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Cactus Cantina, near National Cathedral


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i have stopped monitoring the disintegrating food quality at austin grill. it disintegrated a long time ago. we seldom go to cafe deluxe, but my wife was there the other night and reported disintegrating food quality. there was also a lipstick stain -- on her plate, so there may be more favorable opinions around about the food these days than hers. they used to rev the place up by bringing in someone who could actually cook every once in a while, and that seemed to carry it. walking by on our way to palena i have also noticed declining business. and what's up with cactus cantina? i passed there on a recent weekend evening, and the entire corner smelled like a dishwasher.

Good point, hmmmm i heard that Giant finally, got neighborhood approval to redevelop that corner, basicaly from their store all the way up to Starbucks, and down to cactus cantina. Wonder if they are closing? that place used to be the standard I measured tex mex by in this town. I think they also own Lauriol plaza

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Giant has a large parking garage now so parking for this evolving area of restaurants is a breeze, albeit a little on the expensive side (parking for 2 hours was $15), but convenient.  

Just had dinner at Cactus Cantina (cactuscantina.com} - had only heard good things but never been able to coordinate dinner.  4 adults and 4 kids, despite being told they do not take reservations as noted on their website, we were graciously seated in the rear dining room just past the bar.  Decor, service and food were all excellent.  Place was packed tonight and both patios were very busy.  When we left, there were several groups waiting to be seated.  They had an extensive list of specials from apps to entrees, their Patron Margaritas came with extra limes and were great.  They kept the chips and salsa flowing.  

From the avocado and tomato salad, guac and queso as well as fajitas, enchiladas and fish tacos, everything was excellent.  Service was consistent and respectful, but not overbearing.  

You also have 2 Amys next door, Cafe Duluxe and Raku within 1/2 a block - so if you venture out in this area you have plenty of options.

 

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I haven't been to Cactus Cantina in years, but I thought about it the other day because we were driving by Lauriol Plaza (which was close to where I lived on T street) and we used to frequent both as law school hang outs frequently- big drinks, not to expensive, took big groups, it had all the right features.  They used to have a pretty darn good pechuga de pollo back then.  I remember eating there as a kid after we would attend big services at the National Cathedral, man that place has been there a long time, I am getting old.

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21 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Giant has a large parking garage now so parking for this evolving area of restaurants is a breeze, albeit a little on the expensive side (parking for 2 hours was $15), but convenient.  

You also have 2 Amys next door, Cafe Duluxe and Raku within 1/2 a block - so if you venture out in this area you have plenty of options.

We ate at 2 Amys last weekend, and I saw a table tent, or something, that mentioned validated parking for an either an hour, 90 minutes (most likely), or two hours (least likely) at the garage.  Not sure if it was just for weekends, or if there are time limits (e.g. 6pm to 9pm).  Sorry for the extremely fuzzy recall.  And thank you, Alcohol.  

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21 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Giant has a large parking garage now so parking for this evolving area of restaurants is a breeze, albeit a little on the expensive side (parking for 2 hours was $15), but convenient.  

Just had dinner at Cactus Cantina (cactuscantina.com} - had only heard good things but never been able to coordinate dinner.  4 adults and 4 kids, despite being told they do not take reservations as noted on their website, we were graciously seated in the rear dining room just past the bar.  Decor, service and food were all excellent.  Place was packed tonight and both patios were very busy.  When we left, there were several groups waiting to be seated.  They had an extensive list of specials from apps to entrees, their Patron Margaritas came with extra limes and were great.  They kept the chips and salsa flowing.  

From the avocado and tomato salad, guac and queso as well as fajitas, enchiladas and fish tacos, everything was excellent.  Service was consistent and respectful, but not overbearing.  

You also have 2 Amys next door, Cafe Duluxe and Raku within 1/2 a block - so if you venture out in this area you have plenty of options.

When Matt (my son) was an infant, I ate more meals at Cactus Cantina than I care to admit - it's noisy, it doesn't matter if one parent whisks the infant out if (s)he gets fussy (the infant; not the parent), the tortilla machine fascinates kids, and the Native American headdress near the entrance is made with real porcupine quills. :)

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