I've been to this bar twice before for happy hour and had decent experiences, so I decided to come back a third time and bring a friend who flew across the country to visit. Unfortunately, that decision turned out to be a mistake. Despite all of us being clearly over the legal drinking age, we were denied drink service without a valid explanation. We brought this to the attention of the manager--someone we've seen on previous visits--but he did absolutely nothing to help. He didn't ask questions, didn't look into the situation, and didn't even bother to stand up from his chair. His indifference spoke volumes. What's most frustrating is the lack of effort or care. This bar seems unable--or unwilling--to distinguish between underage students and working adults trying to enjoy a drink after a long day. I could've overlooked the denial itself, but the manager's attitude made it clear that customer satisfaction isn't a priority here. After this experience, I won't be returning. It's a shame, because I really wanted to like this place--but I refuse to give my money to a business that treats loyal patrons like an inconvenience. read more

Stopped in for a drink and quick bite. Located on Main Street in Manayunk. Place was empty but don't matter to me, got to meet the host Emily. She was nice and very attentive. When we walked in she immediately explained if we wanted something to eat it would be coming from next door at their sister restaurant. That wasn't an issue we wanted something quick and easy so we could get to our next stop. We order a 32oz margarita pitcher for 10 bucks and a cheese and mushroom quesadilla. The drink was great. The quesadilla I felt could have cooked a little longer. But it's fine I would definitely like to come back on Tuesday for Tacos & Margarita's!! read more

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0 stars. Don't expect to be blown away by food, be blown away by lack of effort. First I came in and asked for their drink special, they said they didn't have one to which I expressed the sight of the sign outside (Saturday brunch special) to which they said they don't know what that is..ok. Ordered cactus fries which description explain fries with Mexican seasoning; waiter/bus boy came around with them and asked our waiter "where do these ole bay fries go?" He was then pointed to me and my fiancé. Pulled pork tacos came in 3 with meat not enough to even fill up ONE taco..(pictures attached). Weren't given utensils, wasn't asked how we were doing (probably because staff knows the food is terrible), and food was just oh so bad. When a place is bad I usually give places second chances OR take food to go (to be kind), but I am not / did not do those. read more

Cactus Restaurant & Bar - pulled pork tacos (3) $13.00 - Bars Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Horrible. Service absolutely sucked. Chicken burrito was sad looking and full of rice that was not even half cooked. (Crunch, Crunch, Sent back) Shrimp dish was basically shrimp and milk. Fried chicken was wafer thin. Nobody was in the place an everything was still slow. Asked for check and watched the waiter meet with coworkers for several minutes. Boo this place, and the place next door (same mgmt) Soda water tasted like cleaner Both bathrooms were a wreck. Men's had one broken sink and no soap. read more

Website says $5 margs on Fridays from 5-8pm.... Well that's not true. A group of us came here last Friday for this deal however when we went to pay we were charged about $13 per marg. We asked the waitress and she said no... that's not on Fridays, showed her the website and she goes well we don't own our website. We lost our domain. Also, tried the ground beef tacos and they were not seasoned what so ever. I would not recommend, much better places around. read more

Amazing drinks and service!! Staff is very friendly and the atmosphere is so lit! They always play the best music

It was a bustling Thursday night and we were wandering Manayunk for a good 30 min before we settled on Cactus Restaurant. It was one of the places that had seating available last minute for 6 and their billboard of 50 different margarita flavors and pitchers, and $5 quesadillas enticed us in. Oh the regrets. Make a reservation and go elsewhere. We got their mango jalapeño margarita pitcher, green apple margarita pitcher $5 chicken quesadilla, queso dip, and seasoned fries (can't remember the name and it's not on their online menu for some reason). - Margaritas: The flavors were not bad; don't let the jalapeno deter you - it's not that spicy... but I could not taste ANY alcohol and there was SO MUCH ICE. Not really worth it. - Chicken quesadillas: This was dry and flavorless with minimal cheese and chicken. No amount of their salsa or sour cream could salvage it. The hot sauce helped. - Queso dip was ordered by a friend and I didn't try - but they left 75% of it behind. - Seasoned fries: These were NOT seasoned. The best part of this was the cooked jalapeno and onions on it. Might as well have gotten regular fries. All in all. I'm not coming back here. There are so many better choices in Manayunk. read more

