Unique woman owned business that offers both awesome food and drink. Decor original to cuisine. Indoor and outdoor seating with specials and happy hour! What else do you need?!? read more

This was the most flavorless Mexican restaurant I have ever visited. Speciality margaritas were horrible. Tried 3 different flavors and each tasted like tequila water. I'm 22 years old and have had four lokos and mad dogs that tasted better than these did. Queso was watery, salsa was not salsa (it looked/tasted like Valentina poured into a container for a 50¢ up-charge), and the tacos had no flavor. The 3 stars are because the service was great, but mainly because the margs got me drunk as hell and I quite literally had to hold my nose to drink them :) read more

Pink Cactus - Tacos Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

In all honesty I do not recommend this place. We sat down at 6:15 and no one came to greet us, or acknowledged us for 20 minutes. Finally, we pulled someone aside to ask for assistance. After ordering it took 30 minutes for 2 margaritas to arrive at the table. Food came shortly after which was good but rice was left off of a meal. After finishing our meal we waited for a long time and had to pull someone aside for our checks. We did not even know who was our waitress at this point, we were just getting anyones attention we could because it seemed as if we were being ignored. Finally, checks were brought out but they were for the wrong table. After asking again, and insisting we were in a hurry, the correct checks were given to us. Even at this point one of the checks was wrong, charging 19 dollars for a meal that cost 13 and no drinks. All three customers work in food and bev and we are no stranger to a busy night. It would have been very understandable if someone came over and explained that they were busy, understaffed, or were just having trouble. Instead, we felt ignored the entire time. I have literally never written a yelp review but this experience was just so poor that I felt it needed one. read more

One of the worst places ever to go eat. owner blasts music to the point you can let communicate with eachother and when asking to have the volume turned down, owner refused. terrible establishment I would never recommend this place read more

While the food was tasty and I would definitely eat there again, I was a bit disappointed with our service. I'm not sure if it's because we had someone new ... but I found it hard to believe we could only add chicken to our nachos and not carne asada. The server was friendly though. I was doubtful to find tasty Mexican food in South Carolina as I am spoiled living in Southern California where the Mexican food is legit! Pink Cactus did not disappoint. read more

One of my favorite places I've eaten in Charleston. If you're looking for amazing traditional Oaxacan Mexican food, look no further. The corn tortillas are made in house every morning. The queso was awesome, and the brunch special was 2 tacos with beans, rice, and your choice of a cantaloupe or hibiscus juice. The elote (street corn) was to die for. They have a fun cocktail menu and the service is friendly. Our server Jess was really sweet and helpful. Highly recommend! read more

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The waitress we had was an absolute smoke show. And the food was amazing. The drinks are great too.

Investors are obviously more important than paying customers. We were asked to move because the table we sat at was "reserved". We moved and then the owner Brooke come over and scolded us for not sitting at the hightop that was discussed when we made a courtesy call for a party of 8. No reservations are accepted but somehow the tables we sat at the second time were also "reserved" for a part at 7p. It was 5:30p and the place was empty. Took our party of 8 business elsewhere because we felt like we were not wanted. Seems to be a common issue with other reviewers. Hope the investors work out, you're going to need it! read more

Pink Cactus - Website - Tacos Near Me - Charleston, South Carolina

I'm honestly not sure what these negative reviews are talking about because Pink Cactus is seriously amazing! Not only was their signature margarita delicious (the perfect level of tart - no idea what the person claiming it was sweet drank but this drink wasn't sweet) but it came with a bit of a back story: the juice is from the prickly pear cactus which they grow out front. The food itself is equally delicious. Yes, it may be a bit pricer than your more "traditional" Mexican restaurant, but the quality is outstanding. The spices are sourced from the Oaxaca region, as is the corn (and most of the decor as I found out). Bringing back rare and unusual ingredients (aka QUALITY INGREDIENTS) will make things more expensive. However, the food is absolutely worth the price. The various flavors woven together make you want to savor every bite. If I had more room, I'd have tried everything on the menu! I also found out they grind the masa themselves (from the heirloom corn they source) to create all of the tostados and tortillas. So if you're wanting fresh, unique, and quality ingredients and flavors that harken back to the Oaxacan food traditions in Mexico, then Pink Cactus is for you! If you don't care about that or just want something cheap and easy, there are Taco Bell's and others around to satisfy you. read more

