Cancel

Open app

Search

Cactus Cafe

2.8 (176 reviews)
InexpensiveAmerican, Mexican
Closed 8:00 am - 3:00 pm

Cactus Cafe Photos

CACTUS CAFE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Quiet
Casual
Good for groups
Good for kids

Recommended Reviews - Cactus Cafe

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos

Front shot
John M.

Although the team was running a little late on opening this was solid visit...Super friendly staff and a great interior space. Wife had a 2 egg scramble with bacon and Hashbrown....along with a single serve of French Toast....I had the same with SSU eggs with toast....we both split a half order of biscuit and gravy....everything was tasty and hit the spot..

Green chili burger

Service was sweet. Fries were phenomenal! Hot & crispy! Burgers and chicken sandwiches hit the spot after seeing the Caverns down the road.

Kevin P.

We were staying at Whites Inn just a street over for our vacation and had the opportunity to eat here one day, and then decided to again the next because it was very good! The place was small and not crowded for breakfast both days, but we also went less than an hour after they opened in the morning. The wait staff were all very nice and friendly! They didn't have chocolate chip pancakes on the menu, I will definitely recommend they consider adding it, but they offered to put some on for my son... it tasted just like a cake! So good! Everything we had was delicious! My wife had one of their breakfast sandwiches, I had French toast, we had waffles and bacon, and the sausage was very good too! Food was an easy 5*. The pricing was not bad at all! I think we paid $50? $60 for 4 ppl, which on vacation isn't bad at all! The only thing I would say negatively, and it's not even a bad thing persay... tone down or change whatever they use to sterilize the bathrooms, VERY over powering!

Cactus Cafe has the cutest bar stools!
Robin S.

Cactus Cafe has absolutely amazing food! I had the Coffee Burger, which was the freaking best. There was only one waitress on and she was being run crazy, but she still kept up her great smile and her great setvice. Cactus Cafe has the cutest enviroment/ ambience as well. I would definately go back!!!!

Buffalo truffle burger....GREAT!
Herp D.

Service is a bit mean and the inside of the restaurant is sad. The whole place smells bad. Hours are pretty rough with the place closing at 3 pm and last sit down service is at 2:30 pm. Not sure why they do that outside Carlsbad caverns where visitors are steady throughout the day. The food is pretty excellent and fries are some of the best we have had. The Buffalo truffle burger was awesome. The chicken sandwich with jalapeños and bacon was good.

Bbq bacon burger

Decided to try this place instead of eating in the park. The hostess profusely apologized that there would be a 20-30 minute wait since they only had one cook that day. We're used to that being from Houston, so we didn't mind the wait! When we were seated, we all decided to get a variety of their burgers, and we weren't disappointed!! Honestly my burger (the BBQ bacon burger) was one of the best I've ever had!! The staff were also all amazingly kind and considerate. Don't let the wait time deter you from eating here. It's worth it!

Good food and nice waitstaff. Clean bathrooms and area. Very yummy quesadilla and burger. The fries were delicious.

Breakfast burrito with chorizo, beans and green chili
Amber D.

Listen... if you order basic b*tch food, don't expect to get anything beyond basic b!tch taste. This place is great at a few things and caters to needy tourists in others. I am sure the owners do not want to have to keep beef fajitas or plain Jane breakfast staples on the menu, but to keep the Karen's at bay they do so. The southwest style items (the menu items with green chili offered) are fantastic. This is where this little gem shines brightest. The breakfast burrito is hands down the best I have had in my long life of ordering all the burritos. Do yourself a favor: if it is something you would order at Chili's or Denny's skip it. You can order that bland sh!t when you get back home silly. Also, here is an old servers trick: if you are ever in doubt, ask the servers what they recommend, what they like to eat. They know what's up. My only complaint is that they do not have the correct hours of operation listed. This was especially rough because we drove in expecting to have dinner here but we had to improvise. The current hours are 7-3 pm. Just be sure to call if you are planning a trip to confirm the hours available. And if you are staying in the area don't fret. The portions are enough to fuel you through the caves and have enough leftovers for dinner.

Jackson L.

For the only restaurant in town and the prices this was a steal! Beef fajitas double rice was amazing and they have great ranch for fries as well. Good homemade desserts as well. A

Jacquie M.