Solely here to compliment our server Emily as she was the highlight of my visit. My mom and I were outside looking at the menu and the young lady met us at the door to welcome us in but to also give us a heads up that they weren't serving food off of their traditional menu, but rather their sister store next door. I had made up my mind at that point and thought to myself that I would rather eat somewhere else because I'm really not a bar food kind of girl but she suggested we try the $10 margarita pitcher and that's all she needed to say--can't beat that lol!. My mom ordered the mushroom quesadilla, which in my opinion was not the best--Could've probably benefited from some pico, guac and sour cream, but it was literally just cheese, mushrooms and a tortilla lol. Anywho, Emily had such nice conversation and really good taste in music that it made our visit a vibe overall. No traffic whatsoever as we visited here on a Monday which in my opinion everything in Manayunk is either closed or dead on a Monday so if that's your style then hey go for it but I think I'd rather come back when it's more scenic and people are actually out having fun. Sidebar for my Yelpers, I checked into this place and got a free appetizer with my purchase--Thanks Emily and Cactus Cantina!! read more

Cactus Restaurant & Bar - the entrance to the restaurant - Bars Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Marie is awesome !!! Amazing service . Quick service , great personality . Fast experience, you should come here . Great atmosphere !!!

Absolutely HORRIBLE, My friends and I aren't picky about food what so ever. McDonald's would have been better, they sat on the second floor and we literally faced a brick wall. Then the food came out and honestly would've been better if we just stayed home and bought flour tortillas and made our own tacos at the house. No flavor, horrible service, super slow and honestly the food was disgusting quality. read more

Terrible service with barely anyone in the place. Bartender wasn't friendly and seemed all over the place. Food was just really sad. Poor excuse for a taco and the rice in the burrito was extremely hard. Drinks were weak and did not taste good. Super weird environment and staff members. Ran outta there ha never again. read more

Cactus Restaurant & Bar - Little bits of fried fish, a few shreds of lettuce and cold cheese. Not great. - Bars Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Great drinks and aaammmmmaaazzzinggg drinks. Come on Tuesdays for $5 margaritas and $3 tacos. read more

Cactus Restaurant & Bar - $5 Margaritas - Bars Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sadly , I received some clarification today, the cactus nachos, which are one of the most Popular food items on the menu due to the most amazing corn salsa, has been discontinued from the menu. I am devastating as it was hands down the best nachos I've ever had. I'm writing this review in hopes that we can bring them back to the menu. I know this sounds dramatic haha but everyone I've brought to have these nachos rave about them! Please consider bringing them back ! read more

The bartenders were very nice and we enjoyed ourselves playing trivia. The food was also good I mean who could beat $.35 wings!!

Food is so bad. If I were you I would not order the food, not authentic and honestly Taco Bell does a better job than this place, sad to say. Food was bland, sloppy and bad quality. This place has a good location for people watching..... and that's about it. read more

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Pros-- if you are starving you can get fresh food Cons- flour taco and burrito were dry and not flavorful and not spicy If you want Mexican go to Chipotle. read more

Not good. Margarita was all cheap tasting sour and little tequila. 50 flavors is fun, but make them good! We got free chips and salsa for happy hour, and it was absolutely terrible. Chips were basically cardboard, as they were beyond stale, and salsa was sad. No one was there around 5pm on a Friday, and now I know why. Bartender was very friendly, so I give him props! read more

I came for the pulled pork and stayed for the nachos, margs, and good vibes. I have gone before and the food was good, but the pork is really something! Sometimes they are out of it, so we lucked out. it is a local Manayunk secret that the food here is pretty darn good, for a cheap, Americanized Mexican joint! Ate here on a random Wednesday about two weeks ago on a friend's recommendation - ordered pulled pork nachos, a burrito, and a margarita pitcher - it absolutely hit the spot. Sarah, bartender, very attentive and cool - conversation was great with quick service. Food stuck out to me - fresh tortilla chips smothered with cheese, and with all of the condiments/garnishes clearly fresh. Pico/guac is homemade. Compliments to the kitchen staff. read more

Cactus Restaurant & Bar - Nachos w/ amazing homemade pulled pork, queso was unbelievable - Bars Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Very unprofessional establishment. I was a solo diner on a Tuesday night and was yelled at for asking for a table for one.. the guy who worked there claimed he was working alone and couldn't help me for 20 mins. Furthermore the place reeked of trash and old sponges as soon as you walk in.. AVOID this dump. Gladly left and went to the place next door instead. read more

First off turn the heat on its cold as shit in here. 2nd turn some music on. 3rd wings got worse and price got higher. 4th fix the tvs seriously it's 2022 Service was fine. Poor girl running around by herself while we are all freezing and sitting listening to everyone else talk. Super awkward. SMFH GET IT TOGETHER. HAVE SOME PRIDE IN YOUR ESTABLISHMENT!!!!! read more

Came here to get started on happy hour and we had the mixed berry marg, which was their Monday special for $5. It tasted like a huggy or some grape concord drink. We tried looking at their website for specials prior to sitting down but it was not updated. Allegedly they don't have the password to update it? Yeah. But, this place is good if you want a quick fix or a snack but I wouldn't stay for long (they also don't have the upstairs open). read more