It's a small restaurant, but boy is the quality good. I got the queso with chorizo and it was really good. The chips were fresh made in house, super crispy. I got the torta with chicken as my entree and the flavor was amazing. It tasted so fresh. The waitress was super nice too. Would recommend read more

This is the worst place I have ever eaten at. My husband and I were staying at 86 Cannon, this place is a short walk and was recommended by the owners of our Bed and Breakfast. We walked in and sat down and it all went down hill from there. We literally felt like we were not wanted at the restaurant. There was only one table outside, us and someone at the bar. The food took a very long time, it was not good, and the service was non existent. We were very annoyed at the bartender who kept talking loudly about how close she is to the owner and so on and so forth. She spent about an hour just talking about herself. While no one was even coming to us to serve us more water. There are so many amazing places to eat in Charleston, don't spend your time or money here! read more

The menu is written in dry eraser on the window, and the chairs are the type your grandparents set up around card tables in the 50s at this Mexican gem on Spring Street. Try the chile rellenos filled with pork and drizzled with white crema, or the fantastic freshly fried nachos on a pool of queso. Twice now there's only been one server on the floor and both times he/she did a fine job of getting our food to us expeditiously. Well done! read more

Just so confused by this place. The food is good, like honestly really good. But the staff is shockingly rude to the point that I was embarrassed that I brought someone from out of town here when they have heard of southern hospitality. Can't really enjoy a meal, even when the food is good when you are embarrassed and uncomfortable the whole time. Not sure to recommend or not, maybe get takeout so you don't have to deal with the staff read more

Tacos Derados! Get that and you'll be hooked. It's phenomenal. Delicious. Friendly staff. Great service. Fantastic food.

My wife and I ate dinner here last Friday. Overall I was not impressed. The guacamole was okay but extremely expensive for what it was. Additionally, the only entrees on the menu were tacos at $5 a piece. I was okay with the price but not okay that the only shell option was soft corn. They make the corn in house and they are the blue corn shells that have a really strong taste. Both my wife and I said the taste and texture of the shell over powered the experience of the individual taco. I would maybe try it again but I doubt this place will around long enough to do so. This review was given based on 3 stars being average for the area. read more

Our bachelorette group of 7 arrived for a fun dinner and were excited. We were seated very quickly, ordered a couple pitchers of the Pink Cactus Margarita, which was strong but very good, and some chips and The Trio. The server offered to bring us extra chips, without telling us there was a separate charge for more. When we went to order food, we were told we couldn't order the Tuesday Special (on a Tuesday...), no modifications could be made to any food item - including asking for sour cream on the side instead of on the dish - and they were completely out of rice and beans and we should order a dish that didn't have those items, such as the nachos. We asked if we could get a discount on an entree without the rice and beans, and were told no price adjustments could be done because the owner was not there. In the end, our group decided to finish our margaritas and chips and leave. Very overpriced establishment, and we left disappointed. read more

Service was slow and the restaurant was dirty. The chips and queso were amazing but the service and drinks were not.

Best. Coconut. Marg. Ever! Four stars only due to slightly slow service but everything we consumed was amazing!!

Upon sitting down at Pink Cactus we ordered appetizers and drinks because we were starving. The waitress didn't come to take out food order until our appetizers were done which was about 45-50 minutes after seating. We had to approach her to let her know we wanted more drinks and were ready to order. I would understand this if the restaurant was busy, but it was not. When she finally came to take our order she let us know they were out of rice and could not make anything that had rice. There were only a few menu options that had rice as a mandatory staple, like the rice bowl. However the rest it was a side. So we thought "okay that's fine we just won't get rice as a side". The sever then proceeded to let us know that they couldn't serve most of the dinner plates because they had rice as a side. And without the rice the plate wouldn't look nice, so they couldn't serve it. So all we would be left with is single tacos and salads. We came to pink cactus because our friend, who has gone many times before and loved it, wanted their quesadilla for her birthday meal. We then asked if we could just order it, pay the cost, and just not get rice (most of us didn't want the rice anyway) or if we could sub rice for extra beans or chips. The server then proceeded to let us know that the owner (who was also serving that night) refused to serve it that way and we couldn't get it. We then asked to talk to the owner and the server lets us know that it wasn't a good idea and the owner wouldn't be happy. We proceeded to ask to see her anyway. The server came back and said the owner said it was a no. The owner refused to come to our table. Please keep in mind this a small restaurant and the owner was constantly walking past us. We then asked to cash out and we left. At this point it was 8:45pm and we had a 7pm reservation. I would have been totally fine with the owner came over and talked to us and maybe explained her reasoning or apologized and discounted something, but her not even coming over to talk to us is reason enough not to go back anytime soon. My family has run multiple restaurants in my lifetime and that is no way to run one. There are ways to discount food items or even offer something in its place. A lot of us at the table work in food and bev and we're appalled at the way this was handled. The sad thing is, I would I have loved to go back and tried the birria tacos on the weekend, but with an owner who treats her customers that way, I don't think I will. The two good things I liked about Pink Cactus were the margaritas and the chips, but then again that's all I was allowed to have. read more

