This was my first visit to the Mad Cactus, ever, and after seeing it on Restaurant Impossible I was certainly interested to check it out.
One thing I don't understand about the other reviews would have to be the comments about the menu not being all Mexican food. Was I the only one who noticed that they were a tex mex restaurant? Hmm... I admit, you might expect a full Mexican menu, but you have the let go of their past image and judge them from who they are now. Besides, all their signage (and menus) clearly state they've gone tex mex.
Anyways, I thought the menu was pretty interesting and tasty, the little I tried, at least. The chips were fresh and warm, the salsas were made in house. Although, I'd rather them offer a salsa sampler served to the table instead of an AYCE salsa bar. Something tells me not as much would be wasted, they could control costs better and--well, I just hate restaurant buffets in any form. Regardless, the salsas were really good.
I wasn't super hungry so my boyfriend and I decided to split a chicken quesadilla. You might think it wouldn't be hard to mess up a toasted tortilla stuffed with cheese and chicken, but I've seen restaurants miserably fail at this simple task before. Mad Cactus, on the other hand, did a darn good job and kept it simple, clean, fresh and yummy. You could tell the chicken was right off the grill and they used fresh tomatoes, peppers and spices inside. No burnt 'tilla, just toasted, melty goodness--simply and appropriately done.
I will say that only some items on the children's menu might be frozen, like the mini corn dogs. But their fries are all fresh cut and they offer lots of non-frozen kiddie options, like ribs! Apparently they're award winning.
Now, on to the margs. You can't beat spending under $3 for a rocks margarita that will kick you in the ass. Yep, just $2.75. We I first saw our server walking over with my little glass I thought, "Man...no wonder they're so cheap." Then, I took a swig and was more than pleasantly surprised. It seemed like your typical marg mixture, but it was strong and for two bucks and some change, I wasn't complaining.
Overall, the decor is vastly improved, they have great deals on drinks and food made with fresh ingredients--me likey.