Cactus Restaurant & Bar - Bars Near Me - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Dive bar with okay price points for Manayunk. Desert Heat Chili - Lot of beans in this one and not a ton of actual Chili. The spice level was high but my girlfriend and I both did not care for it and the waiter was nice enough to take it off the check. Chips and Salsa - First round is for free! If it is free it is for me! Or is it? The reason I pose this question is because the chips were not hot and the sauce by God man you MUST have good salsa if you are going to call yourself a Mexican restaurant! If you are looking for sauce with a good kick go to Taqueria Felix. Santa Fe Eggrools - This was the winner of the day. Chicken, corn, and black beans stuffed in a very soft pastry like egg roll cut up into about 6 small pieces with some ranch dipping side in the middle. This appetizer goes for $9.95 at full price. Didn't seem like a steal of deal but food was improving after the first two fails. Steak Fajitas - The steak was much better then expected. I have had the Fajitas several times at the Cactus's competitor Taqueria Felix and I can say hands down the Fajitas at this place are the better deal. I would not run back to this place but would certainly entertain the idea of coming back for a happy hour. And as always people SYOY!! read more

I'm usually the first to suggest going to Cactus. Their food is generally solid and prices are reasonable. Unfortunately tonight was not what were used to when we came to pick up a takeout order. Servers and bartenders were pulling down masks while leaning in to talk to patrons and making drinks without masks on. Food was not nearly as good as usual. The fajitas were the smallest portion I've ever seen. The steak burrito was all fat. The wings were so overdone the bones were cracked and splintered. I understand COVID has upended many things, but this was beyond anything reasonable. read more

Banana margaritas and good vibes. good music, good people, good times. would come again.

Food was actually terrible. The service was okay but super slow. And the atmosphere was bad and dirty.

How impressive is the food at Cactus? Considering nearly everything went wrong with my recent dining experience, pretty damn impressive. We arrived on Saturday for a quick bite. It was busy, so we were sat all the way in the back, by the bathrooms. It took nearly 10 minutes to get water to our table and another 5 for chips and salsa. Once we ordered (another ~ 10 minutes), we didn't see our waiter again until the bill. Apps took quite a bit of time to get to the table, my margarita sat at the bar for a good 10 minutes before it reached the table, our dinners came out while we were still eating the app, and they gave me pork instead of beef in my enchiladas. So how good is the food? Well, there salsa might be the best I've ever had. I love their margaritas, and both the pork and beef enchiladas were solid - yes, they corrected my order without an issue. Honestly, the food is 4 or 5 star worthy, so I am going back on a calmer night to let them earn those extra stars! read more

1 ounce of "guacamole" for $11. There was no flavor. Just mashed avocado. Insanity. I ordered via DoorDash and my order was royally screwed up in all facets. Not worth it. Next time I'll just not eat read more

Sophia is the best bartender, she really makes sure we are good and tended to! It's definitely one to go to in manayunk!

I've been here a handful of times throughout my time here in Manayunk thus far. Aside from a decent brunch, not really anything to write home about. When talking about Mexican options in Manayunk, I usually describe it as the following - if you want GOOD Mexican, go to Taqueria Feliz. If you want BAR Mexican, go to Cactus. Bar Mexican I think is a pretty good description. The times I've been here, it's never been outwardly horrible, but never really good either. Went here last night with some friends. The place was not even half full and we were sat in the back of the first floor. Which that's not a big deal at all, but it was no excuse for our server to be MIA through much of our meal. We were right next to the computer station and even when we were trying to get her attention for the check when she was standing RIGHT THERE, she would ignore us and run off. The margaritas are a ripoff. We all realized we were ordering the same margarita type so we were like let's just get a pitcher. We asked how many drinks you got out of a pitcher and she told us 4-5. How many did we actually get? 3. We got 3 margaritas for the 3 of us. $28 pitcher. I'm sure you can do the math and realize that is a few bucks more per margarita than if we had just ordered them individually. The food is alright. I mean, you by no means go here for a killer meal. You go here if you want cheap decent Mexican-like food. Their specials are pretty good - we all did the $6 quesadilla. I had the steak and it was good. Not amazing, but good. They do have a lengthy tequila menu so if tequila is your thing, this may be a good stop. But don't waste your $$ on the pitchers of margaritas. I mean, I don't mind paying top dollar for a GOOD margarita but like other reviews have stated, their margs are all mix. Will I be back? Sure, if I'm with people that want to go. But I don't go out of my way to eat here. read more

Ethan and Steve were great bartenders! Had a great time on St.Pattys Day with them! 10 out of 10 experience!

This place is cool! It's a great place for a date. Service is very friendly and great music. The food is good and the drinks are cold!