This place is the place to stop before and/or after your visit to the caverns! Our group had the kids chicken strip(delicious!), the Caesar salad (so good!), harsd shell ground beef tacos, rice and beans (tasty! ), and the cobb salad with bleu cheese dressing (most excellent!) The unsweetened iced tea was so yummy! I don't think you could go wrong ordering anything off the menu! Our server was a very nice young lady (I sadly did not ask her name to add to this review) she was very knowledgeable and had an outstanding attitude.

taco platter

See all

2 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

27 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

6 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of John M.
515
906
3934

8 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Herp D.
2
47
174

2 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

food was amazing!! the hot honey chicken sandwich was AMAZING!! We definitely recommend

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Arceli L.
29
30
22

2 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 4
Oh no 0
Photo of Geo M.
0
24
0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 1
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 1
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

7 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 5
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

5 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Amanda E.
24
30
10

2 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

5 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

5 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of R O.
0
151
420

3 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

4 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Quick service and reasonable price considering they're the only place for miles around to get breakfast.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Roma L.
120
9
21

4 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Suz T.
0
88
0

3 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

5 years ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

4 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Jacob D.
25
104
261

4 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

3 years ago

They made the best hamburger and fries I have had in years. We are looking forward to going back to try breakfast.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

Page 1 of 5

Ask the Community - Cactus Cafe

Verify this business for free

Get access to customer & competitor insights.

Verify this business

Yellow Brix Restaurant - Berries and cream crepe

Yellow Brix Restaurant

3.8(830 reviews)
19.0 mi
$$

While visiting Carlsbad Caverns we stayed in town for a couple days and had dinner here our first…read morenight. The waitress who served us was wonderful, friendly, attentive, and incredibly kind to our dog. Prices were very reasonable and the portions were generous. The only negative part of the evening had nothing to do with the restaurant. A man seated next to us spent much of dinner being rude and entitled, repeatedly questioning how the salmon was prepared, criticizing the wine list, and generally acting unpleasant toward the staff. The blonde waitress with glasses handled the situation with impressive patience and professionalism. Honestly, it took restraint not to say something myself. She did a fantastic job dealing with a very difficult customer and deserves recognition for it.

Yellow Brix was great! The outdoor seating is lovely, they do a nice job with the patio. Even with…read morethe location by a main road, it feels like someone's back yard, really pleasant. And the live music was a nice touch for a Friday night. Service was also excellent, so friendly and on top of their game. I had the shrimp pomodoro dish and really enjoyed it. The shrimp were seasoned so well, and the pasta was al dente. There was also a nice, mild kick from the black pepper, and the fresh parmesan melted into the dish to create cheesy goodness. Maybe a touch heavy on the oil but it was still an excellent meal overall.

Photos
Yellow Brix Restaurant
Yellow Brix Restaurant - Avocado toast with eggs over easy paired with breakfast potatoes.

Avocado toast with eggs over easy paired with breakfast potatoes.

Yellow Brix Restaurant - Entrance

See all

Entrance

Guadalupe Mountain Brewery - Four Beer Flight ($8)

Guadalupe Mountain Brewery

4.1(161 reviews)
16.8 mi
$$

My husband and I were staying next door at the Homes2Suites and decided to grab a couple pizzas to…read morego. One of the pizzas we ate at the hotel and one we ended up taking with us to Carlsbad Caverns the next day and eating as a picnic lunch which was so fun! Both fresh and as leftovers, the pizzas were very good. We also indulged in a couple of IPAs/ Pale Ales as we waited. All of which hit the spot. The place was PACKED! But the line went by quickly and waiting for food was easy enough. There seemed to be a bountiful amount of seating.

