The first time we ate at Cactus was at the Proctor restaurant we were accompanied by my cousin, Lavinia and my sister Marsha. We enjoyed the chips, the food, and the drinks. When our granddaughter Vanessa announced her wedding at the Seattle Tennis Club, we booked a room at Mildred’s B&B, our favorite Seattle Capitol Hill B&B. From the B&B it was a short drive to the Seattle Tennis Club and where we had a nice time. Since we were in Seattle for the weekend, we ended up eating at Cactus twice in Madison Park, which is near the Seattle Tennis Club. At the wedding on Lake Washington – quite a lovely spot at we watched the rainstorm roll in as we were on the lawn for the wedding. The reception was in the Clubhouse.
With COVID almost behind us (we hope), we decided to eat at Cactus once again in Tacoma’s Proctor area. Still a little leery, we ordered take out. I dropped Peg off by their front door and then drove around the building twice. Soon we were home and ready to enjoy our grand Cactus feast. We were a little put out when we opened the large bag of food and found no chips. Peg had asked twice to make sure we got lots of salsa with our chips; however, we did get lots of salsa, always needed for Mexican food.
As our appetizer we had Camarones D’ El Diablo ($12) – Crispy prawns, spicy diablo sauce, cilantro-lime slaw, mango–pineapple mojo. I really enjoyed this dish, but I think it may have been too hot for Peg. (No, it wasn’t! I enjoyed the shrimp, although by the time we got home they weren’t truly “crispy” anymore. However, they were still really plump and very good. The cilantro-lime slaw was very tasty and the mojo was worth eating. -Peg)
Peg ordered the Seafood Enchiladas. They looked nothing like the photo on their website, but the taste was excellent – Pacific snapper, prawns, bay scallops, organic blue corn tortillas, Monterrey Jack cheese, sherry–tomatillo cream sauce, blistered corn salsa, and charred tomato salsa. (I enjoyed everything about the seafood: not overcooked – my personal bugaboo – well prepared and the sauce was wonderful. -Peg)
I chose my favorite: Smoked Beef Brisket Tacos – Applewood-smoked brisket, cascabel salsa, Monterrey Jack cheese, red onion escabeche, cilantro. They were wonderful . . . good flavor and two healthy portions. (I gave Don my half-eaten burrito, which he appreciated; it was very good but too much food when the Seafood Enchiladas beckoned. -Peg)
For dessert we ordered the Navajo Fry Bread – With whipped cinnamon agave butter. The Fry Bread was plump and chewy – Peg prefers the kind you get at the Fair – but the accompanying agave butter seemed good for about the bite and a half it consisted of. There are four pieces of fry bread, which left the meal lacking quite a bit of agave butter at the end for us.
Peg ordered a Modelo Dunkel beer – a dark beer. I thought they’d include a bottle but they put the beer in a soda take out cup. It still was good, but a little defuzzed and warmer than having it in-house. She says beer has to be served cold.
Our bill with tip was $76.00. If we had dined in, we could have asked for more agave butter for the fry bread AND we could have asked for the chips we didn’t get. In the bag there was a container of salsa (very good with lots of green onions mixed in), but no chips and Peg mentioned chips and extra salsa twice in ordering.
When we complained over the phone on Monday as she called about the missing chips, they apologized and offered to send a $10 certificate, which is nice, but seems a little too late. It seems most issues with “to go” orders arise, as opposed to dine-in; in house you can at least bring it to their attention at once.
Great article again, Don! Indeed, we have had the same issue with take-out with the few places we did try. More often than not some item missing, never the quality when you are dining in – temperature and texture suffer, of course. Plus all the necessary packaging that gives me the impression of sitting on a huge dump. It’s really not for me.
I ate at the Cactus in Tacoma’s proctor district once and will never go back again. My experience was a bad one.
No free chips and dip, high prices, slow service, mediocre food. One visit to the Procter location was enough.