First, I want to express how much I was really hoping to enjoy this place. I'm a local & having more Oaxacan style foods available is a must! Charleston doesn't have enough options that align in that type of food. Second, I know how rough of a year these small businesses have had. I don't want to be cavalier about leaving a bad review in light of that....but Pink Cactus is just, well crappy. I'm sure they like all restaurants have staffing issues, which sucks, so my first few attempts to visit they weren't actually open when they were supposed to be. There were staff inside who would open the door and say "were not opening until ___". No explanations, no apologies for the inconvenience, just point blank we aren't open. Things happen, people don't show, etc. my only complaint here is that before going in I always check their social media, Instagram in particular, to make sure nothing has been posted about a change in hours/an emergency/etc. They never said anything about a delayed opening in their posts or stories. But this did not deter me from wanting to try their very instagrammable yummy looking food. So I went, until I could get in! To say that you are treated like an unwelcome guest is a bit of an understatement. I went in for breakfast, there was only 1 other person in there who was already eating and I don't think that the staff had ever been explained what hospitality should look like. Yet still, I truly wanted to enjoy this place. I went to place my order and asked if I could have an egg that came with my dish prepared differently than what's on the menu to which I was told "no. I can't do that in the computer", I asked if they would mind asking the chef (you can see the kitchen from every point inside the restaurant). I was told "they have a strict no modification policy"....so I was like okay fine, how about we just move the egg to a separate plate, my husband will eat them prepared like that and again I got a "nope. We won't do that". I was dumbfounded. I get a no mods policy if you have a huge menu, which they DONT, or if you're at like a very high end restaurant, which they are not, but they won't even let me get my egg that comes with the dish on a different plate? I'm thinking so do I just ask for an extra plate to do it myself and get "we don't give extra plates, it's a policy" or some outrageous line like that? So in light of how unaccommodating this establishment had been, how we had tried to go multiple times to no avail, to have this dumb interaction when we finally could eat there, we simply left. I wouldn't give them a penny of my $. In hind sight I should have done my diligence and really explored these reviews because I am not in the minority here of experiencing really crappy service, a general we don't really care about you visiting/your business, and just outlandish crap. Living in CHS I always try to support small, don't really go to chains, and genuinely have a good relationship with the restaurant and hospitality industry here, even with the struggles of Covid & post Covid staffing. If you want some good tacos/breakfast tacos/etc, save yourself the headache of Pink Cactus and go support Juan Luis - they are always delicious and they aren't dicks ‍. read more

Perfect place if you happen to be a very VERY patient person with a forgiving spirit. Also good if you are not particular about your food whatsoever because they will not comp your meals "per the owner's policy" even if it's not what you ordered. Hopefully you brought your own water because they will only bring you enough to fill up 1/4 your cup every hour despite the excessive spice in their meals. And if you want chips for dessert they will gladly offer to finally bring them out to you after your meal!! read more

Service took 2 hours, tiny portions for an overpriced meal. Will not be returning and I suggest others do not come here.

