This and Jalisco next door represent the high and medium end of Mexcian dining in Kirkland. Choose Jalisco for some down-home, standard fare, and come to Cactus for a more upscale fusion experience (setting, service, food and prices).

The first time I came here for lunch I wasn’t too impressed, as I ordered a lunch burrito special and it came out dry and burnt. Since then I’ve been here a few more times and I get more impressed with the quality of the food each time.

Service is mostly quick, though this most recent time we spent a while waiting for the waitress to pick up our check. The food always comes out pretty quickly and nicely presented. During the warm summer months there’s outdoor seating, and an amazing salmon special that I only recently learned about. I’ll definitely be back for that.

I relaly liked this place and will be back. I ordered baked mahi-mahi from the specials menu and it was wonderful. It came with black beans with pesto sauce and some kind of sweet potatoes, which were delicious (and I hate sweet potatoes normally). The chicken dish off of regular menu was also really good. We also ordered a cup of their soup from the specials menu, which came with pork and veggies, a very hearty soup, which was very delicious too. Overall, nice food, comfy atmosphere and late hours for the kitchen (we ordered close to 10 pm on Monday) would definitely make me go back.

I’ve always found Mexican/Southwestern restaurants in the northwest need more spice. This is one of the places. Enchaladas were my dish of choice, which ended up being a little too cheesy. Other items on the menu seemed like atypical combinations. Good bustling atmposhere however.