I've been to Cactus several times and have nothing against it. It's perfectly ok Mexican food. But, if you've eaten true Tex-Mex or proper Mexican food *in* Mexico, then Cactus would not be your first choice.

Today, I had a wild hair and was tired of my usual lunch spots, so I decided to walk over to Cactus. Now that I've wasted $18 bucks and an hour of my time (and I'm still hungry by the way), I have some thoughts.

My first mistake was to order a salad at a Mexican restaurant. I know, I know. But, I've been on a salad kick lately. And, the description sounded really good, so I went for it. Visually, it looked like someone opened a bag of romaine lettuce, dumped it on a plate and sprinkled some anemic tomatoes on top. I was turned off by it when I first laid my eyes on it. I had to dig around for the "smoked chicken" which didn't have even a hint of smoky flavor from a grill or spices. And, there wasn't enough of that bland chicken to fill me up. Couldn't they at least let it touch a hot grill pan to give it some color? Is that too much to ask?

I'm not writing Cactus off completely. I just should've ordered tacos or something else. I've had some good food there. But, lesson learned - stay away from the salad.