The salsa isn't salsa - It's watery and the consistency of a thin sauce, not salsa. Also the salsa portions they give you are so small it's laughable; literally about two tablespoons. We ordered tacos and they were at best ok, but were under seasoned and needed salt...desperately. They also do not have hot sauce - an essential item that needs to be homemade in any authentic Mexican restaurant. There hottest salsa was actually sweet, made with an excess of cinnamon. We were excited about Pink Cactus but won't be back to this overpriced restaurant destined to go under in a few months. read more

Located in the former home of two failed Mexican joints with some kinda shady spat over a tortilla recipe (Garcia's Tortilla House and Nacho Mama's Taqueria), Pink Cactus has to overcome the heavy weight of superstición at 100A Spring. Off the bat: the service was excellent and informative, the vibe was great, the prices fair, the menu well-designed and varied. We sat at the community table and let me tell you, this place is TIGHT. You'll be accidentally elbowing your neighbors while they try to eat queso. We started with some drinks - now maybe my palate has been blown out by all the PBR, but our two mezcal drinks were separate menu items and tasted identically like ice water with a splash of smoke. Sounded great but I was just confused by the other missing ingredients. Their signature margarita kept getting oo's and ah's around the room, attractively done up with a black salt rim - but if I'm being honest I'm pretty sure it was just a Fruitopia with some tequila in it. (Google and reminisce). Read: SWEET. Also got some apps - the guac, queso, and yucca fries all delicious. The salsa trio was disappointing - cashew was the only good one, and the 3 tiny tostadas nestled in a basket was near-hilarious. Our entrees were all fine - my friend loved his snapper with two marinades, but I thought the moles with the barbacoa and enchiladas were disappointing. Again, as with the drinks - confused by the lack of depth and flavor. They WERE nice to look at. I know this is a lot of hate. And I'm definitely no authority on authentic Oaxacan cuisine, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Go, get the yucca fries, try the Fruitopia, uh, pink cactus margarita, have a good time. But I probably won't be back. Side note: very suspicious of one of the other reviews before me lol, overly composed and a profile with one review. read more

I ordered a dish from the blackboard menu. It seemed vegetarian as only rice beans and onion was listed. I asked to make sure nothing was cooked in lard or biter. When the dish came, it had cheese. I was very disappointed because cheese was sprinkled everywhere. It was not listed on the bar menu. I could not get the dish remade or my money back so I ended up throwing away about $14 today. Probably was for the best because the dish looked awful. read more

Got 2 tacos and spent $20- the hot sauce was $6 and we weren't told it was a charge. Also they couldn't put us on 2 separate checks? We also interacted with 4 different servers. Food was nothing special. Wanted to love it bc it's a neighborhood spot. read more

We made a reservation at 9pm and they told us at 9:09 that they were out of food then said they magically had food. Shouldn't let that be an option. And there was no toilet paper. Then tried to charge us for extra things. read more

AWFUL SERVICE! The woman that helped us couldn't have been more rude! We had just come in from out of town and were ready to have some great tacos on a taco Tuesday! We had made reservations about 2 weeks prior as we had a larger group. Upon entering, the woman rudely snapped "Do you have a reservation". After being seated, we asked about a high chair as we had a small child with us. She said "No", but luckily we were staying right next door, so we ran home and grabbed our own. Upon getting back, We weren't allowed to put the chair at the ends of the tables as it would block traffic, fire codes, and additional reservations they had coming in. (All which was just BS). And truly embarrassed me as I felt that my child was a burden to this place. Our waiter was super annoyed that she had to explain the menu and what a pink cactus was. After ordering, we were told that the food would come out as it was made since they only had one cook. Our food was then brought out one at time over span of 45 mins. During this time, we witnessed the woman rudely demanding other people to sit outside or turning them away as they "Had too many reservations". But the entire time we were there, only one other table was sat inside. Overall - The food was good and the drinks strong, But I wouldn't recommend coming unless you like being berated by the staff! This place had so much potential....Just to be washed away by miserable staff read more

Food flavor; great. Portions; very small. Service; spotty! We waited and waited for our drinks and did not get them until after we finished our entire meal. Most all other tables received drinks before us, even those who got seated after us. The restaurant is new so I hope they work out their corks, otherwise I don't think they will last. read more

Great food menu is always evolving to keep things new. The Enchiladas with the mole sauce are next level you can tell everything is made from scratch. Service has always been great every time we've been. read more