Came in on .50 wing night. Sam was bartending. She greeted us right away, and made sure we were taken care of. Food came out quickly, wings were fresh and with a nice crisp to them. Can't be .50 wings! It's was Wednesday night the vibes were pretty chill. read more

NOT the place to be on Cinco de Mayo. There was one guy. No mask. He's running around. He looked super overwhelmed. There was no order around the place so I just went up to the table and asked if I could order. It was roughly 7:20ish. He goes IM NOT TAKIN ANYMORE ORDERS UNTIL 10/11. I was like uh...what about margaritas. Here's the thing. We saw the sign. Says margaritas. (We being the boyfriend and I) we are like hell yeah. Just got our tacos from taqueria feliz (they dropped the ball a little but even in them dropping the ball their service is phenomenal) we were hype to see such easy access to margaritas. So I ask about the margaritas. He says oh yeah I can do that. I ask if he does non frozen. He looks and says I only have mango (not the answer to my question but cool since that's what the bf and I want) so he goes makes them. They're huge. I'm hype. (Although he did put the straw in with his bare hands. Oh yeah no mask no gloves nothing) The outdoor menus says taco Tuesdays $5 margaritas. Makes them. Hands them over. $40. I literally felt my heart skip a beat. WHAT?! He says 32oz $40. I said but the sign it says $5 for Tuesday's. He goes that's in house only. SIR WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU HAD IN HOUSE SERVICE?! So I'm looking because the sign that says frozen margaritas which is on the other wall doesn't have any price. Just "FROZEN MARGARITAS ORIGINAL/MANGO/CHERRY" No price. He goes if you don't want them I'll take them back. I hesitated and the only got one. Highway robbery. Period. It's wildly unacceptable to have that up there....KNOW YOU HAVE SPECIALS EVERY DAY....and then say oh but those are in house. As if there's not a pandemic. Other places still have their daily deals. I didn't think anything of it that they had their daily deals as well. Man....so now I'm drinking a watered down margarita because (it was with chopped ice) and out $20 instead of $10. I hope no one else is swindled by them. Hence my yelp review. I would have done better going and getting a cider from my local sandwich shop. Edit: this has no alcohol in it. Makes sense why I wasn't carded. read more

There is so many good places to eat in Manayunk and Cactus is not one of them. The tacos that are $13 and not one thing is home made. It tasted like the tortillas and cheese you buy from a grocery store. Taco Bell beef is better then this place. The Nachos were okay but same beef as the tacos... The cactus fries are just ole bay seasoning on fries, the guy even said it when he handed it to us. The menu says cactus fries "Mexican blend", ole bay... I did like my drink but you can even tell the bartenders and waiters didn't like there own food. The bartenders also seemed very nervous and didn't even check on us about our food or a refill on drinks. read more

I sat at the bar and was given chips and salsa while I was waiting for the food to come. The salsa wasn't chunky and had a nice kick to it The food did take a while to come but the chips kept me busy. I ordered their 35 cent wings and the fish tacos. Wings were pretty decent. They were crispy and also had a mild kick. Fish tacos had fried fish and purple cabbage coleslaw. It also came with a side of rice. There was a nice amount of fish in the tacos and it was seasoned perfectly. The only issue was the dryness. I asked for a sauce for the tacos and they gave me the chipotle mayo which complimented the tacos very well. The bartender was very attentive and outgoing. The drinks weren't strong tho. It was quizzo night which was free to participate. The host was really funny and offered shots to ppl who were winning each round read more

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Good drinks. They turned down music volume when it was clear that it was too loud! Will definitely come back again. I recommend,

Kevin is great. I love the service and food was amazing. The prices were very reasonable.

Ew! This place is actually gross. Ate here over the weekend with family and the decor was dated, service was slow, and food was really bad. I ordered a veggie burrito and realized on about the second bite that there was a bunch of pork hidden inside. The waitstaff did replace it, but eating meat for the first time in over 5 years led to a really upset stomach and ruined the rest of my night -- definitely not worth it for such bad food! There were 4 others in my party who all ordered different things (five alarm burrito, chicken quesadillas, fajita salad, and a chipotle chicken sandwich), and nobody was even slightly impressed. Perfect excuse to have a second dinner elsewhere after coming here. The prices are decent and chips and salsa are good. That is about it. We were seated right next to the waitstaff station and it was loud, we saw waitresses drinking Gatorades and eating chips, and several things were dropped right in front of us. I totally understand that waitstaff need a place to eat, hydrate, and maybe take a quick break, but right in front of a table of guests is not the right place. read more

Excellent service, even better margaritas!! come to Cactus you won't be disappointed.

The only reason I'm commenting is because of vienna and Julia there the best bartenders around