everything fresh to order. My husband asked to speak to the manager and he responded with that she was very busy and would take a dollar off our bill. When we finally made our way out the manager who said she was one of the owners, I felt embarrassed for her to treat her customers this way. My husband asked why she wouldn't come to our table to hear our experience as first time customers and she just brushed us off and said I'm already giving you a dollar off.......Keep your $ lady we will NEVER come back!!! read more