DLDR: Food is decent, service takes forever, and the beers are delicious…read more First time to GMBC and I'm going to try to have an open mind. This brewery is an oasis in Southern New Mexico. I can honestly say I could drink their brews daily as there is a wide range of IPA to almost Pils which should satisfy most folks. Beer = damn good! Ambiance is nice but simple. I can see that there might be a vision for branding and a local guitarist setting the tone. I'm all for it! It's a good idea but needs more application. Here's the problem: The service and wait times are very bad. Not the worst I've had, but it will 100% take you 30+ minutes to get a pizza plus wait time in line. To me, that is absolutely unacceptable. I don't have a problem with queuing in line for food and drinks but the speed needs to increase just to adhere to the vibe GMBC is trying to create; a Guadalupe Mountain Brewery that focuses on food, family, and beer. About the pizza, promising an open mind here, it's ok. Again, an oasis in a Domino's wasteland. But Dominos fully cooks their pizzas. I am 100% a pizza snob. I give these pies 2.5/5. Far too many toppings and a pale crust. Less toppings, more heat, more experience from the BOH staff. The pies are not cooked long enough as the cheese is clumpy and uneven and the toppings (veggies mainly) are huge, undercooked and the pizza was served nearly cold! Great portions but poor bake as they prioritize "speed" over making a good pizza. If you have never had a delicious slice, this is a solid step in the right direction. If you are used to professionals creating quality food, you will be disappointed. Still, don't shy away from this brewery as you can have a good (quite long) time as the beers are fairly priced and food will satisfy you. Absolutely throwing shade to the queso which is just canned Queso brand with crappy chips. I might add that the queso came with a hair in it but was slowly rectified by a server that I had to flag down. Ultimately, why should I wait so long in line for food that is minimum standard and is amateurish? Because I'm in Carlsbad, NM and there isn't competition to incentivize this place to be better. I want them to be better because I plan on making this a solid pit stop in the future. Keep up the good work, but continue to improve.

Photos
Guadalupe Mountain Brewery - Four Beer Flight ($8)

Four Beer Flight ($8)

Guadalupe Mountain Brewery - New Mexico Green Chile Pizza ($15)

New Mexico Green Chile Pizza ($15)

Guadalupe Mountain Brewery - Green Chile Beer 6.7%ABV ($6/16oz [pint])

See all

Green Chile Beer 6.7%ABV ($6/16oz [pint])

Carniceria San Juan De Los Lagos - Carnitas Tacos ($8)

Carniceria San Juan De Los Lagos

4.4(449 reviews)
19.4 mi
$$

Carniceria San Juan de Los Lagos in Carlsbad, NM has to be some of the best Mexican food I've ever…read morehad! I usually have a rule when traveling that I don't visit the same restaurant more than once, but this place was the exception. I came back three times in two days. Yes, it was that good. Sadly, the third time I came back, they were closed. The food tasted very authentic and absolutely worth the visit. I noticed some reviews mentioned communication issues or that the staff may not speak much English. I had a little bit of that struggle too, but honestly, that's how you know you might be in the right place for truly authentic Mexican food. I also felt like it was partly my fault for not doing enough research before ordering. But we figured it out, and the food was more than worth it. One small suggestion: it would be helpful if the menu had a little more English explanation, pictures, or item numbers to make ordering easier for both customers and staff. Overall, this is the kind of true hidden gem you hope to find in a small town. I would definitely take a detour to come back here whenever I'm in the area again.

Carnicería San Juan de los Lagos - Worth the Detour, Even Years Later…read more Some places stay with you. So much so that five years later, on a completely different road trip, you find yourself checking the map and thinking... "we're kind of close." Back in 2021, while exploring nearby national parks, we stumbled across Carnicería San Juan de los Lagos and loved it. This time, on our way to White Sands National Park, we made a small detour to see if it still held up. First surprise... I barely recognized the area. What used to feel like the middle of nowhere has filled in. Suburban life has arrived. Growth happened. But the place? Still there. Still good. Inside, it keeps that same warm, easy charm. Cute wood, farm-style Mexican decor, nothing fancy, just welcoming. The space has grown too, now clearly divided into restaurant, carnicería, and panadería, which means more reasons to linger. And the smell when you walk in? That alone could convince you to stay. Service was just as we remembered, sweet, friendly, and genuine. The kind that makes you feel like a regular even if you've been gone for five years. We went with pozole and shrimp tacos, and both delivered. Flavorful, comforting, exactly what we were hoping for. It's always a bit of a gamble revisiting a place you loved years ago. This one paid off. Still a favorite. Still worth the stop.

Photos
Carniceria San Juan De Los Lagos - Inside, part meat market, bakery, and food spot

Inside, part meat market, bakery, and food spot

Carniceria San Juan De Los Lagos - Carne Asada Enchiladas

Carne Asada Enchiladas

Carniceria San Juan De Los Lagos - Chiles Toreados

See all

Chiles Toreados

Cactus Cafe - tradamerican - Updated May 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...