The pink cactus is a newcomer to the Charleston Mexican cuisine scene, and it is serving some great food. The atmosphere is an upscale-ish cabana theme that is good for a date or just grabbing some cinco de mayo grub. We started with an appetizer of ships and the salsa verde. The chips were more like tostada shells, and you had to pay for chips and salsa, which is probably better for your health (as opposed to the unlimited chips at other places), but gosh darn it I love a Mexican place that just keeps the chips coming. So that was one negative, but easily overlooked by the quality of the food. We also got some really good queso fundido, which was also good. Our entrees consisted of the tacos, which were so flavorful and really really good. My friend got the Stuffed chile relleno, which he did not let me try, but it looked good. I got the pescado con mole (fish with mole sauce), and it was great! A lovely flaky wreck fish fillet with a delicious sauce that was different than the traditional mole I am used to, it was more like a green indian curry, but still delicious! The menu was a bit pricy and the portions were smaller than most Mexican places, but the quality is top notch and it is a good choice if looking for a bit more upscale Mexican restaurant. read more

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HORRIBLE SERVICE! What a shame since the food was good-- service sure did leave a bad taste in our mouths. After waiting for 30 minutes (at our reserved table) before seeing a server for the first time, our waitress rudely left to run food orders 3 times in the midst of our table ordering. It was really disappointing and frustrating; restaurants can't be good with bad management and understaffing. read more

Really nice spot. It's a bit of a dive. Really great service and excellent food. My wife had chicken Tinga tacos which were excellent. I had enchiladas which were pretty good although a bit bland. We also had an assortment of guacamole and sauces and queso with really good homemade chips for an appetizer. No draft beer. You can sit inside or out. And overall pretty good restaurant. read more

Great margaritas. Great chips and salsa with a lot of spice. They were short a server but the service was still great and attentive. It was great to sit out front when the weather was nice. read more

Pink cactus has a great vibe and amazing food, what's lacking is their staff members. The restaurants kitchen is in full view of the main dining area and the chef was not wearing a mask and was not doing much to keep his long dreadlocks contained. Our waiter continually forgot to put in our orders. It took 25 minutes for us to get an order of extra chips, and one of our orders was completely left off of our group's meals. It took at least another 30 minutes for her to receive her meal. Our waiter rarely checked in with us and ignored many of our requests to check in about different offerings. Our whole experience took 2 hours and would have been even longer had we not requested the check early. Would recommend take out but not the dine in experience. read more

This place was awesome. We had friendly, helpful and attentive service (not sure about the reviews that say otherwise). The salsas and queso fundido were fantastic. The homemade tortillas and escabeche were perfect compliments. We also ate a fish taco, beef tongue taco and molé enchiladas. All were simple, delicious and full of flavor. Lots of heat, which we love. So happy we chose to come to Pink Cactus. read more

Not sure why this is 3 1/2 stars. I just moved here after spending the last 10 years in LA, arguably one of the best cities for delicious Hispanic cuisine. And I have to say, after 3 visits, Pink Cactus could give any of the LA hotspots a run for their money. Thank you for being here!! We don't feel so alone. read more

Very small restaurant so the fact they were able to accommodate 10 of us (we made a reservation a week in advance) was great. Seems like our whole group enjoyed their food. I got the tacos dorados and they were good but wish I went with the pork carnitas which seemed way better and better portion sizing. Between the 8 of us (a couple ended up dropping out last minute) we shared 2 appetizer trios which were great just needed more chips which seemed to be difficult to get. The restaurant is VERY small- I'm talking another big table, maybe 4 or 5 more small tables and a small bar- and with a group this large (and the restaurant wasn't at full capacity) I was kind of shocked for service to be slow/them forgetting to check on us often and forgetting drinks or to even ask for our drink orders (food was NOT slow-kudos to the chef!! And only one chef!!). Also the margaritas are on tap which seemed cool until it tasted like only sugary mix. What made up for not great service and not great drinks was the super fun music playlist and vibe. Overall- I think cool to visit but there are so many places in Charleston so it's hard to choose! read more

The service I got here tonight was soooo rude. I'm a young girl in the service industry who is usually super understanding and lenient towards servers and Hosts but this guys attitude was uncalled for. We asked for straws for our drinks and he very rudely told us they don't have any while he was already walking away. Rude when asked for extra condiments, when we asked for the check, etc. super disappointed read more

AMAZING food. Great vegetarian options. Amazing portions. All great. Anyone compelling about service of crazy. It was new. People were figuring things out. Haven't had this good of Mexican food in forever read more